Sharri | 26 June

Showing and good evening. That was the Prime Minister Anthony Albanezi there, saying that tonight he has spoken to Julian Assange as he's arrived home. He's touchdown in Canberra. The Prime Minister said that Assiange spoke to him, told him he was happy. It was a surreal moment for him. He said that he was the first person Assiane had spoken to when he arrived back on Australian soil tonight. This is an historic moment. The Prime minister there holding

We'll try At the moment, Julian massandres in the building behind me. He's clearing customs. He's with his family. We saw him step off the plane just a short time ago. We saw him stopping. We saw him step off just a short time ago.

He received a big cheer.

From the crowd. Excuse me, sir, sorry, we received a big cheer. He received a really big cheer from his supporters.

Look, why don't we we.

Have people are clearly very excited and his arrival a Fiona, why don't we come back to you in a moment. We're just go now to Sky News host James McPherson. James, this is a major moment. Look, we've been very critical on my program, at least last night, of Julian Assange, of how he put lives at risk service men and women who who were risking their own lives to work in undercover roles in war zones, in high risk areas, and he risked exposing them. There was no redaction in

What do you think absolutely. I mean, Elbanze is a little disingenuous when he talks about how this is dragged on too long and we didn't see any value in the continued incarceration. Don't forget most of it has dragged on because Juliana Sange himself has been avoiding facing court. He spent was at seven years in the Ecuadorian embassy avoiding being tried for the crimes he was alleged to

Yeah, I'm just going to point out, James that we were just seeing a footage there of Assange hugging his wife Stella Siane, who's been in Australia waiting for him to arrive. And he was accompanied there as well by Jen Robinson, his lawyer. We've had her on the program. She's been his longest serving counsel. There is that emotional moment where Julian hugs his wife Stella. He does have

I'll look obviously very happy for mister Assange and his family there, obviously over the moon. But let's not think that this guy's the public hero number one that the Prime Minister's trying to make him out to be.

He is no journalist.

In my view.

Journalists have to check their facts, sources, and indeed this guy just dumped a whole lot of documents onto the internet, happened to be good at tech and put agents potentially at risk. That is not what a great journalist does.

Yeah, and we're going to get to that inflation rate in a moment. But what do you think, Andrew, Do you think this is a distraction from the Prime minister? Do you think Massange should be lauded as some kind of hero.

I think a lot of people have different views about Juliana Sange, about who he is and what he did. But from the Australian Government's perspective, there is really only one fact that matters, and that is that he is an Australian citizen and he spent the best part of fifteen years in different forms of confined So the Australian Government did what we would do for any Australian citizen,

All right, Look, let's have a look at some of the other topics today. We are standing by tonight to hear from Julian Assange himself. He is expected to speak to the media tonight and if not him, his family. So we'll bring you that live as it happens. As I said, we've just heard from the Prime Minister. If you're just tuning in now, Julian Assange is now back on Australian soil. Well, let's have a look at these

As I said before, as we've said many times, the monthly numbers bounce around. They don't compare the same goods and services.

I mean, bridget the cost of living is the issue that most people, most Australians are interested in, are concerned by us struggling with you know, not Julian Assange's freedom. So are you worried about today's inflation data?

Well, absolutely, I'm worried about it. The Australian public's worried about it, mortgage holders are worried about it. The only people that aren't worried about it the government. Jim Charmer's even casual disregard during question time and your click just earlier shows that he doesn't have an economic plan that's working.

We're at the back of the back when it comes to the G ten.

This homegrown inflation is going in the wrong direction, as I said earlier, is going to make the Reserve Bank Governor's role very difficult as she looks to interest rates.

And households are struggling.

Their electricity has gone up twenty one percent in the last two years, housing and rents fourteen percent. Australians are struggling, and what we've seen is a very weak government.

They're not prepared to.

Make the tough decisions on the budget. They're not prepared to cut spending in those really difficult structural areas, and they've been distracted. If it's not the Voice this week, it's Assange. A few months ago they couldn't find their detainees. So on every single measure there are distracted and weak government and the Australian public deserves better because right now they're going backwards.

Andrew, it wasn't so long ago when the inflation forecasts were meant to come down. We were expecting potentially even a rate the rates to fall, a rate cut before Christmas. Look, it doesn't look like that's the case at all. What's gone wrong here? Why is inflation not falling as we expect it?

Well, inflation has been persistent around the world. But I do take issue with what Bridget just said. But Jim chalmers economic plan is working and he has the runs on the board to show it. He has delivered two budget surpluses at the same time, he has brought down inflation by half and he has delivered the lowest unemployment of any first term government on record. Now, it is true that inflation still has further to come down and there is more hard work to do.

