First to night. We are in uncharted territory in this country thanks to the Greens, who have proven themselves as the most dangerous UnAustralian political party in our history, a party that is tearing apart the very fibers of what makes this country great. I'll explain more in a moment, but first take a look at this disgraceful act of vandalism in Canberra. Four war memorials near the Australian War
Memorial were vandalized yesterday. The pro Palestinian graffiti with slogans such as from the River to the Sea was discovered on the Korean War, Vietnam War, Australian Army monuments and a wall between the memorials along Anzac Parade. Now, for many of us, our loved ones fought in these walls and other conflicts, so anyone with a moral conscience would be horrified to see them defaced. And as we go
to air tonight, no arrests have been made. Now. Senator Jackie Lamby put forward a motion to the Senate today saying the Senate condemns the act of defacing war memorials by pro Palestinian protesters, which is deeply insulting for current and former members of the Australian Defense Force and undermines the significance of these memorials as symbols of national pride and remembrance. But that sense of national pride and remembrance is lost on the Greens because the party refused to
support the motion. They argue there may be a place in our society for this sort of activism because memorials of any type, particularly war memorials, are not politically neutral places.
You can agree with it, you can disagree with it, but it was inherently a political decision. Protest is a political decision and one of the reasons why we cannot support the motion brought by Senator Lambe today is that it frames the act of protest by way of interacting with a memorial or a commemorative space, as something that is exclusive to those who support justice and freedom for Palestine. And that is not true. That is not true.
Does he even know what he's saying? The Greens have absolutely truly lost the plot. Green Senator Jordan steel John went on to say, if we are to believe that the men and women of the ADF gave their lives in wars and conflicts. To defend such freedoms, then you have to engage with the reality that protesting, that painting is a form of speech. Well, Jordan, graffiti and vandalism are not a form of speech. They are criminal acts. Made even more despicable that it happened at our National
War Memorial. One hundred and three thousand brave men and women lost their lives serving our nation. They deserve our respect and to have them desecrated by antisemitic slogans is the lowest of the low and that is the level the Greens have reached. They have turned into the most UnAustralian party in our history.
It is extraordinary that any elected member of this place would come in here and defend the defacing and the desecration of these monuments.
The Greens are whipping up an atmosphere of hate and division all for vote.
Where do you draw the line? And as someone who's very proud husband to a member of the ADF, I can assure you your comments are totally out of order, are offensive.
Now it's not the first time the Greens have shown such contempt for our ADF. New South Wales Greens Counselor Rafaela Pandolfini or a Palestinian cafiet to an Anzac Day dawn service. This year, only the Greens would use our diggers to score political points to try and win seats from Labor, particularly those in the inner cities. And they are using a conflict a world away from us to
do it. This party knows no bounds. Now, The Daily Mail has obtained leak to audio of Green's leader Adam Bant tearing into his own supporters in a speech to the party's online national conference in June. Have a listen to this.
I want you to think about what the narrative will be if we don't win these seats. What Labor will say is are well, we can get away with bombing Gaza and opening up new coalon gas lines and it doesn't matter because voters won't impact on us, and the Greens can try as hard as they want and nothing will happen. That will be the story that they tell. That will be the story they tell. It won't be true, but that's the story that they will tell.
I mean they even willing to go so far as to say Labor is bombing Gaza. What does that tell you The Greens will do and say anything in the pursuit of seats, including accepting the vandalism of our war Memorial, which is not a place for the Greens extremism. The only person they seem to be falling is Labour's now suspended petulant child, Fatima Payman, who has been swept away by the Greens surf desolee.
From the river to the sea.
Palestine will be free in.
A secular society. The War Memorial is one of the few things we all agree is sacred. The fact that being defaced didn't bother them should send warning signals about the dangerous pathway this party is on, hell bent on division. And so if they are so comfortable with the memorial being attacked, why don't the Greens go over to the Middle East for themselves. Go on, go fight the war that they are trying to import into our own backyard. Go put yourselves on the line, like our servicemen and
women have done and continue to do so. Go see what it is like to face fears that nobody should ever have to go over and be faced with death. But there certainly won't be any monuments or memorials erected for your so called courage back home now, As if we needed more proof of how much we need a Royal Commission into Australia's handling of the COVID pandemic to hear from the pandemic premiers who inflicted so much misery
and pain. How many of them have now left politics, so you'd think they would have had time to reflect on the decisions and what could and should have been done better. But it seems that reflection has been lost on former Queensland Premier Anastagia Palichet. She sat down for what has been described as a candid interview about the pandemic, but it was about as candid as the people living in New South Wales.
They have New South Wales hospitals.
In Queensland, we have Queensland hospitals for our people. Oh just never gets old, does it? Who could forget that now? When asked in the interview on the Seven network last night about whether she regrets her decisions to keep dying loved ones apart because of the harsh Queensland border restrictions, while she offered up.
