The Kenny Report

00:02 This is The Kenny Report. 00:05 Thanks, Ross. I think my wife offered some extra pocket money to my 14-year-old to fill it in for us. Thanks for joining me tonight on The Kenny Report. Another blow to the credibility of the Bondi Royal Commission as I reveal another senior Liberal with relevant expertise has not been called to give evidence. Interest rates on hold, but they're set to rise again and won't be going down anytime soon. And the housing market is in freefall. I'll get an expert view. Albanese's melon-headed diplomacy continues to distract and embarrass the government, including its Minister for Women, Katie Gallagher. 00:43 The Barrier Reef bouncing back and proving the purveyors of doom wrong again. Also, US politics with Kristen Tate and the panel with Susie O'Brien and Stephen Senatiempo. Let's get cracking. 00:58 Lots of deadly serious issues to get into tonight, so let me start with something that on the surface is a little more frivolous, the Prime Minister's melon-headed diplomacy. This truly is silly stuff, but it's got serious consequences. for the tenor of our relations with Japan, for the standing of the Prime Minister and for the way women are treated in political debate. Anthony Albanese's puerile and sexist behaviour has now become such a major issue that even the ABC has been forced, finally, to cover it. 01:36 These comments largely flying under the radar until a former Japanese ambassador dramatically weighed in, attacking the Prime Minister for casually mocking a trusted partner. 01:47 While this was largely flying under the radar for ABC viewers, now everyone is abreast of the issue, so to speak. It's been confirmed the gift exchange has figured in official diplomatic cables, and the Japanese media has started to pick up on it, this site having to explain that the word for melons in Australia is often a slang term for a woman's breasts. The former Japanese ambassador, who wrote about the issue in the Australian newspaper earlier this week, has spoken with News24. 02:21 Simply this is a matter of decorum, diplomatic propriety, and also, you know, mutual respect. I think, you know, in Australia or in Japan or anywhere else, for that matter, you know, you don't make a mockery of, you know, gifts from your friends. 02:41 Yeah, that's spot on. It's not limited to Japanese culture, of course. It's just good manners anywhere, anytime. Still, for all this, the Albanese government's Minister for Women seems to be in denial. 02:55 The comments and the remarks from the Prime Minister have been misinterpreted. The Prime Minister is very clear that he did not mean for those comments to be interpreted in the way they have by some media outlets and by our political opponents. 03:10 Hang on a second. The Minister for Women says this was all OK. She says Albanese's behaviour was just fine. 03:21 But rather it was some media, like here at News 24, I guess, and her political opponents that are making all this up. 03:30 Albanese is not the mocker in chief. He's now the victim of some political conspiracy. 03:36 Really? 03:37 Let's check the tape. 03:39 The Japanese Prime Minister brought a melon. Did she smuggle it? I don't know. 03:44 Oh, I'm expecting it. 03:45 Got a couple of melons. 03:47 She brought two. 03:48 She brought two, as you do. 03:49 She just came in looking like Pamela Anderson. 03:51 She brought two. 03:52 Yes, really. 03:53 And they're beautiful. 03:55 That's the exchange. And here, again, is the Minister for Women. That's her job, I remind you. She is the Minister for Women and she is defending melon jokes about a female Prime Minister. 04:11 I know this Prime Minister. I work with him every day. I know how he relates to women. He has enormous respect for women. 04:19 Enormous respect for women. And respect for melons too, apparently. 04:25 Albanese should just apologise and move on. 04:29 Even the ABC eventually saw sense in that move over its Gina Reinhart attack. 04:35 Will the Prime Minister personally apologise to the Prime Minister of Japan, Her Excellency Sane Takachi, for his disrespectful behaviour? 04:47 Good call to the Prime Minister. Thanks, Mr Speaker. I reject the assertion in the question. 04:54 Albanese isn't using his melon. He's in denial. What a melancholy tale this is. Apparently only politicians on the right can have women problems and the left can make up their own rules. 05:13 The controversy and frustration surrounding the Bondi Royal Commission continues, as I can reveal another senior Liberal politician with crucial expertise has not been called to give evidence despite making himself available. I'm talking about the Liberal Senator for New South Wales and former member for the seat of Wentworth, which covers Bondi, the scene of the worst terror attack in this nation's history last December... Dave Sharma. Sharma is also a former diplomat who was Australia's ambassador to Israel for four years to 2017, a time when Israel was suffering repeated missile attacks from Hamas and Hezbollah. 05:55 He is therefore an experienced expert in Middle East affairs and the threat of Islamist extremism, as well as being deeply connected to the Australian Jewish community and our intelligence agencies. 06:09 Sharma made a detailed submission to the Bondi Royal Commission, letting the inquiry know that he was available to give evidence in person. 06:19 But he has not been called. When I contacted him, the Senator steered away from criticising the Royal Commission, but said in a statement that it's vital for the Commission to hear directly from the many experienced and qualified people who have made submissions, who have important perspectives and expertise to offer. Sharma also confirmed he had made a submission and had indicated his willingness to appear. 