La General. Welcome late babe, good evening, thanks for joining us. I'm James Macpherson with Liz Storer and Joe Hildebrand filling in for Caleb Bond. Coming up tonight. A four year old toddler calls nine to eleven. Wait until you hear the crime that was reported. Will play you that a little later. Plus, when we look at the papers Federal Labor have deleted from their website modeling regarding carbon reduction as their own targets look increasingly unlikely to be met.
And trouble for the Victorian Opposition leader after he claimed to be visiting cycle and affected family in Queensland but seems like it was actually on a four day cruise. We'll get to all of that when we look at tomorrow's headlines, but first we need to talk about Malcolm Turnbull. Last week, Malcolm Turnbull slammed Donald Trump, comparing him unfavorably
to the Chinese dictator e Jujingping. This week, Malcolm Turnbull, the former Prime Minister, was slamming the Orcust deal, describing it as terrible and unfair.
Orcus is a terrible deal.
It is so unfair to Australia and the reason it is unfair is that we are paying three billion US dollars to the Americans to support their submarine industrial base, but we have no guarantee that we will ever get any submarines. People say, do will Donald Trump like it? Well, of course he'd like it. It's such a bad deal for us. Will He's only thinking, he'd be back of his mind. He'll be thinking, who are these dumb guys that agreed to this deal?
So it seems to me there's two issues here. First and foremost is Malcolm Turnbull right? It is true we're paying three billion dollars upfront to the US without any guarantee that will ever get any submarine in return. And if that happens, where does that leave our national defense? The second issue, of course, is why is Malcolm Turnbull suddenly omnipresent? I mean, you see more of Melk Turnbull than Eddie McGuire these days.
That's I'm going to Eddie.
Are his unsolicited interjections in the political scene damaging our already strained relations with our major ally, Joe, how about it?
Which issue do you want to address first?
Is he right?
So many No, he's not right? And someone like Malcolm Turnbull was just you know again, I used to think there was just so much potential in that bloke, and like everyone else I was.
Everyone in the Labor Party thought, yeah, we thought he was one of us.
Everyone long for the leather jacket, they loved that.
Yeah, that's right. Okay. Firstly, the Orcust Deal is not really about submarines, and anyone who can't see that from space has no business being in politics, let alone commentating
on foreign affairs and geostrategic matters. The Orcust Deal is about locking Australia and the US in a strategic military defense alliance that basically is the sort of hardware around the ANSAs Treaty, and to making sure that no matter what happens in our region, America is obliged, not just because of the Anzis Treaty that it's already signed, or indeed because of the Orgestrae it's ally time, but because it is in it up to its neck, because its stuff is on the line, much like if it was
digging up rare earth in Ukraine, for example, that it will have to come to our aid. And it's all the more important now because we have a superpower on the rise in China, and that is potentially hopefully not, but that is potentially a real strategic risk if, for example, it tries to block access to the South China Sea or you know, re invade or you re absorb Taiwan into it, and that sparks the sort of regional conflict that Australia by sort of domino effect could get involved in.
It.
We need America on our side, our back.
It's not really, it's more than it's only are it gets so well.
The submarines are symbolic if you like, like hopefully we will get the subs and I can guarantee you they will be late and over budget. But the point is it puts US. It makes the fate of US, our military and the US's military inextricably intertwined over a very very long period of time. And that's what matters. We are not going to be relying on these submarines if and when they ever come to defeat China or take on China, or defend ourselves against China on their own.
We are going to be defending on America. And the best way you get America to act is when it's also in its own self interest. And speaking of self interest, Malcolm Turnbull is of course the guy who did the previous substeal with the French government, which again, if it was just submarines might look better on paper, maybe we get more for our money, and maybe we get them sooner. But it's not just about submarines. And anyone who can't
see that isn't seeing the forest for the trees. And what are the French going to do if China suddenly gets belligerent and aggressive towards Australia, Well, they will make sure that they come right here in the region right now and officially surrender on Australia's behalf, because that's all the frogs already got at. And they've been screwing things up for years. They screwed up the situation in Indo China. They screwed up when they said the Emperor Maximilian over
to Mexico to become the last Emperor of Mexico. They screwed up in the Napoleonic Wars. These guys are just hopeless. What happens when they know what happens when the Germans rock up and imparasitor.
Speaking of screwing up Liz is Malcolm Turnbull screwing up ol flimsy relationship.
No, no, not at all.
Look, he has a point in that it's very unlikely we're going to get these subs because the deal says America is only giving us these three subs if and when it doesn't cost them with regard to their own naval capacity. Now, subs are the most expensive and important asset the Americans have, indeed any military has.
When you're talking about subs.
You're talking about the Apex predator. If you have subs, you're doing incredibly well for yourself.
So we're not doing well for ourselves.
