The sky new setter. This is Whole Burray Live. Thank you so much for watching, and we've got so much to get to. The concern tonight remains cyclone Alfred. Let's get to that and what is happening in Queensland. It looks like it is going to hit somewhere around the Sunny coast, maybe a little further up, maybe a little further down. Then it's going to roll its way into by probably the weekend at northern New South Wales. Here's
the latest from our mates at Sky News Weather. Of course we're across at twenty four to seven.
We're the tropical cycle in Alfred, the system strengthening to a category two, adopting that westerly track and then approaching the coast. So we can see those red wind arrows indicating the gales and heavy rain from the system from Wednesday into Thursday.
Now not just the worry for people who are on the coast, but obviously there are some island communities that will be affected in the next few days. The Queensland Premier, David crucif Foley says now is the time to move.
There will come a time where you will have to have made that decision to leave or stay, and once that window closes, we will then support people in whatever decision they make, but it is important that they make that decision fairly soon now.
A warning as part of the preparation is for people to stock up on things like batteries for torches and water to get through a couple of days if for whatever reason the systems cut off and the normal mains aren't going to work. Now that has resulted in it making it very difficult in parts of southeast Queensland to get a bottle of water. Servos selling out, supermarkets being stripped bear like the worst of the pandemic. Herei's some
pictures from Woolies at camp Hill. The image is very similar to a coal's a little further down as well, where there is at Upper Kumra. I should say there is very little to no water available. Obviously we'll check in with the supermarkets to work out how they're going to double down, how they're going to restock. But yeah, that seems to be one of the early worries that are starting to get in there. Queen's nay knows what it's like to live in and around cyclones. Sadly, it
is far too frequent. There is plenty of historical evidence as well about them making their way this far down into the state and tipping over into the northern part of New South Wales. The preparations roll on as we speak.
Across the southeast, preparations are underway.
Residents are sandbagging and securing loose items.
Now I don't know why I have to say it, but I will anyway. Yes, there is some spectacular surf that is turning up, up and down the coast. It provides incredible photos, but please don't go into it. I don't understand why people want to do it. I don't understand why they want to put themselves in danger. And then of course the emergency services. This will only get bigger and worse in the next few days. And what about this bloke who was rowing his way from the
United States to Queensland. He was doing about seventy miles a day of rowing, and of course he got on the other side of this thing, so he needed to be rescued. Today, this bloke got into trouble at about seven hundred and forty kilometers east of Mackay. He tried to row twelve thousand kilometers across the Pacific Ocean. I'm sure he's doing it for some world record or raising money, but come on, a sixteen thousand ton Australian Navy vessel
was sent to go and get him. The bloke set off on his journey in October and was days away from getting his final destination. So I'm glad that he's safe. But obviously the idea that you can row row row your boat from the United States to Australia not exactly in my view, the smartest way to spend your time. But people do what they do, and the people who have to go and rescue them, thank goodness for what they do. To everyone who is in the zone, please
pay attention. I know that you think that you know this one's We've been through this one hundred times. Just pay attention to the information being given to you. I would prefer people to be inconvenienced as we overreact, rather than and unprepared as things start to batten down. I've been talking this about this for a few days. That's when the theory was a little further up. Now that it's going to get closer to population centers, it gets
even more serious. We'll be across it all the way through. Make sure your homepage for the information is sky news dot com. Do you make sure you're checking with us each and every night, But obviously Skye News, whether that twenty four to seven on what is about to unfold. Now, it's not just my job to sit here and tell you about the politics of the day. But something that I clearly and very across is how the media covers politics. Now, this is in the modern terms referred to as media literacy.
For you to understand what truly is going on behind the scenes, and it'll be pretty easy for people to turn around and say, oh, this media is bias and that media is biased. But tonight I want to show you how they spin the ball in one direction or the other. Now, sixty Minutes in the past couple of weeks has done profiles on both the Prime Minister and
the alternative Prime Minister. But when you actually start to have a look at some of the techniques that we used, it's pretty obvious which one, either the reporter, the producer, the program or even Channel nine thinks should be the prime minister after this upcoming election. Now, as always, the sixty minute interview is one where you get to show your quote unquote softer side.
It is absolutely delightful to meet someone who you want to spend the rest of your life with. We're best friends as well as in a relationship, and that's just tremendous.
Working at the local butcher for me is like a pretty shy kid.
Actually, it sort of brought out the ability to speak to people across the counter, and you know, it was a sort of a fun environment to work in.
And that is about as long as you're going to hear from the leaders, because I want to focus on how the media spins the ball, about how they use all of the tricks in the trade to make someone look better and brighter and someone look well, not as better and brighter. Perfect example, this is about how they started their profile with Anthony Albanezi.
