Live on Sky News. This is Sharry Good Evening. Well, wasn't that incredible?
Well done to Chang Lay and the entire Sky News team behind the documentary. What resonates with me the most is the unfathomable agony of the years when Chang Lay didn't know if she'd ever see her children again or ever be set free, the psychological torment she went through,
the relentless nothingness. And it's really hard to stomach that former Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews went to China during that period, as you just saw, and failed to raise Lay's case despite being given briefing notes by defact on how to raise and handle it.
And this infuriates Lay two.
I am pretty beyond anger, but that does make me angry, but I think perhaps mister Andrews was more worried about his business opportunities after politics.
It's really unforgivable and we can see now that sheng Lei was a high profile casualty of the Communist party system that toys with human lives as leverage. Beijing was unhappy with the Australian government's call for an inquiry into the origins of COVID nineteen, a call by the way, that was absolutely the right thing to do, and Lay.
Was one of the victims. She was a human pawn, as she acknowledges.
But she's not the only one who is still being held captive by the CCP. Doctor Yang heng Jhun is a Chinese born Australian writer and pro democracy advocate, first arrested in twenty nineteen under spurious accusations of espionage. He's a father of two young children, and in a far cry from open justice, he's been dealing with secretive trials for five long years and last year he received the death sentence with a two year reprieve, and so the
threat of execution for him looms now. The Albenese government should be doing everything it can to secure his release, but I am worried that the Prime Minister is more concerned about preserving his personal relationship with China than standing up for Yang in the strongest possible terms. And like Cheng Lei, Yang should return to the loving arms of his wife and.
Children to our country.
We need to urge Albenzi to act before it's too late. It's against this backdrop of a more assertive China that British Prime Minister Kiir Stamer announced bold military plans to bring the UK to what he described as war fighting readiness. He's building twelve new attack submarines, investing billions in weapons and expanding the nuclear powered submarine fleet.
Here is Keir Starmer today.
Things have changed in the world of today the frontline if you like this here, the threat we now face is more serious, more immediate and more unpredictable than at any time since the Cold War.
Now.
Interestingly, a UK defense expert, Malcolm Charmers, said that Britain's commitment to build more submarines was not a hedge against total US disengagement, but it can provide some assurance against a scenario in which the US is no longer prepared to export complete submarines to Australia. Now, this is an important British investment and it's bizarre our Prime Minister isn't taking the attitude during this volatile period in global politics.
And it comes as new details now emerge of the stunning Ukrainian operation on Russia that hit forty one aircraft.
It's like something out of a spy movie.
The top secret operation code named Spiderweb, was said to be eighteen months in the making. Ukraine smuggled drones in decoy trucks driven some three four hundred kilometers through Russia by unsuspecting Russians who had no idea what they were transporting, and the drones were then remotely detonated. General Jack Keane said it was a remarkable operation that reminds him of the Israeli exploding pages targeting Hesbelah.
The operation is brilliant because the Ukrainians contracted Russian drivers, they drove the trucks, no Ukrainians involved. They contract did Russian containers. They assembled those Russian containers inside of Russia. We can't verify that they were using actually Russian component parts to do that assembly, and there were Russian trucks involved in all of that. There were no Ukrainians involved in the operation on the ground once the trucks left the area where they were assembled.
This was a brilliantly executed ambush and the actual hit was of cost successful, but the psychological impact as well, we'll linger far longer. There'll be suspicion over every Russian truck, and enemy military resources will be diverted to examining both drivers and their cargo. But it's also showcased just how effective the use of drones can be. It's a revolution
in warfare. As The New York Post writer Rich Lowry pointed out, badly outmanned an outgunn Kun just reached far inside its adversaries territory to destroy or damage hugely expensive, nuclear capable strategic aircraft with low cost drones basically indistinguishable from ones available on Amazon. There's also concern now about how our enemies could be planning to use low cost drone technology in the future, and this is a lesson
for all of us. Lowry goes on to say that whoever takes the technological leap ahead in war fighting capability often prevails, while the laggard is left to contemplate his castle reduced to rubble or his fleet sent to the bottom of the ocean. We've seen it now with both Israel and Ukraine. Innovation in warfare and the element of surprise on unsuspecting targets can have astonishing and deeply impressive results.
But we need to keep pace with technology. Albanezi can't rest on Scott Morrison's laurels and wait for submarines to turn up in some fifteen years time, and as for.
Russia and Ukraine.
With the war raging on, Trump's peace talks are looking weaker and more doomed to fail each passing day.
This strike was.
