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Episode 502: Reading The Courier Mail as LNP Propaganda and Checking the ABC
In episode 502 of The Iron Fist and The Velvet Glove, the hosts screen-share and work through the day’s Courier-Mail to show how they see it as a Liberal National Party-aligned propaganda outlet, highlighting front-page stories on Matt Canavan’s lower-house bid, cost-of-living polls, interest-rate fears, house-price falls framed as “brutal,” and favorable mining coverage citing Hancock Prospecting’s reported $24.5b tax payments. They discuss a story about a pedophile extradition by road framed as political posturing, coverage pressuring Indigenous players to sing the anthem, and repeated themes of Labor “big spending,” plus opinion pieces including Joe Hildebrand defending antisemitism envoy Gillian Segal. They then compare the ABC’s homepage focus, including US politics and an inflation explainer, criticizing simplistic supply-and-demand framing. They end by deferring other planned topics.
00:00 Show Intro Setup
00:43 Why News Feels Harder
01:46 Courier Mail Propaganda Tour
04:01 Front Page Spin
09:05 Politics Beat Page Two
10:13 Tough On Crime Posturing
13:33 Manufactured Albo Rift
15:34 Anthem Culture War
18:21 Mining Tax Puff Piece
22:14 One Nation Poll Shock
24:25 Cost Of Living Spread
30:40 House Prices Panic
33:49 Childcare Lobby Ad
34:58 Childcare Oversight Gaps
35:31 Iran Tensions And Politics
36:28 Commonwealth Games Cost Blowout
37:27 Festival Stand Collapse Scare
38:52 Trust Tax Loophole Closed
41:06 World News Trump And Ukraine
43:16 Israel Election And Gaza
44:22 Opinion Pages Labor Bashing
52:15 Antisemitism Envoy Debate
59:17 ABC News And Inflation Explainer
01:06:58 Wrapping Up And Next Time
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Transcript
We need to talk about ideas, good ones and bad ones.
Speaker:We need to learn stuff about the world.
Speaker:We need an honest, intelligent, thought-provoking, and entertaining
Speaker:review of what the hell happened on this planet in the last seven days.
Speaker:We need to sit back and listen to The Iron Fist and The Velvet Glove
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Back for episode 502.
Speaker:I'm here and so is Joe.
Speaker:How are you, Joe?
Speaker:Evening, all.
Speaker:Yeah, I'm alive.
Speaker:Very good.
Speaker:So, you know, I had my usual agenda prepared, dear listener,
Speaker:and I was thinking to myself, you know, this is, seems harder to get
Speaker:interesting topics than it used to be.
Speaker:I used to be able to access the Courier Mail, uh, the ABC, The Guardian, bunch of
Speaker:others, come up with interesting things that we hadn't talked about before.
Speaker:I guess one problem is we've talked about everything before by now.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But, um, uh, that has just struck me, um, just my everyday perusal of the Courier
Speaker:Mail and, and how these days I'm just rattling through it really quickly 'cause
Speaker:I look at the headline, I read the first paragraph, and I make a mental note as to,
Speaker:um, what particular category of propaganda it is that I'm reading at the time.
Speaker:And I thought, "Dear listener, if I have to go through this- For 502 episodes.
Speaker:Then you can go through it with me for at least one and experience
Speaker:my pain and see what I do for you.
Speaker:So, so if you are watching this, uh, we'll do a bit of a screen share as we go
Speaker:through my online version of the Courier Mail, and basically the point of this is
Speaker:to demonstrate what a, what a terrible…
Speaker:Honestly, it is just a propaganda newsletter for the Liberal National
Speaker:Party, and the only time it diverges against that is if the Liberal
Speaker:Nationals, for some reason, are not supporting the oligarchy- Mm … in
Speaker:which case they'll criticize them then.
Speaker:Um, but it's, uh, it's just massaging the minds of the people who read it, and it
Speaker:just drives me insane that people think that they could pick up a, a, a newspaper
Speaker:and be better informed afterwards.
Speaker:It's like going to McDonald's and thinking that you've been
Speaker:well-nourished and you, you'll come of out, come out of it well-nourished.
Speaker:It's impossible.
Speaker:Well, yeah, I saw some American being interviewed, and they
Speaker:said… It was, uh, a, a, an older woman, and she said, "Oh, yeah, of
Speaker:course I keep abreast of the news.
Speaker:I watch Fox every day-
Speaker:for two hours." Yes.
Speaker:"I know exactly what's going on in the world." Yes.
Speaker:So, um, so yeah.
Speaker:So what we're gonna do is just, uh, just grab today's paper and,
Speaker:uh, and work our way through it.
Speaker:If, uh, anybody happens to be in the chat room, we won't have the
Speaker:chat maybe appearing just because of constraints on the screen.
Speaker:Won't be there all the time, but if you make some comments, we'll, we'll
Speaker:flash to the chat at different points.
Speaker:A- Alison's watching.
Speaker:Evening, Alison.
Speaker:Alison.
Speaker:Well, good to… I was gonna say good to see you, Alison, but I can't see you.
Speaker:So good f… Good… I guess it must be great for you to see us, but anyway.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, sorry, Alison, gonna subject you to The Courier Mail, um,
Speaker:and see, um, see how we go.
Speaker:So I'm just gonna put the screen sharing on, which I tested beforehand
Speaker:and was working fine, and I I'm not gonna share with the audio.
Speaker:I hope I've turned that off.
Speaker:Um, let me just check.
Speaker:Oh, okay, share.
Speaker:Um, there we go.
Speaker:That's today's Courier Mail up there on the screen, and, um, I'm gonna switch
Speaker:to the tab so I can see it a bit easier.
Speaker:So, uh, Joe, quite typical, this one.
Speaker:Um, first, the front page, top half, um, horse racing blurb.
Speaker:So Melbourne Cup coming up, fair enough.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:No problem there.
Speaker:And then the bottom half of the front page, um, dominated by, uh, a,
Speaker:an article about, uh, Matt Canavan.
Speaker:"His do or die gamble," is the headline, and it's a, um…
Speaker:It turns out it leads onto a puff piece basically saying how he is
Speaker:leaving his Senate seat and he's gonna have a crack at the, at, at a House
Speaker:of Reps seat and take on One Nation.
Speaker:And, uh, says here, "Senator Canavan said he is not going to
Speaker:die wondering, targeting voter frustration with net zero policy,
Speaker:migration, and cost of living pain."
Speaker:So- I thought he'd already defected to One Nation.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, um, well, he's leader of the Nationals these days, isn't, isn't he?
Speaker:Mm. So, um, so yeah.
Speaker:So that's what he's doing.
Speaker:He's blocking a surging One Nation.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Potentially facing off against party power broker James Ashby.
Speaker:James Ashby has been her sort of, um, right-hand man type guy.
Speaker:So anyway, nice photo of Matt, and, um, wishing him… I- it's
Speaker:kind of gonna… Wishing him luck.
Speaker:He's a plucky guy giving it a go, not gonna die wondering, 'cause he's
Speaker:targeting voter frustration with net zero, migration, and cost of
Speaker:living, so they're obvious problems.
Speaker:Uh- Well, he's Capricornia, so possibly net zero and migration
Speaker:are, um, talking points up there.
Speaker:That is Pauline's main stamping ground, isn't it?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Up around Rocky.
Speaker:You, you made the point, why isn't he wearing a high vis vest in coal dust?
Speaker:Yes, exactly.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I, I'm shocked to see him out of costume.
Speaker:Yes, so, um- Oh, maybe this is his Halloween setup.
Speaker:Then of course, there's two other ones that, um, little sub-headlines leading
Speaker:onto other articles which are, "Families feel pain," and, uh, "Most Queenslanders
Speaker:expect to be worse off or struggling just as much over the next year.
Speaker:An exclusive poll reveals the findings come as households brace for a Melbourne
Speaker:Cup day rate rise, the fifth of the year, to pile on further financial pain, with
Speaker:more than half of families already cutting spending on non-essentials to survive."
Speaker:Joe.
