Live on Sky News.
This is Sharry.
Good Evening.
Tonight, Donald Trump issues a travel ban on twelve countries in wake of the Colorado terror attack. It raises debate about the security vetting of immigrants welcomed into the West. More on that, in a moment, accused mushroom killer Aaron Patterson was grilled about fabricating a cancer diagnosis in court.
Today.
Sky News reporter Holly Sterns will join us later. A University of Sydney conference uninvites journalist Samantha Maiden from speaking. I'll tell you their shocking excuse. Plus prominent Israeli author an advocate Hen Mazik will be on the show live from London. This after the White House caught out the BBC or can the ABC be next on their list? And the Azempit craze has led to concerns from medical experts that it's turning people into zombies as they lose their.
Appetite for life.
We'll have that report shortly, But first, President Donald Trump has slapped a travel ban on twelve countries. This was partly sparked by the terror attack in Colorado, allegedly by an illegal immigrant from Egypt. He was shouting and Zionists when he then set multiple elderly Jews a light, including a Holocaust survivor. Donald Trump said today that enough was enough.
The recent terror attack in Boulder, Colorado has underscored the extreme dangers posed to our country by the entry of foreign nationals who are not properly vetted, as well as those who come here as temporary visitors and overstay their visas. We don't want them. In the twenty first century, we've seen one terror attack after another carried out by foreign visa overstairs from dangerous places all over the world.
Trump's controversial executive order bands travel from Afghanistan, Haiti, Iran, Sudan, Yemen, mayanma Chad, the Republic of Congo, Libya, Somalia, Equatorial Guinea, Eretria, and on. The President went on to explain that his move was about protecting Americans.
In my first term, my powerful travel restrictions were one of our most successful policies, and they were a key part of preventing major foreign terror attacks on American soil. We will not let what happened in Europe happen to America. We will not allow people to enter our country who wish to do US harm.
And this move is likely to be very popular, not just with Trump supporters, but with Americans now. Quite bizarrely, I asked Trump's head of counter Terrorists, Sebastian Gorka, about this very issue last night. I asked him if the United States needs to be more careful.
About who it allows in.
Look, the suspect in the Colorado attack was an illegal immigrant from Egypt. Why was he still in the country and do you think the United States needs to be more careful about who it allows in?
Leading question, Council, why was he here? Because for the last four years under the Biden Harris administration, we had no national sovereignty. Your viewers may find this hard to believe, but under Kamala Harris the borders are. They basically dismantled our border. That's why we have events like Colorado.
Now, We've seen a similar ban before during Trump's first term in office. This is a hardline approach, and Trump will certainly be called racist, But when you have the legal immigrants from certain and countries allegedly committing crimes, including terror attacks, it's understandable that this is the reaction. In the New York Post, Miranda Divine reports that a clear link has been established between illegal immigrants and terror.
She writes.
When Trump appointed Director of National Intelligence Toulsy Gabbard came into office, she immediately ordered the National Counter Terror Center to cross reference asylum applications from visa overstayers and illegal border crosses with the database of known terrorists, and they identified one thy two hundred illegal aliens with terror ties who were allowed to remain in the US by Joe Biden.
So it's probably a wise idea to be cautious at a time when we are seeing terror attacks, when Hermas is being celebrated on campuses, and there's a battle for the values that we once went to war to fight for. Many politicians, including in Australia, seem to forget that their first priority has to be to protect their own citizens, to keep their own citizens safe, not come to the rescue of those in other parts of the world. And this has always been the issue with Albanezi opening the
door to Gazans without proper security vetting. Even if those citizens don't support humas they may hold anti Semitic attitudes, it risks turning Australia into an even more unsafe place to live. Police claim the alleged perpetrator in the Colorado attack, Mohammed Solomon said he wanted to kill all Zonus people and wish they were all dead.
He yelled free Palestine.
Now, this free Palestine movement is being used to normalize and justify violence and anti Semitism. It's better to seriously crack down on.
It than allow it to flourish.
Now, as you heard, Trump cites Europe, and Europe in some parts has become unrecognizable. You can't argue with that. Some cities are no longer safe for everyone. And this isn't just about nationality, and it's mainly in fact about values. It's ensuring we all share the same values. The left globally seem to have moved to a position of completely open borders, where immigrants who hate everything we in the West stand for are welcomed with open arms, only to then join mass protests against.
Their new country and its values.
And the truth is, if these sympathizers hate America and the West so much, then why do they want to live here in the first place. Now, I don't agree with Trump's blanket ban of entire nations, but I.
Have no doubt we need to be far.
