Why on Sky News.
This is Sharry, Thanks Andrew Good Evening. Tonight, serious questions emerge about the independence of the RBA after cameras were called in to capture the first rate cut in four years? Did the Treasury Secretary know about this in advance? Economists are scandalized. Michael Kroger will join me shortly plus James
Packer on the show. In an exclusive interview. He reacts to the rise of antisemitism and why Donald Trump makes him more confident about the prospect for peace, and the heartbreaking news that the bodies of Shiri Ariel and Kafir Bibas will be coming home. This is not how they were meant to come home. I'm going to speak about that in a moment, but first tonight. The RBA's rate cut looks like it was economically reckless and apps politically motivated.
Serious economists and former RBA officials have come out to criticize the decision, which could worsen inflation and the cost of living crisis. The RBA is meant to be a prudent institution, and the prudent call would have been to hold Yet under sustained political pressure, Michelle Bullet caved into a marginal cut while at the same time warning Australians that they shouldn't expect any more in the near future.
It was a telling message. Former RBA board member Warwick McGibbon said there wasn't a strong argument to cut the cash rate. He sat on the board for a decade and he said, and I'm quoting, I wouldn't be cutting rates right now. We've seen the problem with doing that in the US when they cut rates prematurely and now they're having to backtrack. That causes a lot of uncertainty
and problems for the economy. Assistant professor of economics at George washing University Stephen Hamilton describes the rate cut as an error of judgment and wild. He says, completely wild to me that the RBA decided to cut interest rates at a meeting where it also revised its core inflation forecast to no longer achieving its target by the end
of the forecast horizon. Very difficult to discern their objective, and Hamilton says the cut would have been to relieve the pressure from the public, politicians and the media.
There were MPs coming out yesterday smashing them. There was union bosses smashing them. You know, everyone in Australia has just about had an half of these high rates, and I suspect the RBA genuinely thought there's only so far we can push people.
At some point we're going to have to offer some relief.
Columnist and former editor in chief Michael Stutchbury wrote on the front page of The finn Today that it took a twist of reasoning to deliver a small rate cut. He said Michelle Bullock and the Reserve Bank Board have put their inflation fighting credibility on the line by delivering a politically convenient interest rate cut without providing a compelling economic case to do so, and he also accused Albin
Easy and Charmers of roughing up the Central Bank. Another former RBA official, John Simon well Here, described the RBA decision as a head scratcher. Simon only left the RBA in the middle of last year. He was their former head of the Economic Research Department, and he said there was a gap in logic between the decision and the explanation.
He said. The board statement said that these factors give the Board more confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward the midpoint of the two to three percent target range, but the forecasts for inflation in the accompanying statement on Monetary Policy were revised up and for underlying inflation to flatline above the midpoint. These things appear contradictory. He speculated that perhaps there was a disagreement between the RBA staff and the board, but the issue is we just don't
know because of a lack of transparency. There has been a push for the RBA to publish the votes of the board. This may happen in the future. We hope it will. It hasn't yet, so it's unclear just how much agreement there was at yesterday's board meeting for the rate cut. It's a point Wall Street Journal reporter James
Glynn makes today. He writes, so tentative was the Reserve Bank of Australia's first reduction and official interest rates on Tuesday that it begs the question how much support did the cut actually get around the Senate Bank's board table. But when it came to explaining the rationale for the reduction, the Australian Central Bank was full of winnings about ongoing inflation risks, while Governor Michelle Bullock told money markets that bats on a few more cuts throughout the year needed
to be rethought. Now, Bullock didn't say the Rake cut was unanimous. She said the board came to a consensus opinion after debate.
It was a difficult decision in the sense that there were arguments on both sides, and what I would say is that the board had a very active debate of the arguments on both sides on this, but in the end came to the view that the better decision was to ease a little bit of the restrictiveness. Still maintain some restrictiveness, but ease a little bit of restrictiveness in recognition that we are making progress towards our goal.
Sir James Glenn says her com vents implied there was dissent at the meeting and the outcome was indeed a tight rope walk. Now, there's obviously was robust debate. It wasn't a clear cut call. Stephen Kennedy, the Treasury Secretary who also sits on the RBA board, it's pretty obvious and my sources tell me he was pushing for a cut, and he has been pushing for a cut for a long time. Labor Lined IBA board members Ian Ross and Alana Reuben are also understood to have been arguing for
a cut. And here's where it gets interesting. Former Treasury Assistant Secretary David pearl Well, he was on the show last night. He only left the Treasury in late twenty twenty three. He worked under Secretary Stephen Kennedy while Jim Chalmers was Treasurer. And he told us here last night that there wasn't a strong case and it wasn't even a line board decision for a rake.
