Why On Sky News, This is Sharry.
Good Evening and tonight We're hours away from Joe Biden addressing the world for the first time since quitting the presidential race. But today all eyes were on Kamala Harris and the question many are asking, can she beat Donald Trump? And what would she be like as Madam President. The media and political elite who lied about Biden's mental decline are now presenting Kamala Harris as the messiah. The deliberate cover up of Biden's cognitive decline has now been clearly exposed.
While voters were told he was sharp as attack and the clips were all deep fakes, Nancy Pelosi stopped his contact with Democratic caucus, and his own team limited his FaceTime with cabinet secretaries. Democrats were, in fact, highly concerned about his ability to fulfill basic tasks like reading teleprompters. Yet here's what voters were told.
President Biden, who I've been around numerous times just in this last year, is sharp.
He's focused, He's bright.
He is sharp, intensely probing and detail oriented and focused.
This is a man who is sharp, who is on top of his game, who knows what's going on.
He's smart, He's on his game.
This same group who lied about Joe Biden are now throwing their support behind Kamala Harris. They're papering over her policy failures and history of incompetence as vice president and embracing her with excitement. That is fighting Kamala Harris.
She is coming out guns blazing.
Well.
People have been thirsting for this kind of fell in love with him.
I thought she was smart, engaging, She's funny, feisty, twickling your put you in the guard, I mean.
Everything you come right. I just thought it was a great, great opening act.
The words she was speaking, they felt organic and genuine.
But there is cause for concern already. As the presumptive nominee, Kamala Harris looks set to snub Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's addressed to Congress, and this is a worrying sign for Israel should she become president. The Wall Street Jonah reports that the snub is unmistakable and that it's fueling rumors of a rift between her and Biden's approach to
the Middle East. Columnist Walter Russea Meade writes that rightly or wrongly, key Arab leaders may interpret her snub of Netta Yahoo as evidence that Harris sympathizes with the opponents of a Saudi treaty and that her Middle East policy will differ significantly from Biden's. He says that, in turn, would make it harder for Biden negotiators to get to yes either about a Gaza ceasefire or on the final
details of the Saudi deal. It may also encourage the Iranians, sensing weakness and division within the administration, to turn up the heat on Biden, increasing the chance of a shooting.
War in the Gulf.
And Walter Russell Mead says that Kamala Harris is in the big leagues now and she needs to get this right.
He says, the.
World will be watching. But surely no one serious has any confidence that Kamala Harris could hope to land a successful Middle East foreign policy position when she couldn't even get a handle on the Southern border, when national security officials have already had to intervene to tone down critical remarks about Israel that she planned to make in a major speech. And that's according to an NBC News report.
When less than a month after October seven, she called for a national strategy not on anti Semitism, but on Islamophobia.
I am proud to announce the Biden Harris administration will develop our nation's first national strategy to counter Islamophobia.
As I said less than a month after October seven, and despite the fact there was an antisemitism crisis raging unchecked, It's highly doubtful Kamala Harris has the ability, skills, or expertise to negotiate Middle East policy, and tonight on my show, I've asked Mike Pompeo's chief advisor when he was Secretary of State to come on live to speak about this. Already, Kamala has been thoroughly exposed for her failures while in
the VP job. Her role was to fix the immigration crisis, yet under her watch, more than eight million illegals crossed the border, and thanks to her, the b crisis has become one of the top reasons that voters are supporting Trump. For this and other reasons, she was considered a liability. The media tore her to pieces, as exemplified by this famous interview.
Do you have any plans to visit the border at some point?
You know.
We are going to the border. We've been to the border. So this whole, this whole, this whole thing about the border. We've been to the border. We've been to the border. You haven't been to the border, and I haven't been.
To Europe.
Or even Nancy Pelosi hasn't been able to defend Kamala's failings as VP.
Do you think she.
Is the best running met though she's the vice president of the United States. People say to me, why isn't she doing.
This or that?
I said, because she's the vice president. That's the job of description.
You don't do that much.
But the same left media that lied about Biden's cognitive decline are now trying to brush past Kamala's flaws, even though they reported on them in the past. I know, overnight she's become immedia darling and they're redefining her. But does anyone really buy it?
But she is ready to be the president.
Kamala Harris is unleashed.
She's just brilliant.
She's just the energy that's coming off of her is the energy that's coming off of the American people.
Just in the last forty eight hours, she's been more forward leaning just on the issue of abortion, frankly than President Biden had been over the last four months, and then you throw in she's more comfortable at going after the convictions and Trump she became.
