From the Skying Center.
This is Paul Murray life.
Yep, that's what it would have looked like if I had won seventy million bucks tonight. But like everyone else, no, no, we buy the ticket with fingers crossed. You're mentally buying a boat. But no, like everyone else, we've turned back up to work. One person has won seventy million dollars tonight in os Lotto. I don't know what state they're from. About twenty people have won the best part of fifty
thousand dollars. One hundred and ninety three won about five thousand, and right down to the rest of us winning four fifths. Bugger all the wedding numbers tonight forty four, thirty four, forty five, one, forty six, twenty five and twenty one. The support entry is nine, fourteen and sixteen. Congrats to the one person who you will know who's won. Because they can't help themselves. They'll be buying a flash car.
They might end if you see your next door neighbor new cars any time in the next couple of days. They're the ones that are seventy million dollars richer. Anyway, Congratulations, good fun for a day. These lottos, isn't it when you just do dream about that other life? But I promise sixty nine million, six hundred and fifty five thousand dollars. Anything above that, no, I won't turn up to work otherwise. I'm here. All right, Let's get into it. Let's do
some work tonight. Now. You know that I care a lot about the Kid's Helpline runs all over the country. It is a vital service, vital service for an awful lot of people around the country. It is to me, a vital mental health service that keeps kids alive. You know that we've raised money for the Kid's Helpline before. You know that we've gone and visited their center to see what they do, what the group does, and they're do incredible work. I couldn't be bigger fans of what
they do. The reason I mentioned them at the start of tonight's show is because of all of the money that the Victorian government has to spend on things, not a dollar to the Kids Helpline, despite a request from the Kid's Helpline for a little bit of cash. The Kids Helpline employs about one hundred and eighty counselors. Tracy Adams is the chief executive of your town says they
need at least forty more. If we want to avoid our kids being in crisis, then we've got to be there when they need it, in those moments that really matter, when no one else is Seventy five percent of all contacts come outside normal business house, so the phone calls are happening right now. The Kids Helpline ask the Victorian government for four point four million dollars in the budget that has just gone. It is getting nothing. Nothing. Despite
Victoria being the second busiest state for calls. The Kids Helpline provided more than seventy four six hundred counseling sessions to young people from five years old all the way through to twenty five across Australia in twenty twenty four Victoria. About eighteen percent of those seventy four six hundred calls were from that state. It's an increase in contacts requiring
counseling compared to the previous year. Now the Victorian government has no excuse not to help something like the Kids Helpline. The West Australian government and you said Weil's government, Yes, the federal government too. They tip in money, but We're almost twenty percent of the phone calls that are made to the service come from Victoria, and they ask for four million bucks. They should be pooning up the cash. Now, yes, there's an awful lot of debt in Victoria, but here's
a little reality. They're promising they're going to have a six hundred million dollar surplus ie money they don't know where to spend. And that's because Jacinta Allen was bailed out by Anthony Abernezi to the tune of billions of dollars thanks to our change in the GST amount. All of that, of course a way to save seats. All of that worked at the election. All of that might prop up an otherwise unpopular government at the upcoming election.
That me talking about it probably doesn't help people that are trying to get something out of the Victorian government. But if you are someone somewhere with some access, somehow to the Victorian Parliament or the Victorian government, can you pick up the phone not on my behalf, but on the behalf of the kids. The eighteen percent of seventy four thousand calls which go to the Kid's helpline, think about how stressed and how in danger a kid may
be to reach out for help. Now it can also be done via the Internet or text messaging, but this is a vital service. If the state government claims have got six hundred million dollars for a surplus six hundred million dollars more than they would otherwise plan to spend, surely they can find four million bucks. There's also another plea that I'll be making to the Victorian government right now. Again, I get it, they couldn't be more hard left. I
am clearly not of the hard left. But still we are Australians united and we should focus on that are doing it tough, like the kids I just mentioned, or of course the many farmers affected by the drought. The drought that is deep and very hard across big parts of Victoria starting to move into parts of southern New South Wales and across into South Australia, the Hume region.
You may know some of these regions, but we're talking about places like Mansfield, places like Well you can see they're Tuwom and a whole bunch of others Mitchell Sheperd and Greatest Sheperdon. All of those areas are part of the Hume area. And we learned today by the Herald Sun that a dozen't local councils in and around that area that you can just see, have written a letter to the Premier saying, for goodness sake, can we please
get a drought declaration. Now, the Premier did turn up in this part of Victoria last week, but let me read from the letter that has come from the local councils. Despite dams running dry and farmers looking as far as Western Australia for feed, a local mayor and farmer, Claire Ewitt Kennedy, says the region has been largely abandoned by the Allen government. In an urgent letter to the Agriculture Minister, the mayors said the financial strain was becoming untenable as
rural communities battle a growing emotional toll. Livestock and cattle prod users in our local government areas are facing mounting pressure due to the limited feed availability, dwindling hay reserves, rising fodder and transport costs, and depleted water storage. Now again that letter was apparently published just prior to when the Premier did turn up in that region. But even the help that has been announced to this point by some of these mayors is being said to be not enough. Again.
