On scolds as Kodia.
This is the Reader Panalty Show.
Good evening and welcome to the Reader Panicky Show. Coming up tonight. Foreign billionaires funneling money to a taxpayer funded activist body to block Australian energy projects, The unintended consequences of Labour's under sixteen social media band.
Senator Alex Antik will join me shortly to discuss Queensland Premier David Prisso Fooley under pressure to review.
The state's radical gender laws, and will take a close look at the extraordinary scope of the Hunter Biden pardon and what it means for President Joe Biden's legacy.
Josh Hammer will join me shortly and Left.
Is Losing It features I rate hosts of the View having to issue yet another correction under legal advice.
Of course, I have a fairy quick smart and it's not got be that quick. Pete had said has denied any wrongdoing.
But first, it's early in the week, but we've already had two apologies. We've had one from the foreign to owned Australian venue company, the nation's second largest pub group, has apologized for its anti Australia Day activism. I'll be speaking to Senator Alex Antick about that shortly, about whether we should accept that apology and how to counter corporate virtue signaling. And this week we've also had an apology
from Senator Lydia Thorpe. The former Green has apologized to Senator Pauline Hanson for calling her a convicted racist during a press conference last week. This is after Senator Hanson issued.
A legal threat.
Thorpe's apologized in a letter to Senator Hanson and also apologized publicly on the social media platform X.
Channel nine and the.
ABC have also apologized for airing the defamatory comments. Let's bring in News Corps Senior writer Patrick Carlin and Patrick. This apology from Lydia Thought must have been a painful one. She gets away with so much, but the threasher of legal actions saw her apologize and apologize very quickly.
Yes, look, she got it wrong. She had to apologize, and I think it was what two sentences or about six words on X that actually constituted the apology. She obviously didn't want to do it, but I think it just goes to the biggest story of Lydia thought. You look at King Charles, when was that about a month ago. I think that was the moment where perhaps Australia said hang on, enough is enough. And I think she sort
of jumped the shark at that point. And I think, you know, you're getting apologies, you're getting finger gestures in the Senate, you're getting papers thrown around. She seems you're getting angrier and even less constructive than she was.
I think she has to do herself these days. Because she had the big stunt with King Charles, got so much international attention.
She was on every TV network in the UK, and I think.
She misses that.
I think she wants a bit more of that kind of attentions. I think the type where any attention is good attention, whether it's negative or not. Now, this disturbing report was in Today's Daily Telegraph on the billionaire widow of Apple's Steve Jobs leading a foreign charge to funnel money to the taxpayer funded activist body, the Environmental Defenders Offers, which tries to block Australian energy projects in court. It
often succeeds in delaying or stopping these projects. It's emerged the foundation, launched by Lourene Jobs as well as American clothing giant Patagonia, two of the top foreign contributors to the Environmental Defenders.
Offers doesn't amount to foreign interference.
Patrick, Look, possibly, I think the problem with this is the government doesn't know who is funding the EDO. The IDEO is going to court. They're making up stories according to this last ruling, trying to you know, they're acting like activists, like political operative to actually shut down big projects, big jobs, and it's ideologically driven, and they are being funded by people we don't know the full situation with.
They could be funded as has been outed by a foreign government that seeks to sort of undermine Australia's energy security. And the fact the problem is a they're activists and b the government doesn't know it who's funning them.
And another problem is we're also funding And I don't understand why a single cent of tax payer money goes into impoverishing us, into stopping much needed projects, particularly when it comes to energy, because we are paying some of the highest energy costs anywhere in the world despite having abundant reserves of everything coal.
Gas, uranium.
A report by the Business Counsel of Australia has ranked you'll be shocked to hear this Atric Victoria as the worst state to run a business.
Who would have thought that.
BCA Chief executive Brand Black said that Victoria must address its regulatory environment, which is putting a handbreak on the economy. He also said Victoria has some of the least competitive property tax settings, payroll taxes and business business licensing requirements in the country. It fundamentally needs to look at how these are holding back its economy. Yes, we've got also the biggest state debt by some margin.
South Australia, which is.
The country's most efficient planning system, came in at number one.
I think that would surprise a few people.
Oh look, it's not a shock that Victoria has been bad. Melbourne is called the fourth most livable city in the world. It's not in the top four Liverpool cities in Australia at the moment. This is just more of what Melbournians already known. It is not a good place to do business. It is not a good place to own a house, or run a restaurant or do anything.
Everything invest We've got the number of mum and dad property investors selling out. You've got small business owners who are fleeing, and those state taxes, the payroll tax and the land taxes are just skyrocketing.
