Welcome to the late debate.
Dear me, it sounds like golden is colder than an impromptu meeting with your ex. And I should say filling in for me who I am filling in for James person, Happy birthday.
Thank you very much, terbye, and it's great tonight by forty ninth, although not according to my mother who just messaged me wishing me a happy fifty year. Fantastic kind of figure. If anyone should know, it should be her.
She's well, I know, but she's just getting in a year early. So so don't don't get involved in the efficiency. And of course Freili joints us as always on the program, plenty to get into and discuss with the biggest story in the world. Of course we'll get into all of that in a moment. We're too now for the US for Israel for a round in the papers, one state is backing down on its plan to ban you from
having a gas hetera hooray. Will tell you where that is soon, and later in the program our Dope of the Day, I'll.
Give you a little bit of a tip.
If you're going to steal a car, perhaps don't fall asleep in it and let the coppers catch you in the vehicle now as we go to air tonight. The latest news we have out of Israel and Iran is that Israel has launched a number of attacks this evening on Iran. They've included the Evan Prison. They've also hit a number of other targets, including airports you can see
on the screen. They're a statement from the IDF, this was two hours ago, saying that they've struck six regime airports across western, central, and eastern Iran during runways, underground hangars, refueling aircraft F fourteen, F five and AH one aircraft. That destroyed aircraft were meant to stop AIF jets. The AIF impaired takeoff capabilities from these airports, as well as the Iranian military's ability to operate its air force from them.
And a statement we have just moments ago from Israel Defense Minister Israel Kat saying that the IDF is currently striking with unprecedented force. Says regime targets and governmental repression bodies in the heart of Tehran. They include the Bassis headquarters, the Evan Prison for political prisoners, which is in Tehran,
an area of Tehran, and regime opponents. They've hit the destruction of israel klock in Palestine Square, which had been there since twenty seventeen, the internal security headquarters of the Revolutionary Guards, the ideology headquarters, and other regime targets. So if there's any more to tell you, we will as
the night wears on. But that's the latest out of Israel and Iran, So of course no end to what is going on there, and plenty more to come, and that will be the question now is where do Iran go from here? Having now been attacked by the US in that extraordinary attack. Of course you saw yesterday one hundred and twenty five US aircraft involved in that bunker busting effort, hitting three nuclear enrichment sites. So for Iran they have to decide now how they react.
In some way, they have to react.
They have to retaliate, because of course it would be the end of the regime if they didn't retaliate in some ways, so they have to show some sign of strength. The question will be freyer though, what exactly do they hit and why? Because you've got the option perhaps of getting your mates who might be in the US, who terra cells, etc. To do something there or you could attack a US base in the Middle East, and there are many of them. I think we've got a map
we can show you on the screen here. But if they do that, the US is going to respond hammer and tolls. So they're stuck between a rock and a.
Hard place as to how they actually react to this.
For sure, Iran definitely has to respond because the domestic pressure they're under to save the regime is profound. Also, the Ayatoler is eighty six years old, he's almost at the end of his life. Inherent in their ideology is a glorification of martyrdom and a willingness to die for the Islamic regime.
That's the map, by the way, on screen of all the USA bases and military basis in the Middle East.
So they need to do something. They want to do something. The Iyetoler has consistently said, and he compromise with the West is opening the door to moral decay and will ultimately weake in Iran. So I think it's not a question of whether they do something, it's about what they do. As you said, they have a few options they have After the head of the IIGC was assassinated by the
US in twenty twenty. They did attempt a few high level assassinations on Mike Pompeo as one of the US officials they tried to target, but the US thwarted all of them, so I really do question them our ability to actually carry out such a high level assassination within the US. That seems less likely, although we have been warned of terracells being activated, so we'll see. In terms of the actions their proxies could take. Think Hamas Hezbla,
the Hooties, I mean Hezblah. Half of them don't have eyes, legs. After the page Or incident, they're still severely weakened. They've been put on notice by Israel and by the Lebanese government as well not to get involved. Ha Maas is useless. They're completely caught up fighting Israel and the Hooties have They can launch missiles, but against the US's air defense systems, they're basically powerless, so I don't think their proxies will
be much help. The last sort of option available to them is to shut off the Strait of Horn Moves. That would be obviously huge for the world. Twenty percent of our oil goes through there. But I don't know if that is going to have great consequences for them either. Because China is reliant for half of its oil coming from the Strait of Hormuz, China is a key backer
of Iran. Iran would not want to get them offside, and what it would also do is probably realign Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries closer with the West because they will see this as also hurting them. So when you look at the options available to Iran right now, basically every single one of them is a suicide mission in and of themselves, and that is kind of the position the regime is now in. They have no good options.