Tonight it's the turn of Alba and is soon to be bride and possible secret weapon Jody Hayden.
And this is how they start with Dunton.
Unfriendly, unlikable, unelectable for those who oppose opposition leader Peter Dutton. He's easy to characterize.
Also without boring you about the technology of television, but things like lighting is really important. The more you light you throw on a subject, generally speaking, the nicer and better that they are going to look. Have a look at the lighting setup that was for the interview that was done with the Prime Minister, I believe in Tasmania. All of it pretty light, pretty bright. Well basically it was a dolphin torch when they were talking to Peter Dutton.
Tight shots, no example of a nice, big modern room, no extra showbiz around it, just a tight and as I said, fairly poorly lit image. Now this matters because hundreds of thousands of people, the people who in compulsory Voda Land will only just start making their decision in the next little while coming off the back of the country's biggest TV show in maths. How these things are profiled matters. Now you know that I have an opinion, and no doubt the reporter and the producers also have
a personal opinion. But they of course occupy a pace in the place of the Australian media that is apparently right down the middle. These are the little tips and techniques which are used, as I say, to lift one person up and just to hold another person back. Now they'll be filthy with me showing you all of this, but I'm going to show it anyway, because literallylast night I hadn't watched either of the profiles, and I watched them back to back and I couldn't lie. It stood
out to me like the proverbial. Another example, this is the type of situation they put the Prime Minister in with the reporter friendly let's all get on the cans, out and about in Tasmania. The footage with Peter Dutton was walking the corridors of power in a dark suit. He's a creature of Canberra, well old made Albo. He's the one out and about with the people. Let's get on the cans. How good's this job? I'm sorry to go here. But it also extends to how they profiled
their partners. Now, you know, I don't talk about their partners. I don't talk about their families, but they This is a big part of how these profiles work. Now, this is the type of questions and type of conversation that they were having with Albow's future wife.
It's just that's right.
What happens there, that's really important.
It's not that exciting car to be honest, it.
Much sometimes it can be.
He's strong, he genuinely cares about people. And his values are very much centered around fairness.
Again, out and about in front of water, something like Banjo Patterson would have written a poem about. But what about how the Duttons were shown? Were they shown? No? Instead, they were in some sort of dimly lit room. I don't know. If it's at their house, I don't know. If it was at a hotel, I don't know. But they certainly weren't out and about with the whole beautiful Australian backdrop behind them. These are the little choices that
are made now. Whether these choices are made by the staff around them who helped their deals with the TV stations, or whether the TV stations make these choices. You see how you're starting to get slowly but surely the nonverbal cues about who is more friendly, who is more open, who is more approachable, who is one of us versus who is the person who's trying to be rammed down throat as the person who is not one of them? Again,
compare and contrast as the superannuation adds safety unions. Compare the pair.
Back at home, his wife kirily knows her husband's not everyone's cup of tea.
And the things that people say about him, I don't like them.
And then of course there was the straight up questions that were asked. Now, again, part of these profiles is generally speaking, it's normally a bit of a tickle, and then occasionally there's a bit of a sharp barb that goes in. But let's have a look at just how personal some of the questions were to Peter Dutton.
Mister potato head, Lord woldenwot how do you respond to that?
Okay? And then there was this, of course, as the left is trying to pretend that Peter Dutton is the Aussie version of Donald Trump. Now there was no such question as rudely asked to the Prime Minister as was asked of Peter Dutton.
From what the Australians have seen thus far, they'd be forgiven for thinking that you are right up Donald Trump's ass.
An opinion poll came out today telling us that Australians believe that Australia should have a good relationship with the United States. The same pole said that it was Peter Dutton, who, by a margin of at least ten points, was the better choice for the better handling of that important relationship between Australia and the United States. Yet that was the treatment on sixty Minutes, and then these moments like this to Dutton, we don't know.
How much nuclear is going to cost. We don't know when it's going to be finalized, We don't know you know, when it's going to be online?
Is it just a pipe dream? And just in case it wasn't subtle enough, I wonder which one Carl's going to.
Vote for John An mc wedding, how much charge mats rates.