This is a government that thanks to extra money from the federal government, which means extra money from taxpayers all over Australia, including in Victoria. Well, I would imagine things like the kids' helpline and people like the farmers will we want them to get some help. One of the mayors again has gone on to say that the whole thing is a slap in the face. They're dividing the region. She said, I'd like to see the science behind declaring
droughts because it seems fairly subjective. She said that farmers can't wait any longer for financial relief. With die conditions crucifying livelihoods and communities. It's heartbreaking. Farmers are on their knees. We'll have a chat to the Shadow Agriculture Minister for their perspective. A little bit later in the show, the nation seems quite fixated on a courtroom in Regional Victoria. It is, of course, the murder trial, all in and
around issues to do with mushrooms. Now, there there was such interest in this thing that we know every story that goes online, massive numbers podcasts are about it. I've had mates that I wouldn't have thought are interested in anything to do with true crime, But no, they are all invested in this. And what about the cues that
were there before the sun came up? To get into the court room to watch the person accused giving evidence, The group of mostly middle aged women talked quietly and watched on as nearby a long row of TV cameras and journalists perform live crosses back to their newsrooms across the country from six am. By the time the doors opened at nine am, they were pressed hard against the glass waiting to go through the court's routine security check.
Every seat in the court was full. An indigenous artwork hangs from the wall above where the jury sits, a rare piece of color in a room that otherwise is filled with folders of paper, laptops, books and notes. So what happened in the stand today? We turned to Channel seven for their updates tonight.
Aaron Patterson accepting there were death cap mushrooms in the beef wellingtons she prepared for four family members in twenty twenty three. Do you accept that there must have been death cap mushrooms in it?
Yes?
I do. Miss Patterson also admitted she owned a dehydrator and had used it to preserve wild mushrooms after learning to forage fungi during the twenty twenty COVID lockdowns. When asked what she did with the mushroom she picked in May twenty twenty three, the month of the fatal lunch, she said, I took them home, cleaned them, slice them. If I didn't think I wanted to use them that day, I would dry them and put them in the pantry, later explaining generally, I would put them in a container.
I already had going with Wooly's mushrooms, so I would just dry them and put them in a container.
There was plenty more, including remember these are questions being asked of the accused by her own lawyer. Prosecution will get a chance in a couple of days time.
Juris have previously been shown the accused killer's record of interview, where she told police she'd never foraged for mushrooms and didn't own a dehydrator. Then, when asked, have you ever been diagnosed with ovarian cancer, she replied I have not. And have you ever had a needle biopsy on a lump on your elbow? She answered, I've never had a
needle biopsy anywhere. The trial had earlier been told she'd been referred to a biopsy in a message to her mother in law, and she'd claimed a cancer diagnosis during the Beef Wellington lunch.
And as they say, the trial continues. We have a system in Australia that no matter what job you do, no matter how had you work, a portion of it must be put aside for your retirement. The numbers started off relatively low. It's now what over ten percent. If you're in the public sector, it's close to twenty percent.
Of course, I'm talking about superannuation. One company in particular, Australian Super, which is apparently the biggest of the funds in the country, has had a world of problems, the latest of which has been highlighted by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, and apparently the allegation from ASSEK is that Australian Super has been charging dead people account fees.
The three hundred and fifty five billion dollars Australian Super Industry Fund, so this is just one of them, has been accused of charging dead people account fees and excessive delays in paying out claims. The corporate regulator has alleged
details about the superannuation's fund. Alleged contact comes after the Australian Securities and Investment Commission revealed that it was suing the company back in March, having claimed look it took between four months and four years to assess almost seven thousand death benefit claims in the five years to October
twenty twenty four. A six full statement of claim revealed the corporate cop has argued that despite quote death claims backlog end quote, Australian Super continued charging monthly administration fees from deceased members accounts during the periods of unreasonable delay. For their part, the company has responded and have said
that that particular practice is no longer happening. Previously, when a member passed away, administration fees were charged to provide the service of continuing to manage and a minister their account. Since October last year, once the fund was notified of a member's death, our policy is that their account is investigated, sorry is invested in the fund's cash option and administration
fees are no longer charged now. None of this is news to those of you who have got a reasonably good memory and can remember back to earlier this year and the end of last year when the great Jonathan Lee, the boss of our investigations unit here at sky News. He's done a series of stories that are all available
on YouTube, just putting Jonathan Lee superannuation sky News. You can find them through our website skye News dot com dot You were obviously over on the YouTube's and a perfect example of one of these couples after their son had died, the pain they went through of trying to finish out his super.
We assumed it would take some time. That we thought weeks perhaps, but it just dragged on, and then once we got into the new year and there.