06:48 Sharma's snub comes after former Deputy Liberal Leader and Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was not called by the Royal Commission, despite being the most senior Jewish politician in this nation's history, despite also leading the public advocacy for the calling of the Royal Commission and having warned repeatedly about the rise of anti-Semitism and Islamist extremism, including by fronting a documentary on this station. 07:16 Look, it's clear that this Royal Commission is failing the nation. Instead of zeroing in on the actual threat, the rise of Islamist extremism, it is bending over backwards to avoid that topic, preferring to speak about some nebulous concept of broader anti-Semitism. It seems to consider terrorist outfits like Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad and their supporters as if they are organisations that represent the aspirations of the Palestinian people for a state, when in fact they are jihadist outfits committed primarily to the destruction of Israel and the eradication of Jews. 07:57 And when it comes to the political environment here in Australia, the Royal Commission again seems to be skirting the critical points. Why did governments do so little? What more could they have done? Why has Islamist extremism been allowed to fester and dominate ugly protests? The Royal Commission must hear from senior federal Labor government ministers and state ministers too, who should be open to cross-examination. How can a royal commission into events in Australia allow Jewish Australians to be cross-examined about Israeli government actions and then not have the Australian government cross-examined over its actions or lack of them? 08:44 If the Royal Commission does not make this happen, it will be demonstrating that it is not interested in these crucial questions. 08:53 It should call the Prime Minister and ask Anthony Albanese why he said and did so little right at the outset. 09:02 When we saw Sheikh Ibrahim Dedun responding to the slaughter of innocents in Israel by shouting about victory and elation on October the 8th, 2023, to a crowd chanting, Here is what Albanese said the next morning. 09:19 Well there's nothing to celebrate by the murder of innocent civilians going about their day. 09:28 For people who were, some of those who've been captured, young people who are attending a rave, enjoying life, enjoying each other's company, there's nothing to celebrate here. 09:43 Could he have said any less? 09:45 Could he have been any less exercised by what I reckon was one of the most worrying and sickening public displays in this country's history? 09:53 The Royal Commission should ask the Prime Minister why his reaction was not stronger. Wasn't this the clearest warning about the extent of anti-Jewish hatred on our streets? Why weren't the police sent to investigate possible hate speech crimes? Why didn't the Prime Minister go to that community and urge it to contain such hatred? Why didn't this spur him to act against extremist organisations like Hizbut Tahrir, which had long been banned in many countries, including Muslim countries, but was still legal here until after the Bondi massacre? 10:30 Then on October 9, 2023, the next night, we saw the hateful displays at the Opera House. Police escorting protesters to a site for which they did not have a permit, warning Jewish Australians to stay away and not arresting any protesters over their threatening and hateful chants. The following day, the Prime Minister said, only this... 10:56 Well, I think that there's nothing to celebrate here. 11:02 And I understand that the Middle East is a complex issue. 11:06 And I, for a long time, have supported the right of Israelis and Palestinians to live in peace and security and to support a resolution long term of this conflict. 11:21 What was his problem? These were the red flag warning signs on day one and two after the October 7 atrocities. They caused many of us to highlight the threat and the need to crack down on Islamist extremism. They sent chills of alarm through Australia's Jewish communities. But the government did next to nothing. 11:47 This set the tone, the tone of tepid government responses and the tone of defiance and hatred from the protesters, preachers and practitioners of anti-Semitism and Islamist extremism. The Royal Commission must ask the Prime Minister why he was not horrified, alarmed and activated by what was unfolding. Where was the visit to those communities? Where was the warning? Where was his summit of Muslim community leaders to cooperate in quelling this animosity and bile? 12:23 The hatred at anti-Semitic incidents mounted over two years. Graffiti attacks, cars burned, a synagogue firebombed, a childcare centre. It was terrible. 12:35 And then when thousands marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge protesting against Israel, hate preachers among them, some chanting for death to the IDF, some waving the emblems of Islamist terrorist organisations and some carrying a poster of Iran's leader, the main global sponsor of Islamist terrorism. Well, after that, here's what Albanese said. 13:00 Yesterday's march was peaceful and was an opportunity for people to express their concern about what is happening in Gaza. 13:12 Peaceful? When did chanting for death and waving terrorist flags amount to being peaceful? 13:19 Albanese needs to be asked about all of this. And he needs to be asked why he rewarded the terrorists of Hamas by recognising the non-existent state of Palestine before it had borders, before it had a government, before its terrorists had laid down their arms and before it had stopped funding the families of terrorists, including suicide bombers. 13:43 Albanese needs to be asked whether he ever considered that rewarding terrorism might run the risk of encouraging more of it. 13:53 He needs to be cross-examined about his actions and his lack of action and their consequences. Unless the Royal Commission does this, it will be clear to all that it's not interested in tackling the real and present danger of Islamist extremism. 