They're goudgets and it sort of takes you back to nineteen ninety in Melbourne. We had the recession, we had a long term labor government that had completely buggered up the numbers for a long time, and back in nineteen ninety we had to wait until nineteen ninety two to actually vote out that government of the day. We're in the same position now. There is no blue sky ahead.
At this stage.
We're two years away from a state election. Nobody's happy, everybody's miserable, and it just feels like Melbourne really is on the nose in such a such a really tangible way.
At least back then, the Victorian people had the option of a different party with a very different set of policies and a very strong leader. We had a Jeff Kennett on that and he was voted in and he transformed the state under his time there. Whether you loved him or hated him, he definitely had a strong impact. We don't have a Jeff Kennett in the Liberal Party now. We've got John Pursuit.
On and that's part of the problem, isn't it.
That's almost part of the problem.
Yes, I was talking to a liberal person the other day who's talking about Pursuito being knocked off. And we're going to have this person or that person. You've got the defamation case coming out soon. That's going to distract and suck up so much oxygen. We need a decent opposition more than ever.
You can't have good government without having a decent opposition, and we certainly have neither of those things in Victoria. Before you go, Patrick a report from Sky News his own Caroline Marcus on Sydney University referring one of its own academics to the police after he posted online threats about a Jewish group and Sky News Australia hosts, including myself, But the university says it cannot sack this character because the threats were made in a personal capacity.
Joel Griggs wrote on.
X of the Australian Jewish Association in August that the AJA r a fascist terror cell. If the government isn't going to move on these dangerous psychopaths, can we maybe pull something together on Twitter? Could it be too hard to find out where these people live? That's disturbing? He also replied to a Sky in his Australia post on X featuring Andrew Bolt saying will get you one day. He also called Andrew Bolt, myself, Rowland Dean, Peter Credlin,
traitorous scum and great deal more there. Ah, dear me, he sounds like a charming learned fellow. Indeed, Australian academia this is this is a little bit disturbing.
I've got to say, look, all of it is disturbing.
He's made bold threats against a number of people and the university says, well, has nothing to do with us, even though we employ I think on a casual basis. But it's been there for a long time from what I've read, and he's sitting there. You have to wonder all the sort of post made after midnight or there's something that they are very disturbing, and they are threats.
I think just as disturbing is that someone's academic future could be in the hands of individuals like this.
Patrick Carline, thanks for your time tonight.
Joining me now is South Australian Liberal Senator Alex Antiq Alex the foreign owned pup chain, Australian venues Co, the Band Australia Day celebrations and it's two hundred plus venues across the country is now issued an apology for causing what it calls concern and confusion. And of course this apology only came after there was a massive backlash and calls for boycotts. Let's roll the list of the venues
this mob operates, Alex. It seems these corporate virtue signals signalers have learned nothing from the war referendum that continue to play these divisive political games.
Yeah, reader, I mean it seems that the sort of the life cycle of wokenness now for the corporates is about twenty four hours, because that's about how long it took to turn the whole thing around, getting increasingly quick, and it's just staggering that any of them are still continuing to push these kind of agendas.
Through their businesses.
I mean, it's bizarre. Michael Jordan, of course famously once said when he was asked why he wasn't more politically involved words to the effect of well Republicans by sneakers too. But in twenty twenty four in these sort of businesses are learning that lesson very very slowly. I think my advice to them would be, if you're sitting around the bordroom table and you've got your advertising people there in future, just do the opposite of what they suggest and you'll
probably be on a winner. Otherwise you're going to end up down the same track as as Gillette and with their toss toxic masculinity campaign you remember for a few years back, and then bud Light last year, who also on the receiving in they're very slow learners, reader, very.
We've seen that right here in Australia only last year, where there was a lot of there were boycotts, but people were upset by the big corporates getting involved in the Voice referendum, advocating for one side exclusively and almost putting pressure on their customers, their staff, their stakeholders to vote a certain way in a divisive referendum and they were on the wrong side it turned out. And they
haven't seemed to have learned anything. It'll be interesting to see if this is forgiven and forgotten or people like the bud Light experience going to say, stuff your apology, We're going to go elsewhere. There's lots of options when it comes to pubs and clubs now, Alex the Albaneza government did have a big win last week passing a
world first social media band for under sixteens. You were one of the few in the coalition to vote against this bill and this legislation it's not really hair brained alex ideologically. It is confused, to say the least, and it comes with a whole bunch of unintended consequences.
Tell me you know this bill better than most.
How is a sixty five year old going to establish there over sixteen so they can use Facebook without submitting to digital ID or providing their passport or driver's license to the social media site to identify themselves.