The presumptive nominee in forty eight hours.
To put that in perspective, it's been more than three years and we still don't have a new James Bond.
Fickle celebrities who just a minute ago were standing by Biden are now endorsing Kamala, and she's raised an impressive one hundred million dollars since Sunday. At her first campaign event today, she launched a scathing attack on Trump.
I took on perpetrators of all kinds, Predators who abused women, fraudsters who ripped off consumers, cheaters who broke the rules.
For their own gain. So hear me when I say I know Donald Trump's tape.
And meanwhile, the man who the entire Democratic Party now acknowledge is not fit to serve another four years as president is still apparently equipped to be the leader of the free world for another six months. It's an absurd situation. As Piers Mulgan pointed out today, I just.
Find it completely incomprehensible that the president of the United States announces on social media not to the American people because eighty percent of people are not on social media.
But he just.
Announced it suddenly. Oh by the way, I'm not physically capable of continuing the next four months of this presidential race. But the good news is I am going to carry on running the country and be the leader of the free world, even though I can barely construct a sentence or stay on my two feet without falling over. It is a completely fascical situation.
Well, just who led the way pretending Biden was on top of his game, Kamala Harris.
Of course, we have a very bold and vibrant president in Joe Biden, And in Joe Biden, we have a president who is probably one of the boldest and strongest American presidents we have had in his response to the needs of the American people. But he is an extraordinary leader. And I wish that people could see what I see, because there's only one person who's this behind that resolute death.
But don't expect the cheerleading journalists to grill her on why she repeatedly lied about Biden's cognitive ability or examine her policy positions, because just like we saw with the Hunter, Biden laptop story, which was dismissed as Russian disinformation. Partisan
politics has sadly corrupted journalism in America. Even when we could all see with our own eyes that Biden was incoherent and rambling, the White House insisted the vision with deep fakes, and journalists didn't lift a finger to investigate ideological narratives that took preference over facts. Retrospective expose is now being written too little, too late, and none of this serves democracy or Also coming up on the show tonight,
what would a Kamala Harris presidency look like? Former Secretary of State at Mike Pompeio's top advisor would join me live to discuss. Also on the show, Albanesi's major backflip following our exclusive story that AZO chief Mike Burgess had been dumped from the National Security Committee of Cabinet. And we'll have breaking news tonight from a leading economist who is now predicting up to three rate hikes. This on
top of the news we're officially in a baby recession. Well, let's now bring in our Wednesday Panel labor legend Graham Richardson and former Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger welcome it to you both. I want to start by getting your reaction to this deception by the White House, Democrats in the media over Biden's mental state. It's been a big issue over the past week. Michael Kroger, what do you think about this protection racket over Biden's mental ability?
Well, it's pretty disgusting, and you know it's going to plague her for the next four months because everyone she said, I wish people could see what I see. Well, we did see it, Kamala, We saw it with our own eyes, and it was terrible. It was an infirmed president capable of putting a sentence together, who clearly had early stage dementia, and everyone the Democratic Party then realized that or were prepared to be honest about it. After the debate, they
got rid of him. But it'll bite her. And as for all the other things she's talking about in the money she's raised, it's relief, it's not excitement. People in America are just relieved that there's somebody who could put a sentence together who's running as their candidate. And I think this will fade over the next few months as
people realize that she's not up for the job. She doesn't have a good record politically, She's awoke, left wing liberal from prosecutor from effectively from San Francisco, which is a basket case, and I think ultimately her campaign will fade.
Do you think, though, Richo, that she does present now a credible alternative to Trump? I mean, there would have been a section of voters who don't like Trump is very divisive, but they would have had concerns about voting for Biden, given he was clearly incoherent much of the time, forgot his trade of thought on many occasions. So do you think that Kamala Harris might win support from those undecided voters or just anti Trump voters?
Yeah, I think she can. I mean, the way I look at it, you've had a pretty awful choice between Biden and Trump, and now you've got a slightly less awful choice between Harris and Trump. So I think Harris is in improvement. My God, wasn't that needed because things were looking pretty green for the Democrats.
Well, we've been saying for such a long time. Now you know, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, are they really the best options in the entire of the United States? And it is in many ways a pity that the Democratic Party didn't have a proper process that Kamala Harris, who many say it was a diversity pick in the first place, has automatically it looks like she will get
the nomination and there was no democratic process. Michael Kroger, do you think it's a pity that that didn't happen, that there might have been better people who have more skills, who have more strength, have a foreign policy expertise.
