On skorlus Oscodia.
This is the Wader Panalty Show.
Good evening and welcome to the readA Panety show coming up tonight. Anthony Alberizi refuses to expel rogue senator for team of payman parents outrage as children are forced to sing an indigenous national anthem. I'll speak with a young female journalist who spent a scary night in the streets of what used to be the world's most livable city, and Army Horowitz with the latest from the US and
plenty of lefties losing it. I, on the other hand, have chosen to live a life public service, but I am all for it.
I even get yours if that's what you want.
Joining me now is Deputy Director of the Institute of Public Affairs Daniel Wilde.
Dan, let's start with the Prime Minister.
He's continuing to wage war against the Coalition for their nuclear energy policies, seizing on the fact that smaller liberals, those feckless state leaders are not backing Peter Dutton's nuclear strategy.
New South Wales opposition leader. We can't wait for nuclear Victorian Opposition leader. There are prohibitions in place, so I'm not racing along the nuclear path, Victoria NATS leader, you wouldn't be surprised at our view is exactly the same as John Perzuto, Queen's leader.
I've been very.
Consistent with it. Nuclear is not planning in Queensland. I hate to state be obvious, but they've just said that. David Christopher Ley, Peter Walsh, John Persuito, Marke Speakman, Shane Love and Guy Barnett are really relevant. Well, they are as far as their plan is concerned, because their plan is friendless amongst their own people, amongst the Business Committee and amongst anyone in the energy sector.
Well, I'll tell you the Prime Minister has a point here.
When you've got liberal leaders being directtionless, being obstructionist, completely having no sense of what's needed in this country. It's not like they're actually entering their debate with ideas of their own that are constructive. It's just a no to something that is a proven technology that works elsewhere in the world beautifully. And again I keep saying it, we are sitting on the world's biggest reserves of uranium in this country.
Yeah, you're right, And I think what Anthony Albernezi said then doesn't give him the conclusion that he intends, because it shows that Peter Dutton is a leader and the State Liberals are not leaders. And if you look at what he's saying that the energy companies don't want it in the business community doesn't want it, and the political class doesn't want it, okay, but the Australian people want it.
So again it shows that there's a.
Dichotomy between the political class and the interests of the elites. Who back renewed was because of the financial incentives and the ideological component, but they won't support nuclear, or at least not yet.
And I think also the overreach we've.
Seen in response to the coalition's plan is revealing. Because the government knows that their own policy is failing. Energy bills are going up, blackout risks going up.
The only thing.
They have to talk about is Peter Dutton's plan, not their own failing plan.
No.
And you look at some of Chris Bowen's commentary, some of the statements is putting out on social media. You really struggle to see how you can be the energy minister, the climate change minister. It sounds like some first year art student who's grappling with this issue. I really worry about because we are facing the real prospect of running out of gas yep.
And I think this will be similar to the Voice debate, which is the Government is not going to be able to make an argument to the Australian people because they're going to be caught short. Australians don't want net zero,
they don't want to pay for net zero. This renewable is only renewables everywhere policy is being rejected by red Australians, and with very very good reason because the impact on their life and as you sort of alluding to, the Energy Minister simply cannot sustain a meaningful argument in public, instead resorting to basically name calling. So the more Australian see of this, the more they'll turn against the government's policies.
His antics are getting more desperate, I can tell you on social media he's tweeting out Guardian articles. You know you're scraping in the bottom of the barrel when you've got a resort to Guardian articles. Now let's look at Labor, who normally do have great party discipline, unlike the Liberals who are a broad church, too broad if you ask me.
But the PM is terrified of a millennial in a hijab, A young Muslim senator from WA for team of Payman, who is the first federal Labor politician to cross the floor in eighteen years. She voted against the government on a Greens motion recognizing the statehood of Palestine.
I was not elected as a token representa of diversity.
I was elected to serve the people of Western.
Australia and uphold the values instilled in me by my late father. Today I have made a decision that would make him proud and make everyone proud who are on the side of humanity.
I've got to say this is profoundly weak by the pm DAN. We know why he needs those voters in those seats in Western Sydney. We know they're very energized by this issue. But this set's a precedent. And what's the going to stop the next Labor senator who feel strongly about an issue defying the party and crossing the floor.