More rigorous in our security vetting of individuals who want to come here, especially those from countries which we know are hotbeds of terrorism. You'd prefer to have a stricter immigration policy then deal with terror attacks here in Australia. All right, A busy show tonight, but now let's bring in tonight's panel. National Senator Matt Canavan and former State Labor Secretary Cameron Miln are great to see you both, Matt.
Donald Trump says that countries like Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Libya and Yemen have all been deemed high risk for terrorism and also for visa abuse.
What do you think of his move today?
Well, for America, it's.
Not privy to the kind of intelligence that Donald Trump would be, so it's hard to double guests the decisions. But I fully support every country making their own decisions on who comes to their own nation and under what circumstances. We've enforced that rule over the years, and I think we're very lucky that we've been able to maintain strong borders thanks to the action that former liberal and national governments took, especially Tony Abbotts and John Howard. Thankfully, in
this country now that is the bipartisan position. Labor went a bit soft after Kevin Rudd got elected, but this time they haven't quite made the same mistakes, so long may that continue. That's not the case in the United States. I mean, they've had this unbelievably open border in the past few years. It clearly played a big role in the election of Donald Trump. And as I say, it's completely a matter for America how they decide to.
Rule over their own borders.
Yeah.
I think that distinction you make is right that under Biden it was just an open border situation. Cameron, though, what do you think about this battle for values and just how we perhaps do need to be more careful to make sure and not just values, by the way, but the laws that people who come to our country or any country in the West will abide by our laws.
That's right, and I think we have to have the security checks. I think you're right, Shari. At the top of the show, you mentioned the three thousand gardens who are lead in with lack of security measures that we all were concerned about. They might not be terrorists, but they could be potential terrorists, and that's what we need to know. With the security checks. So I think you're right. They need to share our values, they need to abide
by our laws, they need to love our country. And I think if we have people from war torn areas, we need to recognize that there are Syrians who have been persecuted by Islamic streamers that we welcome to our country. We welcome Christians as well to being persecuted by Islamic authorities as well. So it can't be country by country. We need to make sure the security checks are done and the people who are coming to our country share our values.
One hundred percent.
And you know, I remember, maybe six months ago now I reported one of the instance of one of those guardsans allowed in and how on social media he had shared posts supporting the paragliders sailing into Israel on October seventy shared hermas content. So, you know, gain perhaps that security vetting hasn't been up to scratch. And by the way, while we're on Trump, he's also today ordered an investigation into the cover up of Joe Biden's cognitive decline during
his presidency. There was a presidential memorand hum that said, this conspiracy mark's one of the most dangerous and concerning scandals in American history, and Martin, I mean, you'd have to say this is pretty objective now that there was a deliberate cover up over this.
Well, I suppose it's another example Shari of Thankfully Australia has not gone down this judicial mixing of the judicial and the political paths like there has been in America. Obviously, we saw the Biden administration justice officials investigate the former president Trump, and now we're going to see seemilarly the reverse. I mean, I don't like it overall as a trend. As I say, I hope that stays out of our system. There should be separation between the two fields of contest.
But there's no doubt here there is a scandal. I'm just not sure it's best pursued by the executive government. But clearly the media and others conspire to cover up the decline in Joe Biden's mental state. That probably ultimately cost the Democratic Party more than anyone else because they struggle to put forward a credible candidate there in the
end for presidency partly because of that cover up. So look, as I say, hope, I hope the courts stay out of the political process again, it's a matter for America how they run their system. But I quite like the political system we have, and it's one trend in America I hope we don't adopt.
Now I'd have to agree with you, but I do think there does need to be accountability when it comes to this issue. I mean, normally medical issues would remain private, but when you're the president of the United States, when you have that level of control and authority, well there should be public disclosure.
What do you think, Cameron, Well.
And I was going to say, I agree with Matt. I mean, I think we don't want to see the judiciary weaponized for political outcomes.
And I think that's a great thing about our.
System versus what I observe about the US, especially in recent times. But look, I think that the saddest thing here is that Joe Biden was actually a servant servant of the United States. He did great things, and we only now remembered for the last year or two where he was seriously suffering from cognitive diminished cognitive abilities clearly, and they are physical as well, And the fact that the staff looked like they cover that up for political gain.
And then I think, as you rightly said that probably damaged the Democrats' chances of actually having a decent president. You can come through. That's the scandal, that's what needs to be investigated. It might not be conspiracy, but it's an awful cover up of someone's medical condition that led to the political outcome we've now seen.
But also if there were medical authorities, if there were doctors who agreed to keep this silent but knew about it, perhaps there's an argument that they had a public duty to tell.
Someone about it.