Was these huge silences, it sort of felt like we've been purposely ignored. Because Soon made so many inquents out on that phone for so long that the battery would run flat in it. We felt at that stage that we've been deliberately installed.
When I started trying to make contact again, it was sometime in March, and I remember writing in an email, we have heard nothing from you since twenty first of December. That's the last correspondence we've had.
One week became twenty four weeks.
That's six long months. It's extraordinary. By law you are forced to put your money into superannuation. Of course, for most people they'll be able to draw down on it ever so slowly once you hit retirement age. But for those rare exceptions or increasingly significant number of exceptions where you die prior to or you've got a terminal disease, or of course you need to access the money for a collection of other legal reasons, seemingly it takes forever
to get the money to come out. Now, if this is a system where it is up to the superannuation companies as to how quickly they end up flushing the fund and giving the person the money back or the person on their behalf the money back, that system needs to change. Let's see if any politician from any political party has the balls to start talking about this, let alone start moving laws if they need to be done.
Because according to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission, they've got a couple of examples here of clearly a system that needs to change. Now. Either side of Parliament seems to, of course believe one thing, and one thing has been proven out by elections, which you can't give the Australian public enough money. You may call it buying votes. Others may call it an investing in our future. But again, it doesn't matter who's in Parliament, you end up at
a scenario where spending is the option. We know that when it comes to Jim Chalmers, he loves spending money. And we know that despite the fact that they got a couple of surpluses by luck, by the mining boom and buy some new accounting tricks, the reality is that the structural deficit means that we will have no budget deficits apparently for the next ten years. As I've bludgeoned you with this graphic, but I'll keep doing it until you see it in your sleep, there will be no
budget surpluses for the next forty years. Why because the structural spend is that no matter how much tax they get, no matter how much more people they bring into the country, they will spend more than they get. This, of course produces debt. Where last year it was under one trillion, this year it goes to trillion dollars. Next year it's almost one point one, the next year it's one point one, and by the time of the next election will be
at one point two trillion. Dollars debt. But if, of course you have a budget deficit every year for the next forty years, whether it be five, ten, fifteen, twenty, one hundred billion, you just add it to the previous tally. So one trillion dollars debt will become one point two will become one point five, one point seven two, two and a half. Who cares? And you see, there's actually a theory that this is a good way to run
a country. It certainly seems to be the way that Jim Chalmers likes to fund the Australian economy, which is, rather than just balance things out and thank goodness for AI for giving us a snappy little cartoon image to show you here it's a money tree that basically countries like Australia, economies like Australian now, and we'll ever call in the debt, so who cares. Just keep running up the debt, keep running up the deficits. This is in
a more complicated form called modern monetary theory. Say that three times when you're trying to add lib on TV, and as the ABC defines it, basically debt doesn't matter. Now this is worth having a look at. You say, the budget deficits, and this being the people behind the modern monetary theory. They say the budget deficits are not always bad. In fact, deficits are often necessary and beneficial.
A budget deficit is merely evidence of extra government spending, and government spending boosts the wealth of the private sector, businesses and households. That's the theory. Now, you and I of course come from a different world where there isn't a money tree. You've got to pay these things off. But I continue reading. They say it depends on what
deficit spending is being used for. Increasing the deficit to financial war not a good thing, or not the same thing as increasing the deficit to build more hospitals or schools. They argue that investments that will enhance productivity through better health, greater knowledge and skills, improve transport and the like are worth funding, even if it results in a budget deficit. But in Australia, we don't borrow money for all of
those things. We borrow it for some of those things, But every dollar that we borrow goes in part to pay what I showed you last night. Thirty seven percent of the entire federal budget is for welfare. That's not an investment that is a social safety net. Fine, great, fine, fair enough, that's the way we run our country. But you can't tell me it's okay to run a deficit when I almost forty percent of your budget. You will
never get back. You won't get it back via productivity because there's a new bridge, a new toll road, a new school or anything like that.
No.
Instead, effectively it just becomes dead money, or more importantly, vote buying money. So what is the way around having to justify spending more money than you have coming in? Well, the Prime Minister uses the keyword that is the giveaway of modern monetary theory invested invested, invested investment, invested investing. So if you just say invest, then in part some of this money goes off budget nobody sees it. But then of course you have a scenario where they turn
around and they just keep racking up the debt. Perfect example Daniel Andrews the way he ran the Victorian economy. Well, it resulted in the credit agency is downgrading Victoria and its ability to pay back its debt, which means they have to pay more to pay off their debt, and the agencies are warning states like Victoria you've got to get on top of debt or the cost of paying off that debt will go higher. And this current Victorian Treasurer has just handed down a budget where how's this.
