Line is sharing. Good evening everyone, Steve Price filling in for Sharry March and all this week, and I'll be back with you, of course at six pm Eastern Time on Friday. Coming up on the program, Another busy day in politics locally and overseas. Donald Trump all bandaged up revs up his Republican convention in Milwaukee without even opening his mouth, while at the same time unveiling his running mate,
a thirty nine year old military vet JD. Vance. I'll catch up with Brianna Lyman in New York in our first half hour tonight. Senior State and Federal Labor MP's running for cover as new allegations emerge about the extent of that corruption running through the Building Union the CFM EU, including standover tactics, threats of bashings, and illegal demands to unionize building sites, including of course, the massive Big Bill projects across all of Melbourne. The opposition police spokesman Brad
Batten will be on the program with us later. Plus what happens when a state government runs out of money and the impact that that has on medical services, especially in regional rural towns. It's a national disgrace that large
regional communities are treated like the poor cousins. Regional MP Jade Benham will have the details, but first and quite rightly, as we are transfixed and glued to the coverage of the attempted assassination of the potential next President of the United States, Donald Trump at that rally last weekend, and locally, we sit back and watch what we've known for years that the radical bullies in the CFMEU have allegedly taken
over lucrative government funded infrastructure projects, gouging taxpayers with wage demands, enforcing non union aligned contractors off the site. Given all of that, it is still the cost of living stupid that is of most concerned in most Australians. Now, I'll get to a survey running the news limited tabloids today that will confirm what you already know. Everything we spend on today is costing us much more. It's much more
expensive than two years ago. And that survey show is a trolley of everyday items has increased in one year by fourteen percent, not the four percent of inflation, fourteen percent. I have those details in a sec but just indulge me on Premier. Just Center Allen of Victoria and her donors the CFMU. I have never witnessed a better acting performance than the one I saw from this newby premier
yesterday and again today. Let's go back to last Friday night and just after six pm we hear on Sky News broke the news that longtime union heavyweight John Setka had quit as the CFMEU secretary and his resignation was effective immediately happened just after six Sector agreed to be interviewed by me on the Friday Show via Zoom and then at the last minute he pulled the pin pulled out.
I don't know if it was because he did not want to talk to me given our history over the years when I've called out his union's tactics, but he quit the Zoom cross and that was that. Shortly after going to air, we learned that the nine newspapers in sixty Minutes, along with the Financial Review, had been conducting a lengthy behind the scenes investigation into both that union in general and Sector and others in particular who held senior jobs there. Seka's resignation came six months before he
was due to go. And when you watched that investigation on sixty Minutes and images of secor himself dumping a suitcase on the driveway with a threatening message on it. His immediate departure made more sense. Fast forward to yesterday and today to Senor Allen, the premier who replaced the much low Daniel Andrews as Victorian Premier, had the cheek to stand up two days in a row and talk about union thugs and thagish behavior and talked about how this behavior had no place in her state.
This is a rotten culture that must be pulled out by its roots, which is why today I want to outline a range of immediate actions that we are taking to address this fuggish bullying, intimidatory.
Behavior, crimea river. This woman was the minister in charge of those big bill projects. Everyone but blind Freddy has known for years that claims the CFMEU were using government projects to line their pockets. Sector brag publicly about it, confirming stop Go sign holders could earn over two hundred thousand dollars a year while nurses and teachers were on eighty thousand. He said Ford would not have enough Ford
Ranger utes to go around. As his apprentices picked up a new wage deal with increases of over twenty percent over four years. That deal has now been put on hold.
Then we learned an indigenous labor higher firm was threatened, according to the nine VS instigation with extreme violence on a Monash Freeway extension project, leading to that firm writing to both the Premier Premier Allen and interestingly to the Prime Minist Anthony Albanezi, now here's how the Premier tried to weasel her way out of that little pickle.
Today, we need to establish new and clear processes for whistleblowers and complainants about construction companies and construction unions because what we have seen, and I acknowledge this, what we have seen shows that there are gaps in current reporting and complainant systems.
Seriously, we've had two royal commissions, you've got a Commission of corruption that looks at your own government and the own own state. But as the Federal Opposition leader Opposition Michaulia Cash said today, labor governments across the country have been relying on CFMU donations and of course the Albanezy government in one of its first moves, abolished the Union Heated Building and consus Struction Commission that was charged with stopping this very behavior.
All of Australians know that the corruption, the bullying, the thuggery and the intimidation it was never limited to the Victorian branch.
This is endemic across Australia. We need mister alban Easy to stand.
Up front the media explain himself to the Australian people.
