From the Skying Center. This is Paul Murray Live. Thank you, Shery, loving to see you. Happy Monday. No sooks, no lefties. That's the way it's going to be. To night, James Morrow, Senator Matt Canavan, and a union buster who knows how to go after the CFMAU. We get to that all shortly before I get to a lot of news, a lot of political news, polls, cost of living, all the rest of it. I just want to focus on something that doesn't get enough national attention. There is a drought
that is taking place in Victoria right now. Now. I know we've talked about extreme weather events being things like the extropical cyclone in Queensland. I know it was pretty hot this weekend in Sydney, but I want to focus on the drought in Victoria because it is causing huge troubles for farmers. Right now. Let me show you an image not just of one of the farmers here and just how dry things are, but just about a drought
map right now. Now. This will give you an idea from the Bureau of Meteorology about the rainfall, which is the lowest on record. Severe severe deficiency there you go, or serious deficiency. Basically darker the red, the dryer it is now as you can see, almost like a third almost half of Victoria is in the red. The same of course stretches off into South Australia as well, and well under the herald sun for looking at this today.
Because the horrific drought that is gripping Victoria, thousands of families are now turning to having to pay for drinking water. This is months of no rain that has been taking place. Water tanks and dams across Victoria are running dry, prompting thousands of households and farmers to now pay for drinking water to be trucked in by semi trailers. The water comes to towns across the state who continue to struggle the worst drout they've had in almost two decades.
Now.
We all know about the different droughts in different parts of the country, but in certain parts of our own country it's the worst it's been in twenty years. As temperatures are set to sizzled this week, households and livestock produces are rash water and buying it in from wherever a possible after has to say months of no rain now even if it does rain. This is the evaporation map. Spent a bit too much time in the bureau's website today,
but this is the evaporation map. The darker, the red, the faster, whatever rainfalls is just going to go straight back up into the air. Unsurprisingly, the areas that have had bugger all rainfall, if they got it well, the exact thing would happen again. Even if it fell, it
had start to go straight back up. Meeting. Of course, it's not enough to soak the ground or to even start to fill whatever balls or dams you might end up happening having The Victorian Farmers Federation president is Brett Hosking, and he told the Herald Sun today that it's dry across vast parts of the state, but especially in the southwest.
Hence the maps that I've just shown you there. That's why the need is sitting hardest, because they are now facing a feed shortage because of no rain last year for the crops, also now water shortage because the dams are drying up. Now, this gives me the opportunity to say, no matter where you are in the country, and whatever the weather is like outside, you can do your bit to help our fellow Aussies and to always take care of those people who we know you love, which is
the Australian farmer. Farm Maide is the charity that does everything from financial counseling, emotional support through too getting those hay bails out to where they are needed, in this case in southwestern Victoria. Their website is farm made dot org dot au. When you go to the site, you'll see this, which is their opening title, and they are here to help. Now, what can you do? I know there's a lot of good causes, but if you just want to give a one off, for fifty dollars, you
can buy hay to feed the livestock. For one hundred and fifty dollars, you can have an in person counseling session somebody goes out and helps out a farmer. For three hundred dollars you can get some clean drinking water to these people. Or for five hundred dollars you can provide a farm recovery event, meaning an awful lot of people can consume into that area, fix up things, fences and here bring some water with them. That's a one off if you have the cash, if you're able to,
you can do it monthly. Now For twenty five dollars a month, you will be able to make sure that there is clean drinking water for a family. For fifty dollars a month, you can provide financial assistance packages. For seventy five dollars a month, you can provide fodder for animals. And for one hundred dollars a month a monthly gift will mean in person counselors. All of this matters because it's not just the financial health, it's their mental health.
So help our farmers please. Rual aid dot org dot au is their website. I mentioned this at the start of the show before we get too hot and heavy into the world of politics. And if you are in this particular area that is being affected by drought, or anyone in regional Australia who thinks they could do with the help be at feed, be at water, b at
the financial counseling or other forms of assistance. One three hundred one seven five five nine four rual lai dot org got au or all write the number down nice and slow for you one three hundred one seven five nine five nine four if you're happening to listen to us on podcast. Now, as to the politics and of course, cost of living number one issue in the country. We are hot and heavy on this issue because the Prime Minister lied his way into office. He did so three
years ago. He promised to or gets ready to do so again at this upcoming election. A labor government will lower the cost of living. That was the promise from opposition. The reality, of course, is something very different. The cost of living has become the major issue. We lead with it most nights, because how can you not think of all of the things that other people want to talk about. Seventy three percent of people say the number one issue for them is cost of living. Then it's housing, which
of course feeds back into cost of living. Then we're into healthcare. Crime is above the economy and even above climate change. But look how far climate change has formed, meaning potentially reality might sweep away a few of those Greens and teals. As for the amount of money that we are spending in our supermarkets, somebody who's put a tally together of just how much cost of living has gotten worse under the bloke who promised to make it better.