This, I still stand by what we did to keep Queensland safe and the end result was we only had tragically seven deaths during that whole period of that two years before we opened up our borders. So I think the results show that it did work.
It did work, she said. She stands by it. She stands by loved ones being locked out by border restrictions and having to say goodbye on FaceTime. It doesn't matter to her. The stress of being denied exceptions, having to apply for an exemption in the first place. I mean it was utter madness. And well, she stands by it. And she was then asked in that interview what lessons Australia learned from the pandemic.
We found out that we needed to manufacture more here. We needed to have the ability to produce vaccines here when we didn't have PPE. We just didn't have we didn't have the masks and everything else that was needed. So we actually have domestic manufacturing.
Vaccines and PPE vaccines and PPE that we needed more. That is what she learned from years of hell. Never mind, the Queensland Supreme Court found earlier this year that vaccine mandates for police and ambulance workers were unlawful under the Human Rights Act. So you would really think that the former Queensland Premier would have said, well, actually, upon reflection, maybe we should not have been so quick to impose vaccine mandates and considered human rights. And then one last insult.
Not everything was right, not everything was perfect, but we got through it.
Yeah, well, Anastasia Palichet did get through it on a four hundred and twenty thousand dollars salary and now working a cushy job with the Smart Energy Council. Meanwhile, other people who lost their jobs because they refused her vaccine mandate have had their lives destroyed, their finances turned upside down, and their job prospects ruined. It is astonishing that years later there is zero sympathy from this robotic pandemic premiere.
It's a further insult to those who lost loved ones, whose businesses went broke, whose children were robbed of key educational years. The list goes on. And for the former Queensland premier to say, really, I don't know, I can't really think of anything that we could have done better or other than vaccines and PPE is a double blow.
And it's even a bigger blow that the ab and Easy government's COVID cop out inquiry won't examine decisions by the States because former COVID premiers like Palichet and Dan Andrews and the chief health officers would get minced in front of a royal commission. I mean, wouldn't you love to see this scrutinized. My advice to you is to duck and just do not touch that ball. And that's
what they are scared of. The truth was already confirmed by former Federal Health Minister Greg Huntu as minister during the pandemic. He has made a scathing submission to Labour's inquiry, hitting out at states and territories over unilateral health decisions taken during the pandemic that work. Who'd you believe not backed by medical advice? No wonder Labour don't want a royal commission. It's clearer than ever why we need one. Otherwise nothing will change, History will repeat itself and all
we will care about is more vaccines and PPE. Also on the show tonight, we'll have more to say on Fatima Payman's indefinite suspension from the Labor Caucus after a weak display of leadership from the Prime Minister, plus why the latest polls spell bad news for both major parties. I'll be joined by a Labor insider to break down the figures and the Democrats are in damage control after the president's train wreck debate. Performance will have the latest
from the US. But now let's bring in today's panel. Joining US is Sky News host Liz Storer and Sky News contributor Joe Hildebrand. Hi to you both.
Tonight, great editorials.
Let's start with the Greens. Okay, a different bizarre trajectory here. They wouldn't even support this motion contests the vandalism of the Australian War memorial. I mean, this is one of the things that are sacred. Could they get any more extreme?
This is the thing that shows you how absolutely extreme they are. They are an extremist party. Anyone who supports vandalizer war memorials, vandalizing the memorials to people who gave their lives in service of this country is clearly just off the reservation and there's something wrong with them on a very basic human level as well. I mean, how would the Greens feel if their gravestones were vandalized by One Nation supporters because they didn't like the cause that
the Greens represent. I mean, that is exactly what they're talking about here, and they think, oh, they're not graves or their memorials, because the bodies are probably still overseas and in many cases will never have been found. And again, think about the impact that that has on the family of these people. These memorials are often all they actually have to remember their loved ones by. They're a symbol
of what their loved ones did. And to have them not just defaced by extremists, but then backed by a party that is actually in the Parliament, that claims to be representative of segments of the Australian public, hopefully this is the thing that pulls back the rug on just how psychotic these people are. It is the same logic.
It's not quite as extreme, obviously, but it's the same logic that terrorists have, which is that someone I don't like did something to someone else over there, Therefore I'm going to do something to another third party over here. The US invaded Iraq, I don't like that, so I'm going to go kill a random American. This is what
they're saying saying. They're saying, we don't like an Australian government policy today, which in fact has no bearing on what's happening in Gaza anyway, So we're going to randomly attack and then justify and promote and support the attack of the war dead.
It is so cooked, it is so cooked.
For there's something broken.
Greens have become the most UnAustralian political party in our history. Liz, what does it say about the trajectory that this group's on.