Now again, Carl, the producers, the network, they all have as much as a right to opinion as I do. But the difference between say something like a sixty minutes in this program is that this is overtly an opinion show. It's pretty obvious in many, many little decisions what the opinion was of the people about who they profiled and how they profiled them. Now again, people in the TV industry will hate that I am showing you this, but
my loyalty is not to them. A long time ago I gave up on the collective industry cuddles or the hope for rewards. My loyalty is to you. And part of my experience as being somebody who's been lucky enough to live a dream of working in the media for as long as I have. I can see how they all do it. Now, should they be able to ask
the same question of the same leader. Well, no, that might be a little bit boring, but it's pretty obvious when you're constantly bringing up the worst things that are said about one person while you are polishing the image of another leader. It's obvious the message you're trying to send to the audience. At least on this show, I'll tell you up front what I think you don't have to guess by the lighting. Last week we did our pub test, and I've been doing pub tests with lots
of politicians for a long period of time. It is one of my favorite parts of the job, and it is really important that you get the chance to be in the room to see these people, and just like all other sort of political debates, you watch their body language. You like this one, you don't like that one. We're generally speaking given a wide berth by the Labor Party for obvious reasons. They think there's too much to lose. But every one of these pub tests has one thing
in common. The people in the room aren't from the area. They're not random fans of Paul Murray Live who trek for hours and hours to be there. They are one hundred people who are the first to answer an email that they would like to be there. We do our best to make sure that, yes, while I have an opinion and I do an editorial at the start of the show, that we make sure that the audience is not stacked out by people being able to get twenty seats at a time, and we make sure that the
questions are respectful. You'll also remember in last week's pub test, when there were people who were trying to rip into the Country Independent or the one who's getting Teel money in the seat of Gilmore, that I stepped in and I told the people to stop when I thought things were starting to get a little bit rough. Now, obviously politicians aren't babies. They've got every right to stand there, and the public has every right to have a go
at them. But when things get a little bit too much, When things there, I say, get a bit closer to the energy of the editorial versus the energy of trying to give everyone a fair go. It's my job as the host to try to step in. Now that does annoy some people in the audience because sometimes maybe they would like it to be a little bit more like
the UFC than good old fashioned fairness. But every now and then you have to if you are promoting something like a pub test, one where I don't want, I think, is to be on the scale. I'm also cognizant about how long each person is talking for. We don't have stop watches, but I try to even it up in my head as much as possible. And we also make sure that I'm not following up and just hammering one person over and over and over again. And in the forum of last week, there was plenty that I had
to follow up with both candidates. Now I appreciate that it wasn't just the liberal candidate was there. We tried to get the Greens, we tried to get Labor. Both didn't turn up. We obviously also put the invitation when we start to know who all of the candidates are on the ballot, to the ones that are going to truly affect the votes. And Andrew Constance created news out of his appearance when he was talking about the climate
targets of two thousand and thirty five. Now we know that the Liberal Party doesn't want to go much further than where we currently are. The community independent the country Teal said she wanted to go close to seventy five percent of one percent of the world's problems. And again I found Kate very decent. I have no complaints about her whatsoever. But again, I'm going to annoy the people in and around her, but I'm going to stand up
for the people who were in the room. Now. Kate, I've got to say, is a lot more approachable than many of the teals, and the fact that she was there, I appreciate it, I genuinely do, but once it was over, some of the ways that she has represented the program have kind of annoyed me. Now she's open to join us again if we do another forum down there, and I hope that she would join us. What I'm about to say is not about trying to tell you to vote one way or the other when it comes to
the seat to Gilmore. But how can I not again defend what we are trying to do here, what we've been doing for multiple multiple elections, which feel like generations sometimes, don't they And also the people who are in that room. Kate went on LinkedIn I'm not a member of it. Somebody spotted it, they found it, and they sent it to us. Monday night, the Community Independent a candidate for the most marginal seat in the country. Blah blah blah.
She went into the lions Den for the first candidate forum. That's fine. An hour of live TV on Sky News with Paul Murray's pub test at Malula Bay. It was just me and Andrew Constance and a live audience of climate deniers. Now, are there some people who do not share her worldview about climate change? I have no doubt, But that live audience of climate deniers was one hundred people who have a vote in a seat that last
time was decided by just a few hundred votes. Now, I get it, the money comes from outside of the electorate. But I won't stand by and let the people who were in that room be described with one sweeping reference as climate deniers. But there was another little thing that came out of it. I want you to see both the question and the answer on the issue in and around the types of flags that politicians stand in front of.
We know, of course that the Labor Party believe that the Prime Minister and ministers should be standing in front of the Australian in the Aboriginal and the Torres Straight Islander flag. When it comes to Peter dunn't he believes that only the Australian flag does because it covers all Australians, but those who have connections over thousands of years, or those who may will have been born here, or those that have turned up last week. So here's the question, here's the answer.
If you are elected, would you display our Australian flag proudly in your office or shelf front.
In my campaign office in now right now, Australian flags flag. We have one national flag.
We have one national flag.
And I'm very proud that my leader has indicated that he will only stand in front of the Australian flag as a.
All right, that's the question, that's the answer. Kate is standing there. Kate's people are in the audience. They know what has just been said. But in an interview on the ABC this is she presented and misrepresented what was actually said.
