Live on Sky News. This is Sharry.
Good evening.
I hope you've all had a RESTful Easter weekend with your family. We've got a big show tonight, but let's start with this historic news that the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Francis.
Has died at the age of eighty eight.
The Pope passed away on Easter Monday local time, a significant day in the Catholic calendar that continues to mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It's incredible he was able to survive the Easter weekend and bless the thousands of people in Saint Peter's Square.
Curdie, Fratilli and Sorelli borna Pascua.
Dear brothers and sisters. Happy Easter, he said.
Despite being gravely ill, he buoyed the spirits of Christians around the world by giving his Easter Sunday blessing. That moment will now be known as his final tribute.
It's incredibly touching.
As we know, the eighty eight year old Pontiff had been battling serious health issues for weeks, including bronchitis and double pneumonia. The Vatican confirmed his passing on Easter Monday local time co.
Do you see me for it elier readily, dear brothers and sisters, with deep sorrow, I must announce the death of our holy Father Francis. At seven point thirty five this morning, the Bishop of Rome Francis returned to the House of the Father. His entire life was dedicated to the service of the Lord and his Church. He taught us to live the values of the Gospel with fidelity, courage, and universal love, especially toward the poorest and most marginalized.
With immense gratitude for his example, as a true disciple of the Lord Jesus, we commend the soul of Pope Francis to the infinite merciful love of the Triune God.
Pope frances born in nineteen thirty six was a Jesuit priest. In nineteen ninety eight, Francis became the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, then cardinal in two thousand and one, but he never
expected to be pope. When he went to the papal conclave in twenty thirteen, aged seventy six, he booked a return airfare from Rome to Argentina on the night of his electionist pope, he turned down the papal car and used a bus to return to his hotel, and when he found out that he wouldn't be returning home that he had been elected pope, his fellow Jesuit priest, Father Frank Brennan, tells the story that he phoned his local Argentinian newsagent to counsel his newspaper delivery and Father Frank
Brennan will be on the show shortly to share more stories about Pope Francis. Now, Francis is widely regarded by Catholics as a truly modern pope. Many saw him as trailblazing. Conservatives found him too liberal because he put social issues to one side and was a climate change activist. A major focus of the papacy of Pope Francis was on the depth of.
Faith, over the content of faith.
He often said that the doctrines of the Church are not enough, that individuals must encounter God personally and experience the transformative power of faith in their lives. He encouraged and challenged Catholics to focus on the practical face of being a Catholic and what this means, which Pope Francis saw as responding to people in need and particularly those who are poorest, most marginalized and most vulnerable. He encouraged Catholics to treat their faith as going into a field hospital,
going to the front line, and serving the poor. He took the papacy twelve years ago, and it made him the first non European pope in more than one thousand years.
He was born as jog Mario Bergoglio.
He chose the name Pope Francis after Saint Francis of Assisi, the saint who helped the poor. He was also known as the Pope of personal encounter and great symbolism. On his first Holy Thursday's Pope, he famously kissed and washed the feet of juvenile offenders at an island prison. It was a major entry point for migrants arriving in Europe.
It was for him to show solidarity with those seeking refuge, and throughout his public life he was known for having a less formal approach to the papacy compared with his predecessors. His more liberal leanings also sparked debate and even controversy
on both sides of the political spectrum. In twenty fifteen, he released his famous encyclical Lodotto Seed Care for our Common Home, which where he called for a new dialogue about how we're shaping the future of our planet, and he's spoke in it about the environmental challenge where undergoing. He was also a pope that wanted to bring the church.
To the people and do away with pageantry.
Whether or not you agreed with how he went about things or his views, he certainly has left a lasting legacy on the lives of more than one billion people of the Catholic faith, as well as those who are not. In fact, recent reforms seemed to suggest that he might have known he was nearing the end and was keen to have an impact on the church even after his passing. His death comes weeks after he published his autobiography called Hope.
It's the first memoir written by a sitting pope, and France has also created twenty one new cardinals, with all bar one under eighty years old, meaning they're eligible to vote in a conclave to elect his successor. Even more telling, Pope Francis extended the terms of two other cardinals now in accordance with his wishes that he revised just last year.
Francis's funeral rites have been simplified. There'll be much less pomp and circumstance, he won't be buried in the Vatican Grottos, as his tradition, but in one of his favorite.
Churches in Rome. Now, as we've been.
Reporting you this news, people around the world have begun to pay their respects, from.
Vatican City to Sydney.
And other Australian cathedrals. Here was Anthony Alberinezi just a little earlier.