It's a strategic battle. The Telegraph today said the grocery bills have searched thirty percent during the Alberanzi's government's first term, leveling families three thousand dollars a year poorer. Now remember this, three thousand dollars on top of the fifteen hundred dollars they took away from ten million taxpayers. So see how
the numbers start. The rise, experts say, the relentless rise and the price of consumers staples has transformed what was once a routine task now into a strategic battle of what can I afford? What can we do without? Of course, none of this applies to the people who lied their way into power, because remember the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and all of the people climbing the greasebyy poles as his ministers have got not one but three
pay rises since the last election. They promised to make it better. The only people that got better for was them, including the bloke is now on over six hundred thousand dollars. Well, once you start to put in mortgages into that, the
number goes through the roof. In my view, rather than photos of candidates that you either always vote for you or you've never heard of, every opposition party should be running a fact like this over and over again, and localizing it to every electorate in the country because if you have a labor mp, they lied their way to get there. According to the Financial Review, today, the typical family is now nineteen thousand dollars poorer since labour took power.
This is why we talk about it every day. There are many families who three years ago would have told you, oh, we got nineteen thousand dollars under the couch, or we're just peeling up against the wall. Price rises, elevated mortgage rates, income tax bracket creep have combined to deliver the biggest fall in living standards on record. Repeat, biggest fall in
living standards on record. What was their promise, they'll make everything better as measured by real household disposable income per person. Financial Review hardly some sort of hardcore right wing out goes on to say the biggest contributor to the erosion household purchasing power is inflation, with the prices of goods and services consumed by the average household up fifteen percent in the past three years, real household disposable income down
almost eight percent. So everything costs more, but the power of your dollar to pay for things goes backwards. In dollar terms, it's a loss of four eight hundred dollars per person between the March quarter and twenty twenty two and the December quarter in twenty twenty four. This according to the Coalition and their economic analysis, but no one is arguing those numbers. Despite the promise of everything getting better,
everything got worse. And when it comes to the stables you're buying, when it comes to the supermarket, that's about three thousand dollars backwards. And if you're trying to pay off a house, well it is of course the best part of well four and four eight hundred dollars per person. This is why there is a giant hole. And do not let them get away with it. Do not let them get away with lying, making everything worse and still
hoping for your vote. This was the Opposition today on this matter with Chris Kenny.
And this is Australian's paying for a labor government that simply can't manage its own budget and we pay the price for it. There's an old saying that when left wing governments run out of money, they come after yours and that's exactly what we are seeing.
Apologies with Pete this morning. Now let's also talk about the single greatest source of revenue for the Australian government. You and me, anyone who pays as they go income tax. This federal government is getting more than any government has in a generation. In fact, it is a nineteen year high. Again the Financial Review of the ones banging out the stories on this. So they're going to get a good run with me because they are putting some numbers behind this.
A thing tank called the E sixty one Institute, a former Productivity commissioner says, income tax is the workhourse of the Australian revenue raising system. To give you an idea, where does this mob of liars and fools get their money from income tax? Two hundred and ninety three point seven b four billion dollars, more than double the amount that they get out of company tax and multiples of
the GST. Chris Richardson, who is with Access Economics or Deloitte Access Economics, often a man you'll see in and around budget time trying to push through the bs and tell you what the real numbers are. He says, the tax receipts will hit twenty three point eight percent of GDP this financial year on a cash accounting basis, the outcome would represent the highest level of taxation revenue since the Howard government was in office in two thousand and five,
two thousand and six. Here he was when speaking to my colleague and friend Ross a little earlier today on business Now.
Australia, its standards of living is going backwards at such a rapid rate compared with other countries because in inflation bracket creep, the amount of money that government has taken from payg taxpayers is increased incrementally.
In other words, people's cost of living crisis.
Largely is as a result of the government taking more money out of their pockets, and.
That increase in the tax take has been part of it.
Ross Greenwood, the question based off the stats again, I'll show you the straining Financial Review and their headline done off. Yes, the coalition's numbers, but nineteen thousand dollars poorer, nineteen thousand dollars poorer when it comes to households because paying off a house is more expensive, because buying any of the supermarkets more expensive, Because the government takes more than it
has taken in a generation. And then it's what they decide to spend the money on and we've got plenty to say about that tonight, because aren't they trying to change the subject on that one. There is no Jedi mind trick that will work here, No weak minds watching this program. Under this government, a football stadium of people have been hired by the public service. In fact, the size of government is worth mentioning again, Chris Richardson talking to Ross.
The size of government has risen in recent years. In twenty twenty two to twenty three, the size of government spending was somewhere around twenty four percent of national income. In the coming year it will be somewhere around twenty seven percent of national income.