There are clearly much better coundiates with than the Democratic Party than her. You wouldn't have her in the first twenty And don't forget when she ran in for the nomination in twenty twenty. That is, in twenty nineteen, when she ran for the Democratic nomination, she withdrew before the first primary because she had a support of about four percent of the Democratic Party. Those people that knew her best five years ago gave four percent of the vote
and she had to withdraw. Her campaign was a disaster. She's clearly she was a diversity pick. She's been given one big job which everyone knows, which has been a total disaster. That's why I think she'll fade once you get to policy substance, she will fade. So, yes, there were a lot better candidates, the governor of Michigan, the governor of Pennsylvania, you know, Michelle Obama, et cetera, et cetera, said,
the government of California much more qualified candidates. But as vice president and black woman, how was the Democratic Party ever going to go past her?
Well?
I don't you know, I said last week, I thought she was ninety percent chance of getting the job. So they couldn't go past. So they're stuck with her. And you know, as I said, it's not a joy and enthusiasm, it's relief that's causing this upswing for at the minute.
As I mentioned, Joe Biden will speak for the first time eight pm Wednesday in the US local time, which is about ten am tomorrow our time. Rich O, what reason do you think he's going to give to the world really for stepping aside? And do you think there's any chance that he'll resign as president?
Well, I hope he will. But that's all I can say. I know you live in hope and die in despair, but I live in hope that Biden himself will will accept the advice of so many that we know have given him that it's time to go. But you know, I've been watching this game for fifty years and I don't know many of them who know when it's time to go.
No, it's a good point most politicians, and in disgrace or their party forces them out. Not many leave at the top of the game. And when they do, we all say, oh, there must be some other reason. They pretend it's for family reasons and we go digging for a scandal behind the scenes. Now, a few months ago in March, I exclusively break the news that the Albanese government had removed the heads of Asio and Asis from the National Security Committee of Cabinet. Now, this was a
big story. Today we learn that there has now been a total backflip and the Australian spy chief Mike Burgess has been reinstated as a permanent member of the National Security Committee of Cabinet. Michael, it's outrageous that ALBANIZI didn't think it was appropriate to have Mike Burgess sitting in that room on a permanent basis given the threats to our region.
Look, the fallout from that was huge amongst the security industry within Australia, the military, the press establishment that right on defense and foreign policy matters. The outrage of what Albanze he done was what he done. What he did was long and deep. And you know, Albanizi Bat's very thin on foreign policy. I mean, you know, Miles is credible, but Wong is not credible any longer because of our appalling performance on the Middle East. Albanese has never been
really interested in foreign policy. So he had to put Burgess back as a way of stopping the bleeding amongst the defense and security. You know, you know aparachics in this country who were just appalled by his decision. So good on him for acknowledging the mistake. But this was an amateur mistake that he should never have made in the first place.
Well, he hasn't publicly acknowledged it, of course, so we'll look forward to seeing him do that. And what in the next couple of days. Look just a couple of issues back in Australia. Now, despite Labor making emphatic and repeated promises to lower the cost of energy bills, we know that ninety seven times that promise was made to reduce the power bill by two hundred and seventy five dollars.
Confirmation today that bills are still rising. According to a new AEMO report, the cost of power skyrocketed over twenty percent last quarter, twenty percent. It's cited as a renewable drought and coal outages. And we also learned that we're now in the height of a baby recession, with the birth rate plunging amid rising cost of living. Richo look
the centerpiece of the Albanzi government's budget. They poured hundreds of millions into lowering the energy bills, people's electricity bills, but people clearly aren't feeling it if AMO reports showing that they've gone up by twenty percent.
Yeah, I think the promise was the problem. You know, the idea that you get to cut energy bills is lovely. I mean, we all think that's terrific. Delivering it is just about impossible, and so I think the mistake was in the promise.
Michael, I mean the coalition. We just had this polling this week in the fin Review from Freshwater Strategies, and it shows that the coalition is now head of labor for the first time and that the cost of living is the main issue for voters. And now this news about the baby recession as well. Do you think this is going to make it hard for Labor to win the next election.