Australian Catholics and faithful around the world give thanks for the life of their Holy Father, Pope Francis, Bishop of Rome. Today, the prayers of more than a billion people from all nations, in every walk of life go with Pope Francis to his rest. May God welcome Pope Francis to eternal life.
Our position leader Peter Dutton also spoke this evening on.
Behalf of the Coalition. I expressed my condolences to Australians of Catholic and Christian faith upon the very sad news of the death of the two hundred and sixty sixth Pontiff. His Holiness, Pope Francis served God with the utmost devotion throughout his life. He was the first pope from the Jesuit order and the first Latin American pope. He lived frugally and simply above all else, he was driven by Christ's values of mercy and forgiveness.
And here was Archbishop of Sydney Anthony Fisher on with Andrew Bolts a little earlier.
It's a big loss for us. He's been our shepherd now for a decade. We've got very use to him being our pope, and he is a symbol of the unity of the Church throughout the world that more than a billion Catholics that usedkov. But we're also very grateful that we had him till the age of eighty eight.
We could have lost him some months ago. That he got to live through to Easter to give his Zeaster message to the world before he died was very special, and I'm glad that we got that little bit extra at the end.
Pope Francis's passing is a transformative moment for the Catholic Church, and we'll continue to bring you live updates tonight, including we're going to cross to Vatican City shortly. But more than that, I appreciate that this is a day of mourning for the world's Catholics, and I want all our Catholic viewers to know that we're thinking of you and
sending our condolences. Pope Francis never stopped reminding the Catholic faithful of the importance of their belief in the resurrection, which he said epitomized the hope of the Catholic faith that death life is changed, not taken away. Okay, we're going to get to the federal election campaign shortly. There's a lot to speak about on that topic. But first to respond to this historic passing of Pope Francis, let's
hear from Father Frank Brennan. Father, welcome to the program and I'm sorry that you're joining me under such tragic circumstances.
Thank you, SUI. But I think we can be joyous at the fact that Francis lasted until Easter and he was delighted to be with the faithful there in Saint Peter's on Easterday, and I think he would have died with a sense that all was complete. So after a twelve year papacy, I think it's well done and may he rest in peace.
Yeah, he had been battling very serious health issues. There have been various points over the past few weeks where people thought he might not make it so it is perhaps even a miracle that he lasted and was able to see through this.
Whole time of year.
Father, I want to ask you about his legacy to you. You know, what will be his most meaningful contribution to the Catholic Church.
I think it'll be on a number of levels, Shuri. But first and foremost is that he did not come from Europe, as you pointed out, but he came from the South, and he came from Argentina. He came from a country which had known not only poverty but military war. And he had been the leader of the Jesuits as a young man during the Dirty Wars in Argentina, and so he was very familiar with all of the things that are thrown up in the midst of civil war, and he brought all of that with him to Rome.
So I think he was one who had great pastoral sensitivity. He was not so much interested in the intellectual nuances of moral theology about what made something right or wrong. He wanted to be in touch with the aspirations of ordinary people, particularly those on the margins. The next thing about him is that I think he was always one for reaching out to the peripheries. He went to places like Mongolia. I remember I was in Rome back in twenty twenty two and there he was in his wheelchair
heading off on his plane to the Congo. Here was a man who really wanted the church to be truly universal. I think in terms of his teaching, the abiding things will be his two great encyclicals, Laudato Sea and for Tellytutti. In Laudato Sea he spoke eloquently about the relationship between climate change and our need to have a concern not just for the planet, but for the poor and for ourselves.
And in for Telltoutti, he spoke about the need for solidarity, particularly across national boarders, with a great commitment to my nagrants and refugees. And then within the life of the church itself, Shari he was a great one for this principle of what he called sinidelity. Now that's a bit of a mysterious word to those who aren't Catholic, so
just to unpack it slightly. Coming from his Jesuit tradition, he very much emphasized the need for discernment that indeed popes would make final decisions, but there was a need for processes where everyone had a place at the table and where you were attentive to the needs of everybody. And I think that will be a signature of his papacy, whether at lasts into the next papacy, that might be a mooted question, but I think they're the key indicators of a great papacy of Pye Prancis when.
You said he was a pope of the people. And there's a wonderful story in the Times tonight about the morning that he realized that the Swiss guard outside his bedroom door had been on duty the entire night, and he invited the soldier in to share his breakfast and the guard said up, but I'll be fired, And he said, well, who is your boss? And he also reportedly once worked
as a nightclub bouncer. He even, to his book launch, invited the homeless and invited beggars to join him for his birthday breakfast.
So this is a break with what has been seen as the tradition in the Vatican.