You are going to end up in a scenario where the total debt by twenty eight twenty nine in Victoria one hundred and ninety four billion, and that will cost ten point six billion dollars a year or twenty eight point nine million dollars a day to pay off ten billion dollars of your state budget just is on paying
off debt. That means less money for a school, less money for a hospital, less money for the kids helpline, less money to help the farmers, but to their current situation of drought, and unbelievably, we have a situation where the Victorian Treasury has done no homework whatsoever on what it would do to the state budget if the credit rating is put down again because they keep racking up
the debt. But they don't care, because again, you can just pay off a credit card with another credit card, with another credit card, with another crewded crowd, and then just go outside and grab money from the money tree. Emma Kiel is the shadow agricultural Minister in Victoria. I wanted to talk to her about what we mentioned at the start of the program, which is the concern of
these areas in the hume of Victoria. Twelve different councils that have written to the Agriculture Minister saying, hey, what's going on? Emma joins us now of course from Victoria. Nice to see Emma. Give me an idea here. Where the Premier was out and about, you know, a couple of days ago, pretending that she was there to help. But are the concerns of this council they still remain. What is the golf between what the Premier is doing and what these councils need.
Well, we've heard a lot from the Premiere saying she's a regional Victorian. We've got a Treasurer who's a regional Victorian, and so apparently this is the team that's going to deliver for regional Victoria. But we certainly haven't seen this.
During this time of drought right across the state. We've had terrible low rainfall conditions, some of the lowest rainfall conditions we've seen on record, and yet we've got a government that isn't putting any money towards our farmers to provide a media on the ground support.
We've seen the.
Waving of attacks which hasn't even been introduced yet, three billion dollar additional tax on every single household of business and particularly our farmers. But when it comes to helping with fodder, with helping with water, helping with some great belief, or getting stock up to Queensland to protect their genetic lines, We're just not seeing anything. It's crickets from the labor government and people are feeling very ignored.
Some of these councils that again wrote this letter was published in the Heilson this morning talk about drought declarations. What is the difference between again what locals are seeing as drought conditions and what the state government is well officially declaring to be.
It becomes very Richard Paul, where it's about what we talk about two failed seasons. But the problem is the timing of the rainfall. So I was driving around Victoria Regional Victoria, not just today but on Friday, Saturday and Sunday as well, and the paddocks are just barren. There are crack dried jams everywhere, and when you see stock walking around in dusty and dusty landscape at start of June,
end of May. It should be pouring with rain. Now we should have a huge amount of green pick if not grass through the air through all of our padigs, and we just haven't got it. It's just dire conditions. And when you speak to pharmacy, really hear how they're taking it quite personally. Our farmers are enormously proud people. They have often farm for generations upon generations, and they can't change these current conditions. But they're really tired anyway.
They spent all summer fighting bush buyers with little support or thanks for that. We now get to this point where they need our help and the government is nowhere to be found, and they're simply heartbroken.
But also it seems to be this scenario where, oh well, if the premiere turn release of press release, there you go. We've noticed, thanks very much. Again. She parades around and pretends to be a country Victorian. But the area we're talking about here, in the human substandive part of the state significant when it comes to agriculture, population, tourism, all the rest of it. But what everyone can see with their own eyes is that this will look no different
in twelve months time. Yes, it will be worse, but it'll look exactly the same. It's still bone dry now in twelve months time and another failed season. They're in trouble. Now, give me an idea again about the idea that the premier will think all everything's okay because I turned up, I put out a press release, but clearly that's not good enough.
No, And look, you'll map is fabulous because that's where the drought's heading into. But we're now heading to a period where about two thirds of the state is in drought. It is a significant low rainfall event and we need the government to step up, but they're just absent. In fact, they're more focused on putting a great, big new tax on our farmers and providing that immediate support that our farmers need. And this has a huge flow on effect, Paul.
We know that if there is no food, it's just.
Going to push out prices and every single Victorian will pay the price for Labour's failure to support our farmers in their time of need.
Exactly. Farmers are not tax pignadas that you can just keep whacking and money comes out. They're real people, real families, real businesses, real people helping the Victorian economy. Thank you so much, em I really appreciate it. Look forward to more chats into the future. Keep us plugged in on what locals need in that area. All right, quick break back with more lots of debate, and the great Nigel
Farage is on the show as well tonight. Remember the only place you get to see the potential future Prime ministry of the UK each and every week, Sky News Tuesday Night, Paul Murray, Life Hortes, thank you so much. Hey, the King's Birthday long weekend. This is the start of the snow season and I can tell you I was having a look at Sconey's weather before big dumps coming this weekend, So enjoy yourself. If you happen to be
way more coordinated than me. If you remember a show from Threadbow a couple of years ago, Hey, if you've got suggestions of where we could do in ourtown, send me an email. All right, it is outsound at schonies dot com dot au. With me here in the man cave is none other than the wonderful Linda Scott joining us from his part of beautiful Coinsland, where we had outound a bit earlier this year. And the around to Wimber to Womber is Garth Hamilton, the member four groom.