Well, this of course was the subject of what very limited debate we had last week on the bill, which was one of the main problems. I mean, this was extraordinarily complicated stuff that was rushed through in about an hour. We were lucky to get that as labor busted through about thirty bills at the end of the week. So
that was one of the questions. The answer is less clear though, it has to be said, if it's not digital ID, which I think it still can be by the way, I don't think that's been completely ruled out by the amendment that was made. And it's not handing over documents. Then what is it? Well, I asked that question,
and of course the answer to that is biometrics. These companies are going to scan our faces, our children's faces, and use that information to determine how old you are, and if you're close, if there will obviously be a margin of error, then they'll start asking the questions. And I mean, I don't know about anyone else, but that alone is enough for me to have crossed the floor on this. So I just can't support that. I can't
support the speed with which it went through. We got the bill on a Thursday, It went to a very brief three hour Senate hearing on the Monday, The bill came to us on the Tuesday, and it was passed shortly after that. So, I mean, you know, by the way, though, we found time during that week to do all sorts of other things, censure motions and suspending people and you know, you know, valedictory speeches, but when it came to actually drilling down into this world first piece of censorship law,
we didn't have the time. So what's going on up in that building, I don't know.
I do wonder if it's ever going to be implemented given the massive issues with having any sort of adherence to this that is palatable to people because I think this is a sort of policy, particularly for those who don't really use social media, which sounds good in theory. Oh yes, social media does harm to under sixteen.
Let's ban it.
But as soon as you start scrutinizing the policy, you see it's comes with huge issues. What do you if the coalition wins, the coalition back this, most of the MP's back this, will you be implementing it? And will that mean that you're going to give the Office of the e Safety Commissioner even more power?
Well, I mean I hope not.
But this has passed. It will go through an implementation phase bureaucratics speak for let's see if we can make it work. And the idea is that it'd been in force by twenty twenty six. So what the hurry was the last sitting week of the year is anybody's guest. But you know the answer to that is we don't know. I mean, there are so many things we don't know. Within a space of a week, we were told YouTube was out, snapchat was in, then snapchat was in, and
YouTube was out. So I mean, I don't think anybody really knows how this is going to work, or if it's going to work, and if it's going to fix this problem that we're talking about, which we're all sympathetic to kids getting bullied online. No one wants that. But the problem is throwing out the baby with the bath water here. And the other problem is kids are getting
legitimate news sources from social media. There are many kids in remote locations that use this as a way of interacting, and there are many kids with learning difficulties that rely on a lot of these products as well. So look, I don't know if it's workable. I doubt that it will be, but we're we're going to let the bureaucrats take it from here over to you.
Boy.
Yeah, this is just SoC shortsighted.
And you're right, people, kids, people.
Of all ages get their news from social media, even if it's coming through a mainstream media network.
And I'd much rather kids.
Be watching podcasters on YouTube than I don't know, exclusively reading The Guardian or the ABC. They probably have a much more nuanced view of the world if they were watching YouTube as opposed to the ABC. Before you go, Alex, I want to get your thoughts on the ABC cheir Kim Williams and his bizarre attack against podcaster Joe Rogan, saying he's deeply repulsive and other slurs. He's now labeled the backlash against him as demonic. This man is prone
to a bit of hyperbole, isn't he? What do you make of this entire bizarre episode.
When I first read it, I could be wrong about this, but I read that he didn't really know much about Joe Rogan but then found him deeply repulsive or whatever the language was, which was current contradictory in its first step. But he clearly hasn't watched or listened to the Joe Rogan experience. I mean, Joe Rogan is the sort of guy who probably would share a lot of fairly left wing views libertarian views as well. I mean, he backed Donald Trump, but I don't know whether or not the
left are now punishing him for that. Maybe who knows, But I don't see anything other than pretty considered, pretty sensible, and very very interesting commentary coming from there. I would spend more of my time listening to the Joe Rogan experience than I would opening up a newspaper or listening to talkback radio in this country and state, to be
absolutely honest, and that's what the kids are doing. They're picking up their news that the generation, by the way that we were told had a ten second attention span and now listening to three hour deep dive discussions about serious subjects. So what's deeply repulsive about that is is anyone's guests. I think it'd do mister Williams the world of good to actually go and have a listen to one of these podcasts might change his mind.
He embarrassed himself and I think he really put into question whether he is fit for that role. He seems to be so completely out of touch with the modern media environment and how people consume news, and to make those sorts of comments about a personality whose work you don't even know. Again, you've got to question his judgment. Listen to a podcast and then if that's your opinion, at least it comes from an informed position. Senator Alex Antick, thank you so much for your time this evening.
Thanks reader.