Yeah, well, it's a couple of things. I mean said it.
A Payment is a lightweight who she's barely able to defend her position in any sort of coherent manner.
There.
You're right to say that this reinforces the Prime Minister is weak. Basically, you've got the Palestinian wing of the Labor Party that is essentially running government policy because as you say, there's a handful of seats in mostly Western Sydney with twenty or thirty percent Islamic population, and rather actually leading the community to something better, they've capitulated to
these very extremist demands. It's not surprising that Anthony Alberanezi has failed to provide leadership on this issue because it's a pattern of repeated behavior and I think a lot of Australians are concerned of the division and the lack of social cohesion we're seeing in our community on this very issue.
Now, I want to talk about Julie Inman Grant, the East Safety Commissioner. She's a complaint to the ABC during a radio interview about the nickname we've coined for her on this program and others like it. I'm sure you don't watch Going News at Nate, but I'm they're punching bag pretty much every night.
They referred to me as E Karen, Oh dear.
I mean, what a Karen thing to do for the E Karen to go on the ABC and complain about being called an e Karen, and I mean.
Please, but playing the victim given some.
Of the outrageous rulings she has instituted, some of the absolutely mainstream views she are sought to censor, including the notion that men can't breastfeed. I would have thought that was a fairly obvious logical take.
Well, that's right, and this is the issue.
There are some laudable objectives that Julian Manngrand talks about protecting children, getting rid of child exploitation material and so forth, which we all agree with and are not contested propositions. The problem is that she has a history of activism, ideologically driven activism, not about protecting children, but about censoring speech,
not just in Australia but globally. The whole reason she wanted to take down the stabbing of the bishop in Western Sydney wasn't to do with protecting children from that content. Is because she and her overlords in the Albanese government didn't want the community to see the collapsing social cohesion and the failure of our migration policy. So it was an attempt to CeNSE a debate. We've seen it with
the Voice to Parliament. We've seen it with issues pertaining to gender, So if she wants to be respected.
Throughout the COVID crisis had not just very sane views censored or shadow band suppressed, but voices of experts leading into national infectious disease experts who were questioning some of these rulings that we were told is the science, and they were censored. And I would argue that was destructive in a number of ways, including preventing decent policy, preventing best policy, and could have possibly cost lives.
Well, it was censored by government, big tech and also by the ABC. The ABC wouldn't have a debate about lockdowns or any other facet of the responsive governments. And this is why the issue with the E Safety Commissioners. It started as the Children's E Safety Commissioner, it metastasized
due to this bureaucratic growth. There's no democratic oversight. The E Safety Commissioner has become a law and to herself and you need to retain it into the original objectives, which is actually to get rid of unlawful and child exploitation material rather than censoring opinion.
Now to Yarraville West Primary School in Melbourne, there has been outrage amongst parents because children were made to sing alternative Indigenous national anthem.
We don't have an Indigenous national anthem as far as I know.
This is the music of our national anthem, but with the lyrics change, so you've got things like and honoring the Dreaming Advance Australia.
Fair.
Do we really want to have separate anthems, separate flags, separate recognition based on race?
Do we not just have a referendum on this very issue?
Well, that's right.
I think Australians wake up every day and we see whether it's this, whether it's in Victoria, there's still work towards a treaty. In South Australia, they've got a state voice to Parliament. We're seen in Queensland in regards to kepel Ireland and other issues with native title. We voted no to this. Australians voted no to racial division. They've had a gupful of being divided by the elites. I think the principal and anyone else involved in this at this school should be dismissed immediately.
Because politicization clearly, I mean, this is not how do you justify this other than to say this is what they.
Believe is morally right as a political.
Position that they believe Australia is a bad racist country and as loon as if there's no discussion of our history and indigenous affairs within that you know, it's almost talked about incessantly. So look, this needs to be dealt with very quickly and as I say, serious consequences for those involved.
Now, the flag is another thing we've got to talk about because we see the Prime Minister, we see as ministers. Every time they speak you can barely see the Australian flag. There seem to be so many flags behind them. I think that's something else that is just needlessly divisive. Now this is from the UK. I had to check with to see if it was April one. Surely this couldn't be.
Real, but sadly it is.
