Live on Sky News.
This is Sharry Good Evening.
Well, we've got just under two weeks left until the Christmas break. That's seven shows and you don't want to miss any of them. Coming up tonight to Donald Trump putting Joe Biden to shame before he's even in the White House's threatening to rain down hell on America's enemies. James Patterson will join me to discuss whether Alban Easy and Penny Wong should take a leaf out of Trump's playbook. Also tonight, the economist calling out Labour's reckless spending will
be on the show. Chris Richardson says families are getting less as the taxman is getting more. That interview coming up, and the academic who seems to be protected by Sydney University despite a police investigation and threats made to hosts.
Here on Sky News, Carolyn.
Marcus will share her exclusive with us plus our much loved and famous Christmas light displays under threat thanks to soaring power bills. I'll talk about that a bit later on and tonight a topic close to my heart. A new United States report to tay concluded that COVID originated in a wu hand lab I'll speak about that with Bronwan Bishop and Kayleb Bond in a moment also on the show Tonight, Meet the newest Liberal pre selected to try win back a seat from a Teal his first
interview tonight. But now another politician has come out today to accuse Albanzi of not telling the full story on those environmental laws. We've been speaking about how Albanezi torpedoed a deal that Tanya Plibisek had done with the Greens.
The Prime Minister.
Denied a deal had been done, acting as if Plebisek was from another political party, not a senior cabinet minister.
These environment laws. Clearly a deal was either close or, according to the Greens, was done.
They reckon you did.
Course say that, no, we hadn't, and they don't say that David, there if no one in the Green says that I agreed to it.
Clearly there was an agreement.
It just wasn't with Albanizi himself, it was with his minister. And now today more evidence is building that Albanezi misled the public when he claimed a deal hadn't been done. Independent Senator for the Act David Pocock has come out to say that as far as.
He was concerned a deal had been done.
I certainly thought we had a deal. Municipal of Sec was a good faith negotiator in this. I thought we'd landed at a point where where everyone was happy. And it's incredibly disappointing that neither the Greens nor the PM seemed to want to be able to sort of really prioritize this, and I think internal party politics probably got in the way.
At the end of the day, clearly there was a deal ready to be signed, sealed and delivered, but Albinizi killed it off, realizing it would cost votes in Wa after an intervention from Wa Premier Roger Cook.
The laws were radical and should never have gone ahead.
But the point is this is disunity at the highest level of the Albanese government. It's the Prime minister undermining and gas lighting a senior cabinet minister and its poor treatment of a senior woman. The rift between Albanesi and Plibasek is now causing internal angst in the Labor Party.
But this saga also shows how.
Sketchy Albanzi can be with the truth, how he doesn't feel the public necessarily has a right to know the honest truth behind why some laws go ahead and others don't. Remember this is the man who promise to do politics differently, who promised transparency.
The truth is that where an open transparent party for there needs to be complete transparency. What we need is a prime minister who's prepared to be transparent, a more honest and transparent a government going forward who will make it transparent but being transparent.
But that was before the election campaign.
Promises clearly don't count, not as far as Albinizi is concerned. And today Peter Dutton is highlighting another broken promise that power bills would be two hundred and seventy five dollars cheaper. He claims it's been three years to the day that Albanizi made this now failed promise, and he didn't.
Just promise at once two hundred and two hundred and two hundred and seventy five.
DOLLARSS Labour said at ninety seven times before the last election.
But what's he delivered?
Well, electricity prices are now up to one thousand dollars more than what Labor promised.
Well, power bills and energy will be a key election issue and if there are blackouts across Australia this summer. Chris Bowen and Alban Easy will be held responsible and it'll be yet another reason for voters to abandon alban Easy.
And this is on top of the growing list so far, which includes government spending skyrocketing, and we'll talk about that with Chris Richardson later, the cost of living crisis deepening while countries around the world are emerging from the woods, the Big Australia policy, the housing affordability crisis, and the devastating issue of anti Semitism and lawlessness that's been compared with nineteen thirties Europe. All of this under Albanesi's watch.
It's no wonder the coalition has now overtaken labor in newspot. Albin Easy, you'd have to say, is a failed prime minister who doesn't deserve to be sitting in the lodge.
Well.
Donald Trump has today come out swinging in full support of the one hundred and one innocent hostages remaining in Gaza. He has threatened that if the hostages aren't released by January twenty, there will be hell to pay.
He's said on social media.