So there are I think ethical questions dilemmas here. It's not so clear cut, although I do agree with you.
We've all watch Twist Swing though, haven't we.
Indeed, we have watched westeringram Shure. It's all of our favorite old television shows. Gue Now federal labor is being urged, as in the Albanezy government is being urged to scrap at least the size of its cigarette tax. Experts are our concern that it's fueling this violent black market. We even saw the premiere in New South Wales Chris Mins come out this week. He spoke pretty strongly about the issue.
But then we heard Treasurer Jim Chalmers say that he's definitely not making cigarettes cheaper.
Have a look, I respectfully disagree with Chris. He's a friend of mine, I work closely with Premiere Mins. I don't think the answer here is to make cigarettes cheaper for people. I think the answer here is to get better at compliance.
Matt, this is becoming a major issue, the black market, the illegal importation, the crime.
What do you think is the solution.
Well, look, I think Chris Mins is espousing common sense here. I'll be fair. This is a problem created by the Albanesi government to this high excise on the high exie on tobacco was there before Anthony Albanezi came in, but the problem has been problem has gotten worse in the last few years, and it is the responsibility of any government to respond to things that aren't working well and try and fix them. The facts are that we've had almost a harving of tobacco xcise revenue in the last
few years. We certainly haven't had a harving of smoking rates. So what's happening happening is otherwise legal, law abiding Australian citizens effectively going into a black market because they just can't afford to buy cigarets.
They are over fifty.
Dollars a pack now and no one can really afford that. So cigarette smoke is invariably going to the illegal market that is then funding organized crime is country, and I am convinced that a big part of the outbreak of crime we have seen in Australia in the last few years, beyond just the legal tobacco market, is because of the funds that have flown in like rivers of gold to organize crime thanks to this black market. So clearly, when we've got something like this, we should change the policy
settings at least look at it. Don't be stubborn and pig headed. Look at this. Maybe a reduction of the xoz rate would be best. It actually might raise more revenue and kill off these criminal syndicates that are being funded by it.
There was one example, Aaron Patrick in The Nightly wrote about this and he said that on Tuesday was police Botiface and the AFP intercepted an importation and among the stash were twenty million cigarettes.
Twenty million cigarettes. I mean, Cameron, you to.
Remember a time when there was illegal drugs, not cigarettes, being reported, so that unquestionably there's an issue here.
The answer is not so simple.
It isn't and it's complex, but I think we do need to spend more and more on prevention, more on policing, and more on preventative healthcare as well. But you're right. I mean the danger is the tax is so large now it creates a natural in ceding for organized crime to chase that revenue stream. And I think that's the problem, and I think we need to have an open discussion.
And I think Premier Men's is right. He's seeing it on the streets in his own city, the crime wave driven by illegal and chop chopped tobacco and people using the tax revenue as an incentive to produce this black market.
And casting tens of millions of dollars in policing and compliance. I want to go to this fascinating story.
There's a major issue.
I mean, flight paths are always controversial, but there's now a major issue of flight parts at night to the new Western Sydney Airport and there are accusations of pork barreling.
This is a story on sky News Digital Today and sky News revealed that the Albanezy government's directive to prioritize noise abatement in labor electriate surrounding Western Sydney International Airport has triggered warnings from aviation experts, and one expert, Captain Byron Bailey, called the new runway the whole plan.
Fascicle.
Have a look, it's very unrealistic. It's going to be very mess missy for you traffic control when you were the reciprocal runway operation is what gets me. I mean you have a wind blowing from say the Southwest roadway two three in use be days sign in.
I mean, Matt, if this is true, and I mean, can it really be true? Surely the Albanezy government wouldn't do something so ridiculous as to design the flight bards to avoid labor electorates.
Look, I definitely think there's something that needs to be looked into here, Shari. I did share an inquiry last year into flight paths right across Australia. We did hold hearings out Western Sydney. There are a lot of residents they're concerned about the design of these flight pars. I respectfully disagree with Captain Bailey. I think his name was there. Yes, Look, reciprocal runway operations do occur all around Australia. They are
a common feature in the Brisbane Airport at night. The key is that they're only used in low traffic periods and they are of course only used when the winds of conditions allow for them to safely be done. My understanding what the government has said here is if they will impose those same conditions on Western Sydney's exists in
Brisbane and other airports. The issue though, is that when the flight parts were redesigned late last year, they seemingly, just quite surprisingly, seemed to center all over Lindsay, the elector of Lindsay, which was held by the Liberal National Party, a liberal party in New South Wales, and avoided a lot of the Labor electorates. So I think some serious questions have to be asked about the design of these flight paths because they shouldn't be corrupted by the political process.