Well, I don't know that even things like this really put off their own voters. I mean, obviously there's no sky, there's no Greens voters watching sky. Stop voting for people that hate you, that hate our country, and who have proven time and time again that they will stop at nothing to support the people who are Supper Palestine.
Period.
They've attended their rallies, they've taken the mic at a few of them. This has got to be the lowest of the low blow yet, but they've shown it is not beneath them. And I don't think many people at this point in the game are surprised because it is the Greens, and so I think they would be more shocked if the Greens were to join them in the rest and say, yeah, we absolutely condemned this. This is
a red line here. We've been overtly pro Palestinian, but we say to these people, please please don't go around defacing war memorials in the name of something that has actually nothing to do with and that inference, like you said that labor's the one dropping bombs often, I believe it's discussed one of the first people in line to
bash this Labor government. But that is worse than insulting like that is live l That is defamation, That is telling people and you'd probably have to be a whack job to be voting for the Greens in the first place, so they may well believe you. When Green's leaders stand up and infer that our government is playing a front seat role in what is happening in the Middle East right now, it is utter nonsense.
It's lies. No, you're totally right in those comments were just absolutely appalling. But you know, where do you draw a line in the sand when it comes to the.
Green Hopefully, hopefully it's exposed them and again some much for just ask them hope So would they support right wing activists vandalizing the graves and memorials of their own MPs when they fall off this mortal coil? Or are the left wing icons that they support if they support someone like you know, One Nation or whatever going out there and getting out the old spray paint and saying, you know you horrible comment.
Would they'd be like, oh, freedom of speech?
Is that?
Is that a conversation with these public spaces.
Hypocrisy time and again when they come out batting for all pro women everything, and then a conservative woman in the.
Liberal Party absolutely bad, absolutely flints of the world.
You're a peek out of them all of a sudden, they're not for women at all, even though.
The abuse Laura is very obvious. All right, look, let's move on. Because in Battle nine, CEO Mike Sneezebee zipped off on a family holiday to grease just hours after slashing staff by four percent, many of whom are claiming to have been blindsided on by his company wide email that outlined the loss of two hundred jobs. Liza, a good or a bad time? Do you think to be overseas?
I think good if your sneeze beee.
Look, I wouldn't be.
Surprised if this guy has woken up to the fact that his days are numbered. If it's not the Darren Wick saga, if it's not the Tim Costello saga.
Now they've got this to deal.
With and a hell of a lot of disgrundled staff being like, excuse me, nobody even warned us about this. Of course nine simply said, look, staff cuts gotta cut costs, and I'm sure everyone can relate to that in this environment. They're obviously not their only network to do this, not recently as well.
And so yeah, I guess he's.
Just like I can't hack the heat and the kitchen. I'm going to clear out for this little bit while the dust settles.
It's an interesting time for Australian media in general. Would you say interesting in the sense of the tumultuous across the board, But what do you think of.
Mike sneezees interesting in the sense of the old Chinese curse? May you live an interesting time?
It's awful.
Everyone I know in the media has been really rocked by the extent and the savagery of the cuts that's happening across all these organizations, including News nine seven, all of them. I believe from memory that Sneeze we actually canceled some leave to come back and deal with we did the crisis in the first place. I assume he's making up for that. And again, I have never subscribed to the you know you have to work twenty four to seven, you know, fifty two weeks a year. Otherwise
I hate you because you're rich or whatever. Having said that, it'd be very interesting to go back and look at some of nine's coverage of Scott Morrison's holidays during I'm more literally inferno than be interesting to say if if nine were equally kind to that overseas joint as, no doubt they will be to my says, but I think you know so soon after. I mean, you know, the ink is barely dry.
It's not really bad. Now, look, I want to get to this because thousands of trivial calls to New South Wales ambulance paramedics are putting a huge strain on the service now. The Daily Telegraph reports this is just bizarre. There's been more than five hundred calls for constipation, toothaches, earaches, boils, people who can't sleep, even hiccups. Liz, what on earth is going on here? Seriously stop using ambulance services for trivial matters. Yeah?
Absolutely, but also what the hell is going on in the call center? If I'm working for trivial zero and you get through to me and you say and this was also mentioned in the article there's a pimple on my back that I can't reach, So I'm calling an ambulance.
Surely you go.
We don't send them for constipation. We don't send them for a pimple on your back you can't reach. Like obviously it's a systemic breakdown here where it's a problem that could be easily fixed. Also, second and last point is there's certain people with certain permits that mean they don't pay for the pension. Is one of them, yes? Or a Commonwealth Health card you don't pay for ambos?
And so one wonders, even though there's not a breakdown of the demographic, who are obviously the guilty party making all these ridiculous calls and.
Tying up the services.
One wonders, are they people who are holders of one of these permits? Therefore they're abusing the system because they know, well for me, they.
Can get away with it. They can get away with it.