Zelenski's sending a message to the world that he's not giving up and he's in this to win. Well, for more on that topic and the other big stories of the day, let's bring in now former Speaker of the House bron and Bishop and the Daily Telegraph journalist James willis great to see you both, I mean Bron when it seems Australia isn't keeping pace with the technology advancements in defense, and it seems from the comments we've heard from Albanzi this week that is not too concerned about it either.
Absolutely, he has no will to make us able to look after ourselves, none at all. He's far more interested in closing up to the Communist Party of China and distancing himself from the United States, our traditional allies. So there is no determination in this government at all to focus on the defense of the nation, which is a
primary responsible responsibility of any government. But we've seen it in other Labor Party governments, not under Beasley, who was a fierce defense minister, but that feeling that will just doesn't exist under this man. He has absolutely no desire to take on the Chinese threat at all, pushes it away is if it doesn't exist at all, and at the same time alienates our traditional allies. What about that
comment about Stammer and the United Kingdom today. Oh, yes, he's in another place, he's over there.
I beg your pardon.
The fact of the matter, we're doing the same problems.
Absolutely, of course it is in our region.
And this is what is most perplexing James, because we hear from the Prime Minister constantly Richard Miles two, that we are in this very challenging strategic environment. But the investment, and again it's not just the size of the investment, but it's where the money is going towards. It just doesn't match their own ratory.
Look, I think the Prime Minister deserves a fair bit to blame here, but I also think we need to blame large parts of the Defense Department who are far too top heavy, have spent a lot of money on bureaucracy and outsourcing. And let's face it, when we look at frigates, when we look at other frontline military programs, the budget's been blown out. We always get promised these projects ten to fifteen years down the track, and we sort of forget about them and wonder if they ever
get delivered. There's been a lot of experts that say we need to parry there and start looking at some available equipment right now. But the other issue we've got is that the military's five thousand soldiers short of its operational capacity. People don't want to sign up. I think that's a combination of young people today. I mean, you just talked about Ukraine. When the war broke out, everyone that was of age was sent to the front line,
that was fit and ready to fight. But the other issues, obviously how we've treated our soldiers when they've come home, with the Breton Report and smearing soldiers unfairly with allegations of war crimes.
We've spoken about this a lot, absolutely, and adds to the treatment of the likes of Heston Russell.
Yeah, totally.
And look, I think to be honest, so I still think to this day Ben Robert Smith is part of that as well. If war is breaking out, I would be happy to hide behind someone like Ben Robert Smith. And I know that's an unpopular take, but I think anyone that is brave enough to go to the other side of the world to fight an enemy that does not play by the rules and can do that on six tours, I have some form of admiration for and I will to this day.
The other issue is, and we.
Have a lot to be grateful for our soldiers, absolutely, and then you know thousands have sadly taken their own lives when they've come home because they've been mistreated by this disgraceful But also a senior member of the Air Force told me recently that the next wave of soldiers and military personnel, they need the maths, wiz whizzes, people that are smart at physics, that can fly these drones and fight from miles away from the actual war zone.
So we need to parry there very quickly because, as you say, the rest of the world is doing this exactly.
And the reason I spoke about that comment from the UK expert is, you know, the reality is we do have to be able to stand in our own two feet to a certain extent, we can't just rely on the fact that the United States will always be that we hope they will.
In ninety five percent they will, but we've got a contribute as well.
Now, the Citney Morning Herald had this report today where they described the current parliamentary sitting calendar as lazy. The Parliament will sit for fewer days this year than any other in the past two decades. And yeah we've got the Prime Minister again talking about his wedding, So his parning his wedding today, but he can't seem to plan in parliamentary sitting days now.
Independent Senator David.
Pocock slammed the fact Parliament won't even sit now until late July.
I think Australians want us to be focusing on the big issues and there's more that we can and should be doing as a parliament when it comes to things like housing, costs of living, and none of that's going to happen until the.
End of July.
The Prime Minister clearly has other things on his mind.
The big question I've saved to a last now that the election's out of the way, Have you and Jody said a wedding date.
No, we haven't, Mark.
We have now had an opportunity to discuss and we have a few options between now and the end of the year.
I mean, Bromwin, you know the Australian people have just dealt with months of campaigning. Can't we expect our politicians to get back to work instead of this lazy calendar.
Yes, but there are perhaps three points to make. One, he certainly doesn't want to deal with the old Senate. He wants him to deal with the new Senate. Secondly, he wants to bask I think in the life where he can flit around and visit different places to say, look, I'm doing a great job here for you and you. And certainly, of course there's the winning, which will no doubt be part of his spectacular programming for all of us to enjoy it one way or another. So but
there's a bright side, what is it left? Sitting? Those means less bad legislation, yes, and that could be a plus.
And of course it also means there's a lot of committee work that will go on.
I'm saying not that I'm not that fuss fight.