And that's a.
Pretty substantial shift in a short period of time.
So if you're following their income coming in more than that going out to pay for the public service wide because the modern Labor Party has one view and one
view only. They view electoral strength through a triangle of dependence that you either have your handout wanting welfare, or you work for the government, or if you're in private business and the biggest client is the government, that triangle would be more than sixty percent of the Australian population if they can get it to that nice sweet spot like they have in Victoria. They did for a long time in Queensland. Then it does not matter what they do.
Remember in Victoria, their triple O system resulted in the death of thirty three people. Yet we keep being told health is such a high priority that government got re elected. The government that has bankrupted the state so much so that now it is getting a greater percentage of the gst PIE than the population it has is because, of course it's a labor state, and it's a place where Albo needs to hold onto seats in order to hold
onto power. What these people are doing to our country is a disgrace with your vote, with your preference, with your commitment to watching programs like this and spreading the facts, the information that I'm handing to you from multiple sources, and I show you the sources, and I pretend that I found all of this in the middle of the night. I show you where it comes from. Well, this brings us to old Grimjim Charmers. Now Hey, of course has told us that he is the greatest economy managers in
sliced bread. Because for the plast couple of years they've been running a budget surplus guess what's coming a budget deficit exactly. This was announced today by the Treasurer, trying to get out in front of the budget that will be formally announced on the twenty fifth, So that's not this week, but next week. And by the way, that is the first of what is going to be forty
and I repeat forty budget deficits in a row. Why do I know it's forty years because Jim Chalmers also released a document called the Intergenerational Report, how Australia stacks up financially and socially for the next few decades. And despite the fact that we will have the best part of forty million people living here over the next little while, the government will still keep spending like drunken salors because what is baked into the budget only gets more rotten
as the year's roll on. In fact, have a look, I circle it for you in the red every budget year between now and twenty sixty three. Anything below the line deficit this year, next year, year after year after year after year after year after year after year after year after, and they want you to vote for them. They have more money than ever before, but they are
spending more than ever before. They have designed a budget to spend even more when you and I may be long gone, or it'll be our kids and grandkids that'll be paying for it. Unbelievable, right, and they have the stones to say they are the great economic managers. They took fifteen hundred dollars off ten million workers as an automatic tax return. One of the first things they did.
They turned around and used every opportunity to put up every price they possibly could when it came to the little taxes fuel and smokes and booze along the way. These are the people who say cost of living is absolutely front and center, and everything we have to do reality is too little, too late. Tax cuts were fourteen bucks a week, and I'll get the interest rates in a moment. Let's just keep talking here about this budget because I want to puncture some budget bs before it
starts to take hold. Now, yes, you know, I've got a dog in this fight, and it is for not for these people to remain the governor of the country. And I think after three years of running it, they've run it into the dirt and it is time to save our country. Today. Jim charmers well, he softly announces what he will not have to announce with any great fanfare, because it will be by then old news that the great economic management of two budget surpluses has now become a disaster. Now.
Defining feature of our first three budgets was responsible economic management. That will be a defining feature of the fourth as well. Even this year, where we will be printing a deficit for this year, it will be much much smaller than what we inherited from our political opponents, and that shows the progress that we've been able to make.
Okay, let's all do this again. Remember the reason why Fridenberg and Morrison said back in black was because before the pandemic, the joint had balanced its books. Then the introduction of a safety their job keeper as well as higher one off welfare payments meant that that only came from one place, and it wasn't from revenue. Because well, the country shut down, the state premiers decided to lock it down harder and for longer, and that meant that
those payments had to go further. Meaning yes, the budget went into deficit, but if they want to pretend that it was because the Liberal Party was going crazy with a credit card, that's not the case. You know, anner, you and I remember budget night before the pandemic struck, and it was that things had leveled out and things
were only going to get better. But under this bloke, he's had a couple of years where mining has boomed, where population has boomed, where company tax has gone okay, but income tax has gone through the roof, and he's about to produce a budget deficit, one that'll be not for decades. But I repeat one more time, for the next forty years. And remember, every one of those budget deficits is added to the previous, to the previous, to
the previous, of the previous. So if there was a trillion dollars in debt in the handover, guess what ten twenty thirty forty years of spending more than you bring in, that'll become two trillion within a couple of blinks of the eye, and that will be a disgrace. And of course, don't forget. One of the reasons why they are going to be spending more money than money's coming in is because they are trying to buy and slide their way
through an election. They lied in the last campaign. Now they just want to bribe you, thinking that you can forget about your own circumstances that I repeat for the third time are almost twenty thousand dollars worse than when this mob took over. How's the promises going?