At all, which is why we need these guys. But they're currently twenty sub short in America of the amount of subs that they want. So when you think of how many subs they've got to get up and running before they've.
Got three Sparez's that they're going to be like Australia. We've got those three.
That's not going to cost us our naval capacity.
That's probably never going to happen.
But for the exact reasons that Joe has just elucidated on, this is very important. We would agree to anything that the Yanks want.
Why because they are the biggest military power on Earth just ahead.
Of Russia, followed by China, and those two have been driven into each other's arms in recent years. So our alliance, our friendship with the Yanks is more important now than ever before. If you would sign anything, even if it meant we got nothing except for the understanding that if we say yes to this, you guys are going to come for us, right like, if we need you, you're going to be there.
Do you think that the Albanezer government really believed that, because if they did, surely they would lift defense spending to the three percent of GDP that Trump wants. Instead of promising what they say, they lift it from about two percent to two point three percent, which is I think about one hundred billion dollars extra over that period. But it's hardly the three percent that Trump says should be a minimum for any country that isn't an alliance with the United States.
I would say it's because they know the Yanks will come to our rescue that they're like, you know what, if we raise it by a few point percentages more, what difference is it really going to make in the
big scheme of things. We will still be wholly and solely reliable on America in the event of any kind of squabble with the powers that be, and of course geographically we're way closer to China, will be the first oh when something bad goes wrong, should they decide to flex, and again, all eyes will be on America, not US as a middle power, especially with the capability.
Or lack there of, of our military at the moment. That's simple.
Well, I'll tell you one thing that Anthey Albanez he wishes he had, and that was Donald Trump's approval ratings after just three months. Donald Trump is doing quite well. In fact, he's the most popular he's ever been. His USU's describing exactly where he's at.
Let's just start with Trump himself. That forty seven percent job approval reading. Two ways of looking at this. First of all, if you compare Trump to every recent president this point after coming into office, Trump's number here is the lowest, significantly the lowest of any of his modern predecessors except Donald Trump in his first term. He was at forty percent at this point in twenty seventeen.
So Donald Trump is beating himself, which is quite an accomplishment. The interesting part about these polls, there's a lot will go through in a moment. But ninety percent of Republicans approve of Donald Trump's performance, only four percent of Democrats approve of Trump's performance. Now, you might say, well, that's obvious, but that's the largest gap in approval of a president between Republicans and Democrats in close to one hundred years.
Joe.
It just goes to show how incredibly divided America still is, even though a lot of Americans do believe for the first time, well more Americans than in the past twenty years now believe America's on the right track, but still an incredibly divided nation.
Yeah, it's incredibly divided. And also, I think that figure kind of comes on the back of America for the first time in the kind of in the sort of mid twenty tens, twenty twenties, actually suddenly starting to doubt itself and suddenly think, hang on, maybe we are a washed up souperer. Maybe our best days behind us. And remember, you know, we had the American Century in the twentieth century, but America has only been a global superpower for about
one hundred years. You look at places like you know, China, it's been thousands in their sphere of influence and in some ways or you know ten. So I think that's the first thing to look at. The second thing is the guy's absolutely right. You can only compare Donald Trump with Donald Trump because everything else is that apples without apples with oranges, because he's so different to every other former president that the normal sort of rules don't apply.
And the reason why more people will disapprove of him, even though he's just won this massive landslide election including both Houses of Congress, is because the people who approve of Donald Trump really really really really really approve of him, and they will go and get out to vote for him, where you'd have a whole bunch of people, including registered voters, will say yeah, I don't approve on him, and then go and you know, smoke another bomb on the couch
or whatever it is they do. But this guy electrifies people and gets out the vote. Interestingly, the only thing he's got a mega net approval rating in terms of issues is border security and immigration, which just goes to show how stupid the Democrats were to open the floodgates again. Especially they didn't have to do anything. All they had to do is say, oh, well, Donald Trump's built the wall, shut the gate. We'll just keep it shut and then you know, bitch and marn about it a little bit.
But basically because that is what any like if labor got that. Well, again, they didn't exactly do that twenty seven, but they learned pretty quickly. You just let the Libs and the Coalition the right do all the tough on popular stuff that you secretly want to do, and say, well, they did it, and now we can't really undo it, and then talk about something else like health and education.
When it comes to the war between Russia and Ukraine, you have the equal biggest difference exactly the same as inflation of the cost of living fifty five to forty two who actually think that Donald Trump is doing the wrong thing. So if you think about what he's doing on tariffs, which we've set off a lot of alarm bells, that obviously feeds directly into inflation because it makes American
imports expensive in America. And if you look out, of course, where the mainstream sits on Ukraine, clearly overwhelmingly it is pro Ukraine and in opposition to Donald Trump's position. So there you go, America.