I was staggered because there's not a strong case at all.
He felt the decision by Michelle Bullock was a political capitulation. He was also very critical of the fact a highly political figure like Stephen Kennedy would have a vote on rates at the RBA table. Again here he was last night.
Stephen Kennedy, for example, is very close to Ross Garno. He's worked with him, his friends with him. They share the same views on inflation and Ross Guarano bullied Michelle Bullock late last year, and the Financial Reviewers you know revealed that Darno rang up their op ed editor to demand that his piece pretty much insisting on a rate cut last December be published, so to influenced Bullock.
David Pearl also questioned the integrity of the RBA decision, and have a look at what he said about how it might have been politicized.
Well, call me a cynic, but when I read in the paper yesterday that Jim Chalmers was telling the backbench to cool their horses, so I thought, well, that shows that he knows the fixers in. And then when I tuned on the television, I saw that the cameras were in the meeting room. I thought, well, Charmers or his media people wanted that because.
They knew that there was going to be a favorable decision.
Now, my understanding is that the treasure is that the Treasurer did not know there were going to be cameras in to capture the moment. But we just don't have an answer for what Treasury Secretary Stephen Kennedy knew. It is highly unusual for media to film an RBA board meeting, So if what David Pearl is alleging, well, it could amount to political interference and it's highly concerning and this would raise serious questions about the credibility and independence of
the board meeting. I asked the RBA this evening, did the Tree Inasury Secretary requests the RBA allow cameras into the board meeting and does on this leave the RBA open to accusation, accusations that its independence is in question. The RBA said the answer to each question was no, and they said, all your allegations are untrue. Well, this is a subject we will continue investigating. You've heard all
the economists here tonight disagree with the decision yesterday. So perhaps there should be an independent examination into how much political pressure was applied to the RBA board ahead of and during its meeting, and what Stephen Kennedy knew in advance of a decision that shouldn't have been made before debate at the table. So on the balance of probabilities,
why was this rate cut the wrong decision? Well, the central forecast for underlying inflation has been revised up over twenty twenty six, labor market data has been unexpectedly strong, there's fresh global uncertainty, and productivity growth is still sluggish and hasn't picked up. The strongest argument against a rake cut lies in RBA's own reasoning. Governor Michelle Bullock set a cut would only come once inflation had sustainably returned
to target. Not only has that not happened, but forecasts indicate inflation is set to rise slightly. Despite this, the RBA is effectively declaring mission accomplished when clearly there's still work to do. Okay, you know this beautiful family well by now. This is Shiri with her two sweet babies, Kafir and Ril. She was a loving mother like any mother,
her boys bringing her so much joy. As they live and grew up on near Oz Kibbutz in Israel, they were cruelly and unforgivably kidnapped by Hamas barbarians on October seventh. Kifa was nine months old, just a baby, and Ariel was four. This is how they left Israel in the greatest of distress and fear and trauma and terror. But they were alive since that dreadful moment they were dragged across the border into Gaza. Not a day has passed when we haven't thought about the Bibas family and held
them in our hearts. I spoke with Yeah Keshet, the uncle of yad In Bibas, when I was in Israel, and he was desperate for the world to pay attention to this horrendous war crime. Baby Kifa, the world's youngest stitch.
Yeah, you can.
See him here.
He was I was the picture here.
Baby is kidnapped.
Baby is not a soldier, is not a pilot. It's not everything. He's a little baby.
Look at him now. Dad Yadin came home in the first of this month without Shiri or their children, and his pain is about to get even worse. And we all are about to experience one of the most heartbreaking days since October seven. Hamas will return the bodies of mother Shiri Bibas and her two children on Thursday, Israel time. This is the true reality of Hamas, the governing body of Gaza, the place that Penny Wang wants to reward
and recognize with statehood. There are truly no words that could possibly capture the depravity, the cruelty, the evil of these people who could take a mother and her babies, take them alive and return them in body bags. We love you, baby Kafir, We love you Ariel, and we will never ever forget you. May your memories be a blessing.
