Speaker 1: Prime Minister, the law, the federal politics with Dennis Shanahan.
Speaker 1: And sadly, Dennis and I will be talking for the
Speaker 1: last time for quite a few weeks because I'm about
Speaker 1: to have a bit of a break he pooh, And
Speaker 1: Dennis is having his regular winter break, and when I
Speaker 1: come back, he won't be here. But when he does
Speaker 1: come back, I will be here, but that might be
Speaker 1: a few weeks off. So good morning, my friend. I
Speaker 1: look forward to resuming activities in a few weeks. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, How is it in the Nation's Capital? I
Speaker 1: think I read it was minus seven point six earlier today.
Speaker 2: Yeah, look at I tell you though, the weather is
Speaker 2: beautifully that there's no wind. You know you talk about
Speaker 2: wind chill factor and no wind at all. It is
Speaker 2: just perfectly sunny, clear, but it is cold. This morning,
Speaker 2: as I was preparing for my little chat with you,
Speaker 2: wash a big pied turrelong come in. He comes in
Speaker 2: every day to land on the on the bird bath,
Speaker 2: have a drink and a bit of a bath and
Speaker 2: then he flies off. This morning he went down and
Speaker 2: slipped straight across the board, fell off the other side.
Speaker 2: It was solid ice. I've never seen a turrolong with
Speaker 2: surprised look on his face. It was col the third
Speaker 2: bath is solid ice.
Speaker 3: Wow.
Speaker 1: Fancy that now Dennis A PM's trip to Canada is
Speaker 1: over and ended with a whimper as Donald Trump ducked
Speaker 1: out of the G seven and didn't even give Olbow
Speaker 1: a sorry, I can't make it. There's no rush to NATO.
Speaker 1: In fact, I think that's been ruled out now, little
Speaker 1: prospect of a face to face meeting for some time.
Speaker 1: As I joke before, it's not like there's, you know,
Speaker 1: anything significant happening with our relationship. Potentially not if you
Speaker 1: count orcus and tariffs as things that are serious. What's
Speaker 1: going on here?
Speaker 2: Well, look I think that yes, Donald Trump left seventh early.
Speaker 2: He didn't meet a number of other leaders, but Anthony Alberinase,
Speaker 2: he was listed as the second last on the agenda.
Speaker 2: I don't know virtually who was last. When Donald Trump
Speaker 2: said I'm leaving early, he rang other leaders and said, oh, look,
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, we can meet up later. Whatever. Anthony Albinase
Speaker 2: didn't even get a call. And so what we're seeing
Speaker 2: is that the failure of Anthony Albinase is to try
Speaker 2: and establish an early relationship with Donald Trump despite the
Speaker 2: political differences and all the rest. The Prime Minister said
Speaker 2: on another a number of occasions, doesn't matter who's president,
Speaker 2: who's Prime minist we need this relationship. Well it's not happening.
Speaker 2: The Prime Minister had gone to Canada with a whole
Speaker 2: series of ideas about critical men rolls that we're going
Speaker 2: to use as a bargaining chip to get lower tariff's.
Speaker 2: There was going to be discussion of aucas while there
Speaker 2: was a review on in the US, and nothing happened.
Speaker 2: The Prime Minister met some trade officials that Kevin Rudd,
Speaker 2: as Ambassador to Washington, had already met. So what we've
Speaker 2: seen is a failure early on for the Prime Minister
Speaker 2: to try and establish that key personal contact with President Trump.
Speaker 2: He did consider going to the Netherlands because the NATO
Speaker 2: meeting on the off chance of getting a sideline meeting,
Speaker 2: but in the end has decided no, he's not going
Speaker 2: to do that. The likelihood is that he was good
Speaker 2: go over there, not going to meeting anyway. So this
Speaker 2: has been a failure as far as a trip goes
Speaker 2: where the Prime Minister had hoped to meet and discuss
Speaker 2: and negotiate issues of tariffs, which are still very important
Speaker 2: for US and of course AUCAS to try and talk
Speaker 2: to the President about August before the US review is completed.
Speaker 2: Now looks like there will be no meeting until probably
Speaker 2: New York in September.
Speaker 1: At the UN, Joe Hockey as ambassador play golf with Trump.
Speaker 1: Kevin Rudd referred to him as a really jdiot. Can
Speaker 1: you can you shoot any of the blame to Kevin Rudd?
Speaker 1: I mean they're not going to take him seriously, are they?
Speaker 2: Look I think that actually Kevin Rudd's done quite a
Speaker 2: good job as far as ambassador on the grounds concerns
Speaker 2: is kept open. All the negotiations on tariff almost escaped
Speaker 2: the full brunt of tariff, but there was a political
Speaker 2: interference there. Certainly what Kevin Rudd had said previously about
Speaker 2: President Trump wouldn't help. But look, the issue here is
Speaker 2: about leaders face to face and that relationship. This is
Speaker 2: what Donald Trump operates on and we saw the success
Speaker 2: of their care Starmer, a UK Prime minister who went
Speaker 2: early to see Donald Trump and put up the UK
Speaker 2: spending on defense very quickly. It is clear that Donald
Speaker 2: Trump talks to people who are prepared to talk to
Speaker 2: him and act.