They've been completely annihilated by a country eighty times smaller than them in the space of about seven days, and the world overestimated how powerful they were.
Yeah, I think that's absolutely right.
Iran is utterly, utterly, utterly friendless. Like in terms of, you know, the geopolitical kid in the playground, Iran is the bully who everybody hates and who someone has now finally stood up to, and they've been found to be absolutely weak.
I think you're absolutely right. I was about saying myself and you nailed it.
Saying that it's actually not a matter of what the rate, assuming that the regime wants to survive, I think is the wrong assumption.
It's a matter of what.
Sort of.
Pain and damage and suffering is the regime capable of inflicting. Because this is an a scatological you know, this is a doomsday cult basically that's running around. It believes in a confrontation between you know, the prior and the infidels, and it wants that war. I mean, all that's been doing for its entire existence has been trying to provoke that war. It's now got it, and it basically wants
to an excuse to unleash you know. And again there is no prospect for the regime I don't think, really surviving.
In any meaningful way.
That all its proxies are screwed harmas has done the ir c G has, the Iranian military, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, all their leadership has been taken out, the head of intelligence has been taken out, all their air and missile capabilities, it seems pretty much have been severely crippled, their nuclear capability. If we're to believe the US, and there's no real
reason why you wouldn't. Has been completely destroyed, and everybody hates them, including that all their neighbors and their own people. I mean, this has had an Arabic leadership that rules over a Persian population with the most oppressive I mean the last thing Aaran did in relation to its restrictions on women was just last year. It ratcheted them up. It's not like it's just old fashioned. It's stone age
and it's staying there. It is stone age, and it is trying to get further back into the primordial swamp from where these people came from. So its own neighbors will turn on it at the slightest provocation, its own people will turn on it in the slightest provocation. It has the two smartest and biggest military forces respectively going after it in the form of Israel and the US.
And it's the only thing you could possibly.
Call an ally either the terrorist groups that it is the source of funding. So without Iran Hezbla and Amasa Evan Moore weaken or Russia, which is in the middle of suffering in the same way that Iran is from the same types of methods, from a smarter, more agile, and more technologically advanced opponent, and as a result of that,
Russia has no capacity to help out Iran. It's only other ally, it was Syria who's as the other sads just ended up in the sort of Colonel Gaddafies kind of situation, except I think they escape without this sort of the bayonet up the backside?
So where is where is Iran? And the other thing, sorry, one other thing. They say they're going to unleash this.
Reign of this wave of terror in response with what literally you and what I mean? All the terrorists Asunnis Isis, al Kaeder, jamais Lamia, Boko Haram, all these extremist terror at work.
They're all shoot is the only thing they hate more than the West?
Is there? Yeah? So the only people that could use are the people like the hoodies that they fund, right and you mentioned there.
Of course, the US is that they have destroyed their nuclear capabilities. It was interesting that the International Atomic Energy Agency said that there was no evidence of increased radiation at the sites that had been hit.
They may well, we don't know. They may well.
That is, Iran have removed some equipment and capabilities from those sites before they were struck. But even if that were the case, it certainly makes their job a lot more difficult now to create a nuclear bomb. So the question will become, do you now go health leather and destroy everything or do you basically keep them at bay? I mean, this was an effort to keep them at bay.
You could do that at four month intervals probably and just keep going down this line general Jack Keane, of course you will see every week here on the Bolt Report. He was on Fox News overnight US time about one pm today Australian time, talking about how Iran may react and what implication that might have for regime change.
Take a look.
They're not easy options to deal with, and certainly the regime survival may very well depend on the option they select.
So I think that the first option is he'd look at would be a symbolic strike and done for political reasons domestic audience, to convince people that they are there is some retribution, they're taking action, and therefore hopefully avoid being politically weakened internally where they would be susceptible to an overthrow, likely by hardliners who would be actually more hardline than the Iottal, which is kind of hard to get your head around because the iototal is about as
hardline diabolical as you can find. But that would be one.
Let's bring in yer Old Steinberg, Professor of Politics at Barolin University in Israel. Professor, thank you for joining us. So the question now of a regime change, and the point that General Kane raises there is that if you do change the regime, you could end up with something even worse.
What's your tech.
Well, first of all, we're in new, uncharted territory. This regime has been in charge of Iran for over forty five years. It's been a regime of hell, a regime of terror. They built this ring of fire that said arc. Your guests before talked about that. That's all gone now and they really don't know what to do. It's hard to predict where they're going to go or how they're going to react. If they are willing to risk the regime completely, they may lash out, but there are alternatives.
I'm less pessimistic than the way you put it, in the way a.
Lot of people do, because that's really if you say that there's a chance of a worse regime coming up, you do nothing, and then you don't open up the opportunity for a much better system, a system that has some degree of freedom.