And let's pick up on that now with former Victorian Liberal Party leader Michael Kroger and former Labor minister Graham Richardson, Michael, this is going to be one of the hardest days ever seeing those two tiny body bags come home.
Well, Sharry, that was a beautiful editorial. And I remember watching you a month ago where you subtly mentioned to the audience that they were probably dead. And I visited their home in January last year, and you've been there.
I know.
What any father's worst nightmare, and we pray for him. But this is Hamas. These people are just human filth. These people are human scum. These people are inhuman. These people are idi Amin, they are Adolf Hitler. They are the worst, most atrocious humans living in the world today. The thought that they have supporters in our country here fills me with horror. Fills me with horror that people go on the internet, people receive government grants if you
might who support sinhoar. You know, I think Jordan Peterson and Douglas Murray and these people are right and what they're saying, I mean, you know, Western nations have serious problems given the level of support that organizations like Hummas have in Western countries. It's an absolute and not to disgrace.
It is indeed, Richo to think that they've been protesters in Australia, including medical professionals siding with Hamas. This is what Hamas has done, taken an innocent mother, an innocent baby, and innocent four year old. How can we begin to comprehend and deal with this in the coming days.
I just don't understand people sometimes. I think depravity of Hamas is just so overwhelming sometimes that it staggers me that anyone can walk around the streets and support them. These people are mongrels. They deserve no support whatsoever, and it just distresses me that I share the planet with people who do in fact support them.
The party, I might say, Rich, oh, there are even some people in your party and in the Greens as well, who for me to come down on the side of Yep.
There are a few, And were I a little younger, I'd be working very hard to get rid of them.
Yeah. Yeah, that is a pity.
That is true. That is true, Graham, That is true. When I was a bit younger and you were a bit older than me, you're in your heyday, you you, you and the great Robert James Lee Hawk, you wouldn't have had a bar of these people, not a bar of them. And people like Michael East and Mary Alexander, Bill Shorten Conroy all the Hawk. You know that guy Tony Lupton who ran for the states that are pran in Victoria, the political descendants of Bob Hawk. You wouldn't
have a bar of these people. And I pay credit to your rich o that you what you say. You speak the truth, my friend.
All right, we'll have more coverage of the Bibass family on the show tomorrow night. Well, let's return to this disagreement and this concern by economists over the rate cut. Michael Horner asks you about your view of the RBA's decision to cut rates. I spoke to a lot of economists today, very senior ones, highly concerned about this decision.
Willock Charry, there isn't any doubt in my mind that there was political pressure on the board. I mean, let's be frank here, Michelle Bullock, the governor did not vote for the rate increase. I mean, for goodness sake, let's just call a spade a spade here. As that fellow David Pearl said last night brilliantly on your show and is written you look at the language of the Reserve Bank Board over the last last few months, Look at the language of yesterday's statement. Look at Michel Bullet's body
language yesterday. That was the press conference a defeated person. I've seen people before having to get up and give press conferences to pretend they support something they didn't vote for. She didn't vote for that decision. As you said earlier, you had Kennedy, you had Reuben, you had Ross, and of the other four members, I would think three went with the governor, two went with Kennedy. My guess is the votes five to four in favor of rating creuse.
That'd be my guess. But she didn't vote for that.
Someone did put to me today that she might have agreed to it with Stephen Kennedy before walking in to the board room meeting, So they might have agreed to present, you know, this is the consensus position we've arrived at, right, So she might have actually voted for it in the room, but had that conversation we would have.
Spoken against it as the board meeting. If you've got the treaty secretary in the Reserve Bank Governor saying we strongly agree with this zero point two to five rate increase rate cut.
Well, because the king, who was speaking well the case wasn't there, And clearly you know the RBA staff, the statement they released was more supportive of a hold. Graham Richardson, What do you think about this?
Yeah, I don't think I can disagree with that. Look, there's always drama over over rates, you can't avoid it, and there's always going to be that temptation to accuse the RBA board of making decisions that are politically helpful to the government. That doesn't necessarily mean that that was the aim. Sometimes that's just the right economic decision to make.
I mean, no.
Impressions of the board that they are genuinely independent. I don't believe they just put their hand up.
Yeah, but Steve Kennedy's on the board, he's not independent. He's a political animal. That's how he was described to me today.