Speaker 1: You know, I reckon the PM's office would be wouldn't
Speaker 1: they very concerned that if he went to Washington there
Speaker 1: would be a you know what show if the meeting
Speaker 1: was in the Oval office. It's not like Trump has
Speaker 1: spared any other leader from embarrassing them or at least
Speaker 1: calling them out. There's no doubt in my mind that
Speaker 1: if Albo and the Trumpster sat together and the cameras
Speaker 1: were rolling, mister Trump would have some difficult questions, wouldn't.
Speaker 2: He He would indeed, And look, I've mentioned before on
Speaker 2: the program, I've been there in that room. It was
Speaker 2: Scott Morrison, who is Prime Minister, and Donald Trump, and
Speaker 2: that was very warm and friendly and a little bit
Speaker 2: off a wall. But in any case, there would be
Speaker 2: no doubt that a trip to Washington would have to
Speaker 2: mean that appearance in what has now become a star
Speaker 2: chamber where the Prime the President is prepared to rip
Speaker 2: strips off people, so is the Vice president, and it
Speaker 2: would be extremely embarrassing. The advantage of a so called
Speaker 2: meeting in the sidelines is that it's not televised, and
Speaker 2: there isn't that whole feeling of being interrogated. I think
Speaker 2: that the Prime Minister would prefer to go to New
Speaker 2: York and meet President Trump again in the sidelines of
Speaker 2: the UN meeting.
Speaker 1: What about Aucus, mate? There's concern here, isn't there? The
Speaker 1: US want us to spend more on our defense. Richard
Speaker 1: Miles is going to have to come up with more
Speaker 1: than just words here, isn't he?
Speaker 2: We certainly is. And of course, apart from tariffs which
Speaker 2: went nowhere, Aucus was the other big issue that Australia
Speaker 2: had to address with President Trump in Canada. That didn't happen.
Speaker 2: And now it is clear that the Prime Minister has
Speaker 2: made it clear is not going to the Netherlands. They
Speaker 2: thought about it and then thought, no, we wouldn't do it.
Speaker 2: This means that Richard Miles, as Deputy Prime Minister and
Speaker 2: Defense Minister, has to go to the NATO meeting and
Speaker 2: there defend Australia's decision not to increase defense spending to
Speaker 2: three point five percent, which the US wants us to do.
Speaker 2: That's much less than what the US wants our NATO
Speaker 2: allies to He wants them to go to five percent
Speaker 2: of GDP on defense. We can see what's happening in Israel.
Speaker 2: We can see what's happening in the Ukraine. There is
Speaker 2: a worldwide pressure pressure to actually increase defense spending. It's
Speaker 2: not happening in Australia. Richard Miles is going to have
Speaker 2: to try and explain this to the US. The Prime
Speaker 2: Minister has not been able to talk to Donald Trump
Speaker 2: while and we've already paid eight hundred million dollars by
Speaker 2: the way on the nuclear submarines, and we can't even
Speaker 2: get to talk about it while the US is reviewing it.
Speaker 2: Our only hope has been a starmer of the UK
Speaker 2: who managed to get the President to nod to nod
Speaker 2: at the Joint press conference when he said yes that
Speaker 2: was still going ed with Aucus. This is how tenuous
Speaker 2: it is. It is a key issue, and as we
Speaker 2: discussed last week, the Australian government, the current Australian governments
Speaker 2: still refuses to put forward a very strong justification to
Speaker 2: the Orchist project and it looks as if somehow it's
Speaker 2: actually not committed to it.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, Dennis, So we'll take a break before
Speaker 1: we do. Elizabeth has called through from Brisbane with a
Speaker 1: traffic drama. Elizabeth, thank you for this. What can you
Speaker 1: tell me?
Speaker 3: There's like a car's got into a real estate on
Speaker 3: Logan Road at Moncrovit and and there's a car behind
Speaker 3: it smashed as well, and three lanes are blocked all
Speaker 3: the way to Garden City.
Speaker 1: And do we have emergency services on the scene, Elizabeth,
Speaker 1: there is, yes, there is, Okay, am I right in
Speaker 1: saying this is a corner of Logan Road and Selborne Street.
Speaker 3: That's the one.
Speaker 1: Okay, thank you so much for calling and allowing us
Speaker 1: to share that news with people on the roads in Brisbane.
Speaker 1: Thanks Elizabeth. A car and there were a real estate
Speaker 1: agency blocked the corner of Logan Road and Silborne Street
Speaker 1: at Mount Gravat back in a moment. It's a quarter
Speaker 1: to ten and we're of course to Dennis Shanahan and Dennis.