Problem are like that they're ald and vulnerable, and they're scared and they don't have anyone else to call. And I think the operator would probably feel if this person keeps insisting despite me recommend.
Mere vulnerable, you know.
What I'm going to do.
I'm going to start driving an Uber and get a giant bulk box of mover.
Call you know, Madam.
Nobody has to know, Madam.
Five hundred callouts Joe for constivation. There you go. How did we get to this topic? Joe Hilda Bradley's story. Good to have you both on. Thank you so much for joining me. We'll stay with us coming up after the break. Support slips for both major parties as the cost of living crisis looms large plus Stage three tax cuts, minimum wage increases, and energy bill rebates. What all the changes being introduced to mark the new financial year mean
for you? That's next, Welcome back. Well. News poll results show support for both the Coalition and Labor has fallen following a bitter row over energy wars. Alban Easy and Dutton have returned to near record levels of dissatisfaction with voters for this term. On a two party preferred basis, Labor gained ground over the Coalition fifth one to forty nine compared to the fifty to fifty recorded in the
previous News poll three weeks ago. However, the contest over the better Prime Minister remained unchanged at forty six percent to thirty eight percent in Anthony Albanesi's favor, the tightest margin between the two leaders since the last federal election. To tackle this and more, let's bring in GXO Strategies director Cameron Milner Karen greg to see you, thanks for joining us. Look, this was supposed to be a huge day for labor. Their tax cuts, their energy rebates came
into force. We've got this news poll. What do you make of the results?
Well, Newspole shouldn't be any great surprise because the cost of living is the number one issue, number two and number three issue for voters out there, and the last week voters haven't heard either those things mentioned by the leaders. Peter Dutton was bold with nuclear energy, but that was a distraction from cost of living and the Prime Minister. The prime ministers stood there being emasculated by a Muslim senator from the backbench.
He was humiliated in terms.
Of her crossing the floor on the vote last week and decided to reprimand her then sanction it.
Then ask a dot to come to a meeting.
I mean, the Prime Minister is so totally distracted from the number one issue it cost a living in voter's eyes, because while senator payment and the Greens become political bedfellows over Palestine.
The Primis are saying that what she could all go past him. It's appalling.
So people don't reward people who don't look after number one issue. Number one issue is cost of living. Peter Dutton was distracted on nuclear energy and the Prime Minister was just weak and totally distracted. That's why neither party got rewarded by voter As a newspop.
Yeah, that's actually a really good point, and I do want to ask you about Fatima payment. But just in terms of this poll, what does it suggest in terms of the energy wars that we've particularly seen in the last two weeks since the Coalition announced its nuclear policy.
Well, the problem with the nuclear policy is it's probably the right policy and the right debate for Australia to have. We should actually discuss how we provide energy through to twenty fifty fifty, so far away. People are worried about next week and next month's power bills and what's happening
to their cost of living. So it's too far dated for people to be concerned about the problem right here right now, especially when news last week was that we might not have any interest rate relief for another year, and in fact interest rates might go up under Albanie because he's flooded the economy with cash, flooded the economy of cash, and.
If RBA raises rates, Albow will be out.
I spoke earlier Cameron about just how extreme and dangerous the Greens as a party have become. But according to this News poll they're bot lifted two points to thirteen percent. That's actually the highest level of support since the election. I'm really confused by this. Why are people looking at the Greens, Why are they polling so well?
Well?
Unfortunately, and we're seeing it out there in Australia. There are an awful lot of anti Semitic people. There are awful lot of jew haters, and the Greens are their party of choice.
Now.
The Greens are out there defending the actions of people who graffiti the war memorial, who have violent rallies at the Opera House and call call for genocide. This is a disgusting part of Australian history in terms of where their Prime Minister Australia is not standing up for the Jewish community. He goes to Jewish fundraisers, he's happy to take their money, just not stand up for them when
it really counts. But the Greens are harnessing and harboring Jew haters and Andti Semites, and that's what's driving their vote. People who hate Jews are driving the Greens vote.
Well, I just think it's a concern Cameron, when you think about the prospect of a minority government with Anthony Albanesi as the Prime Minister and then the de facto Prime Minister as Adam Band. I mean, that's a disaster for this country absolutely.
And a band is an extremist and has extreme views and has already been holding the Labor government to ransom. As we have two seats in the Lower House. Goodness knows what they would look like if he actually had the driver's seat of not only of the Senate but also the Lower House. And that's what voters have got to be conscious of when it comes to next election and how they vote.
Now, Cameron, before we let you go, let's talk about Fatima Payman. Anthony Albinizi is resisting taking further action against the rogue senator. He's really been a wilted lettuce leaf on this issue from the start. Now she claimed this afternoon that she's been exiled, Why won't he just expel her?