They need to be done obviously for safety first, but also for efficiency and allowing as many residents as possible to sleep at night. People should not be interrupted unnecessarily from their own quite enjoyment of their homes. Notwithstanding, of course, we need things like airports to operate.
Now.
The Prime Minister has for a long time, I mean dating back over a decade been very involved in this project and setting up a second international airport in Sydney, and actually it put him at loggerheads with Ed Husick, a local MP who was.
Actually against the airport.
I mean, Cameron, is this perhaps of the reason they don't personally get along well?
Well, I think there's a lot of reasons with a Husk and the Prime Minister up, not just the airport, but I think when I looked at the maps, Shari, I mean, it's only flights between eleven PM and five thirty am, and really what they're doing is they're putting all the flight paths in those evening hours across rural and larger areas rather than over urban residential areas. I mean, that's something where the divides. It's in Western City with the maps I looked at all.
Right, Matt, before we go, I just want to actually ask you a question without notice about the supertax, the coalition's position on the supertas.
Now.
I know you're against it. We've been covering it on this show for weeks and weeks now, but I understand that the formal position went to Shadow Cabinet but didn't go to the Joint Coalition party route. Now, that's usually how a policy position is arrived.
At, isn't it.
It goes to the joint Coalition party room before it's officially announced. Are you worried that this process wasn't followed, because I mean, you might be fine with it in this position, but what if it's net zero?
What it's other laws that you would like to have a say in.
Look, it's probably a rule that's broken. More that observed, Sharius is not the first time the joint party room hasn't been consulted on a matter, and it's typically sometimes a bit difficult outside of a parliamentary sitting period to arrange that.
We have had virtual.
Joint party rooms before, but usually on very significant things. Look, I think this is something that probably the leader could judge the mood of the room, so to speak. And as you say, there's an outcome here that I certainly support and I think the vast majority of my colleague support. So a formal meeting of all of us probably wasn't necessary in this instance. Just on your point, though, we have never had a joint party room discussion on net zero.
Never would you like to see amazing like never?
Like I definitely I definitely would like to say when Sharon Scott Morrison just signed us up to it, to sign a liberal party up to the Nationals Party did have a discussion, but effectively had a discussion with a gun hell to her head because Liberally said they're doing this and that's that without even having giving their own members assay.
So look, that would be nice.
Nice.
Maybe you can shake up the process and put it on the agenda yourself.
I've been trying that for three years, Sharon, see where I go this time?
All right, Camra, Miona, Matt Canavan. Great to see you both now. Elon Musk has doubled down on his searing criticism of Trump's so called Big Beautiful Bill across multiple posts on social media today. The bill is a cornerstone of Trump's economic policy and would give Americans a tax cut, but critics say it will also increase America's borrowing at a time it's drowning in debt. Today, Elon Musk poster that the bill should really be called the debt slavery Bill, and he shared the.
Poster for the mob kill Bill.
And it's quite fascinating to watch this old play out because it seems like only yesterday that Trump and Elon Musk were having fun together in the Oval Office in one of the more surprising friendships in recent political history. And now it seems the unbreakable political alliance.
As well, and truly over.
Now more than seventy nine thousand Australians are reportedly using a zempic or a similar weight loss drug. These are drugs that traditionally we're used to treat diabetics. They're now being seen as wonder weight loss drugs and there are projections that two point four million people will be on a zempic or a similar medication by twenty thirty. That'd be nine percent of our population here in Australia. It's transformed people into wafer thin versions of themselves.
Now.
One of a zenpik's side effects, or one of its effects, is that it slows down food moving through the stomach, thereby limiting appetite, so if someone doesn't feel hungry, they won't eat.
But there's now.
Something that's being dubbed a zepic personality, which the Time says is the change in outlook that turns a former bon vivert into a pleasure avoidant zombie. The weekend Australian magazine on Saturday examined how along with curbing appetite, it's suppressing cravings for things like alcohol and it could even impact on desire. The article said scientists are raising new and baffling questions about how obesity drugs could be altering
the reward circuitry in the brain. A psychiatrist, doctor Sally Keldeman, explains one theory, and it's a theory that the medication can deactivate neutrons crucial for processing reward and motivation. She says the brain only has one reward system. There's no special ward system for food and then another system.
For sex or drugs, So if.
GLP ones are dialing down food cravings, it's not surprising they're dampening all kinds of desires. She says, we need more solid evidence from trials, but my concern is that we'll need to start watching patients for signs of a heedonia, a lack of interest and enjoyment in life. Journalist Roz Thomas wrote this investigative article. It was the cover story of the Weekend Australian magazine and she joins me, now, Roz,
thanks for your time. So you did an investigation into these drugs, these medications, how can it affect personality and what is the evidence around whether it can turn people into so called zambig zombies.