Well, I mean your definition of independent in mind may be different, but I don't believe that even he just takes his orders from charments.
I know, I don't think he would be given orders from charmers. I think he would be giving the orders. Well, I don't know about that either, but I'm told he's highly political. Stephen Kennedy. All right, let's talk about today's major business news. The Whyala Steel Works has been foced into administration in South Australia. He was the South Australian Premier. Peter Malanowskas today, I.
Look forward to being on the ground. In fact, I'd love to be there now, to be honest, to be our look in the eyes of people that work at the still works and assure them of their future and the fact that they're in a far better position right now than where they were this morning.
Michael, Look, you'd be worried that tax payers are now going to spend more money. The Prime Minister's going there tomorrow with the Premiere. We'd invited the Prime Minister to our anti Semitism summit. He said he was going to be an adelaide. Presumably you can only assume he knew this was coming. That's why he's going to be an adelaide. But this is a hit to Labour's renewables agenda, isn't it another one?
I mean green hydrogen hydrogen These sort of venture capital schemes that should be the foray of venture capital, private equity companies, debt providers, risk takers. Why Chris Bowen has to keep investing hundreds of millions into these schemes. I mean he's losing all of this money. I mean he reminds me of an amateur walking into a Las Vegas poker game full of professionals and they say a mug. I'm absolute muggs walked in an absolute mug. We can
fleece him. Well, that's what Bowen looks like to me. He's given a million dollars to a billion dollars to build panels, solar panels. We're cheaper and better than the Chinese. I mean, this bloke just throws money away and there is nothing in his career which would tell you that this blake has any idea what he's doing. The worst immigration minister ever, a terrible shadow treasurer if Chris Bonon, fronted up for a job interview, and he said, I want billions to spend on something.
Why would you give it to him?
You say, Chris, everything else you've done failed, my friend.
You hard to argue with that, Richo.
No, I think he has a record of failing up, doesn't Bowan. He just keeps going out no matter what happens.
Getting worse and worse. And Mike, I'm going to see you tomorrow. The anti Semitism, so that we're grateful that you're actually going to be there in person supporting it.
Well, I'm very interested to ask the Attorney General a question. I'm happy to give him notice now because I don't think I've springed it on him. Why the Labor government refused to support a judicial inquiry to anti Semitism on campuses in Australia and why they won't call a Royal commission to anti Semitism around this country. I mean, given that the shocking state of this country, in the despair and fear felt by many Jewish Australians, why won't they
do that? Is that a fair question? Am I being unreasonable?
No, it's a it's a very good question.
They support Israel and they support the Jews very very Penny Wong, big supporter, Tony Burke, you know Albo the big support and they do. And let me be clear, there's no place for andy Semits in Australia under an alban Ezy government. If you haven't heard that message, he's made that very clear.
Yeah, exactly, we don't don't. We can recite his lines off by heart. We do not condain condone racism of any type.
Talking about failing upwards.
All right, Michael Kroger, Graham Richardson, great to see you both, Thanks you for your type.
Thanks Cherry all right.
On Monday I told you how more than two hundred and sixty Australian doctors had sent a letter to Federal Health Minister Mark Butler back in October twenty twenty three to talk about the level of anti Semitism in the health sector and how disappointingly but unsurprisingly, no action was taken since that letter was sent, and because of the inaction of the government and OPRAH, that anti semitism has continued.
This week, we've covered such despicable cases as a doctor saying that they fear seeing Jewish names among their patients, while another doctor's social media post says live like sinoa or die trying now. The doctor who sent that letter to Mark Butler in twenty twenty three has now broken her silence on the lack of response. Doctor Jacqueline Rakov joins me. Now, doctor Rakov, I'm so pleased to have you on the program. Thank you very much for your time.
Why have you decided, thanks for the invitation, Why have.
You decided now to speak out publicly?
Well? Sharry.
I should probably say that I've not been hiding anywhere. The letter was signed clearly with my name. It went out to more than just one minister. Since then, we've met with Opera. I understand it was tabled in Senate, my name was available, and I've spoken with Health Services. I think that the climate or the tolerance for hate
has allowed. That has been allowed has meant that it took such a disgusting and shocking incident that we saw last week with the Bankstown nurses for people to start finally asking questions.