14:11 And a vital chance to tackle the threat of terrorism will have been lost. 14:19 Let's go to Canberra now and catch up with the Shadow Home Affairs and Immigration Minister, Jonathan Dunningham. Thanks for joining us, Jonathan. Can you believe that a former Australian ambassador to Israel in Dave Sharma, a former member for the seat of Wentworth, where the Bondi terrorist atrocity occurred, could make a submission to this Royal Commission and not be called to share his expertise? 14:44 Yeah, Chris, thanks for having me. I do find it more than passing strange that someone with such perspective, a community representative no less, but someone with the background, like you say, has been excluded from the list of those to give evidence to the Commission. I mean, the whole point of this was to get the fullest picture possible so that we can understand what needs to be done, and I think there's some pretty basic things that do need to be done here, to prevent this from happening ever again in our community and getting things right. 15:12 But we've seen elements of this all the way along. The government, of course, trying to prevent certain documents from being provided, et cetera. But, again, it just makes a mockery of the entire process. If they don't have all of the information before them, either by choice or because someone's withholding it... we as a community, a country, are going to be poorer for it because we won't have properly informed recommendations. So I hope things change and that further evidence is sought from people like Dave Sharma and perhaps Josh Frydenberg as well, because I think they are important perspectives to actually take into account. 15:45 It seems, this is speculation, but it seems like the Royal Commission doesn't want political issues in there. It doesn't want senior Liberal people who might actually call out the government's failures here. Yet these were people who were warning about the lack of response to anti-Semitism for two years before Bondi. Josh Frydenberg prominently, Dave Sharma as well, on this program. that this Royal Commission will be a sham if it does not address those warnings and those calls to action and consider what could have been stopped in our broader community if there'd been more action. 16:19 Yeah, but dead right. I think the word sham is, sadly, where it's at if we don't actually get the full perspective from those who are close to the community. And when you've got Jewish community leaders like Josh Frydenberg and, of course, former local member, now Senator Dave Sharma, former ambassador to Israel, being able to give their views. And if you're worried about politics, then even the ledger. Bring someone from the other side of politics, if that's what the concern is. But... My view is here, this is not about politics. 16:50 These are people who have legitimate points to make that would assist the Commission in making findings that will help us as a country ensure we don't ever go down this bloody road ever again. 17:01 Well, exactly. This is a point... I'll just make this point before we move on. 17:06 This is a point about the worst period of lack of social cohesion, of hatred within this country over two years leading up to Bondi, and then the worst ever terror attack in this country. It's about making sure we don't make those mistakes again, making sure that we don't have terrorist attacks in this country again. And I don't care what the politics are about that. We've got to protect the Australian community. Let me go to an issue that's related to that and the return of jihadist fighters to this country. And Pauline Hanson's putting up a private member's bill here. 17:39 Let's have a listen to what she's saying about it. 17:42 If the law does not currently prevent these people from returning, our duty to the Australian people is to change the law. 17:50 One Nation is acting where the Labor government has failed to act. The bill creates a new foreign terrorist fighter exclusion order... 17:58 Now, Jonathan, there are constitutional limitations here, but broadly speaking, the Coalition seems to support those aims, having tougher laws to give governments more freedom to block the return of alleged terrorists. What's going to be your approach? Are you going to put up a bill yourselves? Are you going to try and work with Pauline Hans' private members, Bill? 18:19 All of the above, Chris. I mean, at the end of the day, and Pauline touched on it there, it's something we've been saying, Angus has been saying for a long time. 18:26 Labor are doing nothing. I mean, they say they're doing nothing to help ISIS brides come back to Australia. That is patently untrue. They are bringing them back. Yeah. But in terms of this legislation... This is something to progress. We've got, of course, our own bill on the books relating to those who help ISIS brides return to Australia or anyone else associated with ISIS or similar organisations, and we have other legislation we are preparing to introduce ourselves. At the end of the day, I don't care who moves it, it would be great if the government did something themselves. 18:59 They're not. They won't. Well, then it would happen more quickly. Yeah. 19:03 Well, exactly. We'd have the resources of the Attorney-General's Department, Home Affairs, Foreign Affairs, a phalanx of lawyers who were able to deal with any constitutional issues. So, look, we're prepared to look at that legislation. I think it's got to go through a Senate committee process, make sure it does work, get the academics, the experts and others to give evidence about it. But let's do something. If there are problems, and there are, we're bringing bad people who are radicals, who are evil, back into our country... We've got to stop them. Find a way. We'll help your government do that and protect Australian people, especially when you're doing nothing about it. 19:37 Jonathan, thanks for joining us. Jonathan Dunningham, Mayor Shadow Immigration and Home Affairs Minister. Now, I want to get to the economy, and as expected, the Reserve Bank has kept rates on hold at 4.35%. In question time, the opposition hammered the government over their housing tax hikes and their impact on the market. Have a look. 19:56 Labor's toxic taxes have tanked the housing market. 