He should, He should sack he or she should resign. If he was any stronger as a human being, he'd actually called for that to happen. But no, instead we're dealing with week albow, week albow and Israel, week alba in Palestine, Week albow in China, and week alapo on. A minor minority back bench Muslim senator from West Australia who has already called Israel out for genocide, which was disgusting. She should have gone for that anyway, has now crossed the floor and said she'll do it again.
Now.
She shouldn't just be exiled, she should be expelled.
I just wonder if they're both playing games against each other waiting for one or the other to make the first move to expel her, or will she walk? I mean it's just like Denise.
Yeah, Denika, if you're the Prime Minister of Australia, you take action, if you're strongly, you take strong action, and elbow is neither.
Your spot on. Cameron Milner, I completely agree with you, Caaren. We have to leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us on the show. This evening. Appreciate it well. Today mark's the end of the financial year and the start of labor so called cost of living relief with tax through Stage three tax cuts as the centerpiece. You know, the ones Labor promised that they wouldn't change then did. Now, whatever the change, it won't go far in this climate.
New data actually shows the number of New South Wales households forced onto hardship plans because they can't pay their energy bills has risen by ninety seven percent since the last federal election. That's the highest of any state. Meanwhile, inflation is now four percent, and that is even before these state and federal stimulus measures have come into force. Now, Labor has consistently assured us that their policy is air
tight and will not drive inflation. Not the gym chart is doing much to reassure us.
Well, we are confident, but not complacent about inflation in our economy.
Let's bring in Judo Bank chief Economic Advisor, Warren Hogan. Now, Warren, thank you so much for joining us on the show this evening. We got these Stage three tax cuts today, long awaited. Is this the right time do you think to be providing families with income tax cuts.
Well, thanks for having me on the show. Yeah, I think there's no better time to be getting tax cuts. And the reason I say that is not just because of how tough people are doing it out there, but our income tax take has got back to record levels, back to the levels we saw in the year two thousand when the GST was introduced. Now the GST ten percent was brought in. The trade off was that we got a big tax cut, much bigger than anything we
got today. But of course the taxes have crept back up, particularly in the last few years on bracket creep, and we've now just got this really high personal income tax burden again. So I'm very in favor of tax cuts for that reason. The question is time, you know, is this the right time? And of course it's not, because we are trying to get this inflation down, we're trying to get rid of this cost of living crisis, and we're right on a knife edge. The economy has slowed,
for sure, but we're still creating jobs. They're still demanding the economy, and this will add to that demand and will potentially make the RBA's job harder. They're very resistant to raising interest rates and if they keep resisting and then we end up with much worse inflation. Not only is that making the cost of living crisis worse, but rates might have to go up a lot more next
to year. So it's not great timing. I think when the government was going through all of this earlier in the year, the economy looked on track, but right now it's sexually looking like it's quite risky.
For them, which is a huge concern, and the government is adding cost of living measures of course, on top of these tax cuts. Isn't that making it worse?
I think it is.
And I think again at the beginning of the year, when the budget was all framed up and they came to the decisions around the cost of living measures, I think they thought the economy was going to be a lot weaker than it's turned out to be. Things shifted a lot between basically February and the budget in May. That is, we've got a lot more employment growth than we thought we were going to get. We've since known that the inflation has been stickier, higher and not looking
like it's going down. So I just it was a risky strategy, I think in the first place, because there was no done deal that this economy was really weak and falling into a hole, and that that support was needed. But now it looks like it's sort of a little bit dangerous from an inflation point of view. Look, it's important that people get this support because it's horrendous what's happened in the last three years. People's standard of living has gone backwards big time. But the priority has got
to be to get rid of the inflation. And I think this and the States, I mean, the States really shouldn't be playing in this play playground with providing cost of living measures, but they have, particularly in Queens Lanes exactly. And yeah, look, it all remains to be seen. But if later in the year we've got an economy that's stubbornly sort of not getting rid of this inflation, or if inflation's picking up again, it'll be a disaster. Let's
hope that's not the way it plays out. There's a lot of uncertain around this, but yeah, it's a risky policy strategy.
So why is the government doing this? I mean, isn't it making it just so likely that the RBA will indeed rates in the near term.
Look, I think, as I said, I think they thought it wasn't. I think they thought it was politically smart to have an election and the economy would be soft, and that everything was on track. And it sort of looked like that January, February, even early March. But things have changed. But look, we may end up getting some rate hikes, and I think most political analysts would say that's bad news for the government. For Elbow, that remains
to be seen. But we have to get rid of the inflation, that's the cost of living crisis, and it looks like these interest rates are not high enough to do that.
So when can we give it. When do you think in the next.
Well, I think August. If they're not going to go in August, then maybe it's another six months away, or maybe we get out of this without a rate hike. I mean, it's no done deal, but August is certainly the absolute focus. Now we're four weeks away, and it's the quarterly inflation number at the end of this month that'll determine that.
