Why on Sky News This is Sharry.
Good Evening. Welcome to the show.
Well, the decision to raise the terror threat level is a move the Albanese government and security agencies should have made months ago. Albinizi tried to shift the blame for this, saying it was a global trend while insisting that social cohesion in Australia is something.
He wants to protect.
Yet his own government has done the precise opposite, importing more hatred from the front line of Gaza while fueling violence with their anti Israel. Ratrick Albanezi today spoke about social cohesion.
Our words and our actions matter. A social cohesion cannot be taken for granted. It must be nourished and it must be cherished as a national lessid.
Well is he nourishing as he says social cohesion when he brought in more than one one hundred people from Gaza, people who may be indoctrinated to hate Westerners and Jews from the moment of birth, people who don't remotely share our values of tolerance, equality and free speech, and people who largely support her mus Hermus, a terror organization that slaughters babies, children and pregnant women, and celebrates this murder.
Arbanez he needs to take a hard look at his own overaching strategy, because today he claimed to care about the safety of Australians.
My government's first priority is the safety and security of Australians.
But if that were the case, if it was genuinely worried about our safety, then how could he possibly bring to our safe country people who could be affiliated with Hermas, who could pose a threat to our national security.
Earlier this year.
I exposed at least one man who came here with a visa granted by the Albanesi government who had liked numerous posts supporting the terror attacks of October seven. And our revelation tonight that the Albanesi government has granted a twenty one year old her Must sympathizer a visa calls into question the adequacy of their security checks, and their security screening is far from adequate. As we've spoken about here numerous times, some of these visas were granted in as little as one hour.
Some individuals claim that visit a visa forr relatives were approved within one hour. It is possible, I'm sure that how could you possibly do all the necessary security and other checks in just an hour from an applicant. I mean that's lightning speed approval.
When we apply that, that vast run to be to consideration of visit divisions. So if you look globally, a very large number of our visit divisess would be done inside of our The assessment is essentially looking at all the information we hold and applying that in a number of ways to shut the application in.
Front of our system and shadow Home Affairs Minister James Patterson, who was doing that questioning there. He's going to be on my show tonight to react to the news that our terror threat level is now probable well today, as your boss Mike Burgess said, politically motivated violence is part of the reason for the increased threat.
You've heard me say many times that espionage and foreign interference are our principal security concerns. ASIOS Intelligence suggests that is no longer accurate. While the threats to our way of life remain elevated, we are seeing an increase in extremism. More Australians are being radicalized and radicalized more quickly. More Australians are in brace, seeing a more diverse range of extreme ideologies and more Australians are willing to use violence to advance their cause.
And Mike Burgess the ASIOBOSS, spoke about the normalization of inflammatory protests.
Politically motivated violence encompasses terrorism, but is broader than that. It covers any violent act or any violent threat intended or likely to achieve a political objective. This includes violent protest right or an attack on a politician or our democratic institutions. This trend increased during COVID, gained further momentum after the terroist attacks in Israel, and accelerated during Israel's military response.
Well, politically motivated violence escalated on October eighth, as he just said, and that's when they should have raised the terror threat level. But finally, belatedly, the Prime Minister raised it today in an announcement he didn't seem to want to make, while continuing to bring in more Palestinians who
may have extreme ideologies from the front line in Gaza. Now, a terror threat level of probable means that ASIO believes there is a greater than fifty percent chance of a terror attack or its planning occurring in the next twelve months, and Burger said Gaza was a significant driver of the terror threat level, and when he was asked by a journalist who were the targets, he indicated it could be either the Jewish Islamic communities.
Have a look, Gaza is not the cause of this rising, but actually I acknowledged yes, it's a significant driver. It's driven more emotion and heat into society. In terms of where this is going, it's across the board. Yes, there's plenty of anti Semitism, but there's plenty of Islamophobia at the same time.
That is a serious erosion in social cohesion here in Australia on ours. We know this has been happening, but the Prime Minister tried to shift the blame away from his own government for this rise in violence that we're seeing.
He just claimed it was part of a global trend.
There are many things driving this global trend towards violence. Governments around the world are concerned about youth radicalization, online radicalization and the rise of new mixed ideologies.