20:01 ANZ Bank today reports Sydney house prices could fall by almost 15%, the worst crash in more than four decades. 20:11 Will the Prime Minister finally admit Labor's broken promises on capital gains tax and negative gearing have made millions of Australian homeowners worse off? 20:22 We had measures that were aimed at addressing the challenges that are facing young Australians when it comes to owning a house. Rents have reportedly increased by 10 per cent since the budget just three months ago. Prime Minister, which of the following are to blame? A Record high immigration outpacing new home builds. B Labor's toxic taxes on housing. C, the 15 interest rate rises under Labor, or D, all of the above. 20:52 When it comes to the changes that we made in the budget around housing for the reasons that the Prime Minister ran through, to make sure that we can give first home buyers a fair crack in a housing market which has locked them out for too long. 21:05 Yes, welcome to the desk, Professor Richard Holden from the University of New South Wales Business School. Good to talk to you again, Richard. Tell us where rates are going from here. Is there another increase looming before the end of the year? 21:17 I think Michelle Bullock's press conference today after the rates decision was quite illuminating. She volunteered without anyone asking and said, we didn't talk about cutting rates at today's meeting. We did talk about potentially increasing them. And then she reiterated that, seeming to sort of break her own rule about giving forward guidance. I think I read that as a hint to the market of, you know, don't think there's a rate cut coming. So I suspect the next move is up. Inflation's well above target. And the RBA said today it won't even get back to target if then by the end of 2027. 21:49 Well, yes, she was very forthcoming. Here is the Reserve Bank Governor. 21:53 We've already... 21:55 raised three times, and we will go again if we need to, and I think personally that it's quite possible we might need to go, but we'll wait and see what the data tell us. 22:08 This is going to be very worrying for mortgage holders, especially people fresh into the market who have seen the value of their property fall already. What's your take on the price falls we're seeing now and the sort of mortgage stress people can get into, especially with negative equity? 22:23 Yeah, I mean, if people need to sell, that's where the real problem comes in with negative equity. It probably does look like a more of a short-term correction, although it's very painful for those going through it. So if people can hang on, then they should be OK. But it sort of doesn't look good on paper and that can affect, of course, how people behave in the rest of the economy. 22:42 Yeah, tell us about the rest of the economy. Growth is anaemic, but probably as an economy we're holding up better than many expected. Obviously the Reserve Bank is concerned about inflation. 22:55 What about stymieing growth? 22:57 Is recession still a worry? 23:00 It is a worry, but I think, you know, we've had something like 11 out of the last 15 quarters, we've had negative growth per person, per capita. So, in some sense, you know, we're in a kind of per capita recession. 23:12 We're in this per capita recession for a long while and no prospect of us getting out of that in the near term? 23:17 We've got to raise productivity growth and boost the supply side of the economy, and the governor talked about that again today. Now, that's not something she and her board can do anything about. That's the responsibility of government. It is a long-run thing where both sides of politics bear some responsibility, but, gee, it hasn't gotten any better over the last four years. 23:37 Yeah, when it comes to productivity, though, surely most of what the government's done has worked against productivity. It's given more power to the unions, more flexibility working from home, a bigger public service. 23:47 Yeah, you're right about all of that. And the IR laws in particular, I think, go in the wrong direction. And now we're talking about having a special court, which doesn't sound like it's going to make anything any better as far as productivity goes. So hang on to your dollars batting down the hatches? Well, you know, I think be cautious, but, yeah, don't expect rate cuts any time soon and don't expect a big jump in economic growth, I'm afraid. 24:09 Richard, thanks for joining us. Richard Holden there from the University of New South Wales. We've got to get to a break. On the other side, I'm going to get more into Albanese's melon-headed diplomacy. It's a hell of an embarrassment, especially, I reckon, for his Minister for Women. Ted O'Brien's going to join me. 24:30 As I mentioned at the top of the show, Anthony Albanese has refused to apologise for his puerile and sexist behaviour, poking fun at the Japanese Prime Minister's gift of melons. Here's a little more of the Prime Minister in question time. 24:44 I reject the assertion in the question. 24:47 Australia and Japan have never been closer or more strategically long. 24:53 And my government has taken our special strategic partnership to new heights. 