I hope you're watching I would have thought a forty seven percent approval rating after just three months, Liz, when effectively, what he's doing now is trying to undo all of the garbage that the Biden administration thrust upon the United States. And if you've ever done a home renovation, it always
looks worse before it gets better. So if Trump is going this well compared to his previous term after just three months, I reckon if you check back in a year after he's made good progress undoing all the stuff he wants to undo before he can start implementing his full agenda, he's doing quite well.
Yeah. Look, it's an early judgment call.
I mean, these are very very early days of this new Trump administration, but a lot of the headlines that we're seeing coming out of America singing the guy's praises.
And I've always been pretty outspoken in my support of Trump, but as someone who I would consider a Trumper, I've been disappointed by quite a few things that the admin has done so far, most noticeably passing a continuing resolution last week, which meant that they were going to keep up the same spending levels as the Biden administration until September at least at which point they could just pass.
Another see R.
So all these headlines that we've been talking about dose covering all this ridiculous government corruption and these insane expenditures, and we're laughing and saying, oh, they're going to pack it in.
Yes, this is awesome.
They just agreed to keep spending the same amount of money to keep funding who knows where the funding is going now, but the same amount. And that's after they campaigned months and months and months.
Saying, oh, we're going to cut government spending. This has gone effect inflation. You're going to see these numbers.
Really, No, No, you just passed a continuing resolution. And let's be clear, because it was such a comprehensive election outcome, the Republicans now control the House and the Senate, there is absolutely no excuse for any promises that were made prior to the election simply not being delivered on. So while everyone in the States and indeed US have been harping on about these great wins and we're slashing usaid, eighty three percent of their programs are now out the window.
For me, the Continuing.
Resolution past last week literally blew my mind.
And then what does Trump do?
He attacks the one senator who had the gonads to call out the hypocrisy and say, hang on a minute. You promised us one thing and you guys are doing another. And laughably, it was the Dems that got it across the line.
Ten Dems voted.
With the Republicans to get it across the line in the Senate.
It's not a red flag, you guys.
So there's quite a few promises that conservatives are going.
Hang on the.
JFK files, you promised us. They still haven't got those. The Epstein files, you promise us, still haven't got those.
What happened?
Indeed, we'd love to note this ridiculous, outlandish declaration that ethnic cleansing of a territory is perfectly fine in the case of Gaza. Apparently it's okay when we do it. Given him coming out last week as the Trump administration and condemning the carnage that we're now seeing in Syria, Oh we condemned this, but we have him on tape.
We played that for you Thursday of last week.
If you were watching, condemning the fact that the US was funding these terrorists in the lead up to toppling the Assad regime, which they wanted to do forever. Now those terrorists are killing all in Sundry. If you're a Christian or an Alloyite in Syria.
And all which condemn that, Mate, you know.
Exactly where those Terrrians came from them.
Both of those I could go on same time.
But while Trump might have his faults, the Democrats are favor Their favorability rating Joe is twenty seven percent, the lowest it's ever been all of history, in.
All of every homon time in their history.
So Democrats don't know how to respond to Trump at all. We saw during his address to the Joint House of Congress that they're holding up signs just jeticy. They're refusing to stand even for a kid who's overcome brain cancer.
No wonder. Their favorability rating is the lowest it's ever been.
But they still they just still do not understand what's going on. Lord, you give them eyes, and yet they do not see. They just have no they cannot get their heads around what has happened. And you saw just a tiny bit of sort of the scales sort of peeling back from their eyes a little bit on election night after they were completely blind slid sided by this massive result, and everyone there was a bit of introspections like how did we miss all this? Where did we
go so wrong? You know, Joe Scarborough went to Mari Lago and even met with Donald Trump, And there is there is a bit of soul search in the Democrats, but again they still just sort of go to the default position. It's like a Pavlovian response. You know, someone rings the bell and they start drooling again. And there is an interesting thing last week there was apparently there's a group of moderate Democrats who who went away on this sort of big sort of retreats, say right, what
do we do? What do we do? And We've got to get back to the community. We've got to stop looking like we hate America. We've got to start being more patriotic. We've got to start going to where the community is, going to gun shows, heaven forbid, and talking to real people there and saying, you know, why do
patriotic Americans hate us so much? And then you get polling like this, and I think it found that the the most popular candidate among respondents to be the next kind of candidate for presidents was AOC left Tim Waltz. So it doesn't give that's right, so you know it's just insane. I mean, it should be Tulsy Gabbard, but unfortunately she's already left the building.
Well, no matter what you say about the Democrats in the US, it doesn't get much better here in Australia.
Of course, Jim Charmers is preparing.
To give a budget update in March, and I think we've heard what he's going to be saying when he gives that address, A cyclone ate my homework.