But we've spoken on many occasions about how Albin Easy and his ministers are in fact fueling anti Israel's sentiment by wrongly indicating that Israel hasn't been acting in accordance with humanitarian law. The criticism of Israel, which is trying to eliminate terrorists, has been over the top from the Albanezy government and this is only inflamed the anti Semitism
that we've seen. And on the weekend, Ed sh Usick, one of Albanesi's team, wouldn't even say that the hate preachers are spreading anti Semitism, The Sunday Telegraph reported, when pressed about the rise of anti Semitic hate speech in Australia amid the ongoing overseas amid the ongoing war overseas, Husick downplays the influence of radical Islamic preachers. Well, right now, these are the hate preachers that ed Husick is downplaying, the invading Jews.
We say, but along the day you will be kicked up on Palistini is coming.
Ed Husick could have easily chosen to strongly condemn the hate preachers in that interview because they did celebrate the mass slaughter of October seven at a time when the
terror threat level is rising. The Albanese government is in my view, only making the threat to Australians worse by refusing to shut down the extremists and by bringing in straight from the war zone, people who hate everything we stand for, especially when the security checks are far from adequate, to make sure that those granted visas don't support extremist
views and won't take part in violence. Now, back in November, the Prime Minister insisted the Palestinians they were flying into Australia would be here temporarily, just visitor visas.
Please, are not permanent vises. These are temporary visas. There are the same security checks that are in place. Four people, four Australians that have been in place this regime for a long period of time.
Well you heard it there, just temporary, not permanent.
But then yesterday Tony Burke, the you Immigration Minister, had a different message. He said that there were no plans to send the Palestinians back to Gaza.
Obviously, in all of this, we're in a situation, as is every country in the world where people have fled, where no country in the world is sending people back to Gaza at the moment for obvious reasons. So we have to work through what is the appropriate visa to be able to consider for these individuals. No country in the world would send people back to Gaza at the moment.
No country in the world would do that, and so we have to work through what happens as the visas that people are currently on expires.
No less than the Prime Minister assured Australians this was just temporary, and now Burke's saying effectively, he's going to look at other visa types. This was never temporary, the Prime Minister light and all of this at a time when the terror threat level is rising and some Australians are feeling extremely unsafe. Security experts, by the way, are
also worried about these new visas. Here was Michael Shubridge, the Director of Strategic Analysis Australia, on with my colleague Peter Kredlin earlier.
It's an unfortunate fact that polls of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank say over fifty percent of them support armed struggle and around forty percent of them are Hammas supporters. Now, anyone who supports armed struggle and or Hamas is not the kind of person we want in our community, stoking more anger and division.
That's the problem.
If there was a more cautious approach, with more rigorous security checks, there might be more confidence in the Albanezy government. But they're being far from cautious. They're rushing the visa process despite the very real, very tangible risks. What will our easy say if God forbid, there's an attack by someone they've brought in from the war zone, someone who
doesn't share our Australian values. Well, they're not going to apologize, just like the government didn't apologize when a Perth grandmother was bashed by a released detainee.
They'll say they.
Can't comment because it's before the courts, and they'll accuse anyone who criticizes them of politicizing terror. But when social cohesion is at tipping point, when violence is bubbling over, the Albanezy government needs to take a far more vigilant approach to our security, and if they refuse to do so, the intelligence agencies should intervene before this government makes a fatal error and grants a permanent visa to a violent harmas supporter. Also coming up on the show tonight, spooked
investors have triggered a major market crash. Over one hundred sixty billion wiped off the ASX in two days, and now there are rising fears of a US recession, which are seen global panic selling and violent social unrest is sweeping across the United Kingdom, with right wing rioters taking to the streets of immigration and an Ossie Bronze medallist shares her story on how she drew strength from her
grandparents who are Holocaust survivors. All of that coming up, but first now let's bring in tonight's panel, Sky News hosts Steve Price and Sky News contributor Joe Hildebrand.
Welcome to you both now.
Steve Albanezi has been accused by many people the Coalition security experts of fueling social unrest in his government's rhetoric, their continual anti Israel rhetoric. People think it must be true, and then they protest on the streets, so surely there's no reason for surprise when finally the terror threat level has to rise.
No, not at all. And look when you see Mike Burgess today say that it's not the people he knows about, but the ones he doesn't know about that worry him the most. But isn't it a delicious irony that the Prime Minister, while standing there next to the head of ASIO talking about how division is being whipped along by the issue out of the Middle East, the Prime Minister can't even go to his own office in his own electric because it's being blockaded still, as I believe, by
pro Palestinian protesters. I mean, surely, if we're going to get serious about this issue, and we've now got this threat level that's been raised by one not surely, if we're going to get serious about it, one of the things we've got to start doing is stop these protests where you've got protesters marching through the streets of our capitals every weekend wearing pro hamas, badgers and kefirs and all sorts of paraphernalia. Let's stop that for a start.