Absolutely. I mean Suri think back to the first pastoral visit he made outside Rome. Where did he go? He went to Lamproducer, that island in the middle of the Mediterranean, which is the landfall for asylum seekers coming from Africa. Now, he didn't have all the answers about national security and national borders and migration programs, but he wanted to put himself on the line in doing these very symbolic as.
And when he was on the plane coming back from Brazil on that occasion and all the journalists were keen to ask him about church teaching on gay and lesbian issues or whatever, and he just said, who am I to judge? It was those sorts of touches that he had, which I think spoke of the great pastoral solicitude of the matter.
Father just before you go. Of course, this is a sad day.
But when we do reflect on the Pope's legacy, you know, you can't. It would be remiss not to mention that conservatives were frustrated with Pope Francis.
You know, what's your view of this?
My view is, I mean they had a point.
I mean those who were great devtees, particularly of John Paul too and then of Pope Benedict, where they wanted to have certainty about what the tenants of the faith were. Now along came Francis and basically upended a lot of that. And so it was that lack of certainty, which for a lot of the conservatives did cause upset. And I think that's going to be an ongoing tension in the Roman Catholic Church in the twenty first century.
Sarie.
There are going to be those in the church who say, well, look, it really is only for those who want to sign up to all of the teachings over against the admission. We're all sinners, we all need forgiveness, and as Pope Francis often said, the Euchrist is there to feed those who are sinners, and that sort of conflict I think is going to be with us for some time to come.
Indeed, all right, father Frank Brennan, appreciate you joining us on tonight, such a day of mourning, and of course you knew the Pope personally, so we really do appreciate your time.
Thank you, yes, and.
May he rest in peace. And I think it'll be a long time before there's another Jesuit Popechery, but I think this one has given us something to run with for many years to come.
Indeed, well, thank you so much again. Good to see your father, Frank Brennan. Now we'll be covering more of the posts passing tonight will cross live to Rome to show you the gathering crowds in Vatican City on this day of mourning. But now let's turn to the federal election campaign.
Now.
This weekend we learned.
The news that Attorney General Mark Dreyfus is preferencing the anti Symitic Greens in his Victorian seat of Isaacs. He's the most senior Jewish member of the government and this is a huge betrayal from someone who should know better. Dreyfus will instruct voters to put Green's candidate Matthew Kerwen as number two, despite the party's well known anti Israel, pro Palestinian position that has been so highly offensive to
the Jewish community. In an attempt to hide this, the how to vote card only says Kerwan's name, not which party he belongs to. Now, I invited Labor m P Josh Burns onto the program tonight. In fact, I've been asking him to come on for most of this election campaign because he did what no other Labor and P has done. He refused to preference the Greens in his Victorian seat of Macnamara. He fought and fought with Labor for weeks, and he simply refused to direct voters to
preference the Greens. Instead, he's running an open ticket.
Now you all know that.
I think the Albanezy government has been horrific when it comes to its treatment of the Jewish community and Israel. They've been weak and morally corrupt. But Josh Burns has been pushing back against this, and he proves that just because he's part of federal Labor doesn't mean he has to lack the moral clarity when it comes to this
antisemitism crisis. Now, Josh Burns has been on my program several times and I often speak with him as well, and he said he would come on my show, and he was keen to come on tonight in fact, but then he counseled his appearance. The reason Labor Party officials did not want him to come on my program. Anthony Albineze's team has blocked a Jewish labor politician, Josh Burns, from coming on my show.
I find this extraordinary.
Well to discuss this and more, let's bring in now Liberal Senator Holly Hughes and DPG Advisory Solutions founder Farmer John Howard advisor David Gazzard. Welcome to you both, we'll come back to the Pope, We'll come back to other topics, but I just want to.
Get your reaction to that, Holly.
Firstly, that Mark Dreyfus can preference the Green second, and then that the Labor Party can block Labor and Peace from coming on my program.
I mean, Shariy.
The thing is, I'd like to say I'm surprised, but the reality is I'm not at all. We know that this Labor government is looking to whatever future they can find, and if that is a deal with the Greens, that is what they will do. And they are so desperate to keep the Greens in their pocket they would do this. For a Jewish member of Parliament to put the Greens anywhere on their how to vote above people that are
not blatant anti semitics is beyond comprehension. But you know, and I've said this before and I'll say it again, if they didn't have double standards, they wouldn't have any at all.
It's just abhorrent, but.
It's absolutely to be expected by these.
People, David.
I also think you know, Anthony Abernezi claimed he wasn't going to be a woke prime minister.
That was false.
He said that his government would speak to all audiences, but they won't allow a Labor MP to come on Sky.
News at night.