I mean, you sent that letter on the twenty sixth of October twenty twenty three. It was just a couple of weeks after October seven, and already you'd compiled this dossi era of offensive and anti Semitic comments. How do you feel about the lack of response from the Albaneze government to your ladder?
Well, like many Australians, I feel disappointed, let down.
I'm also quite confused.
Not only was the letter sent, as I mentioned, the concerns were tabled at Senate the following day, Senator Ann Rustin put Aprah put questions to APRA, which they took on notice and went nowhere. We have met with Oprah.
They have admitted that they're not trained to deal with antisemitism, they have refused to adopt a definition of antisemitism, and frankly, they're getting advice from people who I think are radioactively concerning appointing advisors to their notifications team, who are on the other hand, openly signing their name to petitions that tacitly support Hamas. My intuition is that the Health Ministry or the Health Department and Opera have betrayed the community and failed to uphold their mandate.
I mean, at the very least, we've been covering some examples on the show this week, really shocking things that doctors have said. I mentioned a couple of moment ago, the dossia that you compiled. You know what were some of those more atrocious comments.
Well, Sari, Firstly, I didn't act alone. It was just that I was willing to put my name. I wrote the letter, but I didn't compile the dossier. I think some of the worst things we've seen have included slurs and anti Semitic tropes comparing Jews to Nazis. We've had suggestions that we should all have the steadfastness of sinoa.
We've heard endlessly about resistance. We've been told that if we feel something is antisemitic, or we challenge a source, that we're supporters of genocidal, colonizing regimes and apartheid.
It just never ends. It's incessant.
People are badly obsessed with this issue, and the regulator don't know where to be seen.
Yeah, it's an absolute travesty that APRA has been absent on this for the large part. And also the H Triple C. I had an example last night of a doctor who was referred to the H Triple C utterly appalling comments and they just said, nothing to see here under the conduct. You know, free speech. This is a complicated issue Israel and Gaza. Well fine, but anti Semitism and racism is not a complicated issue. And you just and this doctor was denying the rape of Israeli women
on October seven. He was even defending the taking of hostages, which is particularly apparent, particularly on a day like today when we hear that the bodies of Shiri Kafir and Aril Bibis are going to come home in body bags. Dr Rakoff, just finally, your area of expertise is radicalization your father as a Holocaust survivor. Clearly, if you're concerned about the spread of anti Semitism, the government and APPERA should listen to you and not ignore you. You're an expert in this field.
While that may be the case, Sharry, I don't think that this is an issue that takes any breadth of expertise necessarily to see how widespread and critical it's become. I mean Australia is now regarded as a country that's hostile to Jews.
I mean, how embarrassing.
I know many friends and doctors who are making up their plan bes and to me that's shocking because this is a country in which my family and many others sought refuge because of its tolerance. This is an issue that's going to require bipartisan leadership and action. We don't want platitudes, we don't want finger pointing at the time for that is gone. The regulator needs to do something, whether there needs to be a royal commission or some
sort of external inquiry. But the status quo is absolutely not fit for purpose.
I couldn't agree more and thank you for your courage in putting your name to it. Speaking publicly. It comes with a lot of blowback and you're very brave to do it. Thank you so much, Jacqueline Rackoff. All right, still to come one Mother's inspiring journey as she climbs the tallest mountain in the Americas in only three dates, plus my exclusive interview with billionaire James Packer. Here's a reaction to the horrific video of the Bankstown nurses. After
this quick break, welcome back. Well, tomorrow we're holding the Sky News Antisemitism Summit and we've taken your ideas on board. We've had nearly nine hundred emails with your brilliant ideas to tackle anti Semitism. Now you can watch it live on the Sky News Election Channel or on our website that's skynews dot com dot au. It's from one o'clock until five o'clock and I'm going to show you the highlights from John Howard, Peter Dutton, Justice, Michael Lee, Josh
Fridenberg and Moore. Here tomorrow night at eight o'clock. Now, one person who really would have loved to attend our summit was billionaire James Packer, but he can't. He's overseas. So I spoke to him about this issue in an exclusive interview. Here's our chat. James Packer, thank you so much for joining.
Me pleasure sharing.
Well, firstly, what's your reaction to this anti Semitism explosion we're seeing in Australia.