Iran as a different country than we're used to dealing with in the Arab at least they're not Arabs. They do have something called civil society. They have protest movements. Those protest movements brought tenser even hundreds of thousands of people out in the streets every few years, every time the regime steals an election, every time they very visibly harassed, and worse the harass, they mistreat and they execute women.
So you see that there's a for a long time been building an anti regime group with any ran large population that wants to see them gone. How that translates into a new and different political process is difficult to predict. The overthrow of the Shah was you could see towards the end of his regime that it was fading that he and his regime didn't have the power to maintain
their ability to stay in office. But nobody predicted, at least nobody that I know, predicted that has become a radical Islamic, fanatic, jihadrist regime that we saw that would spend all this money trying to get nuclear weapons and build thousands of missiles and continually attack a zerone threat and to attack the United States. So where this goes
from here is very hard to predict. But I think my general approach to these sorts of situations is let's see what we can do, and mainly what the Iranian people can do to rid themselves of this very horrible group of leaders, and let's try to develop a situation to help those people to come up with something that's better. We may be seeing something similar that's happening in Syria that may be a better example. Libya, of course, is a worse example, at least not a good example.
Hey, this is Fraya, thank you so much for joining us. We just saw Iran's foreign minister go in for a meeting with Putin in the last couple of hours, and the Kremlin have said essentially that they'll provide Iran with support as they need. It very vague about exactly what
Russia will do to support Iran. Clearly, Iran doesn't look like they're winning this war, So how do you think Russia is going to respond and what kind of support do you think Russia will be providing Iran other than just condemnations of Israel and America.
Well, I'll start with a flipping comment that Russia and Putin could easily provide asylum for the regime the foreign minister the I Toola, as he did for the Syrian Prasad and his entourage not too long ago. That's a possibility. But Russia really is a very weak power right now, and you discussed that earlier on the panel. They really don't have a lot to be able to offer. They're up to their ears. They can't win in Ukraine. They thought they'd have a walk off in Ukraine a couple
of years ago when they invaded. They're using Iranian weapons. They're one of their main weapons that they use is to tack with the Iranian made drones. That means they can't even make their own drones, and the Iranian drones are being shot down by the Israelis, and that capability, that technology will be transferred to Ukraine as well. It will be easier for Ukraine to shoot down Russian drones
and other equipment. So there's very little Russian offer. They don't have money to offer, really, they don't have any kind of political framework they can veto resolutions in the UN big deal that's not going to help save the regime or prevent further attacks. We've got a situation now where the Israeli Air Force is flying at will over all of Iran, not just the western part closer to Israel, but also the eastern part.
It's like a duck shoot.
They're knocking off, piece by piece all of the military assets, all of security assets the Uranians have. So going to Russia is more of a symbolic act. Well, I can't go anyplace else nobody else wants us. I'll go to Russia and I'll pretend like it was twenty years ago, and then the Allies could get together. They have the Americans supporting the Israelis, and you have Russia and maybe China supporting the Arab.
States or in this case Iran.
That's where we are. But I don't think it's anything more than symbolic.
Gerald Joe here, thank you also for joining US. I wonder if, obviously that much desirable resolution to this would be regime changed from the bottom up, where a more benign, more pro democratic liberal authority took the place of the
eye tooler and the president. We saw in two thousand and nine the Green Revolution in Iran that sort of presaged the Arab spring elsewhere, and yet those movements often started with students, with democrats, with liberally minded young people, and were very quickly overrun by extremists, by ISIS and ISIS linked militants. That's obviously the fear that we heard
voice previously by Jack Keane. What do you think, how can the local movements in Iran prevent that power flowing to whoever is prepared to use it most extremely Before we get to that, there's.
What I say is probably a more likely, unfortunately scenario, and that is the regime holds on by its fingernails. It holds on through greater repression, and it continues as
war of attrition. Of sending a missile or two over to Israel every couple of maybe once or twice a day, which sends israeli Is running into shelters, doesn't do very much damage, if any, today, but they continue to have this ability of threatening of terror, and that also perhaps using their terror cells abroad, attacking soft targets abroad, maybe
part of this war of attrition. So I'm more concerned about the regime hanging on and trying to at least rehabilitate itself by showing that it can strike out as opposed to a regime change, which were obviously much better for the Iranian people for the region. I think what the outside rule can do some to support the Iranian dissonance, and they really hasn't done enough. I think during the two thousand and nine period you mentioned, the American government
did not really offer very much. The West, the freedom loving democratic countries in the West, didn't really do much more than verbal support for the Iranian dissidents who are out there trying to overthrow the regime and get their freedom back.
That has to change.