He pledged that he would never stand in front of an Aboriginal flag.
And I managed to maintain a popa face for much of the forum, but at that point I.
Was a ga Okay, can we go back and replay the question and the answer. Okay, I want you to see it again. There is no way that he said that. She knows that, but speaking on the ABC, you can say whatever you want about Sky News. You can say whatever you want about a sky News event. Again, I'm going to play it, even though it's as clear as day because you saw it before. That's her claim that he made a pledge to never stand in front of
the Aboriginal flag. And it was at that moment when she'd kept her composure because the audience was full of climate deniers and presumably I was giving her an unfair time, which is not what was said to me before or in the first ad break or after. Again, here is the question and the answer. Does it match up with what she presented on the ABC to no pushback to the local presenter who presumably couldn't be bothered watching the forum because it's on Sky News.
If you are elected, would you display our Australian flag proudly in your office or shelf.
Front in my campaign office in an hour right now? Austraine flags flag. We have one national flag. We have one national flag, and I'm very proud that my leader has indicated that he will only stand in front of the Australian flag as.
A Now, after presumably the Constance campaign or somebody who had watched the show got in touch with the ABC, it was a little while later that this went to air.
The ABC would like to correct a story aired yesterday that wrongly attributed statements concerning the Aboriginal flag to the Liberal candidate for Gilmour, Andrew Constance. The story stated that mister Constance would no longer support the flying of the Aboriginal anti straight isld of flags and that he would
never stand in front of an Aboriginal flag. What mister Constance actually said was we have one national flag and I'm very proud that my leader has indicated that he will only stand in front of the Australian flag as the prime Minister. The ABC apologizes to mister Constance.
So the forum happens, the interview happens, the correction happens the day after the interview happens. But in the same way that many people who are frustrated when corrections need to be offered that they appear as six point font on the back of a website or despite a screaming front page. An apology is issued days weeks or months later on page twenty seven. That's exactly the effect of what took place. Now again, because interpersonally, I had zero
issues with Kate. She said she had zero issues with me, and I have to believe her and take people at face value. And I don't know if the people around her or those who are sending the money from Sydney are saying, well, it doesn't matter who cares how he feels.
Well again, I don't really think it matters how I feel, but it does matter that a hundred people who are in that room were pushed aside as simply a group of climate deniers, and that the country teal is representing the Liberal Party as a candidate so racist they wouldn't stand in front of the Australian flag. And the ABC presenter who clearly didn't watch the program, because if they had, they would have corrected it in the moment, or maybe they did watch the show and didn't think that anyone
was going to follow up. Let's talk about the countdown of the election expectation to be called this weekend. Interesting though, that if the cyclone causes the havoc that it may that may well not be the case, that may be delayed for another week or another couple of weeks. But as we've talked about all the way through this election in this opinion show, don't have to trust the lighting and the editing. I'm no fan of Albow, never was,
never will be. I think that his promise going to the last election was a lie and a lie they knew they were making at the time. They said power bills will go down by two hundred and seventy five dollars, by two hundred twenty twenty five. The only reason they go down by twenty five dollars a month is because of a last minute payoff to the power companies that
has to be renewed each and every year. I also can't stand that when the country was going through the beginnings of a cost of living crisis in twenty twenty two, the Labour Party said, and how many times have I shown you the image I'll save you tonight, that a Labor party will promise to bring down the cost of living. Instead, everything got worse. They say they do everything when it comes to helping people when it comes to the cost of living, But you know, the tax cuts were too little,
too late. Fourteen dollars a week for people forty thousand dollars, and you also know that they took fifteen hundred dollars as an automatic tax return of ten million people. That annoys me. And while most people in the political world simply forget, I don't because in the same way that the politicians that the rest of the media don't like they are held account to, well, I'll do exactly the same here, even if sometimes you feel like Robinson Crusoe.
But you're here, and you're here each and every night. You're loyalty to this program and our familiarity that we're built up over a long time means an awful lot
to me. So the Prime Minister, we've got to keep an eye on a little trick that he is pulling at the moment, which is to promise an awful lot of money, lots of policies, lots of promises, everything from sea walls in the seat of Gilmore through to money for places like Tasmania, billions of dollars for the NBN, and billions more when it comes to things like the health promises. Since January, the Prime Minister has promises that now total and we're going off his website, by the way,
thirty one b four billion dollars. Yet the Labor Party, while spending this amount of money and promising to spend more of it, knowing that according to the Intergenerational Report, the budget will be in deficit for the next forty four zero years, they plan even more billions of dollars on top of that. And we haven't even got to the start of the election campaign. But the Labor Party seems to be going unchallenged by the media who are more than happy to do their bidding to always give
them the benefit of the doubt. They are allowed to get away with saying this every time the Coalition makes any announcement whatsoever.