Treasury expects there will be about a one point two billion dollar hit to economic output just as a consequence of xtc Alfred. That's about a quarter of a percentage point in GDP.
Of course, the Opposition Treasurer Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor called Jim Charmers out with the obvious.
If you've got a government that's been managing its budget can absorb these sort of things, it has the shock absorbers built into its budget and into the economy where it can absorb it. And the truth is that we've got Jim Chalmers out there looking for another excuse for why he is failing as treasurer.
This.
No one is seriously going to buy this, are they.
I mean, we are old enough to remember when Jim Chalmers was blaming the Middle East. Then it was Vladimir Putin. Now it's cyclone, Alfred. No one is going to believe this. In fact, everyone just wants a government that will be accountable and take responsibility, like Anthony ELBINIZI promised only three short years ago.
A cyclone.
Really, yeah, angus sailor is quite right. I mean it's very timely. Can you imagine if your lady you're like, yes me, I mean this he isn't.
This is a natural disaster.
This was how could we have budgeted for this? There's going to be a whole I mean is perfect timing for them, given of course, now the election is being called later than we suspect they anticipated two said cyclone, and they do have to come up with another budget.
It's funny because Anthony Alberanzi race to Queensland, right, so he could be on the spot in this category ten cyclone.
A true leader, like a strong leader, and I reckon.
Everyone was relieved that it wasn't any more than a category two to a category one. Other than Anthony Albanzi, he probably would have liked a real disaster to demonstrate his leadership. Capabilities. But Jim Chalmers is prepared to get as much out of this cyclone as he possibly.
Yeah, good on him for it. I mean, look, the truth is that the budget would be in trouble no matter who was running it. The only reason that it was in surplus for the previous two years was because they basically changed the way that the surfaces and deficits were calculated. So again, they got lucky, and that's good. And ninety nine percent of what governments do is get lucky and they take the credit for it, and then they get unlucky and they blame someone else for it, and that's just politics.
But I've been worse than unlucky though.
I mean the amount of spending they have announced just in the last couple of months. I think it's like six point three dollars in nets spending on the lead.
Up to the election. I totally get meant to be fighting inflation.
Yeah, that's right, And I can completely understand how if you're an economic dry or if you're on the conservative side of politics, say, listen, this flation, this spending is going to be inflationary, and it will mean that inflation stays higher for longer. And we've got a cut, cut, cut, cut, cut spending, and that is totally valid, but that does mean an awful lot of people on the scrap heap and a lot of people who won't be able to kind of, you know, last out the winter, if you like,
the economic winter, until they see the sunshine. And labor is obviously going to take a more sort of compassionate view, and it is obviously going to make sure that people do have things like the free childcare or the energy rebates, or the pressing for the higher minimum wage or you know, higher wage deals in sectors like age care and stuff
like that to recruit more people. So I mean that's just kind of like two, Yes, the price you pay for that might be slightly higher, stick hear inflation for longer, but it means that more people survive that survive that sort of darkness. But what I do really like about Jim Chalmers's speech is he calls Tropical Cyclone out look because it's former Tropical Psycho. He calls it XTC for Extra ex Tropicals. I got off and I'm pretty sure that XTC was a house band in the nineteen nineties.
Is it ecstasy ecstasy textas exit. I'm sure it was or something like anyway, I was emf was another one anyway, but it just sounded so sounded so funky. It was the greatest.
Aren't bash Labor for this because if it was a liberal government, they'd be doing it exactly.
They are doing the same.
I mean, don't waste the crisis. Isn't that politics? One oh one?
Any government would be like, look, we just had a cyclone, so everything's out of whack right now. To Queensland now, where a new poll shows that the Greens are looking at a wipe out.
Yeah, we dream say it is. So check this out. In the seat of Brisbane in.
Twenty twenty two, they held a twenty seven point two percent vote. It's looking like if this pole can be believed, that is around eighteen point what check out that nose dive to the seat of Griffith, which they currently hold at the moment. The Greens are looking at another nose dive, not as severe, but it would still cost them the seat well questionably if the Libs can edge above them here from thirty four point six percent to thirty one
point three percent. And in Ryan they're also looking at a loss going from.
Again, if this pole if this dream is going to come true.
From thirty point two percent to twenty seven point four percent.
Not all of.
Those are huge, but as we know, in this game, all it takes is a handful of votes.
Really on all these in these three corner contests between the Greens of Libra and the Libs, all that matters is the order in which the parties get knocked out and where those preferences flow. So in this car the big difference is that Liberals are putting the Greens last, so as long as the so if it becomes a contest between Labor and the Greens, if the Libs go out first, all their preferences, if people follow how to vote,
go to the Labor Party. The problem though, is that the people the votes that are going from the Greens and make of this what you will, are not going to the Labor Party. It's usually a pox on both your houses. With the exception of Brisbane, which is pretty much still the same, these votes are going elsewhere. So in Brisbane all these votes are going to Independence.