Academics from a museum in Oxford will be using British taxpayer money to research the politics of milk and its colonial legacies. Yes, one of the experts is previously insisted milk is a Northern European obsession and has been imposed on other parts of the world. Apparently the assumption that milk is a key part of the human diet may be understood as a white supremacist one. Obviously that's a
quote format. Doctor Johanna zettastorm Sharp. Her new project Milking It, Colonialism, Heritage and Everyday Engagement with Derry has one funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. So Dan is milk racist? I mean it is often white that troubles me.
Well, there's certainly milking taxpayers, we can.
Safely conclude that.
But it does go to this issue reader, which is racism is now a trope. You know, it means everything and it means nothing. Practically everything now is considered to be racist. It has diminished the actual meaning of the term and I think a lot of Australians when they hear that term now basically tune out because it's so widely used. And of course this is a taxpayer funded undertaking.
So look, it's just another example of I think how academia and universities have lost their way and many people are just tuning out.
From it now.
To the UK staying there, Nigel Farage, he's a party Reform Party is one point ahead of the Conservatives. He's sitting on nineteen percent. He was on gb News Breakfast talking about immigration when behind him a boat full of illegal immigrants could be seen making their way to Britain.
We are literally mid channel now between Dover and Calais and behind me you can see a white dinghy. There are forty five people on board. Behind it you can see an escort vessel. Because that's what the French do. Despite the five hundred million quick we've given them, they literally once these boats are afloat, it's thort them to our twelve mile line while they hand them over to Borderforce.
I tell you, he is just a master of exposing the issues that people care about and doing it in ways that speak to people who are not even politically engaged. But there's a reason why he's got such support and the Tories are absolutely circling the train. They went to elections promising that they were going to slash immigration to tens of thousands per annum.
It was around a million last year.
Yeah.
Well, I mean Nigel Ferras has given a voice to the voiceless. Without him, Brexit would not have happened. That was one of the single biggest political upheavals we've seen in a generation.
He has provided a debate.
There's now actually a debate in the UK about net zero, about migration, about the collapse of their culture. I would rather the Tories have fixed themselves up and delivered, particularly when Boris Johnson he had a once in a generational opportunity to realign the Conservative Party with the working class Britons who voted for Brexit, but he let the team down. And it's basically been fourteen years of failure by the Tories. So no wonder their polls are going down and farages
are going up. So look, I think that the monumental contribution of Farrage has been making sure there's a debate and giving voice to millions who don't see their views or values in the major political parties.
And I think he's looking at this as a two election strategy. He just wants to be in a strong position after this race and then to really bring in those disaffected Tories, the MPs, the base and have a new Conservative Party that actually stands for something. At Dan Wild, thank you so much for your time to seeing Thank you joining me now is Stephanie Bastian, research fellow for
the Women's Forum. Last week, the Victorian Liberals sided with Labor against the cross Bench to pass a bill that gives the Minister for Local Government the power to sack democratically elected councilors at a time where conservative female counselors are being harassed and vilified. Only two conservative women didn't vote for this bill, Moira Deeming and Beth MacArthur, who gave a passionate speech against the motion.
The victimization of counselors in Victoria. The victims I'm aware of are mostly women, conservative women, but I'm not convinced this is a sex based division. Sadly, some of the most enthusiastic bullies of women. The motivation seems to be political.
Stephanie, how hopeless other Victorian lives. This is a rare chance they had to stop some bad legislation. The crossbenchers were against this, and yet they teamed up with Labor to pass it.
This piece of legislation is the most undemocratic bill I have seen since Daniel Andrews passed his ominious COVID health bill. It is so disappointing because we know the arbitration process that has been used to silence counselors, particularly those who are perhaps conservative, who are women talking about sex based issues, or liberals in labor dominated councils, the process is being
weaponized to silence them. You telling me that if a labor dominated council recommends to the Labor Minister for Local Government that a councilor should be sacked, he's going to decline. I mean, seriously, it is so frustrating that the Liberals didn't take the opportunity to side with the Crossbench and vote down this horrendous piece of legislation. I really feel for the counselors, particularly the women, and particularly Liberals who will be feeling very betrayed by this.