I think they're that far in front labor at the moment that like, I mean, what what sort of scrupy to the opposition.
It's about them going to work. I mean the Herald did the calculations. It's it's like they each earned five five hundred dollars a day.
I mean, I get that, but I also think that any good MP would need to be in their electoral office and serving their own community a fair bit of time as well. I think it's way too short and not sitting into Maybe you.
Should do a daily telling investigation where you turn up to the labor and piece of us they are.
I can tell you from personal experience the work you do in the electorate that takes a lot of time, and you're.
In that office not just nine to five, but longer house.
I spoke last night at length about the attack in Colorado when there was just a peaceful rally in.
Support of the hostages.
Well, now it's been confirmed that Mohammed Solomon is in America illegally from Egypt. His visa from the Biden administration had expired. I mean, James, this highlights the dangers of a loose border system where you have someone who didn't have proper paperwork to be in the country.
And Sharry, America is dealing with a fair hangover from what was shocking border control from Joe Biden and the Democrats from every angle, and I think it was the number one reason that Donald Trump won back office sitting on obviously fought hard on that. But we are seeing this not just in America. We're seeing this in parts of Europe, and we're sadly in Australia. I mean, this has been the biggest argument against large scale immigration is the impact that it has on the fabric of society.
We have a beautiful.
Country, but if people are escaping the horrors of other parts in the world, they need to be leaving those things at the door. And sadly that doesn't always happen.
Bro When do you think that perhaps hasn't been enough focus on the values.
It's not so much where people.
Come from, but whether they hold our democratic values.
Yes, I think that's vicy important and should be considered when we think about who can come into the country. But more importantly what's happening is is that this anti semitism is becoming acceptable to a degree. It is being tolerated in societies in America here where universities seem to
be tolerating it. Now, once you've got that occurring, you get these outbreaks of these sorts of people who came out it with this absolute violence because they think there's some backing for me and the cause that he says he's supporting. Always remember that NASA invited XSS people from Germany, Nazi Germany after the war to come to Cairo to help him fight against the establishment of the Jewish state.
So it's been a long long time festering and it has to be strongly refuted at every single time you can think about it and remember that when you look at the universities that allow these things to occur, remember that one of the first things when Hitler won office in nineteen thirty three was to send his instrument straight to the universities to say this is the policy, no Jewish professors or lecturers allowed, and get rid of the.
Student brainwashing of the young. Absolutely. I think there's also as I spoke.
About last night, and I'm going to all of it again, but serious concerns now about how this free Palestine move meant is excusing and justifying violence and murder against Jews, and it's just got to stop now. The Prime Minister has suggested he's open to working with a coalition to pass Labour's super tax.
Have a look if the signal from the coalition is across the board. I'm not talking specifically here that they will be more constructive and not just be part of a coalition with the Greens Party, then that would be.
Welcome and it comes after Deputy Liberal Leader Ted O'Brien had this to say on My show last night. Wouldn't the coalition supporting the supertax indicate that the coalition does support higher taxes and wasn't this one of the issues that the coalition had during the election campaign.
Well, look, if Labor did walk away from the components of its current measure, Shari, it would depend on what they put on the table for discussion.
So James, I mean clearly the coalition position is that the unrealized capital gains, the tax on unrealized capital gains is the most egregious. But there would be a lot of pushback from coalition support. Is if they do end up supporting the super attacks.
Well, I would say it's against liberal values to be supporting anything close to this and for someone to work their entire life and decide, you know, if they're halfway through their working life to have decided to invest heavily in super like my mum and dad did. All their money is in superannuation to allow any changes to that, like we all know, it's the beginning of what could be two point five million dollars or two million dollars or then suddenly it's on, you know, the next step.
And so my take on last night is I think Ted O'Brien's got some work to do in his new role, and I think he was a pretty effective Energy Minister. But in regards to that Treasury step up, they've got to get this right. And I don't think and I'm sure I hope Browin would agree. I don't think the Liberal Party should be going anywhere near supporting them.
Well, what do you think from it?
I agree with you, James. I mean the fundamental error that was made right at the beginning of the campaign is when the Liberal Party said that they were going to oppose the tax cuts the coalition, and the Liberal Party in particular is always the party of lower taxes, So this is going that same route in my view,
and I don't think they should. I've said that, yes, split the discussion on the proposal by the mister Chalmers into the tax on the over three million dollar balances, and the pernicious proposal took place a tax on realized capital gains but that does not mean you support one
if you eliminate the other. The important thing here is, and I went around campaigning on this issue during the campaign when I was invited to go and do so, and I was absolutely livid that it wasn't front and center of the whole campaign because it was.
That's exactly the.