Industry Relations Minister Tony Burgh, of course, was charged with the job of shutting the BCC and has bragged about it. Since no one should fall for this false narrative from the most senior labor politicians in the country that sorry, we didn't know, we didn't see any of this. We condemn this awful behavior, no place for it in our country. What bs that all is? And trust me, just watch how some half baked inquiry will be set up with no teeth and everyone involved will live happily ever after.
And also, don't believe those promises that we will not take money from that union ever again. Some how, some way, the union money will continue to flow. It has to because the unions rely on labor governments to deal them into taxpayer funded big projects. Watch this space just for I get to my first panel tonight. That survey of grocery items I mentioned now John Rolf in the News Limited Newspapers has found that a basket of the most basic groceries you can imagine will cost you fourteen percent
more today than it did a year ago. Fourteen percent. And that's all the while your mortgage payments have gone up what is it now thirteen times in a row and two years your electricity and gas bills are through the roof, albeit with some recent relief. Insurance rises are cruel. You name it. If you are being smashed, and if you have children looking to buy a first house, good
luck with that. Now this basket that John found a family spending three hundred dollars a week at the supermarket, That fourteen percent adds up to one thousand dollars annual increase in food costs alone. The price of things like eggs if you can find them, bread, cereal, chocolate, chips, and canned tomatoes all up, and they're hardly luxuries. And by the way, that fourteen percent figure is based on
the cheapest shopping alternative at AUDI. So as the political attention concentrates on America and its violence and union thuggery, back here, that cost of living struggle is what's capturing the attention of average Australians. Let's bring in tonight's panel. Joining me is Sky News' host Caleb Bond and former Speaker of the House Broman Bishop. Great to see you both, Broman, how's your flat tire?
Well, I had a very generous neighbor who came and picked me up and got me here on time.
So neighborhoods are terrific.
I imagine though, that if you needed to, you could have got the wheelbrace out and whip the tire off yourself. You know how to change a tire, and so many youngs, anyone under the age of thirty wouldn't even know how to do it.
Well, the unfortunate. I think it's only a half wheel.
A half wheel anyway, and I don't know that I would manage that very well.
Got to run, Caleb. You could have gone around the Caleb and sorted that out.
I could have, but I would have paid good money to watch Bronwin do that. I reckon if you go on the Sky News Australia YouTube channel and we had vision of that, I reckon it would leave all the Trump stuff for dead tonight.
I reckon you're probably right now. I mentioned Victorian Premier just sent to Alan. She's confirmed Labour's National executive has begun the process of suspending the state CFMU Construction Division. I think another state today has also suspended its division, Bromwin. This is a replay of a horror story that we've witnessed for the last forty years.
This is a replay of the d registration of the BLF when Bob Hawk finally close it down in nineteen eighty six and Norm Galligher went to jail for taking bride some companies Bob Hawk had the courage to de register Burke and Co. A lot of them are all saying, oh, no,
we can't deregister. It would hurt the employees. No, it wouldn't begin to start to clean up the mess that has been left after Burke delivering for the CFMU and abolishing the watchdog that commission, the Australian Building and Construction Commission, was an essential part of keeping that industry on the straight and narrow. And the Labor Party gets millions and millions of dollars from that union, and they know where
that money comes from. And I am just so over socialists who lie and socialists who behave in this way. And then prepared, prepared to say, oh, look, we're indignant we didn't know about it at all, when it is quite clear known about it all the time.
Hypocrisy is just.
Caleb has been Caleb. It's been an open secret. I mean I've written columns about it week after week after week for the last three years. I mean everyone in Melbourne knew that the big build projects and I'm talking about the suburban rail loop that no one wants. The Monash Freeway was widened, you had the Northeast Tunnel, You've
got the Westgate Tunnel. It's all manned by CFME EU workers who've got John Sepka to thank for inflated wages where stop go sign holders are getting two hundred thousand dollars a year.
I know, it's extraordinary, isn't it. And the idea of thuggery on these CFMU work sites. I mean, look, I have to say that the work that has been done by the Nine Papers and Sixty Minutes, and in particular Nick Mackenzie on this has been excellent. But I had to chuckle a little bit when they revealed that there was allegedly infiltration of organized crime in the CFMU. Well, I just thought the CFMU was an organized crime gang itself.
To be perfectly.
Honest, I remember when I was at the Herald Suner's weekend chief of staff, and I occasionally had to handle your column, Steve, and we ran a story about a proper riot that broke out on one of these big build projects, because that was the lay of the land. This is how the CFMEU operates. If someone steps out of line, if someone isn't a member of the union, if they dare to question the hierarchy, they are in big trouble. Criminality and thuggery on CFMEU sites is nothing new.
