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Episode 415 - Goodbye Scomo and Good Riddance
29th January 2024 • The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove • The Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove
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Topics:

(00:37) Intro

(03:03) Anti-Vaxers

(09:12) Scomo Gone

(14:55) Goodbye Stage 3 Tax Cuts

(27:27) ICJ Ruling on Genocide

(34:13) UNRWA

(38:41) Yemen


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You can email us. The address is trevor@ironfistvelvetglove.com.au



Transcripts

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Suburban Eastern Australia, an environment that has, over time,

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evolved some extraordinarily unique groups of homosapiens.

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But today, we observe a small tribe akin to a group of meerkats that

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gather together atop a small mound to watch, question, and discuss the

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current events of their city, their country, and their world at large.

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Let's listen keenly and observe this group fondly known as the

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Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove.

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Welcome back, dear listener, the Iron Fist and the Velvet Glove podcast.

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I'm Trevor, aka the Iron Fist, with me, from the UK, back in

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Australia, Joe the Tech Guy.

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How are you, Joe?

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Evening, all.

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And not with us is, um, well, our little Velvet Glove from regional

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Queensland has come down with COVID.

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In fact, he came down to Brisbane, maybe he brought COVID with him

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or he quickly got it while he was here, but he's gone back with COVID

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and he's not feeling real well.

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So he's having, I'd say he's just in bed right now asleep.

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It's past his normal bedtime anyway, but he's not well.

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So it's just Joe and I.

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Joe, you don't have COVID, but you had a Crohn's episode that

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you've managed to overcome.

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Yes, it was an interesting Saturday night.

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Yeah, we won't go into the details of it, but, uh, as regular listeners would

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know, both Joe and I have Crohn's disease.

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Joe's case is a lot worse than mine.

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So, um Yeah, oh well, thoughts and prayers got you through, Joe.

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Yeah, exactly.

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Hmm, yeah.

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So yeah, just the two of us, episode 415, 29th of January 2024.

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And, one of the topics, the topics will be, ah, Scott Morrison,

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finally gone, stage three cuts, stage three tax cuts, finally,

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Labor's done something about them.

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Um, and we'll look at Gaza, the South African claim of genocide by Israel, the

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ruling by the, by the international court.

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Justice.

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And then an interesting thing about, there's another group, the U-N-R-W-A,

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which is uh, a group that does a lot of the on the ground work of

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distributing aid in Gaza and Australia and a bunch of other countries

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decided to stop giving them money.

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Incredibly.

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And a little bit about Yemen.

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So there we go.

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Things are starting to finally happen in Australia in terms of politics.

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Everybody has been away in doing nothing but.

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So we've had a little bit to talk about about Australia.

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So maybe a bit more happen over the next few weeks right Before we start Joe, I

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was playing squash at a different squash club down the coast on the weekend.

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Played this guy And he was a good player, beat me, but afterwards started talking

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and then It became clear that he was an anti vaxxer You just can't spot him and

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they start opening their mouth and you go.

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Oh, no You're not heading in this direction, are you?

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Oh, you are?

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Oh, really?

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I was staying with my sister in law over Christmas and, um, she

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revealed that she was very sceptical of, um, the COVID vaccine and, uh,

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you know, started trotting out some stuff and I just tuned it all out.

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I wasn't going to have the argument.

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You know, you know If a bunch of Mormons knocked on the door and

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wanted to start talking about God, you could invite them in.

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And have a conversation about, about it, and it would be enjoyable,

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and you could disagree on things.

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But with these anti vaxxers, like I started briefly with this guy,

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just going, well, what about the peer reviewed studies and whatnot?

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Oh, you know, basically dismissed every peer reviewed study that existed.

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Unless it agreed with him.

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Yes, and, and, and just, just dismissed it out of hand as being people who

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were, um, um, you know, had an agenda and were on the payroll of chemical

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companies and pharmaceutical companies.

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And, and I said, you know, peer review in journals, like, the

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people doing the reviews are not in the pay necessarily of anybody.