Albo a seven point two billion dollar announcement today? Five million dollars ten million dollars, two hundred million dollars, three billion dollars, three hundred and fifty million dollar, two billion dollars, thirty seven million dollars, eight hundred and forty two million dollar, two point four billion dollars eight point five billion dollar, four point eight billion dollar, one billion dollars.
Oh wis is economically responsible? Feding? Yeah, I'm going to keep talking about it. Why because he just is insulting. But they believe that triangle of dependency. Once you're throw in a bit of a goodble good music under black and white images of Peter Dutton cuts cuts, cuts, cuts, cuts, all they will do is strengthen that triangle and it will be almost impossible to move. And the only time people do wake up is after you get to an absolute point of no return with disaster like Queensland. This
is what we're facing right now. This is why your vote matters, your preference matters. Bugging them all is not an option. Doing any and everything you can to make sure that you spread the news is far and wide
about the failure of this government matters. And what about the hoodspurt today from the Treasurer who now has got a brand new scapegoat as to why he is saying that the budget is going to be in deficit despite the fact that they knew there'd be one coming this year, despite the fact they were planning and expecting them for the next forty years. No, no, no. The reason why we're having this one this year X tropical cyclone Alfred. Now, yes, I was in the middle of it and it was
not a fizzer, but fed income. This is, of course the ex tropical cyclone where Albow was definitely not campaigning. Charmers was definitely not hoping that you would confuse his orange jacket with the orange jacket of the sees because you know, he's just here to help and he's out there briefing today that the cost of the federal budget, now this is really important, not the cost of the
Queensland or New Soubal's budget. Who actually pays for the fire services pays for In the Queensland's case, the electricity workers to go around. I know this is the federal budget that in taxes they're going to lose one point two billion dollars because of essentially what two and a half days shutdown in a very specific part of Australia. And of course the media, well they were cynical, weren't they.
Were they willing to call bs on this? Of course, not to how just a new scapegoat when these people have promised and planned deficits for the next forty years, have baked in tens of billions of dollars that they are not currently spending and that produces a deficit. Did the media point any of that out? Let's roll the tape and learn together. But I think we know the answer. Millions of people are going into lockdown, told to stay indoors as the impact of Cyclone Alfred intensifies.
You new details on Cyclone Alfred forecast to make landfall in the next seventy two.
Hours and in northern New South Wales it's a race against time.
The first time in more than three decades a tropical cyclone is bearing down on our state.
So what is the actual reason? Again, the treasure I spoke today to my mate and friend Tom Connell here on Sky News.
First of all, our focus, as you'd expect, is on the human cost of X tropical cyclone Alfred and all of the other natural disasters we've seen in recent years. But there will be a substantial economic cost and also a cost.
To the budget.
So the one point two billion dollars you refer to will be provisioned four in the budget. It will be one of the key influences on the budget we hand down in eight days.
And this is a very very clever almost said, a clever trick. Okay. Now, I don't know what the budget deficit it's going to be. If it's going to be two hundred million dollars, five hundred million dollars, it's going to be two point four billion, six, I don't know, okay, But this number of trying to say that the loss to the federal government is one point two billion dollars is part of the excuse making about whatever the size
of that deficit is going to be. Now, the reality of that deficit is that by their own projections over the next forty years, we are going to spend more than we earn. Because the Prime Minister is trying to slide his way and lie his way and buy his way back into the Prime ministership. Forty forty billion dollars worth of promises that have been made since January. That's
why we're going to going to deficit. Okay, Now, is there a financial and economic impact of shutting down Southeast Queensland and find northern New South Welsh for a couple of days? Yeah? Absolutely, But I've got a workout from where Obviously airports were shut down for a couple of days. But okay, what taxation was involved in that? Nobody lost their job. Instead, people were being asked to work from home,
which meant they didn't really shut down either. Yes, a couple of days willworts and coals you weren't able to go into them. But the idea that that means there's going to be lower company tax, No, does it mean that there's going to be lower income tax? Well, again, as best as I can work hard, unless you are a casual worker, your wage was guaranteed, and I would hope that major companies like Colson wooll Is honored what was supposed to be paid in those shifts. So this
is nothing but an excuse. This is nothing but hoping that you are not paying attention. Now, it's a big claim what I am making right now, But do you honestly believe that the actual cost to the bottom line of the federal government, who's already employing everyone in the bro meteorology, who's already paying everyone in the defense force,
it's one point two billion dollars. And just to underline my point, maybe you're thinking, well, hang on, put a lot of rain primary producers in northern New South Wales and now there was a major hit to the budget when the floods were there in twenty twenty from memory,
if not to twenty twenty two. Apologies, Well, someone might want to actually alert the farmers because according to the ABC, you know that far right wing think tank, ex tropical cyclone Alfred costs Newsobels farmers millions, not billions in stock losses and damage. Farmers across northern New South Wales have
reported damages of seventeen million seventeen million. Now, does anyone believe that the seventeen minion worth of crops or animals would have produced something that would resulted in one point two million billion dollars in revenue for the government. Yeah, I don't buy it either. You've got to pay attention to the detail. I'm glad that you're hear. I know
that it's relentless, but this is the only way. The only way we push back is to know the information, share the videos, Tell your mates be here in the front row when we go live. Go to skynews dot com dot au and make sure that you share our
podcast as well. Now, while much of the media is going to try to focus on the up and downs of the campaign and how wonderful his new glasses are and whatever he's got to say in his personal life, and we know that plenty of the establishment media are literally so far on his side that even in so called efforts of journalism, they're offering mates rates to host
their wedding. And even though the turnbul Times is going to turn around and tell you the worst is behind us, despite the fact that a bloke who was both on Q and A and Paul Murray Live in the same week calls BS on that.