So there's an indivis nine points.
Independent running there has just picked up all all that, So wherever their preferences go will determine it and obviously this new outfit Insightfully which has done it as commissioned by Advance, which I think you see it for. This is a new, a new outfit that is founded by an ex employee of Crosby Texter, So I'm not I don't know how reliable. Six hundred people per seed, which is pretty high for just one electric but anyway, it'd
be interesting to see how that goes out. But I know that Labour reckoned that they might be able to pick up Brisbane, but this polling shows it's fifty three point or fifty three thereabouts to the Libs. And then Griffith again, similar story. You know, the labor drops, you know the Greens drop too, from thirty four to thirty
one and over three percent. This is Max Chandler Matho, who's the most insufferable Green of them all, the housing guy who you know says that everyone else has to provide free housing for and won't approve any new projects in his electorate. And again Labour's vote is also going down by the Libs are going up. So if that goes to anywhere, And this is Kevin ruddsold seat. This was held by Terry Butler and she wasn't meant to lose it at the last election where there was a
big landslide Loberes. I don't know what she was doing there.
We will not be surprised that the Greens are losing ground. I mean Elizabeth Watson Brown in the seat of Ryan famously refused to fly the Australian flag in her Electric office and then when the war memorial was graffited, she refused to condemn it. So you know, people who might have voted Greens because they were under the illusion. I'm not sure why anyone would be under the illusion to this day that the Greens are all about the environment,
but very clearly they're anti Australia. They're not about the environment at all, and people are awake to it. If they lose these three seats in Queens and that leaves them in the Lower House with Adam Bant, so they're dreams of being kingmakers and power brokers after the election are started.
Spoiler alert. Same polling found that the Greens, and this is unbelievable given that McNamara is home to probably the biggest Jewish population in Melbourne. The Greens might actually pick up McNamara off labor so that's why I'm a just a bit I'm sounding like Anthony Green.
Now, why would one of the largest Jewish populations vote for Green.
This is why this polling seems to be painting two different pictures. Now we know that we know that labor, we know that Victoria is just a different country, and Victoria is almost structurally left wing. But again, all the Greens have to do is get ahead of liberal So I get ahead of labor, and then if the labor preference preferences knock out and flow to the Greens. So if liberal if Liberal outpolls labor, this is why it's weird.
So if liberal outpolls labor and labor and the Greens and the liber and the Greens are the too top and labor drops out, which is which is how it could happen, is how it happened last time around, because so they get a third each weelve. If labor just falls thort of that third drops out, its preferences will then probably flow to the Greens, not as much as the Green flow to labor, but a bit, and that will be enough to push the Greens over the top of the lips. So it's bonkers.
It really is and because we know that we're looking at potentially labor minority government, in which case they're going to have to choose bedfellows.
It is very interesting.
Although I don't know about I'm not a big believer in poles.
I really we've been shocked in the past.
That's right. Again, this is so different to a pole where it's just red versus blue, or because you have to because how people preference will make all the difference. So it's not just where someone's first preference is and how the rest split. It's it's it's who.
Yeah.
So again I'm just going to stop talking now, but.
It's well, it's something that gets all of our blood boiling. The extortionate cost of parking at a hospital.
I don't know about you, but this gets my goat.
Here are people in some of the most vulnerable positions in their lives.
They're visiting at an airport. Ones at an airport.
Which is even this is airport parking. Oh well, but again people are in a very vulnerable position at the airport. I know, I'll to hospital. I've been to hospitals and airports.
Hospitals I don't think they should charge at all, but airports I mean, who is taking that for a ride? Who's like, I'm just going to park here for ages, for laughs. Nobody, nobody's hanging out at an airport for fun. And you will not believe the amount of money they are making office just because we want to scooch in greet our loved ones or see them off in a tearful Farewell, get this.
Brisbane airport mage the most.
This is just twenty twenty four financial year profits. They earned one hundred and thirteen point four million.
With a seventy six point six profit margin.
Melbourne is in second place with one hundred and eight point one million dollar profit. Sydney had the highest hourly fee at twenty three sixty, which is probably why they weren't in the two because nobody's insane enough.
To pay the park there.
And Melbourne and Brisbane reduced spaces oh my gosh, while Perth and Sydney added more. This is just absolutely extortionate. I don't think there's a singular defensive. No one's taking the mix camping out at airports just for fun.
In defense of Sydney, they did, as you say, charged the most expensive thing. I saw the finishally thought, oh that's disappointing. Surely Sydney is the most shamelessly profiteering airport in the country, and indeed it is. You'll be relieved now, it's just that they don't have as much because they're really small airport, they don't have as much space. But what the space they do have they're really squeezing over.