Still to come, A Lefty's Losing Ed plus the extraordinary scope.
Of the Hunter Biden pardon and what it means for President Joe Biden's a legacy. Josh Hammer has the details. Welcome back now it's time for lefties losing it And another day, another apology delivered by Sonny.
Houston on The View.
You know these are happening so often that I'm not even featuring them all on this segment, but this one was particularly bitter and passive aggressive, so I had to share.
I see you, I see you over there.
I have a very quick sess and it's not gonna be that quick. Pete head Seth has denied any wrongdoing. His lawyer said he paid the woman in twenty twenty three to head off the threat of a basis lawsuit. No charges were ever brought.
You rushed me for that. They're not a happy bunch, are they? Not much joy there?
And remember when the Democrats tried to gaslight America in the world with the lie that they were the Party of joy, when we we all know they're the party of grievance, hysteria and screechy sounds.
We will go back what are we not going back to?
We're not going back to the past where women had no rights everever whatever to.
A young man now desperate to play the victim, here is an American climate activist just bagging his country.
I've got to say, dude, you know you're free to leave.
I come from a country where we ban books for sport and where we tell children to hide in the corners to avoid the shooters. I come from a place where we bully LGBTQ kids in schools, and where we are actively taking away women's rights. I come from the United States.
We have a lot to be grateful for after the US presidential election, including being spared the pain of having this young last shove down our throats for the next four years. Here is almost first daughter, radical leftist activist Ella M.
Hoff. You sim girl, Sam, I can't even believe you know who I am and I'm are you.
You cant believe me real?
Are you?
Well?
You are like a breath of fresh air. Every kid I know is just like he knows your name is singing your praises.
The way that you play with fashion and just unabattedly yourself is the most exciting thing I've ever seen.
The most exciting thing she's ever seen.
Seriously, and if you like most saint people have no idea who that woman is. She's Jenna Lyon, someone told me that I have no idea who she is, to be honest with you. Let's see now from American Democrat Party strategist.
Julie Riginsky, who thinks she's going.
To stop the military from deporting illegal migrants.
Promise you with every fiber of my being, because I'll probably be one of those people that if anybody comes to these people and tries to drag them out by force, be protests of people like me, American citizens who are going to stand there and do everything possible to prevent these women and children, which is all who these people are.
Remember when they found that cocaine in the.
White House and somehow they couldn't figure out whose it was, and then the Secret Service destroyed the evidence. Clearly no obvious suspects came immediately to mind. Now to MSNBC and far far, far left commentator Molly Jong Fast, who was left speechless by.
News of Hunter Biden's pardon.
Hunter light on a mandatory gun purchase forum by saying he was not illegally using or addicted to drugs. According to NBC News, the President need the decision this weekend. Molly Fast and furious, what do you make of this new news?
I just heard it. I have to process it.
I don't have a take.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I don't want to have a take. Lady, that's your job. You've got one job there and is to have a take.
Watch now, as CNN subjects Democrat Dan Goldman to a humiliation ritual of sorts, this is a thing of beauty. They literally play him footage of himself on ABC lying his lefty butt off about how Joe Biden was never going to pardon his son Hunter.
I got to say, I love CNN for this.
This is what you said.
I want to watch.
Do you think a pardon for his son would be a mistake?
Yes, And I don't think there's any chance that President Biden is going to do that, unlike his predecessor, who pardoned all of his friends.
What does that feel like watching yourself back then reassuring people that Biden was not going to issue a pardon for his son.
Yeah, and I think that if that Plea agreement and that Plea deal had gone through, there would be no pardon.
That was a satisfactory outcome already.
Fallen that.
Sorry, when you reacted, this was when the deal had fallen through now.
We were told again and again, not just by the Biden White House, but also its propaganda the overwhelming majority of the US media that Joe Biden would never pardon his crackadd old whore enthusiast son. He has too much integrity to do that. He has too much respect for the legal process.
Major commitment from the President, accepting the outcome of the trial and also pledging not to pardon his son.
Presidential promise to put the law before a family.
Shod by the jury decision.
I will do that, and I will not.
Partner letting the world know that he will not wipe away the decision of twelve of his son's peers.
One side, Democrats and Joe Biden protecting the justice system, and on the other Republicans in Trump protecting current president of the United States has so much respect for the law that he has said he would not pardon his son. I mean what you know again, it's all about the contrast.
Joining me now is Newsweek Senior editor at Large and Article three Projects Senior Council Josh hammert Josh. Joe Biden has not only pardoned his son, this is the most comprehensive, far reaching pardon. I think we've seen Joe Biden signed a full and unconditional pardon for Hunter, covering all offenses against the United States which he has committed or may have committed or taken part in during the period from January one, twenty fourteen, through to December.