Speaker:Well, I did see, I think it was the FT had an article about, oh my God,
Speaker:uh, first price-- first home buyer prices are dropping and, and what
Speaker:are the poor investors going to do?
Speaker:And then the other little byline, little article here is, "Winfall
Speaker:for Scots." And this talks about how much money the Scots made from
Speaker:the, um, Glasgow Games when those Victorians, um, wasted all that money.
Speaker:So Scotland only had to spend one point nine million of public funds to score four
Speaker:hundred and twenty-six million economic windfall from hosting the Commonwealth
Speaker:Games that Australia canceled.
Speaker:Victorian taxpayers footed two hundred and twenty-five million of the bill after
Speaker:their government scrapped hosting the event, handing Glasgow a massive boost.
Speaker:So Joe, you know, uh, plucky Matt Canavan.
Speaker:Mm. A reference to cost of living.
Speaker:An article, cost of living.
Speaker:Another article still blaming… It didn't mention Dictator Dan, but- No,
Speaker:it didn't … every- everybody knows.
Speaker:And then the top article, well, I said, you know, Melbourne Cup, fair enough.
Speaker:But Joe, um, who, who's interested in horse racing at all these days?
Speaker:Uh, lots of people with, um, Melbourne Cup Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I just think it's a… I think it's living past its use by date, um,
Speaker:thanks to traditional media, media.
Speaker:'Cause the Courier Mail, for example, relies on a lot of, um,
Speaker:horsey stuff to sell papers with the- I was gonna say surely the bush
Speaker:Mm. I, I would say less the city.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I, I mean, for, for a lot of the smaller towns, the, the races are the
Speaker:big meet of the year, aren't they?
Speaker:You think of the Birdsville races, I think some of the others.
Speaker:I don't, I don't know.
Speaker:I wonder.
Speaker:Mm. Anyway, possible to… You know, of course, Melbourne Cup, you know, uh,
Speaker:if… With its current level, perfectly legitimate to have a story there.
Speaker:But half of it is setting up the scene of, um, uh, having a bash at labor
Speaker:and cost of living wherever they can.
Speaker:And then… So that's page one.
Speaker:Uh, then you've got, uh, page two, George Street Beat.
Speaker:This is often sort of an insider's look at what's going on, um, in
Speaker:George Street, which is, uh, where the Queensland Parliament is.
Speaker:Just a couple of little articles there, one about the level of
Speaker:informal votes, one about, um, Amanda Stoker now on the front bench.
Speaker:She's involved, I think, in sort of child services stuff.
Speaker:Um, uh, actually, um, Robin and I had a bit to do with her when we were doing the,
Speaker:uh, uh, the New Temple of Satan stuff and complaining about lack of consultation
Speaker:with Satanists, and she was actually…
Speaker:We met her, and she actually was, dare I say it, fun to be with.
Speaker:She was, she's a crazy Christian nutter, of course, Joe, but she
Speaker:was fun, if that's possible.
Speaker:Yeah, that was my memory of her.
Speaker:Um, and, oh, and of course, this one, um, in there Uh, no, not that
Speaker:one, not that one, not that one.
Speaker:But, um, Gerber, Laura Gerber is the local member down here on the Gold Coast,
Speaker:and she's the Youth Justice and Victim Support Minister, and she extradited,
Speaker:um, a pedophile, um, back down south to, uh, New South Wales and she…
Speaker:Did you hear about this?
Speaker:She, she forced- Well, I, I, I knew about him, uh, being extrad- uh, uh,
Speaker:extradited and him having been charged.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So- So this is the guy he used to be, uh, looking at the ch- daycare center.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I'm not sure of his exact history, but, um, she emphasized that he
Speaker:went by road because no pedophile deserves a private jet flight.
Speaker:Surely we weren't sending pedophiles by private jets in the
Speaker:past when they were extradited.
Speaker:Um- I, I don't… I thought they went commercial, but also- Mm … you
Speaker:know, uh, they don't go by road 'cause less chance to escape.
Speaker:Well, in this case, she's made them go by road and she said, "And I'm
Speaker:going to say what every Queenslander is thinking right now, I hope he
Speaker:hits every pothole on the way."
Speaker:Um- Well, why, why didn't they just drag him behind the vehicle?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I've got no sympathy for the guy, but it's just, uh, an example of-
Speaker:No, but it, it seems to be, you know, uh, cruel and unusual punishment.
Speaker:To, to drive to New… Joe, I drove to Sydney not so long ago.
Speaker:Well… It's, it's not that hard.
Speaker:That's cruel and unusual.
Speaker:It's not that hard to drive down there.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:Um, but anyway, soft piece for her.
Speaker:Beefing her up is tough on crimes, and everyone will go, particularly
Speaker:down here, this neck of the woods on the Gold Coast, um- Mm … "Good
Speaker:honor," they'll be saying.
Speaker:Now, so let's, um- Generally you fly 'cause it's cheaper than- Well, yes.
Speaker:Good point, Joe.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Somebody- To, to drive 1,000 kilometers- Yes … there and back- Yeah … or,
Speaker:or to put three coppers on a plane… Or sorry, two coppers and a criminal
Speaker:on a plane and bring two coppers back.
Speaker:Joe, you know, if you had the time and the inclination- Mm-hmm … you, you would
Speaker:do some sort of Freedom of Information request on the cost- Oh, as to the cost?
Speaker:Yeah … of transporting by road.
Speaker:Um, and, um, and you're right, it would have to come out as more expensive
Speaker:than- Well, particularly since you're paying their- Accommodation
Speaker:… but, but also their time.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:You're paying their wages.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And, and I'm, I'm guessing overtime, 'cause they've
Speaker:gotta stay with the prisoner.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:So if- Are, are they doing 10 hours in one stretch?
Speaker:Yeah, good point, Joe.
Speaker:Anybody out there, um, Alison, in your spare time, put in a freedom of
Speaker:information request and see if you could find out what was spent on doing
Speaker:this and, um, how does it compare.
Speaker:Taxpayers, taxpayers would much have preferred that ch- this guy had
Speaker:probably gone on a flight handcuffed down the back, give him a row
Speaker:and, um, uh, and, and the officers could have been back the same day.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Mm. I'm just curious as to whether it's cheaper, whether it's more efficient-
Speaker:Mm … or whether this is just posturing.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:A fair bit of posturing in it, and she gets a tick from the
Speaker:Courier Mail for her posturing.
Speaker:Of course.
Speaker:Still on page two, uh, headline at the bottom, "Reports of
Speaker:Albo-Chalmers rift overblown."
Speaker:So basically saying the so-called rift between Albo and Chalmers,
Speaker:which I hadn't heard of before.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:It's not true, which makes everybody go, "Oh, must be a rift." Yes, exactly.
Speaker:And, um, yes.
Speaker:So- Uh, the, the best way to, um, start a rumor is to deny the rumor.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:So Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has denied a rift is growing between the Prime
Speaker:Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers over public spending.
Speaker:So obviously they've put it to her, is there a rift?
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Oh, that's, the, there's a story.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And, um, and, and what this is getting at is the comments came amid reporting
Speaker:that Mr. Chalmers has struggled to get ideas through cabinet's expenditure
Speaker:review committee with the Prime Minister and his senior factional
Speaker:allies repeatedly pushing back on pitches to raise revenue and spend less.
Speaker:This is a, a recurring theme in today's edition and other days, is that this
Speaker:government is spending way too much money, and here they're saying Chalmers wants to
Speaker:rein in spending, and Albo won't let him.
Speaker:But maybe if we tax the rich a bit more.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Well, uh, I think they specifically wanted to rein in,
Speaker:um, uh, what did they say here?
Speaker:Uh, that pitches to raise revenue and spend less.
Speaker:Um- Hello, James.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Uh- Yeah.
Speaker:So anyway, that was, uh… There's no rift, and if there is one, it's
Speaker:because of, um, uh, Chalmers wants to get control of the household
Speaker:budget, and Albo won't let him.
Speaker:Not a bad start, Courier Mail.
