Live on Sky News Australia.
This is to Nika de Georgio.
Hello and welcome to the show.
Coming up tonight, Kelly Sloane elected new South Wales Liberal leader. So much for the calls for quotas and the party's woman problem. Chris Bowen is about to become the country's first part time minister, splitting his time between overseeing the Renewables only experiment at home while serving as president for Turkey's COP thirty one summit. And why it's time for a serious debate about immigration in Australia. It's a debate that takes courage and conviction. But first tonight, who says
the Liberal Party has a woman problem? Almost everywhere across the country women are now leading the party's respected state branches. Today, former journalist Kelly Sloane was appointed new South Wales opposition leader in an uncontested ballot after Mark Speakman resigned yesterday.
I don't underestimate the challenge ahead of us, but I am ready for the fight and as a team, we are ready for the fight.
Her deputy, also a woman, Natalie Ward. In Victoria.
This week, Jess Wilson was appointed opposition leader nationally of course, Susan Lee leads the party and in the Northern territory Leofanocchiaro is Chief Minister. Now Labor can bang on all they like about quotas, but this all happened without who would have thought. And for the record, and I've said this before, I could not care less about the gender of those appointed to these roles as long as it was earned and that they are the right person for
the job. Now I find quotas offensive personally, but the point is the Liberal Party was considering quotas after this year's election loss and they still filled roles with women across the country.
What does that say?
Well, I think if this is not a warning to stick to conservative roots, thing.
Will ever stick now.
As for New South Wales, the branch is in a total mess. A poll last month found the coalition is facing a blood bath at the next state election.
Its primary vote.
Has slumped by five point four percent since twenty twenty three, with Labour now ahead fifty nine forty one to two party preferred. That's a swing of four point seven percent to Labor since the last election and there is no doubt about it. Mark Speakman had to go, but the branch is riddled by factions and it's toxic, and now Kelly Sloane provides a new look party. It's been a quick rise to the top. She was elected as an
MP at the last state election. She's a very solid communicator and will likely have a lot more cut through than her predecessor. In fact, I think the party needs someone like her to be competitive against the popular Premier Chris Mins.
But already an energy fight is brewing.
Kelly Sloan is a moderate and the member for Vourclous, the state equivalent of a llegal spender's seat of Wentworth, and already she's at odds with her federal counterpart.
Zero is okay, no change, no change.
We had a party room meeting this week and there was strong support to maintain our existing physition.
So how will this play out when the parties are at odds. I'll get analysis on the new South Wales Liberals changing of the Guard with former Police Minister David Elliott and Independent MP Tanyama Hayleik later in the show. Chris Bowen has broken many records and has had many firsts. As Australia's Climate Change and Energy Minister, He's overseen record power price increases of up to forty percent twenty four
percent this year alone. He's the first minister to promise your power bills would go down by two hundred and seventy five dollars. And now he can add a new achievement to his growing repertoire. Chris Bowen is going part time. Yes, in an Australian first, Chris Owen is about to become the country's first part time minister, operating on a fly in, flyout basis and incredibly seeking to serve not just one
country but two. You see, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy is going to split his time between overseeing the renewables only experiment at home while at the same time serving as president for Turkey's COP thirty one summit to be held in that country next year. Yes, he's going to dispense his vast climate and energy expertise and talents on the world stage as part of a package deal. After Australia seated the summit to Turkey, he officially becomes
the international man of mystery, just like Austin Powers. And it's quite an amazing feat when you think about it, for someone who is utterly ordinary and quite frankly subpar. I mean, he can't keep the lights on in this country. Yet has been appointed COP thirty one President for Turkey to lea international climate negotiations for the next twelve months. And by the way, it's a role which will take him away from his day job, a role which will see him spend a lot of time overseas. Had a
lot of time on his jet engine. That's a lot of miles to come racking up carbon emissions.
Also, he can be the Minister for.
Turkey or whatever the hecky's title is now and number one not to toot his own horn in the process.
As comp President of Negotiations, Iwood has all the powers of COP presidency to manage to handle the negotiations, to appoint co facilitators, to prepare draft text, how to issue the cover decision.
All of the powers.
He says, what a supreme leader this man has become.
Yes, look, this really is extraordinary.
Given his portrait track record at home, I think that Turkey can have him. Our power bills never came down by two hundred and seventy five dollars. We've been worn time and time again by experts that we will not reach our emissions reduction targets as they are via this experiment of transmission lines, giant wind turbines, green hydrogen, solar farms and batteries.
Yet Bowen still.
Unveiled a twenty thirty five emissions reduction target of sixty two to seventy percent below two thousand and five levels, with no clue what it means for your power bills.
Now, if he can't.