All eyes on August then, But in the meantime, it's tough out there still. Warren Hogan, good to speak with you as always. Thank you so much for joining us on the show this evening. We're coming up after the break. Sam Moston sworn in as one of Australia's soon to be highest paid governor generals. That's next. Welcome back, well,
Anthony Albanezie's wilted lettuce leaf response to rogue. Fatima Payman appears to have emboldened the Senator after crossing the floor last week and then threatening again yesterday to do so. Albow finally suspended her, but haven't listened to his bizarre commentary this morning.
No individual is bigger than the team. Fatim of Payman is welcome to return to participating in the team if she excepts she's a member of it.
Well, let's bring in a headline Advisory director Andrew Carswell and sky Ney's host James McPherson. High for both of you. Thank you so much for joining us this evening, Andrew. Afternoon, Fatima Payment declared that she's been exiled and will abstain from all votes this week in the Senate. Is she running rings around the Prime Minister? Do you think?
Well?
I think this episode highlights once again the weakness of Anthony Alberanesi's leadership and his poor judgment. No matter what you think of Senator payment's views on Palestine.
No matter what you think of.
Labour's frankly outdated policy when it comes to party solidarity in their caucus, this reflects poorly on Anthony Alberzi and his failure to act quickly on what is a very clear rule within the party. Now, if this was a fifty year old male, white male from Tasmania or the outer suburbs of Melbourne, they would have been gone out of the party before they had a chance to return to their seat on that side of the House. But this is a young female Muslim making a stand for Palestine.
We know Anthony Aberezi goes weak at the knees on this issue, so it's a poor reflection on him. And there's also there's part of the blame and responsibility on senator payments shoulders here as well. She had every opportunity to raise these issues in caucus, every opportunity to take the microphone and make a stand on this issue, but she didn't. So was this all a stunt?
It absolutely was a stunt, There's no doubt about it. And James, why won't the Prime Minister just expel her or why won't she just defect to the Cross bend. Are they playing each other off here?
Look on this issue, Anthony Alberanzi is making Joe Biden look sharp as attack. Oh dear Alberanzi should have done this immediately when she first defied him. But typical of Anthony Alberanzi, he's late to the party and then when he gets there he's still not quite sure what to do. Even today, he's blaming her not for crossing the floor on the issue of Palestine, but for distracting from the
focus on tax cuts. As was said, reasons why he's not expelling her, she's a young person, she's a young woman, she's a young female Muslim. So for those reasons, Anthony Albinizi is treading very carefully because they are very aware of the Muslim vote in Western Sydney and this is a hot issue as to why Senator Payman won't defect to the cross benches. Do you think she's crazy. There's no way she's going anywhere. She's got national attention right now for her sole issue that she wants to focus
on events in Gaza. She's not going anywhere. She will milk this for all its worth. She's absolutely playing Albansi on a break.
And he's looking weaker and weaker each day. But I do agree. I think Western Sydney is playing a very big part in what we have seen over the last week. Let's move on, because Sam Mouston has been sworn in today as Australia's twenty eighth Governor General. Now Here she was outlining her vision for the new role.
I will be an optimistic, modern and visible Governor General, committed to the service and contribution that all Australians expect and deserve from the hold of this office.
Well, you'd be pretty optimistic, wouldn't you if you'd just got a two hundred thousand dollars pay rise. I mean, currently the Governor General receives an annual salary of four hundred and ninety five thousand, but as you can see there on your screen, it's going to go right up to seven hundred and nine thousand under a new proposal. Andrew, look, what do you make of this appointment and this rather tone deaf pay rise.
Well, I think Sam's a great choice for GG and I think she proved that today. I think she got off to an incredibly strong start. She was full of grace, full of passion, full of power and full of empathy. Today it was a shame that this first day and the lead up to this day has been overshadowed by a very poor decision from the Albanezi government to lift the rate of pay for the Governor General to an extraordinary level in the middle of a cost of living crisis.
I mean, it is such poor judgment and that has nothing to do with Sam. It's all to do with Anthony Albanesi. I mean, this role is not one where you can come and feather your nest. It is a chance to give back to the Australia that has done well by you. That is the opportunity afforded to the Governor General. It's not about pay, and Anthony Aveneze should know better to expect that SAM would demand any rate
of pay to this level. This has nothing to do with Sam and all to do with Anthony Avenez's poor choice.
That's the thing. I mean, it's completely overshadowed the appointment and the announcement of the new Governor General. But you know, James, we've got labor out there July one, congratulating everyone, and you're going to get your tax cut. You'll get your extra pudnet of strawberries when you go to the grocery store, But is the only one laughing all the way to the bank the governor General.
Yeah, well, I mean, we're all optimistic today, but some of us are far more optimistic than others. I mean, I'll tell you what her speech, I was a little concerned when she talked about she's going to be a modern and visible governor general. I immediately think, what does that even mean? And then she talked about the fact of youman's issues, the importance of sexual and gender diversity.