Love you to see you, mate, love you to see you lead here all right? So today a little bit of movement when it came to the superannuation fight, particularly the bit about whether long term politicians that have been around under the old scheme, whether they will or won't have to end up paying the increased tax on people have got more than three million dollars in superinnuation. The Greens say that that is not going to happen, but
we'll all find out together. But Garth, we also see that the opposition is willing to talk if there are certain red lines that the government's not willing to cross. So where are we on this fight?
Well, first off, I can't believe I'm agreeing a little bit with the Greens here. I don't know if I'm greened fully with them, but I think perfectly reasonable in saying everyone should be treated the same. I think that's a pretty standard sort of position and most Australians would agree with that. They've been struck by a fit of sensibility. The Greens, who would have thought. So there's that piece
I leave to the side. The second one just a really clear marker I think for everyone out there asking where the Liberal Party will be, we are the party of lower taxes. We won't be supporting higher taxes, and that's the position I think we.
Can all trust party will take.
Who knows where it's going to play out, Paul, I think you've got to see a theme on this though. The story of this Parliament is going to be how to take bad legislation and make it worse because we've got Labor in the lower House and they've got to go and.
Deal with the Greens in the Upper House.
That's what's going to happen over and over again this Parliament and it's going to be a really tough job for us to hold them to account.
But that's what we've got to do.
This is what the Treasurer has had to say when he was an otherwise picking on hundred dollars bills off the money tree. As we showed via chat GPT tonight.
So will the likes of Peter Dutton and Andy Albernezi, you both end in Parliament before two thousand and four, be subject to these super tax increases?
Yes, and we've made that clear. You read from time to time on social media that somehow politicians on the old scheme before two thousand and four have somehow been exempted. That's not the case about politicians on defined benefit will be impacted if they've got some very substantial balances by the changes we're proposing now.
Linda, I'm sure we could have a ding dong, but of course you serve on the board of one of these superannuation funds. So moved to something else, which is the battle that local council. This, of course was a great part of your political and professional experience, the role in local councils of being able to say yes to
certain developments and no to other developments. Apparently, part of the housing conversation in Melbourne is that basically locals objections are being steamrolled in favor of we need places for people. The Age was writing about this today. It seems that the state government and particularly also maybe into places like New South Wales where in and around that edge of I'm just mentioning last night in and around Glebe and
the Glee Island Bridge. If there's a place to build something, they will build it, and they will build it bloody high. But many of the homes around it. Of course there's still the sort of two story terraces. So how does one manage this and what side of the fence do you prefer to be on? The local council or the state government that says, bugger and it's happening.
Oh look, I think you respectfully oversimplify the will of councils, right.
Because I do.
I have a television host.
You know, there's so few councils that don't want more housing, and of course more affordable housing in their local government areas.
They recognize it's good for people, it's good for.
Businesses to have affordable housing for workers. So I think councils are very on board with the idea that Australia needs more affordable housing and more housing overall to deliver that. Planning laws are complex. They're different in every state and territory. When I was a former counselor in the City of Sydney, there were different planning laws, sometimes on different.
Sides of the block.
Gleebe Island is a great example of that because they're owned and governed by different parts of the planning laws.
So it is really tricky and complex.
But here's what I want to say, because planning laws are so complex.
The hold up is also.
Complex, and I'll give you an example from New South Wales. Last time I looked, and it was a little while ago, the agency holding up development application times was actually not
local governments. It was the fire and rescue agencies because their main job rightly is fighting fires, but they also had to tick off a huge number of das to say yeah, this is safe, right, And so that hold up from another agency funded by the state government or in this case probably underfunded, was the one holding up the development applications. So I do think it's really easy to chuck a stick at councils and blame them for everything, when actually when you look at it, it's far more complex.
I think everybody is on the same page though. We need more housing, and we do need more affordable housing.
So what about places like to Woomba Garth. Obviously when we were there, we saw a development that was happening. We saw a big scale, smaller scale. We also know that the price just a little bit cheaper because you're that little bit further away from Brisbane. But with a whole series of technologies, you can work a couple of days from the office you're sitting right now and you don't have to go into Brisbane or anything else. Places
like to Woomba. Are they more up for development or again, people want to keep the height of it in a block at a certain level because they want to keep to Womba to Womba.
I think we do have the balance of both of those views. But from the federal point of view, I do tend to throw that stick at the councils, and most of the time it's usually the right stick to throw off from blood we look, the deployment of Green's policies at local council level is holding up supply across Australia. It's a fact everywhere you go. It's a fact here as well. And the sathing that we have to get
over and we have to get up really quickly. The one thing I want to push back on too is the idea that local councils somehow represent local people better than their state or federal members. They're the same people voting for us, bringing the same concerns forward. I hear housing concerns every day.
Paul.
I'm sure you coat to torm you see the opportunity we have to grow up here. And all those things you talked about. We need every city like to Wombo being able to grow. We've got a terrible problem with housing in Australia right now and we just need to address it.