Even fulfill his very basic duties as it is, and now he's going part time, then surely it's time for Anthony Albanezi to sack this minister. He was backed in by his constituents. He was appointed a minister here in this country. So if he wants to go off on this vanity project, we'll go.
But he does not deserve to keep his portfolio on or.
When it suits him based and those calls were echoed by the opposition.
Today, Australians don't need a part time energy minister, a minister for global UN summit, someone who's clearly excited about the prospect of globe trotting to a variety of countries and his real job is here at home.
We've got a part time energy minister in the middle of an energy crisis.
We've got power bills going through the roof.
He can actually understand that globally, the renewables only process is leading to some of the highest industrial energy prices in the world.
Now, I think Johanna Sleek summed it up in The Australian Today with his cartoon saying Australia, my work.
Here is done.
The planet needs me now as Bowen jets off, leaving a burning inferno of wind turbines and transmission towers in Australia. So who exactly is Chris Bowen now? The part time Minister for Climate Change and Energy, the Minister for US when summit's the international manner mystery, the Minister for Turkey, perhaps the president of Cop thirty one, the Minister for fly and fly out, who really knows? Or perhaps just
a jack of all trades, master of none. Now it's probably going to get uncomfortable and some hard truths will be revealed, But it's time for a serious debate about immigration in Australia.
What sort of a country do we want to live in?
This is a debate that takes courage and conviction because the left love to label the very topic is racist. I mean, you dare have a debate and suddenly as some sort of right wing nutjob load of nonsense. It's not racist to have a conversation about the number of people being brought into this country. It's not racist to have a conversation about the types of people we are bringing into this country. It's not only about quantity, it's
also about quality. Immigration is an acute vote driving issue and you know that because the standard of living has diminished and social cohesion is collapsing. In fact, Australians are now more worried about immigration than climate change. But god forbid, don't tell the part time Energy Minister Chris Bowen who's over in Brazil that whatever you do now. That's according to a Spector Strategy poll. Its director Morgan James said quote.
The results were predictable as both the Liberals and Labor were perceived as failing to engage the issue head on, despite concerns that recent high migrant intakes have put huge pressure on housing markets, infrastructure.
And social cohesion.
This is a debate that has to happen and I think this is why we need a population plebi site where you get to have a say on how big you want this country to be and what sort of a country you want to live in.
That's what democracy is about, right.
Pauline Hanson has pushed for a national vote on this for years and has been overwhelmingly shut down by the Senate every time.
Here she was in twenty nineteen on a Plever site.
It just makes common sense to understand that more people means more demand for services. If those services are not established at a pace that keeps up with the growth, then lifestyles will go backwards. And with the stagnant lifestyles or Australians have been experiencing in the past decade, we certainly don't want things to get any worse.
And the reality is it has got worse since then. Population growth is outpacing infrastructure. There's less housing, it's more expensive. Labour has presided over a migration disaster. One point two million migrants have come into this country since Labour was elected. Australia's population will likely reach twenty eight million by twenty twenty seven alone, and at the same time, Labour has
failed to deliver on any of its housing targets. The supply of new homes is likely to fall twenty percent short of Labours one point two million target by twenty twenty nine. Only one hundred and eighty thousand homes were built this financial year. That's well short of the two hundred and forty thousand. So where are we going to put all these people? We can't even get every day Aussie's into houses.
Now, Look, if the Liberals.
Are serious, they would come up with a policy that puts a figure on.
The number of people coming in. And that's a hard figure.
According to The Australian this week, Susan Lee will release immigration policy principles and directions rather than a fixed net migration number before Christmas.
Now I fear the.
Liberal Party seems destined to do the migration hokey pokey, half in, half out.
How can you have.
An immigration policy without a serious fixed target?
How can you sell it between now and an election?
It needs a figure, put a number on it, have the courage to do so. Otherwise why have a policy at all?
And it's not just a targeted migration program.
We deserve to protect our values and that means we must look at the types of people we're bringing in. Now, we've already seen our social cohesion break, especially after October seven twenty twenty three, and that's not be racist. I mean we need to do everything we can to protect this country, or do we risk falling the way of the United Kingdom, a country that does not know itself anymore and has been completely overrun by foreigners and not necessarily ones.
Who share British values at heart.
Now, the Liberals in the short term are saying that they won't put a number on the table.
But we've seen this play out before.