Let's get all the people out of the front of those offices, out of the way and get serious about it. But the problem is you've got to the alb An Easy, Tony Berg and Ed Husick, who all holds seats where they want to not upset the voters in those seats who are pro Palestine.
But it's more important than politics.
And the Prime Minister today in that press conference Joe he indicated that some politicians even need security at the moment.
Yeah. Absolutely. I think the PM has actually been very non inflammatory and pretty reasonable in this I know he hasn't been as outspoken in support of Israel as a lot of people would like him to be, and that's a fair cop. But again, he's called out those protesters who are out front of his office and have stopped him and his workers from being able to use that electrics office.
For months now.
He's called out people who have used from the River to the Sea chant and claimed that you know, that was all fine and no problem. He said that's inappropriate. He said, that's basically supporting genocide. And he's appointed a commissioner to investigate anti Semitism. That was the first point of order.
I know.
Again he didn't do it as soon as a lot of people wanted him to, but he did it before he appointed the other commissioner for Social Cohesion or is A or whatever, and that I think cente clear signal. I think the real problem here is that terrorists don't think they're terrorists, right. Terrorists think they are doing the
right thing and they are pursuing a higher cause. And I'm just happened to be listening to a series on the Suffragettes and there's a big debate among historians at the moment whether or not they should be described as terrorists. Obviously not on the same scale as Hamas or Hezbola or anything we've seen here. But the issue is that they use a fig leaf of legitimacy to justify their horrendous.
Acturely, the burning of the Bras is nothing like the slaughter of sulfuggested.
More than burn bras, they bombed buildings and set fire to buildings, And again there's a very live debate and a lot of people are saying these are self described terrorists.
The point is that if you give a if you give legitimacy, if you give support to these grievances and say yes, it's worth you know, vandalizing you know, war memorials, that it's worth vandalizing electrots or smashing windows, that it's worth blockading people and keeping them out of their place of work for months and months and months on end, you are basically giving comfort to terrorists. You're giving comfort to the people say well, that's okay the window. Is
it okay for me to bash a cop? And if it's okay for me to bash.
That's exactly Joe, that's exactly what the Prime Minister hasn't done.
That out people are getting left to have done.
But it barely called it happen word law enforcement. Steve Christ go ahead.
No, of course he hasn't. And Joe talks about how the Prime Minister's spoken a lot of words, that's all he has done. Where is the action to stop this thing happening, these things happening on the streets. Joe, I mean, it's all good in will to say, well, he said the right thing. He's done nothing nothing, nothing either.
A legal gray area if you just you know, sending in the cops to just drag people off public football.
They were happy during the COVID pandemic hate there are most people do think that was outrageous. But there are race hate laws and they haven't been used and they
should be used. Let's move on now because in another area where the Alberanzi government is looking weak, another national security area, we learn today in the Australian that in the past thirteen months, sixty six criminals escaped being deported thanks to Direction ninety nine, and among the list of dangerous offenders were twelve people convicted of assault, seven of drug offenses, seven with domestic violence offenses, under five people with child sex offenses and less than five rape and
sexual offenders.
So Steve, you know, obviously.
Direction ninety nine isn't in effect anymore, but shouldn't the new Immigration Minister Tony Burke review these decisions to allow these people to stay in our country because it does not make Australia safe.
Well, mister Burke replaced Andrew Giles, so we would have thought that when you put a new minister in you get a different way of doing things. So Tony Burke's got a very clear challenge here. It's pretty simple as sixty six people who, when you read what they've been doing, should not be in the country. So mister Burke needs to show that he's the tough guy, not someone who's just been put in there to calm down the backbench
of the Labor Party. So come on, Tony, get these sixty six and get him out of the country.
I think most people would agree with you.
I'm pretty sure you will.
Let's have a look at the Macarati Commission. The new Minister for Indigenous Australia is now in damage control after Albanezy seemingly backed away from a Macarati commission over the weekend.
Here he was.
What we're proposed is Macaradam just being the idea of coming together, so.
It's talking to we're.
Engaging well, Malandari McCarthy is now trying to convince the public that Labor isn't going to and another election from as here she was.
I can certainly say, as a new Minister for Indigenous Australians that that commitment we made, and the Prime Minister repeated that in his speech at the forum in Gama, is one that I will certainly pursue.
Joe, do you think the Prime Minister's just lost interest in this area after the voicemail?
No?