There has to be some sort of a plan, I would say the discussion among Western democracies that have a little bit of a backbone, you're going to have to work with Trump. You don't like Trump, that's too bad, I'm not saying it to you. But governments, including the Australian government that's the only show in town Europe clearly is incapable of doing anything, and they'd have to do
a lot of changes to become involved. And there it has to be done thoughtful, carefully, because too much overt external help it delegitimizes the internal forces against the regime. So it's got to be a very very careful balance walking across this bridge. I think it doesn't make too much sense to try to predict how that's going to go, just like nobody can predict the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, and what's happened in other parts of the world. Libya,
all those things. We had the Arab Spring Libya over through Kadafi and it's a total chaos. Most of the other as you said, most of the other Apps Spring movements were squashed by the powers that.
Be, by the more regime based.
Tyrants that wanted to prevent any kind of change in the power of the elites control of these countries. And that might be the case in the round, So it's going to be very difficult.
Gerald Steinberg, thank you so much for joining us tonight and thank you for your instruits. It has been excellent to have you Professor of politics at Bailan University.
Of course, when we talk.
About regime changer, I think he's right that the only way you can achieve genuine regime change is if it comes from the Iranian people. We've seen so many times what has happened when the US in particular is going to say the West, but led by the US, IS has marched into the Middle East and tried to tell them how they should run their countries, and it doesn't work. This has to come from the Iranian people. What is interesting to see though, was overnight a some quite large
rallies around in support of the regime. And I wonder how much of this isn't necessarily people who really support the regime. But even if they don't support the regime, they don't like their country being bombed, they don't like being told what to do, and for some reason or another, in a time of crisis, they will at least back what is in front of them, rather than saying someone else can come in and take John. You can see pictures on the screen here of some of these protests overnight.
So how much of a problem do you think is it freyer that there could be people in the Middle as it were, who.
Are straying more to the side of the regime after.
This, Well, there will definitely be some in Iran who say, we don't like the regime, but we also don't like regime change through bombs. This is more civilian death, more casualties. Also, the difference between Iran and Israel is Iran doesn't have bomb shelters in every home, so you are more exposed there. But then again, Israel isn't striking civilian areas, so you know, they're very different. But I would say the polling that I've seen shows that seventy percent of Iranians under the
age of thirty five do not support the regime. And the problem has been every time there has been an attempt to overthrow the regime, brutal repression from the IRGC, which essentially run the government at this point, has shut it down. So I guess the question is, if there was to be a successful internal overthrow of the I tollers, it would have to come alongside the dismantling of the IRGC.
And I think that's why you're starting to see Israel go after the IRGC headquarters, go after key government buildings, because they know the only path to sustainable peace is one where you do not have people determined to annihilate you running the country.
That's exactly right. And it's interesting.
I mean, you say, oh, how legitimate are theys pro regime protests? Well, they're risking nothing, are they. I mean, they're not out there everything their life. And yet you had in you know, in the wake of the election into the election, it was completely read election, and they have them where you have people like low involved, but you have people coming out no where that there is every chance that they would be taken, tortured and executed
as a result of their involvement. You still have women rising up against the oppression that they are constantly facing there and you know, refusing to wear the burk or whatever, knowing that they could be taken and in prison, taken away from their families, taken away from their children, and tortured and killed.
And yet they're still out there.
Now.
That tells you where the real support is. And the other thing is that unlike in a lot of these other states that were drawn up arbitrarily after World War One, Iran has a central coherent and Gerald sort of kind of made this point. I think a central coherent majority that all share the same culture, that all share the same history. Iran is basically Persia, but it is now Persia under the yoke of a hardcore Islamist Arab minority.
That everyone who loves Iran, loves its history, loves its heritage, hates.
Indeed, and these other people who will need to rise up if there is to be regime change in Iran. Of course, Sir Donald Trump signaled online today on his Truth social platform that he would.
Support regime change.
He posted, it's not politically correct to use the term regime change, but if the current Iranian regime is unable to make Iran great again, why wouldn't there be a regime change? Nigga to go with Magreb. He'll be making the hats and selling them very soon. Should note that that is slightly different to what other people had been saying throughout the day, including his vice president JD.
Vance.
But it's not as though Trump is saying I'm going to go in and change the regime.
We should be very clear about that.
He's giving his tacit support to the idea of doing so, which I think is good. And I also want to note before we move on, I thought the best front page I saw out of all of the coverage was from The Sun in the UK, which was stick it up Your Bunker, which comes back to the front page they had bag in the fall, Glynn's war stick it Up Your Junta. So good to see a revival of some great tabloid judis there in the United.
Kingdom with quality journal Let let's bring.
It back home.
We had to wait basically twenty four hours to see any kind of response out of the government.
We saw a statement yesterday from a government spokesman.