In the weeks leading up to this year's election, Peter Dutton did put out a migration plan pledging to cut the annual net migrant intake by at least one hundred thousand, but it seemed to disappear into the never never, just like the coalition's nuclear policy, where it was barely mentioned
and barely prosecuted. Now, Macro Business chief economists Leith Vannsulin, who I will speak too shortly, has written about how Canada has had a sensible discussion on immigration by linking it directly to the rental crisis, infrastructure and living standards. He says it implemented a three year population freeze in mid twenty twenty four and as a result, its net overseas migration has pomitted. Now it takes courage, but right now we can't seem to have that discussion here and
no wonder voters are looking elsewhere. There's surging support for One Nation from voters who increasingly don't feel heard by major parties over population issues. That's according to a poll taken between November four to seventeen, which also showed support for one Nation has increased by eleven percent to seventeen point five percent since the May election. The reality is nobody ever voted for a big Australia, yet here we
are living in a big Australia. Multiculturalism and mass migration have been thrust upon us with no room for debate about the sort of country we want to become. And this is why the left don't want you to have this debate, because migration suits labor politically, it props up the Ponzi scheme economy, and as I said earlier, why not put it to a vote?
What do you want?
How many people do you want coming into this country? How big should Australia get? And in the meantime, unless someone can actually convince me about the merits of a big Australia. It's time to put some serious policy in place.
Now.
The Prime Minister has spent the past week ducking and weaving over the Britney Higgins saga and seem to struggle with the difference between the rape claim and the now discredited claim of a political cover up by the Liberal Party and former Defense Minister Linda Reynolds.
Should your senators, who led.
The charge of a Liberal Party coverer over the Higgins case apologize to the traders?
Well, that's not right. I don't accept that characterization.
Look, the public deserves to know the truth here. Firstly, why did miss Higgins receive a two point four million.
Dollar taxpayer payout?
And secondly did the Prime Minister and mean go Katie Gallaher and Penny Wong exploit this saga for political gain? Joddy manow Is, the Shadow Attorney General, Andrew Wallace Andrew good to catch up. As always, two judicial findings rejected claims of a political cover up.
So what's there to hide here from the Prime Minister? Do you think, Well, there's a lot to hide.
I think I think the Prime Minister is an absolute world of hurt on this issue because he knows how much the Labor Party and he himself weaponized this issue in the lead up to the twenty twenty two election.
I was the Speaker at the time.
I sat there and listened to the Prime Minister absolutely categorically weaponize the rape allegation at that stage that Britney Higgins was making against Scott Morrison as the Liberal Prime Minister and against the Liberal Party directly. You know, they weaponized this as being part of what they held out to be a woman problem. And we all know now that there was no cover up. But it goes deeper than that. Janet Orbrickson has done a tremendous job unveiling a lot of this just in the last.
Couple of weeks.
Let's look at it.
We know that the Commonwealth, when Mark Dreyfus was the Attorney General, sidelined Linda Reynolds from her own mediation. So she was a party to the proceedings, and Mark Dreyfus said, you can't take part in the proceedings. If you do, we'll stop funding your defense. So Linda Reynolds couldn't go to the mediation. She was banned from going to that mediation. She was banned from being able to defend her own
good name. We now know that the government extended the limitation period for which Britney Higgins was able to sue both the Commonwealth.
And Linda Reynolds.
Now they made that decision without any reference to Linda Reynolds whatsoever. We now know that there are also other letters that have been coming out that have called into question the ratio percentage of blame that Britney Higgins said that she was entitled to from a psychologist. There are so many things that are absolutely stinked to high heaven. Then, of course, with just a half day mediation, a half day mediation, unprecedentedly the Commonwealth awarded two point four million
dollars to Britney Higgins. This stinks to high heaven and there's a lot of questions to answer for here.
Look, I agree, we still don't know why Britney Higgins Higgins was given that two point four million dollars. There are so many unanswered questions, but the Prime Minister was very clearly ducking and weaving on this issue. This week, let's talk about Chris Bowen Andrew in an Australian first.
Apparently he's going to be the first meed do we really need to talk about it. I know, I know.
Look it's not my favorite topic either. But he's apparently going part time. This is an Australian first. Would you believe part time energy minister is going to take up this role as president of COP thirty one after Turkey successfully won the bid, but then also try and continue to control the energy grid here at home. The problem is Andrew, he can't control the grid here, but now he's going fly in, fly out.
I mean you, you just can't make this sort of stuff up to Nika. The only thing I can say is our game is the world's loss. But I mean, this is a guy that promised us, along with the Prime Minister, promised the Australian's two hundred and seventy five dollars power cuts in the lead up to the twenty two election, and we're all paying more than a thousand dollars extra for our energy.
And that's just mums and dad.
It's what about.
Businesses that are going to wall.
Because they can't afford to keep their doors open anymore. More businesses are going to the wall in Australia today than in any other period in our modern history, and it's because of this bloke's energy policies, and according to the Prime Minister, he's going to be over there solving the world's problems police.
Well, yeah, he's his expertise.
He's going to show that off to Turkey on the world stage, all of his great knowledge about energy. Andrew, before we let you go, Olbow's overseas again, this time in South Africa for the G twenty. Another week, another summit for the Prime Minister. What is he going to achieve this time?