Now, actor David Tenant apparently he is doctor who I've never watched that series. He wants conservative MP Kemmy baden Knock to know her place and not exist anymore and keep quiet. Why because she has some very pro female views. She does not believe men should be in female spaces, she does not believe children should be given drugs and treatments to change their gender. And for arguing against the likes of Kemmy, David has won a prize and here is his speech.
We shouldn't live in a world where that is worth remarking on.
However, until we wake up and Kemmy Badenock doesn't exist anymore.
I don't wish ell of her.
I just wish her to shut up.
Now.
Kemmy Badenknock has responded to that on X She has written, I will not shut up. I will not be silenced by men who prioritize applause from stone Wall over the safety of women and girls. A rich, lefty white mouse celebrity is so blinded by ideology he can't see the optics of attacking the only black women in government by calling publicly for my existence to end. She makes an excellent point there, Stephanie, how do you see this clash?
I think his comments were vile and disgusting and he should absolutely apologize. If he had made those comments to anyone else will be Goldberg, for example, they would be yelling out that he was being racist, misogynist, inciting violence. But because Kemy is the wrong sort of woman, somehow it's okay. I think David should go and speak to some of the women who've been victims of this gender ideology.
There is a reason the UK banned men transferring into women's prisons or into hospital because women were being sexually assaulted by male predators who identified as were, So if I were David, I would go and speak to some of those victims and then give a public apology to Kemi.
I think he needs to do more than a public apology. Some of his viewpoints on this are just so extreme, Stephanie, you really wonder what's happening in the entertainment world. But as you saw there, he's getting awards for it, so this is rewarded.
While someone like JK.
Rowling they demonize as a bigot for stating very much mainstream views.
Now, one of my.
Favorite writers and broadcasters is also a comic. Andrew Doyle has written a fantastic piece for Spiked magazine urging gay people to turn their backs on Pride. He says pride has transformed from an important act of resistance into a month long orgy of corporatism virtue signaling full of heterosexuals desperate to identify themselves into an oppressed group with the
help of trans ida theology. A poll from twenty twenty one determined that almost forty percent of Americans between the ages of eighteen and twenty four now identify as LGBTQ. Given the vast majority identifying as such do so as trans non binary and queer. This means it is statistically certain that gay people are now the minority in this coalition. The early pioneers of gay rights didn't risk so much for their movement to be You're served by fetishists, heterosexuals
with a martyr complex. So he's got away with words. I've got to say, there is definitely seventy a split appearing among some members of the LGBTQIA plus plus community. And you've got those first three letters and some members who identify as those first three letters wanting to distance themselves from the remainder of the expanding group.
Absolutely, I think this movement has been hijacked by activists. It's no longer about equal rights and acceptance. They are running a radical gender ideology that's incredibly harmful. Kids who don't subscribe to typical gender stereotypes such as masculine and femininity are told they're born in the wrong body.
Men in their.
Fifties are saying they're born in the wrong body and they're now lesbians. I mean, they are losing their rights. There's no room for discussion or debate. You're either an ally or you're the enemy. And I think it's causing enormous harm, particularly in the LGB movement. The LGB without the T you can see why there is a push push away. Reasonable minded people are abandoning this more and more increasingly, particularly as the Pride movement gets more and more extreme.
And it's hard to argue that this is an oppressed group in the West where you've got every corporate, every institution, the celebrity.
Class, the activist class, everyone push this agenda.
So this whole notion that this is an oppressed, underrepresented group, I think is something else that needs to be debated. Seventy Bastion, thank you so much for your time this evening. Thank you reader still to come. Left is Losing it and Army Horowitz on why seventy percent of Americans want Joe Biden and Donald Trump drug tested ahead of their sin and debate.
Welcome back.
Now it's time for lefties losing and and.
I regret to inform you that the.
TV studios are added again pushing trans and racial activism onto kids as young as too.
This is Nickelodeon, ni Hi.
Like or healing, Yellow Sun like, Green Meets It, Purple is spirit, Baby.
Blue can't represent tresgender people and black and brown represent the queer and trans.
People of color.
The queer and trans people of color.
I can just imagine the bewildered toddlers watching that.
Now.
You know, we can never go too long in this segment without featuring the work of the ladies of the view. Each and every episode showcases just how broken the hosts are, including the alpha female of the pack, Whoopee, who could not even bring herself to say Trump's name without spitting gross.