If the hostages are not released prior to January twenty twenty twenty five, the date that I proudly assume office as President of the United States. There will be all hell to pay in the Middle East, and for those in charge who perpetrated these atrocities against humanity. He said, those responsible will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied history of the United States of America. Well, that's deterrence, and that's what strength and determination looks like.
Well, you'd have to go back and think. Think, what were the strongest.
Words the current President, Joe Biden ever said about the hostages. Mostly the attitude of the Biden administration was to put pressure on Israel for not doing enough to release them. There's been absurd victim blaming. There was certainly more pressure on Israel than on Hermas.
There the civilian suffering of the Palace Indian people, and finally, finally, finally deliver a cease firing in this war.
For months, people all over the world have called for ceasefire. I've consistently pressed for a pause in the fighting for two reasons, to accelerate and expand humanitarian assistance going into Gaza, and two to facilitate the release of hostages.
I mean just asking for a cease fire, not demanding and forcing, as the leader of the free world, should that the terrorists released the hostage, who, by the way, include American citizens, And unlike Trump's clear threat to the barbaric terrorists that they'd be held to pay, well, this was Biden's weak message to Iran.
It would have apprisedge to Iran in this moment.
Don't don't, And in his delusional state, perhaps he thought his message resonated because he repeated it on other occasions as well.
What is your message to Hezbollah and its backer Iran, don't.
Don't, don't don't.
The Ayatolas of Iran were hardly quaking in their boots, and in response to Biden's one word message, what did Tehran do will? It launched unprecedented direct attacks on Israel, including a barrage of.
Two hundred ballistic missiles.
Biden also did everything he could to work against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahoo. Biden made demands that Netanyaho not go into Rafa, where the hostages were being held. He demanded he let Nozralla live. He demanded there be no ground invasion. This despite the fact that four hundred and twenty three days on, there are still one hundred hostages held captive by Hamas and other terror groups in Gaza. They've been in the dark dungeons, underground, starved, beaten, and
some execute it. It's thought, but we don't know for sure, that about half are still alive. Those who are still there include baby Kafir, his brother Ariel, and their mother.
And it breaks my heart to think of them.
Baby Kafir never even got to celebrate his first birthday in the outside world before he was dragged away by bloodthirsty terrorists to the hell hell of underground tunnels. It's beyond devastating to think of that, and yet no one speaks about the hostages.
No one does anything.
When I was in Israel, I spoke to two former hostages and they told me just how bad the conditions were. One of them a sixty three year old Aviva Siegel. She was kidnapped in her pajamas from her bed. She said she could barely breathe in the tunnels.
The conditions were the worst conditions that you can think about.
I just thought that I'm going to die. The kid's going to die.
She spoke about how Palestinian civilians celebrated as she was dragged terrified into Gaza. She said it was like a party for them. And her husband, Keith is still captive and she can only pray that he's alive and he's
an American citizen. By the way, the American president should have done everything in his power to try and secure the release of American hostages, but Biden hasn't, and more than four hundred days on, Trump is now threatening brutal hell if the hostages aren't released, and it's a threat he made after having dinner with Israeli Prime Minister Nettiyahu's wife Sara, and sanyayir At Mari Lago and Sarah did discuss the plight of the hostages at that dinner with Trump.
It's a strong signal that Trump and Neettiyahoo will be able to work together to defeat terrorism, to bring home the hostages, and to stop Iran's aggression. It's been long enough. Strong action needs to be taken. We've been begging for international leadership, and finally we're starting to see that leadership. We can hope that this determination and strong approach from Trump has a chance of working. Because Joe Biden's approach of appeasement, of going softly softly with terrorists, Well it
was never going to work. All right, Another big show ahead, as I said, Leading economist Chris Richardson will join me live later on, plus James Patterson and Carolyn Marcus all coming up. But now let's bring in former Speaker of the House Bronwin Bishop and Stein New's host Caleb Bond.
Welcome to you both. Great to see you, as always in a Tuesday.
I want to ask you your reaction to David Pocock, the Independent Senator coming out today to dispute Albanezi's version of events that there wasn't a deal on the environmental laws.
You don't have to be very bright to figure out there was a deal done by Plibasic and that Alberanize you spoke to the Premier of Western Australia. This will put the seats. It was plask out, so all the people who thought they were going to get this deal, which was hideous for Australia. So I'm rather pleased we've ulled out of it. Otherwise it would be up to Prime Minister Dunton to reverse it. So but equally he's simply took and the bad blood between two to six.