It is. And you know, as you know, I've been saying for months, this guy is not going to win any his own right. There's going to be swinging against him. He'll be in minority government at best and at worse for him, Darton, we'll get more seats on the floor of the Reps and then have the first chance of forming government. Look, Graham's absolutely right. He said two things at the election that won him this election, last election, more than anything else. There's a cost of living, Christ's
cost of living Christs. He kept repeating that hundreds of times. And then, as you said, two seventy five dollars off here, Paabill, the elector out there, thought oh, well he's you know, he's promising these things. Well we'll go with him. And so he made those promises. These were just these were just slogans given to him by the advertising agency who were inspired by the pollsters. So Albanize went out there
and said these things. If he was a company director, of course he'd be prosecuted for making such reckless statements. He got away with him. It won the election. It's coming back to bite him, and you know, stay tuned because it looks as if there'll be a four percent interest rate increase and his polls won't be in the thirties, they'll be in the twenties after that.
Jerry Richard, have you got a private prediction for what the primary would be? Do you think it might be in the twenties? As Michael just said, I.
Think there's a possibility of that. I hope it's wrong, but I'd say there's a chance of it. You know, the only thing that Elbow has really got going for him is that people like him. You know, the energy promise was a mistake. You then don't deliver on it and then people punish you. That's the theory. And the only thing in the road of that is the fact that people think he's a good fella.
Does that come through in the research, by the way, rich O and the labor research, that people like him? Because you always say it, and anecdotally I just don't hear people saying anymore. Ah, the Prime Minister, what a good block.
I think fewer people are saying it, and no question about that. But you can't say there are none saying it. There are. But you know, the numbers are dropping, and I'm not sure if you say that's alarming, but it's certainly concerning.
Yeah, all right, Michael Kroger Gray and Richardson. Great to have you both on. Thank you very much. Now after the break, we're live to the United States after another big day in politics, and Joe Biden comes out of hiding as he prepares to address the world, And Mike Pompeo's former top advisor will join me next with her assessment on what a Kamala Harris presidency would look like.
Stay tuned, welcome back. Well, Joe Biden should have sacked the head of the Secret Service immediately after Donald Trump nearly took a bullet to the head. This is the most shocking and almost incomprehensible security failure in decades. Yet outrageously, Kimberly Cheetle wasn't sacked after almost two weeks of making excuses.
She's finally stood down when members of Congress on both sides of politics called for her resignation and her during your hearing yesterday, and Cheeto finally considered that the Secret Service fell short in protecting Trump, and yet we are no closer to knowing any real information about the shooter, or why law enforcement and the Secret Service didn't act despite knowing there was a suspicious person on a nearby roof, and why didn't any of them tell Trump or his
team not to go on stage. There are many questions and no answers. We're joining us now to discuss his former US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo's senior advisor, who is now the executive vice president at Steven's Ink, Mary Kissel, Welcome, Great to see you once again.
Mary.
Look, this is the most serious security failure. No adequate explanation given by anyone for how this went so wrong. Do you think there needs to be a stronger push to actually investigate, call a proper inquiry to find out what happened in Butler?
It's great to be with you, sherryon good morning from Texas. It is a shocking failure of the Secret Service, but unfortunately it's not the first time we've had a major failure of that institution. And I would say that what was shocking, Sharry isn't that the President didn't fire her. What's shocking is that she didn't resign immediately. I mean, who's resigned for the Afghanistan debacle. No one. There's no honor in US politics anymore. It's sad to say, but
it's true. I think the only encouraging thing to come out of this is that there was bipartisan condemnation her, bipartisan pressure on her to resign, and that's what led to her leaving that post. And there will be a bipartisan investigation into the Secret Service, which is very low morale. It's constantly ranked as one of the worst places to work in America. It is a very urgent that we fix that agency.
I mean, you worked very closely with Mike Pompa as his top advisor when he was Secretary of State. There's always risks to any high profile politician in America. You know, there are a lot of extremists in the country, a lot of access to guns. Do you think other politicians will now be fearful that they too may not be protected.
Well, remember we had that shooting of Republican Congressman Steve Scalice and others at a congressional baseball game just a couple of years ago. Mister Scalise almost lost his life. We had a home invasion of National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, the security services have allowed constant protests in front of our Supreme Court justices who have themselves called for more security. Later.
On top of that that, you have state sponsored threats like Iran, who has threatened to kill my former boss, Mike Pompeo, John Bolton and others. And yes, it's a very complex environment. We are a free society, so there are some restrictions. But certainly you would think that our diplomatic security, our Secret Service, FBI, DHS and others would be able to do a better job than this. I
don't know what the problem is, Sherry. It's probably a multitude of failures over decades, but you've got to ask what is it going to take for us to get serious about solving them? And unfortunately, you know a former president almost losing his life. Well, let's hope that that's the crisis that sparks real change. But I'm pretty cynical, Sherry. I'm not sure it will.