Well, contrast that with you know, fairly recent history. You don't have to cast your mind back too far to the nineteen eight election where the Labor Party insisted, as it's.
Done for nearly thirty years, that the Liberal.
Party must put one nation last because Pauline Hansen had said that we had too much Asian immigration in Australia.
This was such a.
Point of enormous principle that the Labor Party pushed and pushed and pushed and pushed. And now we see them in a position where there are members of the Greens who are openly, if not supportive of Hamas, they cannot countenance condemning Hamas, and openly anti Semitic in some cases. So you know, jump forward now, this is what happens when you have a primary vote that is at historic levels and the Labor Party cannot win government without preferencing
the Greens. So politics has trumped print here and is one of the reasons why I would say, if you're a voter in this upcoming election, don't let our political system fragment with independence and Teals and Greens and minor parties directing what the major parties have to do in the Parliament if they're sitting in a balance of power position.
I want to get your take on where this election's going, Holly. The polls now have Labor clearly ahead even minority government, if not government. I mean the polls reflect a national sentiment. The liberals pathway to victory is in those say fourteen to twenty seats where they're running those very specific campaigns.
So what's your take at the moment. Do you think this is realistically a two term proposition for the coalition to return to government or you know, what sort of chance do you think Dutton has here?
I think it's important voters keep asking themselves the question, and we need to do better at reminding them. The question is are you better off today than you were three years ago? And for almost every Australian, if not every Australian, the answer will be absolutely not. This has become an ongoing struggle for ever Australians every single day to put groceries on the table, to pay the rent,
to pay the mortgage, to keep the lights on. And we know Australians are doing it tougher each and every day. It doesn't seem to be resonating with Australians in the sense that they are not blaming alban Easy and quite frankly, I'm bereft as to why they are not, because the last time a coalition government was in power, we saw them through a pandemic and sustained businesses, sustained employment, made
sure that Australians were kept safe. And as soon as these guys have got their hands on the true ventures, they've made a complete and art disaster of it.
David, what do you think do you think there is still a pathway for Peter Darton to win this election?
And if so, what is it?
Yeah?
Look, I mean this shows you how Sharion shows you how far campaigning has come in our lifetimes.
Where you know, in the old days, we'd watched the.
Evening NEWSS, we'd see what was in the paper, we'd look at the ads on television and there was a national campaign and you could sort of gauge where it was going and the national polls meant something. Nowadays, with the fracturing of the media, with disengagement with the public.
It's much harder to tell.
And the Liberal Cup Party I think are running and Label would be doing this as well. They're running micro campaigns targeted on the ground, dumping a lot of money into those.
Seats that are absolutely critical.
And so it's difficult to tell when you look at the benchmark national national polls now that there's been.
A whole ranger poles.
So you know, there's internal party and there's external public polls.
Someone is going to get this spectacularly wrong.
It's of twenty nineteen where there were a lot of people scratching their head on election night going but the polls.
The polls, how did they get it so wrong? Well, we may be in for that again this year.
Yeah, Well, someone's going to get it wrong, whether it's the internal polling. And by the way, we've got the Liberal Party polster coming on this program tomorrow night, so don't miss the show tomorrow night. Now, I just want to, you know, talk just before we go for a minute about the horrific drownings that happened over this Easter weekend.
Six people, including.
A nine year old boy, drowned. And then there was this man who was washed away by monsters earth on the weekend and he owned up to this stupid stunt to have a Look.
I nearly died today. This is by far one of the stupidest things I have ever done. I tried to jump in the washing machine down at Froggies and the wave come over and I didn't get a chance to jump underneath the water and it washed me up onto the rock.
Look, he was lucky to survive.
But Holly, I mean, young people have to stop doing stunts like this for social media.
I mean they could lose doing stupid stuff.
One hundred percent.
Look guess what.
Guess what, we all as taxpayers paid for him to go to the hospital and get fixed up. Now, I'm glad he survived that because hopefully he'll never do anything that's stupid again, and it'll be a lesson to others. Young people. Look, make bad choices, do stupid things. That's part of the growth experience and how you learn. But seriously, I mean, what would possess you to do that? But we have a health system that then pays to fix
you up with a rescue system, emergency services system. And you know it's you and I that are all paying for that stupid behavior.
Indeed, and look, we also extend our condolences to the families of all of those who lost their lives who drowned over the Easter weekend just for enjoying the beach and there was unexpectedly wild waves.
All Right, David Gazzard, Holly Hughes, thank you both so much for your time.
Thanks Charlie.
Well, let's return now to the breaking news this evening that has shocked Catholics around the world, the death of Pope Francis. And we'll cross now to the Vatican City where CNN reporter Barby Nadout.