I was hoping that at some stage pet It Utton would actually announce a costed policy. Well, i'll tell you what's disappeared, the coalition's credibility because every analysis says it will take too long, it will cost too much, and it just doesn't add up for Australia.
Okay, that's fine, he says it, but there should be some pushback because when the Prime Minister is making thirty one zero point twenty five billion dollars worth of promises, the obvious question has to be excuse me, sir, how are you going to pay for it? But guess what, tumbleweeds. We find very little evidence of this, and we get a transcript of every conversation he has, be it on FM radio or be it in a press conference. In fact, this is how little detail is being put about how
things are going to be paid for. When it comes to Anthony Albernezi and his announcements on the behalf of the Labor Party, billions of dollars trying to change the subject, buy people off, distract from the reality that they promised life would get better when life got worse and demonstrably worse. Take for example, the announcement yesterday six hundred and fifty
million dollars for fifty new urgent care clinics. Urgent clinics very cute way of saying medical centers where doctors will go and see you so you don't go to the hospital. All of it ends up being bogged built, and of course that means in many ways they end up being prescription farms. This was the information which was available on the Prime Minister's website as the press release that he
released along with that announcement yesterday. Did any of the so called major media mention in any of their stories? Excuse me, sir, how much is this going to be paid for? Well, let's show you.
Fifty more Medicare urgent care clinics are set to be rolled out across the country as Labor makes its biggest investment in Medicare in over forty.
Years, promising almost six hundred and fifty million dollars to establish fifty new urgent care clinics across the country, on top of the almost ninety already delivered.
The government promising six hundred and forty four million dollars to build fifty more of Medicare urgent care clinics, the coalition agreeing to four.
The point being this, if the question is good enough for one side, it has to be good enough for all sides. I would like it asked of all sides. But I think we both know what's going to happen here. Because, of course, the most likely outcome of this election is a Labor minority government. There is an outside chance of a liberal minority government. That is still the preferred position of the bookies. The bookies knew more than the Polsters
in the United States. But do you see here a relationship between the people who are reporting on politics taking out a little bit of insurance about not annoying the people who they think, hope or want to be the next government of Australia. Because if you get frozen out by the Prime Minister's office, if the Health Minister won't return your calls, then of course that means you won't be able to file exclusive stories. So it's people trying
to protect their access to power. Further detail inside of this announcement is what today's stories were, And I've got to say well done to the ABC online people who followed this information which was up on the Health Minister's website, which was the exact locations of these new fifty medical centers that will be paid for in part by the taxpayer.
The Opposition have said that there's no question that all of this is being used to be in very specific announcements, specific seats one's Labor wants to hold or Labor wants to win. Analysis by the ABC says this the clinics already open about a quarter or an electorates that have less than five percent hold for the Labor Party. Whereas when you look at the announcement made yesterday. Of the fifty clinics, about half are in labor electorates that are
considered marginal. Good on them for following up a good example about the people who claim to be better at their job and more understanding of Australian politics than anything I could ever aspire to be from my lowly place with you each and every night. But Peter Dutton tried to make something of this today. Didn't fire much in the media, but at least he made the point. There's no question that labor's porul barreling. You'll have a look at the map as to where these clinics have gone.
And again the people who twenty four to seven multiple years in a row, have followed this Prime Minister, you would think would be slightly more skeptical when he sees things like this.
The great benefit of these Medicare urgent care clinics is that taking pressure of costs of living for families.
But the reality is that under this government you have to pay more to see the doctor than ever before. In fact, the analysis that was put forward to us today it's gone news dot com. That are you another reason why it should be your homepage, because here are the facts, this is the data, These are the bricks
in the wall. The opinion is the mortar forty six dollars on top of the amount of money that Medicare pays because as you know, yes you get the card, but then they turn around and say that, well you'll only get X dollars back of the wide dollars that you have spent. The average out of cost pocket out of pocket cost to see GPS is more than double since two thousand and five. It's now forty six dollars and thirty one cents. All of that has happened under
the Albanese government. Nationally, by the way, bolk billing has fallen, in fact, eleven percent since Labor came to power, So fewer people are bold billing and they are paying more on top of the amount that the taxpayer is paying, all on their watch. Yet the media never points this out because dare they annoy the King Albo? Dare they piss off the media teams that they have the great little relationships with. You see, when they want to, the
Canbra Press Gallery can turn themselves into Canbra Colombos. They can follow every little detail of who knew what and when and which day and what document and how many of this and how much that? And they were very excited about Peter Dutton's share trading in two thousand and nine. Yet what about the golf between what Albanese is presenting himself to be and the reality of his prime ministership.