Well it shows you how good the Brisbane Airport is.
I mean they've reduced spaces and I still made the greatest profit on car parking spaces, which add on it informs us all that airports are really they're just glorified car parking businesses, really indeed making an incredible amount of money, a seventy six point six percent profit margin. Name another business in this country that has such a high profit.
I want some shares, like what are these going for?
I mean this report was done by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, and of course the issue is that there's no competition at all when it comes to parking at your airport, so even even the cost of parking I did laugh at this was being criticized by representatives of the airlines, whether Virgin or Quantus, and you know when Quantus are criticizing the costs of airports that extorted.
Although I mean to be fair, you know, like you say, there's no competition, like Melbourne came in second with one hundred and eight million. But you know again, if you don't want to pay the cost of parking at the airport, just take the train.
Well, and maybe that's why there is no pla airport because it's certainly not been the interests of Melbourne.
Support the Labor government.
Where broad Meadows and then maybe it'll sur scenic tour. That's what I could see all of Melbourne before you leave, just to know, remember what Cranburn looks like.
I mean I used to take the car and you'd park at the airport. Then I got wise to that and found a parking place a little bit out of the airport, so you'd park there and then get an uber that was cheaper. And of course then you realized, you know, with the Metro and the rail, might as well just do that. Indeed, it's not as comfortable, but you save a lot of money. That's how Sydney works.
But I reckon you're right about Melbourne. Why would they ever support a rail link when they're making so much money from.
Park and I reckon the franchise is because there's Sydney Airport. You've got a Macer's right there, You've got a KFC right there, You've got a Krispy Kreme right there. So people pull in and they'll be like texting whoever there to pick up or whatever, being like oh another fifteen Oh okay, yeah, no worries, and they camp out in the car parts of those franchises that then make a buck because everyone's like, that's what I used to do.
On the Tullamarine Freeway leading up into Melbourne. Now there's just nothing but signs saying you are not allowed to put your guy, start to the car park and pay what is it, fifteen dollars. That's actually pretty good.
Good on your Melbourne well, I mean the Brisbane Airport used to park. I remember years ago. You'd park on the side of the road, you know that leads up to the terminal and you just wait there for fifteen minutes if you were just sweating on someone arriving. Then all of a sudden there's no parking signs appeared, I'm sure because it was just unsafe.
Of course, there was another.
You suggest it was revenue raising for good, a man of religion and peace, maybe for Zoyacore.
Great.
We've been talking the last week about more revelations read the effects of COVID and lockdowns and so on and so forth. But there's another story that's been brewing, and that is just what spy agencies knew and told their governments about the origin of COVID nineteen as early as February and March twenty twenty. Reports today that I six told Boris Johnson's UK government in March that they were pretty sure the virus had resulted from a lab leak.
But the Lord Patrick Valance, he was a science minister and the chief science advisor to Boris Johnson, appeared in most of the press conferences when they were talking about what action they would take to mitigate COVID. He was suppressing that report out fear of offending the Chinese, fear of besmirching the endeavor of science, but more sinisterly jeopardizing funding for scientific research.
And it's not just MI six.
German spy agencies told the German government, but they kept it quiet. And of course we know that the US government were aware of a Lablik as well. But there was that famous teleconference, Liz where Tony Anthony Fauci got together with some of his associates from around the world. They agreed an article would be written saying there was no credence to a Lablik.
After that, it pretty.
Much became impossible to suggest the lablique without being condemned as a conspiracy theorist and written off. But now it's all starting to come out that all the spy agencies were telling their governments this is what it is, and their governments just chose to suppress it.
I mean, lies upon lies upon lies. They knew and they kept it from you. Why well, I could do an hour long monologue on that without drawing breath. But in terms of this particular story, no one's put it better than Michael Schellenberger, independent journo. He tweeted, the former head of the UK's Foreign intelligence agency m I six is really spelling it out for us.
Here told Boris.
Johnson in early twenty twenty that the COVID virus escaped from the Wuhan lab. That means that the US, the UK, Chinese and German governments all knew the truth, covered it up and spread disinformation.
Closed.
To be clear, the MI six documents said, it is now bit quote, it is now beyond reasonable doubt that COVID nineteen was engineered in the Wuhan Institute of Virology. I mean, my goodness, poor Sharry didn't even need to write the book if only these flogs had just coughed up the facts when they knew them.
No, it took how many years has it been? Now it's five.
Years after this fact and they are exposed for the liars that they are.
Trust the experts.
They said, well, if you're anything like me, you never did not for a minute.