And Albanesi is palpable for all to see. First of all, he thought he could bury it, bury her in the environmental portfolio. Yeah, and that's turned out to come back and bite him.
She's causing him ASTs of problems.
Which he has so and of course they are they're rivals. There are seats next door to each other and both on the left. And she had the temerity to come out as deputy b deputy prime minister when or would be deputy Prime Minister to shortened when Albanesi thought that was his kid. So there's there's lots of things.
And he'd be worried about her as a future leadership rival as well. But Caleb, you know what about the fact that he has effectively, as I said, undermined and gas lit a senior woman in his cabinet. I mean he claimed Scott Morrison had a woman problem. Look, he is treating the scene a female and his own.
Dis It's a very good point. I mean, you know, it's hardly reeks of cabinet government, does it. It reminds me a bit of his matedown in Victoria. Daniel Andrews who ruled the cabinet with an iron fist. It was Dan's way or the highway, and he was very effective in consolidating power by threatening the members of his own cabinet and saying, well, if you want to stay here, you've got to join my faction. I mean, he managed to turn the Treasurer Tim Pallas from the right to
the socialist left. How does that happen unless you put a gun against someone's head. The problem for Elbow now is I think we're talking about exactly this last week on this panel. He has basically nothing to point to as an achievement. While he has been Prime Minister going into the next federal election and in getting rid of the FEDERALLYPA, which was an election promise as bad as
a proposal it might have been. He's broken a promise and he's next one of the only things that he could have said, oh yeah, we actually did something that was on our policy platform, because he's realized, oh well, it'll get us in trouble. Like Bronwin said in Western Australia, the man has no principles. He's realized now that he's cooked and he's doing everything he can to go backward. To one hundred miles an hour in the hope that
it will save him at the next federal election. I think it's a little bit late for that.
It's so frustrating when politicians campaign on transparency and accountability actually a bit like the Teals, and then they go on to do the exact opposite.
I don't think any of them can spell transparency letter known know what it means. Yeah, indeed, all right, I think you're a bit kind about saying ab and as he had a steel fist.
No, no, it's a bit of a lympnos I suspect, but you know he's giving it a go.
Yeah, I actually think it's the opposite.
He lets the ministers do whatever they want. He's not across the detail. He tries to pretend that's a good thing, but really he's just too lazy to do the work to get across the detail.
He's already checked out personally.
Yeah, he is living in the Copacabana Clift Up mansion.
And he's dreams already. All right.
Well, Amo is warning that gas supplies need to now be carefully managed heading into summer, or else there'll be a risk that the energy grid stability will be damaged or will be volatile across the East coast.
Run when this is.
Yet another warning from a EMO that you know we have a vulnerable energy grid.
Yeah, a bit to catch up, aren't they, because there are lots of us saying this is a problem, that it is all going to happen, and Albow will be regretting the fact that he didn't go on the seventh of December when they were all ready to go. Lost their nerve because it's not going to get any better. Blackouts, more strikes, people who are cancelling, more deals, the whole scene. There'll be no red cup. The whole thing is going to get worse blowouts from the budget which will become
more apparent. There's no way they're having another budget. So when we see AMO come out like this and suddenly admit what we've all known, that blackouts are on the horizon and that the gas hasn't been produced, and at about time they demanded of those people who own those coal fire power stations to up the maintenance and have them ready to go because they're getting to be needed.
It makes people so angry when we think that we've been exploiing so much gas.
Caleb, Yeah, well, we don't really have a gas reserve in this country, which is insane, and the gas reserves held by our allies have been depleted in recent years that the US gas reserves were at their lowest point I think in forty years. Last year they've started building that back up again. But we have so much gas in this country, particularly in places where we can't extract it, including Victoria, which will be the most reliant on gas
if things go wrong over summer. By the way, it was only last year, or might have be been earlier this year where the Victorian government finally opened up the idea. So oh, yes, we can drill for gas in Victoria in but of course no one wants to go and spend the money because they know that it was banned for a decade under Andrews, So why would you bother going to do that. We don't use the resources that we have in this country, whether it's uranium or coal
or gas. We send it all overseas for other people to burn, and we used to go a lot. We're doing the great thing for the environment here. It doesn't matter where you burn it. We all live in the same world, So why don't we just keep some for ourselves so we can have cheap and reliable energy. Otherwise you end up like South Australia, where now the Energy Minister Tom kots and Thomas is begging for Eneri to put two diesel generators back in the market.