Well, it is important that the Prime Minister goes to these meetings. But I'll tell you what. He will be very very pleased to be out of the national spotlight in relation to the Britney Higgins issue. But he'll obviously be traveling with an Australian press pack and I would encourage them to keep the pressure on because there's a lot more to come out of this story.
Just yet.
I completely agree with you. Let's see how the week unfolds.
Andrew Wallace, nice to chat as always, as we do every week.
Thank you very much for joining me.
Well, as I mentioned earlier, Australians are now more worried about immigration than climate change. According to a new poll in the Daily Telegraph.
The Coalition is.
Reportedly looking at reducing the annual net migrant intake by at least one hundred thousand below current levels. Joining me now is Macro Business Chief Economists Leith van Nonsulin, Leif thanks for joining me. One hundred thousand that's the figure being floated?
Is that enough?
Look, it's obviously an improvement on labor, but a reduction of one hundred thousand would merely return immigration back to its pre pandemic level, which was still far too high and that resulted in chronic housing infrastructure shortages. So NETO overseas migration average about two hundred and twenty thousand in the fifteen years lead up to the pandemicdemic, and that was labeled Big Australia. So it seems like the Coalition wants a big Australia as opposed to Labour's Huge Australia.
But it'd still see a population grew to about forty million people by twenty sixty, Ceddey and Melbourne about eight and nine million each, So what the Coalition's proposed is still far too high.
So what does the figure need to be?
I mean, the Coalition at this point said that they might be reluctant to put a hard figure on it between now and Christmas. If you had to put a figure on the table to make a tangible impact, what would it be.
Yeah, Look, I'd like to see that overseas migration cut to below one hundred and fifty thousand, just kind of what Peter Dutton was proposing. But it needs to be focused on genuine skills the nation actually needs. So we need tradings rather than uber drivers that sort of thing. So you know, the fact of the matter is the numbers are far too high. We've got the wrong type of workers coming in. That's why we've got chronic housing shortages,
chronic infrastructure shortages. But we've also got perpetual skills shortages despite running a high immigration program. So it's just not working.
I mentioned this before.
You have said in the past that Canada is an example about a success story when it comes to lowering migration. What can the Liberals learn from that experience, do you think?
Yeah, So, like Australia, Canada massively ramped up immigration after the pandemic and it resulted in the worst ever renal crisis,
amongst a whole bunch of other issues. But unlike Canada, sorry, unlike Australia, Canada's left leaning government implemented a three year immigration freeze population freeze, and that's resulted in a massive reduction in immigration, thirteen months of falling rents, and it's also contributed to lower house prices, and in fact, Canada's bank TD Bank, they released a report last month noting that Canad's immigration program has cut rents, reduced pressures on
house prices, reduced pressures on infrastructure, economic and social, and it's also stemmed the run up in unemployment after Trump's tariffs, and it's also improved per capita growth, So it's been a tick in every box. It's also been very popular amongst Canadian voters, so I think the collig can learn from that.
And the left leaning government over there did this with courage and conviction. And this is a debate that takes courage and conviction because you know, the R word always gets thrown up, racism. It's not racis to have discussion about this topic. And I mentioned this earlier as well. If our leaders are too scared, do you think it's time for maybe a population plever site It's been something that's been pushed by one nation for years.
Yeah.
Absolutely, so, look at Australian voters categorically want low immigration. Virtually every opinion poll held since the pandemic and before the pandemic showed they want lower immigration. So we should let us train the vote on the future population size via plever site and these results can then inform the government on the size of the immigration program to meet
that target. But of course the chances that's happening that each is pretty minimal because our governing elite wants high immigration even though the Australian voter has shown through multiple opinion polls that they don't support it.
And just based on the current trajectory with labor, I mean, obviously migration suits labor politically, it's propping up this Ponzi scheme economy.
Where are we heading to? What is the trajectory we're on right now under labor, Yeah.
It's unfortunately, it's going to be going to be very high. So according to former Deputy Secretary of the Department Immigration ab L Rinsby, he reckons that under current immigration set ins because they've made a whole bunch of changes to student visas which have liberalized it a lot he thinks of the new annual normal is going to be three hundred thousand. Now it was two hundred and twenty thousand
in the fifteen years leading up to the pandemic. Since the pandemic, since the end of twenty nineteen, it's averaged two hundred and seventy thousand. He thinks the new normals about three hundred thousand, which means we're going to have huge Australia and it just means a perpetual rental crisis.
And nobody ever voted for a huge Australia or a big Australia. Yet yep, here we are with that sort of trajectory. It's frightening. Leith van Onslin, good to see you as always, Thanks very much for joining me on the show. Coming up after the break, A university vice chancellor has resigned weeks after she claimed those who worked from home on Monday and Friday we're getting four day weekends that are more with my panel.