In fact, I think what he's done is realize that these kind of sort of bold, kind of slightly woolly, because again we've seen people all taking different meanings from what the Prime Minister actually did or didn't say, and deciding to project their own versions of it onto it. He's realized that this stuff is just not going to get anywhere. That it has to be practical, it has
to be grassroots, it has to be economic support. That's why what he's done is massive packages in education and housing in the NT that were announced recently and again his announcement in Gaza Gaza, Gama that this is going to require that The biggest thing you can do to help indigenous communities is economic development. Big projects up, get them jobs. Like everybody else wants jobs, why shouldn't they as well, Why shouldn't they get them and get them
into society, contributing economically and benefiting economically. And that's what he's going.
To do, Steve.
I love you like a brother, Joe. But on election night the Prime Minister stood up there and said, I will introduce I support the Uluru Statement from the heart, and I will implement it in full. There was no gray area, he said in full. So what he's done now is he's lost the voice referendum and he's just worked out this is all too hard, and so what he's doing is sitting back and let the state governments
do the heavy lifting. Victoria's already well down a road on treaty and Macarata, all the other state governments, the labor state governments are going to follow suit. So Albo as Shari's just quite rightly pointed out, thought, oh well, I've got too much other stuff to do. I'll leave it up to someone else.
It reminds me of but it reminds me of Kevin right when he couldn't get a global deal on climate change, and he just he just threw it away, lost interest in it, didn't want.
To And you get with the PM knows that. I can absolutely assure the PM certainly does not believe that he has broken a promise. He does not believe he committed specifically to those things. And I know very well that the speech on election night that Steve's talking about, it's still ringing in my ears. He believes he.
Became in such a shock to everybody.
It wasn't spot to everybody, but clearly he has been He has had his fingers burned by the voice. He realized it's practical action that's going to make difference. But also talking about all this kind of symbolic or historical stuff in the middle of a cost of living crisis is political suicide. And the PM is no fool. He knows that all he needs to focus on right now is cost of living, cost of living, and then if there's time cost of living.
Yeah, all right, Joe hild Around Steve Price. Great to see you both.
Thanks guys, see you next Monday.
Now we've been talking about the major story today that Australia's terror threat level is now it probable.
So let's for more analysis.
Let's bring in Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Patterson.
James, great to see you. Look, do you agree that this should have happened months ago?
Now?
Show the opposition strongly supports ASIO and the Director General Mike Burgess, and I'm sure they went through a very careful and deliberate process, going through all their intelligence feeds and their structured analytical process to reach this conclusion. But I also think it's been self evident in our community for months now, at least since the seventh October, that we have faced increased level of the threat of terrorism.
I mean, all you have to do is notice that there've been half a dozen teenagers in Western Sydney charged with offenses that police allege are motivated by terrorism, and courts will ultimately decide the validity of those charges. But that's a pretty strong data point that suggests we're living
in an elevated threat environment. But you can also look at the massive increases in anti Semitism, or frankly, the people who've been publicly displaying the symbols of terrorist organizations on the streets of Melbourne and Sydney and other cities proudly in contravention of federal Hate City Will legislation.
And yet the laws are just not being used.
The Prime Minister spoke today about social cohesion and how we need to nourish it his words, would you say he's nourishing social cohesion by bringing into Australia people from a war zone who've been indoctrinated to hate Westerners without adequate security checks.
I think the Prime Minister has failed to uphold social cohesion for the last nine months. At every opportunity. He's failed to adequately condemn the instances of anti Semitism that we've seen in our community. He's failed to ensure that the law is enforced to stop people doing it, and he's playing with fire with issues like this when he brings people into our country from an area which is a war zone, which is controlled by a terrorist organization
without adequate vetting or checks. We don't understand how it is possible in twenty four hours on average, but in some instans just one hour to do an identity check, let alone a security check on someone and to now contemplate extending their stay in Australia on a more permanent basis is in total contravention to the original visas they're granted, which are temporary visitor visas, and so really it is up to the new Immigration Minister, Tony Burke to demonstrate
why this will not in any way threaten Australia's safety, security or social cohesion.
As you just said there, Tony Burke just yesterday in an interview with Andrew Colonel said he was.
Looking at other visa types.
This is despite the fact that the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister said.
These were just going to be visitor visas.
Do you think there's reason for Tony Burke to be extremely cautious or are you concerned that he's acting out of purely political reasons that might benefit him in his own electric.