I think it would be.
Remiss of us to not say Joe Biden knows how to do this. Yes, he knows how to do this. He's he's quite good at this. And you know you can't refute anything with him because he just when I say him, I mean Trump, he tends to.
Just can I mention one day?
Ah, They're so bitter, broken and miserable. I'm not sure why that makes me smile, but it does. But this next clip is no laughing matter. It should fill you with fear. This is Andalae nick Tama, who has just been sworn in as a member of Parliament in South Africa, and let's have a look at some of his earlier work calling for the revenge killing of white people. The murder of white South African men, women and children.
Were we killed the humor were killed out bobs.
We now to a clip showing a woman in Muslim garb encouraging a couple of Western girls to give the veil a go.
So can you.
More Yes, what a transformation. I wonder how you.
Would go if you took a couple of shorts and crop tops to Afghanistan and encourage the local women there to try it on for a cultural enrichment. Let's not forget women in countries like Iran are risking their lives fighting against compulsory hijab.
Now another profound.
Bit of communication from the veep here, Kamala Harris explains community banks.
So the importance of community banks is they are as they are called, they're in the community, led by members of the community. They are people who understand the capacity of the community, the needs of the community, the culture of the community.
Did you get that community banks are banks and they're also in the community.
Quite profound there.
Let's have some more financial advice from the woman one geriatric heartbeat away from the Oval office.
To aspire to create wealth is a good thing as far as I'm concerned. If that is what one chooses. I, on the other hand, have chosen to live a life public services. But I am all for it if you get yours, if that's what you want.
Hilarious that public service, none of it good. Has seen Kamala Harris accumulate a net worth somewhere between seven and fifteen million, according to media reports. Now let's go to some local lefties losing and here are the climate cultis to think they are saving the world one blockade, one foolish protest at a time.
And they've also started singing.
Stop in the name of life, before we break gapard start up in the name of life. This our last chance before this crammy is killing us. Chossyola, this is called is killing us.
Stop who wow wow, before you mock us In Australia too much. The Yanks have plenty of climate cranks of their own. In recent days, they've managed to disrupt a golf tournament and a congressional baseball game.
Just watch these soy boys and girls go.
Now.
The latest scare campaign they're running against Trump is to have a bunch of activist economists suggest Trump's presidency.
Could be disastrous for the US economy. And the world.
This is the same scam mangering Missaul before two thousand and six day. Do they think the American people have mass amnesia? Let's hear from a woman I did not expect to be backing Trump. ARC invest founder Kathy.
Wood Trump Robiden.
So, as I've said to my children, So have two girls and a boy, and they're split on this. As I've said to them, look, I am going to vote for the person who's going to do the best job for our economy. I am a voter when it comes to economics, and on that basis Trump I mean, yeah, if.
So.
Art Laffer describes the first three years of the Trump presidency as the best in US economic history, not the last one because of COVID, but and I would agree. Wow, and I went through economics too.
The first three years of the Trump economy were the best in US history.
That was the quote. Very interesting.
Also interesting is the realization for many on the left, including Trump deranged media types like Bill Maher, that the lawfare the Democrats have engaged in to convict Trump on nonsense charges has backfired.
Here is Bill.
Maher with former New York Governor Andrew Tumo, Democrat. Naturally confirming what we've been saying all along. These chargers would have never been manufactured if Trump wasn't running.
The trial in New York, the one he got convicted for was the greatest fundraising bonanzaver is. Now he was lagging behind Biden, and now he's pulled quite a bit ahead. That trial was the greatest reason people had to send their checks for five, ten, twenty five whatever dollars to Donald Trump. So I was always with you on the one in New York, the hush money trial. I don't
think they should have brought that one. It was just always going to look like a sex case and people were always just going to look at it that way.
So anyway, that case, the attorney general's case in New York, frankly, should have never been brought. And if his name was not Donald Trump, and if he wasn't running for president, I'm the former agent in New York. I'm telling you that case would have never been brought. And that's what is offensive to people, and it should be because if there's anything left, it's belief in the justice.
Sym Joining me now is journalists and filmmaker Army Horowitz. Army the front page of the New York Post says it all betrayal. There is Alvin Bragg there who has dropped charges against anti Israeli activists who rampaged at Columbia University.