How's that for queen and green energy insanity? Okay, let's turn to the US now. A congressional subcommittee today has declared that COVID nineteen most likely originated in a lab in Wuhan. This finding was part of a five hundred and twenty page report after a two year investigation.
China has tonight hit back, have a look.
Lape origin of the pandemic is extremely unlikely. The United States should immediately stop weaponizing and politicizing this issue. Stop sling maud.
Or the ABC the whole way alongsided with China claimed this was a conspiracy branwin.
Yet now in this report.
Even more official you know evidence, Yet no apology to viewers by the ABC for misleading.
Them not to mention your excellent book. Thank you very well, researched, very well, presented in a slam deck case. Yes, of course it came out of Wuvan, Of course it did. The Chinese could just as easily be, mister Fauci, because he was. He was complicit the whole deal too, in my estimation. So I just think that the Chinese don't
want to lose face. That's their problem. They don't want to lose face, says I'll hit out and hit out, but it will become quite apparent, as it did to many of us very early on that of course it came out of there.
Yeah, and by the way, you were ridiculed. I just remembered as well by the ABC for your comments on this.
Just before we go. Look, we've been talking.
About how Joe Biden pardoned his son Hunter. Well, it was a very funny comment on this from the TV host John Stewart. If we can play that and have a look at that clip, eleven years is.
A very specific.
And not rounded amount of time, So honor, I'll give you a pardon a few years, five years, ten years.
It needs to be eleven.
And if you would be so kind, make sure this upcoming New Year's Eve is also covered.
Shit's going to get Christy.
It's hilarious, Caleb, but it's also you know, so thus you and ridiculous because you know very specific time period eleven years that the pardon applies to.
Yeah, of course, and it goes all the way back to Hunter beginning to do deals with Barrisma and Ukraine, etc. And the question is what was the connection between Hunter and his father when these deals were being done. Close associates of Hunter Biden's have testified that he was using his father, who was then Vice president, to get business deals done overseas and that potentially the Biden family benefited
from that. So, including those eleven years is running cover for the president as much as it is for his son. And if you've got that power available to you, why wouldn't you use it? I know it's insane and it's awful, but why wouldn't you use it? He's just done what's in front of him.
I'm sure they'll find some way, the Trump administration of getting around and having a look at what they can investigate. Nonetheless, Bronwan, Bishop cayleb Bond, thank you both very much. All right, returning to the major story today that Donald Trump has threatened to unleash Hell if the hostages aren't returned. Let's
bring in now Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Patterson. James, thanks for your time as always look, we've seen weak international leadership more inclined to criticize Israel than demand Hamas actually hand back the hostages, and the Albanese government seems to think the hostages are an afterthought as they keep criticizing Israel. Should our politicians take a leaf out of Trump's book and deal with terrorists through strength rather than appeasement.
It's great to be with you, Shari, and I think you're absolutely right that the Albanezy government's response from the very beginning of this crisis has been weakness and false moral equivalents, and it's now very clear that they're being driven by their political interests, and they are putting that
ahead of the national interest. The national interest and Australia's values would have dictated that immediately after the seventh of October we stood shoulder to shoulder with our friend and our ally Israel, and that we did everything we could to support them in their attempts to regain their citizens who are so cruelly taken hostage by Hamas on the
seventh October. The especially cruel thing about this today, as you pointed out in your editorial, Shari, is that of those one hundred and one hostages who are still captive of Hamas in Gaza in the tunnels, we don't know and their families don't know how many of them are left alive. And yet the Albanzi government has been making tokenistic references occasionally to hostages, but in some of their public comments recently haven't even had the pretense to pretend
that they care about that anymore. And they've moved on to be far more focused on their political interests, which I think is going to play out in the coming days and weeks.
Yeah.
Well, speaking about the political interests, there's breaking news tonight and the City Morning Herald website that the Albanezi government and I'm quoting from that article now, that the Albanizi government is preparing to again anger Israel by switching Australia's stance on the Israeli Palestinian conflict in a series of high profile United Nations votes, which include a resolution aimed at creating an irreversible pathway to a Palestinian state.
This is Penny Wang in action, and James.
This comes after the latest hostile UN resolution vote, and I revealed that that was a captain's call. Pennywang actually ignored the recommendation from Australia's mission at the UN.
What's your reaction to this news tonight.
Well, I suspect those reports are accurate and it is almost getting to the point where we are losing count of the times at which Australia, under Penny Wong's leadership as Foreign Minister, has abandoned Israel at the United Nations. Pennywong has trashed decades of bipartisanship when it comes to our approach to Israel Palestine issues at the United Nations.