It's about as old as the Bible, to be perfectly honest, and if you watch the way that the Victorian branch of the CFMU, led by Setko, then went after the South Australian branch of the CFMEU and they took that over. He was an expansionist leader who was a very good union leader. You have to say, for his members he
delivered exactly what they wanted. But they have had a chokehold, a stranglehold on work sites for a very long time, and for the federal government in particular to dismantle the building and construction Commission, which I am told in the cases it pursued through the Federal Court had a success rate of more than ninety percent, which proves that the work it was doing was needed and vital and legitimate for them to pull that apart and now say, oh, we have a problem in the CFMAU. We must do
something about it. Pull the other one.
Rom and you sat around a cabinet table when the Maritime Union of Australia shut down the docks because Patrick Corporation was trying to make them work properly. I went down to Port Melbourne to cover that picket line that was set up there and I came back tomcar all four tires had been jabbed with a screwdriver so that I couldn't drive away. One of the presenters from our radio station went down there to broadcast and was spat at.
I mean, why is everybody in the labor movement trying to pretend that the Unit the Unions of Australia are some sort of goodie two shoes.
Well, the important thing about that, the memory of what happened with Costigan, the Warves and so on, was that John Howard and Peter Reath showed courage. They had courage to take them on, and they had courage to deal with it, just as Bob Hawk had shown courage in shutting down the BLF in eighty six.
But the problem is this, the CFM.
E U was the inheritor of the inherited the BLF, and it took over all its nastiness. But the important thing was, while Howard was the Prime Minister, that industrial relations was made an absolute tenant of presiding over peaceful, honest construction industry.
And it worked. But then, of course when we had the.
Loss with the shall we say, the stronger laws that went in place and allowed the labor and the unions to come back and fight against the industrial relations laws, and then it kind of went on the back burner and it's grown up again. But to the extent that we've seen the Premier Allen when she was in charge of all that big build saying that builders had to go to the CFMAU, the AWU was being pushed right out.
And the story that Channel nine showed that young Aboriginal boy who had gone there to work, but because he was in the wrong union, they just bullied him and he finally took his life. I mean, how hideous is that story.
It's awful, it's heartbreaking and those politicians need to have a good heart look at themselves. I'm not sure Premier Allen's going to survive this. Just quite the quiet CAYLB. What did you make of that poll in the nine papers today that showed Peter Dutton has got his nose ahead of Anthony Albanesie preferred PM. I think the two party preferreds fifty to fifty now and the Labor primary vote is down in the twenties. I mean, it's quite a turnaround, isn't it.
It's not terribly surprising that I have to say. I mean, look, let's be perfectly frank. If the federal government goes to an early election, which of course has been touted as a possibility, if it's not that it'll probably be in May next year, and why would you want to give up the opportunity to govern for as long as possible unless you're worried about interest rate rises coming through and
killing you, which which they very well could do. But when and if they go to an election, what are they going to sell to the public as an achievement of their government. I mean, there's very little to crow about all the things that they said they were really wanted to achieve, apart from maybe deconstructing the Building and Construction Commission, and here we are talking about the CFMU tonight. But you know, the voice was a total failure. Was
the whole thing that Alberanize basically staked his political capital on. Now, it didn't kill him as Prime Minister, but the one thing he really wanted to do is PM totally failed to do. The other thing he's really wanted to do as PM is bring inflation down and ultimately deliver an interest rate cut so that he can then go into an election that he sells on We've done the hard yards, we've improved things. We need your support to help us
finish the job off. Well, in all likelihood, he's going to go into an election with at least one, probably two interest rate rises between now and that point in time, so we won't be able to crow about the great work he's done to repair the economy. Alberiz he has literally nothing to point to. So people are starting to look at the opposition and Dutton, who increasingly looks like
a good leader. The only problem is I think that it's probably statistically mathematically impossible for the Coalition to take government from the point it is currently in. But when we're talking about minority, it's not impossible to think that the Coalition could form a minority government on the numbers that we're starting to look at.
Caleb c on late debate tonight, Bronnie, well done, Good luck with the tire, Thanks for coming in. Talk to you on the program next week. Now coming up after the break, we'll have another look at what's going on in the United States, and we'll also continue to talk with Brad Batten from the Victorian Opposition about the bugish behavior of the Union movement. More on that to come. Welcome back Steve Price in for Shari Markson. Now all eyes are on the United States, of course, as the
twenty four presidential election looms. Now Today was the start of the Republican National Convention where Donald Trump was going to be officially announced as the party's nominee. You'll be sworn in actually on Thursday, a triumph Trump. He made an appearance at this conference, and of course this was just days after that would be assassin attempted to take his life. He was met with one hell of a standing ovation have I looked at this.
Please welcome the next President of the United States, Donald J.