But I mean, you'd like to see the Foreign Minister or the Fence Minister or the Prime Minister get up and say something yesterday will know we waited for a press conference today.
Here was Anthony Albanezi, the Prime Minister, being asked today why it took him so long?
Did it take twenty four hours for Australia Express express unequivocal support.
For this action by its Closis Dale?
What does this say about our relationship with the US under your government?
We issued a statement, yes, sir, oh you did good. The rest of us missed it. I mean, seriously, we issued a statement yesterday. It's all been well to have her government spokes come out and say something. Why Joe did we not hear from your great mate the Prime Minister yesterday.
I think Albo is an inherently cautious man. He is inherently and in a good way, like he's someone who likes to sort of get a read of where and if you look at the way the government has done policy development in the past, often sending my blood pressure through the roof. But you know, they've often let things sort of and you know, again, this isn't a new tax reform, but you know, the sort of let to
see where the dust settles before making it clear. I obviously would have liked to have seen them come out completely in support of the US immediately. This is the first time in my life I've ever called for a bombing raid. I said that this is something that Donald Trump needed to do, and I think he was right
to do it. It's probably no secret that there are those on the left for whom anything Donald Trump does is toxic and they will just be against whoever that would just be for whoever Donald Trump is.
Again, so you have this bizarre.
Scenario, got lefties who are all the way with the Ayatoller and Vladimir Putin because they hate Trump so much. Some of those, I suppose he's got a sort of drag with him, so it's not as easy for him as it is for a you know, Peter Dutton or Scott Morrison or whatever to just come out and say all the way with LBJ, all the way with DJT, but I can absolutely assure you that Australia is privately, you know, the government is one hundred percent lockstep in
with the US. It couldn't afford not to be either. Why but it is one hundred percent or for it. But but yes, it uses cautious language.
You say he's being cautious. I would say that's a weakness. I would say that's a complete lack of leadership and inability to see right from wrong. Like I don't understand how it's that hard. And in fact, the statement the government released yesterday did not explicitly say whether the Australian government supported the US strikes. Was very vague, and Penny Wong was questioned about this at the press conference today. Check it out.
Sostronia has been clear, along with the international community that Iran cannot be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. We support action to prevent that from occurring, and.
This is what this is.
So finally she said, we support action that stops that, and that is what this is. Like they can't even bring themselves to out and out just say yes, we support America taking out one of the most dangerous regimes in the world, with the world's most dangerous weapons. This is probably the easiest foreign policy decision they've had to make over the last three years that they've been in government. I don't get how it's that high.
Well, they needed the talking points to get this message across too. Let's just play that again.
This is Penny Wong earlier today talking about it. Saw the clip. I'll show you again.
Sostronia has been clear, along with the international community, that Iran can not be allowed to develop a nuclear weapon. We support action to prevent that from occurring. And this is what this is.
And now with a slightly deeper voice.
The world has long agreed that Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, and we support action to prevent.
That, and that is what this is.
Like, I know they said the talking points around in the morning, but surely you should be able to speak to this stuff from the heart without having to say exactly the same thing in exactly the same words that was clearly written by someone in the government.
Yeah, and look again, I think what you find is, you know, and again with Alba, and obviously everyone knows I'm a bit partial to him, but he always he always gets to the to the right position. He always gets to the right decision.
It's just that.
Sometimes it's not as fast or as furious as people would like.
And yes, I think there is. There is a difference.
Often you can see with those kind of statements that you have to kind of read them through times to actually figure out what they're trying to say. You do see that a lot more on the kind of left side of politics and the sort of left of the Labor Party then you would say in a response from someone like a you know, I imagine Paul Keating saying something like that, or Bob Hawk or Chris Min's or
Peter Malanowska. So there is just a difference in time, but in terms of the actual decision making and the stance, Albo is exactly where he and Australia need to be.
Because one thing we know is that Australia didn't where we assume we know because they weren't tell us if it actually happened or not. But Australia didn't get a heads up that this was going to happen. Someone who did get a heads up though, was the United Kingdom their Prime minister. So King Starmer made some statements the other day on Sky UK and he was caught on the hop about them.
Have a look.
Tuesday morning, you said how important the excavation was. This was at the G seven. You told me you didn't think US tackle was imminent. You sat next to President Trump at the G seven dinner of leaders. You said, nothing the President said suggests he's about to get involved in this conflict. On the contrary, here we are. He has struck Iran. He's done exactly the opposite of what you said you thought he was going to do. Do you feel foolish, frustrated that he's not listening.
Well, it's clearly a fast moving situation, and there's been a huge amount of discussions in the days since the G seven ended, and the US has now taken the action to alleviate the threat that Run's.
Nuclear program poses. My position throughout.
Has been as a calling for de escalation.