Same sort of measure that was put up in twenty nineteen when we argued against the pernicious attitude on frankin credits and so on.
Negative hearing that, well, a negative.
Here just the very principle of taxing unrealized capita.
It is off the page.
Yah, just out of time, and I just quickly want to get you, James about New Southewest Premier Chris Min's warnings today about the tobacco tax and he's concerned that it's boosting the black market.
Yeah. Well, if the Treasury was fired income about money and they want to start looking at other avenues like superannuation, they need to look at the tobacco excise. In twenty nineteen, twenty twenty, it was worth sixteen billion.
Dollars, a record. They have now put it up.
Incrementally every year since they're this year it will be worth seven billion dollars, so half of what it was in twenty nineteen twenty twenty. In the last five years, the number of tobacconists in New South Wales has grown by five thousand from fifteen thousand to twenty thousand. We discovered today and Chris Mins is electric of Cogra, there are six tobacconists within four hundred meters of the front door. In Alberanese's electorate. There are three hundred tobacconists orree hundred
registered businesses that can sell tobacco. There's been a shocking compliance issue, but we need a full scale and I don't want to blame police, but we need police involved here door to door. And also the government needs to lower the excise because we're missing out on this money by pricing people out of the market.
All right, James Willis, b'm a bishop. Great to see, Thank you, thank you.
Coming up after the break, the latest details in the case that's captivated.
Our nation, the death Cap Mushroom trial.
What exactly has Aaron Patterson admitted in the witness box today we'll get the details with Allie Dudley next. Well, let's turn to the court case that's taken the nation by storm. Accused killer Aaron Patterson returned to the witness box today to give evidence. She's of course charged with the murder of her parents in law, Don and Gail Patterson, and Gail's sister Heather Wilkinson. She's also charged with the attempted murder of Heather's husband, Ian Wilkinson, who miraculously survived.
With the attention on this case, it was a packed courtroom today, even cues outside onlookers desperate to secure a seat, and the evidence was gripping. The Australian's I Legal Affairs correspondent Ellie Dudley was there and she joins me now from molwell In Regional Victoria. Ellie, great to see you. So what were the main takeaways from Erin's evidence today?
Good to see you, Sherry.
Yeah.
As you mentioned, this was the second day of evidence from Aaron Patterson. She was called by her defense counsel Colin Mandy yesterday.
And she was asked a variety of things.
She was asked about her relationships with her alleged victims. She was asked about her relationships with a bunch of online friends that she befriended through true crime Facebook groups and she was asked about mushrooms, which of course go to the center the heart of this case.
So in her evidence she admitted that she did indeed forage and eat mushrooms, and she even accepted that the meal she served contained death cat mushrooms.
So what does this mean for the trial?
So this is the first time that we've heard from Aaron Patterson. We've heard her admit that she foraged for mushrooms. Earlier in the trial, we heard in her police interview that she told police that she had never foraged for mushrooms. But today the evidence that she gave was that she gained an interest in mushrooms during the COVID lockdowns. She would go to the gardens, the local gardens with her
kids and she looked at mushrooms. She eventually started finding mushrooms on her property and then after learning a bit more about them and educating herself about mushrooms, she started cooking them in a little bit of butter, eating them and feeding them to her children. So quite consequential evidence for this case that has mushrooms. So at the center of it. Aaron Patterson has of course pleaded not guilty too deliberately feeding deaf cat mushrooms to her lunch guests.
But today she did accept that deaf cat mushrooms were in the beef wellington.
That she served.
She also told the jury that she had body image issues and spoke about how she tried every diet under the sun, and she went to the extreme of barely eating and then binging. Ellie, what was the point of this revelation to the case? Why speak about this?
We're not quite sure exactly what the point of this evidence is yet sharing, but she did get quite she got a bit emotional, and she spoke as she spoke about these body image issues that she had. She spoke about her mother weighing her as a child. She spoke about these private, unhealthy eating habits that she had, that she would binge and then bring up the food that
she had binged. She said that it would be while her husband was a worker, her children were at school, and she said that she no one ever knew about it until now when obviously everybody knows about it.
Interesting evidence, and of course her evidence will continue tomorrow.
Yes, it will continue tomorrow, So she'll continue giving her evidence in chief and then at some point the prosecution will cross examine her.
All right, Well, Ellie Dudley, you're reporting in the Australian is gripping. You've got one of the rare seats in the courtroom given to the media, so will continue reading your reporting. Thanks so much for joining me, and that's all we've got time for today. And now make sure you're watching the show tomorrow at eight o'clock. I can't say who, but I've got a big interview with someone in the
Trump administration, So tune in eight o'clock tomorrow night. But right now, stay tuned because Paul Murray is up next.