Trump, And of course the crowd there is a chanting fight, fight, fight, which is what Donald Trump said as he left the stage on the weekend after that bullet clipped his right ear. Joining me now is Elections correspondent at the Federalist Brian Lyman. Brian, have you come to this is a personal question, I know, but have you come to terms yet of you're living through there at the moment?
God no, I mean, these last seventy two hours have been honestly a whirlwind, and I think for someone in America right now, we have lived through way too many historical events in the past three weeks.
There are thousands of conspiracy theories going around and it's probably a bit early to talk about them, but you know, a lot to deal in them. But there is a major security lapse here that happened at that rally. Now, as each hour it seems to me goes by, the more worried you get about what they didn't do to protect Donald Trump.
Yeah, there's a lot of questions that need to be answered. We are hoping that the head of the Secret Service detail will step down she's not willing to step down right now. And what's really disturbing is that the more we go, as the days come on, we're finding out information, For instance, that apparently there were snipers in the very building that the assassin was resting on top of, right, So they were in that building, they clearly knew it
was a location to check. There's video footage a rally go alerting police moments before the shooting, I think up to two minutes saying there's somebody on the roof, right, there's a suspicious man, and nothing was done. So you have to wonder was this a deliberate lack of security or was it just so coincidental that every single thing went wrong.
I haven't read this morning ran out reports that a local policeman who saw the shooter on that roof, who turned around and pointed the gun at him, He then dropped to the ground and did nothing else.
Yeah, and that's something we've also heard. I've also heard reports that that officer then radioed over and said there's someone on the roof, which is when you see I don't know if you've seen the video yet of the.
Secret Service sniper.
He seemingly reacts very fast and then pulls the trigger and shoots the iss. But look, when an officer takes an oath to be a police officer in the United States of America, they are effectively saying that they're willing to put.
Their life on the line.
And so it was a little concerning that the police officer got scared and backed away knowing that this man had a gun pointed at the potential future president and the former president.
We move forward now, obviously with the November election looming, what do you think this has done for Donald Trump's chances? And what do you believe the Biden camp must be trying to work out? Now, how are they're going to react to this?
Yeah, I think the Biden administration has seen hurdle after hurdle, because here's the thing, they've pulled their ads down. They might have been restored today, but at least the first forty eight hours they were pulled just out of respect for Donald Trump, right, and more importantly, you know, Joe Biden has come out and he said that the United States need to tone down the rhetoric. Right, they need to lower the temperature. The temperature has only been raised because
people like Joe Biden called Donald Trump hitler. And so when you call someone hitler for the better part of eight years, what do you think that does to the public sentiment?
Right?
People here hitler and they rightfully think, oh my god, a horrible person who doesn't deserve to live. But Donald Trump is no hitler. They just made that comparison because they thought it made them sound good. And now they're kind of being caught flat footed because if he was really hitler like they claimed was, they wouldn't be saying
thank god Donald Trump survived. And so now they have to figure out a way to essentially address their voting base and address independent voters without heeding that rhetoric up again.
The Democrats language has been a treasure. Just we've gone month after month knowing Donald Trump was going to be the nominee, and the Democrats keep talking about this man needs to be targeted. And that's exactly isn't what happened, right.
Right, Joe Biden recently said, you know, it's time to put I think Donald Trump like in a bulls eye. It's that type of inflammatory rhetoric that leads people to believe that Donald Trump is a legitimate threat to democracy or to the Republic and that he needs to be taken out.
And it's up to democrats, I think, to one issue an apology to.
Donald Trump and also, too more importantly, let the American public know that this was just, unfortunately, really an appropriate campaign jargon. And we have a show over here on MSNBC called Morning Joe. It's one of the worst shows you could watch, but the entire panel was pulled off
EIR this morning. They weren't allowed to go on because MSNBC executives realize that that show is ground zero for the hostile and disgusting rhetoric that leads to people thinking Donald Trump, you know, deserves to die because you know, apparently he's hitler. So that's an important first step. But I hope to see other networks and other people kind of take that approach. You know, let's actually tone down the ruditic, let's stop playing someone hitler because we don't like their policy.
The left had no shine. But you know, the Jack Black comedy band, I'm not sure if you're aware this is tearing astride at the moment one of the guitarists had this decide this Trump next time? Oh quite Rightley, I've now put the tour on Hold, what did you make of that?
Yeah, I saw that video today.