The New York district.
Attorney who brought Donald Trump to trial is letting the violent processes of Scott Free and Army.
I would say this sets a dangerous precedent.
Is it okay to aggressively harass and intimidate Jewish people in New York these days?
Yeah, this is a disgusting betrayal. And I'm not even the least bit surprised. Unfortunately, this is Derah Gore for what's happening in our blue cities. When people attack Jews, it's fine, It's open season when it comes to the harassment of Jews. Look, this has been I was with this Columbia protesters. I did videos with them, I spent hours with them. They were aggressive, they were nasty, they were physical, they were literally physically intimidating Jewish students from
attending classes before any arrest happened whatsoever. And look I helped to remind you we talked about the show before. When I went and I took out the American flag at a public campus, and I paid taxes for When I was attacked aggressively by these protesters, I was attained, not anybody who attacked me, who beat me. And when I was detained, I was talking to the police and why would why am I under arrest? They said, well, we have a mandate from above. Of course we'll talking
about Alvin Bragg, of course talking about the mayor. This is the situation we have in New York. And of course if you don't fight back against these people, you're going to get more of this. Right, That's what we saw in the synagogue in California, and they stopped Jews from entering synagogues because they know it's open season that it's fine.
Well, it seems to be an issue that goes beyond these protests. We've seen violent criminals who are released again and again, whilst you've got brag preoccupied with this nonsense with Trump. Now that's out of the way, but it seems that philosophy of not putting people in jail when they commit violent offenses is continuing in New York. Is there going to be any change in that? Is there any sort of uprising from the local population there who are sick of the crime rate.
Yeah, no, people see. This is what we are finding is that people when they are even if they are left of center, right and they're Democrats, when they're confronted with reality, they in fact do start to show their discomfort.
You know, I think you're now seeing in the polls across the country where in states where Democrats have dominated, right in Virginia where Republican hasn't won over twenty years, in Minnesota republic has on over fifteen years, right in New York state, or Republican hasn't won also in over twenty five years, we're seeing these things creep within the margin of error or be tied or in the state
of New York, far better than ever done before. Because whether it comes with crime or immigration, I think people now see, even Democrats, this cannot work.
This cannot stand.
Well.
Donald Trump and Joe Biden and we'll face off in their first televised election debate for twenty twenty four. It's this Thursday, Friday morning, our time. The rules they've set out for this debate seem to favor Joe Biden, things like muting the microphones unless it's their turn to speak, and no live audience, and really, does anyone think the
Biden camp hasn't got the questions already? And this debate is on a vehemently anti Trump network CNN that relentlessly pushed every conspiracy theory and hoax, from the Russian collusion hoax to the fine people on both sides lie, to the Hunter Biden laptop being Russian disinformation and army. The debate is going to be moderated by two Trump deranged individuals,
Jake Tapper and Dana Bash. Now everyone knows what a biased hack Bash is, but some still think despite his part in enthusiastically pushing every anti Trump disinformation we've heard in recent years, a lot of people still.
Think Tape is a straight shooter. But just have a look at this. See how overjoyed.
He was when he learned Trump would no longer be president.
Extreme divisions, many of the divisions caused and exacerbated by President Trump himself. It's been a time of several significant and utterly avoidable failures, most tragically, of course, the unwillingness to respect facts and signs and do everything that could be done to save lives during a pandemic. It has been a time where truth in fact, we're treated with disdain.
It is a time of cruelty. We're official in.
Humanity, such as child separation became the official shameful policy of the United States. But now the Trump presidency is coming to an end, to an end with so many squandered opportunities and ruined potential, but also an era of just plain meanness. It must be said, to paraphrase President Ford, for tens of millions of our fellow Americans, their long national nightmare is over.
The nightmare is over.
The meanness of the border policies. Are me not respecting the COVID science? That little ranch hasn't an h too?
Well?
No, Look, I actually have no Jake Taper a little bit. We're someone in contact with each other. I kind of like personally, and I think that everything res relative speaking, I think relative to other people on CNN ORSNBC. He's not that terrible. He is absolutely no fans.
True.
True.