Well, I'm working the two jobs.
I've got three kids.
He's only fifteen months old, so it's a real you know, it's really important that we have.
A house to live in.
I can't do anything.
If all the long facts and figures become a little bit tiresome, if all of the charts become a little too much, may I speak to you in the language of the internet. There is a meme that often goes around, and there's many versions of this which puts up an example of the way things used to be and the way things that are turning out. As always, we turned to holy texts such as Star Wars, Luke Skywalker, how it started fresh and young? How's it going? Remember he's
drinking that weird milk, not looking his best? The years were not there, So let's do a few of these about the Abenezy government, how it started living? Their promise was to make everything cheaper. However, how's it going?
Forty seven percent of households are struggling to make ends meet.
Pain being faced by families at the supermarket checkout with prices rising and eyewatering thirty percent in three years.
You would have noticed fuel prices are again skyrocketing. Petral prices are disgusting.
To fill my tank costs over seventy dollars.
Yeah, new's done different anyway. When it comes to housing, how did it start? Versus how's it going well. Of course, when interest rates went up in the election campaign last time and the Labor Party was not in charge, this was what they said about interest rate rises.
This is a full blown cost of living crisis on Scott Morrison's watch, and now interest rate rises are about to be part of the pain. Now this Prime Minister has an excuse for everything and for nothing.
That was one interest rate rise. Well, how's it going well? Of course for Australians under this watch, not one, not two, not three, not five, not six, not ten, twelve interest rate rises. Oh but it ever came down ever so slowly and you might be able to save one hundred bucks a month. Really. Also, when it comes to the number of homes in mortgage stress right now, have a look at this number and these graphics too, another example
not just how it started, but how it's going. Oh yeah, there's also three million people at risk of homelessness, not to mention the difficulties at the moment about trying to find a rental property. This is how it's going.
So many people they just want to stop and lay roots. And we're tired, Sarah, We're tired of moving constantly and we want our children to build a foundation.
How it started versus how it's going power builds? Now, you would think this is a fairly easy layer for the government. After all, didn't they promise something by two hundred and seventy five dollars in twenty twenty five.
Two hundred and seventy five dollars a year hundred and seventy five dollars for households, reducing power prices by two hundred and seventy five dollars.
How it started? How's it going well? Electricity bills up forty seven percent? That was last year. And then there was the news from last week. Our prices are set to rise by up to nine percent in another blow to struggling households. Prices are going up by nearly nine percent for some households despite all the promises. The price of electricity is about to go up again. And one last one about how it started versus how it's going petrol.
When Anthony Abnezy was the opposition leader, he was saying the fuel prices are at record high as major squeeze Morrison government doing nothing. He said at a dollar seventy nine. The things were so outrageous because the then Prime Minister clearly hadn't been to a petrol station recently. Well, that's how it started. How's it going? These are the photos I took my phone at the petrol stations in and around this office tonight. Prices not a dollar seventy nine, not
even a dollar ninety six, two dollars twelve. This is on top of, by the way, a government that has increased multiple times, the fuel excise multiple times, the beer excise multiple times, the tobacco axis. And to make my final point the camera four sixty three percent of this bottle of booze is tax. How it started? You'd save this for a rainy day. How's it going? Hand me a glass or maybe not even a glass, or finish the bottle myself. Quick breakback. We're bre here on Paul
Murray Live. I remember you're going to send me an email pull Let's go news dot com dot au, No sooks, no lefties. We're often running and some big news after the break about how you can be part of the case for change when it comes to a government. More in a second. You know how I love a pub test. We've got a very big one coming up in a couple of weeks. It's going to be with the opposition leader Peter Dutton. If you would like to join us in his electorate of Dixon, you can send me an
email right now. It is pubtest at skynews dot com dot Au Monday, the thirty first of March. A couple of them away, but it's going to be the first one after the budget, after the budget and reply and maybe maybe maybe the first day of an election campaign. Who knows. If you would like to be there, pub test at sky news dot com dot you, please include your question. Okay, not because I want to vet, but we just want to make sure that one person is not asking the same as the other, as the other
as the other. Don't try and book ten tickets at once. It doesn't work that way, and you know if you've freshly registered it. I love the Greens at gmail dot com dot you. I don't know, but we'll all find now, okay, pub jested sky news dot com dot Au. James Murray, you can see him a million places here at skye News, read him in the Telegraph as well. Love to see a great man and man it is equally as visible on sky News, but doing his bit for the good
people of Queensland. Senator from Queensland now Nationals buddy none other than Senator Matt Canevan so lots to say, but about this, how it started, how it's going. You sent me a good one, Matt. We'll get it up on screen in a moment or two's time. But if that's the case, and everything is as clear as it is having you guys, not up by ten points, not as the Morgan Pole would suggest, down by nine, well it's always going to be close.