Well, gard I say this respectfully. I do hope that if the Albanesi Labor government does put forward some more proposals to federally fund more public housing, than your party will get behind those ideas.
Pretty cool, Well that's not true.
Actually, so much housing is not connected to drains. So much housing is not connected to infrastructure. The schools, the hospitals, the roads. You know, these things are actually really critical. And so I hope you found that infrastructure and vote to support it.
Can I talk about it?
I will support it.
Correct. Let's talk here about Durinda A. Cox, so will The problems are inside the Greens leaves the Greens to join the Labor Party. I do love when it was Fatima Payment who was leaving the Labor Party. Oh you know terrible. She's been elected as a Senator from the Labor Party Western Australia. They essentially give the seat back, but they get the seatback ya taking one off the Greens. Now, people inside the Greens dumping the dirt file now on
their former colleague. I noticed this evening a story has dropped on the Channel nine news websites where the Greens affect used a slur against a fellow senator. Now, of course, a fellow senator. Let's actually get to the actual story here, which was Senator Derinda Cox called One Nation leader pulling hands in an effing retard. I apologize for the use of both words in a text that has now been
leaked after she defected. Now speaking again about local councils here, Linda, I remember there was a movie back I think late nineties, early two thousands, Rats in the ranks. It was all about Bradon film in and around the leich Art Council and labor people that were turning on the Labor Party. And there was a bloke who you can never see on camera, but you could hear his voice trying to
pull people back to the Labor Party. Ended up being the Prime Minister, of course, who at the time had a significant role inside the new sop Wall's Labor Party. So how does it work? You blow up when Fatima payment leaves, but it's open arms if a Green wants to come. How does this work.
Look, I think that Senator Cox has today publicly said that she supports labor values, wasbviously a member of the Labor Party some time before she was a member of the Greens by her own admission, and I think that's been on the public record for the long time. And she's talked about her need to promote reconciliation Affair Australia and those are very clearly Labor value the big projects that Labor has worked on. So I think it's wonderful news.
It obviously is off the back of the Greens losing three out of their four seats in the House of Representatives. They've gone now from eleven Senate.
Seats to ten. That will make life a bit trickier.
You know, they'll still, i'm sure, continue to try and negotiate with the government, but I think it is important to recognize that she's committed to the values that Labor proudly stands for. And you know, good honor for being honest and open.
About it, right Darth, I just love that, you know, Labor and Greens are now officially interchangeable. Literally, I mean, we know there were some candidates which were former Greens who ran ended up running for Labor, I think ended up winning. And now we have this scenario where again you know, on there watch when somebody left from Western Australia. Worst thing ever, when somebody joins from Western Australia. Fine
and fair enough. Of course, it doesn't change anything in the Senate because that block now has the control, and even if the Greens don't end up voting, the cross bench isn't big enough to make up those numbers. So it comes down to one of two choices, negotiate with the coalition or negotiating with the Greens. But what about the PM I mean talk about each way elbow here.
Well, look, you know there's two parts here. One I think you should stay with the party who brings you to the dance. You know, I think that's a pretty clear position in groom here. We once had some conversations about that aether we liberal or national, But look, your point's absolutely right.
There's nothing it's a Labor and a Greens member.
In fact, there's actually a couple of Teals as well who are former Labor members. Maybe one of them will go across as well. Who knows, looks like a good party at Labor at the moment, they're in some good times and I'm sure there's a big honeymoon period coming to follow as well.
Correct, Look, just as you sort of fall from that towering ivy tower you've got there, I mean, of course.
Price, Senator Nampa, Prices obviously.
Switched apart, room not follocked.
Well, you know, I say, it's the.
Same thing as going from the green.
You're on some pretty high, tenuous moral ground there.
Okay, all right, now I want to get to something far more substantive in a moment of two time, including a frightening inside into younger people and their sense of their ability to literally track their partners. This is looney stuff. We'll get to that in a moment of two time. But first before we head off to break, can we talk about tobacco taxes? And it feels like a one man band, but it's not. The reality is that I showed last night the smoking rates in Australia have basically
leveled off. Now, we went from about twenty percent smokers to about ten percent smokers. The taxation has just gone absolutely through the roof in terms of what's charged, but what's coming back is going down. But it's not because of those lack of smokers. It's because those smokers are going off and buying the chop chop, which of course
is available from the criminal market. Garth, do you think that there has to be a conversation to try to make the legal product more price competitive with the illegal product? And again, as a smoker, dumb decision should give up. It's not about the health conversation, it's about do you think that the tax on the legal product is helping fuel the black market?
Look, I absolutely do. I've been having a couple of conversations with economists about this, and to be really clear, I'm not taking a partisan position here. Both parties have played a part in this over a long period of time. But if you look at the simple economics, what we've done is create a situation. If you want to design a system to create a black market, this is how you design it.