No, I agree with you there. Look, I want to turn to Kamala Harris. There's concern that she may not be on the same page as Biden when it comes to Middle East foreign policy. What's your view on her position here? And whether she may not be a support of Israel as Biden has been over decades.
So the way that you ask that question suggests it's solely a question of foreign policy, but cherry. Unfortunately, it's also a question of US domestic politics. Kamala Harris has to win the so called Blue Wall states, which include Michigan.
Michigan is a very large Palestinian American population. Recall that during the primary they lodged a vote of protest against President Biden for his tepid support of Israel, and so I view, and I think many others view Kamala Harris's strong support of the ceasefire, which would hand to massa victory, as not really a foreign policy issue. It's more of a domestic play to win over those key swing votes for Democrats in the states that she needs to win the presidency.
Where I'm going to hear tomorrow morning, our time, tonight, yours from Joe Biden for the first time. Are you among those who think he should step down as president if his cognitive decline is so great that he can't run again, Well, what about the next six months?
Well, it's no doubt an extremely dangerous period of time. He's already a lame duck president now that he's said that he's not going to run again top of the ticket. I think the decision of whether or not he steps down is a decision for him and his family. I would hope that he would do the right thing if he's not mentally capable to do the job. I wish
him good health. I think it was kind of a relief to many Americans when they saw him able to walk onto that airplane yesterday of air Force One, because we haven't seen him since last Wednesday. But Sherry, it's not really a matter of you know, is Joe Biden competent right now? That makes it a dangerous time for America in the free world. I mean, we have seen an erosion of US deterrence now for the last three
and a half years. That has resulted in many things, whether it's more aggressive China, whether it's Putin invading Ukraine, whether it's Iran launching direct attacks on Israel. Israel not able to rely on US, so they're launching direct attacks just in these recent days on UTI targets, and I'm in the major attack over the weekend that they were compelled to do for their own security. So I think
in some respects it's a little misleading. Don't just focus on this one event, focus on the bigger picture here and also how we've allowed China, Russia, Iran, North Korea to get together and form an alliance of sorts and an evil alliance. Yes, that is presenting a huge threat not just to our interests here in the United States, but to yours, to Japan's, to India's, to Taiwan's. It's
a growing threat. We've got to get serious about it, and we've got to get serious about restoring de terrence because without it, I fear that we're moving toward a greater conflagration, the lives of which we haven't seen in many decades. Now.
You're absolutely right, and we talked about that emerging access of evil often on this program. And that's the one thing that concerns me about the Republican Party is that there's this isolationist movement for America not to be involved in foreign was when at this time, at the most volatile time in decades, we need a United States that is going to play a strong role as a world leader. Just before you go, Mary, does that concern you that there's this push for America not to get involved in
any foreign wars. And if you know whoever's the president articulates that, then our enemies know that.
Well, if you had us the terments, if our enemies feared us, then there wouldn't be foreign wars under the last four presidents. The only one where Putin didn't invade a foreign country was under President Trump. And I think our record in the Trump administration has been grossly mis distorted. The idea that we weren't interested in leadership or alliances is simply simply false. We had a unanimous support from NATO from withdrawing from the I n F Treaty. We
sanctioned Putin's inner circle. We unleashed you a center, We took away his money. We imposed strong tariffs on China, We revivified the Quad. We got together with the European Union and started a dialogue on China. It never happened. We went around the world, We got countries to get rid of Huaweih, to wake up to Chinese influence operation.
This is a lot of this. A lot of this is Mike Pompeo, though, isn't it. This is all thanks to the former Secretary of State.
No, Mike Pompeio answered to President Trump, and every major decision he took was sanctioned by the president. The president sets foreign policy, and I have to say, Cherry, I listened to a lot of this commentary and it just absolutely befuddles me, because it just you have to ignore the record of achievement in order to claim that the United States is somehow retreating into an isolationist show. We're not.