I think the tightening of the polls here is a silver lining for There is a silver lining from it for the coalition, for Liberal National Parties. It should knock out any humorous So I've been thinking all year that perhaps our biggest hurdle would be the fact that many of our supporters are lovely people, great people. Seem to think that this is in the bag. Certainly not. It is very close, th very tough to win government. It's even tougher to win government of a first term government. Now.
Peter Dutton's done a remarkable job to put the coalition in a position where it is this close. But now we've got to push through to the end. I've always been an advocate too that we shouldn't die wandering on the field. That we should get out there and throw the cut out passes and do our best to score.
So I would also hope that this tightening of the polls gives a bit of steal in the spine of my colleagues and we get out there and put a really strong alternative to this round people, because this cover
is terrible, it is waeful. It's been a very hard time for so many extrains, and I think we owe it to those people doing it tough to go hard here and put out a clear alternative about how we're going to get rid of the terrible policies that has put this country in the shocking position where the stand of living has dropped by eight percent, more than double any country in the developed world. We should not be this way with the country this much resources, this much potential,
this much greatness in its own people. We need to find a way of unleashing that potential, that latent potentially Australian people by being a much better government than this one.
I love the reference to rugby league. You're representing Queensland better than the local teams did this weekend. All three of them didn't get up. But Matt's out there fighting and talking to Rugby League James again the stark reality of the promise being failed. I talked about this in great detail last week. Tony Habbaits says, I'll stop the boats. If three years later more boats have arrived, what would the reaction be They say we're going to bring everything down.
Everything's more expensive has later removed with a shot.
Well that's the real thing here. And you know there's a lot to say about this here, but let's start with the big point of where we are in this campaign. You know, the Libs have done a very good job getting to within striking distance of this thing. Peter Dutton has done an absolutely remarkable job as our position leader.
He has made the right calls on big issues, one of them being nuclear, another one being the voice that said here we are, and we're in a position now where everybody says, I think, yeah, you know, the policies of this government are woeful. We know that our living standards have gone backwards by something like.
Eight or ten percent.
But if Matt, if you're gonna give us a bit of rugby league, permit me the American to give a bit of baseball here Okay, it's like basically there is and there is no shame I think for Peter, Doctor Peter doesn't need to there's no shame at all in losing to a first term incumbent government. But you're never gonna win if you don't have a big hard swing for the fences.
That's it.
And that's where that's where Peter Dotton is right now. And I think you know, they got spooked when that fringe benefit tax launch policy got absolutely monstered. Unfairly by the way, but it did get monstered. And we need to see, you know, some real policies around cutting taxes. We've got to in the daily telegraphed bar suggesting maybe, you know, increase of the tax rege threshold for every child. You have things that are easy to understand. They'll put
more money in families pockets. That's where we need to be.
I so bring back the local middle income tax officet that was fifteen hundred dollars ten million.
Pace and cut and and the bracket creed index the rates.
I'm with you, all right. So I was talking before about that how it started, how it ended thing. While I was in the middle of my carrying on there. Matt Canavan sent me this one, which I thought also was very clever. With the top people their parents in their thirties, a thinking Jesus is a good investment property be in my thirties. I'm kind of screwed after just buying these two things. I like it. I like it, and I'm glad you got into the spirit of things.
All right, let's talk about I don't have the second the second ski village, the second house in the s My kids probably think I do, secretly away that it doesn't quite hold.
All right, So let's just talk about some of the stuff and get ahead of the garbage that we're going to have to be sort of, you know, whack them playing whack them with when it comes to the budget. I don't know if you guys want to get involved that personally. I think the one point two billion thing and the price tag on the cyclone when use of Wels Farmers is seventeen million, seems to me that it's
about trying to set narratives. But the second part of all of this is that this government has made forty billion dollars worth of promises since the start of the year. They're going to, of course spend hundreds of billions more on an energy system that of course is the three world car three wheelcar going around Bathurst when we know it ain't going to set a lap record. This doesn't
surprise anyone. We know there are some gas companies saying they're going to try to bring some supply on in the Bass straight, but good luck if that becomes anything that the Greens or Teals could be involved with the minority government.