Although I think about all the royalties that Sharry would have missed out on if they had to come out with this in twenty twenty. It's because no one's thinking of Shari in this scenario. It's a very good arment, but it is just staggering. And the group think during COVID was just one of the ultimate just sort of
mass collective shames on broken ground. It was just terrible and just the sheer, fearful, panic driven decision making and then the gas lighter say, okay, we've all agreed to this decision and now we're just all going to go off and do something completely different to what we've announced we're going to do, and no one is allowed to question that. I mean, and of course Tomi mites.
Later all this information comes out, those responsible are now out of office.
Everybody will just move.
On, So let's never speak of it again. Like a cup of tea.
Wouldn't that be great?
Coming up, we'll look at tomorrow's headlines, including Federal Labor deletes evidence of their emissions modeling as they look increasingly unlikely to meet any of their emission's targets.
But first, here's a quick word from Liz.
Last Tuesday, The Late Debate featured a story about the unveiling of a statue of a Hindu god at the Hindu temple in Kevin's Creek, New South Wowes as part of a broader discussion about multiculturalism in Australia. During that discussion, I made some remarks that some viewers found offensive. I sincerely apologize to those viewers and want to acknowledge the contribution made by immigrants to Australia over many years, including the valuable role played by the Indian community. While issues
such as multiculturalism are important subjects for debate. I want to stress my belief that racism has no place in Australia.
Welcome back.
Let's take a look at what's making headlines intomorrow's papers. The Herald Sun has the Liberal Opposition shooting themselves in the foot. Vic Libb's fury as leader goes a wall in crime crisis to visit cyclone hit parents and spend four nights living it up on the high seas.
I guess they would have been high seas.
If he was visiting low seeds, there would have been no problem.
But the high series cruise Control reads the headlines.
State Opposition leader Brad Baton is facing a party backlash after claiming he was visiting a cyclone affected family as Victoria's crime us are spoiled over, but now admitting he also took a four night cruise.
I don't know.
The Victorian Liberal Party are doing pretty well. Just Siner Allen is in all kinds of trouble, performing backflips nearly every week, and the Victorian Libs want to unleash fury at their leader. This is something surely you just deal with quietly, but.
Surely you don't go on the cruise in the middle of a there's been a problem, but there's been a crime crisis in Victoria for the last time. Use the natural disaster for going on, for getting away from that. The problem is that somewhere in the Victorian Liberal Party is this incredibly large red self destruct button just can't stop hitting. It's like I'm trying to blow myself up. They're like a political sort of suicide bomb. It's like, oh, look, we're doing quite well, so you've.
Got your sin to alan in the middle of a crime crisis. She's fumbling her way through it. And now the Victorian Liberals make it all about themselves. And if he did go on a cruise after visiting his pair of honestly.
Who cares?
The goal is take government, not hold their leader accountable for did he go on a cruise after visiting his mum and dad.
We'd rather like to think that our leaders do have a scare of integrity though, And it's headlines like these that can you imagine being PURSUITO Now, he'd be like, how do you are back?
Men?
Ash?
Probably I'm just gonna make myself look good while I still can to the front page of.
The Daily Telling.
Now.
Compo claims go mental calling time on rampant psychological injury payouts and explosion in workers' compensation claims for psychological injuries is costing two point four.
Billion a year.
That's not million, that's billion a year, making the system unsustainable. New South Wales Treasurer Daniel Mooki has warned announcing an major crackdown is on the way.
How do you crack down on psychological injuries? Well, I feel like, you know what, we've been too generous.
It's shrinking the spectrum.
It's making, it's making and it is very hard and that's why, like workers in New South but I swear to God, there's been a problem since forever and a day. It is constantly exploding, and it constantly gets broaden out and broaden out and broaden out to include more and more things like the NDAs or whatever. So the trick is to obviously you want to make sure that the people with real mental injuries and psychological injuries are taken care of, but.
You also want to make it bullying.
You're also to make sure that's the thing.
The number of psychological claims has increased, it three times the rate of physical other clorcus compensation claims. And workers compensation premiums in New South Wales, called chris Men's have gone up eighty percent in the past four years.
So the government's got.
To do you get to pay them employe or not people? Well, I don't have any employees, so I don't think so.
But I am just a thing, And so Chrispin said.
People are claiming for stress, for burnout, for bullying, for harassment, for poor support, and primarily the growth is among younger staff members.
Yeah, flake generation.
But yeah, we can guess what one of those. Something about the prevalence of it.
I would categorize as a psychological injury, like your feelings are hurt, You're.
Probably feeling treasurer shares your sentiments.
Indeed, indeed, I mean it should be cracked down on. And good on them for doing something we clearly needed.