Speaker:You're really leading with some early punches, uh, in
Speaker:what you typically do here.
Speaker:Um, Joe, apparently our indigenous football players weren't singing the
Speaker:national anthem with full gusto during recent test matches, and how do you think
Speaker:The Courier Mail would feel about that?
Speaker:Well, you probably know
Speaker:but… So, uh, they obviously think, "Well, patriotism, Joe." Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:You know, chest beating.
Speaker:God, God, country, and the flag.
Speaker:Yes, that's right, and, um, we've gotta be proud of ourselves and
Speaker:ready to stand up for ourselves, sing the national anthem and get
Speaker:ready to send young men off to war.
Speaker:Mm. Uh, so the headline is, "Sing Anthem With Pride", and somehow-
Speaker:But only the right sort of pride.
Speaker:You can't have gay pride.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Uh, yes, and you know, what was it like in the editorial room, Joe,
Speaker:when they were going, "Gosh, these footballers are not singing hard
Speaker:enough. Who could we get to tell them to start singing?" And they somehow
Speaker:found, um, the son of Australia's first indigenous rugby league international.
Speaker:So Lionel Morgan was our first rugby league international.
Speaker:His son, Earl, strongly feels that the indigenous football players
Speaker:should be singing with pride.
Speaker:So a man who was relevant 66 years ago.
Speaker:His son.
Speaker:His son.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Says the Blackfellas should sing along.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Well, uh, Earl, the son, says, uh, his dad was a staunch advocate
Speaker:of singing the anthem, which was "God Save the Queen" back in 1960.
Speaker:Um, "My dad sang the anthem because of the pride he had in representing his country.
Speaker:I believe, and it was my father's belief, that you sing the anthem
Speaker:and you sing it proudly, as Dad did in his first test in 1960
Speaker:There we go, Joe.
Speaker:Um, that's how the Courier Mail finds an expert on that to- Mm-hmm … tell
Speaker:those pesky, uh, Indigenous players how it should be done.
Speaker:Ah.
Speaker:Then there is a s- uh, some sportsmen doing some stuff, uh, I think an
Speaker:accident of some sort, um, semi-trailer accident, and prostate cancer study.
Speaker:And we've only done three pages.
Speaker:Normally, dear listener, as I'm rattling through this, uh, in my
Speaker:morning read it's a lot quicker.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, uh Page four, games program delay.
Speaker:So about the delay in the, um, s- Sports … the full list of sports.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But just to the right of that, Joe, Hancock 10-year tax bill, $24.5 billion.
Speaker:Yes, dear listener, a friendly article in page four of the Courier
Speaker:Mail by how much tax, um, Hank- um, Hancock, Gina, Gina Rinehart's, uh,
Speaker:Hancock Prospecting has paid in tax.
Speaker:No mention, Joe, that News Corp has paid zero tax for
Speaker:something like the last 10 years.
Speaker:So.
Speaker:I, I'm also curious as to how much of that 24 and a half billion is
Speaker:actually royalties rather than tax.
Speaker:Correct.
Speaker:'Cause they love to pretend- Yes … that royalties are a tax.
Speaker:Let's see, Joe.
Speaker:They've reported a 2.8 billion annual profit while revealing it has paid 24.5
Speaker:billion in taxes over the past decade.
Speaker:Um, Joe, I think this is the problem with the miners.
Speaker:This is why Rio Tinto was not allowed to move their, um, head office offshore.
Speaker:Remember they wanted to move it to London at one point?
Speaker:So it's difficult for the Australian miners to offshore
Speaker:their profits, um, unlike groups like, for example, um, IKEA- Mm-hmm
Speaker:who can do it all back to, um, the homeland- Head office … through, um,
Speaker:all sorts of internal machinations.
Speaker:It's difficult for these, uh, Australian miners to do that.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So f- for Apple, for instance- Hmm.
Speaker:Hmm … they pay royalties to head office that's headquartered in some
Speaker:low tax jurisdiction- Yes … uh, for the intellectual property of
Speaker:the, the hardware they're selling.
Speaker:Correct.
Speaker:And, and these mining companies can't.
Speaker:So it wouldn't surprise me, Joe, if a fair bit is royalties- Hmm … but also
Speaker:a fair bit is actual, uh, corporate tax.
Speaker:So- Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Um- Yeah … they, they do pay a fair amount of corporate tax.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:I don't dispute that.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:I'm just wondering how much they've conflated the two- Hmm
Speaker:to make it look bigger.
Speaker:Would you like to know what Gina has to say about her tax bill?
Speaker:Not really, no.
Speaker:Hancock says its tax contributions help fund hospitals, nurses, police,
Speaker:emergency services, and care for the elderly, as well as Australia's
Speaker:underfunded defense forces.
Speaker:Governments don't create prosperity or raise living standards.
Speaker:They take from producers and workers and spend or waste taxpayers'
Speaker:money, leaving less in your pocket and less for private investment,
Speaker:the company said in its report.
Speaker:Uh, only we know that if you give a company more money, it doesn't
Speaker:spend it on private investment.
Speaker:It spends it on buying back shares and boosting shareholder value.
Speaker:Indeed.
Speaker:Ah.
Speaker:So, um, so anyway, um- I, I'd also be curious as to how much Gina paid in tax.
Speaker:Mm. Yes.
Speaker:Because a company has to report its profits.
Speaker:Mm. Whereas personals… uh, personal wealth, you don't.
Speaker:True.
Speaker:Um, they talk about a construction of a project- Mm-hmm … uh, that
Speaker:is ahead of schedule, and it's going to support more than 1,300 full-time
Speaker:jobs across the greater Hope Downs.
Speaker:Quote, "It shouldn't take longer to get permission to develop a
Speaker:mine than it actually takes to build one," the report said.
Speaker:Well, it doesn't take very long to build a mine.
Speaker:You just dig a hole.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:That's right.
Speaker:A worker's shed and, um, a canteen, um, a few other bits and pieces, and-
Speaker:And, and if- … get cracking, Joe.
Speaker:… a- and if she had her way, she'd be importing the miners
Speaker:from India on a dollar a day.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:So anyway, that's page four.
Speaker:Uh, new governor sworn in, a crash blocks the highway.
Speaker:Oh, and then One Nation leads as voters turn on Labor.
Speaker:So I say this is a, um, you know, an LNP, um, propaganda rag.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:They're, they're kind of favorable to One Nation wherever it gives
Speaker:the opportunity to bash Labor.
Speaker:So- Oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, um, Australians are turning their backs on Labor as soaring
Speaker:household costs and the threat of another interest rate hike send
Speaker:support for the Albanese government crashing towards a historic low.
Speaker:What… Wouldn't it be a shame if house prices was to drop down, and therefore
Speaker:cost of living became more affordable?
Speaker:Y- yes.
Speaker:Uh- I wonder how that would happen.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:A Newspoll showing that Labor's primary vote has slumped to just
Speaker:27%, leaving the government trailing polling Hansard's One Nation.
Speaker:Um, yeah, so, um, just on that, Joe, One Nation primary vote, according to
Speaker:Newspoll, 28%, Labor 27, Coalition 21.
Speaker:Like, I know for various reasons that's not necessarily gonna translate
Speaker:to seats, but it is still pretty extraordinary, you have to say.
Speaker:Um, uh- Yeah, I mean, um
Speaker:Uh, a lot of it is to do with social media and- Mm … the amplification
Speaker:of, um, woes and, and disquiet.
Speaker:Mm. A- and, um, certain bad actors funding it, because it keeps the focus off either
Speaker:nation states that we have disagreements with, or people who might end up paying
Speaker:more tax if people realized that- Mm
Speaker:they were creaming it in whilst the rest of us are doing it hard.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Um, but at the end of the day, 28% One Nation, that is an amazing figure.
Speaker:So, so far we've finished four pages.
Speaker:Um, page five, a racing story and a, um- Horse racing story … bookie's gamble.
Speaker:Yeah, a ho- horse racing story, sorry.
Speaker:Um, um, so that's nothing much in that.
Speaker:Oh, okay.
Speaker:Now page six and seven.