Speaker 1: Jim Chalmers has considered the budget is unsustainable, promised not
Speaker 1: to shoot down any ideas on tax reform as the
Speaker 1: Productivity Commission suggests changes to the GST would help. I
Speaker 1: don't know if he's open to everye suggestion.
Speaker 2: Do you no, he's look. It was a very important
Speaker 2: speech by the Treasurer at the Press Club in Camber
Speaker 2: this week, while all the concentration was on what Prime
Speaker 2: Minister was doing Israel and Ukraine and all the other
Speaker 2: defense issues. The economy continues to be a grave concern
Speaker 2: and the treasure of this week actually said without change,
Speaker 2: the budget is unsustainable. Now, this would have been nice
Speaker 2: to have heard about a little while earlier. You and
Speaker 2: I have been talking about productivity for as long as
Speaker 2: we've been on the show to get her, and of
Speaker 2: course it is the big issue. The treasure has now
Speaker 2: come out and said, yes, it is the big issue.
Speaker 2: That's why the budget's not sustainable. We have to have
Speaker 2: tax reform and we have to actually increase productivity. Now
Speaker 2: how he goes about that is going to be the
Speaker 2: big issue. And can he continue to try and lift
Speaker 2: productivity while continuing to spend government spending is getting out
Speaker 2: of control and can he do it without introducing new taxes? Now,
Speaker 2: the Productivity commission Commissioner has said today in Australian, well, look,
Speaker 2: we could look at the GST, actually increasing the GST
Speaker 2: and increasing the coverage of the GST as well as
Speaker 2: how we distribute it to the states. So this is
Speaker 2: a big issue. The Productivity Commissioner said, we should look
Speaker 2: at The Treasurer also said, oh, look he was going
Speaker 2: to stand by the tax the capital gains tax on
Speaker 2: unrealized capital gains tax for people with superannuation, and that
Speaker 2: he said, no, no, we're not going to touch that.
Speaker 2: This is the idea that I hear. All things are
Speaker 2: on the table. He also, though obviously concerned about the
Speaker 2: fact that people are arguing that this unrealized superannuation tax,
Speaker 2: which is not indexed, will over ten years increase its
Speaker 2: grab to eight billion dollars as one inestimate from today.
Speaker 2: And what we've seen already is fears that the capital
Speaker 2: gains tax could be applied to a family home or
Speaker 2: some inheritance tax. Now Jim Chalmers has said no, we're
Speaker 2: not going to touch the family home. We're not going
Speaker 2: to touch in inheritance or death tax. But he's leaving
Speaker 2: open the whole idea of family trusts and the continuing
Speaker 2: pressure on superannuation of funds at the moment over three
Speaker 2: millions when you start paying the tax on unrealized capital
Speaker 2: gains and that that will just grow. So what we're
Speaker 2: seeing on the one hand, the Treasure is saying and
Speaker 2: trying to make a very bold statement and it's about
Speaker 2: time somebody did it to say that debt and deficit
Speaker 2: and lack of productivity means the budget is unsustainable. We're
Speaker 2: facing a decade of deficits. He says, something has to
Speaker 2: be done. He try and pull together a group of
Speaker 2: business leaders and union leaders and so on to try
Speaker 2: and do something about productivity. But the issue remains that
Speaker 2: there are still no go zones as far as he
Speaker 2: is concerned, while others are saying you're going to have
Speaker 2: to do much more than just put a tax on
Speaker 2: unrealized capital gains a superduation. I think the Treasurer has
Speaker 2: been courageous here at the courageous tuger in opening up
Speaker 2: the issue. He has admitted it's not sustainable. But what
Speaker 2: is he going to do and what can he do?
Speaker 2: These are big issues for the economy and for the
Speaker 2: new the newly elected labor government.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and with those taxes, it's it's time Brook starts.
Speaker 1: It's it's where it finishes. And that's that's the real concern.
Speaker 1: Are you Are you heading away to your weekender on
Speaker 1: the Mediterranean?
Speaker 2: Not just yet, but I will be away, and I'm
Speaker 2: very sorry to hear that today is our last not
Speaker 2: on chat for a while, but I'll be I'll be
Speaker 2: around for a bit long yet Before I head off
Speaker 2: right to the Apennines and the Italian Alps.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you're lucky, lucky thing. Well, mate, I'll miss you
Speaker 1: for the four or five or six weeks. You don't
Speaker 1: get the too, But of course I really enjoy talking
Speaker 1: to you. You know that, Dennis. But we'll catch you when
Speaker 1: i'm back and you'll be on with Trent next week.
Speaker 1: Stay well, my friend.
Speaker 2: Stay well the week and have a good holiday.
Speaker 1: Yeah, thanks so much mate, And when you get to
Speaker 1: have on you too, Dennis Shanahan