Next welcome back.
Joining me now is New South Wales Independent MP Tanium Mahlic informed your South Wales police bit as to David Elliott. Happy Friday to both of you. Big week in New South Wales.
David.
Kelly Sloan's been appointed the New South Wales opposition leader.
You're still a member of the Liberals.
What do you make of how the week's unfolded and will she make a good leader?
Well, I think it had to happen. Unfortunately for Market, he was just not getting the level of support he had. Agitators they're sniping out, and agitators that then cowardly didn't turn up to the ballot when it was time to actually vote for a new leader. But I think we'll see with Kelly a fresh start. She'll need to surround herself with the right people and a good team, and
I think she knows that. And she's going to need to review her relationships outside of the Parliament with the business community when it comes to workers' compensation, with the Conservative voters when it comes to net zero, and of course somehow come up with a strategy that will win those two seats back.
Well, she's already said no to net zeros.
And that's going to be all about the branding and she's with the Liberal Party in New South Wales and Victoria for that matter. Between rock and a hard place, they go with net zero and lose Conservative voters to one nation or they dump next net zero and lose moderate votes to the Teels. This is a defining moment for the Liberal Party. Never before have we seen a policy like this which has the potential to break that broad Church into two and in many respects, I think this is our DLP moment.
Well, it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out. When you're just so at odds Tallia a huge week on Macquarie Street. What does Kellie Sloan have to do in your view to cut through now to voters and also obviously go up against a very popular premier in Chris Mints.
Yeah.
Look, I think that what she does need to do, and she did say this in her press conference that she needs to connect with people in Southwest Sydney, Western Sydney and out in regional New South Wales. I think the first thing she needs to do is tours many clubs and pubs and communities as she can across this state in the next two months, before the next before
the February sittings of Parliament. It's so important that she gets to meet people and she can argue that she's been to every electorate in their state and get to know as many people she possibly can.
I think she's got a really nice.
Character about her. I have to say I find look, Chrismians can be often Look he's formidable, but he's often aloof She's the sort of person that can be very friendly when you see her around the corridor, She's always cordial friendly. I think a lot of people do like her. And and when you think back, she's had a terrific media career in the past. A lot of people know
who she is and she can relate to people. Look, the challenges for her, of course, being from Vaucluse, being the electorate of eastern suburbs will be a challenge for her.
But that's why I've said.
If she can go out to the electorates in Southwest and Western Sydney connect with those families. She is a family woman a self a mother and wife that does connect with people.
And Look, it's going to be hard.
She's going to have to differentiate and David's right from the from Mark speakman, she's going to have to find issues of a difference. Someone should be workers com for sure. She's got to support small business operators in that regard, not what the so fatherly was have been working with the Greens shockingly in this South Wales Parliament not wanting to reduce premiums. So that's the first thing.
That's a good point.
And what does it say to this perceived women woman problem in the Liberal Party. You've now got Kelly Sloan, her deputy is also a woman.
Over in Victoria.
This week a female opposition leader was elected in the Northern territory. There's a female Susan Lee across the board. How can you say there's a woman women everywhere?
Now?
Well, and you look at you know, one of our two most successful premiers in the last ten years has been Gladys has been a woman, you know. So I think I think the people that accuse the Liberal Party of having a woman problem are the ones either trying to big note themselves or trying to create some sort of non existence division. Now, yes, we have had we have had problems with male politicians who have said things and have acted in policies that haven't had women as
forefront of their considerations. But if you can't collectively say everybody in the Liberal Party has a problem with women, I had women chiefs of staff, you know, I served with under Gladys. I've served under the a female colonel in the army. I mean, this suggestion that we're all in the same box is just ludicals.
It's ridiculous.
And yeah, yeah, the Liberals were considering gender quotas.
They haven't gone. I agree because Kelly got their own merit.
Yes, and that's what it always should be. Now, this story baffled me. The Adelaide University Deputy vice chancellor has resigned weeks after she claimed those who worked from home on Friday and Monday were getting four day weekends. Paula Ward had called for stricter work from home rules to be introduced to prevent staff getting four day weekends by working remotely on those days. Workers were outraged, describing the remarks as disgraceful.
And now Tanya, she's suddenly resigned.
She's gone, yeah, look, it just tells you how fragile the woke culture really is, particularly in the university climate, where.
You can't you know. I feel sorry for this woman.
She actually apologized for a comment, and she still appears to has been forced to resign. It just tells you what university cultures like. It's horrendous. They're just a bunch of socialists. I think she actually made a great point. Why are people taking Monday and Fridays off regularly, particularly university. They're getting paid there overseas students. You know, no one cares about domestic students. You oversee, students are paying for their bills and at the same time our taxes. She
made a terrific point that and right to say that point. Nevertheless, she apologized, but it's not good enough for the woke warriors at university.