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And, I said, you know, you've got people like tenured professors who are

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guaranteed a job at the university and so they're not beholden to anybody and

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he just wouldn't accept that that was the case and that they had to be under

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the control of pharmaceutical companies.

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And you just strike these roadblocks where normal evidence

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It's just thrown out the window.

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You just don't know where to go, do you, man?

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I mean, there are problems with, um, some of the studies that are published.

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Hmm.

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Um, but the process is robust.

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Um, there needs to be things to make it more robust.

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We know that positive studies are much more likely to be

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published than negative studies.

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There are problems with it.

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But, um, uh, the interesting thing is the people who will quite happily deny the

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studies that show evidence against what they believe, will willingly jump on a

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study that's published that shows what they believe, yeah, what they do believe.

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Uh, and you're saying, you know, how do you know the difference?

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How do you know what's a good study and what's a bad study other than it agrees

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with you or it doesn't agree with you?

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Yes, you just hit these roadblocks with them.

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Another guy I was talking to about, um, uh, a different guy, a different

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issue, uh, climate change, and, uh, maybe it was about nuclear power and

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renewables, and then I was talking about the levelised cost of energy.

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And, and he was be peeling the idea and he said, well where did

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you get that information from?

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I said, oh, from the CSIRO.

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And he goes, well you can't believe a word they say.

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It's just like Well, no, because they've been captured by the

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fossil fuel industry, haven't they?

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It's just Well, where do you go to when the scientists haven't,

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but their management, do you not remember they were, they weren't

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allowed to mention climate change, the CSIRO were banned from on high.

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I don't remember that one, I don't remember that one, but, um, anyway,

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you know, you just can't quote any reputable authority and it

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just gets dismissed out of hand.

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Well, then it's all just opinion and we just yell our opinions at

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each other is what you can do.

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And I just wasn't.

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Yeah.

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Well, no, no.

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I mean, it is.

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It's very much, uh, um, my ignorance is equal to your 30 years of experience.

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Mm.

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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And, you know, when people say, why should I trust you?

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I'm saying, don't trust me.

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Go off and find what the experts say, and not the one expert

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that agrees with you, but the 99 experts that don't agree with you.

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Find out why they think that other guy is wrong.

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And, you know, my argument is, science is a process of argumentation.

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That is normal.

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When it fails over into the mainstream press That's because

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the person on the losing side can't convince his peers that he's right.

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Right.

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So the only reason we're having these arguments in the popular

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press, is because the person can't convince the experts who actually

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understand and know the difference.

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Hmm.

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Good point.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Anyway, just, you just, you run across so many roadblocks with

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these types of people, I think.

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I think next time I'm just gonna, and it was in an environment where it

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wasn't really conducive to a debate and I almost like, just felt like

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saying to him, we're clearly going to get nowhere, but just for the record

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because you're just not going to accept any facts or information I put forward.

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You're full of shit and I'm not going to convince you of anything, so why don't

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we just leave it at that and move on.

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Ah, and agree to disagree, but they're very vehement.

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They're so, they get really angry, very Emotional, very passionate, the

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most passionate vehement arguments of a topic you'll come across.

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Um, anyway, that was my, uh, my week, Joe, my little event on Sunday.

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Now, for some good news, Scott Morrison, he's quit, he's gonna leave.

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Oh no.

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Yes.

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Finally.

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How are we going to survive without him?

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And his leadership.

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And his God.

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Yeah.

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This podcast has struggled for content since the guy.

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Got kicked out.

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Because he was a goldmine of content for a podcast.

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Yes, I'm sure you've still got the Governor General's wife, haven't you?

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Yeah.

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Is it still the same guy?

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Is he still there?

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As far as I know.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Um, so he's, he's going, um, he's joining an American defence firm

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called American Global Strategies.

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And this is the same Prime Minister who signed AUKUS, Australia up for AUKUS.

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So, he's joined a defence group who makes money, obviously, from beefing up

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defence purchasing of various countries.

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Ah, that's about the only place that would end up.

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I'm sure it's all God's plan.

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Yeah, I thought he was going to end up a preacher, actually.