One, twenty twenty.
Four including but not limited to all offenses charged or prosecuted. The scope of this pardon is enormous.
Josh.
Reader, The scope is so annoy and indeed is so unprecedented. Truly impressed in that I've actually spent a lot of time trying to think over these past thirty six hours or so as to whether or not there is anything remotely resembling a clear president for a part in this sweeping and honestly, I come up blank. I mean, this is the kind of language that you put into a pardon that I think back to my time in law
school here in the United States. I mean, I would if I were a constitutional law professor, I would literally put a pardon like this on a first year law student exam to try to question the students as to whether something like this is even permissible, as to whether it's even constitutional in the first place. The short answer is that it is, unfortunately, because the part and power is truly cleinary. But the point is that there's just
there's no precedent for this. I mean, this has not happened, to my knowledge anytime in recent history or in history at all, let alone to actually do so to one's son, to one's literal next of kin. I mean, I'm somewhat flabbergast to read. I really don't necessarily have words for this. And the fact that you're tying about the January of twenty fourteen in particular, well you know what happened when
you're twenty fourteen. Oh yeah, that's right. Well, Hunter Biden starts sitting on the board of BURISBA in the spring of twenty fourteen, just a few years after January twenty fourteen, no doubt read it for his subject matter expertise on Eastern European Baltic Sea oil and natural gas energy exports. I jest, of course, he has no expertise in this whatsoever. But I mean, you know, Joe Biden says that this was an example of a politicized prosecution. I actually agree
with him, but for the exact opposite reason. The Special Council David Weiss deliberately slow walk this case. He did not look into far of the Foreign Agent's Registration Act. He deliberately let the five year statute of limitations toll on that particular statute. There and by the way, he tried to submit a plea deal in the summer of twenty twenty three that was such a sweetheart deal that the federal judge Mary Ellen Norieker rejected as just being
too favorable to the criminal defendant. As a former federal law clerk, I can tell you not something that happens every day in court. This whole thing distincts from top to bottom. The fish rots from the head. The silver line here's a silver line now iant in a positive.
No.
The silver lining here is that when Donald Trump comes into power January twenty twenty five, any morsel of credibility at the Left had when they complained about Donald Trump's purported abuses of the justice system, it's over. They have no credibility whatsoever. You and I both know they had no credibility with the Jacksmith lawfair to begin with here. But this is the final nail in the coffin. This is really it. At this point, they have revealed themselves for the tyrants that they are.
Well, I'm not even a little bit shocked by any of this. I'm a little bit shocked by the scope of the pardon because that is just astonishing, as you've just explained. But let's not forget Donald Trump was impeached for wanting to investigate what actually happened with Ukraine and Hunter Biden and Barsma just for wanting to have a look at things that are now beyond the justice system.
Where Hunter Biden has just got this get out of Jao Freaka, And I do wonder whether that get out of Joao Frekat Josh is really for Joe Biden himself and other members of the family, because at the end of the day, Joe Biden was the product this entire pay for access scheme they were running. Joe was at the center of it. Without him, there would be no money coming in.
Yeah, I think you've nailed it. Is this pardon is only partially for Hunter Biden. It really is a pardon
for the entire Biden family in general. Look, there have been many, many on the right side of the American political aisle, myself included, who have been calling for the Biden DOJ, or excuse me for the Trump DOJ, that is to reopen a new Special Council probe into Hunter Biden come day one, to look back into possible violations with the Foreign Agents Registration Act and various other overseas
foreign dealings. Now, with this part and in place here, assuming that it is upheld in court, which again I believe it will be for better or for worse. But with this part and in place, you can't do that. And that ultimately is what Joe Biden trying to do here. I think he's basically taking an action rita to try to make a play for the presidential historians who will write books about his presidency fifteen twenty thirty years now.
And what he's trying to do is he's trying to preclude his own name and his brother's name, Jim Biden, I guess Hunter's name from being revealed in a subsequent deposition or a judicial hearing or a House Republican subpoene investigation. He's trying to obviate all of that with the sweepy nature of this part. And little does he know, though, that in doing such a corrupt a venal, a grossly
self serving hypocritical thing. After months and months of just lying, not even guess line, just straight up lying to the American people over and over and over again. Little does he know that he actually has sealed his faith with the presidential historians here in the US. That faith, though, is not what he hopes it will be.
I do wonder, Josh, whether he's going to be cute now and try to pardon Donald Trump and his ridiculous convictions. The Trump top charge, as we saw in New York Kuja, ultimately going to be reversed on appeal.
But do you think he will do something like that. He'll pull something like that in the final wakes.