Speaker:Two-page spread.
Speaker:Mm. A double page spread, "Families bracing for a rough ride." Series
Speaker:of graphs showing how tough it is out there with price increases.
Speaker:So, so the- The headings from the biggest to the smallest, um…
Speaker:Well, I'll just, I'll just read all the headlines on this page.
Speaker:"Fifth rate rise a sure thing on Melbourne Cup Day as Labor refuses to rein in big
Speaker:spending. Families bracing for a rough ride. House prices diving deeper." Joe,
Speaker:that's done- I know … as a bad thing.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:That's done as a bad thing.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Um, ah, "Costs sink businesses. Students dumping Australia. 500,000 in
Speaker:mortgage stress as rates keep rising."
Speaker:A quote from somebody here, "We know from our research people with children
Speaker:are doing it really tough at the moment. In fact, 61% of parents say they are
Speaker:struggling with day-to-day costs, and 14% of parents say they've run out
Speaker:of food in the past 12 months." And then a bunch of graphs, um, as well.
Speaker:So interestingly- Mm-hmm
Speaker:top five pressures, groceries and food, which are affected by the cost of fuel.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Petrol and transport, which is affected by the cost of fuel.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Electricity, gas, and household u- utilities, which is
Speaker:affected by the cost of fuel.
Speaker:If only there was a way that we could generate- … our own
Speaker:electricity without using oil and gas.
Speaker:Well, well, well, funnily enough, Joe- Yeah … wholesale, wholesale electricity
Speaker:prices- Yeah, are the lowest … are down.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Uh- Victoria has the lowest wholesale prices in the world, I think.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Actually, um, uh, I had this under my other notes, um, under the subheading,
Speaker:"Next time a boomer talks shit." Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I had, um, "Underlying electricity demand reached a record in September quarter,
Speaker:yet wholesale prices fell 27%," Joe.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:"As rooftop solar and batteries increasingly reshape when power
Speaker:is generated and stored and used." So, wholesale prices are down 27%.
Speaker:Uh, but if electricity prices are up, Joe, then that means somebody
Speaker:in between the wholesale and the retail, must mean the retail-
Speaker:Yeah … must be making a good margin.
Speaker:I would say so.
Speaker:Mm. Also, don't forget, uh, isn't that also based on the
Speaker:highest cost of generation?
Speaker:Um- Could be … because we're using peaking gas, and
Speaker:that's a ridiculous price.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Uh, we end up paying more because of the peaking gas.
Speaker:And it is electricity, gas, and household utilities.
Speaker:So gas- Well, that's true, yes … and utilities, so they're all there.
Speaker:Rent and- And again, petrol and transport.
Speaker:Mm. I- if, if only there wasn't some… Um, what, what was
Speaker:Pauline and, and, and, um, Labor's favorite American president doing?
Speaker:Oh, that's right, picking fights with Iran.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yes Yes.
Speaker:Oh, Joe.
Speaker:Uh, uh, that's why, Joe, I put, um, with this podcast- Mm-hmm … 'cause
Speaker:it talks about expenditure, um, is what we're talking about here.
Speaker:And, um
Speaker:Uh, I just showed the graph, which was… Actually, maybe I can put this up now.
Speaker:I wonder if it'll show it.
Speaker:Isn't it… Oh.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Look how clever we are.
Speaker:I mean, that's, um, the size of government, uh, spending
Speaker:as a percentage of GDP.
Speaker:The blue line being, uh, spending money and the red line being, um, collecting.
Speaker:A- as you look at it, you don't look at it and think, "We're in extraordinary times
Speaker:when it comes to government spending." I, I did see that shaded with, um, Liberal
Speaker:and Labor as well, a similar graph- Right … which is quite interesting.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Well, you see that big spike there, Joe?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:That, that, that money spent- COVID
Speaker:uh, well, yeah, that's right.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:That, that was the elec- That was the best election to lose when
Speaker:they lost to Scott Morrison, and- Mm-hmm … and he got lumped with
Speaker:COVID, and they did that spending.
Speaker:Imagine, Joe, if, um- Oh, if Labor had done it, yeah … if Labor had done that.
Speaker:Um, but you can just point to that and say- But have a look at 2007- Yes
Speaker:which is the financial crisis that Kevin- Yes … bailed us out of.
Speaker:Correct.
Speaker:Nothing like, uh- No … the, the, the spike.
Speaker:I mean, there's- Yeah … a gap, but nothing like it.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:A- and don't forget, that kept Austra- So Australia did the best
Speaker:out of the OECD countries, I think.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Certainly up, up there in- Yes … in the, um, the financial crisis of 2007, 2008.
Speaker:Yeah, I think we're the only one that didn't go through recession.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Wasn't that the story?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:It's incredible.
Speaker:It, it- It proves that government spending is not a bad thing.
Speaker:Government spending, when it's well-targeted- Yes … actually
Speaker:lifts the economy.
Speaker:It, it is, it is not the same as a household budget.
Speaker:No, nothing like it.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, um, so anyway, um, you'll never see that graph appear in
Speaker:a News Corp publication, Joe.
Speaker:No, of course not.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Back to, um, so the Korean male.
Speaker:Um, so yeah, all about the cost of living.
Speaker:Like when I talk to the elderly residents down here on the Gold Coast,
Speaker:and they've got one of these Courier Mails tucked under their arm- Mm-hmm
Speaker:they'll invariably say, "Oh God, it's terrible out there, isn't it?
Speaker:This bloody government.
Speaker:Look at they're doing, the… They're a rabble.
Speaker:Oh, it's just awful." Joe, they're reading this shit nonstop.
Speaker:Well, hang on, but LNP are in power.
Speaker:Well, federally.
Speaker:Oh, I see.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Uh, they weren- they weren't talking about the state government.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:But 'cause, 'cause they're reading this shit nonstop- Yeah … and
Speaker:they're just going, "Everybody hates Albo. Oh, they've ruined it all." Ah.
Speaker:I'm not a fan of Albo, but- Neither am I, but- What's, what's the alternative?
Speaker:Some balance, please.
Speaker:Here we go.
Speaker:House prices diving deeper, Joe.
Speaker:Mm. I just wonder what this one says as to whether that's
Speaker:a good thing or a bad thing.
Speaker:Brisbane is clinging to its million-dollar property status by a $14,000 thread as
Speaker:brutal, Joe, market correction wipes as much as- Yeah, but notice the correction.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:No, Joe.
Speaker:Which suggests, s- which suggests it was an overinflated bubble.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:You know, if you're a home… If you're a young person looking to buy
Speaker:your first home, Joe, it's not brutal.
Speaker:Uh, yeah, and, and people are talking- It's fantastic … I, I did see the,
Speaker:the warning about negative equity and, and if you've overly extended-
Speaker:Yeah … if you've over-leveraged- Yes … yeah, it, it's gonna be hard.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:But it's what this country needs.
Speaker:Um- Absolutely.
Speaker:Uh.
Speaker:A- and, and somebody had to bear the pain.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Brutal market correction wipes as much as 77,000 from values in just
Speaker:seven months with worse set to come.
Speaker:Like, it's obviously a bad thing, Joe.
Speaker:Like, worse is yet to come.
Speaker:A- and, and apparently it's the low end of the market- Mm … which is
Speaker:where the ho- first home buyers are.
Speaker:Mm. Uh, the relentless prope- well, actually, Joe, I think it's the,
Speaker:the, the higher end is suffering more at the moment, I think.
Speaker:I think the really budget- Oh, the article I read earlier was- Yeah
Speaker:it literally said it was the f- the, the low end of the market that
Speaker:was- It might say here… I'll just, um, read a bit more of this one.
Speaker:Mm. The relentless property downturn has stripped more than 62,000
Speaker:from a typical Brisbane home.
Speaker:Um, ba-da, da, da, da, da.
Speaker:Uh- Guess what a difference that makes to the average homeowner.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Absolutely nothing.
Speaker:Correct.
Speaker:Because if you sell in this market, you're buying- Yes … in this market.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And you'll pay less stamp duty as well.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Um, and less, um, agent's commission.