Well, based on Tony Burke's performance last time he was Immigration Minister in the Radguillard era, it's hard to have any confidence in the way in which you will conduct himself in this portfolio, even if he didn't have very severe local political pressures, which is clearly responding to the Labor Party lives in fear that will what will happen to them at the next election is what happened to their UK Labor Party counterparts, which despite a landslide election
victory for Keir Starmer, saw four of their seats fall, including two front benches to pro Gaza independence backed by independent Muslim community groups. There are groups like that organizing in Australia. The Government's under huge pressure on that front. I think it explains a lot of their weakness in confronting anti Semitism since the election, and I worry that that is one of the main reasons why Tony Burke
was appointed to this portfolio. It's certainly not because he's got a great record in it, given that in just eighty days as minister he allowed eighty three votes to arrive, six hundred and thirty four people and a record of nine hundred and ninety two children in detention, that's nothing to be proud of.
James Patterson, you were off last week, but while you were off, both the Prime Minister and Tony Burke attacked you personally when it came to this issue of Board of Security. They were quite personal remarks.
What did you make of them?
That don't worry to me too much, Shari. I'm not surprised that I'm a target for the government, having just helped remove their first time Affairs minister and their first immigration minister. I'd be pretty cranky too, and I'd be pretty sensitive about my record as Tony burkis if it was such a bad one. He's attacked me for not having been a minister. But I would rather have not been a minister than been a minister with such a shabby record like he has.
Just before you go, the former ADF Chief Mark Binskin's report into the death of Australian aid workers by Israel reinforced the findings of Israel's own investigation. It found that the armed locally contracted security on the World Kitchen Convoy gave the appearance of the presence of hamas.
It actually said that the Australian.
Defense FORSS could not have imposed equivalent reprimands as quickly as the IDF was able to. Now, the Israeli government hasn't criticized the report itself, but they have criticized the Australian government statement about the report, Israel says it included misrepresentations and emitted crucial details. James, what's your view on how this has been handled by the Albanesi government.
Well, Zomi Frankom's death is a tragedy. Everyone, including the IDF for Greece, that it should not have happened, and they took steps very swiftly to investigate it and to take action to have punishment for the people involved in violating the IDF's processes and procedures which led to these deaths.
Now to appoint our own person to independently investigate it and to angrily publicly demand that they have unimpeded access would have to be done by an Australian Prime minister with very good grounds, and it turns out in Mark Binskin's report that those grounds weren't there. He has essentially upheld the IDF's version of what happened. He had no issues with access, And yet the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister have treated an ally and a friend Israel
very shabbily throughout this process. I think where all left to draw just only one conclusion from that, which is that the Albanesi government's approach to these issues continues to be driven by mystic politics. That's exactly why we should be worried about someone like Tony Beck being a Home Affairs and Immigration minister, why we should be concerned about national security on this government's watch because they put domestic politics ahead of the national interest.
Yeah, indeed, right, James Patterson, really appreciate your thoughts tonight. Now coming up after the break, the latest news from overseas, violent rioters running a mark in the UK. It is utter chaos. So why is it happening? We're going to discuss this next Welcome Back Well. Riots rocked northern England over the weekend, with right wing anti immigration protesters vandalizing and setting fire to two hotels. This violent social unrest follows the tragic stabbing of three young girls last week.
New Prime Minister Keir Starmer has condemned the violence.
I utterly condemn the far right thuggery we've seen this weekend. In no doubt, those that have participated in this violence will face the full force of the law. I guarantee you will regret taking part in this disorder, whether directly or those whipping up this action. Online.
Sky News contributor Koshergada joins me. Now, Kosher, we didn't hear comments like that when it came to violent anti Israel protests. And also these young girls who were tragically killed, they're now virtually being forgotten.
Indeed, Charion. This is one of the first tests of the new Prime minister, if you will, on a global stage, and many people have been criticizing what was missing from the speech along the lines of what you just outlined. Look, I think you know what triggered the extreme chaos, as you said in the UK, is that heinous, horrific event that took place in Southport and that lit the fuse.
But I think what this is setting up is the question of what has set the fuse in the UK and much of the western world, and you allude to that at the top. Where people are pointing to a clear inference is a reaction of the public to mass immigration, where it really is a grand experiment that has happened in modern history and just a handful of countries it's never happened before. One school of thought has been that's great and it riches these countries and.
Diversities are strength.
Another school of thought is that it really sets these places up for a short fuze like this just because it's human nature. You've got different people with different backgrounds and culture and values living together, and then when something like this happens, in some ways it's not surprising, even though as horrific as these images are, it's not surprising to see that fuze being lit. That's what's happening here.