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Apparently they wouldn't have them.

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Yeah, possibly not.

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The shovel, um, provided an interesting slant on it.

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Um, they said, leading economists say it has never been easier to find work.

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One company so desperate for workers, it was left with no choice.

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but to hire a lazy, talentless, cosplaying glorified sales rep from the shire.

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Quote, the unemployment rate is now officially zero.

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The country's least employable man has found a job.

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That's a good one.

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Ahhhh.

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Human resources expert Jessica Bailey said she'd never seen anything like it.

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You know, employers are struggling for talent when they're offering a

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job to a guy who once miscalculated a budget by 60 billion.

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Forgot to order vaccines during a pandemic and had to ask his

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wife whether rape was bad.

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Uhhhhhh.

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I mean, imagine the reference checks on this guy.

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His former colleagues have described him as a horrible person,

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a fraud and a complete psycho.

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The French President called him a liar.

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Uh, there we go.

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And that was the nicest thing you could say about him.

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Yeah.

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Bernard Keane, writing in Crikey.

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He says that ScoMo was in many ways the culmination of long term trends

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within the Federal Liberal Party, rather than a genuinely new figure.

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So not merely its infiltration and shift to the right by extremists, climate

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denialists and social reactionaries, but a complete transformation into a money for

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policy racket in which political donations And provision of post politics employment

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with a primary determinants of policy.

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So, yeah, certainly looking at people like, uh, Christopher Pyne

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and others who end up in these jobs with companies they were dealing

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with when they were ministers.

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It just should not be allowed, I don't care what period of time transpires.

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It's just reached the point where you have to worry whether decisions

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have been made with a view to getting a job after politics.

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There's got to be something down there.

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It's a scary thought.

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So, um, so that was Bernard Keane.

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I reckon Scamo Is, uh, more than just the culmination of long term

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trend, because he brought in the whole Pentecostal sort of idea.

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We had Abbott, the Catholics, um Oh, and we had John Howard.

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Yes, and the Methodists.

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I think he's Methodist, John Howard.

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Yeah, I don't know.

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Yeah.

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He was certainly very, very God on his sleeve, wasn't he?

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Yeah.

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Those guys were just the more traditional religions, whereas Morrison is dragged in,

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he's evangelical, muscular types, that's a new, I guess that is a continuation of

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a trend, from just traditional religion to the more extremist, yes it is.

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Although being seven ministers at the same time.

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Yeah, that was, yeah, appointing himself, yeah.

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So, thinking of things he did, um, highlights, greatest hits, as it was

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described by Crikey, um, The time he, uh, accidentally squished a kid, when it was

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supposed to be a fun little football game.

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Um, the time he had to go up welding.

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Joe, have you ever done welding?

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No.

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Yeah, neither have I.

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I do know that you're not supposed to not use a welding goggle, though.

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He must have really damaged his eyes with that.

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We never found out afterwards, but Well, I think it was possibly short enough time

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that It didn't do much, either that or it felt like somebody threw sand in his

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eyes for a couple of days afterwards.

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Yeah, you only need a flash, apparently, and you're going to be in pain

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for quite a while, so he must have been, but we never heard about that.

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Um, the Sri Lankan tamarind eggplant and okra curry, which was that chicken

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curry that was clearly undercooked.

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Yeah, and his secret self appointment to various ministries.

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That was just plain weird as well as corrupt.

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And of course, his fingers were all over the Robodebt scheme, which was revealed

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subsequently to be a horrible thing that was inflicted on so many people.

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So goodbye and good riddance to Scott Morrison.

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And goodbye and good riddance to the Stage 3 tax cuts, Joe.

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How long have we been rabbiting on about Stage 3 tax cuts?

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Oh, six months, a year, I don't know, sometime.

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Yeah, no, longer than that.

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Ever since, ever since they got elected, even before the election, because

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in the campaign leading up to the election, that's true, they had rolled

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over and said, uh, don't worry, we're on board with these Stage 3 tax cuts.

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And, we and a lot of other people were going, for God's sake, have some backbone.