Speaker:That too.
Speaker:Um- Ah, but you know, the poor plucky real estate agents are doing it hard.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Um, da, da, da, da.
Speaker:Um, oh, just a comparison of different states.
Speaker:It doesn't really say about- It, it'll be the developers, won't it?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Who are bleating about it.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And, um, people who are already owning lots of them.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Um, so yeah, big double page spread, uh, on pages six and seven.
Speaker:Um- And again, overseas students dumping Australia.
Speaker:Is that a bad thing?
Speaker:Uh, yes.
Speaker:Um- I, I, I, I worry about our tertiary education sector, that
Speaker:it's become a for-profit sector- Yes
Speaker:rather than about educating people and making them employable.
Speaker:Indeed.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, Joe, there might be a return to sort of the need for humanities type courses
Speaker:with AI performing a lot of stuff.
Speaker:Don't know, but, um, some critical thinking would be good.
Speaker:Anyway, that's pages… We're only up to pages six and seven.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, uh, page eight, uh, this was a weird one.
Speaker:It's an ad. "Australia's children deserve an early education and
Speaker:care system that never looks away." I'm not quite sure about that ad.
Speaker:Um- National Early Education and Care Alliance … Thrive by Five.
Speaker:Um, it… I just don't know what they're advertising there,
Speaker:but I'm suspicious of it.
Speaker:Anyway.
Speaker:Well, um, YMCA uniting care.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:A lot of Chri- religious groups in there.
Speaker:Well- But there's others.
Speaker:Yeah, but, um, they tend to be, uh, worried about
Speaker:Uh, affordability Yeah I mean, Goodstart's a private company.
Speaker:So obviously the childcare associations are interested in.
Speaker:Brotherhood of St. Laurence, that's another religious organization.
Speaker:Yeah But Minderoo Foundation?
Speaker:Uh, they're call- actually, they're calling for a single
Speaker:body for, for Thrive by Five.
Speaker:Well- Early education, a single body- I, I don't think that- … a
Speaker:strong independent… Yeah I, I'm fairly sure that pedophile they
Speaker:just, or pedophile, they just, um, uh, moved down to New South Wales.
Speaker:Mm.
Speaker:One of the complaints was that there was no single national body, so that
Speaker:if he was reported in one place, he could move to another state.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:That, God, that shouldn't happen in this day and age.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Uh, anyway, that's a bunch of groups calling for a central body for early
Speaker:childhood learning, um, control.
Speaker:Anyway, um, article saying Wong in plea to ease Iran tensions, which is essentially,
Speaker:um, Foreign Affairs Minister Wong spent the past two days, um, putting forward-
Speaker:Yeah … the view that we wanna see de-escalation in the Strait of Hormuz.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Donald Trump has no way of exiting this without looking like a, an idiot.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So he's not going to de-escalate.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, pretty sort of neutral article on Penny Wong just asking for that.
Speaker:Then, um, the bigger article on Matt Canavan rolling the
Speaker:dice on a lower house seat.
Speaker:Lucky Matt Canavan.
Speaker:Another nice photo of him and, um, um, yeah, a almost a good luck, Matt,
Speaker:hope you do well type of article.
Speaker:Enough on that one.
Speaker:Um, next page.
Speaker:This is, now we're up to page 10, which is about how cheap the Scottish got the, uh,
Speaker:Com- the Commonwealth Games, and stupid- I presume they had infrastructure already
Speaker:built, which is why it was so cheap.
Speaker:Maybe.
Speaker:That's right, and they could do it at the last minute, so they must- Mm
Speaker:have had it, Joe.
Speaker:And, um, and just stupid Victorian government, who we know was Labor, um,
Speaker:um, cost the Victorians, um, a mozzer.
Speaker:So a, a dig at the former, um, dictator, Dan.
Speaker:Um, uh, um, a story about a, I think a play that's coming up.
Speaker:Um, 100 and… 1.4 million raised for, um-
Speaker:Oh, the MP that got run over Helen Hayes Yes Yes.
Speaker:So Neutral article on that just saying that she got that.
Speaker:Um, Joe, um, actually this is fun.
Speaker:Grandstand collapses.
Speaker:So here down at Coolangatta, there was a festival on the beach with a lot of old
Speaker:school bands like Men at Work, Eskimo Joe, and, uh… Who was James Raine?
Speaker:Australian Crawl.
Speaker:And they had a little mini grandstand, uh, erected on this,
Speaker:in this temporary structure- Mm
Speaker:along the beach, and it collapsed, like all buckled,
Speaker:and people had to evacuate it.
Speaker:And, um, um, we had friends who were there and who were going to be there, and it
Speaker:was, in hindsight when you look at it, the dodgiest structure that apparently
Speaker:had been signed off by an engineer and, um, just not what you expect in a first
Speaker:world country, Joe, that, um, when you're paying top dollar for these things- Mm-hmm
Speaker:that, um, there should be enough controls so that, um, when they erect something
Speaker:on a beach, uh, it's not gonna collapse.
Speaker:Could have killed people.
Speaker:Didn't, but, um, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I think between council and the engineer, there should be- Mm … questions asked.
Speaker:There's an engineer in trouble there.
Speaker:Mm. Otherwise, on that page, just stories, nothing to do with politics.
Speaker:Um- Cocaine lawyer to be ousted.
Speaker:Yeah, I don't think that just- Are they taking cocaine, selling cocaine?
Speaker:I think she was dudding her clients and taking the money to buy c- to f- Ah … to
Speaker:feed her cocaine habit, unfortunately.
Speaker:Um, page 13 then, Joe, headline, "Family slugged millions in blitz.
Speaker:Outcry at trust trap tax bill".
Speaker:So this is to do with the new arrangements that, uh- Sorry.
Speaker:Can we find some small violins?
Speaker:Uh, yeah, yes.
Speaker:Um, uh, cracking down on people who used family trusts in order to
Speaker:distribute income amongst family members, thereby utilizing lower
Speaker:tax-free thresholds where possible and- Mm … therefore paying less tax.
Speaker:And now that loophole is closed, and woe is me on that one.
Speaker:A big story there.
Speaker:Um, so, um, so that's just- And of course those people that it'll affect
Speaker:are people who have family trusts.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And that's the average battler, isn't it?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Um, and of course, The Courier-Mail loves, um, digging into Meghan Markle,
Speaker:and, uh, apparently her dad is- Yes
Speaker:facing charges on- In big trouble.
Speaker:Yes, on some sort of, um, child pornography or something
Speaker:like that, I think it was.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, apparently somebody reported him a while back and nothing came of it, and
Speaker:then his son went through some things.
Speaker:I think it was his laptop, his PC- Yes … in his house in the Philippines where he'd
Speaker:left recently to go and get some health stuff done in the States and, uh, now he's
Speaker:been arrested and they're searching- Yes
Speaker:his American home, and they found more.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:So, so not directly critical of Meghan Markle, but this paper,
Speaker:wherever it gets the chance, criticizes her and Prince Harry.
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:A- apparently she had made these allegations, so I don't think actually
Speaker:there's any shade on her this time round.
Speaker:No, I don't think so.
Speaker:Um, uh, page 14, different family, members of the royal family and
Speaker:the headaches they're giving.
Speaker:Uh, page 15, advertisement type stuff for taking train
Speaker:journeys throughout Australia.
Speaker:And, uh, 16 is on the US election and the midterms and 17, uh,
Speaker:riots in Germany and how Melania, Melania Trump apparently helped.
Speaker:Joe, does this seem possible?
Speaker:Residents in the war-ravaged- Uh, so from what I've heard, somebody else set
Speaker:it up- Mm-hmm … and Melania was given the credit- Right … be- because, um,
Speaker:it was basically sucking up to the US president to make him more, feel more
Speaker:generous towards helping out, um, Ukraine.
Speaker:That makes sense.