Is with us.
There might be a slight delay here, Bobby. What's the reaction like on the ground. Are we seeing mourners starting to gather at the Vatican?
Yeah, you know, we are seeing wanners start together at the Vatican. You know, it's really so poignant because yesterday on Easter Sunday, he made this sort of surprise appearance. He's been convalescing now since he left the host March twenty third. He's suffering double pneumonia, and he'd been making.
Sort of a surprise appearances.
No one expected him necessarily to lead the mass yesterday, but he did. Bless those crowds who had gathered and then after that he got into his potmobile with a lot of help and went around and was blessing and kissing babies and blessing the people who had gathered there several tens of thousands for the Holy Eastern Mass. And then to hear the news this morning at seven thirty five am that he had died is just shocking to
so many people. It must be said, his voice was very weak yesterday, he did not look well, but of course eighty eight year old man who's been so terribly sick.
But it is shocking.
There are people that are gathering in Saint Peter's Square and all the churches of Rome. Bells were ringing earlier today to announce the death, which is the custom here, and now people are just praying. You know, he was a very unwell man, and I think any of us with a relative that old and unwell would see this is a bit of a blessing because he was suffered. But still it's very shocking to Catholics around the world and all those especially who are here in Rome for Easter.
Indeed, so this is obviously a historic com mondment. Bobby, how have world laid has reacted? And you know, what do we expect to happen over the coming days.
Will any visit to attend his funeral?
Well, you know, it's it's been a long time since there's been an active papal funeral, the last one of an active pope who was John Paul the Second, and there we had world leaders, people from all over the world who came to see him lying in state and who had come for the funeral. Now, this particular pope, Pope Francis, had said.
He does not want to lie in.
State, and he has pretty much toned down the pomp and circumstance of a papal funeral.
But of course he won't have a say in it.
So we'll see exactly what the Vatican does that funeral, which has not been announced yet. We don't expect that to be announced today by any means. You know, these things have been in the works for a long time. He was so unwell in the hospital. There were preparations made, obviously, but you know, all of the cardinals will have to come to Rome who are a voting age for the conclave which will happen in the days after the funeral.
But you know, right now, it's just a time for reflection and appreciation of a very beloved pope here in Roll.
All right, Barby, really appreciate you joining us with that update live from Rome.
Thank you so much.
All Right, let's check in with a campaign trail now and Sky News reporter Julia Bradley has been traveling with the Prime Minister Anthony Albanezi. Julia, good to see you now. One of the big stories that came out of today was the protester who crashed Albanese's campaign trail in the ultra marginal seat of Gilmour.
This wasn't a great look for Albanzi.
It wasn't Shari. It was really a tale of two cities that could be said today for the Prime minister because this afternoon campaigning in Melbourne in marginal seats, he's been pretty well received. But it was a very different story this morning on the New Southwest Central Coast, as you say, campaign in that ultra marginal seat of Gilmore. It's held by the Labor Party Fiona Phillips since twenty nineteen,
but one firmly in the Liberal parties sites. In fact, they're running a high profile candidate in Andrew Constance, formerly of course a Liberal state minister. Now, we saw a number of protesters target the PM's campaign this morning as he attended that urgent care clinic in Batemans Bay. There was one woman there who was shouting really unhappy with the state of housing in that area. But also two
other men who lead up a local protest group. They're really unhappy about the fact that the Bateman's Bay Emergency Department is being relocated further south, about twenty minutes away as part of this multi million dollar.
Construction of a brand new hospital.
Now, this was a decision made by the former state Liberal government of which Andrew Constance was a part of. But they say that it's on the labor government now state and federal to sort this out, consult with people and get it done.
And let's have a look at the protest that you just spoke about here she.
Was faced.
This site, what this had breaking out, paying out of home.
You look at where coming baking houses in this community and Julia.
This campaign has been different because we haven't seen much of Albanezi doing street walks. In my view, it's a reflection of the fact that it is so unpopular as Prime minister. You know, he's only got the primary vote of about a third of Australian so he's been limiting his interactions with the public. Very different from say Kevin Rudd's campaign in two thousand and seven when he couldn't get enough street walks because he was so popular at the time.
There's no doubt Chariot it's been an incredibly tightly controlled campaign for the Prime Minister. But I'd have to say also the opposition a number of reasons for this.
Of course the security.