24:58 Let's go to Canberra and catch up with the Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister, Ted O'Brien. Good to talk to you again, Ted. He's in denial, isn't he, the Prime Minister, pretending that his pure old joke was nothing of the kind? 25:10 Good to be with you again, Chris. And, yes, he is... 25:13 And my message to the Prime Minister is denial is not diplomacy. 25:18 Unfortunately, the more he and his ministers are out there in the media, bizarrely pretending that nothing really happened, the more they're making a story out of this and, unfortunately, they are themselves just creating a diplomatic issue. 25:35 And that's of real concern. 25:36 I would have thought a public or even a private phone call of apology was more in order. But speaking of his ministers, it must be very humiliating for people like Tanya Plebisek, you know, a feminist, a strong feminist, all her life having to run, ride shotgun on this rubbish. And today we had to see the denial go even to the Minister for Women. Here she is again, Katie Gallagher. 26:01 I know this Prime Minister. I work with him every day. I know how he relates to women. He has enormous respect for women. 26:09 And she is pretending that this skit showed no disrespect to women. 26:16 Chris, you know, there's a part of me that just feels sorry for them. 26:20 I mean, can you imagine being a female Labor minister getting the phone call from the Prime Minister's office and saying, can you please go out and try to justify what the Prime Minister has done here? They're trying to defend the indefensible here. 26:37 I actually feel desperately sorry for them because I think to the person, they know, hand on heart, the Prime Minister did the wrong thing. I just wish, for the national interest, he would nip this in the bud, apologise and get on with it. 26:54 The relationship with Japan is way too important for him to be continually denying and forcing his ministers to run these lines of denial. 27:03 Yeah, and I think it's not too hard for any of us to imagine that if you'd done that podcast interview as shadow foreign affairs minister and made the same gestures and comments, that there would be all hell to pay. The parliament and the media would have run you out of your shadow portfolio by now. So take that as a comment, if you will. I want to move further on to the serious diplomacy here because you mentioned the relationship with Japan. Obviously, this adds tension to that. It needs to be cleared up. 27:34 But other nations in the region will be watching this, especially those nations that we have sometimes fractious relationships with in Southeast Asia. 27:44 They will be seeing this as very embarrassing for Australia, wouldn't they? 27:50 Most likely, Chris. And I believe Australia really should be positioning itself as the most trusted partner in the Indo-Pacific. 27:59 But trust can only be built by human beings, by people. People-to-people engagement has to be done on the basis of absolute respect. Now, when you're dealing with a country like Japan, and I've, you know, my first trip to Japan was as a teenager helping my dad with business, and I've had many years up and back and forth doing business in Japan. We are talking about a people who are deeply respectful. Anyone who's even been on a holiday to Japan understands how respectful and polite they are. 28:30 So when other countries hear about the Australian Prime Minister speaking with such a vulgar potty mouth, about the Japanese Prime Minister, that does not help us. And again, this is why this is bigger than just some political thing in Australia. This wasn't a big deal over the last four weeks. It wasn't until the Prime Minister and his ministers started denying it that this is getting attention. And until they nip this in the bud and deal with it honestly in a very forthright way, then other countries will hear about this. 29:02 And it does our nation no good, no good at all. 29:05 Yeah, I think you're spot on. Thanks for joining us, Ted. I appreciate it. Thanks very much, Chris. Ted O'Brien there, the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs. We've got to get to a break. On the other side, we'll check in on the Barrier Reef and it's all good news, despite all the climate doomsayers. 29:25 More good news for the reef, with the latest data from the Australian Institute of Marine Science showing coral cover has bounced back from the past bleaching events. Further, the institution's long-term monitoring program has found the reef remains resilient and able to recover well from disturbance. And when those bleaching events do occur, what's the cause? Global warming? Pollution? Well... According to the Institute's data, the major causes of temporary loss of coral cover over the decades have been entirely natural. 29:56 Cyclones and the Crown of Thorns, starfish plagues and the like. For more, I'm joined live by the Australian's Environment editor, Graeme Lloyd. Thanks for joining us, Graeme. You've followed this stuff super closely for a long while. There's been lots of ramping up of the reef being doomed. I think... Barack Obama, when he was in Brisbane, said he wanted to bring back the family before it disappeared. What's the prognosis? 30:22 Well, that's right, Chris. Good to be here. The talk about the Great Barrier Reef for decades has been how it's facing imminent peril and it's all doom and gloom. 30:35 But really, you just have to go with the numbers. And the Australian Institute of Marine Science every year since 1983 has done a count of coral cover on the reef. 30:47 This year's results are in and they show that the reef is bouncing back from disturbances. In fact, it's at a higher level over the last five years than it has been at any of the preceding years going back to 1983. 31:04 So there's a robust health in the Great Barrier Reef, and that's a message that probably hasn't got out as widely as it should, and it's something to celebrate. 