And I think the Prime Minister's speech and other people who rush to just call that one side in this context so far right do so at their peril because, as you say, they're not mentioning what we see all the time with other protesters, whether it's Palestinians or BLM rioters and other people that are doing that too. It's not just one group of people that's with this unease right now in the in the West and particularly in the UK.
We're going to keep covering this riot the UK Rights this week.
We're going to have Brendan O'Neil on the show as well. Now, Kosher, let's turn to the US.
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has told what has.
Surely got to be a Joe have a look.
Top of his game, Such a consequential president of the United States, a Mount Rushmore kind of president of the United States.
Want to know what comes next?
That he belongs up there on Mount Rushmore. Lincoln and Joe Biden.
But you got Teddy Roosevelt up there, and he's wonderful. I don't say take him down, but you can add Biden.
I mean, Nancy Pelosi helped bring Joe Biden down. Now she says he was at the top of his game. Should be chipped into rock alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt to Roosevelt when he's never been more confused kosher. Maybe she's lost her marvels as well.
I would say that Nancy Pelosi is a master politician and a master tactician, and if she's saying anything even now, she has purpose behind it. I think what we're seeing is sort of the sandwich where she was nice about him and was backing him in the beginning. After that disastrous debate, she was widely reported as being one of the key players in the mutiny that the Democrats ran against their own nominee and the switcheroo that they pulled off.
And now she's closing the sandwich with some nice words and very effusive, ephemistic words out there about him. I don't think it'll ever happen, but she I think it's meant to say, you know what, we did, what we had to do. We replaced him, that the polls are tightening as a result of that, and now we can give him something really nice, whether it's Mount Rushmore or something something less.
That's all part of I think the strategy.
I mean, while Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, according to reports neck and neck, this is the lightest CBS you've got poll, the Vice president is now according to the poll, she's look it's one pole, but she's apparently got a one point laid nationally. This is rasing the five point laid that Trump had over Biden.
Look, the polls got.
It wrong before, plenty of times before, but it does appear that Kamala Harris is catching up and making ground on Donald Trump.
And we're only a few months out now from the election.
I think so.
As you mentioned, polls have not covered themselves in glory in recent years around the world. But I think what we are seeing is America is a very divided country. The last several elections have been won and lost on razor thin margins, and we're seeing a restoration back to that dynamic. And basically what was happening when Biden was in the ticket after that debate is there was a big chunk of Democrats that just couldn't do it because
it was so disastrous as cognitive decline. Those people are coming back home and that's sort of evening out the playing field between the.
Two of them.
Regardless of the flaws or the peculiarities of the particular candidacy and Kamla, this is going to continue to be a zor Razor thin election. And it's really interesting because it's never happened in modern times where they've done this and basically installed somebody who's never had a single vote from the Democrat voters and the Democrat base. And yet here she is very very close to possibly taking the top job.
And he's untested in debates and still appears to be untested in media interviews. But you'd have to think if Donald Trump doesn't win in November, I mean, this would have to be the last time he would run, because this is his third time standing for president. I mean, he has enormous support in the Republican Party, but surely if he loses two elections in a row, he couldn't go again.
And his age as well.
Yeah, it would appear. So I mean with Trump, you never know, but yes, he's almost eighty years old at
that point. He would be eighty four. I think that's a fair conclusion, and many would say his picking of jd Vance maybe is sort of a nod to that that whether he wins or loses, he sort of wanted to pave the way for somebody that can carry the mantle of trump Ism, populism and all the policies that he's stood for, in somebody who's quite young and has a long future ahead of him in Republican politics.
Yeah, exactly, only thirty nine years old. I think turns forty perhaps this month, Jodi Vouts. All right, Koschhagada, thank you very much for your time. Now coming up a blood bath on the Australian Stock Exchange, with the market experiencing its.
Worst two day session in two years.
We'll also look at tomorrow's rate decision and what it means for the Prime Minister's election timing.
Stay tuned.
Well, Still lots more to get through tonight. Let's jump into it with my political panel, former Scott Morrison Press secretary Andrew Carswell and former Gillard government advisor Darren Bynett.
Great to see you both.
Look, let's start with the fears of a US recession and this has sparked a massive sell of globally, with the Australian share market as well. Many reasons for this, but the Australian share market plunging more than three percent, extending its Friday loss to mark the worst two day performance in years. Investors are rattled. It's what wiped more
than one hundred billion dollars off the ASX. This is leading to the ASEX losing two hundred and thirty one points, or two point nine percent just after midday today, Drew, can you break us through some of the reasons that market analysts are saying have caused this and where do you think this is now headed?