Matt, Well, yeah, on the budget, it'll all be revealed next week. Everything that's said beforehand you can totally discount. Obviously the treasure is trying to set the table in a way that benefits him and his team. But just go to the table and the budget. I think in the last budget was page ninety, but it's about page ninety. Always go to the table that shows you how much the budget has changed because of the policy decisions of this government.
That will not include that.
That line will not include anything that came from cyclone, Alfred, but it will include the decisions as you've said that this part the Labor Party has taken since its start of the year to check money into medicare, to put money into roads that if it's unfunded.
That'll be revealed there.
And in that table it shows in the government's first two full budgets they increased spending through because of their own decisions, at a rate that hadn't been seen that side of COVID since Kevin Rudd's response to the global financial crisis. It was totally inappropriate. At least Kevin had the excuse of responding to a massive economic global recession. This government came to power with what was clearly a global global inflation problem and they added a huge amounts
of fuel. The only gas that's been produced by this government is the gasoline.
That they caught on.
The inflation fire was raising this country and made it a lot lot worse for strained families.
Correct, So James, are you ready to get in for the Greens in a four day work week?
I love this idea, but I have a proposal, Paul, because here's the thing, Like, you know, you know, you know that I'm a busy man, both you gentlemen and jobs Jobs got all this sort of stuff here, and you know we've got the paper, I've got skins that were kind of an eighty week. So I reckon my vote should count for twice as much as a Greens vote.
How about that?
Yeah, no, I like it something Paul can I How about how about that poor Morgan Coxpike you had on before? Yes, yes, you know it's you know he's having to work two jobs, right man? Ye, because partly because of these stupid Green policies that have made things so expensive in this country when the Houston should be cheap. Why don't we just let Morgan work one job. Let's focus on that. Let's focus on making a country where someone who works full time can afford to provide for their family and have
a house. Great, and I'm poor Morgan'll be happy if you have to work thirty seven forty hours a week. That's better than what he's having to go through right now.
Yeah.
Look, look, plenty of people have been in touch again. Remember Morgan's got a high fi business about cinema, putting home cinemas in all the rest of it. Right, If we'll get the number again, lots of people reached out and ordered some work from him. You know, if you're thinking about these sorts of things starting up in the household or any sort of av stuff around the house. Police, we'll keep the number coming for me. In a moment
or two time. Let's get to American politics quickly, James, where lots of polls showing right track, wrong track much better at the moment, that's one thing. But the Democrats way down. This is despite the fact that Elon Musk is destroying the world, Donald Trump tariffs everywhere, the actual poll numbers for the Dems rules.
Well, the Democrats don't know what they're doing. They don't know who their leaders, they don't know if their job is to oppose everything Trump does or try and work on a bipartisan basis. And they keep choosing Paul these issues, these kind of eighty twenty issues, and they wind up on the wrong side. Before the election, it was hey, we think, you know, guys should be in your daughter's
locker room. Now it's like, hey, we don't think Donald Trump should deport Venezuelan trenda Arnwega narco criminals and send them off to some president al salvagor, because that's that's not on. I mean, it's like they just managed to
pick the nonsensical issue. And this is before we get to Columbia University and deporting you know, this Palestinian activist who is all calling for Intifada, and you know, like seriously, normal Americans just say yes, good, more of this please, and Democrats are going out and burning down Tesla dealerships.
Make it make sense, Paul well, but also Matt, Matt and James. What's really obvious too is that you know how many times does the establishment media and Eddie kick in the backside that they're in the wrong place. They've gone straight to everything is chaos, no benefit of the doubt, no sense of understanding. I said it before the election day. I repeat it even more now. They are so irrelevant you don't even double check to see what their leads story to me because it's so far away from reality.
The amazing thing the mainstream media keep falling for the bait that Donald Trump throws out there, right and they're all talking about this issue of the deportation of the Venezuelan gangs, and everybody supports Trump, or or maybe percent, as James said, supports him. And I think the problem for the Democrats right now is that they seem to
be focusing on form over substance. But there's a massive outrage about I mean, how Trump spoke to Zelenski in the Oval office or how this is the deportations are happening when ultimately people are going to judge a fruit a tree so and the fruit it delivers, that's how it should happen. And on the substance of what's happened so far, Trump has basically ended illegal arrivals over the Mexican border. He has ended the fighting in Gaza, an
amazing result so early in the term. And they're about to save these astronauts by the look of it, and God God willing, they'll do that in the next few days. That's what people care about ultimately, and it's a good lesson for all. I think political leaders around the world focus less on the communication and all this rubbish. We go on with the strategies and the tactics and deliver good results. That's what will ultimately put you in good stead.