But I made that point last night too, that this is a government who on the weekend made an announcement that they were going to freeze any further increases in alcohol taxes, particularly beer taxes, for the next two years, despite the fact that, of course they have increased beer taxes multiple times over the past three years. But did that turn up in the media? What do you reckon?
In an early gift to himself and voters, Anthony Albanesi announcing a temporary pause to the draft beer excise.
Anthony Albanesi announces he'll freeze the tax on draft beer for two years from August.
I lose what little friends I have left in the business by calling this stuff out. But my loyalty is not to them, not to their Christmas parties, not to their WhatsApp chats, but to you. So do me a favor. Join me every single night between now and the election, because we are honored on it. Quick break back with more here on Paul Murray Live, and at least Nielsen
joins us from the States as well. We're not just going to talk about the Trump and Zelinsky stuff, but also how the media is now releasing books about how they always knew Biden was declining but didn't cover more in a sec Thank you so much for watching, being very patient while I go on and on and on and on and on, and then find another way to keep going on and on and on. But there was a lot to talk about and a lot of garbage to point
out to you. Is none of the wonderful Linda Scott is here in the man Cave and Matt Canavan, who is sitting by and well getting ready for the next few days in Queensland. Matt, I'll just ask you about that scenario. Obviously, like everyone, you're going to be paying attention to to where it hits at this stage, maybe a little further north of the Sunny Coast. But there's going to be a lot of a lot of worry
for Queensland in the next few days. What's your advice to the hard corese who've seen it all before.
Well, just take precautions, stay inside where you can and be safe. With the warning systems we have these days and modern buildings, everybody should be able to get through a cyclone safe. So that's the nast thing we pray for, and any physical damage can be fixed later. It is going to be worrying a few days because it's an area obviously that doesn't get many cyclones, about fifty years
since the last. So look, hopefully everyone does do that, bunker down and Queenslanders will rebuild, I'm sure like we always do.
All right. Now, we're going to do a lot of speed dating here, so let's put our speed dating heads on here for answers to questions not quite yes or no, but you know, feel free to leave the third power of the third paragraph out sometimes on some stuff here, Simon Benson. It's a great column as always, and in the Australian newspaper he focused in on how just thirty four percent of Australians believe the government should be re elected.
He says, the entire question that is at the heart of any election, but this one in particular, is to people believe the government deserves to be re elected. Now, let's get to this here where Linda. If only thirty four percent of people have that position right now and an election would be six weeks away, that's a lot of distance to be covered by the Labor Party.
Look, I've always said, Paul on your show that Labor is the underdog coming into this election. It's really tough in a global uncertainty that we have to win an election under these conditions. Nevertheless, elections are won by the question that's asked, not the answer that's given. Right, and so good on Simon Benson for giving you know that article a run. But the real question is would Peter Dutton actually do a better job than the current Prime minister at reducing your cost of living?
No?
Would he do a better job Peter Dutton given that he tried to introduce the gp CO payment as a person who's trying to save Medicare, No he would not. Would Peter Dutton do a better job of supporting communities with the things that they need, a better education system, more jobs, you know, a strong economy, No he would not. So this election is going to be about communities in Australia asking the right questions. I know we've got to
run Matt canavan, do stay safe. I got a text from Queensland Is just afternoon with a photo of a case of four x and toilet paper, and I did think, go Queensland. Only Queensland can handle a massive storm in this way. We hope you're all safe.
Good well, said all right, Matt. Obviously that is a central question. You've got to be confident that if people the majority are nowhere near does the government get to be re elected. But the point is, and I lost a couple of got some angry texts about my editorial last night about how the opposition is starting to fight this fight. Do you think that that case has been made or people have just told you upfront that they're willing to change.
Well, we've got to make the case, Paul. It's up to us to do that the next few weeks and months. Simon Stat's right in the sense that it gives us we've got the chance because of that. We've got the chance because this government has clearly dropped the ball and hasn't managed particularly the cost of living crisis Australians are
living through in the last few years very well. We've got too much government spending, too much red tape and we've been taking in too many people into this country and all of those things have exacerbated the situation facing a strain household. So we've got plants to tackle all three of those things. That's what we've got to get out there and sell. I don't think we'll just be resting on our laurels. It's tough to take down our
first term government. As much as Lenda and the Labor Party wants to take the underdog status, the reality is winning government from opposition after just one term is very very hard, and we would have we would, but would not be favorites because of that.
Now people sign up to power companies and sometimes you in order to get the best possible deal, you might tick the teas and season not be fully across what all of those teaes and seas are. Power companies in Queensland have the capacity to turn down your air conditioner and one hundred and twenty thousand Queensland homes have had their air conditioning turned down to only fifty percent of its capacity, not once, not twice, but five times in
two months. Again, people sign up to it, but that seems to me to be ridiculous that anyone other than yourself is setting your econditioner. It is poor.