We would always have opposed or at the very least abstained from any motion that went to final status issues, certainly that prematurely recognized a Palestinian state prior to the successful negotiation of a peace disagreement between the Palestinian authority and Israel. And it's very clear for all to see what is driving this, and that is the Labour Party's
existential fear and dread that they will lose seats. Spoke first in the Inner City to the Greens who are attacking them on this issue, and now also in Western Sydney where the Muslim Votes Matter movement and others are targeting them. But that's a completely reckless and irresponsible thing to do, because not only have they abandoned our values, not only have they abandoned our interests, they've also put an enormous golf between Australia and our closest and most
important ally of the United States. And that's under the Biden administration. The Trump administration will be even more forthright in its support for Israel than the Biden administration has been, and that golf is getting bigger and bigger. And I don't see how it's in our national interest in an uncertain strategic environment to have distance between Australia and the United States, but apparently the Foreign Minister.
Does, and it's a national security issue as well. Of course you just mentioned then the Muslim vote campaign. Well, they've come out in a report in The Australian Today and actually said that it might be better to have a Dutton government. To send a message to Labor, this is some parts of that campaign. What do you think about this because Labors show no leadership on this issue and instead, as you just said, that foreign policy is designed to try win back over radical activists.
It shows you show that appeasement doesn't work. The Labor Party has compromised our foreign policy and national security policy and our national interest in an attempt to shore up votes in these seats, and it doesn't even work. And I think the antidote to appeasement is strength. I think the antidote to the moral equivalents we've seen is moral clarity. And I think the antidote to the impotence we've seen
is moral strength. And those are the things that we will get from Peter Dutton as Prime Minister if he's elected at the next election. He will always put our national interests first. He will always stand closely with our allies. He'll stand shoulder to shoulder for our values on the international stage and international forums. And in Peter Dutton we would have the most pro Israel prime start in Australia's history.
And we've had some very strong pro Israel prime ministers like Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott and John Howard, but he would be even stronger than them.
Look music to my ears.
And that would also be a reflection of Trump's cabinet, because we've seen that his cabinet, I mean, some have said it even more pro Israel than.
Israel's own Cabinet.
But you know, Israel so far has had its allies basically desert them, so it needs friends at this time as it fights for survival. James Patterson, really appreciate your clarity as always.
Thank you. Now still to come.
Why is the University of Sydney protecting an academic who's under police investigation and has threatened Sky News hosts Carolyn Marcus would join me and will Chris Bowen become known as the Grinch who Stole Christmas? As annual lights displays could be under threat thanks to soaring power prices. I'll talk about that with my panel after this quick break.
Welcome back.
Okay, we're going to get into Chris bow and his new name is the Grinch who might be stealing Christmas to discuss. You can now meet the latest liberal to be pre selected to take on the Teals. James Brown has been pre selected for the seat of mckella.
Great to see.
Oh we've just lost James for resecu' We be back in a minute. I'm sure this is Bromwin Bishop's old seat, so he'll try and unseat Sophie Scomps. And we're also going to bring in Menzies Research Center Executive director Dave Hughes, great to see you.
Gay Look.
Peter Dutton today launched an attack on Labor for breaking their promise to reduce power bills by two hundred and seventy five dollars. We played that those comments a little earlier in the show Look. At the same time, the Daily Telegraph is asking readers to submit their best Christmas light displays in the suburb. This is an annual favorite where people drive from.
All over Sydney.
I'm sure it's the case in other cities as well, drive from all over to see the homes with the most spectacular Christmas light displays. But Dave, there's concerns that, given how high people's power bills are, many families won't be able to afford to do this.
I think it was actually three years ago to the day Shari that Anthony ALBERNISI first promise power bills would be reduced by two hundred and seventy five dollars a year. Now, that was a promise that didn't match his policies because his policies have actually driven up power prices, and what we've seen is we've seen less base load power in the market. You know, reliable baseload power that coal, gas and nuclear could provide, and we've got intermittent renewables filling
that gap. Power prices have gone up and families are taking decisions to cut costs. So yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if there's a lot of families out there in the suburbs who are taking those decisions not to maybe scale down their Christmas lights displays.
This year, and not to mention James, you know, we're being told that on hot days we shouldn't be running our.
Dishwasher past three pm.
Well, what's the state government going to say about these Christmas light displays?