With the electric absolutely, and I always think either whether if you're overly excited or overly annoyed, wait a week, wait a week, because it always ends up ending up somewhere else. Thank you very much. You can find out more with the US Report, Campaign Confidential and the Outsiders, or of course on the front lines of the fight
each and every day. Thank your lads to appreciate it now again, Morgan Cox, he's the bloke who was on Q and A on this program talking about how he needs to work two jobs and how tough it is. And he's in a scenario where because he's rent went up by one hundred and eighty dollars, he could end up being homeless. Okay. He runs a company called Smart High Fi. Any sort of audio visual stuff around the house.
He'll go as far up as well. Any job. Basically you'll go to the Hunter Valley all the way down to Wollongong one three hundred three two nine one oh four. I want to plug his business because the best way for him to be able to save his family is for you to hire him to do the work. One three hundred three to nine one four more in a second, well under sixty minutes. And I gave it to them a couple of weeks ago for their coverage when it
came to Prime Minister versus Alternity Prime Minister. But well done to them. Nick McKenzie and everyone involved in following up on the story in and around biking gangs and construction in and around the state of Victoria. Why I like the follow up is because the politicians kind of thought this was a couple of days story starting inquiry. But guess what the inquiry wasn't into anyone making decisions.
The follow up is for, among other things, just sinder Allen today to turn around and say, well, we'll get the police to investigate this. Make it sound like it was new. But according to the age tonight, the very thing she was saying with you today have already been existing since July. Now, the Building and Construction Commission was an important thing to hold the CFMU to account. John Lloyd was one of its former commissioners and he joins us now. John, thank you very much for the chat.
It is plain as the nose on our faces about the problems that exist on the construction big projects and the ones in our major cities. We've had now now to sixty minutes investigations. Yet the response of the Victorian government is virtually nothing. What do you think about just how plain the problem is?
Yes, look at Victorian government has obviously been asleep at the wheel. In essence, the Union controls the big bill projects, It controls the supply of labor to those projects. It seems to control the selection of contractors and that's I think the basic agenda of the unions, and from that has flown all this problems which the sixty minutes has uncovered. And then I said, there's a flurry of actor.
No, no, sorry, sir said, I see tonight that the Industrial Relations Minister, the workplace Relations Minister is out referring to the coalition planning to crack down, changing laws and bringing back the organization used to work for as quote unquote reckless.
Well, it's an astounding sort of observation. It's clearly that a regular, a tough cop on the beat like the ABCC is needed. The unions don't respond, the officials don't respond to reason or rational discussion. They need to have a tough response. Know that there's consequences, serious consequences of actions they take. And the ABCC, with increased penalties above what's there now, stronger powers to investigate unlawful conduct, criminal conduct.
Those things are quite clearly needed and needed as soon as possible.
We keep hearing about what is unacceptable in the workplace, what we know in corporate environments that would result in you sort of getting the never to be rehired attached to your permanent record. But What is it about this sector? Is it? The nature of work? Is that the totality
of control of the unions. That means even when you get a dirty, big spotlight and point out what the problem is and find them and all the rest of it, all it does is just maybe sideline one person, one organization, but it doesn't change the overall issue.
Yeah.
Well, it's a very very good observation. The nature of work on the major construction sites is such that it tends to be the clients in this case of Victorian government pushes the risk, if you like, onto the head contractor and subcontractors and the two don't seem to Victorian government obviously as a client hasn't been keeping informed about what's going on.
Now.
To me, it only get lasting change if you have the key players coming together, that is the client, the government. That means ministers and senior officials involve, Victoria Police, involve the head contrac tractors and the major subcontractors to say the old ways are over lawful conduct will be applied. The union won't dictate who's engaged. The union won't dictate
who we select as contractors. If you do that, and if the head contractors are required to if you like, report any unlawful or illegal conduct to the client and the police. Then you'll get change. But without those people coming together and being resilient and tough, unfortunately, there's so many things in the industry which allow these schemes to continue.
Good on you, John, I really do appreciate it. Thank you very much, John Lloyd, former a Commissioner of the Australian Building and Construction Commission. I would also add to this that we know that there is a mean social precedy that can be put onto the finance in and around projects. Hence why fossil fullard projects don't get funded by Australian banks. Where is the pressure on where the money comes from for these jets that employ these people.
Obviously when it comes to something like the CFM the year, but there are when it comes to Victorian government and the CFM the year. But what about all these other plethora of projects. This is not the too hard basket. This is a statement of what we will and won't accept in our country. We'll see you again tomorrow night. Nigel Faraji our special guest at a reminder pub test. It's goynews dot com dot au for March the thirty first with Peter Dunton