It never is.
And I think she made a good point as well, what are you doing taking those two days off?
All the time, every other major employer in the country is drawing back on work from home. Every other major employer in the country is saying, listen, we have to justify the work from home culture.
We have to review it.
We want to make sure that it's balanced with productivity. And yet it scares me that a CEO at that level loses their job for making what is essentially a flip and remark about whether or not productivity is there. Of Course, everybody should be justifying why they should work from home. Of Course, everybody should be justifying why they're
having Mondays and Fridays off. I mean, I know major employees in this town that are all saying, Okay, you can work from home one day, but it can't be Monday and a camp Friday.
No, exactly.
Plus also, the employers are at their discretion to decide what's best for them for a company, exactly, David, Let's talk about your callus are my favorite segment now every week your column in the Daily Telegraph. This week, who would you invite to a dinner party heaven or Hell? Who's your top pick for a dinner party?
Well, I've had obviously Winston Churchill there. He's certainly the god other of conservative politics. I did forget to put in Napoleon Bonaparte. I'd like to hear the dirt on him and Josephine and maybe throwing a boarde of hope. But I think I think, I think Clei Patriory, you know, I'd like to think.
That patre would be great.
Well, I'd like to think that she looks like Elizabeth Taylor in the ninety six.
That's why.
That's the only reason why reason why not just Elizabeth Taylor.
I think he needed a little bit, a bit of fun.
I would have had Elvis.
Oh, yes, yes, Marilyn Monroe.
A bit of spice.
That's true.
Maybe I was.
Yeah, No, I agree, Yeah, I would go with John Lennon. I'd throw John Lennon in there. I think John Lennon would be fascinating, like l do you.
I don't mind, but I just think he would be. He would be a fascinating man, his guitar everybody. So that's what we can ask for.
David Elliott Toyle, lovely as always to have you.
Both, Bott, thank you so much for joining me. Covering up.
After the break, we'll head to the UK and discuss the government's plan to pay asylum seekers even more taxpayer dollars to persuade them to leave voluntarily.
That's next. Well.
The ABC has failed in its duty on many occasions to cover stories that matter, opting selectively to choose bias over journalistic integrity. One such example is the Giggle Versus Tickle appeal, where biological man roxand Tickle argued he had injured feelings after being booted out of a female only app by founder Sal Grover. The ABC did not even bother to cover it. This week, a concession of sorts. ABC's Media Watch has criticized the broadcaster for biased reporting on the case.
There are I am sure several reasons for these gaps in the ABC's coverage, and I suspect one of them is how clamorous the blowback can be reporting this very difficult story about a very vulnerable community. But the ABC and its journalists have a duty to the public to find the courage to do so with just as much dispassion as compassion.
And Johnny me now is Giggle founder Sal Grover, so good to catch up. Has the ABC contacted you since I know?
No?
Of course they haven't, No, but they did. Unfortunately I missed them. We'd had a bit of an email and phone tag situation before the Media Watch piece came out, so but they wouldn't have published what I was going to say anyway, And what I would have said to them is that, like many other media organizations around the world, such as the BBC, the ABC made a bet that women would not fight back against the absolute nonsense that is gender ideology and men claiming to be women, and
the ABC went all in on this ideology. You just have to go to their website, to their Instagram. You can even look up something called ABC Queer and find out how much the ABC is all in on gender ideology. But because they didn't anticipate women fighting back like we have, they're now finding themselves in a very very uncomfortable situation of it being very very clear they have not reported on this issue accurately, not only with gigglev Tickle, but
also with Lesbian Action Group. Lesbian Action Group wants to be able to have lesbian only events, which would be female only events, and the Australian Rights Commission has said no, you have to allow men and claim to be women in there, so heterosexual men. ABC's never mentioned it. They're not mentioning, honestly, anything to do with kier Lee Smith, who is being dragged through courts of ulification for calling
men men. I mean, these are all things that are happening and the ABC has just decided to ignore it. And I think we all know why. It's because they know that their viewers, they knew the truth, wouldn't support gender ideology. To support it, you're only can only hear the light, you can't hear the truth of the pushback.
Yeah and yeah, it's in their charter to be impartial on all stories. And we're constantly week in week out seeing the opposite, and especially when it comes to a topic like this. So this week New Zealand band puberty blocker scripts. It's prompted the federal Health Minister here, Mark Butler, to describe the science underpinning it as contested and evolving.
But this is a thing that baffled me. Sally, he claimed.
He's spent quite a lot of time reading and thinking about Australia's response. My question would be how much more time does he need New Zealand's done it. The judge who led Australia's family caught when it gave the green light to puberty blockers to children back in twenty thirteen says she now has doubts about that ruling. And that's only just two examples. And the minister apparently needs time to read and think.