It's so disheartening and disgusting and it's part of a larger problem here in American Hollywood. And then clearly now unfortunately in Australia, you know, you go back to it. I think it was twenty seventeen, Kathy Griffin, a really unfunny woman. She held a decapitated Donald Trump head. She held it up with the picture. Snoop Dogg put up a video basically calling for Donald Trump to be killed. Now you have Jack Black laughing at someone saying that
Donald Trump unfortunately survived an assassination attempt. And so when you have these people with these very large platforms making it permissible to say these horrible things and to do these grotesque photo shoots, it again sends the message that Donald Trump, you know, needs to be taken out, that that's okay. They're trying to downplay assassination attempts by like cushioning the blow.
Essentially, Brandy, you've covered Donald Trump for a long time. Are you surprised at how calm he's been since this has all happened. Then the discipline he and his team are now showing Donald.
Trump has been a very different Donald Trump than twenty sixteen and twenty twenty in this election cycle, especially this past month since the debate, he's been relatively quiet. Right, you never interrupt your enemy when they're making a mistake. Then this assassination attempt comes, and Donald Trump's initial reaction is to let the crowd know to fight. Right, It's okay to be strong. He's safe, And I think that
is a great juxtaposition to someone like Joe Biden. Right, Joe Biden goes on a few international trips because he signed up to do that job as president, and then hides in his camp Camp David for a week, hides out of the public view. Meanwhile, Donald Trump is literally nearly assassinated. He this much, he almost died. And the next day he's out golfing, and then today he's out
seeing the public at the RNC convention. That's his show of unity and strength that Americans are looking for right now and that we've been sorely lacking for four years.
President Biden. Look, he's unusually been doing some one on one interviews. He sat down with NBC. He was asked about his ritrick that you and I just spoke about. He was his reaction, you.
Called your opponent an existential threat. On a call a week ago, he said it's time to put Trump in the bullseye. There's some dispute about the context, but I think you appreciate.
Crosshairs focus on.
Look, the truth of the matter was that I guess I was talking about at the time was there's very little focus on Trump's agenda.
Do you buy that?
No, not at all.
Joe Biden the reason he won in twenty twenty, what he campaigned on was I'm not Donald Trump. He didn't have a message, he didn't have politics or policies that made sense. It was simply, I'm the lesser of two evils, and that worked in twenty twenty, and polling now indicates that that same messaging doesn't work. People are disillusioned with Biden for the past four years, especially Black voters, young black voters, and so they don't really feel that same way.
And Democrats have tried to make this race a referendum
once again on Donald Trump. But the reality is, after four years of Joe Biden's policies versus four years of Donald Trump, hearing you know, threat to democracy doesn't hit the same way did in twenty twenty when you realize that you'd rather someone be a fake threat to democracy because he's not, and have lower gas prices than have high gas prices, can for to eat and can barely put a roof over your head, and at least have someone who you know is quiet.
He doesn't say things that people necessarily don't want to hear.
The big announcement today is obviously Donald Trump's running night. He has picked JD. Vance. I don't know much about him. What do you know about him?
Jadie Vance was a surprising pick for me. I think Donald Trump he.
Had certainly had easier pathways to reelection someone like Senator Marco Rubio, Governor Glenn Youngkin. They appeal to suburban, college educated voters, and that is one of the most important voting blocks for Donald Trump because he had them in twenty sixteen. He lost them a little bit in twenty twenty, which forced which didn't help him get over the edge in Georgia in Pennsylvania, I don't necessarily know Vance is going to be that person to bridge that gap. That
being said, Vance appeals to midwesterners. He appeals to middle working class Americans and Donald Trump has now created this very geographically, very ticket. Right he has the East coast, Jade Vance has the Midwest, and so I do think jade Vance brings that to the table. He is someone who's been a senator for two years, so it's not
a kind of experience. That being said, about eighty percent of people don't know who ged Vance is, and that is a benefit because Republicans will not have to run defense for ged Vance and he'll actually have the opportunity to craft his own narrative about who he is as a senator and who he will be as the vice president.
Well, Branda, we're in fascinating times. I really appreciate you staying up late for us. Brianna Lyman, thank you very much.
Thank you so much for having me.
And of course that convention continues tomorrow. We'll have some more highlights tomorrow night on the program back Home. Now, as I mentioned at the beginning of the program tonight, with the saga with the CFMAU and the Victorian government, it's a complete not a mess today. Cindra Allen, the Premier, confirmed that a union suspension is underway. She defended her actions on the allegations the CFMEU officials were threatening violence
to contractors. Joining me now is Victoria's shadow please, Minister Brad Batten. I'm not buying. I mean, it's been an open secret, hasn't it, Brad about anyone who wanted to have a look that the CFMU were acting corruptly on big building sites.
Yeah, good morning or good evening, Steve. It's great to be on again. And it's very interesting you say that. I think this has been raised with Jacinta Allen when she's been the premier. And also we can't forget she was the minister in control of the big build projects, dealing with the cf for MEU, signing off on contracts and encouraging what organizations would be taking over those big build projects.