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Because it was clearly a wedge issue, where they were worried that, in

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an election campaign, the Liberals could successfully run a campaign

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about high taxing Labor government.

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So, why didn't they do then, Joe, what they did, what they offered now?

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Which cleverly was We're going to give the same amount of overall tax

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cut, we're just going to give it to different people, mainly the poorer

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people rather than the rich ones.

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So it's obvious, isn't it, to just say we can't accuse us

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of not, of not reducing tax.

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We are.

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It's just that we're reducing it to a different group of people

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and yeah, to people who need it.

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Yeah.

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And to go out in an election.

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And argue the case.

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Why didn't they do that then?

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Because they didn't want to give the slightest hint of a

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possibility of Murdoch banging them.

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It would have been such As it's Maybe Murdoch has become

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more and more toothless.

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Maybe, maybe there was an argument he made that at the time Murdoch still

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had a bit of sway, but I think we've realised that Murdoch's reign is over.

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What I've been listening to, I was listening to Paul Buongiorno on 7am

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podcast, and What he said was that, really, Albanese had to be dragged

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kicking and screaming to this decision.

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And it was the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, who is the one

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saying, we need to do something.

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A, because the cost of living crisis has got a lot of people out there saying.

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You know, you're not doing anything to help with the cost of living crisis.

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And B, this is a really shitty policy to be, uh, to be running as a tax account.

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So, apparently, Joe, I think they're worried about Greens.

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It's the only thing I can think of.

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They're worried that they're going to lose votes to the Greens.

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Yeah, but it strikes me as extraordinary that it seemed like Albanese was almost

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the last person in the Labor caucus.

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To be convinced of this.

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What's going on in that guy's head?

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Well, I think all of Labor are, um, almost as bad as the Liberal Party.

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They are, they're just in the pocket of business, big business.

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The top end of town.

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Yeah.

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Landon Hardbottom's arrived in the chat.

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He says, I'm a bit late, have I said anything interesting yet?

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Well, Scott's sick with COVID.

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Tucked up in bed, Landon, so.

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He's looking for thoughts and prayers, if you'd like to

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offer him some, so, uh, yeah.

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Ah, with these tax cuts, if you're wondering what it means, there's a

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graph on the screen and essentially, the people on lower incomes, what's the

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median or average, well, I forget, the average, I think, is about seventy six.

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How is that?

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It may be eighty.

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I think the average is about eighty and the median is about fifty five or sixty.

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I think.

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Sounds about right.

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Yeah, so, um, so people on, say, 60, 000, previously were only going to get a 375,

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000, now they're getting 1, 179, 000.

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People on 100, 000, previously getting 1, 300, 000, now they're getting 2, 100, 000.

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And for people on 200, 000, Previously they were getting 9, 000,

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now they're getting 4, 500, so the lower levels, I mean people on 30,

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000 previously weren't going to get any tax cuts out of this Stage 3.

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So there's a lot of people, Joe, that the Labor Government will

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be able to pitch to at the next election if this becomes an issue.

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Well they said it's a 6 to 1 ratio, so for every one person who's

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going to lose out under that.

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Six people are going to gain under it.

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Yeah.

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And really, if you're earning under 150, 000 a year, which is going to be

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90 percent of the earning population, you're going to do better off under this.

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Yes.

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So, good luck, Liberals, if you want to go to the next election.

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So um, so an article in the Saturday paper said, um, this left the Coalition

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in its standard position promoting the interests of the already well off.

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But from a more exposed place than usual.

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Deputy Opposition Leader, Susan Lay, rashly promised the Coalition

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would roll back Labor's package.

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If, you know, if the Liberals got into government.

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And Markey lawyers quipped on X that Lay had made a solemn pledge to increase

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income tax for everyone earning less than 150, 000 a year, while reducing

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it for everyone earning more than that.

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Which was funny and literally true, but also an indication of how detached from

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real life the Coalition has become.

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So, Lai's line was so funny.

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I think she walked it back.

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Yes.

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She walked it back.

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Walked it back the next day.

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But, um, that's how out of touch they are.