Well, it's a reaction of horror. I mean, I'm a proud Australian obviously, and I will always be a proud Australian. And one of the great things about being a proud Australian is that it's such an egalitarian country. And you know, I lived in Australia for the first forty five years of my life and there wasn't you know, I didn't I didn't experience racism, and I had so many Jewish and had so many Jewish friends, and to see this this discurring the way it is at the moment is just it's horrifying.
Well, the most recent incident that chucked everyone was that video of two nurses in a public hospital saying they would kill and have killed Israelis. To think that nurses in a public hospital are filled with this racism and hatred, I mean, it just makes you shudder, doesn't it.
No, No, it's a scene from a it's a scene from a Hollywood movie. It's not something that you could believe was a real life, a real life situation. It doesn't sound plausible. You wouldn't you wouldn't believe it could be true. Yeah, it's beyond it's beyond imagination. It's that terrible,
that's that terrible. Obviously obviously what the hatred is, So you know, the hatred, I mean, we're dealing we're dealing with hatred that's thousands of years old, and that's you know, that's the that's obviously the you know, the tragedy of of what's going on at the moment, and it's such a complex situation. Let's you know, I think, you know, I think we're all more hopeful probably than we were
a couple of you know, months ago. I think, you know, I think the change of government in America is at least going to bring some impetus to the situation. But it's you know, clearly, it's you know, clearly has been a horrific, a horrific period and it's just awful. It's awful, and from from every side, from every side.
Well, you refer to new President Donald Trump to hear him say we're not going to put up with her mus supports university campuses. It's such a breath of fresh air. We haven't had that leadership in Australia and everyone seems to be tiptoeing around the problem. University chancellors don't want to call it out. No one seems to want to take responsibility.
Here, and that's I think that's really disappointing because and I you know, it's things like the Holocaust should be in the curriculum for the educational curriculum. But you know, it's hard to imagine anything more horrific that's ever happened to a religious you know too, there's half half the Jews in the world were obviously killed in you know, in the in the Second World War. It's it should be, it should it should be taught, It should be, it
should be taught widely. It should be, it should be people should know about it. And you know, the fact that it's being taken out of the curriculum in certain places is wrong.
Yeah.
I couldn't agree with you more. I just want to ask you, James, about how the police recently found a caravan filled with explosives. If it would have been detonated, They say it would have created a forty meter blast wave, that sort of terror event, and Peter Dutton and the Premier Chris Mens have said this would have been a
mass casualty event had it been detonated. You think about something like that if it would have happened, I mean, that would have permanently changed not just the Jewish community but all of Australia forever.
No, I mean of course it would. You know, you go back to you go back to what happened in Tasmania when John how I forget that I should remember the guy's name, but when the massacre occurred and what happened, Yeah, the port ask the massacre. I mean that changed Australia.
And you know, I mean John Howard deserves a lot of credit for that, But I mean this, you know, if something horrific happened, you know along the lines you're talking about with the caravan, that would have obviously been horrific and nothing good would have come out of that. Don't get me wrong, it was a very bad analogy. Nothing good would have come out of that. It would have just been it just worn't been horrific, horrific.
Yeah, just finally, do you have a message for other Australians. You've got the courage to speak up about this important issue. Do you think more Australians need to say, We're just not going to stand for this hatred.
I think everyone should try and be tolerant. I think, you know, trying to be tolerant is you know, and it's easier said than done. And I get to do that from a position of privilege, and so I try, and you know, I try and remember. I try and remember how lucky I am every day, and try and remember and try and do that through being grateful about how lucky I am. But if you can be tolerant, you know, that's that's what we need. We need. We need more religious tolerance. We need more tolerance in a
whole a whole set of areas in life. But you know, we we certainly need more religious tolerance. This is this is not the right way forward, what's happening at the moment.
Really appreciate your time, James Packer.
Thank you very much, Thank you, thank you for all your your great contribution.