This is not new.
This is over ten years old, where Justinta Allen has seen what has been happening on our building sites and the changes we've had. And it's very easy to get stuck, Steve, into the financial side of it. And we know there's been cost blowouts. Every person's heard about that, but we've also seen evidence of one child now who has gone home and taken his life. We can't forget that suicide in our construction industry. It's at its highest here in this state. We've had it in a long period of time.
You have to actually then go, Okay, why aren't we even investigating that? Why aren't we looking at why these young men are going into this industry and then there's got them coming out with mental health issues and taking
their lives. This is something that's just beyond money. I think we need to be having a full and formal investigation into this, and two labor governments, the Victorian government and the federal government, need to start explaining why they've removed all the powers from effectively the police on construction sites in both levels of government that have allowed this to occur across the state. My answer is quite simple.
They get a lot of donations from the sea for me, you, and they can't afford to not get them.
Yeah, millions of dollars of donations and it shouldn't be up to And I must congratulate the nine papers and sixty minutes in the financial review they've done on our standing job on this investigation, although as you point out, some of what they've revealed is not you we already knew about it, but they pulled this whole package together to show just how corrupt this union was. And I was on air on Friday night when Seka announced that
he was quitting. He was going to come on the show and speak, and then he disappeared and turned his
zoom off. So I'm not quite sure what happened there, but it shouldn't take the media had to have to find this given we've had two Royal commissions, and we did have until the Federal Labor Government Brad knocked it on the head the Australian Building Construction Commission, the ABCC that was doing an outstanding job and then sector bullied the blok who used to run that, who's now running the umpiring in the AFL.
IF people want a better example, and I refer to the football a lot, and you can tell by what's behind me. When he reacted the way he did when Steve McBurney got his job, that was exactly what the CFMAU is with their management and their structure. It is bullied or costs, it is ensuring they get their own way.
We've seen now evidence and I know Mick Nick McKenzie's done an amazing job in what he's done in his research in this but it's actually highlighting the fact of the criminal elements that are within the sector now on the construction sites here continuously, the drug taking increase and the use sales on construction sites here in our state. These aren't private construction sites. These are government construction sites. Most of the building going on in this state at
the moment is the big build project. They've effectively running everything that is being controlled in this state. We've seen it when we've had in the past with violence on the streets from the CFMU that started over ten twelve years ago, when we saw it where horses were attacked, the Victoria police were attacked on the street by these thugs who are out there not protesting, not trying to say they want to pay rise or keep their sites safe. They just wanted to attack police. So this is not
new within this industry. We need to stamp it out. And the way you can do that the Victorian Liberal Party and National Parties are committed to having the construction enforcement Victoria. We want to make sure that we've got the police on the ground using organizations to ensure we can stamp this out. If the FEDS won't do it, we will. We want to make sure that's going to happen.
It is essential, but we need an independent formal investigation now to find out what connections not just from John Seca, what connections come from just into Allen's office, how many connections are in government, how many members of the current Parliament who are Labor Party members are attached to or taking donations from the CFMU. We want that evidence on the table because at the end of the day, the
fish rots from the head. We've seen massive concerns through Victoria and that's starting with the current Premier, the former premier, and nearly every minister that sits at the table controlling Treasury at the moment.
And I'll tell you who else wants to know about all of those inner details, Brad, and that's the Victorian tax players who are being ripped off as these projects blow out in costs. Brad batanall was a pleasure, Thank you very much for joining us. That's Brad Baton. They're still to come talking about communities in the regions suffering under tough budget targets. It's always the bush that cops it. A hospital in one country town in Australia is considering
shutting its Emergency Department if you believe it. Plenty more to come after the break the Green's new plan for the next election, plus an investigation reveals the extent of the cost of living crisis. Welcome back to the program. Filling in of course tonight on sky Look I mentioned at the start of the program and I get sick and tired of the fact that regional and rural Australia gets treated like the poor cousins when it comes to the provision of health services. Now we all know Victoria
is broke. I mean that's just a fact and it's going to be broke for a very long time. So what the treasure at Tim Pallas and the Premier to Cinder Allen, who we've talked a lot about tonight, what they've had to do is telehealth providers that they've got to cut their budgets. I mean there's simply no money around and this is going to deliver a crisis for region and rural Victoria. Now they're scrambling to cut costs
in a bid to ease that crippling debt. Now tens of thousands of Victorians that's reported in the Herald Sun this week are now facing being left without critical emergency care. Now. One of the places most badly affected is the Mildurra based hospital. Now Heraldsun reported that the only way that hospital can meet Labour's tough new targets is by can you believe this and if you know Milduro, it's quite remote, very remote. In fact, it's in the most remote corner
of Victoria. The only way they can meet those targets is by shutting down their emergency department, ending pediatric care. There was even talk about having to shut down other arms of the hospital. Joining me to discuss this is National's member for Mildura, Jade Benham Jade. What the hell has has this come to?