She talked about the problems with social media. It starts to sound a little bit like an activist governor general, which you know, really her role is to fulfill the duties of the constitution, Cut Ribbons. No one wants her to be speaking about all of these social issues. She also interestingly mentioned she wants to make a stand on inequality. Well, it's a bit rich to talk about inequality when you're
taking a two hundred thousand dollar good pay rise. If you want to make a statement about inequality, refuse to take the moneyject say, you know what, it's a great honor to serve this nation. Inequality is a major problem, and my first step in addressing that is I'm going to refuse the pay rise in solidarity with my fellow Australians who are doing it tough. And we'd all say thanks God for the Governor General a spot.
On exactly now, international students have been hit with a one hundred and twenty five percent increase in non refundable visa application fees as labor tries to slash migration numbers. Andrew, Look, this is key voat driving issue. We know there's been record migration levels in this country. Look, I'm not sure how far this will go to address that, but what do you think is it the right approach?
I think this is just a pure money grab, a pure revenue raising exercise. It won't do anything to reduce the numbers of foreign students coming into this country. If you can afford to get here and a plane, afford to pay the fees, afford to pay the visas that currently stands, I'm sure you can afford a couple more hundred dollars for that, right. So it's a naked money grab from a government that's trying to show people that's addressing these issues because there is deep concern about the
number of foreign students coming into this country. But we need to take a balance approach here too, because this is a thriving industry that the Australian economy relies on. But you've got to get the balance right between the economic benefits and not putting additional pressure on housing and infrastructure. And there's some measures that the government introducing in this
space are good. For instance, to tying university universities who want to increase the numbers of foreign students with the placement of purpose built accommodation and housing on university land. That is a great policy.
This one it's just a money grab. Yeah, it just seems like it's just an at hoc measure without any real solutions. Now this is interesting because Borderforce gave some twenty eight asylum seekers a modern speedboat for their return back to Indonesia after their original vessel was seized and destroyed in Australian waters. James, Look, the word would well and truly be out there now that you go. You come here. If your boat breaks down and has any issues,
don't worry, will ferry you back. What message is this sending?
Well, I think the message is you won't come to Australia. You'll be sent home. The only argument is how you're sent home. Back in twenty fourteen, I think Tony Abbott's policy was to put people on effectively enclosed lifeboats that were stopped with food and water to get you back to where you'd come from. The Albanezi government seems to be giving away speed boats. It's probably still cheaper than housing those twenty eight to thirty people at Naaru for
god knows how long. But imagine if you could get to Australia by land. You could rock up in a dats in one ady B and be sent home in a mercedeshould with that.
Wouldn't that be fantastic? What a revelation. Were almost out of time. But Andrew, what do you think about this? Is it bizarre? And do you think that it's the taxpayer that's going to be footing the bill for this ferry service.
I just think it's hilarious. After nine years of denigrating the previous government for boat turnbacks, they've suddenly woken up to the fact that this actually works. I mean, this policy is not pleasant, right, it's not pleasant enacting this policy, but it is so effective to stop what would be in a martter of boats coming to this country, clogging up our court system and filling up our immigration detention centers. Thank goodness they've worken up to this good point.
That's a fair point, Andrew Carswell, James McPherson, we have to leave it there. Thank you so much to both of you for your insights this evening were coming up. Democrats continue to stand by Joe Biden as his family urge him to stay the course after that disastrous debate performance that's next welcome back. Well, after resembling a sick, mumbling and bubbling space cadet during the US presidential debate,
it seems Democrats are rallying around Joe Biden. How can they seriously back this man to take them to November and even more concerningly, for another term.
Nice to get away with you yet rid of the ability of medicare, to for the ability for the US to be able to do with the with the COVID, I could be with dealing with everything we have to do with. Look if we finally beat medicare.
Oh it's uncomfortable, isn't it now? As expected, the Democrats are in damage control while the President spends the weekend at Camp David desperately trying to shield him from more stumbles and slip ups, and to no surprise, voter confidence
in Biden since the debate is down. According to a CBS you Gav Pohl, twenty seven percent of registered voters believe the president has the mental and cognitive health does not have it rather to run again for more, Let's bring in Sky News contributor Kosher Garda Kosher good to see you as always. Look, there is no way surely that the Democrats can continue with Biden to November. How do you see this playing out?
You know, I think what happened last week last Friday Anika in this debate was a convergence of two big groups. Convergence of the high information concer of news and media who really knew this and it wasn't a surprise to them in terms of the cognitive decline of Biden and this other group of just everyday people who aren't in the weeds, and for them, I think this was quite a shock. The dam has broken, and that's why all the smart money says that they are going to try
and change him out. It's not so simple. There is a process for it, but it's not as straightforward. There are many states where ballot deadlines to switch out a name have passed. There is a financial component where I think he's raised. Biden has raised almost up to two billion dollars, which cannot just automatically be transferred to somebody else.