We'll sharrying my neighbor's not the Christmas lights up already. The gauntlet has been thrown down and I'm well behind. But that's the decision we have to make. We've got a grid that is increasingly fragile. Can we run the air conditioning that we need, can we run the Christmas lights, can we run the fridge? And can we pay for it all? And that's the challenge that families are looking at as we go into Christmas.
This is a tough.
Time for families that are not where they want to be. Economically that are facing the pressure of higher interest rates, who are looking at how they're going to afford presents, and we're here because of the policies of the government. They've led us to this point.
Yeah, it's a scary thought, and you know, I just worry and I wish there was Maybe I'll try to find out in the next few days. You know, there's going to be children out there who can't afford the parents can't afford Christmas present. So I think we need to find out what we can do to help those families in the next week and a half before we break for Christmas. Now, one of Australia's biggest banks has slapped another fee on customers.
This has outraged everyone today, charging.
Three dollars each time people want to withdraw their own money from a branch, a post office or by phone. This is come back, David. This seems insanity. You know, this continual paying to take out cash.
You can understand why people want to have easy access to cash in this day and age, because of transaction fees and the like. I've got a briefing from the Commonwealth Bank this afternoon on this on this issue. They say that there'll be exemptions for a lot of pensioners and people that have I think two thousand dollars coming into their accounts so every month. So most way journeys will be exempt, and of course people feel can feel free to shop around as well, if the.
People even know how to go through the process of getting that exemption. Sitting on hold for hours at a time. None of this is easy, this is.
True, but yeah, it's an issue we face now. My barber only accepts cash because he's had enough with these transaction fees.
Yeah, class businesses a lot.
Yeah, it's really frustrating for businesses as well, So this is why people are people are drawn to cash. I hope it doesn't create any issues for the most vulnerable as well, as we talk about those pensioners in particular who might not know how to use an ATM. But I think through these changes today, I think come off bank ATMs will still be able to be access free of charge for their customers.
James, you're starting to do the rounds. I mentioned before that you've just been pre selected as a Liberal candidate for mckella br'm a bishop's old seat. We just had her on the show. You're trying to knock off the till you know. Is this one of the issues that you're finding matters to people when you're don knocking.
Yeah, thanks Charan.
It's a great honor to be stepping up on the seat where Bronwin Bishop was a member for so long and she's still so loved by the community.
Here.
Pensioners, as David mentioned, are the ones who use cash the most, and a lot of them haven't moved into the world of internet banking. They like to go to a branch. They like to be able to get cash once a month across the tele accounter and use that to pay their expenses. So this is another challenge for them to navigate. It's another hit on top of the surcharges that we're seeing. All of this adds up and creates pressure.
I mean, the.
People I'm talking to are telling me that there is a lot going on beneath the surface at the moment, a lot of financial stress beneath the surface. And on the northern beaches, you've only got to look at the areas where people park their secondhand cars for sale, or on Pittwater and Baron Joey Rhodes, those cueues of cars for Salah much longer than I've ever seen them, and that shows you people can't afford to run that second car.
They can't keep the groceries, the school fees, all of that going at once.
Yeah, it's all a lot. It all adds up petrol prices as well. Now let's turn to Queen's line now, because we're seeing human rights groups are trying to stop the newly elected Premier David Chris Fooley from implementing.
His adult crime adult time laws.
These groups are claiming that it's going to clog up the justice system. I mean, David, surely, of all issues, he has a mandate to ignore these groups on this particular issue.
When youth crime is such a problem in Queensland.
And Shari, if it's going to clog up the prisons and youth detention centers, build more, don't weaken the laws to accommodate that. I see the UN have criticized these laws as being inhumane. This is, of course the same UN that has Russia sitting on the Security Council. A few years ago in Queensland there was a young couple expecting their first child that were tragically killed by a drunk driver juvenile driver on drugs, a long list of
offenses in his history. He'll be released soon. The maximum sentence Sake who provide was ten years, but he'll be out sooner than that. There is a strong case for these laws.
Chris A.
Foley has a mandate they should be implemented head and he needs to stand firm.
Indeed, James, before you go, I just want to get your you know, as former RSL president, I want to get your feedback on what you think of Albaneze's response to the Royal Commission yesterday.
Yeah.