Well, it was very interesting because when the drugs were first developed, it was always thought that they acted only on the gut, that they would slow down the passage of foods through the stomach, that they would start making you feel fuller for longer and therefore you'd eat less.
Then the latest research.
Has come out which has been very surprising and that has shown really that the original science has collapsed, fallen apart, because now we understand that semaglatide the active ingredient in a z MP and Munjaro sexender and trulyicity the drugs that are available in Australia at the moment, that it
works on the brain access. So those samaglatides can go deep into the brain, into the pleasure center of the brain, which is called the nuclear sircumbens and there it pulls off a neat trick where it turns it acts as a neurotransmitter and it manages to tell the neurons in the nucleus the cumbents to turn off the reward circuitry for desire, and as you said in your graphic, you know we don't have different we don't have different systems for desire, one for sex, one for drugs, one for food.
And so what we've discovered is that these smagide is now able to turn off desires for all kinds of things, from alcohol to nicotine to sex, even nail biding, shoplifting, online shopping addictions. Even the latest research that I read only two days ago that it turns off the desire for exercise, so it makes exercise less rewarding. And what you get then is that we are the product of our desires. So you take away your love of baking, cooking, exercising,
and you do change your personality. And so what we're finding is that we're having a lot of people who are losing weight very very quickly, but they're losing a lot of the enjoyment in life because they're suffering from what psychiatrists call it anhedonia, which is a loss of pleasure.
Yeah, it's so fascinating, And of course you're looking at this from a scientific or medical perspective, and again should point out that none of this is conclusive. It's research that's emerging but you also interviewed people about this, and you wrote in the article. I mean you just mentioned baking that you wrote in the article about a lifelong baker who no longer finds pleasure in making her beloved armond crossans and cinnamon scrolls, but then she did lose
seventeen kilograms. And you also wrote from memory about a married woman who now.
Doesn't want to go to the footy with her husband anymore.
So, just from a people perspective, what did you hear from those you interviewed about how it is changing how they live?
Well, this is the first time that we'd managed to get suburban users to identify themselves as enpiic users. Usually we're only hearing about side effects of a zen pic and Munjaro from celebrity. So this is the first time we'd managed to get you know, mum and dad users to explain to us how they were feeling. And a number of them told us that they started to feel weird and that weirdness was I think the effects of
those design mechanisms being turned off in the brain. So, for example, we had one woman who had lost enormous amount of weight on a zenpic who was also diabetic lost forty kilos. But what she discovered was that she had become physically repulsed by alcohol in particular and junk food.
And she and her husband had spent twenty years together entertaining, socializing, going to the footy and having a wow of a time, and all of a sudden, she couldn't look at a glass of wine or a beer, and she couldn't look at junk food, and it made her physically repulsed. And so she discovered that she had to renegotiate all of the boundaries in her relationship, and their relationship had changed.
And what some doctors were reporting to me was that there is such a thing as a zepic divorce, and that is when one party in the relationship loses an enormous amount of weight. And if they do suffer some of these Annadonius side effects, a loss of desire and pleasures in you know, things that they used to love, exercise, alcohol, going out socializing, then you're going to have a real,
you know, quite a chasm occurring in marriages. And so there was a particular case in which a gentleman in a marriage with a wife had lost thirty kilos and announced to his doctor that he had decided that he was gay and that he was leaving his wife because the loss of the weight and the change in his personality had suggested to him that he should leave the marriage.
I mean, these are the side effects that we can't yet link conclusively, but they're coming through in animal studies and we need more human control clinical trials to be able to say for sure. But I have to say a little bit worrying.
Yeah.
Well, it's absolutely fascinating cover story that you wrote in the week in Australian magazine. Really great to have you on the show, Roz. Fascinating topic and pointing out again research still emerging.
And of course if anyone at home has.
Questions about his MBIG, we're not doctor, so see your GP for proper medical advice.
Roz. Really appreciate your time. Now still to come.
Internationally renowned writer Hen mazik Or droin me to discuss media bias after the White House caught out the BBC's nonsense.
Plus James Patterson.
Will give his reaction after the University of Sydney uninvited journalist Sam Maiden from a speaking event. I'll tell you their shocking excuse after this quick break.
Welcome back.