We're so grateful for James Packer's support. He would have loved to have been at the summit, and I think his message there of tolerance is a very important one. Also love his idea about having Holocaust education return to the school curriculum. Can you believe it's no longer compulsory at every in every state around the country. New South Wales has said they're going to put it back in
this school curriculum starting in twenty twenty seven. I mean, this is part of the issue people young people today, they just don't understand the past, they don't have the facts, they don't understand where anti Semitism can lead. But we're very grateful to James Packer for his support and just the quick update. Police today said that a thirty six year old man, Scott Marshall pictured here with his partner Tammy Ferusa, he's now been charged over his alleged involvement
in one of the anti Semitic attacks in Wallara. Scott Marshall was also named in a search warrant related to the caravan field with explosives and the list of two Jewish targets. Police have also released this image of another man who's been seen near several other of the anti Semitic attacks, So if you recognize him, get in touch with police, all right, Still to come a mum of three who climbed one of the tallest mountains in the
world in just three days. It usually takes weeks. How she did it after this quick break, plus Clive Palmer tries to pick up votes by copying Donald Trump. That's all coming up, welcome back. Well, there are so many horrible things going on in the world that it's nice to remember that there are people out there doing incredible things. So one of them is a Sydney mother of three, Mia Pharroh. She's no ordinary mum and she's just returned home after climbing the tallest mountain in the Americus in
just three days. Mia is only the third woman to have ever climbed the Aconcagua Mountain. Only two other men have officially done it. That's in the three day period. This peak is one of the seventh summits, coming in at nearly seven thousand meters high. Now, this was her third attempt to make the summit solo in three days, and she did it, and she came very close to breaking the world record as well. Now husband's going to kill me for this, but she was joined by another
great mountaineer, my husband. Here they are. He also made it to the top of the mountain. But unlike Mia, he took closer to what did he take Mia two or three weeks to get there. But MIA's story is very inspiring. She's one of the most determined and ambitious women. And I'm pleased to say she joins me. Now, just back from your mountain adventure on Saturday. Congratulations Mia, thank you,
SHEI incredible. Thank you. So what can you explain to the audience, because it's hard to understand just how difficult it is climbing a seven thousand meter mountain like Aconcagua in three days when it's snowing.
It is very difficult.
It's really really hard.
And just pushing by yourself from two thousand meters to seven thousand meters in such a short amount of time is.
And just.
Really really difficult on a body and the mind too, because you have to navigate by yourself. You don't have the guides next to you. You have to think of every step where to go, what to do, which path to take.
It's mentally and physically exhausted. Now, your training for this included altitude tents here in Australia so that you could get used to breathing with less oxygen. What was that like?
Yes, it was actually I think really beneficial. It worked for me obviously and con from high altitude. I've rented a tent and I've had a tent for about three months. And what you do is I slept in a tent for about three or four days a week because you have to recover. I had long days of running and training at the gym and everything, so I needed some time to recover.
So I decided to do three to four days in the altitude tent. And the tent kind of comes hafter.
You body is in the tent and it just simulates the altitude, so it takes the oxygen out of it. And yeah, you just try to simulate and get so most models.
Who attempt that mountain, and not many people actually make it to the top, I think only forty percent or thirty percent, but they take, you know, two to three weeks to get there. You were running and made it in three days. So you were aiming to break the world record. Tell us how race UK.
I came just a few hours closed from breaking it.
I actually hours. Yes, the girl who.
Had broken the world record, who has the record, has done it with official pacers and the porters, so you can do.
It that way too.
It's a lot more expensive. I mean, you have to have a professional team really.
In place for that.
And she's a very competitive athlete from Argentina and she's attempted it twice. So it's not people have to get to know the mountain. You have to go back a few times. You have to see the mountain from both sides, so it's not just showing.
Up and doing it.
It really takes years to finish this project.
So I came really close. I decided to sleep.
I actually took eight hours of.
Sleep, so that really put me in a disadvantaged position, but it was quite safe. I wanted to keep myself.
Eight hours of sleep in three days. Yes that's nothing, Yes, that's amazing. And there was a blizzard at the time. Blizzard going up.
We had hail and rain and snow in the base camp. I had to wait for about an hour and a half for it to stop because it's really hard to move up when it's so muddy. You're constantly sliding sliding back down. We had snow and hall going up to the summit, and then you get to the summit and it was a clear day.
Oh yeah about the clouds beautiful and it looked beautiful. Yeah, so it was great.
But I had a really great help for Fernando Harlis and his steam Harlist expeditions, and yeah, it was just this was a team effort.
Congratulations. I think it's very much a solo effort, but congratulations. It's the most incredible in chief. And and I'm sure your three beautiful girls are so thrilled to have their mum home safe and in one piece.
They are.
I'm grateful to have Jacki, Lara and Sophie at home and supporting me.