We've seen a number of protesters Heckler's come out over the course of the last few weeks. That's played into it as well. But as you mentioned, perhaps political as well. There is an ability here to ensure that you have those official media events for the day. When the journalists arrive and ask questions, it's all very controlled. There are some more candid moments away from the cameras with voters,
but journalists not always in attendance. So for example, today when we were in Gilmore, we all jumped on the plane heading to our next location, which happened to be Melbourne. But today we saw the Prime minister. He was there a little bit longer with the local MP there, Fiona Phillips. He was at a cafe and we saw him post on social media a picture of him holding a baby.
So there have been those more candid interactions. The question is though, whether the media have been able to capture all of them.
Yeah, oh, they're happening so that their stage managed so that the media doesn't get to see the more hostile interactions as much as the leaders can help it.
All right, Julia Bradley, thank you very much for the update. All Right, still to come.
We'll keep bringing you live updates from the Vatican City. Also tonight on the show, the Coachella Music Festival broadcasts anti Israel messages for the world to see. Well, what a gross betrayal of the hundreds of innocent young Israelis who were slaughtered at the Nova Music Festival. Plus why is Albanesi lying about the threat of Russia in the Indo Pacific?
Well, Malcolm Davis will join me next, welcome back.
Well, when it comes to Moscow's plans to strengthen military ties with Indonesia, we're seeing both Russian propaganda and Albanesi's spin. Russia has accused Australia of a scare campaign, with its ambassador to Indonesia asking why we'd be concerned over their relationship, suggesting that Canbra's national interests cannot extend to the territory of brings sovereign states that pursue active and independent policies.
But meanwhile, alban Easy is still trying to lie over Russia's increasing military ties with Jakata.
Do you know if MOSCO made an approach to Indonesia and do you now con see that Russia wants a bigger presence in our region.
I have no wish to help promote Russia's propaganda messages and I'd suggest that that's not in Australia's national interest either.
I think the Prime Minister again has sort of ducked and weaved on this question. Today. The government's language keeps changing, which just seems strange, and we have asked for a briefing it's still not forthcoming from the government. So what do they have to hide? I just wish this Prime Minister could be open and honest with the Australian people, and he hasn't been in relation to this issue.
An Australian Strategic Policy Institute senior analyst Malcolm Davis joins us. Now, Malcolm, thanks for your time. Look of course Australia has a right to be concerned and to know what russia Is plans are for our region. Nothing could be more important, But we keep seeing the Prime Minister trying to deflect. He just won't answer the question what do you think about this?
Look.
I do think we need to take this issue very seriously. It is very clear to most of the strategic policy community here in Australia and overseas that Russia and China are working together, are coordinating their actions to challenge not just the US but US allies including Australia, and to assert their position across the Indo Pacific. And this latest development in terms of Russia probably making a formal request to the Indonesian government to host Russian bombers or long
range maritime control aircraft at Bieck Island. Indonesia's declared that it won't accept that, but the request has probably gone through.
This latest development is part of that strategic coordination between Beijing and Moscow that is designed to challenge our interests and our security, and it is incumbent upon any government, whether it's the Labor government that comes out after May third or Liberal National Coalition government to take this seriously, and that requires increasing defense spending rather significantly.
There's also growing concern that America is potentially not funding the Pacific enough that this is leaving a power vacuum. Now, this has been a concern for over a decade that the United States isn't given quite enough funding to the Pacific and Beijing is filling the shoes. But of course we are seeing these criticisms become more public now that
Donald Trump is in charge. But it has been an issue for a long time that Australia has been begging whichever US administration is in power to increase its funding in the Pacific. Again, this is essential, This is our region. This is not just about Australia, but about United States strategic interests to hold back China's expansion exactly.
And what we're talking about here is soft power, the ability of Australia, Japan and others alongside the United States to work together to try and prevent China from expanding its influence and its presence in the Indo Pacific region, including very close to Australia. And part of the problem here is that as liberal democracies, we have to follow international law when we engage in soft power and diplomacy. Chinese,
as an authoritarian state, do not. They can come into these small Southwest Pacific states with suit literally suitcases of cash to give to local politicians and engage in elite capture. They also undertake the Belton Road initiative development, which basically forces these small states to become dependent on Beijing. So we are facing a challenge here in the sense that we have to observe the rules. They do not, and so they have an advantage against us.
Indeed, all right, Malcolm Dalvis, Malcolm Davis, really appreciate your insights.
Thanks for your time.
Now still to come, the war between Donald Trump Harvard escalates. The President now threatens to pull another one billion dollars in funding. And the bombshell report that exposes Daniel and Andrew's handling.
Of the COVID pandemic. That's after this quick break.
Welcome back and joining me now Sky News contributor Joe Hildebrand and former Labor and pete Michael dan Be Great. Hey guys, Joe, First, I want to ask you about tonight's passing of Pope Francis and what he meant to you personally.