I mean, we never had this problem before we started on this renewable energy transition, did we. We just used to be able to turn on our power appliances and control them ourselves. Revolutionary concept as that was. As you say, people sign up to this. But this is my core problem with this new two tiered electricity system we have.
I looked at the numbers a few months ago on this and invariably the people that are signing up to switch off or to allow the government to switch off their power bills are from the poorer suburbs, the outer suburban suburbs of Brisbane, those preceivingly those suburbs most activated by climate issues. In the inner city rich suburbs of
Brisbane aren't signing up for a surprise, surprise. They're running the air conditioner like there's no tomorrow because they can afford to do so, of course, And the reason people are signing up to this is because our power bills have gotten so expensive and effectively forcing poor people to give away their rights to control the appliances in their own household. Why don't we return to a system where
all austrain is equal. Why don't we have a system, a power system where everybody, as their birthright almost in this country, blessed with so much energy resources, can use energy equally and not have it just available for those that are.
Well to do. Man, how does this work in the world. I get it. If somebody wants to be as light a footprint on the earth, fine, good luck to them. But the idea that some central office somewhere is turning down your econ firstly, it does nothing in terms of climate change. But secondly, isn't that an absolute endorsement about how unstable the greed is? Now?
Look, it's an incredible story by John Rolf and congratulations to him for breaking it. I do think though, that Matt Canavan is writing calling out that the cost of energy bills are significant, But do you know what's going to drive them up is nuclear power? Is that hundreds of millions of dollars six hundred million dollar cost that the opposition has not yet accounted for in terms of where they're going to make cuts because of that policy.
Renewables are the cheapest form of energy. We have aging COLDI have aging cold fire power stations that are coming to the end of their life, and these brown outs are the reasons why we're having to make cuts to people's ability to use power.
That's just going to work.
Factual truth. And you can denying that climate change is false until your dying day. I know you will. But the fact is Australians know the truth, they know the science, and the Alban Easy Labor government has been pursuing the best and cheapest way to make the energy transition to
secure affordable energy and that'sbles. It costs six hundred million dollars for nuclear power and some of the sites that the coalition have proposed are in geologically unstable sites like in the Hunter in New Southwest.
That's ridiculous campaign. I mean they're just asked you for a date and when.
Is the renewal not dating you under any circumstances, Matt Canada, When.
Are we going to get lower bills?
Well, both of view.
Science is about predictions, Lender, like, if you're going to trust the science, make a prediction, Chris Bowen did. He made a prediction that by now you'd have your power bill two hundred and seventy five dollars lower. That has not happened, and it has not happened.
Anywhere in the world.
We've been trying to do this now for more than a generation, countries around the world investing in soul and win power. Not a single nation that has done this, that has pursued this course, not Germany, not Denmark, not ourselves, not California, has left their citizens with lower energy bills as a consequence. It is a failed experiment, and the definition of insanity is continuing to do the same thing even though it continues to fail time and time.
And I will just say this, I just double checked with the national energy market. Right, nineteen percent of energy and queensine comes from renewables, right, And we're at a scenario where one hundred and two thousand people because as that transition costs the money and is not being firmed up, you end up with this silly scenario, which I honestly think is the reality for too many people, and they end up doing it because they find it to be
the cheaper option. Now, in about less than two weeks is when the steel tariffs are going to kick in against Australia. I had thought that by now they were doing some sort of exemption for all the obvious reasons between Australia and the United States probably not going to happen. But Lindly, yours back from the United States.
Well, look, we're both pretty jet lagged, aren't we.
Paul.
I got back over the weekend, as I know you did, but it was an incredibly interesting trip to be there as part of a contingent of Australia's superannuation funds representing billions of dollars in Australian workers retirement and talking to the US government, talking to the Treasury Secretary, talking to the Secretary of Commerce about the policies that the United States has not just for Australia but for many different advanced economies, their new foreign policy, and trying to understand
what that means for how we invest in America right around the world, and of course Australian super funds are investing here in Australia a lot too. What was interesting I thought I was able to ask the Secretary of Treasury, the equivalent to the US Treasurer, a question about what he thought about our superannuation industry, and he was absolutely glowing with praise about it. He spoke about it as the fastest growing system of pension capital in the world.
Soon to be the second largest, only after the US, and he spoke about its ability to be consistent and the compulsory nature where people superannuation contributions go to grow their retirement security as one of the best features. I thought that was a remarkable compliment to what has been for a very long time a strong bipartisan policy here in Australia too.