Certainly well, I think this is a there's a growing fear now that the US economy will plunge into recession, the world's largest economy. And there is the growing realization too that the difficult challenge of trying to tame high inflation is going to result in a hard landing in
the economy and not a soft landing as predicted. Even as late as last week, economists were suggesting that the US had managed to thread the needle on this inflation equation, that that managed to bring down inflation without doing any damage to the economy. But it's quickly realizing that that is not the case. And the latest startup we've seen is unemployment picking up dramatically higher in the US. The manufacturing sector is under significant pressure so and it is
in fact contracting in the last quarter. So what we're seeing is markets pricing in that risk. They're also pricing in the risk of a potential bust in what in the in the in the bubble that is currently around AI tech stocks, there's an increasing understanding that AI tech stocks are way over valued and they will need some kind of retraction there as some kind of fallback from
the positions that they are currently in. So you've got those two dual things competing against each other, and the market is trying to realize what is going to be the economy once inflation comes down to the level it needs to be, will the economy be damaged?
I think this has the risk of getting even worse. You know, it's kind of something that no one really predicted. And even about a week and a half ago when we started to see wall streets suffer, you know, people said it's just kind of a correction.
It's not going to be that bad. Now it is looking like there could be a recession. There's panic selling.
Australia is reacting and it is looking kind of like it could have.
Certainly futures markets degenerate, and that's always an indication that there is nervousness among investors. And what Andrew says is absolutely correct. There's a risk of the US falling into recession. But equally, there have been some record highs in the AX and other sort of indicators over recent times. Because of that, we're not at the stage of absolute panic selling.
But the big thing for Australia is interest rates, and I think a lot of the pricing in the market is trying to guess who's going to cut their rates first, if at all, And there's a speculation in Japan, in the US, in Australia, and a lot of the international money washing through those markets. They're just trying to make themselves a bit of cash on who's going to cut rates and try and make themselves some money, And so
you've got to always look at that. That's the overriding factor here, is that volatility in interest rates and all of those factors combine lead to nervousness.
Yes, well, internationally, you know countries are, as you say, looking at cutting rates. But Andrew and Australia, we're seeing a couple of economists say that rates aren't going to fall until the first quarter of next year at the earliest December this year. We're expecting the IRBA to hold rates steady at four point three five percent tomorrow after their two day board meeting. But Australia does have a
different environment. I mean we're still at the question of are the rate's going to remain steady or rise, whereas other countries are starting to think about cutting them.
Yeah, that's right, Shara. There's no question that the RBA will be sitting on their hands tomorrow and looking at what's going on in global markets as well sitting in the back of their minds. But if there is a contemplation either way in terms of movement, that contemplation is still directed towards an increase rather than a decrease. We're
in a different set of circumstances to the US. The US could make a move downward on interest rates as early as September, particularly if this market volatility continues, But we don't have that argument here that there is based on the current inflation data. Based on our strong employment figures, there is no reason to be considering a cut in
interest rates. It all depends on where where employment goes in this country, and it all depends on whether they can bring inflation back within that band before Christmas, as has been suggested in the budget.
How does this impact on politics, Darren?
If we're not going to be looking at a rate cut until February next year, then there's no way. Surely the Prime Minister is going to head to the polls this year.
No way at all, and he's going to try and wait for rate cut. And if he waits for a rate cut, hopefully there'll be a second rate cut. So I think that's absolutely true. The chances of an election this year are fairly minimal. Until two weeks ago there was a risk, a substantial risk that there might be one more rise before there'd be a fall. And if that was still a risk, it's less than it was of two or three weeks ago. The last round of data was within the band for the RBA to consider.
So I think if the next movement is up, its enormous political trouble. But if the next movement is down, it'll be something the government waits for and will take that very much into account about when the election will be called.
Yeah, the impatient data last week was in line with the RBA's expectations.
But it doesn't mean we're not going to see an increase.
It doesn't mean the cost of living pressures of diminished. Completely agree with that that people are doing it tough and they will vote according to how they feel at that time exactly now.
Former Australian boxer Anthony Mundine front at court back in June and he pled not guilty to a charge of not complying with a COVID direction in twenty twenty one, in the height of the pandemic, he allegedly failed to scan a QR code to check into a bunning stop.
He was also accused of not wearing a face mask.