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But, well, she's crazy anyway, isn't she?

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So, we've been saying for so long now, this is an easy sell.

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Just do it.

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They've eventually done it.

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So, so Joe, you mentioned what, uh, well, you know, News Corp doesn't

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have the power that it used to.

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Will it be able to do something with this to help the Liberals or the

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Conservatives in the next election?

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It's been trying its hardest, hasn't it?

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Yeah, well, there was an article again in Crikey looking at the

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reaction of different newspapers.

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Uh, the Nine Papers had it both ways.

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Uh, calling the move a flip, so the Sydney Herald, Sydney Morning Herald

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described it as a flip, but also quoted Angus Taylor's description of

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the move as a betrayal in the age.

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So, uh, in both cases emphasising the wider application of the new

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cuts, so Sydney Morning Herald.

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Headline was, Tax Flip, A Win For Millions, PM Says, and in the age, Bigger

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Cuts For Millions Amid Claims Of Betrayal.

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Um, Shane Wright from the age in the editorial said, Breaking

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a promise is one thing, a real plan for tax reform is another.

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And he said, political promises matter, voters have every right

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to expect the informal contracts they enter into with political

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parties at election to be honoured.

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This is a cornerstone of our democratic system.

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But, in the age's view, there was a reasonable case to break the promise to

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deliver the third tranche of tax cuts.

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Due to begin on July 1.

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So there we go.

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That was the age.

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Sydney Morning Herald said, while some of the reforms signed off by

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Cabinet and Caucus may well make sense, that does not absolve Albanese

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from breaking an election promise.

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And of course, At the Australian, which is such a caricature now, the

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headline was, Albanese's Tax Ambush.

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PM's breach of faith on tax cuts could prove to be politically fatal,

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said Dennis Shanahan, and in the article he said something like, You

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were going to say something, Joe?

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I was about to say, yes, all those people who are earning over 150,

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000 a year who were going to vote Labor will no longer vote Labor.

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That's going to be a big blow, isn't it?

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I think they were at the tennis the other night, Joe.

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Did you see that?

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In the speeches, they sort of mentioned the dignitaries who were there, and

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when Albanese's name was mentioned.

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Pretty heavy booing.

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Okay.

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Now, you could say that it's a tradition for Australians to boo

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their political leaders when they're mentioned at sporting events.

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If I was Prime Minister or Premier of a state, you know, Premier of a state

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or Prime Minister of the country, I would beg the announcers, please

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don't mention I'm here, because I know I'd be, I'd come in for a booing no

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matter how good a job I was doing.

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Anyway, um, yeah, what did they say in the Australian, um, uh, this is

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from the article, Albanese's move is not only a sneaky preach of faith,

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but also cynical repudiation of the fundamental reform Intention of the

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tax changes which were designed to eliminate the anti aspirational and

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productivity dulling effect of bracket creep that pushed more and more

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taxpayers into higher tax brackets and provided lazy money for governments.

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What, what did they say about John Howard and the GST then?

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'cause I, I, I thought he had gone to the election promising there wasn't

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gonna be GST that was different Joe.

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Okay.

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Yeah.

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But you see, Joe, you know, there were people on 150, 200, 250 who

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just weren't going to work anymore.

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Oh, of course, yes.

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They were just going to clock off early because of, uh, well, they will now.

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Yeah.

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You know, had those tax, stage 3 tax cuts been allowed, they would

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have been head down and bum up.

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Nose to the grindstone.

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And the productivity of the country would have Sword.

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Yes.

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Now it's not going to happen.

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No.

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Because, uh, people on the 150k plus are, are vital cogs in the economy.

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Forget that six times the number of people are now incentivised to the ex God's sake.

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So yeah, a bad day for aspiration, according to the Australian.

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And uh, the Herald Sun, Albo's War on Aspiration, the Western

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Australian, Stages of Denial.

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Basically had um, Elbow's Face and a whole lot of quotes from the

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past where he said he's promised to keep the stage through tax cuts.

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Landon wants to know if he can clock off if he's owning over 200, 000.

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Well, you've been disincentivised, haven't you, Landon?