If we didn't care about NATO, for instance, why would we go to trouble to browbeat these countries into simply living up to their promises. Look, two percent is a floor. If you were serious about countering the threat from Vladimir Putin, it should be three percent, four percent, five percent, And those should be discussions happening in European capitals today. European voters should want their leaders to be serious about their own security, not to outsource it. So I think these
are necessary conversations. I think the idea that we're not active internationally is ridiculous, and I think that a lot of the fear monitoring that's been happening about a second Trump term, I think this is unwarranted. And you've got to look at the record of the Trump era versus the Biden era. What did Biden do? Pulled out of Afghanistan, appeas deran, paid for our hostages, did nothing to really enact consequences as communists, China has become more aggressive. Yes
he did August, that's great. Yes he continued the quad And.
To me, I was Australia's idea, not America's Mary. So we've got to leave it there. But I have to say, I'm sure everyone watching can see why you were Mike Pompeio's top advisor. I really appreciate your time as always. Thank you. Now, staying in the US, Kamala Harris had her first campaign rally on the battleground state of Wisconsin. She pitched herself to voters in her bid to become US president, and joining me now live is Sky News
Washington correspondent Analie Nilsen. Analise, thank you very much. What's your analysis of Kamala's first official campaign event today.
Look, she's hit the ground running and the response so far has been good, but there's a long way to go and she's riding on some momentum, especially with these new fundraising figures. Coming in that she's raised now they're saying eighty one million dollars since it was announced that Joe Biden was going to withdraw from the race. But what I would say is that this could absolutely change the closer we get to election day. She's going to have to do more media, which hasn't traditionally been her
strong point. And this is going to be also something where we have to focus on how the debates go. Donald Trump's now said he'll do as many debates as she wants. There should be at least one more, but he wants at least two more, and we don't know how she's going to fear in that environment. He was very reserved with Joe Biden. He really held back and just let Joe Biden to take the stage, and then we saw just so many issues with his cognitive function.
Trump didn't have to do much. It's likely that he'll kind of up that strategy with Kamala Harris, go toe to toe with her, and then that could be what really changes. But there is just this sense among Democrats that they're so relieved that Joe Biden's out that they're really going all in on Kamala Harris.
Although of course, Trump might also hold back a bit on Kamala Harris because of her gender. His advisors might encourage him not to be as tough on her. Adelie's what are you hearing in terms of whether Biden's expected to offer any explanation when he speaks later tonight Your time for why he's no longer running.
Yeah, Look, we're finally getting this Oval office address. There was this promise in the letter that were supposed to Twitter when Joe Biden announced that he was resigning, and then that was indicating that he was going to speak to the nation later this week. What I think we'll try to emphasize is that he's not a lame duck, because he is very much a laying duck. Now everyone knows he's on the way out. He's got six months left.
Remember in the US, you do formally hand over on January twenty, so that's a few months after election day. There's still that transition period. But it's really going to be hard for him now to advance any kind of major agenda now everyone knows he's leaving, and also these questions about his cognitive, fitness and ability. So I think they're going to be trying to put forward a strong image that he's not weak. He's going to be trying to deny any of that question, any of those questions
around his cognitive abilities. But frankly, it's just well over the fact we haven't heard from him or seen him since this major announcement, the fact we only got to glimpse him walking down the stairs yesterday after this COVID diagnosis. It really is shocking when you consider when LBJ withdrew from the race, when Richard Nixon resigned. They did that to the American people. It's really overd you that he does this now.
Yeah, Yeah, especially as you've pointed out, not everyone is on social media. Many people are not. Annelie Nielsen really appreciate your analysis. How still ta Kama Stark warning that Australian mortgageholders could be facing even more interest rate hikes. Economist Warren Hogan will give us his alarming prediction.
In a moment.
Plus who would be better for Australia Kamala or Trump. We're going to discuss with my panel next. Welcome back. Well, we've got some breaking news justin the Australian flag bearers for the Paris Olympics opening ceremony have just been announced and you're going to love at least the first padler Jessica Fox and hockey veteran Eddie Ockinden will lead the Australian Olympic team as flag bearers in Friday's Paris twenty
twenty four opening ceremony on the River Saine. You remember jess Fox Ie an Olympic gold medal at the last Olympics and became a fan favorite. Well, let's look now at the broader security for Australians in Paris for the upcoming Olympic Games. This is now a major concern after two incidents caused the alarm. There were two members of nine's Olympics broadcast team who were attacked in an attempted robbery on Monday, and an Australian woman was gang raped
in Paris by five men and police are investigating. Athletes have now been told not to wear their team uniform when outside the athlete's village for security reasons. Well to discuss, let's bring in the Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, Andrew Wallace and former Press Secretary to Julia Gillard Darren Barnett. Welcome to you both. Thing good to see you here in studio.