I can see it happening. I mean, but you know they've tried this trick before, Rita. I mean, you know they did this when they indicted Bob Menendez, the very corrupt senator from New Jersey, the Democrat, who is taking Egyptian literal bars of gold were found in his closet there. They did a similar thing when they indicted Eric Adams, the mayor of New York City there who apparently was taking some summer money from the country of Turkey. He was flying Turks shalens there, so they're actually.
Very good at this.
They're very good and basically dangling out these cheap objects and hoping to obfuscat into bamboozle the right here in America, trying to convince you that, oh, everything's above board. You see, we're prosecuting both sides, or hey, we're letting both sides off the huck. They're very good in that they've tried
this tactic before. But at this point, Rita, I think the onus is on us on the right, those of us who are conservatives, constitutionals, pro America patriots, to see this for what it is, which an unprecedented act of self serving venality in American history.
Now, Trump has announced his pick for the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Hillsborough County sheriff, Chad Chronister. This man's record is very different to that of say Cash Ptel, his pick for FBI director, a pick that his voters were absolutely thrilled about.
This pick.
Conister Cronister is well his infamous for the relatively soft approach he took to the twenty twenty BLM riots. He's been, though tough onposing COVID curfews and even arresting a church pastor for holding services. Josh explain this selection to me, Is this Donald Trump's first mistake since winning the election?
Rita, You know, let me first say that, not who I would pick to lead the DEA. I mean, let me just put my cards on table there, not who I I would pick, not who I would advise Donald Trump to pick. I say this, by the way, as someone who takes the DA's task very seriously. My cousin may his memory be a blessing overdose and died seven years ago now from fentanyl lace cocaine, no doubt traffic across the US Mexico border. So I take the drug
issue here in the United States very seriously. So again, not the man that I would have recommended to Donald Trump and his team to pick if I had my word and my brothers. But I think that Donald Trump is entitled to a very large degree of deference when it comes to people like this, who will comprise not just his cabinet, but the DA is actually then a sub cabinet's second tier official. The DA technically sits below the Department of Justice. The DEA chief is basically he's
basically subservient to the Attorney General. Of the United States, and from what I understand, this pick basically came from Pam Bondi, who is Donald Trump's pick for Attorney General. Pam Bondi and check Conis are both, they're both Floridians. They're both here in Florida where I live there, I think soon to be Attorney General. Bondi is very close with this sheriff in Hillsboro County there so she's probably
entitled to her dea chief of choice. Again, not who I would necessarily pick there, but it is worth noting that Hillsborough County, where Kronister is sheriff, is a purple to late blue county, so if he's trying to get re elected as sheriff, he probably can't run a very very hard right jurisdiction there. He has been very tough on Prohamas protests. He's taken a stronger stance on illegal immigration in general there So there are definitely some things
I think to look very fondly at. But again, having said that, wouldn't necessarily be my first choice, but I'm okay with the pick if that's who Pambindi wants.
Talking about Hamas and being tough on terrorists, Donald Trump has today issued a stark warning to the terrorists holding hostages.
I'm going to read from.
This part of the post that he shared on truth. He said, please let this truth serve to represent that if the hostages are not released prior to January twenty, twenty twenty five, the date that I proudly assume office as President of the United States, there will be all hell to pay in the Middle East, and for those in charge who have a perpetrator these atrocities against humanity, though is responsible, will be hit harder than anybody has been hit in the long and storied history of the
United States of America. Release the hostages and now in capitals. Josh, we haven't seen this sort of strength or clarity from the Biden administration. Certainly, this is pure Trump. This is Trump's pace through strength strategy.
Look, I mean it's an amazing statement. I mean, it's truly an amazing statement.
You know.
One of the funny things about Donald Trump is that he barely even has to act. I mean, as soon as he was elected by the American people, basically, the entire Middle East map already started to change. Effectively. Overnight. Has Balla started begging for a ceasefire. Hamas started begging for a ceasefire. Ran said that was going to tone
down it's assault across the entire region. There, I mean, basically, just the mere presence of this man, the guy who achieved historical peace the Middle East's first time around, the guy who took out Kasam Sulimani at the bag at a Rock airport in January twenty twenty. There, I mean, the mere fact that he is there, let alone putting out amazing statements like this has already changed the entire dynamic of the region there. Look, the point is people
think that Donald Trump is like a warmonger. They's looking at star wars. The Middle East was the quietest it has been in decades during his presidency because again, our enemies here in America no not to mess with us when Donald Trump is in office. The one thing I will say is that if you're going to talk like this, as Donald Trump has done in truth social you better be prepared to back it up with action. Having said that, though, I think Donald Trump is very clearly willing to do that,
as he's demonstrated before there. So our enemies are now on standby. They are watching this with very close eyes there, and that is a very good thing. I said.