Well, the Prime Minister is under pressure from the United States to lift defense spending to three and a half percent of GDP, with both Pete Hegseth and Sebastian Gorka urging him to do more to protect Australians. So far, Albanezi has rejected these cause or to discuss this and more. Joining me now is Shadow Finance Minister James Patterson. Great to see you in new introduction, their first time I've
had you on the show in your new portfolio. So the Prime Minister set to meet with President Trump of the G seven summit later this month, is this going to be adequate for him to just fob off the president saying that the defense spending at just under two percent as it is now is enough.
Well, Sharry, any respected national security expert will tell you Australia is not spending enough to defend ourselves in the era that we live in. But what I thought was most remarkable about the Prime Minister's refusal to even entertain this idea of increasing defense spending is he said that it's a matter of sovereignty. We're going to underinvest in our national security and defense because we want to uphold our sovereignty. I mean, that's an extraordinary thing to say.
It's like refusing to eat your vegetables because your parents told you to. You know that it's good for you, you know you should do it, But because your parents told you to do it, you're going to refuse to do it. The promise is coming across as really childish here, and in an uncertain strategic environment, we need grown up leadership and he needs to step up to the plate and deliver the defense spending that we all know we need.
What level do you think it should be.
Well, we took a commitment to the last election to get to two point five percent of GDP within five years and to get to three percent of GDP within
ten years. I'm very proud of that commitment that we took, which required a lot of heavy lifting and a lot of hard work, but it took seriously the advice of people like Kim Beasley, Srangus Houston, Mike Bizulo the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and many of our other most eminent defense experts who tell us that because of China's rapid acquisition of military capability, we are living in an extremely precarious time that could turn south very quickly, and that
right now we don't have the military capability to prevent that conflict from happening through to Terrence, let alone respond to it should it happen. So really, the promise to must move more quickly. He must address this and we would provide bipartisan support.
For him to do so.
Yeah. Good point.
The Coalition was in a mess this week over its position on the super tax. The Shadow treasure of Tet O'Brien came out on Monday in favor of doing a deal with Labor. He was even on my program. He then changed his position today, James.
Are you now worried?
And you know we all agree that the Coalition shouldn't be supporting higher taxes, but you now worried that the final legislation will be worse because Labour's going to arrive at their position through a negotiation with the Greens.
I'm very comfortable where we landed on this issue sharing because it goes to a core liberal principle. As you say, the Liberal Party is the party of lower taxes and we should never make Labour's task of raising taxes any easier, nor should we provide them with a fig leaf of economic responsibility by engaging in negotiations with them to raise taxes.
The truth is that we can't stop Labor doing this because with their coalition partners in the Greens, they do have a majority in the Senate, But that won't stop us fighting it, and we're going to fight it as hard as we can, and we can only hope that sense prevails within the Labor Party and they realize the
harm that they get to do to our economy. Right now, when business investment is at record lows, the last thing our economy needs is a tax on investment, and that's effectively what Jim Chalmers is doing with this tax.
He seems pretty adamant that he is going to stick with it. He's given press conferences and media interviews in the past couple of days where he has defended it, saying in effect that he needs high at tax revenue to deal with all the spending. And another idea, of course, would be to cut spending, but of course the Albanesi
government's not going to do that. I want to turn to this story that's just broken this Evening News dot com dot a US political editor Samoud the Maiden has been disinvited by a Sydney University student run newspaper ani Swar to speak at a student conference.
Now Ani Swar.
Wrote to her after initially inviting her begging her to come.
They then wrote to her and said.
We've received community concerns about your political coverage and reporting on the Palestinian genocide. As a left wing newspaper, ani Swar recognizes that Israel is committing an ongoing genocide in Palestine, and we do not feel that our values align or that we can platform your work as assault. Now, James salm Maiden, as far as I'm aware, and I read most of her stories, she hasn't written anything about this
issue at all, But that's beside the point. I mean, this is serious discrimination, isn't it, Because if they won't have Sam Maiden speak, they'd never have a Jew speak.
Shorey, You're right, it's absolutely bizarre that she's been deplatformed for something that she herself has no memory of having written about. But as you say, it doesn't matter even if she'd been a prolific writer on Israel Palestine issues, and even if she'd taken a stance that the paper disagreed with One of the tests of journalism is being
able to engage with ideas that you disagree with. And one of the things you would hope would be happening on university campuses of all places, is engagement with ideas that you disagree with, some that you might even find offensive or troubling, or that you disagree with profoundly. But of course we know that in the modern school of journalism and on modern university campuses, that is increasingly rare.
And what I want to do is actually pay a tribute to David Maha here, who has himself decided to withdraw from the conference because of their decision to deplatform Sam made. Now, David maher is a man of the left, but he's from a generation of people on the left when they did support Freedma's speech, and who understands how critical and important that is to journalism. And so I think he's demonstrated himself to be a person of principle.