Speaker:Uh, it reads here, "Residents of the war-ravaged Russian-occupied city
Speaker:of Oleshky arrived in Ukraine on the weekend after being evacuated via Belarus
Speaker:during a rare truce brokered by f- US First Lady Melania Trump." Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And I read that- Apparently they'd been held hostage for a
Speaker:couple of… So it was- Right
Speaker:2,000 people held hostage for several months.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And they were short on food and medical supplies.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And I think it was getting to be a human- humanitarian crisis, and- Yes … it, it
Speaker:served the Russians nothing to keep them there, so they looked good and won a bit
Speaker:of international kudos by doing this.
Speaker:But apparently they had buses.
Speaker:Some were going to Ukraine, some were going to Russia, and apparently they
Speaker:were trying to force people onto the buses going to Russia, going, "You
Speaker:can be evacuated into Mother Russia." Mm. Or… So, and people were going,
Speaker:"I don't wanna go fucking Russian."
Speaker:Ah, fair enough.
Speaker:Well, Joe, you see, this is what the article should have said is
Speaker:somebody else organized it- Yeah
Speaker:and to curry favor with the Americans, um, uh, the credit
Speaker:was handed over to Melania Trump.
Speaker:Why would the Courier Mail do that?
Speaker:They're so busy sucking up to Trump.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:It's just, of course they were never gonna do that.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Um, uh, North Korea doing some testing.
Speaker:Um, Trump loses a defamation suit or something like that, and blah, blah, blah.
Speaker:So that's- Well, um, protest call for an anti-BB alliance.
Speaker:Uh, surely that's- Yeah … in your wheelhouse.
Speaker:Oh, let's see.
Speaker:Hundreds of Israelis took to the streets on Sunday to urge the
Speaker:opposition to ally with Arab parties to oust, um- Netanyahu … Netanyahu.
Speaker:He's gone on the offensive, so, um Yeah, apparently the exit polls say although
Speaker:his party has the most seats, they haven't got enough to make a majority.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And it'll be months before we know the outcome of the election because
Speaker:they have to negotiate to see which coalition will actually form government.
Speaker:I mean, that's a totally broken society where 90% of Israelis are quite happy
Speaker:to have the genocide continue, and whichever party gets in power there,
Speaker:I don't think much is gonna change.
Speaker:Um- And, um, Bibi is under threat of, uh, corruption charges-
Speaker:Yes … if he remains prime minister.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Uh, 18 and 19, Lord Mayor's Business Awards, so praising local businesses-
Speaker:Of course … uh, who received awards.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Then, um, of course, we get to the opinion pages.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, we've got the editorial, "Government must fight inflation war".
Speaker:Um, also, "Silent voices send wrong message", a- AKA… Well,
Speaker:in other words, "You Black footballers better start singing".
Speaker:Ah, right, okay.
Speaker:That's the bit- I wonder which silent voice is.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:The, uh, various letters to the editor, the one that's front and
Speaker:center and even has a picture is, "We deserve a better PM".
Speaker:Of course.
Speaker:And with a picture of Albanese and, um-
Speaker:Well, this is the sort of thinking by people who read- The column- Yes.
Speaker:But- … by Barnyard Joke's girlfriend Correct.
Speaker:So this letter to the editor begins, "The column by Vicky Campion, Labor
Speaker:Lost in Denial, comprehensively covers the arrogant dishonesty of
Speaker:Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and this inept Labor government."
Speaker:Does anybody just stop for a minute and go, "Who's Vicky Campion?
Speaker:Oh, that's right. Uh, she's married to Barnaby Joyce." Yes.
Speaker:Um, so should we listen to what she says in her opinion about Anthony Albanese?
Speaker:Uh, so- sorry, hang on.
Speaker:Arrogant dishonesty?
Speaker:Wasn't, wasn't that the man who had an affair- … with his
Speaker:staffer and got her up the duff?
Speaker:Uh.
Speaker:The family, the man of family values?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:But, oh, no, the arrogant dishonesty of Prime Minister Albanese and
Speaker:this inept Labor government.
Speaker:Mm. Uh, it all comes back to leadership, Joe.
Speaker:Oh, yeah.
Speaker:True leaders do not behave in this fashion.
Speaker:Um- Oh, oh, here we go.
Speaker:Oh, God.
Speaker:"As a newly minted 21-year-old army officer back in the Vietnam War period,
Speaker:I was privileged to be trained by and later served with military personnel
Speaker:of exceptional leadership qualities.
Speaker:I therefore observed and learned much about leadership at a very early age.
Speaker:As a result, I believe that I can identify a good leader when I see one.
Speaker:When Anthony Albanese was elected prime minister, I was
Speaker:horrified," blah, blah, blah.
Speaker:Well, I'm with you there.
Speaker:Like, he, he has not been a good leader, if that is what
Speaker:your assessment is gonna be.
Speaker:Sh- No, but I suspect that this letter writer thought that Scott
Speaker:Morrison was a good leader.
Speaker:Quite possibly.
Speaker:Uh, he doesn't go on to actually, um, recommend anybody, but he
Speaker:does- Oh, uh, but also look at the suburb Uh, Bridgeman Downs?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Those are multimillion-dollar properties.
Speaker:With, uh, mansions on them.
Speaker:Uh- Yeah, yeah … yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:I, I'm impressed by the, uh, memorial Melbourne cup coin.
Speaker:I, I, I don't know if you're aware of Viz Comic- … in the UK.
Speaker:It was a spoof children's comic, but for adults, and they used to do these
Speaker:memorial plates and memorial column, uh, co- um, coin spoof adverts.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And one was the life of Jesus Christ in cats painted on these memorial plates.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:And every time I see a real one, I just, I'm just re- remembering that.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Joe, this, this letters to the editor section does inc- include one incredible
Speaker:letter- Mm-hmm … which is critical of a, uh, of a, um, of an LMP minister.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Can you… Yes.
Speaker:Uh, handle power wisely and, um, uh… That's not the right one.
Speaker:Um- Um, oh, here we go.
Speaker:Perusing the article, Blige.
Speaker:This is about, uh, Jarrod… Is it Jarrod Blige?
Speaker:Um- Yeah, Ble.
Speaker:Jarrod Ble.
Speaker:Yeah, Ble.
Speaker:Ble.
Speaker:Um- About the, the, um, being able to compulsory purchase without any comeback.
Speaker:Indeed.
Speaker:Had previously expanded powers to seize private land to make way
Speaker:for projects- Mm-hmm … deemed significant to Queensland and
Speaker:remove an owner's right of appeal.
Speaker:Joe, see, this is the example where there will be a mouthpiece for the LNP, except
Speaker:if it, uh, if they act in any way which goes against the oligarchy, and Ble has
Speaker:done things which empowers the government to seize private property more easily.
Speaker:And Joe- That's very socialistic … that's crossed, that, Joe, has crossed
Speaker:a line, and, uh- And hence, mm-hmm
Speaker:a bit of criticism of the LNP gets- Oh, yeah … into the letters to the editor.
Speaker:That's how it works, dear listener.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:But my understanding was it was conver- con- controversial green projects.
Speaker:I mean, it was at the discretion of the minister.
Speaker:There is no other- Yes … comeback.
Speaker:It's purely at the minister's discretion.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Uh, and it was brought in to stop environmentalists stopping, uh, mining
Speaker:and, uh, other harmful activities.
Speaker:Mm. Harmful to the environment activities.
Speaker:Mm. I think they recognize that, uh, down the track, um, Labor could
Speaker:be in power and could use those new powers to- Yeah, absolutely … to
Speaker:acquire, to acquire private property.
Speaker:Ev- every law you need to think, how can this be misused in the future?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I remember- That's one of the reasons I'm against hate speech laws.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:When I interviewed, um, Kieran O'Ri- Kieran, um, O'Reilly, he was the guy
Speaker:who had, um, been in jail in America- Mm-hmm … for bashing the B-52 bombers.
Speaker:Beating up a poor, innocent bomber.
Speaker:Bomber.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And, um, when he got out of jail, they gave him back his personal belongings,
Speaker:including the hammer that he used to build- Mm … the plane with.
Speaker:Such is the respect that Americans have for private property.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Okay, back to this.