Did you also say we should have the freedom of speech in their constitution like they have? Yeah, I didn't the Yeah, well, these systems, you know, if we're going to share, let's have their free speech stuff. All right, Matt, Linda, thank you. We'll get back to it all again next week after the break. The lady who does practice free speech and is a great reporter, one of our favorites
nonether than an analyst Nielsen from the States. Next, as you know, every man and these dogs had something to say about the meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelensky late last week. But I've got to say, in real time, the best analysis of anything I saw in America, anything I read in Europe, was here on Sky News. The person presenting it in real time was our analyst Neilson. Analyst joins us now from Washington. I'm not just polishing you up because I'm buttering you up for a chat.
It's because I thought, in real time, you got it right. In real time, you understood what was collapsing before our very eyes. And again, you've had a couple of days to think about these things. The reality is that people need to understand it's not crazy super magaworld that hates hates Ukraine and wants to give it over to Russia. It's that a country that is thirty three trillion dollars in debt had a twenty year war against Afghanistan and handed the keys back to the people who they were
fighting with, as well as the Iraq. They are so done with it, so done with it that it was a major part of part of the coalition that got him there in the first place.
Yeah, look, thank you. I appreciate the kind words. I think I was surprised last week how many people were surprised, And I think that was a lot of what fueled the analysis on the sky was that we've watched Donald Trump for a long time, and we're often accused by our critics of doing it with a fawning eye, but we do it with a realistic eye, and we do
it by talking to real Americans. And so I knew that this was coming, and anyone who've been watching Donald Trump for years knew that this is exactly what he said he would do and he's doing it, and that there has been a real collapse in support among Republicans for just any money going overseas, And study after study will show you that normal Americans, and when you talk to them as well, they have a disproportionate idea of how much money they send overseas and how much of
a problem it is for their budget, when the reality is it's Social Security is the big drain that they cannot afford. But they do have budget pain coming. They do need to have some big tax cuts through. Elon's obviously part of this whole plan, which I know everyone's losing their mind over Elon. From my perspective, I just think he's McKinsey. He's the consultant that's been brought in to just slash and burn so that the big guy at the top doesn't have to take responsibility, which I mean,
it's terrible. I know a lot of people in DC who are losing their jobs. I know a lot of people that have had three different emails from three different levels of management telling them whether or not they need to send five things they did in the last week in an email. It's chaotic, it's stressful for people, but there's just that reality that it kind of had to
be done. And then Paul, I guess the other thing I would say is, I know everyone's been talking about was it an ambush or not the office, And if you look at the last five minutes on its own of that Oval Office meeting, it looks like they just brought him in to tear him a new one. What you really need to do, if you want to have
an opinion on this is watch the whole thing. Yes, because I think if you were to frame it as an ambush, the way to do that would be to say they gave this guy enough rope to hang himself because they knew what he'd been like behind the scenes, and they weren't going to help him curate a public image anymore. It suited them to let everyone see exactly what he was doing. And Trump said that at one point where he said, I'm glad everyone's seen this. I
think that was the trap. And he not only walked into it, but participated in his own demises.
Oh mate, he died bond right into it. Now. Also, something that you were absolutely covering in real time as a reporter in and around DC and the White House was, of course, the cognitive line of Joe Biden. Now, Jake Tapper works over at CNN. He's now written a book about all of this, but this is how he was really on the air at the time, Rolltope.
I think what we see on stage with Joe Biden, Jake is very clearly a cognitive decline.
That's what I'm referring to.
It makes me uncomfortable.
You are.
Think it's so amazing. It's so amazing to me that I try and figure out an answer cognitive decline.
You're trying to.
Tell me that what I was suggesting.
Was I think that you were marking his study. Yeah, I think you were marking his stutter. And I think you have absolutely no standing to diagnose somebody's cognitive decline.
Yet analysts that Block's got a book out the bulls the bulls to say he's got the inside word on what he denied.
Oh and this is just the worst part of what so many DC journalists do is they hang on to information because they want to write a book later and they don't want to do the reporting.
Now.
I cannot tell you how much flak I used to cop for my coverage, which in retrospect I wish I'd only gone harder because it was so obvious. And the two obvious things were not just the cognitive decline we will watching, it was the protection racket around him that they were given so little access, and I would say time and again we see the least of Joe Biden of any president, and looks like they have something to hide. Well, guess what, it was pretty obvious. We all knew it,
and this isn't going to fly with people. The media has changed too much. There are too many options. They can't get away with this kind of stuff. And that's why I trust in the media right now are so low. That's why Caroline Love it's doing a pretty good job and getting some pretty good feedback on doing a complete reset in the One House press office.
But you hi, Frank sky High all day every day even before she got there. We love you, made all the love to the family as well. We'll see you again soon. All right, that's a chef, and I see you again tomorrow. We're a special giesst is Naja Farage