Look, at the end of the day, why did Trump take the debates so quickly even though he knew that it was stacked against him. He didn't because Joe Biden wasn't going to debate otherwise. Right, Look, we were debating this and talking about this before uh there was a good chance there will be a first time in presidential history, modern presidential history that there wasn't going to be a debate. Trump knew that and needed to make this move in order to get Biden to debate. We all know the
bias against Republican candidates on these debate stages. This is nothing new. The debates are run by the mainstream media, they're hosted by the mainstream media, and we all know
statistically they vote Democratic, no question about it. But the truth is this debate it is so important because you know this, this race is so tight that even though Trump is leading in a lot of the battleground state, they're all in a statistical dead heat and there aren't going to be many inflection points to the course of this election. This is going to be one of those inflection points. And in fact, I do think that this debate will set the trajectory for the rest of this election.
It will be very difficult if somebody takes a large lead from this debate, it will be very hard for that other person to come back. So I think this is important. I think frankly, counterintuguli, countertutinally, the MIC's being shut off may actually help Trump in a couple of ways. First of all, it goes against his It kind of pulls him back from his self destructive nature of kind of being a little bit of a jerk on a camera, which he can be sometimes a little bit over aggressive.
I think he does better when he's calm, cool and collected. I think this will force him to do that. And frankly, you want Joe Biden to have time right and not to be in terrupted by Trump, because when we haves time, that's when you see Biden's self destruct. He may not even make it through the entire time that he has a lot of them, we've seen it before. It had a minute, we start fifteen seconds short to stare at the camera. So that actually could work in Trump's favor.
Well, he's going to be practicing like hell for the next few days in preparation. And it's interesting because it's a poll that's been released showing seventy percent of voters want Donald Trump and Joe Biden to submit to drug
testing before the debate. Remember, Trump accused Biden of being as high as a kite and all jacked up during his State of the Union address back in March, and I want to say, I mean, I like this idea, particularly when it comes to Joe Biden, because there is such a vast difference in that Joe Biden's we see these days and it's hard to explain. He can be lucid, almost speed talking like he was during the State of the Union, and then he seems utterly lost and slow
and incoherent. But before you go, I've got to ask you about Star Wars. We covered this earlier in the year, this painfully woke new series The Acolyte. It's getting a massive backlash from fans. The audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is thirteen percent, which is terrible, but the critics naturally love it. It's got eighty five percent with the critics.
But Elion Mask, a Star Wars fan, has said Lucasfilms has killed Star Wars with its woke propaganda, calling President Kathleen Kennedy more deadly.
Than the Death Star. How do you see this? Is there anything redeeming about this series? Are people I don't know?
Are people overreacting or has the series been killed?
Now?
Look, it just befuddles me that companies, in this case Star Wars would take such overtly political positions and essentially pooh pooh and at fifty percent of the population that buys their products, Like Michael Jordan famously said, when you asked why is he not taking more social positions, he says, because Republicans buy shoes too. Right, That's a sentiment that every company, particularly one that stockholders should seriously, should should
should learn from. Disney's stock is down fifty percent since twenty twenty one. Okay, Ultimately that's who they have to They have to satisfy the shareholders. They are not doing that. This whole idea about I need to you have to diversify storytelling so you could identify with the characters on camera makes it has never made sense to me. Look, I'm a Jewish person. They're not the many Jewish people of Star Wars. Yet is to identify with the good Star Wars not the crappy Star Wars have been many
crappy star Wars. But yeah, look, because it's about good versus evil, doesn't matter you're a black or white, or woman or a man. You could identify with that. And I think that they are really doing themselves at the service by focusing and leaning into woken, so it doesn't make any sense, and it's killing them.
It is, but it's so ideological.
They copying the self harm, they're copying the audience backlash, the share price plummeting, all the bad press they're getting Disney, and they just keep pushing this barrow. You got to think at some point there's got to be a stop to it. Army Horowitz, we always enjoy having you, and we'll speak to you next time. The debate would have been run and one, and I'll be looking forward to your insights.
Was your pleasure still to come?
A look inside Melbourne's Cedy City Center as residents and traders demand action on.
Clime Welcome back.
Joining me now is Herald Sun reporter Suzanne Dela Basic. Suzan, you recently braved Melbourne's city streets after dark.