31:15 Yeah, it's great news. It's especially great news for tourism in Queensland, not to mention, of course, just the natural environment, because there's so much doom and gloom publicity about the reef that I think it frightens people away. 31:28 And it shouldn't. Like, get there, see it, enjoy it. 31:30 It's brilliant. 31:32 I guess that's right. On the one hand, if you ever really want to see the reef, now's the time to do it. 31:38 But on the serious side, I've met people all over the world who have said that, look, they had plans to visit Australia and they decided not to because what's the point? The Barrow Reef is dead. And that's a shameful thing that is really the result of a propaganda campaign happening. by environment groups who have raised money off the back of it. 32:01 I think if you look back in the fullness of time, you'll see that the reef has been exploited and the damage has been man-made, but it's not climate change. It's from these groups that are claiming they're trying to help. 32:17 Yeah, yeah, good point. Now, as we hear, obviously there are natural factors that knock it about. There might be floods or cyclones and the like. Are there any threats to the reef from tourism operators or from industry and the like? 32:32 I think you'll have localised impact from tourism and things like that. And if you look at the results of the long-term monitoring program, you'll see a great deal of variability. The reef is a dynamic system that is exposed to cyclones and crown of thorns outbreaks and other things. But what you look for is the ability for the reef to recover from these disturbances. 32:59 And what we're seeing at the moment is that health is very strong Fantastic. It's good. 33:04 Yeah, great news. Thanks for joining us, Graeme. I appreciate it. Graeme Lloyd, you can read his stuff in The Australian all over these issues. I was swimming in an ocean pool this morning. I can tell you, I was a long way from the Barrier Reef. The water's pretty cold, but it is crystal clear and beautiful just at the moment. Now we'll go to Kristen Tate in just a moment. But first, the US President Donald Trump has slam dunked a reported push by Iran for reparations in any Middle East peace settlement. 33:34 They asked for... 33:36 reparations, you might say, or they asked for money for the damage that we've done. And I said, that's a good idea. Well, we're going to ask for money for the damage they've done over a 50-year period, whether you go SS Cole or whether you go all of the people that were so badly hurt, so badly wounded or killed, many thousands of people. If there's damages to be paid, I think Iran should pay those damages. 34:00 As I put to Christian, Trump's response was fair enough, surely, given the havoc that Iran has wreaked against America and across the broader Middle East over many decades. 34:11 That's right. Iran probably doesn't want to play the reparations game with the United States. Iran's demands treat history like it just started when the Americans started striking. 34:25 But Trump is saying, fine, look, Let's go back decades and account for the Americans killed by Iran and Iran proxies. There is a very concrete number behind Trump's broader argument here, which is 603 American troops. The Pentagon has assessed that at least 603 American service members were killed in Iraq between 2003 and 2011, and they were killed by Iran-backed militants. So Trump is in the right here. Iran does not want to go down this road. 34:56 Indeed. Let's bring it back to domestic US politics and the controversial Democrat Muslim candidate, Abdul El-Sayed. This is a bloke who's not very friendly towards Israel, despite his protestations. Let's have a look at what he says about America helping Israel defend itself with the Patriot missiles and the like. Here he is. 35:17 I don't believe that there's really a difference between offensive or defensive weapons. And I also don't believe it's my responsibility to buy defensive weapons for a foreign government. 35:27 Christian, he's virtually saying in that that Israel should be left just to be hit by missiles that come in from Hezbollah and Hamas and have done for many, many years. 35:38 Correct, and this is the man who just won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate in Michigan. Look, Chris, there's a huge political story here. 35:46 Michigan's electorate has undergone a remarkable demographic change in a very short period of time. Dearborn, which is in Michigan, is now majority Middle Eastern. And the Democratic coalition in Michigan looks very different today than it did a generation ago. So this is an immigration story, but we're also watching a convergence of these new voters who have entered the state with the Democrat voters who have always been there that have kind of transformed and gone more to the radical left. 36:19 The radical leftists have really hijacked today's Democrat Party. The Democrats of today, they are not the blue-collar Democrats of the 80s and 90s, the union members. They are radical immigrants. And, yeah, a lot of them are anti-Israel, anti-Semitic. 36:35 Yeah, and that's why the president has attacked El Sayed. Here he is, Donald Trump again. 36:39 This guy hates Jews. 36:43 Somebody said, oh, that's a little strong. No, he hates Jews and he hates Israel. When I watch Abdul, he's full of shit. 36:53 And here is the Democrat candidate responding to that sort of criticism. 