It deserves to be praised here. But really, these editors of the student newspapers should look themselves in the mirror and ask themselves are they really fit to engage in the world of ideas? Are they really fit to graduate from university to write big stories, to engage in the battle of ideas if they are so threatened by someone speaking at their conference who may theoretically possibly have a different few of them on an issue.
I want to echo your congratulations to David Martha out of principle pulling out of the event. Now, I'm not going to name them, but I do understand there are other high profile journalists who are still speaking, and I hope they withdraw as well, because this is truly discriminatory, right, James Patterson, thank you so much as always. Now coming up and Patterson sits through her first grueling cross examination on the deadly mushroom lunch plus the White House.
Hits out at the BBC.
Can we gather examples from the ABC to send to them or influential author Hen Mazik.
Would join me after this quick break well.
A Pew Research Center poll released this week found that around half of adults in more in twenty out of twenty four country surveyed had unfavorable views of Israel. This includes the UK, Canada, France, Japan, and even the United States. In Australia, seventy four percent of adults had an unfavorable view of Israel. Now, this is an indictment on international media outlets, and no wonder so many people are prepared to repeat Hermasa's lies word for word when the media
is doing it. As Trump's Press Secretary Caroline Levitt pointed.
Out, unlike some in the meet, we don't take the word of Hamas with total truth. We like to look into it when they speak. Unlike the BBC, who had multiple headlines they wrote Israeli tank kills twenty six, Israeli tank kills twenty one, Israeli gunfire kills thirty one, Red Cross has twenty one people were killed in an eight incident, and then oh wait, they had to correct and take down their entire story, saying we reviewed the footage and couldn't find any evidence of anything.
It's not just the BBC.
Our own ABC is no stranger to bias on Israel, and their former ABC Middle East correspondent is now a Greens politician, was definitely not surprised by this career progression, and she even attended Parliament last week in a kfaet well joining me now to discuss his influential Israeli writer and activist hen Mazik Hen so terrific to have you
on the show for the first time. Look how style has the media coverage been on Israel and how quick are major news organizations like the BBC and also the New York Times to take the word of Hamas as gospel.
Thank you so much for having me.
And I just want to say your moral clarity on this issue is rare. It shouldn't be rare, but it is, and it matters, especially now. And you know, I've been invited to the by so many times and to their studio, and I've been to their newsrooms.
I've seen how it operates. And to think that.
There are so many editors that are involved in approving a news item and none of them thinks for a second to maybe there should be some scrutiny with the numbers that Hamas is promoting and sending us. Maybe we should think twice before we're saying that Israel is massacring dozens of Palestinians, And maybe we should think twice before we are issuing a statement like fourteen thousand babies are
going to die in the next forty eight hours. How can you even comprehend this, this type of bias and hatred, It's really insane to me. You know, in the Colorado attack that we've seen, a moltive cocktail was thrown at a Holocaust survivor, at an eighty eight year old Holocaust survivor at a peaceful protest calling for the release of the hostages.
Which means ending the war. They don't want to continue the war.
And the guy that was throwing the mount of cocktail cited the fact that or what he thought was the fact that Israel is killing babies, and that directly relates to what the BBC and the international media has been promoting, this bias, false narrative that is ending up with flames burning Jews around the world.
Piers Morgan this week interrupted Jewish lawyer Natasha holst Off some sixty times in an interview with her, and then on social media he went and said, and I couldn't believe this comment. He said that the truth wasn't coming out of her disingenuous mouth.
I mean genuinely appalled me.
And what's your reaction to treatment of Jewish women by someone like Piers Morgan?
Yeah, And he had another male comedian and both of them were attacking this respectable lawyer that has far more understanding and knowledge about law than they do, and especially international law. You know, modern anti Semitism doesn't wear just jack boots, it wears hashtags.
It were masquerading.
Is activism and spread through algorithm faster than.
The truth ever could. And it's not coming from the fringe. It's trending on the Explorer page for all of us.
And people aren't being radicalized by manifestos anymore. They're being radicalized by viral content like the one that comes out of Pierce Morgan's online show, and it's dressed up as humanitarian concern and by the time the facts catch up, the lie is already lit the match, as we've seen
in Colorado. So I think we keep asking why Jews are afraid, and we are afraid because in the last week alone, Jews have been shot in d C. In the last two weeks, they've been shot in d C, firebomb in Colorado, Holocaust Museum has been vandalized in Paris, and the source is a gaza. Hawks or Hamas claims that people are taking a face value and not even checking it, and suddenly it's it's complicated to looking to details.