It's incredibly sad Pope Francis.
Was sorry, Joe, I'll just mentioned we are seeing live pictures right now of Vatican City where thousands of people are starting to gather.
To my it's incredible. I've been there. It's one of the most mind blowingly, profoundly beautiful and moving places in the world. But yeah, Pope Francis is a very large part of the reason I actually became a Catholic as
an adult. I was raised a Catholic, but never took my first communion, never got confirmed, and Pope Francis had just been made Pope, and as I was kind of wrestling with it and going to see my priest about being properly confirmed as a Catholic, one of the reasons I felt sure that it was the right thing to do was because of Pope Francis and the direction he was taking the church and the new, more inclusive, less dogmatic, less reactionary way in which he was doing, and the
fact that he cared so much about poor people that he wasn't dying in a ditch over gay people or divorced people. My mum was a divorced, single mum through no fault of her own, and so I joined and I actually chose as my name. I chose my name the head of the Jesuit order that prope Francis was a member of, So he was a Jesuit. And I actually and my priest was a Jesuit as I got confirmed, and I chose Saint Ignacious as my confirmation name as part of the Jesuit the Jesuit branch. So very very
very sad. And I just hope that his I think was the best pope we've had in all a century. And I hope that his replacement can fill those shoes.
And I'm sure we'll see conversations in the coming days about who will replace him. There is talk that it could be an African, so we'll see. And of course pep Morels are gathering not just in Vatican City but right around the world. Even tonight here in Sydney, Catholics are going to St Mary's Cathedral to pay their respects every major city Catholics of tonight morning. All right, now, let's have a look at this topic that I spoke
about earlier, labor and peace striking preference deals with the Greens. Now, Michael danby your old seat of McNamara, Josh Burns is now the MP. Now there have been criticisms that he hasn't come out strong enough against the Albaneze government.
He's been in a difficult position.
He has done more by far than Attorney General Marc Dreyfus.
He wasn't allowed to come on my show tonight, Josh Burns. The Labor Party blocked him.
You know, this is extraordinary to me that they're not allowing a labor politician, by the way, who's Jewish, to speak to me on my program.
What do you think about this? The fact that he's.
Running an open ticket, that Mark Drapers is still preferencing the Greens number two.
Share, it's shocking that he's not allowed on your program. It's an example of the authoritarianism that is typical of the elbow wall socialist left government. And he's running an open ticket. But I have a roster of people on all polling boots that will actually preference against the Greens. So fifty dedicated labor people will be on the McNamara polling booths to make sure that the Greens will not pass as far as we're considered. So Mark Drapers should
have done the same thing. But there's a national deal with the Green Party, and Marker obviously values his future career as an Attorney General if they get re elected, and both he and Elbow should have put their rhetoric about the Greens being an awful, prejudice and bigoted party ahead of this. But ethics didn't count and pragmatism didn't count.
By the way, Sherry and Joel, they couldn't get one Green voter to follow their directions if they told them to punish the Labor Party by voting for the Liberals, I'd like to see that.
Yeah, it's a good, really good point, and that's the best how to vote kind I've ever seen.
Michael, I'm glad you've got your own because it's your old seat McNamara, So there you go, all right. I also want to talk about this issue of Daniel Andrews. This bombshell report in the Herald Sun today. These are quite incredible documents. It reveals that the mid twenty twenty curfew that Danie lange Is introduced was proposed without formal
input from health authorities. So we're showing you news dot com article, but it was actually an exclusive in the Herald's Sun. Joe, I mean, this is just how can they have imposed these shops. They did, they did polling research, but didn't want to be.
Good of that.
Again and again there's gone be there's so much armchair quarterbacking. So Monday morning quarterbacking of the covie. Oh, we didn't know at the time. We did know at the time people were saying it. At the time, people were saying that this was not evidence based, that there was no evidence in some cases, such as the closure of schools, that flew in the face of evidence that showed that
schools were perfectly safe. Now we know that these curfews were basically just done on a whim of the Emergency Cabinet, and that the so called experts have we told we had to trust or we were a bunch of blood heites, were in fact completely captive to the political interests of the government and through all their expertise, all their supposed scientific knowledge or evidence based research or decision making out
the window just to rub a stamp it. And I think we all know who the Victorian Chief Health Officer was who was doing that and just nodding and you know, meekly going along with whatever Dan Andrews decided he had to do. In order to maintain his popularity. It was an absolute disgrace. There are thousands of children still missing from the school system right across Australia. They'll never be seen again, and their future or lack thereof, is on the hands of the decision makers during that time.