Yeah, I think it should be pretty instinctual that you don't give children life altering medication based on an ideology. And Australia is just looking increasingly stupid on this issue. I mean, we don't like to be humiliated by New Zealand, whether it's in rugby or sterilizing children. But here we are the UK, s donate, the US, many states in the US are doing it. Australia is just hanging on for dear life with this ideology, but I think it
really is catching up. I mean, I would anticipate that sometime next year puberty blockers will actually be banned in Australia. They just can't get around it now. The evidence is out there. It's so compelling, it's undeniable. These do not do what their claims do. Like these are children who think you can change sex and you can't, and they're medicalizing them. And it's evil what has happened, and anybody who's been complicit in it actually should be held responsible in my opinion, No.
I completely I agree with you.
Look, I hope that Australia does follow suit, but anything's possible under this labor government. Sard Grover, nice to see you as always, Thanks very much for joining me on the show.
Really appreciate it. Well. Can you believe this?
The UK Home Secretary Shabanamah Wood wants to pay asylum seekers even more taxpayer dollars to persuade them to leave fallen terrily have a listen to this.
For each asylum seeker in the country, it's thirty thousand pounds per individual per year. So there's a big sum of money. And if we can persuade people to return to their home country with a cash payment, that is often better value for the taxpayer. I know it sticks in the craw of many people and they don't like it, but it is value for money.
Joining me now is reform UK Counselor Darren Grimes, Darren, thanks as always for joining me. Is that seriously Labour's solution to immigration?
Oh?
It absolutely is Zanika. Look, they won't leave the clutches of the European Court, the ECHR, Human Rights quangos and all the rest of it. So they're keeping us locked in and this is their solution to say to a so called asylum seekers, well we'll.
Pay you to leave.
Well, actually no, we should just be saying to people if you are here illegally, frankly, you ought to go. You should never have been allowed to stay in. You clog up the so called asylum system, you cost the taxpayer an absolute fortune, and then we bribe you to leave. Only in Britain, could you a failure to actually police your own border be turned into a state sponsored gift voucher? And my mood says it's value for money. Who exactly is a value for it ain't the British public who
are increasingly unsafe. It ain't the British taxpayer who are funding this madness, and it certainly isn't down to the voters who consistently say they want the Australian style of border control where actually people are sent back and the asylum seeker actually gets a bigger payout than some of our pensioners are actually getting. Right now, it's not border policy, it's a clearance sale. Right, it's saying everything must go and we're going to throw absolutely everything we've got at
this and we'll pay you to take the exit. We are a weak country under this lot. We keep asking for control, Danika, but labor are dolen out coupons instead. It's absurd.
Yeah, that's a really good way to put it. It is absurd.
It is absolutely ridiculous that once again it's all been put onto the British taxpayer for Labour's absolute failure to control the borders.
Now Darren an inquiry has found the.
UK response to COVID was too little, too late and led to thousands more deaths in the first way. But Darren I mean, there would be many that would actually think the opposite here, that the response was too heavy handed.
So what on earth has this inquiry actually achieved.
Oh, Danika, this inquiry is a two hundred million pounds disgrace in my opinion. You know, it's basically the conclusion. I knew if you'd ask me a year ago what the conclusion of this inquiry would be, I would have told you exactly this, that actually it would be like a line for a really dodgy film, a promotion for a really dodgy film, in which they say, we ought
to have gone faster, harder, longer. Right, that's exactly what they've concluded two hundred million pounds to tell us that we should have locked down even faster, that we should have done it even longer, that actually the hurt and the pain that was caused by those series of lockdowns wasn't enough, and that actually the government should have done it even more draconian fashion and natured. To me, it's
an absurdity. You cannot, I think, in those in that time, at that time, you could not have gone any further with the response than we did. The likes of Sweden didn't do what we did and actually they came out of it a lot better. I think the inquiry was always going to conclude this. It was always going to be a grotesque waste of money and I'm quite frankly sickened and appalled by it. The solution was never to do what we did. I think I've always thought after
the first lockdown, I said it was cruel. I said, I don't think we should be doing this, and I think actually many of us have been vindicated since, with even the likes of Piers Morgan, who, by the way, was the sort of broadcasting lockdown in chief, you know, broadcaster. He actually concluded that maybe he was wrong on some things, and I think he was ultimately wrong on many things.
So Denika, I'm not a fan of this inquiry. I think actually it's a complete disservice to the British people, but also to any pandemic preparedness for the future, because I've got no confidence that they wouldn't do this again.
And same in Australia.
I wouldn't put it past them either, exactly the same issue. Now, before we let you go, we've got to talk about our favorite Megan Markel. She's done this splash with Harper's Bazaarre Darren, and it's been revealed that her staff announce her before she enters a room, even if there are only two guests Darren. So it's like the Duchess has arrived, is what said as she enters a room.