Look, Shari, I'm a liberal candidate for office, so I'll bag the government all day long about how it's letting the defense for slide and leaving us unprepared. But on this I do want to say that I think it's been taken seriously on a bipartisan basis. So I've personally seen the commitment of Minister Matt Keo on this issue, and I've seen the commitment of the Secretary of the Department of Veterans Affairs, Alison Frame, who I think is
doing a good job. Barnaby Joyce, al spokesman himself, a veteran, has been tireless on this too. I mean this Royal Commission. As you know, because you were there with me fighting for it a number of years ago. Convincing the Morrison government to step up and investigate this issue was a long time coming. The issues are really complex. Some of the steps we've seen implemented today will take a long
time to change the system. But the change is happening and the problems been acknowledged, and I think most importantly the veterans who were suffering and their families have been heard and recognized, and you know that will go a long way to addressing this chrirect problem.
Yeah, it's a long time coming, but yes, as you say, it's going to take a long time for these issues to be properly addressed. All right, Thank you both so much, Dave Hughes, James Brown. Great to see you both. Now still to come. The highly respected economist exposing the Albanezi government's reckless spending, Chris Richardson says families are getting less of the tax man is getting more. Plus why the University of Sydney continues to employ an academic threatening hosts
here on Sky News. Well, Caroline Marcus will join me with that exclusive after this break. Welcome back with the University of Sydney has referred one of its own academics to police after he threatened Jewish groups and sky News hosts. Joel Griggs's online history has exposed his anti Israel, anti Zionist stunts. In one post, directed to the Australian Jewish Association president David Adler, he tweeted that the AJA is
a fascist and terror cell. If the government isn't going to move on these dangerous psychopaths, can we maybe pull something together on Twitter? Couldn't be too hard to find out where these people live. In another, he referenced my colleague Andrew Bolt, and he posted, will get you one day? You seditious, traitorous scum Caroline Marcus who joins me now
she's the sky News reporter who broke this exclusive story. Caroline, there are so many offensive tweets others he said people should be put up against a wall.
Yes, he even said you should be put up against a wall, Sharian and the tweet that he about Andrew Bolt included several other sky News hosts, as well as digital staff who posts the tweets onto the sky News Twitter account. But in terms of yourself and some other sky News hosts. He also said that these traitorous scum should be put up against the wall and Australia would be a lot better off.
And yet the University of Sydney still continue to employ him. They've referred him to police, but they won't stack him.
What is this Well, a spokesman from the university told me that they found some of his posts so concerning that they felt compelled to refer them to the Inner West Police Area Command in Sydney.
Now there is a.
Little bit of confusion because police say they haven't received any sort of formal report, but the university, I understand, did refer this material to them back in September. Now they did say, however, they told the Jewish Grip that they couldn't take any disciplinary action against him due to the threats being made in a personal capacity, because they
were made on his Twitter account, which was public. I've learned a few minutes ago that it's actually been switched to private now and that they weren't being made in the name of the university. But he mentioned several times his employment at the university and the fact that he's taught there for eight years. So I'll leave that to your viewers to decide whether that justification for not taking
disciplinary action stands. They also quoted the academic freedom as part of the code of conduct and that they need to protect academic freedom.
But if making.
Threats of what appears to be violence against people, including colleagues at Sky News constitutes academic freedom, well, I think that will leave a lot of people feeling puzzled.
And you'd think that parents whose children are attending the University of Sydney, you know that they wouldn't necessarily feel comfortable being taught by someone who has made threats like.
This whole life exactly.
And not only that, the university is obviously under intense scrutiny over its handling of anti Semitism on campus. It's vice chancellor, Mark Scott has admitted to failing Jurish students and staff, and only on Friday he tried to deny that the university was an incubator for anti semitism, and then we learn about this case. So I think the university will have a lot of questions to answer about how it's handled this too.
Yeah. Indeed, look, I want to turn to nine Entertainment.
One of their senior reporters, Airly Walsh.
She's highly respected.
News today that she's suing the network in the federal court. This comes amid the major cultural reckoning that's hit Nine since the sexual harassment scandal broke.
Now we know Aarly Welsh file.
A human rights sex discrimination case against her employer. No suggestion, Well, it's not clear who it's related to. No suggestion it's related to the disgrace Darren Wick, Caroline. We both know Ellie Welsh well. She is one of the nicest reporters around. She's a delight to be around when you're out on jobs, a wonderful mother, very courageous of her and brave of her to take this step.