You had a go pro camera.
Tell me what you saw and experienced Melbourne because we prided ourselves on being the world's most livable city for many years, but that doesn't seem to be the case anymore.
Well, I can tell you now, reader. Within moments of switching on that go pro camera, I had a man who was intoxicated approach me. So the whole idea of it was to see what it's like for a woman to be walking around the CBD. So within moments, as I said, of turning on the camera, Matt approached me. He was intoxicated. I also had security with me too.
You're lucky, most of us don't have security.
No, So within and you've had some intoxicated man, you had aggressive people approach.
You, Yes, so I had a group of aggressive teens approach me. That was at the State Library. That's actually where I saw someone openly injecting, So it was quite confronting, to be honest. I also saw a man on Elizabeth Street lying motionless after just taking drugs. Just so concerning reader.
And these are for the people who don't know Melbourne.
The major streets there, Elizabeth Street, the State Library, Swanston Walk, so you're not exactly going down tiny alleyways where you might expect to see someone shooting up drugs. Were was that much of a police presidence presence? Were the police intervening in any of this?
Look, there was a police presence around. We did see a police presence, but from what I could see, they weren't intervening, And obviously that was just because when these things were going on, they had they had done them without obviously without sight of with without police being in sight. So I think that's where what it comes to that they should be checking these alleyways and actually be monitoring all of the streets.
Oh absolutely, And we've got a homeless issue in Melbourne. I know a lot of capital cities would have this, but we've also got aggression from some homeless people who are drug affected. And that is happening not just for tourists or people who visit the city occasionally, but the traders and people who work in the cities talk about being spat on, being chased, being sworn at. It's not the sort of environment you would expect in a first world city.
It's not and I can actually tell you so. After I did the walk in the CBD, I ended up going back out to businesses to see how they were feeling too, just to sort of basically discuss what I had seen with them. And one trader, as I mentioned in my story, had been punched in the face. She had been spat on. Another I actually saw footage at another store of just a trader doing his job and
he was just attacked. Workers can't even put out their bins because there are drug users openly injecting and blocking their bins.
And that's onto Grave.
Street again, another big tourist strip, one of the sort of highlights of Melbourne, one of those lane ways that we advertise to the rest of the country in the world to come and visit exactly.
So hearing all of that, I mean, it is really concerning. And these traders they want to see a stronger police presence, They want to see more action by the council, they want to see more action by the state government because they just feel like obviously all of their concerns are falling on deaf ears and why should they be made to work in fear?
They shouldn't.
Absolutely, and ninety three percent of respondents at the Herald Sun said they did not feel safe in the city, so this was not an isolated experience for you. And the Crime Statistics Agency data also paints a very ugly picture. Reveals police recorded more than twenty one thousand offenses in the CBD this year ending March twenty twenty four, compared to nineteen thousand, six hundred and twelve last year, so a significant rise there. They should be going down nineteen thousand,
I would suggest is a high enough figure. What are the authorities doing to tackle this? You mentioned the Police Council, the state government.
Is there a task force? Is this some attempt to do something about this?
Well, earlier this year are the City of Melbourne held a roundtable with the state government with police, traders, residents, but that has had I think little effect on the city and police. They've told me that they've got hundreds of officers patrolling, especially around the Elizabeth Street and Swanston Street areas. But again going out to traders and speaking with them, they say that they've actually said, can there be a dedicated police hub in Elizabeth Street? They want
to see more police because Rita. The footage that I was given from these business says FPOs machines being thrown at workers and like objects being thrown at them too, and if they're not given free pizza, particularly as you mentioned before with the home people living with homelessness, they in one case actual a worker was abused for not giving someone a free pizza.
There's an expectation now that you will give them free food, or if you're passing by and they're asking for money, that you will give them something and sometimes that's where these attacks happen. I mean, I'm pretty bold about walking around after dark people, so I'm reckless. But there's one area of Melbourne I would not go, and that's Elizabeth Street near Flinders Street. After dark, even sometimes during the day,
it's a really ugly, hostile environment. So Zandela Basic, keep up the good work and thank you so much for your time tonight.
Thanks Reder.
That's it from me.
Up next is Newsnight. I'll see you tomorrow with Douglas Smarty at eleven.
Good Night.