36:58 Every single day he talks about me, we're winning. Because at the end of the day, I am everything he fears. So we are going to stand up to him. We are going to take him on. 37:08 This is extraordinary stuff. We need to watch this right around the world, Kristen, especially when you match it up with Mayor Mamdani in New York City. 37:18 Yeah, I mean, it really forecasts trouble for Republicans going into the midterms because you look at these candidates who are just sweeping on the left. They are radical and they are catering to the most extreme wing of their base, which becoming the majority of their base. Someone with the views of El Saeed would have been unimaginable just a decade or two ago as being the candidate who wins the primary for U.S. Senate. But this is now considered mainstream politics on the American left. 37:52 Yeah, it's a hell of a worry. Let us get back to gentler times and President Joe Biden, who was so gentle, he slept through most of his presidency. Sad news that he's suffering from cancer now. And strangely enough, the update has come via his very controversial son, Hunter Biden. Here he is. 38:12 The only thing that I say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more. 38:18 Because it's not good. 38:20 The cancer has spread, has metastasized into his bones and further. It's very painful. 38:28 And it's very debilitating in many respects. But he's still out there. He's still doing his thing that he so believes in this country. 38:38 And as long as he's alive, I promise you he's going to continue to fight. 38:43 Hunter Biden there and, of course, Joe Biden's memoir about to come out. We've had a bit of a laugh about that in the past, Kristen, but sad news that Joe Biden's health is deteriorating. 38:54 Yes, of course, this is sad. And I have thoughts and prayers going out to the Biden family. You never want to see anybody suffering from an illness like cancer. But look, when this cancer was supposedly discovered, it was already stage four. It had spread to his bones. And yes, it does raise legitimate questions about when this diagnosis was made. And if when it was made, it was disclosed to the public, was it known by Joe Biden and those around him that he had cancer when he was president of the United States? 39:27 That is a legitimate question to be asking. And many people have doubts, especially, Chris, after years of being lied to during COVID. You know, people just kind of distrust those in charge now. So it makes them ask these kinds of questions. 39:43 Yep, the lying has become the norm in politics around the world. Thanks for joining us, Kristen. Appreciate it. 39:50 Thank you, Chris. Always a pleasure. 39:51 Okay, on the other side of the break, we've got Susie O'Brien and Stephen Centetiempo. Plenty to talk about, including Victoria now delaying its new work-from-home laws. 40:06 Let's get to the Tuesday panel with Stephen Senatiempo in Canberra and Susie O'Brien, National Education Editor, joining us from Melbourne. And Susie, with your new Premier there in Victoria, Ben Carroll delaying, probably scrapping really his work-from-home laws, you're going to be stuck going into the office for a while yet? 40:29 I think he's trying to be half pregnant on this one. I don't understand it. Is he scrapping it or not? I mean, he is actually coming out and saying that the legislation will be passed by the election, but the start date is going to be delayed to the middle of 2027 for more consultation. Does he want it? Does he not? Is it going to work? Is it not? I mean, it's a complete and utter shambles. And he knows that it's electorally quite popular because lots of people want to do nothing from home as opposed to work from home. 40:56 But at the same time, it's crippling for the economy. 40:59 Yeah, and he's trying to fix a problem that's not there. There's so much flexibility. People are able to work from home. But let's have a listen to what he's had to say. 41:07 Work from home. will not proceed on the 1st of September. It will proceed on the 1st of July in 2027. 41:16 I want to be very clear. I support work from home. I support flexible work. It is good for working families. I want Victoria to be open for business. I want to be thriving. That is why I've delayed these changes and it's why I'm going to continue to work with the business community and make sure this policy is right. 41:33 Stephen, it looks like such a political ploy here. He wants the plaudits for backing work from home, so everyone says, good on you, that's what we want to do. But he doesn't want to have to deal with the consequences, so nothing will happen until way after the election. 41:47 That's exactly right. And you've got to love those Gillard-era slogans, working families, they went so well, didn't they? But, yeah, that's exactly what this is. You know, I'm still going to allow you to work on the couch, but I'm not going to do it until after the election so that the economy doesn't tank even further than it is now. That's clearly what this is, because he knows that it's going to do damage to the economy, even further damage to the Victorian economy, which can't really sustain any more damage, but we'll try and get the votes from it and then let somebody else clean it up after the event. Yeah. 42:16 Neil, Stephen, let's stick with you and parts of the country that you know well, that is various parts of Western Sydney, where you're writing the signage that shops might often be in a different language. If you're going to Lakemba, it might be mainly Arabic. If you go to Cabramatta, it might be mainly Vietnamese. And the Strathfield Council is actually passing a bylaw to force shops to have English signs. What do you think of this? 42:44 Look, I... 42:46 I don't support anything that most local councils do because they generally overstep the mark. But what's the thing here? I mean, if you... Who are you concerned about? If businesses think that they are going to be able to attract customers by having foreign signs, then good luck to them. And it should be up to the individual business owner to determine what's on his sign about what's going to serve his business. And in Stratfield, there's a massive Chinese community. There's... Well, there's a lot of different ethnic communities in that region. 43:11 Look, just leave it the way it is. It seems to be working. 