I remember when he was Wow.
I think it was the fourth or fifth presidential candidate who said he was going to move the embassy. He was going to move the American embassy, and he was going to.
Acknowledge Israel's capital. And there was a promise that was made previously.
Josh, I think Clinton made it, Obama made it, Bush made it.
None of them followed through. They were all too terrified.
Donald Trump followed through despite the hyperbole and the hysteria that we got from the media and experts telling us it was going to elite, lead to bloodshed and relations were going to sour.
And what happened, Nothing really happened.
They dealt with it because he followed through with a pledge. And I think we're going to see a lot more of that. I want to ask you about Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He's met with Trump and their rumors that he wants to cozy up to the administration. He wants to be brought into the fold and be involved in the national reform and renewal. But should this character be trusted, Josh?
Meta Instagram, Facebook have been notorious for suppressing, censoring conservatives that continue to do so, and he donates hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money to help fortify the twenty twenty election.
Is he a character.
Who has proven himself, who's showing that he has changed his mind about politics? Like Elon Muskaz and RFK and Tulsa Gabbett and some others.
You know, I would not trust Mark Zuckerberg personally at all. I mean to put it mildly there, but he's on this current long, extended maya culpa apology tours. It's very odd, actually, I mean this started really over the summer. He put out some statement acknowledging that Facebook was complicit in censoring the Hunter Biden laptop story from The New York Post back in twenty twenty, and he said that he apologized for that. So he's been on this extended apology tour
for a while now. I can't quite figure out exactly why he is doing this, though, to be honest with you, I find it very difficult to believe that his actual politics and principles and ideology have changed, rather as probably just a self serving measure when it comes to just trying to keep this company relevant. He probably sees his fellow Silicon Valley titan, Elon Musk, who is now in Mara Lago. He's taken photos with Don Junior and Eric Trump.
He's basically, I mean Elon Musk is basically an adopted son of the Trump family at this point. And this is probably a little bit of just envy or jealousy. Frankly, from Mark Zuckberg. You know, from one billionaire to another there. If I had to put on my psychological lens, that's probably what I imagine what was going on here, belok. I mean, you know, from one Jew to another, from
me to Mark Zuckerberg. Mark Zuckerberg actually had his bar mitzvah and the synagogue in my hometown back in New York there, So I would encourage him to spend a little more time doing what we call teshuba, which is which is atonement in Judaism, prior to trying to get in Donald Trump's good graces. I think I think a little more atonement might be in order for your previous mistakes.
Frankly, I tell you, I'm with you. I would not trust him as far as I can throw him. And if he actually really has genuinely changed his point of view and waken up to some of the awful activism that he's been party too. Then you would think it would tackle that on his own websites, on his own sites Instagram and faceboo book, which are still routinely censoring anything that's right of left, I mean even centrist of finding themselves getting censored or suppressed.
There.
Before you go, We've got some good news. I've got conservative commentator Scott Jennings being added to the editorial board of The La Times, a publication that has been left to far left for a long time. Is this going to have any make any meaningful change though, Josh, Or is this just a token conservative who's been added so they can pretend to be balanced.
So the La Times, it's you know, it's worth giving some credit or credits do. The La Times was one of the major publications that ultimately refuse to endorse in the twenty twenty four election, along the Washington Post in USA. Today, those really the big three liberal pepers which refuse to
endorse Carmala Harris or Dald Trump in this election. So the fact that they refuse to endorse and now they're bringing Skytt Jennings is definitely a propitious sign for the future there, but ultimately the devil will be in the details there. I want to see what his columns look like. I want to see those voices actually represented on the editorial boards, in house editorials. I actually published one ibed myself at the LA Times about four and a half
years ago. Now I haven't bothered to try again. It's been a very long time since that, since that was a hospitable place to publish conservative commentary. So I guess you know, the proof ultimately be here in the pudding.
Look, Josh, I differ with you on that point. I don't give them credit for not endorsing Kamala, and same with the Washington Post because they run nothing but pro Kamala anti Trump material twenty four to seven, and then they don't endorse, pretending that that means they're balanced or they're then they're not committed to one side when we all know where their politics and their agenda runs. So we'll be watching and saying if Scott Jennings has an impact at the LA Times.
Josh Hamma, thanks for your time tonight. Thank you. Rider still to come.
Pressure on Queensland Premier David Chris of Fooley to review the states writing gender laws.
Stephanie Bastian is up next.