I mean, it's if you needed a reality check on how dire the system is in Victoria as far as public health goes.
This is it.
When you have a health minister telling the local board and the local management that they need to do better than the practical measures the board had already outlined.
It is just abhorrent. It's insanity.
And given that our nearest health service is four hundred kilometers away and will we service a tri state area, you know we're far west New South Wales and the Riverland in South Australia as well.
It's absolutely insane.
So you're a proud Maley girl, you love that area. But I mean for the rest of Australia watching is tonight. I mean, just explain mil Juror's as far away from Melbourne as you can get in Victoria without going across the Murray into New South Wales or west into South Australia. Where would your nearest emergency department be if God forbid the Milgeia Hospital had to shut.
THEIRS, it would be Bendigo. And we can see Bendigo and it is harder to get to than it is than it is to Melbourne. It is insane. Bendigo is our nearest. There's swan Hill, but swan Hill under construction at the moment, so their capacity is even though their population is much smaller.
There is an emergency room.
There, but Bendigo is where they are going to push patients.
So if I'm out on a farm and I'm doing some labor that requires me to use heavy machinery and I get badly hurt, am I being flown to bendigar Or Am I being packed into the back of an ambulance and driven down the highway.
It's you are being put in an ambulance now.
I've been speaking to ambulance members over the weekend and ambulance members in the far northwest of the state, in fact statewide, are under such pressure. But when you've got ambulances even making the trip between robin Vale and Miljura because there's no emergency room in Robinvale, I mean, it's just how amb has already so overworked and to take them four hundred kilometers away is just insanity. I do know that there are twenty two medical flights per day
already out of Mildura Regional Airport. That is almost one an hour. It's crazy.
Who's paying for that?
Well, I mean they're royal flying doctors and sometimes Ambulance Victoria. But Ambulance Victoria are also in huge financial strife at the moment, and I'm sure that there'll be more to come on that in the next few days. But it's essentially the taxpayer is paying for this, and it's just a brutal reminder that this allen labor government can't prioritize, certainly can't manage money or the health system, and it's people like us in Mildura and the Nali that are paying the price every single day.
We're talking to Jay Benham, who's the National's member for Mildura. Explain to me, forget about emergency apartment for a second. If I'm a pregnant mum and need to give birth then suddenly something might go wrong. Or if I need peace pediatric care, what's the hospital providing in mill Dura for me with these cuts in place.
Well, currently we have a new pediatric unit and we have maternity. I had my two sons in Mildura. If the maternity service is there, But what the government is asking of management and the board is to illustrate that to break even and get to a break even position, they need to cut maternity services. Now that is absolutely ludicrous for a community that.
Is so far away.
I mean we're the most isolated regional city in the state.
What would we do.
We would have to either make plans to go to Bendigo or swan Hill or somewhere else that's also under extreme pressure to birth. Now, I know that when you are pregnant and just about ready to give birth, things don't always go to plans, so that it's not practical.
It's just not.
On the jade. On the broader question, I mean, how does your community, the people of Milduror feel when they see the state labor government plowing more money and in fact, the Premier de center Ala last week said we are plowing ahead with a suburban rail loop, which, as I've described, a train line from nowhere to somewhere no one wants
to go. How do you feel as a taxpayer of Victoria when you see all of that money going into these city based projects, which to my eye are all about saving labour seats in suburban Melbourne, of course they.
Are, and keeping the unions like CFMAU happy. Meanwhile, us up here in the great northwest of the state that are producing all of the food for the city are still without a passenger rail service. We're still without an efficiently running rail freight service, and the trucks are just
getting bigger, the roads are crumbling. So when we see and this is one of my biggest bugbears, when we see all of that money and paying twenty six million dollars a day in interest free payments, when we see all of that money going into huge holes under the city and a suburban rail loop, we are just befuddled. I think is the most diplomatic way I could put it at the moment.
But it is just crazy and people are angry. They have had enough.
They know that Labor has been on the nose for a long time. And it's just as you said earlier, Steve, we just feel like the four cousins.
We're just out here to grow the food.
Well, I think it's pathetic and good luck to you. Let's keep in touch and anytime you want to ere your grievances on this issue, I'd love to have you back on the program.
Jade, thanks a lot, Thanks so much, Steve, appreciate the time.