There's fec laws around that. And then politically there's the problem of his vice president, and you know, if you sidestep her with somebody else, a white male who in this party has crafted themselves around identity as a key factor in who they choose. That's another issue that they've got to get through. Notwithstanding that smart money seems to be that that's what they're going to try to do in this August convention.
The pressure is on.
There is not consensus with the Democrats, but it seems to be had in that direction.
Well, there's been those reports, of course, that there's crisis talks happening at Camp David about what happens next. I want to ask you, though, there's been a lot of criticism leveled at Jill Biden, particularly, there's been some suggestions that she's the one actually pushing for him to continue in the race. Do you think that that criticism of her is fair in the context.
You know, it appears to be. She really did not come out looking well at any of the past events where we've seen Biden's struggle on a human level. You know, I've got a lot of friends who are not in the weeds. They don't live and breathe the stuff the way you and I do. And the one thing they said to me after consistently after watching the debate was
how could somebody do that? It was passing judgment, but how could a wife do that if somebody is at that level of cognitive decline, which we've all experienced, some family member another go through. And so I don't think that she's coming across very well from a human perspective, fairly or not. I think first Leady macbeth was trending on Twitter after the debate, which kind of gives sense of where some people are. Others see her as as very loyal, and she's she's saying that, you know, he
is the rightful nominee. He won all the necessary delegates through their process, and she's not going to be pressured into having him stand down. So it depends how you look at it, but I think net she is not coming across well, just on a human level. To most people that I've spoken to, how.
Do you think the Trump camp would be feeling after the debatement. They didn't really have to do much. I think Joe Biden certainly showed his lack of credibility by himself. But do you think that they would be thinking, well, this is a win. I mean, Trump's got his own issues. How do you think they'll be feeling.
I think they saw it as definitely a win, just in terms of that convergence that I mentioned of the high information consumers and low information consumers coming together. He really laid bare or ripped the mask off for the wide swath of the public. Something like fifty million people tuned in live and another two hundred plus million people on the various social media platforms watch those key clips that.
Went viral afterwards.
So this is now out in the open, the cognitive decline issue, and that can only help him. On the other hand, you know, many would say that the Trump camp gave Joe Biden a free pass because typically the debates don't happen in June this early, when the nominees aren't officially confirmed, and if he ends up not being the nominee. Then Trump has debated somebody who's not even
the nominee. So there is an argument that it happened too soon, and if this leads to a switch out with somebody more formidable, then that could potentially backfire for him. But I think net he felt that it was time, or the Trump team felt it was time to expose this very blatant issue to the American people, and you know that's the move he made. And right now he's only up, up and up in the polls ince that debate.
Well, he certainly, you know, he didn't even have to try. Really, I mean, Joe Biden struggled from the very moment he opened his mouth. Do you think that we will see another debate between the two of them or is it safe to say it's all but rolled out.
I would be surprised right now that officially there's going to be this debate in September, And as of this present, Biden, as defiant, says he's not backing out of the nomination and he will.
Do that debate.
I'm not sure that it's in the interests of the Trump team to do another debate because it'll be more of the same and they accomplish their goal of exposing the feebleness and the cognitive decline of the president to the American people, and I'm not sure that there's any merit or value in them doing another one in September. If they switch Biden out, of course, then it's a whole other ballgame.
Yeah. Absolutely, Look, before we let you go, the younger and now convicted Biden has spoken out to support his father. Hunter is pushing for his father to stay in the race and claims that it was a bad night for him and he wishes that people could see the scrappy and command of the facts man he knows. I can't imagine that the support of a recent convict is going to do much for the US president either, but I guess we can't be surprised that the family is rallying around Biden at this point.
Yeah, there's something about family solidarity and loyalty that has an appeal and on a human level, people can understand that and appreciate that Hunter by and obviously is a very checkered has a very checkered reputation in the public eye right now, as do many of the other Bidens in the family. Some cynical people are saying that a part of the reason is self preservation because he is
a convicted felon. Now, he's got another case on the docket in September, and if his father remains president, then there's a pathway to receiving a pardon for any sentence that he would serve. Even though the President said he would not pardon him, that remains. So maybe that's coloring it. Maybe it's a mix of family solidarity. Who knows, but I agree with you, I don't think that's going to move the needle much in terms of regaining the faith of the American people.
We'll tell you what. It's been a fascinating few days, but that debate was just uncomfortable from start to end. Kosha Ghana. Great to have you on. Thank you so much for joining us. Pleasure. That's all we've got time for today. I'll be back again at eight pm tomorrow night. It stay tuned. Paul Murray is up next.