Welcome back, joining me now as the head of Advocacy at Women's Forum Australia. Stephanie Bastian. Stephanie, Let's begin in Queensland, where there is increasing pressure on Premier David Chrisafooley to reform the states so called gender care laws. Government MP's are set to be eager to pass legislation to protect kids from dangerous and sometimes irreversible gender treatments.
What else can you tell me about this?
Well, good evening, Rita. Well, we haven't seen anything come on the agenda just yet. I imagine David's been very busy implementing some of his other pre election commitments, including tackling crime and excessive government expenditure. However, I can't fault his ministerial appointments. We now have Fiona Simpson who is the new Minister for Women and unlike her preecessor, she actually knows what a woman is and she's advocated throughout
her career for women's sex based rights. And of course the new Minister for Health, Tim Nichols, is also a very good appointment. During the birthdesths and Marriages debate last year in Parliament, he gave a very passionate speech on the harms of socially transitioning children and how that can lead to medical transition and the implications with that, especially the fact that they cannot consent even with support of
their parents. The coma bit issues that come with genderice for including autism and other neurodivergencies, suppression anxiety, backgrounds of trauma, and of course the social contagent aspect.
So he is well and.
Truly across the issue. He's obviously invested time in looking into it, and I have full faith that he would be more than capable to lead reforms. I just hope that we see something on the agenda soon.
Well, it would just be good to see a review, Stephanie.
It would be good to see a review of these practices, see what the outcomes have been, how many are undergoing these treatments at what ages, and to do this sort of reviews that we've seen elsewhere in the world in the UK, Scandinavia, many parts of the US. Australia is a bit of an outlier right now. We're just blindly following this model without really any care of the consequences for the confused kids or undergoing these treatments.
Oh, absolutely, we are behind the rest of the world. Even America now is making moves in the right direction, and New Zealand just a couple of weeks ago announced one of their health regulatory bodies has urged caution on using puberty blockers to treat children, and we are waiting for further announcements that are expected to come from the
Health minister over there. So I think a review is certainly a first step, but I would be calling for a halt on these medical treatments that kids are receiving surgeries at a very young age. In Queensland, we know that they're going on puberty blockers before they're even twelve or thirteen, So I would be halting treatments and then organizing a review most certainly.
I can tell you I think we're going to see lawsuits in the future, class action lawsuits, and I think they'll be very much deserved because I think a lot of confused kids have been prescribed treatments that are going to leave them with lifelong medical consequences. Moving on to how captured segments of the media are by radical gender theory. This passage out of The New York Times was incredible. They somehow managed to make women a subcategory.
In their own sex.
In a recent piece, they referred to women as non transgender women, and this has.
Caused all sorts of backlash.
Even leftists like Martine and Navrattel over the Tennis Great spoke out against ishes said, New York Times, you stink. We are women, not non transgender women, just women will do in the future.
What's your reaction to this?
Every now and then something comes along and you think, surely not. That has to be parody, it has to be satire, and it ends up being real.
I know, it's ridiculous. I think people are realizing more and more just how ideologically captured these outlets are. Over in America, it's the New York Times. Here it's the ABC, And I think with the election of Trump and the whole campaign on the issue, more and more women are able to speak out and actually voice their opinions on it, which is increasing, which is very positive. But there are
a number of issues with that piece. I mean, they were still disputing the science and the physiological differences between men and women in sport.
My five year old knows the difference.
In the playground quite frankly, and so I think that these publications are obviously ideologically captured. No one is going to take them seriously until they start reporting on these things properly.
And just on the subject matter of that New York Times piece, the volleyball scandal we've spoken about previously on this program, it looks like the transgender player San Jose States, Blair Fleming, has played his final college volleyball game. Do you feel like the sports administrators learned anything during this saga, do you.
Know, reader, I don't think they have, and they should probably be sacked the litigation. There's an impending litigation against them that started before the end of this season. It didn't make them think twice or change direction. They had a whole election campaign run on this issue. In fact, it was an injury within the sporting team that put it on the Republican agenda, and they haven't learned their lesson.
I think that there are some people who are so invested, who are so politically invested in this, they are beyond learning lessons. Perhaps a slap in the face in court might do it. Unlikely, but still I think for the integrity of the sport, they all need to be dismissed in a new administration. Put in.
Yes, I think one hundred percent right there.
They are putting women at risk, they're putting athletes at risk, and it shouldn't be up to the individual athletes to take a stand to boycott games. But it's come to that because the administrators have proved themselves to be utterly gutlers or ideological. Stephanie Bastian, thanks so much for your time this evening, and that's it from me.
Up next is Newsnight.
I'll see you at eleven tomorrow with Douglas Murray