Speaker:We're nearly there, dear listener, 'cause we're nearly up to the sports pages,
Speaker:and I, I won't be going through those.
Speaker:Uh, more commemorative stuff.
Speaker:Uh- Mm. Queen Elizabeth II coin shit.
Speaker:Racing guide, racing guide, racing guide, racing guide, racing guide.
Speaker:There's still more opinion coming.
Speaker:Oh.
Speaker:Oh, more- More coin … more coins, yes.
Speaker:Poppies of Remembrance Commemorative Silver Set.
Speaker:Get them quick, Joe, while they last.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:The lines are open 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Speaker:They're even colored.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Uh, more coins, and then of course, the final opinion page, which, uh, in this
Speaker:case, Joe, begins with the comic, and this has a picture of Albanese as the, uh…
Speaker:What's the bookies, um, guy called who does the writing in the book normally?
Speaker:Actually, they're both there as, as bookies.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And they, and they're, they're looking at the odds for a rate
Speaker:rise, a recession, high inflation, midterm malaise, and treasurer
Speaker:gone, and Albo is telling Chalmers to shorten the odds on everything.
Speaker:Um, so, uh, anti-Labor there.
Speaker:Then there's an article by Mike Gambaro talking about how we're all fan of
Speaker:the arts, and we should support the arts, and I don't know if this Mike
Speaker:Gambaro is part of the Gambaro family, but he's done lots of little opinion
Speaker:pieces over time, mostly right-wing-ish.
Speaker:But, um, this one, uh, basically, um, positive about the arts.
Speaker:Um- Yeah.
Speaker:So- We need to support them.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And then, Joe, finally, um, Joe Hildebrand
Speaker:But we would herald a change in opinions.
Speaker:And this, this asshole, Joe Hildebrand, defends the
Speaker:antisemitism envoy, Gillian Segal.
Speaker:Like she's indefensible, I would've thought.
Speaker:But, um, and he does it by, by claiming the exact opposite
Speaker:of what's really happening.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, um, so what's happening with Gillian Segal is she insists that criticism of
Speaker:Israel is also criticism- An attack on the Jewish people … of the Jewish people,
Speaker:and she refuses to separate those things.
Speaker:And the left is forever saying, "Our problem is not with Jewish community.
Speaker:Our problem is with Zionism." And there are numerous members of the
Speaker:Jewish community who are Jewish and who- Mm … object to Zionism.
Speaker:That's the argument of the left, and this fucking asshole, Hildebrand, is- Yeah
Speaker:… trying to tell people the exact opposite.
Speaker:And he says, um, he talks about her report, 'cause she's recently
Speaker:put out a report, um, um, uh-
Speaker:And basically, let me see if I can read something that makes sense here.
Speaker:Um
Speaker:The most, 'cause Segal writes, um, "The most pervasive form of discrimination
Speaker:against Jewish Australians comes from progressives motivated by social
Speaker:justice who give antisemitism a respectable veneer." Um, so she, Gillian
Speaker:Segal, is blaming the progressive left for their antisemitism because
Speaker:they're conflating, um, uh, Jewish identity with Is- with Israel.
Speaker:In fact, they're not.
Speaker:They're doing the exact opposite.
Speaker:I, I was gonna say, I, I totally disagree.
Speaker:I think, um, what I've seen has been criticism of Israel
Speaker:and not of the Jewish people.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:The, the criticism of Jews I've seen have been from the right wing.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Um- The usual conspiracy theorists, and that's why I'm not anti-Zionist per se.
Speaker:I believe that, um, Jewish people are under threat, but I think Jewish
Speaker:people are under threat in part because of the actions of Israel.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And, and, you know, if you were to produce a report on, on growing antisemitism in
Speaker:Australia- Mm … you would think that you would make mention of the war in Gaza and
Speaker:the images that are being shown as being the cause of growing- unease with that
Speaker:part of the world and the people doing it.
Speaker:And you would- Yeah, not necessarily with Jews, but with Israelis.
Speaker:C- correct.
Speaker:And, uh, in this piece, Hildebrand criticizes, uh, Ronnie Salt on Twitter.
Speaker:Ronnie Salt criticized the report because it only mentioned Gaza once.
Speaker:Because she's making that argument, if you're gonna be talking about the rise of
Speaker:emi- antisemitism i- in Australia, um, and trying to make the case, you really need
Speaker:to talk about what's going on in the world that might be making people angry with,
Speaker:um, uh, uh, Jews because maybe they're just confl- other people are conflating
Speaker:Jews with, um, uh, with Zionism.
Speaker:So you've, you've got to give the context of what is going on in the world, and the
Speaker:people arguing, the, the intellectual left are saying they're two separate things.
Speaker:And at the end of this, this, this idiot is saying progressives simply
Speaker:cannot get that Jews here and government in Israel are two different things.
Speaker:They absolutely are.
Speaker:It's Jillian Segal adopting the definition from the IHRA or whatever it's
Speaker:called- Yeah … that conflates these.
Speaker:It, it was the most- But, but- … disingenuous opinion piece.
Speaker:Well, also, it's valid to criticize the Jews here if they are supporting
Speaker:the government of I- Israel.
Speaker:Correct.
Speaker:And supporting them because of their politics, uh, their support of Zionism- Mm
Speaker:not because of they're just silly enough to believe in Judaism.
Speaker:I, I mean, much the same as I was critical of Americans-
Speaker:Mm … who supported the IRA.
Speaker:Mm.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, um, so that article really got my goat in that the woman who is conflating the
Speaker:two was being praised by this guy for, f- for supposedly keeping them separate
Speaker:when she's doing the exact opposite.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And the people who are keeping them separate was criticized
Speaker:by him for conflating.
Speaker:Just, y- you know, the… According to this guy, the sun is rising in the west
Speaker:and settling, setting in the east, and, and we're all supposed to believe him.
Speaker:Ugh, an outrageous article, and that's the sort of crap that people are reading.
Speaker:We've got crosswords, we've got, uh, television, and then we've got sport, and,
Speaker:um, and Joe, that is, um, that's that part of what I would typically read each day.
Speaker:And, and how much is that in the shops?
Speaker:Oh, God, I don't know.
Speaker:Um, actually, it probably will tell me.
Speaker:Wait on.
Speaker:Uh, let's go back to that to the very beginning.
Speaker:It'll have the price at the front, won't it?
Speaker:Um, um- Up the top.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:$3.50, Joe.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I, I don't see the value.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So Joe, you might think to yourself, "Well, can't get the
Speaker:news there if people just go to the ABC. It's free, Joe." Mm-hmm.
Speaker:They could, they could just get it there.
Speaker:And, um, let me stop sharing that and start sharing… Uh, no, not that.
Speaker:Uh, ooh.
Speaker:Take that.
Speaker:Joe, what did I do?
Speaker:Hey, can you fix that part while I screen share something else?
Speaker:Uh, I can try.
Speaker:Um
Speaker:Uh, a screen share and, uh, and share with… Thank you
Speaker:No, that's even worse Yeah, that's even worse
Speaker:There we go.
Speaker:There we go.
Speaker:Joe, this is the, um… So then I go, "Well, okay, what's
Speaker:the ABC?" You know, the, um,
Speaker:the government's own propaganda arm.
Speaker:What, what… I mean, imagine- Well, government funded, but is it- Yes
Speaker:its own propaganda arm?
Speaker:State media.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:I haven't seen them critical of any Australian foreign policy,
Speaker:um, in a long, long time.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:Top stories All about America.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Land of the free, home of the bill shock, life in Trump's America.
Speaker:Well, there is major election tomorrow.
Speaker:Mm. And unfortunately, when America sneezes, the rest
Speaker:of the world catches cold.
Speaker:Fair enough.
Speaker:When America bombs Iran, the rest of us pay the fuel price.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Uh, so anyway, uh, talks about cost of living in America.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, Trump voters, why they're switching sides.
Speaker:Um, Trump could try and overturn the midterm election results.
Speaker:Top three stories.
Speaker:Yep.