He said he didn't have to wear one. Now, this is a fascinating story because thousands of COVID penalties have been counseled since the new South Wales Supreme Court decision was handed down last year. But Mundine's barrister claims that because he commenced legal action two months before the ruling, the matter was not picked up by the fine administrator. Now his due back in court tomorrow, and I spoke with him a little earlier this afternoon.
Here he was, I'm doing to got called tomorrow to face his offense, and good willing it'll be have you all dealt with tomorrow. You know, they can have some common sense and you know, treatd for what it is, and that's pretty for what it is, and I get the right decision and can get off, you know what I mean. So a lot of people other people have got off and they've got their fines back and things like that. You know, I'm hoping that justice does prevail tomorrow.
Pretty unbelievable that I'm still going through it and you being going through it, and you know, good willing, it'll be squashed tomorrow, and I'm hoping for a good outcome.
Andrew Carswell, I mean, this is unbelievable that people are still being prosecuted for not scanning a QR code when the whole QR system didn't work in the.
End, I had conveniently forgot about this whole system of scanning in QR code. So it's a certainly a throwback, isn't it. Look I think sense will prevail here. I'm glad Anthony is making a stand on this issue. Some of the some of the rules that the state government's introduced in and around COVID. We're far above beyond the sense and they went well above what they should have done,
so I think sense will prevail here. Is just one of those quirks of the legal system that we're hopefully just knocked on the head.
Yeah, all right, we'll see how it goes tomorrow. Bring you an update tomorrow night. Andrew Carswell, Darren Barnett, great to see you both. Now still to come in Australian Olympian shares how her family's history surviving the Holocaust helped her win her incredible story Up next, welcome back.
Well.
Before we wrap up the show, I just want to have a look at some of their inspiring moments of human spirit that we've seen at the Olympics. Now, there has been a lot of woke nonsense surrounding the Games, but there are plenty of other heartwarming stories from the incredible athletes who've performed. There's Simone Biles, who came back from mental health struggles to win three gold medals, cementing her place in history as one of the world's best gymnasts.
At first, there was disappointment when our Golden Girl Jess Fox was knocked out of the kayak cross event, before she realized that her younger sister know Me not only made it through but came first. And keep in mind, Jess Fox has had a fantastic run of her own. She won two gold medals at these games. And then here's another one, Ozzie Jemima Montag. She gave a shout out to a Holocaust survivor grandmother after winning bronze in racewalking.
Have a look.
But the fact that this race was in Paris, there's also a significant part of your family's history that runs through this city as well. How important was that for you when you were running in this race?
Yeah, really important.
So my grandparents were Holocaust survivors and Paris was where they sought refuge after Auschwitz. It's been really interesting getting to know more of that story since my nana passed a few years ago, and I knew when this Olympics were named in Paris that I'd be able to draw on extra strength from her knowing that this is where she came.
Can you tell us about the bracelet?
Let's on your risk So.
This was Nana's necklace, and actually, before she died, my Auntie had it made into three identical bracelets for my sisters and I. It never comes off, and it's just a really tangible reminder of her legacy, her strength, her resilience, her courage.
And it reminds me also that when.
Races get to that sticky point where you're thinking of giving up or questioning your grittiness, your desire, it reminds.
Me that all of that is in my DNA.
And it also reminds me that I've got to make the most of this opportunity in life. You know, hers was nearly taken away so many times, and I'm so grateful to.
Be able to give this a shot. So were you thinking of her?
So you hit that fifteen kilometer mark, you clearly exhausted, but you need to dig deep and find something extra Or was her story going through your mind at that time?
Yeah?
So I sent my performance team and my family a list of affirmations that they could yell out to me, and one of them is just Judy is with you. And I like tear up when I think of that, and it's like, yeah, she's no longer alive, but the bracelets on and I've got her genetics, and she's with me looking down, so drawing on her strength definitely when I've lost all of my own.
How significance of an influence has she been in your life?
Oh?
To be honest, I think once I was born she'd really entered her decline and most Holocaust survivors would have had significant amounts of PTSD and depression. And according to my dad and my auntie, I never met the.
True Judith Montag.
So it's I'm almost getting to know her since her passing, trying to piece together her survival story and thinking ahead to maybe turning it into a book one day. And it's actually really heartwarming getting to know her through these love letters and these photographs and these recordings of her story.
And a big thanks to Matt Cunningham for that interview from Paris.
Isn't that a beautiful story?
And how her family are shouting out messages of inspiration and affirmation as she's racing, just incredible. Well that's all we have time for tonight. I'll see you tomorrow at eight. We've got just Center Price on the show, so make sure you tune in.
But right now Here's Paul Murray in the man Cave.