Oh dear, you had no idea and you got caught out. I think we know, well, perhaps we can feel a little bit bitter about ourselves. We thought we were doing badly, but the UK didn't really know what was going on either. I tell you what, the US must be quaking in its boots though, because they've just had message from North Korea.
They have condemned the attacks on and you.
Know, when North Korea is telling you that it's bad, that it must be terrible. And we know that Donald Trump was a great mates with Kim Jong and his last presidency, it seems there might be a crack in the bromance these days. Well, we're talking about North Korea. We know another country that they've been involved with recently is Russia. And we're talking earlier about the fact that Russia has met with Iran's foreign minister tonight, letting me
a putin. You've seen the pictures of them meeting to talk about how they might be able to support in future.
Of course, Iran and Russia do.
Have an agreement, but it's not one that forces Russia to actually do anything for them, And to be honest, there's no reason that Russia would want to get too closely involved in this. Of course, as we talked about earlier, they were to war on their own front at the moment, which has depleted their resources. But if they want to potentially get to some kind of CEA agreement that would end the war, that would potentially be advantageous to what
Russia wants in their situation. The last thing they want to be doing is annoying the US on this matter exactly.
And that was the interesting timing. We saw the US bombed Iran's nuclear facilities and then hours later Russia was tweeting, we are now ready to resume talks about Ukraine and we will negotiate this conflict with Iran. So clearly they're nervous, and I think what the strikes on the nuclear reactors did was re established the US's deterrence. There was this
sentiment that that Trump is all talk. The reason people were scared of him is because you can never predict what he could do, but he hadn't actually done that much in his first six months as president. He said when by the time of his inauguration, if all the hostages weren't returned, they would be hell unleashed on Gaza. That obviously didn't happen. He said he would revamp Gaza turn into Gaza Lago. That also did not happen. And so there was a growing sense is this guy going
to do anything? Maybe we can take him for granted, And that's what Russia is doing, prolonging these piece talks with Ukraine and eventually annoying Trump as a result. So I think now they're starting to backtrack a little bit and go, oh, okay, America actually means business. But again,
what material support can Russia actually provide? Right now? They're in the fourth year of their three day special operation in Ukraine, the fourth year in a country that is not even a third rate world power, and they are supposedly the rival superpower to the United States. It's ridiculous.
It's interesting as well.
Over the week in before this attack had been carried out, Putin was speaking in Petersburg and he was asked at the conference there specifically, you know, what involvement might Russia have with Iran and etc. And he made a very interesting comment, I thought, pointing out that fifteen percent of the population of Israel is either Russia nor from the former Soviet nations, and that he takes this into account and always has taken this into account in the.
Decisions that he makes.
So even before this attack happened, he was signaling on the weekend that he didn't really want to get involved.
Yeah, that's absolutely right.
And again, as I say, like, Iran is utterly friendless when all your allies or quasi allies, evil thugs, who are only concerned for their own self enrichment and self preservation. Then there's not much to rely on, is there, especially
when your chips are down. The Iran Russia Alliance and its latest incarnation was basically forged in response to ISIS in Syria, and it was a convenient kind of arrangement for the West, which didn't want to side with Bashir al Asad but also didn't want to side with ISIS that had become the main force fighting against Asad. And then Assyria, of course has collapsed, and so Russia and Urana kind of united by a link that no longer exists.
And again, Russia's got its own problems anyway, It probably wouldn't intervene militarily even if it wasn't knee deep in blood in Ukraine. And where else are these guys going to turn to? It is just, you know, these guys are just the worst people in the world. Man, You're the worst people in the world. Hanging out with the worst people in the world. Chances are they're not going
to come to right. And as for all the criticism about Trump not telling other countries or not seeking permission from Congress, what.
Part of surprise attack, don't you understand?
Well, And it's interesting you mentioned asking Congress, because of course that's always been a sticking point in every other one of these situations happening, including when the Democratic presidents have done them.
And then all of a sudden you've got the Dems jumping up, up and down. Now it saying, how dare trumb not adhere to the constitution?
That's hey, guys, I'm going to bother runs new.
Do Obama do in Libya? Things?
Well, the Western leftists are Iran's only friends now, wrote a great column about this today. Absolutely wit Where do we see the most support for Iran outside of the paid protesters with an Iran on the streets of Western countries here in Sydney in the US. And it's pretty depressing, but it makes sense. They hate Trump, they hate the West so much that now they've found themselves on the side of an anti women, anti LGBTQ. Forget about your
abortion rights, your trans rights. Women can't even show their hair in Iran. Yet they're good enough for the Western leftists to support.
Yeah, well, there's scarcely a Muslim the liftless doesn't like. After the yeah break, sorry, we'll get into the papers some of the other news of the day, including one state that was planning to.