Suddenly silence and Jews see that we notice it. We notice who speaks up, and we notice who's attacking us and who's joining the mob. And it's really disheartening to see respectable figures that have such large platforms.
And so much power using it this way. You know, with great power comes great responsibility.
And I think it's true today more than ever, specifically.
About the war in Gaza.
Yeah, I completely agree with you, and I find it so concerning, as you say, influential people, not just Piers Morgan, but Joe Rogan, taker Cows and millions and millions of followers, and they're encouraging this hostile sentiment. Hen Mazik, I've got to tell all my viewers to look you up and follow you on social media because you do tell the truth and in such a strong way and still with empathy for all sides. So, Hen, such a pleasure to have you on the show.
Thank you very much, Thanks.
So much, Frevan. I really appreciate it.
Thank you. Now, don't go anywhere.
After the break, I bring you the latest details on the mushroom trial with our reporter Holly Sterns.
That's right after this quick break.
Well accuse mushroom killer Aaron Patterson underwent cross examination. For the first time today, she emotionally denied intentionally killing Don and Gail Patterson, Heather Wilkinson, or knowingly harming Ian Wilkinson.
Let's go live.
Now to Morewell, where Sky News reporter Holly Sterns joins me, Holly, you've been covering this today. Erin's final day giving testimony in her defense and then the start of her cross examination.
Tell us what the main takeouts were.
Oh, Sharry, there's a lot to break down.
There's been so much evidence today and it's been a very long day for everyone here.
Descending on this small regional town.
But right off the top, her defense put her question to her, the question that everyone wants to know, the answer to did you ever intend to poison your relatives with deadly mushrooms?
Her answer repeatedly no.
However, she has admitted to lying about ever owning or using a food dehydrator, and also lying about her love for often foraging for wild mushrooms. Now, Miss Patterson claims that after the lunch when everyone became so unwell, she had a conversation with her estranged husband, Simon, where he
accused her of poisoning his parents. She said it was at this point when she became scared and overwhelmed, and that's when she began to fear that she was going to be blamed for something that she claims was all a tragic mistake. She says, this is when she began lying, and that's when she dumped the dehydrator at the tip too.
But Sharry, that's when the cross examination began. Secutor firing question after question at Miss Patterson, grilling her about her version of events, clashing with her about medical lives and about why the guests came to the lunch. This center of this cross examination this afternoon is why were the guests there?
And this so called cancer diagnosis.
So prosecutors essentially claim that she lured her guest to lunch based on a fake cancer diagnosis of her varying cancer. The only surviving lunch guest, Ian Wilkinson. He also gave testimony backing up this claim. But today Miss Patterson disputes this, saying, I never used the word diagnose. I told the guests that I was having issues with my ovaries and that I might perhaps need treatment in the future, but says she never used the words that she was diagnosed with cancer.
But this is when the prosecutor put a pretty firm question to her, I want to read it out to your word for word, the prosecutor asked her, I suggest that you never thought you would have to account for this about having cancer because you thought that the lunch guests would die.
Now, the jury was.
Also shown several photos Sharry of mushrooms on scale, alleging that they were deathcat mushrooms that Miss Patterson had taken and that she deliberately foraged these for her lunch's guests that day.
So the jury will resume again tomorrow.
Miss Patterson has pleaded not guilty to all of these charges. She also claims that she had bulimia and also vomited after the beef at Wellington Dish. Now, the jury was also told at the end of the day today that there will be an extension to this case.
It's likely to go on now for another.
Couple of weeks, so plenty of attention and people here in this small regional town for a little while longer.
Yeah.
So it's going to be fascinating because the next few days will be the heart of the matter as we continue to hear the Crown's case. As this grilling of her under cross examination continues, but in summary, we've only got about forty seconds left. But her final position in her defense is that this was all an accident, that the mushrooms were mixed up, that the reason she didn't get seeck is, as you mentioned, she had beliemia, an eating disorder, and she brought up her foot after the meal.
That's right, she essentially claims.
And this was pretty much a shock as well to the prosecution and all of the journalists here covering it, Sharry. They're international journalists here covering it too, and those claims were a real shock, the first one that she had blimia, and also the other claim that she was actually planning on having gastric bypass surgery too. That was a really big shock to everyone here who's covering this story.
But that claim as well wasn't really.
Doubled down in miss Patterson's cross examination today, So she was really put under pressure today and that was definitely showcase she was a little bit rattled by those questions today, Sharry. So it continues tomorrow and as you said, she'll be back on the stand.
Oh.
A fascinating case that we're all following. Holly Sterns thank you so much for your time tonight. That's all we've got time for today. Thank you so much for your company this week. I'll see you on Monday. And right now, here's James Morrow.