See another endorsement of the men's Labor government by Liz Story. You heard it here first on the late debate to the odds now and a couple of really interesting yarns. First one Higgins scapegoat sues Feds by Ellie Dudley, who is all over this story like a cheap search. He's amazing. Political staffer Fiona Brown, who claims she was made to take the fall for the Morrison government in the wake of Britney Higgs rape allegations, has lodged a fair work
case against the Commonwealth. Ms Brown, former chief of staff to Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds, filed documents in a federal court claim in the New South Wales Registry last week citing a quote breach of general protections. A legal team led by barrister Dominic Horn, Hogan, Dora and sc seeking to have elements of key documents suppressed, claiming a non publication order is necessary quote to protect the safety of
any person. So there you have it. Fiona Brown, the former chief of staff of a former defense minister Linda Reynolds, is taking the government to court to see in the pace this story just keeps on keeping on. It is phenomenal.
Just I cannot remember a time before this saga began.
Yeah, I think it started before I was born and I'm sure it will go on to af drive. The other story on the front page is dude, whar's my carbon policy off target? ALP scrubs evidence? So that's actually a TYPEO is Australian Labor Party takes perfectly sensible precautions to remove problematic former policies from the publicly available material.
It's cal damage control.
We all know, Greg Brown, another great reporter, Labor will fail to meet key targets from the energy policy it took to the twenty twenty two election. Energy experts say after the party removed a link to the modeling from its website that underpins its pledge to lower carbon emissions by forty three percent of two thousand and five levels by twenty thirty. So basically you just take away it's just like it never happened. Indeedes are not the droids you're looking for.
Jim Chalmers was is today would the government commit in another term to lowering energy prices? And of course that promise was repeated ninety seven times prior to winning the last election. Jim Charmers client to say that they would promise prices would come down. Surely if they have another three years with all the renewables they're pumping into the system, as Chris Bowen tells us, is the answer. They could say, look, we promised, just give us three more years, prices will
come down. But they're not even confident enough to say that and it goes to.
Show that they two have admitted defeat by taking this down off the website.
They want people to forget.
That they ever made these outlandish promises, which every energy expert or corporation in the country has said for a couple of years. Now these are pie in the sky. There's absolutely no way we can make them. So they're trying to wipe the.
SAT slate clean, remove all the evidence. And what better than should remove it.
You take the link for the website off your site, and then it becomes news.
You just left it there, we wouldn't be.
Talking about it, but in trying to hide it, it becomes front page of the Australian.
Yeah, and I think I'm sorry. They're just the lesson. Here is a modeling. How good is modeling? Molly will take it anything you wanted to tell you and be that. All these kind of You've got so many sort of cheerleaders saying, oh, yes, we can do this, we can do this, we can change the world, all based on the assumption that absolutely everybody works together in complete harmony and nothing goes wrong. That is not the way things work in the real world.
It's not the way it works we're going to go to a break.
When we come back, a four year old toddler rings nine one one, waiting we hear the crime.
That this kid was reporting. That's coming up in a moment. Well, it's a parent.
I always thought it was a good idea, is to teach your kids how to make an emergency phone call just in case. Maybe it's not such a good idea after.
All, not for this four year old in Wisconsin. When I was a kid, I used to threaten.
My parents that I would call the police for their liberal use of corporal punishment. This kid, he witnessed a crime and he wanted to.
Make sure that justice would be done. This is what ensued. I, Oh, it's the police. They came for real to jail. Why do you want mommy to go to jail.
Because I because imagine me?
Why should be in bad to you? Because yours? Because you didn't get ice cream? Yet?
I didn't get ice cream.
So is there why you're upset?
Yeah, that's why I did.
So no calling nine one one unless it's a real emergency. Okay, mommy has to go to jail. He's like, what do you mean a real emergency? This is a real emergency.
My mom stopped my eyes grayed late. Lock her up, Lock her up too cute.
The police actually returned two days later with ice cream for the kids.
I mean it paid off in the end, Joe.
This is the thing they're sending the complete wrong message, the messages that crime doesn't pay. Piz.
He's going to be calling nine one one every other day now.
These young offenders, they just get younger and younger and younger. Lock him up, that's all you parents.
You know, you often talk about if looks could kill, and my mum had one of those looks. You know, real power is when you don't have to say anything, you just look at the person who has upset you.
Donald Trump has that power.
And when he was accidentally hit in the face by a reporter's microphone, Trump didn't need to say a word.
Mister president.
God, God, he just became a big story that I.
Had right, I reckon for that split second that reporter would have been absolutely terrified. And then Trump made light of it. He's a great performer, but I like the way he handled that.
Indeed, and that is the coolest way you can handle these kind of things. Just keep you cool, don't make a big deal out of it.
That is his that is how he operates.
I reckon it was on purpose there. I said it, good night everybody. My dad had to hit him in the face with the boom mics. This is for the Gulf of Mexico.
I think you're projecting, Joe. That's what you do.
That's all we've got time for tonight, stick around. Coming up is Therena Penny Show.
Good Night,