Derek, thank you.
Andrew's starting with you. You know you're on the Intelligence and Security Committee Deputy chair. How do you assess the security risks of these Olympic Games in Paris.
Well, I think it's very clear that the French government is pulling out all stops to ensure that these games are going to be a very safe games. My understanding is that between police, military and private security that they are absolutely doing everything that they can to ensure the
safety of games participants and visitors alike. But there's no doubt there is a great feeling of unease amongst security officials about terrorism in these games, so no doubt that they will do everything they can to try and keep people safe. But it's certainly a matter of concern, and of course our hearts and thoughts and prayers go out to the young lady that was legitly raped and also
the Channel nine people that were assaulted. So people just need to be very very careful over in France, as they would normally anywhere when they're traveling overseas, but particularly at a time where the Olympics are on.
Yeah, they alleged gang rape. Absolutely horrific to hear about that. But Darren Andrew Wallace, Deputy Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committees, just said that there are concerns among the security establishment about a potential terror attack. You know, this is a worry a lot of people heading to the Olympics, very much so.
And obviously there was Munich nineteen seventy two is the most famous of the terrorist attacks. But that sort of threat is always going to be present, and particularly the poorest sort of borders of Europe, it's not hard to imagine that there'd be that honeypot that people who are looking to cause trouble are going to find their way
to Paris. So, as mister Wallace quite rightly pointed out that there's going to be a lot of security, private security, all sorts of every effort will be made to make these games safe. But we still need to be on our kind of high alert because this is the type of event that terrorist groups would love because they would get incredible notoriety should they be successful in an attack.
Yeah, and we've even seen some posts from the Hamas terrorist group that obviously I'm not going to replay their propaganda on air, but they have been alarming social media posts. Now let's turn to one of the Albanezi government's most controversial policy since coming to office. That's their Big Australia Plan. According to the Australians Need of the Nation polling figures, over thirteen percent of Australians surveyed don't support the increase
in the number of immigrants. Half of Australians polled would prefer fewer migrants, and support for immigration overall has nearly halved over the past ten years. Andrew Wallace, what do you think do you think the immigration intake has been too high?
Absolutely, Shari.
I mean what this pole reveals is nothing new to me, and it should be nothing new to journalists or commentators or in fact any parliamentarians at all. When I'm out walking the streets in Fisher on the Sunshine Coast, people are telling me that they simply can't afford Many people can't afford to even rent a.
Home, let alone buying a home.
And what we're now experiencing is people young, young families in particular, and older women in particular, who just they're sleeping rough in their cars because they can't afford rent. They certainly can't afford the mortgage or payments that come with houses. So the Labor Party have brought in more than one point two million people over the last two years. That's having a drastic impact on the availability of homes for Australians. So people are very angry.
Darren I mean the Albanizi argues that the high intake is just to make up for the during the COVID era, But isn't the issue that this wasn't put to voters. Voters were never told there was going to be such a dramatic rise in the immigration intake, that there was going to be this big Australia strategy.
Also, voters don't look backwards, they look forwards and they look at their present situation. And Andrew's right. People feel cost of living pressures, they feel that there's a shortage of available and affordable housing and they blame the government. And in this instance they see people coming in from overseas,
so there should have been a better explanation made. I think the Labor Government has made some reductions in the targets for immigration from what they were a couple of years ago, but it's still an increase and that's something that they need to explain to the voting public.
Well.
In terms of this breaking news that's come in this evening on the Sydney Morning Herald, they're reporting that Labor ministers Linda Burnie and Brendan O'Connor are expected to announce their retirement in the coming days. We can't confirm or verify that that report from the City Morning Herald. Andrew Wallace Linda Bernie, she wanted her legacy to be the voice that was voted down by Australians. Would there's be a sad note for her to end her career on.
Well Sharie. Look, I'd like to be able to say nice things about Linda, but Linda really was out of her depth as Indigenous Affairs Minister. She oversaw what was a disastrous campaign. Even from Labor Party perspectives. There's no doubt in my mind that Labor are clearing the decks. You can see this, what's happening Brendan O'Connor, Linda, they are.
Getting ready for an early election.
There's no doubt in my.
Mind about that.
I don't know about it, Elliot. I think it opened.
Away reshuffle.
All about the resha Drew Giles and maybe even Clara O'Neil out of those portfolios.