This is exactly it.
And I'm seeing it into one break and walk through the streets and see those boxes that illegal tobacco on the ground that have been used.
And we hear about in the capital cities.
Where there's violence and gain associated activities following behind this, we do have a problem. What was designed a very good intent reduced smoking rates in Australia. Unfortunately, now we've created this black market and we're seeing that come back in. We can't deny that.
It's a fact. It's in front of us and we have to deal with it.
I stress this again, this has plaid out over a long period of time. It's some very good intentions, but what we've done is create a situation where it's very profitable to bring us cheap tobacco in now.
Well, and we also have this ridiculous situation that the enforcement at the responsibility at the state level, total number of people whose job it is to double check what is being sold in these things in New South Wales is twelve people. Twelve people across the entire state and the the best part of what twenty thousand different retailers right now? Do you agree that tax is part of this that we are at that precipice now where we've
pushed it as far as we can go. It's easy money because small amount of people whack them as hard as you can. But we're now starting to see the consequence and it is, among other things, tobacco shops being blown up. Yeah.
Look, I mean tax is a very effective leaver, as we all know, through very strong evidence for behavior and in this case reducing the impact of smoking and if you've ever had a loved one you know diagram cancer.
We all know how awful that is.
But I do want to say I think there is a very important piece around the regulation of this. I was walking along the street the other night with my kids, I obviously live in a city, Sydney, and there was just out the front of a kind of convenience store, which in New South Wales is not able to sell vabes with this sort of giant.
Light on the footpath that was like we sell vegs. You know, you could not read a.
Kind of red lacence in writing.
It's astonishing anyway, and I do think that the Commwealth and the States have to come together and have a conversation about this because the other thing that disappoints me, being from formerly local government, is it's destroying main streets right Like you're seeing all the beautiful local businesses that used to make up these wonderful main streets being replaced with kind of these dodgy convenience stores.
That if it's not a convenience store selling tobacco or it's a flashing light legally.
Yeah, behind the store, behind the canter, so like we should also be kind of supporting these small businesses.
All in all right, quick break back with more. I'm going to extend your time, lady and gentlemen, because Nigel Ferras is stuck on a plane somewhere. We're in a secure and Portnbury life. Now, whale watching if it's your thing, what about this? This was photos that were taken of Wales bouncing around in Sydney Harbor. Of course is the whether it gets a little bit cooler, they start to heading north south, whatever they start going, whatever direction they're.
In Sydney Harbor, that's all that matters.
Beautiful, thank you, Linda, thank you. Yes, no, they are beautiful and gorgeous and they give us a chance. So pretty pictures on the television. I'm just trying to work out whether where they want to be at this time of year. My apologies didn't read the full briefing note on this one, but anyway, pretty pictures, thank you. You will not be going while watching anywhere near to Womba. But there's lots of other things that are fun to
do there and colluding that to Woomba show. We remember, we've got that best in that sits on the set each and every night there, which was given to us by Garth and the people at the Tawomba show. There we go prior to place. Linda Scott is here. Niger Farasha wants you to be here right now. But plain problems blah blah blah. We'll do them again a bit later in the week. Now, I want to talk about some research which came out today that I find frightening,
which is one in three people in a relationship. Young people in a relationship think it is completely okay to track, monitor the movements, use a device to work out where their partner is at all times, suggesting that it is their right to know where their partner is. Now, let's say the obvious upfront. Anyone involved in domestic violence is a dog right, not acceptable, not okay, not finding any way to make an excuse for any of such behavior.
The thing I wanted to focus in on in this conversation with you, Garth and with you Linda, was there's a confusion here and a juxtaposition, right, which is very little kids these days are used to being tracked with a mobile phone find my iPhone with an air tag in their school bag. That sort of stuff. So how do we expect the kid that has been followed like that to then miraculously turn around it in their teenage years or a little bit later, to somehow develop an
absolute respect for somebody else's independence. Again, Linda, this stuff matters because we know what the consequences are of surveillus, intimidation, all of those things. But this is one of those moments where, dare I say, two truths start bashing into each other, and those of us who remember a world before this stuff don't quite know what to do.
Look, I think it's great that our watch is doing this research and publishing this and having this conversation because I think it's a really important conversation for children and parents. And there is this generational divide. I mean, I want to say, honestly, you know, my teenagers have mobile phones. I absolutely have a kind of you know, find everyone they know where I am, So you know there is this going on in my family.
But this research did make me rethink that.
It made me think about what kind of message, you know, I'm sending to my children, And so I think it's.
A really good discussion it is.
I think we should also be very honest about these very different between you know, tracking your child and controlling a partner in a relationship. You know, coercive control is so terrible and quite different. But I also wanted to highlight that really great article by should Tell Conscious this week, just talking about what do we do with men who've been charged with these kinds of offenses and found guilty, Like what is it that victims want?