43:14 Yeah, that's what I reckon too, Susie. I mean, you own the business, you can decide what sort of sign you put up as long as it's not offensive. 43:25 Yeah, but I understand, though, that when you go to some of these places and all the signs are in another country, another language, and you think, gee, what country are we in? But at the same time, it seems to be serving those communities. And there's an easy thing. If you don't like it, don't go there. Go somewhere or shop somewhere else. Yeah. You really don't want to be kind of imposing this, you know, rigid, monocultural, heavy-handed approach. But at the same time, I do understand that it can be quite alienating. Yeah. 43:54 Yeah, but I would have thought if there's a lot of people there looking for a chicken shop and it's not in the right language, they'll put it up in English or they'll go broke. You know, I just think the common sense would look after it. We'll see what happens. Talking about common sense, what about your old home state and mine, Susie? Peter Malinowskis, the Labor Premier, calling a royal commission, no less, into AI, isn't it? Well, he's going to save the world, is he? This thing's coming so hard and fast and everyone around the world... but his Royal Commission is going to sort it out? 44:28 It's like a $250 million way to slow something down that, as you say, is going a million miles an hour. I'm pretty sure he could spend nothing and find what he needs for free. There's so much information about AI. There's so many interest groups, so much happening. It's hard to understand why he would need an AI. Just call a roundtable and get it done. 44:50 Look, I think you could do this working from home, Susie. You just open up Claude and say, what are the pluses and minuses of AI? Give me a policy prescription. It is bizarre, but here's the Premier. 45:05 I'm worried that we're a bit underweight in the policy effort and the policy response that is going to be required to make sure we get the balance right between pursuing this opportunity where there are very significant productivity gains to be made, but also protecting the community from some of the risks associated with AI. 45:24 Cheapers. I would have thought he's been better off working out how to deliver secure and cheap energy. First up, Stephen. 45:31 Yeah, well, yeah, that'd be a good start. But, look, I'm not necessarily against this because my understanding is the terms of reference are that it's going to report PAC fairly quickly. At least he's actually trying to get his head around the problem here, whereas the federal government, they just walk around with this weird look on their face and go, AI? 45:48 As if that means they know what it means. And I'm sure they don't actually understand what AI stands for. But I've got to say, in this building, there's been a lot of artificial intelligence for years and years and years. They don't need any more of it. 46:00 Now, Susie, to an issue that you've written about and talked about a lot, and that is screen time with kids and schools and parents trying to limit it to improve their literacy. I'm all on board with this, but I just think parents are so often the problem here. Parents use the screen time as a pacifier, effectively. It's the easy way out. 46:20 Yeah, and then schools get stuck with kids who turn to screens, who can't hold a pair of scissors, who don't know how to use a pen. 46:29 At the moment, the only thing that's stopping kids from having to continue to use handwriting is the fact Year 12 exams are done in handwriting. If that changes, then schools will probably just be screen-based all the way, and that would be such... such a mistake. Already we're seeing some schools turning back the clock and they're giving kids pens over screens and making them do things by hand. I think that's going to grow over time. 46:55 Yeah, I've got to tell you, we spent so much time and effort keeping our kids off screens and it takes effort because it means getting to the park with them and doing all this. No computer games. Then at school they're assigned computer game subjects to try and get everyone engaged. No, no, no. I didn't want them playing Minecraft or whatever it was. Just a funny one to finish with, Stephen. Mathletics. Yeah. I wanted to get your thoughts on this incredible story. We all knew about how there was a second plane flown to Turkey to get Donald Trump out of there over security concerns. 47:33 It turns out that he was actually secretly taken off Air Force One on a food trolley, one of these food containers, and got off on a third plane, a military jet, to get him safely out of there. An amazing case of subterfuge, but it goes to show also how high the security concerns were around Iran and the region. 47:54 Yeah, it certainly gives a new meaning to trolley dolly, doesn't it? But, yeah, look, you know, the security around the US President has always been absolutely extreme, and given the attempts on his life so far, and apparently there was a credible threat here, I think it's amazing. It just goes to show you how good the American Secret Service is, but I don't know how he felt about it, being stuffed into a food cart and wheeled between planes, but I guess he's still alive, isn't he? 48:18 Yeah, it worked. Thanks for joining us, Stephen and Susie. We'll catch you next week. Just a little bit of time to share some of your feedback from what I had to say about the Bondi Royal Commission last night. One viewer says this Royal Commission was never going to be unbiased while it's being overseen by the Albanese-led Labor government. Another viewer says it's a set-up. Nothing will come of it. It's simply going through the expensive motions. I had more to say about it tonight because of Dave Sharma. No doubt Shari will have more on that at 8 o'clock. But next is Peter Credlin. 48:49 I'll see you tomorrow.