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Obviously.

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Yeah, you will probably just clock off and go, I'm not going to work anymore.

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Buses are taken, so much in tax, there's just no point.

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And the Daily Telegraph described, uh, had a picture of Albanese with,

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he's now a liar, L I A R, liability.

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So there we go.

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I mean, at least a few positive words in some of them, and just exactly what

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you'd expect from the others, and, uh, But, it's gonna be really hard

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for, uh, the Coalition to, to mount an argument going to the next election.

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Oh yes, we'll 3 tax cuts.

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Mm, yeah.

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I just can't believe it took so long, Joe!

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And that they went into election.

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And that Albanese was the last one in Caucus wanting to do this.

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It just doesn't all go well for the future with this mob.

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Hopeless.

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Ah, here we go.

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Um, Israel, Palestine, Gaza, EMA.

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That's, that's good Yiddish there, Joe.

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Yes.

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Yeah.

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Um, so what did we have?

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We had South Africa applying to the International Court of Justice,

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seeking a declaration of it was what the, what Israel was doing was

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genocide of the Palestinian people and the International Court of Justice

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refused to implement the most crucial demand, um, which was for a ceasefire.

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Um, instead.

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The ICJ, International Court of Justice, ordered Israel to take six provisional

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measures to prevent acts of genocide, measures that would be very difficult,

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if not impossible, to fulfil if Israel continues its saturation bombing of Gaza.

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So, they didn't call for a ceasefire, but they said that Israel had to

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do a number of things which you essentially couldn't comply with.

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Unless you pretty much did a ceasefire.

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So, translated into the vernacular, the court is saying Israel must feed and

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provide medical care for the victims, cease public statements advocating

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genocide, preserve evidence of genocide, and, importantly, stop killing

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Palestinian civilians, and come back in a month's time and report about how

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well you've complied with these things.

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So, uh, if one of the requirements is to stop killing Palestinian civilians,

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then that would really mean you've just got to stop bombing this place.

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Otherwise, how could you comply with that, um, requirement?

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So Oh, it's easy.

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Yes.

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They're all future soldiers, or possible soldiers, therefore they're not

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civilians, therefore you can kill them.

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You should be working for the Israeli government, Joe.

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Yeah.

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So, what did Prime Minister Netanyahu say about the International Court of Justice?

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He said, the decision of the anti Semitic court in The Hague

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proves what was already known.

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This court does not seek justice, but rather the persecution of Jewish people.

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And National Security Minister Ben Cavier said about the court, They

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were silent during the Holocaust and today they continue the hypocrisy

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and take it another step further.

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That's really playing.

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I've heard of people playing the race card before, Joe.

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That's, that's really playing it there.

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Yeah, it's true, they were silent during the Holocaust.

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And why's that, Joe?

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Because they weren't founded until 1946.

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Yeah, I've got here 1945, following the Nazi Holocaust, and the first case

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was submitted to the court in 1947.

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So yeah, given they weren't founded, it's pretty hard for them to do anything.

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I guess he's right, they were silent.

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You're dead right.

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Ah, rulings by the International Court of Justice are binding.

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However, the court has limited ability to enforce such measures.

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Enforcement relies on the UN Security Council to uphold judgement.

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And guess what?

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It's got permanent members who are able to exercise veto powers.

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I can think of one that might exercise veto powers.

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Ah, The Hague is anti semitic according to Israel.

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Um,

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yeah.

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Oh, and Ben Givir also tweeted, Hague schmague, immediately

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after the ruling was issued.

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Which will probably go down in history as one of the most Israeli, as the

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most Israeli tweet of all time.

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So they don't give a shit what the International Court of Justice says,

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because they take the view that the court is a bunch of anti Semitic

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people who didn't help during the Holocaust and are not helping now.

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Um, in the show notes, you get a copy of an article by Caitlin Johnston,

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basically saying that Gaza is exposing Western Liberals for the frauds they are.

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And everything that mainstream Liberals claim to oppose is on full

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display in Israel's actions in Gaza.

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Racism, fascism, tyranny, injustice, genocide.