Take your gas heat awab. You're not going to do it anymore.
We'll tell you why, athletes, before we get into the papers. The US Embassy in Qatar has sent an email to American residents in Qatar telling them to shelter in place. It says it's out of an abundance of caution and gives no further information. So if we have any further information, we will tell you. But a rather ominous warning from the US Embassy to US residents in Guitar to shelter in place on those matters on the front of the
Daily Telegraph tomorrow, it's his day. Late Albanzi undermines our standing on the world stage, sees experts down under and out what a good headline and an even better headline on the front of the Australian Tomorrow PM backs blast
from the past. Anthony Albanzi has belatedly expressed support for Donald trump strikes on Iran's nuclear program, while distancing his government from the unilateral action by the nation's closest ally amid growing concerns Australia's influence in Washington is diminishing under labor.
The Prime Minister in his Foreign minister, Pennywong front of the media on Monday morning, more than twenty four hours after the US attack, saying they had backed the US strikes but did not want to see the conflict escalate into a full scale war, which is a statement of the bleeding obvious, isn't it, Joe, And I think anyone wants to see it turn into a full scale war. But once again they're kind of talking out of both sides of their mouth.
Well, I think again, I think they are stating the bleeding obvious that we support the US and hopefully it will not go any further than Iran's nuclear capability is being utterly annihilated and the regime falling, hopefully organically. So if anything, they've wrapped it up in a bit of red tape, Kayla.
But I do think I'll get to that. I'll get to the red tape in a second.
One quick thing here, Alban Easy is desperately stalking Donald Trump around the world, begging for a meeting with him. This could have been his opportunity to get back in the US's good graces by supporting them, coming in behind them around these strikes on Iran, and I think he's missed an incredible opportunity to start rebuilding some of our damage relationship with the US.
Well, it does say on the front of the Odds Tomorrow that the US drop fourteen bunker buster bombs in twenty minutes. The PM dropped five unilateral action bombs some time and forty sevens ranging in eleven thirty seven am and thirty one seconds Throe to eleven forty one am and eighteen seconds. Another story on the front of the
Odds Tomorrow, Labour's five thousand red tape rules. There were more than five thousand regulations added under the Albanzi government's first term, with the coalition accusing Labour of being disingenuous in its post election push to cut red tape, with Antony Albanesi and Jim Chalmers declaring cuts to red tape
would be odd at the upcoming Productivity round table. Parliamentary Library analysis showed that there were nine hundred and fifty eight regulations enacted in the Health, Age, Care and Disability Portfolio and eight hundred and ninety one in Treasury since
Labor was elected in twenty twenty two. It then goes on six hundred and forty six in the Department of Infrastructure, trainor Regional Development, Communications, Sports and the Arts, six hundred and thirty eight in Climate Change, Energy and Water, one hundred and fifty three in Employment and Workplace Relations, one.
Hundred and ninety nine in agriculture. What do we need all these for? Jo?
Yeah, look, I think I mean some of them.
Obviously, you would need them because every time you have a new piece of legislation you would have a set of regulations to go with it. But there used to be a rule of thumb I think in a previous government where for every regulation that you implemented, you had to make sure you found one to cut. And I
think that's a pretty good rule of thumb. It's a bit like the poke machine rules in New South Wales I think a little while ago anyway, where if you wanted to buy two poker machines you had to sell three.
Yes, So no, I like that.
I like for everyone in your past, you got to go through the one because and there's so much stuff on the books. I know Peter Phelps did when he went into state politics in New South Wales.
Former Liberal Upper House.
Member he went through literally everything and went back and found sta about railways going back to the nineteen twenties and thirties that were no longer pertinent.
And there's so much stuff on the books that really should be general.
And if they're serious about improving productivity, I think this should be the first place they look. Start by cutting the red tape that's hampering everything we do here in Australia. Moving on to the Herald Sun, now the headline is foot off the gas shock backflip. Alan government ditches edict
forcing homes onto electric heating. Hundreds of thousands of Victorians will no longer have to switch gas heating systems to electric models when they break down under a major Alan government back down, but gas hot water systems that reach their end of life will have to be replaced with efficient electric appliances such as heat pumps under a watered
down push to reduce gas use in homes. The exemption on heaters only applies to owner occupies, meaning landlords will still have to electrify both major appliances when gas models expire.
Like cleans things up then.
Doesn't even mean perfect. But secondly, this whole thing around home electrification is so silly, because where do you think your electricity is coming from. Victoria's having to import gas. Coal is still providing our electricity, so great you move from gas to electricity, it's still fossil fuels.
And also it's coal which actually burns more than gas, which just does my head in the war and gas is inside.
I think there might be a lot of hotty going for the.