Yeah, this is no easy feed because, as many women have learned over the years, that taking action against your employer, when it comes to a media company, and in particular a commercial television network, can spell the end of your career. And let's hope that's not the case for Emi, because I think she has a very promising career and I was hoping to see her return after her maternity leap,
which she's currently on after having her baby son last year. Now, she's worked at Line for fifteen years and we don't know the details of this case that's been filed in the federal core, but we do know that she has filed a human rights sex discrimination case against Nine. As you said, we don't know whether that's to do and there's no suggestion that's to do with Darren Wick, despite him being accused of sexual harassment. We don't know by
who or by sources. I know you've spoken to some, but it is it speaks to the culture that we've been learning about at nine. And I previously worked at nine, including working alongside Airly when I did shifts for nine News, I was mostly at a current affair. And it's disturbing because nine did recently have external investigative workplace investigators look into the culture there and it found that more than half fifty seven percent of staff working in the broadcast
division had experienced some form of discrimination, harassment, bullying. So it seems to be another example of that. I know of at least one other former nine employee who is talking to lawyers currently and is planning an action as well.
Well.
Let's hope, as you say, that Elliewosh continues to have a long career head of her.
She is an excellent journalist and a wonderful person.
Caroline Markers, thank you very much and congrats again and you're reporting today now, don't go anywhere. Victoria has been ranked last by the Business Opportunity. What this means for their souring economy plus one economist has done the numbers and shown that labor's cash slash is hurting the budget bottom line. Chris Richardson would join me next.
Welcome back.
Well, I'm pleased to say I'm joined now by leading economist Chris Richardson. Chris, great to see you, as always, Thank you very much for your time. Now, you've written a fascinating piece in the fin Review where you lay out how the tax PI, if you like, has changed in Australia, the point that families are getting less and the tax man is getting more.
Can you explain this to us?
Yeah, Budgets move all the time, and we tend to assume they move because politicians have made decisions. The main thing, however, that shifts them around, is that everything else and three big things, migration, inflation, have all had a big impact. Inflation in particular does exactly what you just mentioned. It takes money from families and it gives it to governments. Migration means there's more people we can tax, so that
gives extra money to the federal government. And war pushed up the price of a bunch of things that Australia sells to the world, including coal, and again that.
Gave more money to the budget.
That's basically why you have seen a budget in surplus. That combination of war, migration and inflation delivering the government a lot more dollars than Treasury had expected.
Look, we've seen data today that the government blew that government spending blew out to one hundred and ninety five billion in the September quarter on the back of rebates, handouts and pay hikes.
How problematic is this spending pattern.
Well, there has.
Been a big shift in recent years, starting with the feeds increasingly as you know, with the states, towards spending more. And that's a change in the national social compact. That's what governments are. You know, we tax workers, we tax businesses. We spend that on the young and the old and the sick and the poor, and.
That combination has changed in recent years. Something's in particular much more expensive. The ndies is a good example.
But we also as a nation promised ourselves a variety of things in things like age care that we hadn't been properly funding under governments of all stripes.
That combination increasingly catching up with us.
We've seen analysis in recent or in the past week really about how household disposable income is declining rapidly in Australia. We're not comparing favorably with other countries around the world.
Why is this the case.
It's been a bigger hit here.
Our fight against inflation, deliberately has been slower than you've seen elsewhere in the world. The intent has been to make sure we keep unemployment as low as we can as we fight our inflation. But a slow fight against inflation is an expensive one, you know. It means wages further behind prices. Again, inflation helps governments at the cost of families. It keeps infrastrates higher for longer.
We now have a lot of debt.
That combination means we've got a pretty big hit to living standards here in Australia.
Data out tomorrow should start to show the beginnings of a rebound.
The tax cut and the energy rebates come with a variety of effects, but they do help our standard of living and you'll see that in tomorrow's numbers.
Chris, in your view, is the alban Easy government doing enough to fight inflation?
No, I don't think so, And to be fair, that fight is and mostly should be with the Reserve Bank.
But the International Monetary Fund says.
If governments want to help their central banks fight inflation, then governments need to cut spending and raise taxes.
Or in other words, if inflation is.
A problem of too much money chasing too little stuff, governments can help by taking money out of the system instead.
In most governments around the world.
But particularly here in Australia, are doing the opposite your big text cuts, big increases in spending, Dadison helping the fight for the Reserve Bank.
Yeah, and we're probably going to see even more pre election spending as we get closer to the campaign and Albaneze's falling in the polls, he's going to feel the need to buy back votes. Chris Richardson, appreciate your time, Thank you so much, and that's it from me. I'll see you tomorrow night at eight o'clock. Thanks for watching. And here's Paul Murray