There are rumors that that might occur, that someone such as a Pat Conroy might get a promotion and leaving vocational jobs and skills open, which is Brendan O'Connor's patch, you might see Andrew Giles shift over in that direction.
I'm not sure about Home affairs, there's not a lot of There are rumors, but obviously no one tells me in truth what's going on, But certainly the chatter is that there's a reshuffle on the way and opening those two senior spots, the Linda Bernie spot and the Brendan O'Connor spot, means people can shift kind of without losing best status, and that will mean there'll be new people in the cap.
And it'll be interesting to see who in your promoted to cabinet. Yeah, go ahead, Andrew.
The Prime Minister is left with no choice but to move Andrew Giles. He's overseen an absolutely disastrous immigration portfolio who's been a huge embarrassment to.
The Labor Party.
So there's no doubt that Andrew Giles will be moved, should be sacked, but moved somewhere. And Claire O'Neill.
Do you know what, Andrew, I think there wouldn't be an Australian who would think that Andrew Giles has done a great job. And yet he is one of Albanezy's numbers men, so he might not actually sack him from cabinet.
But that's what I'm saying.
He ends up in vocational skills yah yea yeah, and that means that they say face yeah.
All right, Andrew Willis, Darren Barnett, thank you both very much for your time. Now, we've still got another interesting segment on the show after the break. Australia at the height of a baby recession. This is sparking more problems for the government. Economist Warren Hogan will join me next with his exclusive prediction of up to three more rate heights.
Let's hope he's wrong. That coming up. Welcome back. Well, cast your mind back to two thousand and four and then Treasurer Peter Costello was scrambling for a solution to Australia's plummeting birth rate and he told a generation of Ozzie's this now famous line, he one for mom, one for dead, and one for the country. Well, if the
latest stats are any indicator. Current Treasurer Jim Chalmers may have to issue a similar plea because Australia, we learn today, is in the height of a baby recession and nationwide they were just under two hundred and ninety thousand berths last year, down by four point six percent on the previous year, and it's the lowest since two thousand and six. Well, let's bring in now economist Warren Hogan. Warren, thank you very much for joining us. What is this falling birth rate?
Say about how the cost of living crisis is impacting on everyday families Hie.
Jerry, thanks for having me on the show. Yeah.
Look, it's no doubt a factor here and this is big consequence if indeed it's a major force. But the cost of living crisis.
Is very real.
It's one of the biggest setbacks in living standards that we've seen in this country's history, certainly in its modern history, and it's.
Playing a role. Birth rates are.
Essentially an economic phenomenon, but I think the real issue here is housing affordability and I think that's the major factor right now driving the lower birth rate, the lower fertility rates, and you can see that in the spread of the results across different parts of Australia.
Well, let's go to those different parts of Australia. So which state is the worst when it comes to the falling birth rate?
Yeah, well the report shows, unsurprisingly that it's the capital cities which have got obviously the most expensive housing, and Sydney which has got the biggest fall of over eight percent. Regional New South Wales has only fallen marginally less than one percent, and regional Australia is a lot less. I think that's the clue that tells us that housing affordability
is the real issue. And of course if a kid, if a family wanted to have three kids and they can only live in a two bedroom apartment, then they might only have one, and a family that might have had one in an apartment might decide not to have any.
So I think that's the real issue.
And then there's the whole generation who don't want to have kids for climate change. But that's another conversation we'll have another day. Warren, you made headlines recently when you predicted there could be two rate hikes, but now you've got news for us tonight and you're saying it might potentially be even worse. Than this.
Yeah, it's not great news, but of course it's the reality which we can't walk away from, and the Reserve Bank Board certainly won't. We are now looking at a rate hike in a few weeks, and that's on the back of what we've seen with not just inflation but
also strong employment. And they're probably going to have to do too, because what's the point of all the anks that they're going to generate in the community and the political leadership with just doing one twenty five point move after four hundred and twenty twenty five basis points we've seen already, So.
They're probably going to have to do too.
But this is all ahead of the stimulus hitting the economy, the tax cuts, the cost of living measures, the state government measures, and we've seen hints in the last week that this could start to have a very big impact. Consumer sentiment from our weekly read.
Remains quickly interrupt because we're running out of time. But you think that come November, if.
The risks there to be a third one, that's something we can't rule out at least two, and there's a risk of more. We've got to get the cash right up.
Yeah, all right, Warren Hogan thank you very much for your time, and that's it for me. I'll see you tomorrow at eight o'clock. And up now in the man cave, it's poor myray life.