24 July 2024
Topics: Treaty poll, ineptitude of QLD Labor Government, US Presidential race
E&OE
Peta Credlin:
Welcome back. It’s Wednesday, first, my panel. Let’s bring them in. Shadow Environment Minister Jonathon Duniam and Liberal Senator for Queensland, James McGrath. Gentlemen, Senators squared. How are you? Good to have you as always.
Let’s start with the Needs of the Nation poll for The Australian which found 72% of us believe the nation is at least a little bit racist. The survey also found more than 50% of people aged 18 to 35 believe the government should consider a treaty with Indigenous Australians. However, support for a treaty declines pretty sharply with age to less than 30% support for those of us over the age of 50. Well, thank God for the 50 year olds in the mix, I got to say! Treaty support – the view of young people – now who’s surprised here, given our education system indoctrinates young Australians, it doesn’t educate young Australians. James, what do you make of this?
Senator McGrath
Let’s be blunt. Australians are not racist. Australia is not a racist country. Jonno, like myself, would spend a lot of time on the road. Australians are the most generous, boisterous, blunt people on the Earth. They don’t care what colour you are, where you’ve come from, as long as you’re a good person and you love this country. The issue is our education system where students are being taught that anything that happened before 1788 was brilliant and anything that happened after 1788 is terrible, and that is wrong. We should be teaching our young kids pride in the flag, pride in the country, and pride in the freedom that brings us together. But most importantly, just acknowledge the fact we are a pretty good country, if not the best country in the world. But we do need to fix up our education system and stop the indoctrination of young people.
Peta Credlin:
What hope have we got, though, Jonathon Duniam, when you’ve got the Greens who won’t stand behind the Australian flag – they’ve got to just have the Aboriginal and Torres Strait flags only – and you’ve got a Prime Minister, and I’ve seen this overseas. I was in our Embassy in Rome not so long ago, and we’ve got the three flags over there. We’ve got acknowledgement of country on every little bit of paper. And you’ve got, as I said, a Prime Minister who can’t stand up without acknowledging the crimes of humanity against Aboriginal people and won’t just take pride in our nation.
Senator Duniam
Oh frankly, to say it is disappointing is a very light statement to make, when you think about the fact that our young people, all of us across society, are told that we ought to be ashamed of our own racial background and therefore we are racist because, for the most part, we are white and it is part and parcel with being white that you are racist. It is now something that is an accepted norm. I think that is outrageous. And when you have, not only schools, but universities, the corporate elites and leaders in the political class telling us that’s how we should think, we have no hope. And what is it going to be like when we actually have to pick up the cudgels and defend our country? If we’re ashamed of who we are? If we’re ashamed of our flag, if we’re ashamed of our national anthem? Who’s going to fight for our country when the enemy comes knocking? That’s my real concern. And that’s why James is dead right. It starts with education and starts with young people and we have to start tomorrow.
Peta Credlin:
You’re right to make the point about our country and defence, because the head of the army in the United Kingdom, this is the uniformed head, was out there today saying that he is telling his service men and women to prepare for war within three years and we can’t even stand by our flag. Let’s go up to your way, up to Queensland. The Premier there, Steven Miles, is refusing to disclose how much he wasted to have two VIP jets fly politicians and the head of police to the same venue for the same crime tour back in April, and also these reports that the original $1 billion figure put on the cost of rebuilding the Gabba for the Olympic Games in Brisbane wasn’t based on a shred of business analysis, numerical analysis, or government analysis. Come on, James. What’s going on in Queensland?
Senator McGrath
It’s 93 days until the state election, 93 days to get rid of this tired, inept Labor Government. We’ve got a Premier who is treating taxpayers’ money as if it is his own money. David Crisafulli yesterday in estimates and Jarrod Bleijie were prosecuting this case and Miles was just so arrogant, just refusing to answer pretty basic questions. And the reason, by the way, he took two jets to Townsville, to steal a line from Deb Frecklington, is just in case one of them got stolen. Then we’ve got the debacle of the Olympics where there’s no business plan. They’ve got these things called Project Verification reports, and that is gobbledegook for a bunch of bureaucrats signing off on something the Premier may have said. The Olympics is going to become an embarrassment under Labor. The business cases just don’t exist. And you talk about the costings; now we’re looking at the old QEII stadium being rebuilt there out near Griffith University. No one’s going to go there. It’s just an embarrassment. Queensland: we need to get rid of this Labor Government sooner rather than later.
Peta Credlin:
Well, let’s go to the US. We’ve watched a pretty extraordinary week there in US politics. We’ve had that massive shift now in the vote with Biden dropping out. Polling out today says Kamala Harris is leading Donald Trump 44% to 42%. This is in a Reuters Ipsos poll. She’s also out looking for a young white male politician as her running mate. Well, gentlemen, you both fit that bill, you might cross over to the United States, maybe? But Jonno Duniam, she has been called, quote, “dumb as a rock”. But I think it’d be a mistake to underestimate her. She’ll have most of the media on her side and a lot will want to make history with their first woman President. How do you think she’ll go?
Senator Duniam
Well, I think you’re right. It is a grave mistake to underestimate your opponent or any contender in any race, because that’s the beginning of a losing streak. You know, the fact is, as you’ve identified, the media class, the fourth estate, are trying to set up a zeitgeist. And America is just like Australia, where people will back the winner and if it looks like the tide is going in the Democrats’ direction, then people will probably jump on board there. But the reality is, Kamala Harris has not had the blowtorch of public scrutiny properly applied. She can stand up at these rallies and run the lines she’s running around Donald Trump being a predator and the rest of it, but when she has to give an account for the work and the outcomes of the administration she’s been a part of and what her plan is to make America a better place, I think she’s going to come crumbling down, and I think Americans who are doing it tough are going to send a message at the ballot box. But I hope Donald Trump does the work and doesn’t underestimate Harris.
Peta Credlin:
Look, I think she’s pretty weak. I think she’s dumb as a rock. I have to say that wasn’t my statement, but I accord with it. James, I guess the challenge is most Americans don’t know anything about her, and she only has to be credible for four or five months of the campaign. She’s really at the tail end. She’s been under no pressure to perform in a primary. She hasn’t been exposed. Yes, she’s got a shocking record on the borders, but I mean, it’s up to the Republicans now to prosecute that. The Democrats will be be hoping she can limp over the line. I think her base will turn out now, in part. I think she’s got a problem with the middle part of America. But you know, you’re a campaigner, how do you think she’ll go?
Senator McGrath:
She will certainly energise her base. The danger for the Republicans is that base energisation, but also if they do not start to frame her. They need to connect her to every Biden policy over the last three-and-a-half years and point out that she was there when these bad decisions were being made. Because, if they don’t do that, she’s going to present herself as someone as fresh as a daisy, and that is very dangerous for America. And the big danger for us is that while this brilliant democracy show is going on there, we’ve got the Middle East, we’ve got Russia, we’ve got China all starting to misbehave. So we need someone strong in the White House and I don’t think she’s up to the job.
Peta Credlin:
We’ll see, won’t we? Gentlemen, thank you. Jonno Duniam and Senator James McGrath.