Speaker:Then there's an explainer, has the government spending added to inflation?
Speaker:I'll get back to that one.
Speaker:Then there's, um, a depraved, uh, child exploitation, um,
Speaker:um, sort of, um, crime story.
Speaker:Uh, there's a private jet crashed.
Speaker:There's storms.
Speaker:Um, Albanese to discuss rule change for British backpackers.
Speaker:Canavan switching to the House of Reps. Another fire.
Speaker:Woman loses legal battle over her roof, which was painted
Speaker:a disturbing shade of red.
Speaker:Like that… This is, this is what the ABC is giving us.
Speaker:Color was offensive and threatening.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:According to who?
Speaker:It's a slightly strong shade of red.
Speaker:Um, it's just a pretty standard terracotta roof, I would've thought.
Speaker:Mm. Um, uh, male nurse charged with raping three elderly women, stabbing,
Speaker:um, a toddler's death, a Ukraine raid alert, Melbourne Cup recipe.
Speaker:Yeah, yeah, what time is the Melbourne Cup?
Speaker:That's critical information.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And a few recipes.
Speaker:Like, Joe, really pretty lightweight stuff.
Speaker:Let's get onto the one that is the potential with an explainer.
Speaker:Has government spending added to inflation?
Speaker:These charts tell the story, and that is where I did get that
Speaker:chart about government spending.
Speaker:Actually, there was, there was another story, but- Hmm.
Speaker:We, uh… Do you want me to go back?
Speaker:Oh, the, the Mater, uh, pathology changes, 400 jobs affected.
Speaker:Um.
Speaker:In the just in.
Speaker:Oh, okay.
Speaker:In the just in.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, sorry, back to the- Oh, that's fairly important.
Speaker:400 people may have their livelihoods affected.
Speaker:Yeah, that's fair enough.
Speaker:Um, why, why did it say that?
Speaker:Let's see.
Speaker:Um, a spokesperson for healthcare provider blamed rising costs for the decision.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:They're, they're outsourcing, basically.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, um-
Speaker:100 positions to go in the next two months, remaining positions-
Speaker:Mm … by the end of 2027.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I just wanna make one mention, um, Joe- Mm … before we finish
Speaker:on this article, government spending help… Could government
Speaker:spending cuts help fight inflation?
Speaker:Here are the facts by economics reporter Tom Crowley
Speaker:Uh, little bit of an intro, then he goes, "How inflation happens.
Speaker:In simple terms, inflation happens when an economy is operating above capacity.
Speaker:When the demand to spend is more than what an economy can supply,
Speaker:the extra demand pushes prices up.
Speaker:The cause can come from anywhere." Um, but, but Joe, that, that first
Speaker:bit is inflation happens because, um- Demand outstrips supply
Speaker:demand outstrips supply.
Speaker:But inflation can happen for any number of reasons besides that.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Um, because- Yeah, but in classical economic theory,
Speaker:that's the main cause Yes.
Speaker:I, I, I know, but classical economic theory also is, um, if you're just relying
Speaker:on supply and demand to- Mm-hmm … to understand economics, then you're really
Speaker:failing to understand true economics.
Speaker:Um- Absolutely … uh, e- even in the most basic supply and demand,
Speaker:ig- ignoring outside influences, it all depends on whether you've
Speaker:got a monopoly for something.
Speaker:And if you've got a monopoly, you can crank the prices up, uh, for,
Speaker:for a product that's desirable.
Speaker:But Joe, the, the inflation that we're getting, um, is so much, is so much a
Speaker:result of influences beyond our control.
Speaker:For example, fuel prices- Mm-hmm … um, adding to the cost of everything.
Speaker:So, um, so it's, it's not that people have suddenly decided they wanna spend
Speaker:a lot of money on insurance, and the insurance people have, um, got a shortage
Speaker:of insurance to sell, and they can therefore crank up the price of insurance.
Speaker:You know, there are other things at play on this- Well, also if-
Speaker:besides just supply and demand … uh, uh, you know, i- if it costs 10, or if
Speaker:it used to cost $10 to put food on the table- Yes … and it now costs $15-
Speaker:Yes … that's not discretionary spending.
Speaker:Correct.
Speaker:That's a need.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:That, that's, that's something you need to live.
Speaker:A- and you will spend that.
Speaker:You will scrimp and save to spend that money.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, so inflationary pressure has to be discretionary spend only, and, and
Speaker:anything that is anti-inflationary should be targeting discretionary
Speaker:spend- Yeah … rather than essentials.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:You're back, Joe.
Speaker:You've… I'm, I'm done- There we go … with screen sharing.
Speaker:Um, the- I'll, I'll try and figure out how to do this
Speaker:it's, it's such a simplistic and ultimately wrong view of what is- Um,
Speaker:a much more nuanced situation other than just simple supply and demand.
Speaker:And, um, to kick off with, with that, it's the, the idea that we are awash
Speaker:with cash so that we're spending more, we're buying sports cars and more stuff,
Speaker:and we need to rein everybody in by hitting them with interest rates because
Speaker:we've got too much money washing around.
Speaker:That's just such a crappy, stupid, dumb way of looking at it, and any economics
Speaker:reporter worth his salt shouldn't have even gone there with that paragraph
Speaker:without a whole bunch of caveats.
Speaker:So, um, Joe, my face is way too big on this screen.
Speaker:I know.
Speaker:Let's-- What?
Speaker:Gotta do something with this.
Speaker:I'm still working on- Actually, uh, maybe.
Speaker:Is it, is it-- Have I got, uh, picture-in-picture?
Speaker:Uh.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:No.
Speaker:I can't see.
Speaker:Uh, uh.
Speaker:Yeah, I mean, 50/50 is probably the answer.
Speaker:That, that's a little bit… Did, did, um, did anybody say anything in the chat?
Speaker:Was there anybody in the chat?
Speaker:Was there any news?
Speaker:Oh, Landon just said h- um, howdy.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Hello, Landon.
Speaker:Uh, but before that- Yeah
Speaker:45 minutes before that was James saying hello.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Hello.
Speaker:So, so Joe, um, there's a little insight into, uh, um, my life as I'm trying to l-
Speaker:look f- at the news- Mm-hmm … I think for potential topics, and the angst I
Speaker:go through as I read the Courier-Mail.
Speaker:Uh.
Speaker:I, generally I'll read the headline and the first couple of
Speaker:paragraphs, and I'm, I'm done.
Speaker:I, I was just wondering if we wanted to play a game next time- Yes … with
Speaker:Apple News, which is from the headline, guess which news source it comes from.
Speaker:Oh, yeah.
Speaker:You could do that.
Speaker:Uh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:So, um, yes, we could do that.
Speaker:All right, dear listener, well, uh, everything I had on
Speaker:the agenda, Joe, um- Mm-hmm
Speaker:previously, I'll just save that for next week.
Speaker:And, um, yeah.
Speaker:There was something that cropped up recently, but I
Speaker:can't remember what it was.
Speaker:Oh, I think- Yeah … yeah, it was about the, the, the, um We've mentioned it
Speaker:already, the bleating about house prices.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Um, yeah.
Speaker:Uh, I guess we'll, can talk about, uh, the US midterms by the time we get back,
Speaker:and, um, a bunch of other topics soon.
Speaker:Yeah, I'm not available next week.
Speaker:Oh, okay.
Speaker:All right, we'll figure something out.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Um, all righty, dear listener, thank you for your attention, um- To this
Speaker:matter … talk to you next time.
Speaker:What's that?
Speaker:Thank you for your attention to this matter.
Speaker:Yeah, y- yeah.
Speaker:It's, um, Donald Trump, isn't it?
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Wow.
Speaker:I've been reading too many Trump tweets.
Speaker:Truths.
Speaker:Truths.
Speaker:They're not tweets, they're truths.
Speaker:No, but I read them on Twitter- Oh, okay … 'cause they get reproduced by an account
Speaker:that just reproduces his Truth account.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:All right.
Speaker:See you, everyone.
Speaker:Bye.
Speaker:And it's a good night from me.