And right, well, John Miller, thank you so much. All right, coming up next to Clive Palmer tries to shake up Aussie politics by copying Donald Trump, who good luck with that and economous swarm. RBA acted too hastily, Sky News reported cam Redden, who joined me next. Well, you know you're an election season when political leaders start showing their
softer side to the press. Peter Darton was featured in the Sunday Papers over the weekend, or the Saturday Papers, i should say, while Women Weekly sat down with Anthony Albanese's partner Jody Hayden to talk about their relationship. Let's bring in now Sky News reporter Cam Redden. Cam these rival feature pieces. You know, Albanez, he spent today he should have been talking about the rate cut, but he was talking about when he was going to get married.
This is in the Australian Women's Weekly too, Shari. I think it was a joint interview with his partner, Jody Hayden. They notably have run out of time to get married before the election, so it will take place someplace after. Look, it is interesting and I do wonder how much of the US style campaign we will see over the coming weeks. Of course, these sort of pictures they typically do come up. I know Peter Dutton sat down with his wife Kirily over the weekend as well and did their piece for
one of the major networks too. I think what we will see, Shari, is a little bit more of that unconventional style campaigning. You might see more, for example, pieces in the Women's Weekly, on podcast circuits in non traditional media outlets than we have in the past. That was
such a fe feature successfully for Donald Trump. And I'm not saying there's a directly necessarily, but it does go to show that I guess people are getting their information and their news in different places, so the leaders have to go there, whether that's the Women's Weekly or whether it's some podcast that maybe we wouldn't have heard of a few years ago.
I don't know how many people are reading the Women's Weekly anymore. I would say not many. But nonetheless, the view is that's how you reach women the cross words normally. Yeah, I do. All right, Well, let's have a look at billionaire Clive Palm and he's coming up on Poul Murray's show. By the way, he is now trying to launch a new political party after his previous one, United Australia was barred from reregistering. This is a very troubled bloke. Don't
like him at all. The mining magnate said, he's following in Donald Trump's footsteps, as if he could hope to do that? Can what is this play?
Well?
In the United States, Sharry, a billionaire became the president and in Australia this billy spent one hundred and twenty million dollars and got one Senate seat in Victorias. So not the greatest return on investment for Clive Palmer. The last time out, he said, he's going to pump millions of dollars into this party which most people will never have heard of. It's called the Trumpet of Patriots. It's existed in a whole range of forms over about two decades.
It's been registered with the AAC since twenty eleven. It's never troubled the scorers at an electoral level. But basically this will be a vessel now for Clive Palmer without the UAP to try and run candidates all across the country. Now he's not necessarily committed to doing every seat, all one hundred and fifty like you did last time. But Charry, this cannot given the amount of money he's got, it
can't be entirely dismissed. Because if he's able to replicate what the UAP did and get something like four percent nationwide, yes that sounds like not very much, but it could be enough in razor tight seats the likes of Blair in Queensland, Bruce in Melbourne as well, some of these seats where one Nation and the UAP did pretty well a few years ago.
It could be enough.
Depending on where his preferences go, which he hasn't said yet, that could be enough to swing a seat either way. So it's a lot of show, but it may have some actual impact.
We will see. And Cam you had an exclusive that Clive Palmer tried to pitch to Pauline Hanson that they combined forces, but that didn't go down too well.
Now to be a fly on the wall for this cup of tea, Sharry, this was a meeting in November between Pauline Hanson One Nation officials and also Clive Palmer. The essence of the pitch here was to join forces and create this new entity known as it would have been called the Clive and Pauline Party running as the CAAP, but critically Clive Palmer put up. We revealed today ten million dollars of his own money offered to bank role
candidates for One Nation across the country. And also we've reported there was an offer of half a million dollars to help Pauline Hanson in her defamation fight against the case brought by Marine Ferruki, the Green Senate. Paul and Hanson turned up her nose, didn't want a bar of it. She said no, And ultimately that's led us to today and Clive Palmer sounding his trumpet of patriots.
Yeah, there would have been big arguments about who would have been the leader of that party. You can imagine that wouldn't have lasted long had they decided to emerge. All right, cam Reid, and thanks so much for your time. Now, don't forget everyone. Tomorrow is the sky News Anti Semitism Summit. You can watch it at one pm on the sky News Election channel or on the website otherwise. I'll have
all the highlights here at eight o'clock tomorrow night. Thanks so much for your company this evening, and stay tuned right now, he's Paul Murray