But are you worried it's moving in the wrong direction? Now? Are you worried that inflation is now rising not falling?

Well?

Core inflation, the measure that the RBA looks at, has been steady for a couple of months. Jim Charmers is right that these are monthly numbers which are quite volatile and only contain part of the CPI, so we'll get a better read on it when the full quarterly numbers come out. But what we do know is this that when Bridget's Party was in office, they left us with inflation running at a quarterly rate was two point one percent. It's now half that, at one percent in the most

It's going to be hard convincing Australians of that, especially if there is a rate rise, which is now clearly on the table. Just before we go to a break, let's look at the latest on Labor. Senator Fatima Payment. As you know, last night she crossed the floor to support a Green's motion on Gaza. Well, today the Prime Minister said during question time in Parliament that he had suspended her from Labor Calcus sessions for the rest of

Look, I'm no fan of the solidarity principles within Labor, but it is fundamental to who they are. You sign up, you have the debate inside with the factions, and once you leave caucus, you're all in the fact that Penny Wong, because of solidarity, had to vote against same sex marriage, against her own principles and conscience I find appalling Josh Burns had to do the same on matters of Israel

She's getting a leaf passed.

It is very on brand for Anthony Albanizi to once again demonstrate how absolutely weak he is when he has to make tough decisions that labor leaders before him have had to make.

He's squipped it again. It could simply be that he agrees with her. Andrew Charlton, go ahead.

I think it's simple than that. I think Fatima payment is in an incredibly difficult situation. Obviously, she is very deeply personally impacted by the crisis in the Middle East. I think most Australians would feel a lot of sympathy for the position that she is in. I don't think that we should be politicizing it in the way that Bridget is politicizing it. She's in a very difficult situation.

We all have to make difficult decision with her. I think the whole nature of politics and parliament, you are making difficult decisions and weighing up tensions around every single question that we have to debate in this place. Andrew and to somehow single out this senator as if she's the only one had any personal conflict in a decision

That before her.

She should be sacked from the party and go join the Greens.

Firstly, ouch on the first term Burn Bridgide, but secondly, hey, you know.

He has actually been around his can breath for a very long time. I mean it's not just the gray hairs, but he was running Kevin Rudd's economic plot felt I mean you I was going to say he was running heaven Rad's economic policy during the global financial crisis. So he's been in the nation's capital for much longer than just one term. Go ahead, Andrew.

Charlton, Thank you, Shari. I appreciate that. Look. I think Fatima Payment has made a decision that comes from her conviction. I think that's precisely what you're saying you are looking for in politicians, bridget She has done that. I think most Australians would sympathize with her position, given her background and given how this issue has affected her so deeply and so personally, and frankly, I don't think we should politicize it beyond that.

I'll just give the final word to myself over here, which is that I think she could have expressed some sympathy for the one hundred and twenty innocent Israelis, including babies and children, who are still being held hostage, and for the one thousand and two hundred innocent citizens who were murdered by her muss on the seventh of October.

Well.

The breaking news tonight is that Julian Assange has touched down on Australian soil. We're waiting to hear from him this evening. We've also heard tonight from the Prime Minister who has said that he's spoken to Juliana Sange. He said Sanje said, this is a surreal moment and he's feeling very happy to be back in Australia. We're going to bring you that news as it unfolds. But let's go now to Israel, where it's been nearly nine months

First, I want to.

Say good evening to everybody and thank you for having me and listening to me. It's important for me to tell everybody that it's true because I was there and that Kith, my husband is still there and I'm waiting for him to come back so badly.

My whole body saw.

I'm tired of talking and talking and telling people what I went through and thinking about kid being in the same place that I was. We were kidnapped on the seventh of October with our pajamas from a house. We felt that we were secured in her house on keyboots for Raza.

Sixty four people were murdered on my keyboots. I know them all.

They my friends, and it's very difficult for me to even think about all of that. But the most important thing is that I'm here for Keith. I'm not through what I went through. I'm here for Keith and all the hostages. We need them back soon, as soon as possible, because they're going through hell like I did.

So we were taken on the seventh from our house. We were in a little room that we thought that was.

Safe, and there were lots of missiles coming from Gaza, so we sat there and we felt that something else different was happening, and it felt like the end of the world.

It was very noisy.

There were bombs all over from Gaza sent to us, and we were scared. And in a short while there were fifteen people from Hamas that came into my house, walked, shot my hounds, shooting around Keith and I screaming at us, pushed us and they broke kiths ropes and shot Kit's hand.