I hope I can live with themselves absolutely appalling. Agree, I don't know how they do.
Just quickly before we go, Michael, I have to ask you about Coachella, this music festival in the.
United States in California.
They had a band that put out this big sign f Israel, Free Palestine and more. What about the Nova music festival where hundreds of Israelis were literally gunned down.
This is disgusting.
It seems to be something some sickness abroad in Ireland where they have an obsession about the Israelis. Maybe they're envious of their success in technology and business and having a booming economy compared to the backwater that Ireland has become. But I can't explain this. This is as you point out, there were many young women tied to trees by their necks and rate by. Is that what Coachella and that with this Irish band stands in support of Sick Sharry. It's really and they are really.
Truly truly, it truly is and it's got to be the end of this music festival. Right, we're out of time, Michael downb thank you both so much. Coming up after the break, Harvard meets with Donald Trump and it's not looking pretty. Plus, things are going from bad to worse for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth when it comes to his use of signal messages. All of that and more with Koshagada next. All right, let's bring you now Skynies contributor Koshagada Kosher.
Great to see you.
Look, let's talk about this epic row between Donald Trump and Harvard University. Trump is now threatening to pull another billion dollars in funding what's happened and wears this up to.
Yeah, so this issue is only heating up. We're sort of a standoff of sorts between the pre eminent university brand in the world and the Trump administration. And what undergirds the whole thing, because there's a few layers to it. What underguards it is cut and dry financial picture, really, because the US spends about eighty billion dollars a year in subsidizing higher education. It is one of the US's top categories, and they do lots of good work, research,
they run hospitals, all sorts of things. However, when we're at thirty six trillion dollars in debt and you're looking at the level of spending cuts that this administration is looking to do, that gets called into question. And within that Harvard specifically it gets about ten percent of that eight or nine billion dollars a year. So that's one question. And they're very well at the university, with a huge
endowment fund, lots of money in their own pockets. And then when you layer onto that, there's other questions around violations of the Civil Rights Act? Have they been discriminatory to students of different backgrounds and student ideology that everybody knows that they do at Jewish students for sure became
a flashpoint as well as others. So he's putting all that together and just taking this fight to Harvard, and it's going to be very interesting to see how these two very powerful institutions, Harvard versus the US government play out in the weeks to come.
With anti sempinism at have it has been appalling.
Let's talk about US defense Secretary Pete Hegseith, there's new revelations that he reportedly shared sensitive military information in another signal chats. This is the private messaging app, this time with his wife and advisors. What's he saying in his defense over this Skotia.
You know, his defense through his spokesperson Sean Parnell, has been that none of the information that's been in these signal chats have been classified or were being given in any way that has brought danger to the armed forces that are out on duty in the world, and that will run its course. He's kind of sticking to that. I think, Look, this isn't great for him. He was already it was a difficult and controversial figure who barely
got confirmed. He is going out against a law protected interests. So there are people who have the knives out for him as well, and any such misstep gives an exposure point to them. But I think this battle will continue, and for now, it does seem that Trump does have his back for now and he does serve at the pleasure of the president.
And tonight where we started, the Vice President, Jennie Vance, actually met briefly with Pope Francis over the Easter weekend. Of course, this was one of his last, if not his final, official meeting before the leader of the Catholic Church passed away. Kosher tell us about this significance and what was discussed at this meeting.
It was reportedly very short meeting, only minutes long, because the Pope obviously had not been in good health. It is interesting because Pope francis well. He definitely leaves a big legacy, and our heart goes out to millions of Christians tonight who loved him dearly. He was, of course a controversial figure. People do know that he tended to wade into political matters, and one in particular was mass migration. Has been an issue that he's weed in on many times.
That is something where certainly he was maybe diametrically opposed to Jeddie Vance's views and the Trump administration's views. So they reportedly did speak about that a little bit in a few minutes that they had, But after that, I think the bulk of Geddie Vance's meeting was actually with the second in command underneath the Pope, where they maybe had more of a substantive discussion and a longer duration of that meeting.
Yeah, and you know, we'll have to see whether world leaders do travel to Rome to Vatican City to pay their respects to Pope France's. He's, as we've been speaking about tonight, passed away at the age of eighty eight to write Koshagada.
Thank you very much for your time.
Now, stay tuned. We've got a big show every night this week. We are in an election campaign less than two weeks ago, so make sure you're tuning in every night at eight pm. And once again before we go, just want to again express my condolences to all of our Catholic viewers who are tonight in mourning over the passing of Pope Francis.
Alright, that's all I've got time for today. I'll see you tomorrow at eight o'clock. And here's poor Murray
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