I mean, the vanity knows no bounds.
Well, Danika, I'd be delighted if they did that. If I was sat there and they announced that Megan Markle was entering the room, because I'd very quickly leave it. Look, ultimately, you know, she thinks that she's the second coming, doesn't she of Queen Elizabeth the iid Yet she delivers all the gravitas of a rejected sort of Hallmark film, one of those really dodgy flicks. But we've got a Christmas special where Harry's been wheeled out right like the world's
most ginger prop. He used to fly those Apashi helicopters. Now he's basically an emotional support for Netflix content. It's a really depressing state of a decline for two people that were once much loved by the British public. In the Royal Family's it's very sad. It's theater, it's expensive, it's California, it's self help theater, Danika.
I mean, you couldn't pay me to watch that Netflix series. Let me tell you that I will not be watching it, Darren. I'm sure you will not be watching it either, exactly, Darren Grimes, lovely to see you as always. Thanks so much for joining me on the show. Good to catch up. Coming up after the break. The winners and losers of the week, including the Liberals and newest female leader, plus
claims Miss Universe is rimmed. It's that time of the week where we sought the winners from the losers and helping me to do that is skinniest contribute on Louise Roberts.
Great toe. See you again, thank you for joining me.
Your winner is Kelly Sloan, absolutely hands down the newly appointed leader of the New South Wales Liberals. She has not put a foot wrong this week at all. She got the top job without knifing anyone. I mean, how refreshing is that in politics. But also she's focused immediately in her press conferences today on the issues that people want to know about cost of living, housing, energy and as a mum of three teenage boys, she knows the juggle.
So it's all authentic, and she's not a career politician, which I think is really important, and that makes her the very person of course labor do not want in the seat opposite them.
I agree. I agree with you. She was very on point today and very on brand, which I think they need.
And I think she was a former journalist I think should be a very good cut through communicator.
So it was an orderly leadership ballad. You say that happens that way. I agree. No kind of blood letting. All blood letting, Yeah, very very continues. I agree.
Now, my winner this week is Anthony Alberneezi, but not for the reasons you might think, for actually showing us which dance moves to avoid.
Have a look. Look, it's it's all too cringe. It's all too cringe.
And don't forget this performance from Bill Shorten a decade ago. You remember when he was overseas trying to give dancing a crack.
There. This is what not to do. That's why I'm giving him my.
Winner this week, because you know, don't don't do that, just don't do that. It is very cringey to watch. There's no kind of fluidity in the moves, you know, considering he's such a music fan. You think you've got that brute and a bit more slick, but well.
Is Taylor Swift. He loves Taylor to go the concerts. So yeah, don't do that. That would be my Now you're a loser.
This week at two Miss Universe judges who have quit, a scandal hit pageant drama.
What's happened? Would you believe?
Miss Universe is under a cloud apparently for being a rigged, slash corrupted competition. Wow, I know, shocking news. That is one or two judges have quit. One in particular has made the allegation that the before they get to the thirty finalists on stage, they walk out and announce what country they're from, et cetera. This is all pre arranged and all decided before they even put on the swimsuit in the hills.
So Miss Universe was.
Never a career path open to me, but to many women in certain economies or countries, it is a massive global platform and one that they spend a lot of money on, working their way up through all the competitions to get to the point where they're actually a contestant in Miss Universe, and then hoping it will lead to
a Hollywood career or international modeling career. So if that is the case, if it is all fixed and rigged before they get on stage, it's very unfair to these women who that's their job, is actually working towards getting this title.
So I mean they've worked their whole lives to get there. Absolutely, I actually think.
It would take a lot of effort, like physically, you've got to get there. No, So I mean drama, get the porn out Miss Universe rigged.
I had to mention it.
I was shot.
I like it too.
Now, look I had to give my loser this week to this insufferable Wicked to Press tour featuring Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erevo.
Have a look at this that continues to grow and grow even through this pressed or something's bothering her.
She's going to be something. I know.
She's getting the fixing edge. That's the Oh thank you?
Why there was nothing wrong with the necklace? And look this parody sums it up.
Where are you from Deaton?
Ohio?
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, you do.
I say something wrong? I thought that was perfect.
They're insufferable, very performative, and it's not really real, and that if we think about the age demographic they're aiming at for that film and that talent, that they're just going to turn off in droves and think it's just this fake you know.
But they're just dramatic, and that they're all over each other and they're holding hands and they're crying at the drop of the hat. It's all very uh, it's too much for I'm not going to go see it.
Alwis Roberts, have a great weekend. Very much for joining me on to see you, but nice to see you. That's it for me. I'll be back Sunday at seven pm for denekro and James. Steve Price is next for Night