We arrived to Gaza, keep us bleeding.

He was sore, in a complete We were in a complete and activite shock, and I.

Was there for fifty one days.

Aviva, thank you for having the courage to speak about this. We can all see how difficult, how traumatic this is for you. You know, you've described it as hell just then the period that you were held hostage, and you know how horrifying it is knowing that your husband Keith is still there without re traumatizing you can you tell us just how bad it was having to help be held captive by these terrorists in Gaza.

They had no respect for us at all. They didn't even let us feel like we are human. We weren't allowed to talk. We were staffed while they're ate in front of us. We had to beg, beg for water. We had to lie down most of the time for more than seventeen hours of the day and not even move. We weren't allowed to talk. We had to whisper sometimes and sometimes just be quiet, completely quiet. And that was day after day, minute after minute. It was for a

I want everybody that's.

Listening to me just to think about what it could be and what feeling it would be to have no a just lie down and trying to figure out how you're going to take the next breath, and just hoping that Keith won't die before me, or if something what happened to him and I have to look after him, or just see him dead next to me, like so many people in Israel saw on the seventh they killed families, They burned them alive, they raped the mothers in front

Just to make fun of him. After doing that, they just stood and laughed. Kid you sixty four years.

Old, Aviva, It's just so horrifying for words, it is so traumatic. I can't thank you enough for having the courage to be on national television here in Australia and speak about that trauma so publicly. We all pray for you that Keith is returned home safely and soon. And we are so sorry for what you and all your fellow Israelis are going through. We talk about you on this program every single night. We fight for the hostages and remember them, and we won't forget. We will keep

I need and need and need your help.

I need anybody's help that could bring you and past just as we are desperate.

I'm begging anybody that can.

We'll do everything we can to keep it in the new cycle in the public's mind. Thank you very much. It's so dramatic. It's so important to keep hearing those stories and not to forget that this is happening now, because we just hear from our politicians mostly criticism of Israel, not of Hermas, even though there are still innocent citizens, including baby Kafir, who are still being held there. All right, the impact of social media on teenagers is a major

Thank you, Shary. Sure.

So, Look, as you said, this is one of the biggest issues of our time. We're seeing terrible mental health outcomes for teens, and the truth is it can be really hard for parents to not give their kid a smartphone, especially if their child is the only one without. And so what we're trying to do with weight mate is kind of get communities to stand together because parents can have strength in numbers.

We've designed a pledge.

People can visit our website and they can pledge to delay giving a smartphone to their child until at least high school is seven or eight or year nine later the better, and in doing so can stand stronger with their cohort.

Now this is significant because in being.

Connected with other parents who do the same in your child's specific class, you really have the opportunity to hold off and not give in and stand strong in your boundary. We know this is not good for our kids, but the pull at the moment is really, you know, quite strong. We want kids to be kids for longer. We want to slow down this growing up and give children the nourishing, play based childhood that they deserve.

So we're seeing politicians at the moment like Peter Dutton and the South Australian Premier Peter mallanaskus put on the table the concept of actually banning social media apps until children are say fourteen or sixteen years years old. But this is a slightly different concept because this puts it back in the hands of parents and it's not just social media, but it's the whole smartphone exactly.

Shary.

Now, it's wonderful to see these initiatives and the advocacy that's happening to delay social media.

But the reality is that.

Smartphones are the gateway to these apps, and we're seeing the harm that they're causing. So while we totally applaud and support all the work being done at a government level, and I am so relieved on a personal level, it's not enough. And we also can't wait for those things to pass and for the technology to get sorted to work out how do we actually verify that this person is sixteen and then they're just lying about their age when they sign up.

So yeah, look, it's really important.

To not just kind of have that coming from a legal standpoint, but to also ensure that children are not walking around with the Internet in their pockets. Smartphones are designed to be incredibly addictive. Some developers refer to this as brain hacking, because literally they've looked into the psychology of what gets people to keep coming back for more. And I'm sure many adults can relate to the fact

And really it's the opportunity cost.

What else would this child be doing if they weren't continually checking a phone. And even without social media, the phone itself, there's internet, it's the internet.

In their pocket.

As I said, YouTube, etc. All of these things have no place in primary school.

Just before you go a lot of parents want their kids to have a phone because they're worried about security concerns and when their kids in their early teens are starting to be a bit independent, it gives the parents comfort knowing that they can be contacted.

You know what's the argument the look that's very valid and we are not against children being able to communicate with parents. We're against children having pokes in their pockets and a smartphone device.

On our website we.

Have resources to recommend for parents various other devices, dumb phones, smart watches, GPS trackers, there's so many other options that can still give your child independence.