Victoria and also in the Herald Sun tomorrow. YouTube is in the crosshairs. YouTube's carve out from Australia's Landmarks social media ban on users under sixteen would be scrapped under a push from e Safety Commissioner Julie Inman grant her advice on the draft rules sent to the Communications Minister Anika Wells, comes as a survey reveals YouTube is the
most frequently cited platform for harmful content. Now this is an interesting one because YouTube had previously been exempt because it was con educational and that is true, and there is a YouTube for kids which is much more educational and probably less harmful in the sense that you don't have algorithms pushing toxic content all the time. But I don't know, is this an overstep from these safety commission.
My kids on YouTube and it is I don't know about harmber it's brain dead. But it's also that they absolutely love it. So you know, to quote mister t pity the fool that tries to take your kids. As long as they're not being contact, it's the contact and the bullying that you will.
But that's what I would have.
Thought, is that one of the biggest problems, apart from the absolute dross that they're being served up on social media, is the bullying asset.
And then that's not happening through YouTube.
Not not as far as I can tell with my kids.
But anyway, over to the Courier mail and it's Jenetski's home run million dollar home help Treasure to unveil massive property purchase scheme. Treasure of David Genetski will today unveil the nation's most generous first home buyers scheme with Queenslanders to get government help to buy property worth up to one million dollars, which in Sydney would probably buy you a cast spot in Pott's point. Apparently in Queensland you can actually get a house for a million bucks, So good on them.
I mean, who actually wants to own their house? With the government.
That's my problem with these schemes. And surely it's inflation surely will you surely, surely it's inflationary as well. To get more money from me.
Does and pushed our house rights. But it gets you in the door.
And that's again, this is what John Howard did and made it very popular, drive up house prices to where they are now, which is why we have to keep doing it.
But it helped first time buys get.
Their home, indeed very quickly.
Before we go to a break, Joe, you've you've got a funny story relating to a story on the front of the Mercury.
Look, thank you, thank you very much. Caleb.
Yes, well there's a little fashion show. It's Tasmania's only fashion festival, will soon transition from volunteer run to paid staff this year in the hopes of creating opportunities for and supporting local businesses and designers. And it reminded me of I love Tasmania. My wife and I we took our honeymoon and Tasmania and we're walking down the streets of Hobart and a bloke at a pub said, hey, mate, is your wife a model?
No, No, we're just from the mainland.
Ah, very good.
Don't hold that one against me. When I'm down in Hobart in a few weeks time. I'm very much looking forward to getting down in it and spixing.
Pubs with fireplaces of red wine and winter. Don't go anywhere after the break, We'll bring you our dope of the day. It is a cracker. Don't miss it.
Some breaking news preliminary reports coming in from the wires that Donald Trump is indeed going to go to the NATO meeting at the Hague this week. He has certainly been a busy boy, and it will be overshadowed, of course, by the events in Iran. I think NATO was hoping that this would be reasonably uneventful meeting.
It's not going to be so, and Donald Trump is going to make sure of that.
Meanwhile, let's get into our dope of the day, and today we go to Queensland. A bunch of young criminals decided were.
Leeched, I should say, alleged.
Criminals decided that they would allegedly steal a motor vehicle and then allegedly fall asleep inside of it.
Take a look, yeh India four point fifty can I get another car. Crew here, there's three people asleep in the vehicle. It's from f Anny Gray Police station. You're under a restaurant law for use of the motor vehicle.
Take unders, get on the ground, take under us on the frieze god vehicle, Get on the ground.
They're in custody.
These three kids allegedly stole the car at eleven pm on Friday night and they picked up at nine o'clock the next morning taking a kip inside of it. I mean, you know, look, if you're going to steal a car, at least get a little bit away from it, not take a sleep in it.
Could you do anything more incriminating?
Poor kids?
I mean, but what a way to wake up, especially of a hangover.
Pretty horrible. They were clearly just tired after all of their criminal activities of the night before. But down in Melbourne this is bad or actually many good news for art lovers because this is an abomination. You might remember a couple of years ago the Yarra Council spent twenty two thousand dollars worth of road safety grants commissioning a yellow fruit artwork of a giant banana. But within days this sculpture was vandalized and removed, and apparently it's not
coming back. There is still a tiny replica version in the town hall to remind people of this terrible event. But I think that's a win for humanity that that thing is off the street.
You see, that's X rated at least not you know, I know feel.
The mini version's actually gone missing as well, and probably in solidarity with this thing. And I know I've said every time you let the vandals have a win by not putting a statue back up like they're done with the Captain Cook stuff, then you're sending them the message that they can do it.
But I'll tell you what, for the first.
Time in my life, I'm going to say here on television, I support that kind of public vandalism.
Thank you for joining us to break bring Patting your show to night