How impressive is Jade. I must get her regularly on the Friday Show. Plenty more to come. The Greens new plan for the next election is one little join us as well. Welcome back to Steve Price Infushari for the rest of the week. As I mentioned, Green's leader Adam Bant has outlined his plan in The Australian Today for the next election by calling his party the robin Hood Party, whatever that might mean. He says the Greens have replaced Labor as the authentic party of the center left, adopting
stronger policies to fight inequality. Well, we'll see about that. Joining me to discuss this is LMP MP Garth Hamilton with us from Queensland tonight and LABOR Daniel Molino, who is in Victoria. Welcome to you both. Daniel. Just before we get onto Adam Bant, you hold the seat of Fraser in Melbourne and Derrim. It is within that seat where that dreadful fire that we saw unfold at the end of last week in the chemical factory. What's the situation there now? Is it all resolved? But boy it
looked very dangerous. Oh hi Steve, thanks for having me on.
Yeah, look, it was very concerning and I'll be seeking a briefing from the EPA and Melbourne Water.
As to the status of that.
There're state agencies, but I think it's very important that they provide briefing to all levels of government and I think, as you say, what it raises is issues around the management of those sites. But of course there are potentially longer term issues when there are incidents like that, around the water supply, around the firefighting that needs to go on in order to bring those kinds of incidents to under control, and whether or not some of the firefighting
materials end up getting into the water supply. So fortunately, my understanding is that there were no serious injuries as a result of this incident, but there have been in similar incidents in the past, so it's really worth looking at closely.
Yeah, it's a miracle that nobody was heard Garth just on Adam Bant, did you I'm not sure if you read that manifesto in the Australian today. I'm thinking about writing about it at the weekend. What do you make of his interpretation of where the Coalition and the Labor Party sit on the left and the right.
Well, look, like all times, when Adam opens his mouth, I don't think he's being entirely honest. My good friend Dan there will know this. He's down in Melbourne having to fight the Greens. Look, why would he give up being the party of complaint. I don't believe him for a second. The Greens have got this great scheme going where they tell people that he's lovely, cuddly environmentally friendly people.
They're not.
They've got a very clear of view on what they want to do with your money. If you work for it, they want to take it and give it to somebody else. They've come up with all these wonderful slogans. But problemly is being in government, she held to accounts, you have to do things, you get some responsibility put on your shoulders. The Greens don't want that. This is all just make believe and quite frankly, I think it's a it's so fast that the Greens pretend or that we'd even imagine
them taking on that sort of responsibility. They don't speak of that, don't want it.
Daniel, have you got a Green against you? What's your margin over them?
Well, look, I've got a decent number of people who vote Green in my electorate. And look, I understand that there is a bit of frustration with both major parties at the minute, but look, my concern with the Greens is that they are offering, and I agree with Garth, they're offering a populist, superficially attractive alternative. I think when you look at the Greens over the last decade or more, I went and had to look at the Greens primary
vote for the last five elections. In twenty ten, their vote was around twelve percent and it's been going up and down for the period in between then and the last election in twenty twenty two, when again it was approximately twelve percent. So look, the Greens are kind of hovering around this just over ten percent, ten to twelve
percent margin. And I think what that reflects is the fact that the Greens offer what I would describe as an extremist foreign policy to the Australian community, which the vast majority of people aren't interested in. And when it comes to economic policy, when it comes to their tax policy, when it comes to things like rent controls, they're not the Robin Hoods. Rather what they are economically irresponsible people who are basically trying to make everybody.
For People will wake up to them, I'm sure about that. Garth Peter Dutton's got his nose in front of the poles.
Well, look, you know say what all politicians say when you talk about polling, there's only one that matters, and that's the election. But I think the troubling thing for Labor would definitely be the trend that you've seen in those polling numbers, particular on the resolve pole. This has been going quite steadily downhill since mate. My take on it, like most people, I think this is what happens when
you take your eye off the economy. You know, we saw eighteen months of this government focused on the voice and unfortunate during that time. I think that's when things were getting bad, and the government's done a lot of work to try and tell people that this is now their number one priority. To be honest, I think people
are a little bit concerned about that. And when they see the price of everything going up around and they see the threat of inflation continuing, interest rate rises potentially continuing on into the future, they get worried and they turn a look at the government and they're making an assessment as to how seriously they've taken these challenges.
Yeah.
I said at the beginning of the program that its cost of living stupid, and that's exactly what it is. Daniel Garth, thank you very much for joining us tonight. We'll have a bit more time next week. We just got a bit jammed by Donald Trump's goings on today. Thank you very much. Coming up, I'll be back to host Shari tomorrow night. Coming up on the program after me. Well that's for me tonight. I'll see you tomorrow night.