A dumb phone or a smart watch. That's a good answer. So if people want to find out more, they can head to wait mate dot org dot au. Parents can sign up to the pledge. This is now going to be a big movement. We're bringing the news here first, but it is going to be in the media in the coming days and weeks ahead.

Absolutely, and parents will be connected when at least ten in their cohort pledge, they will have strength in numbers. They will be connected with those parents and able to hold off until at least high school.

We hope. Well, congratulations on this am. I'm sure it's going to be very popular with a lot of parents because it does take the peer pressure off the table. Thank you very much for joining us.

Thank you.

Now let's get back to our breaking news tonight that Julian Assange has landed in Canberra. We heard from the Prime Minister a little earlier. He confirmed that he was the first person Julian Assange spoke to on his arrival in Camber tonight, Alberizi described it as a warm discussion. He said it was a surreal and happy moment for the newly freed Julian Assange. The PM couldn't help but take a bit of credit for the release, or full

Good morning.

How happy are you this evening? Jeffrey Robertson, Well, it's.

Prett easy to see him safe and free from the illness that has plagued him in the top security prison where he's been for five years. And he's back, and I think he joins the group of Australian journalists who have prodded at power and have exposed military secrets. They begin with your proprietor, your Proprietor's father, Keith Murdoch, who exposed the British Army deliberately. And then of course we've had Phil Knightly and Murray's Sale and.

Pilger.

We may have Sherry Markson in that pantheon on of people, journalists, commentators and so on who expose truths about what is happening. So for that reason, I think it's good that he's back. I'd point out an answer or the answer that mister alban Easy might have given. Kevin Rudd gave it some years ago that the material that he published was never top secret. That's the classification that is required if lives are going to be a risk for disclosure. The material

So that although of course they could have although of course there was no reduction of names, and there could have been physical harm downe lives were put at risk, there was concern that sources were exposed. But not to get back into that argument now, Jeffrey robertson what do you expect Julian Assange will do now that he's free in Australia. Does the intention work in a journalist.

Speak, Cherry, He's going to make a speech at first microphone that's put in his direction. He will speak usually, as I recall for a long time, I recall looking at my watch as he went on. But I hope his minders have reminded him that the public's ability to take in what he says is limited, and I hope he'll confine himself to the important thing about his case, which was that the Obama people, and I knew, very

Yeah, I can hear, I can hear your phone is going off there everyone's trying to contact you because this is a big news day. Just before you go, Jeffrey Robertson, do you expect that Julina Sande will want to now work as a journalist? Does he intend to get a job.

I don't know what Julian will do, but I think he needs some rest and recreation, maybe go back to where he was born on Magnetic Island, but.

He will.

I think he's a very pleasant and erudite man. And it may be that self taught or to that act. It may be that you'll write either an autobiography or get into philosophy of some kind. But his insight into international affairs was always considerable.

And I think, well, you think he would have had it enough time by now to write an autobiography is if he hasn't written one over the past fourteen years, And I tell you what, he's just wasted his time. But Jeffrey Robertson, always a delight to have you on the program. Thank you very much, such a charmer. So coming up after the break, we're on standby to hear from the wikileagu's founder, Julian A. Sane, who has tonight

Yeah, Charlie was pretty gripping viewing tonight. No matter what you think of Julian Massange, you couldn't take your eyes off the screen tonight. And it's been a long running saga which has finally ended. That's pretty tortuous chapter. And Julian is home. I'm pretty uncomfortable. I'm happy that he is. I think he's served his time, but I'm pretty uncomfortable with the fact that he has been given a heroes welcome. This is not a man that deserves the glorification that

Now, I just want to ask your reaction to this incident. Today, a teenager sent a terrorism manifesto to people in the media, including myself. He was then arrested outside the office of a State Labor and p We're going to show you that vision right now while we speak. Andrew. This is concerning It does feel like there is a volatile climate at the moment. There was some anti Semitic content in that manifes Esto.

We're seeing more and more of these incidents shari and it is troubling. And what is mostly troubling here is the age of the alleged perpetrators here. They're getting younger and younger, and it's clearly a case of senior people within their own community whispering in their ear is getting them to this stage where they will commit these acts.

I absolutely agree. I think the main message from the Prime Minister should be that whatever your view on this conflict is, we can't bring the hatred to Australia. That is clear nearly what the message should be, and there should have been tough law enforcement right from the start, right from those Opera House protests on October the ninth, that this is not on, that we can't see this sort of aggression on our streets. Andrew Carswell, I apologize it was so short tonight. It has been a big