What should society do?
And I think actually having these kinds of public conversations about the crimes, how they're wrong, but also if someone commits them, what is right for victims? What is going to make them feel better? How do we to educate to prevent which is of course the main goal here, And I think this kind of research is really helpful as part of that broader discussion.
Yeah again, Garth, I don't expect you to have the position that you can take into the parliament pass the law this way or that way, but it is it is very complicated. It is one of these things where you know, our generation, everyone was aware of a time when you had your own space. We remember our parents, you know, the only time you knew if mum or dad was coming home. Was when the phone rang with her when the door opened. All right. We then moved to people like us that have moved into this new
technological age. But then our kids will they end up in a scenario where it's very different. And we're starting to see now younger people coming out of childhood not needing to be observed by their parents, but starting to view the person they love as a person that they should have constant contact. And I don't just mean texting, but knowing where they are all the time. And to me, that ain't cool. What do you think?
Look, I agree it ain't cool.
And saying Linda said is really true that the gap between generational understanding of what this is. I talked to my kids about this. We went through a lot of stuff about social media in the last term of government. In fact, it's been building for quite some time. Anyone who wants to really look at this space. Andrew Wallace, member for Fisher, has been begging into this for a long time and he's a good man for doing so. But there's apps out there that don't just enable this.
It's not just so that you can track it. You can find things. It's encouraged. You're literally always showing each other where you are. At any point in time, you can find each other. This study starts with kids, I think as young as fourteen, So these are children. These are kids who have they're not mature. Their understanding of mature relationships isn't there. But what we've given them is a tool to a very poor start to a relationship.
This idea of being able to track people, to be able to know where people are, the sense the words we're used in this study around feeling jealousy as to where your partner was. This is a really different world, Paul, from what we grew up with. I mean, I remember sitting by the phone, You're hoping the girl would call me Forday, happily ever after. But yeah, just such a completely different world to what our kids are growing up in.
And I think there are some dangers there that we didn't foresee, and we do have to walk our way through those, I think for the betterment of all of us.
Yeah, and again, remember, as a parent, if you are and you know I'm focused on this because my goals are as little as they are, right, we are making the choices all right that help tell people and expose about what normal terrible word but still is when it comes to relationships. And it's not just modeling good behavior when you're sitting next to each other, modeling it about how you disagree. It's about modeling it when you give
the other person space as well. And technology kind of takes away the capacity sometimes for people to have their own space. All right, quick break back with more here in a moment on Paul Murray Live. Thank you very much to Linda and a Garth. Will see you again very soon. You know, Torquay in Victoria started the Great Ocean Road or end of it, depending on which way you travel. Area is next to it. Just ran from Fishow's, that great fish and chip shop in Turquy place called
jan Juck. Bloke got stuck. The tide came in rather fast and he needed to be rescued. He's twenty and no doubt embarrassed. Now. In Tasmania, something very weird's about
to happen. Their government was re elected last year, but as a minority government, the Labor Party did not have enough seats to get anywhere near it being the minority government, so it was the Liberal Party plus the Cross benches and Jeremy Rockcliffe, the Premier of Tasmania, was able to go to the government and say where the government for
the next few years. Well, with the unstable nature of minority government, we are about to see whether Labor is probably going to pull the trigger, maybe as early as tomorrow, on a no confidence motion. The reason for all of that,
I'll explain in a moment's time. The conquence is that if the Greens back Labor and the Independents who have said they are going to back Labor, if all of that happens, well the Premier will either have to resign, Libs will find a new leader and they'll still be in the mathematical miss that the minority government is or tas Money it could be off to its second election in as many years. He's the premier today because.
He's wrecked the budget, because he's planning to sell our power companies, our ports and our public transport, and because no one can trust him after handling of the Spirit of Tasmania fiasco.
The opposition leader throughout the challenge.
This is my message to the cross Bench, the self described true opposition, if they really are opposed to the Premier's agenda of debt, deficit and debarcle as they claim, then tell the House you've.
Lost confidence in this premier. To threaten the cross bench in such a nasty way, in such a nasty and bullying way, is extraordinary. Now, I've got to say that while this is a tradition of the Westminster system, that you have to be able to control the numbers on the floor, and if you don't control the numbers on the floor, then either the premier has to resign or you have to go off to an election. What exactly is the giant scandal that is the reason for the
potential falling of the Tasmanian government. Well, the answer is the budget, and not because a money bill can't pass and all the rest of it. It's just they didn't like some of the things that have been done in the budget. They also don't like some of the things that have happened when it comes to the ferry service between Victoria and Tasmania. Hardly high crimes, Hardly you would think a reason to bring down a government, a government that, by the way, today said no to a twenty two
percent pay rise for all MPs. I hope by this time tomorrow night the government is still in place and Jeremy Rockcliffe remains the Premier no matter what disagreements we've had in the past, said tomorrow,