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Yet they must necessarily avoid throwing themselves into opposing

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these things there at all costs.

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Because it would mean acknowledging that their own political allegiances are

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inseparably Interwoven with them, um,

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I'll just get one more paragraph, it would mean turning against Biden

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during an election year, it would mean admitting that their entire political

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posture against Trump all these years has been a phony performance because

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they're tacitly endorsing All those things they claim to hate about him.

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It would mean admitting their entire world view is a lie, and all their

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critics to the left have been correct.

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So, people on the left, who claim to be on the left, who are endorsing

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Israel's position, according to Caitlin Johnson, are exposed as hypocrites.

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Joe?

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Do they really think that Trump would be any different, though?

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To, uh, no.

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About Israel?

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No.

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I mean, American politicians are over the barrel when it comes to

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Israel and have been for many years.

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Yes.

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Yes.

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And they supported the creation of Israel.

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They provided all the troops and the equipment against the British because

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it was a British mandate in Palestine.

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Yeah.

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So it was, it was the Israelis with American equipment

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fighting against the British.

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Hmm.

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I don't think they think, um, I don't think the argument is that

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Trump would be any different.

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It's just that you claim to hate Trump because of A, B, C, D and E, horrible

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things, and if you go and look at Israel and what it's doing in Gaza, you can

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see A, B, C, D, E, horrible things, yet you're not condemning them as you would

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condemn Trump, I think is the argument.

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Looking for consistency, complaining about the hypocrisy.

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Joe, I had never heard of, until the last couple of days, the UNRWA.

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You ever heard of this group?

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The United Nations Right Wing Arseholes?

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The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees.

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Had you heard of it before?

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Heard of UNHCR, but that's the only one I'm aware of.

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Did you read about any of this in the mainstream press at all?

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No.

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Again from Caitlin Johnston, and I've read it in other articles.

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The US and eight of its allies have suspended funding to the UNRWA, which is

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the primary humanitarian agency in Gaza.

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And the reason is, following Israeli allegations that a dozen employees

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of the 30, 000 that actually work for the UNRWA, so a dozen of the

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30, 000, according to Israel.

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were involved in October 7th attacks by Hamas.

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And for that reason, the US and a bunch of countries, including

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Australia, have decided we're not going to give this primary humanitarian

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agency in Gaza any more money.

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I find that incredible, Joe.

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Yeah, I mean, I can understand them demanding strongly that there's an

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investigation into why a humanitarian agency is helping commit terror attacks.

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And the UN has agreed to do that.

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Right.

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Then I think that's about as far as you can go.

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To just then go, oh, of the 30, 000 employees, 12 of them were Hamas,

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because Israel says they were.

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I mean, even if it's true, well, big deal if 12 and big deal if Some

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of the aid has been siphoned off to Hamas or something in a way where

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it's not going where it's meant to go.

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But if most of it gets there, that's good enough for me.

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You just can't, I mean, Joe, could you imagine being in Gaza

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as one of these poor Palestinians?

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Like, it'd be hell on earth at the moment.

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And, and the primary group providing humanitarian assistance just loses

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its funding from eight Western countries because Israel says.

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A dozen employees are part of Hamas.

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Everyone goes, Oh, gotta stop the money flow now, sort this out.

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Unbelievable.

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I find it incredible.

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Including Australia.

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Well, I mean, did you honestly think Australia was going

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to do anything different?

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No.

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That's the sad part now.

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Just a lapdog to the US in all of this sort of stuff.

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Pathetic.

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Ah.

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Israel says they came across the information.

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Um, after interrogating militants who were arrested on October 7th, so, uh,

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read torture for that, I would think, Joe.

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So Enhanced interrogation.

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Yes.

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As Caitlin Johnston says, to recap, accusations of genocide deemed credible

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by the International Court of Justice, and the West says preposterous lies not

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worth opposing a single massacre over.

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And then we have unsubstantiated claims about a dozen staff, which, uh, the claims

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are extracted via torture, and apparently that's the gospel truth, and worthy of

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ending humanitarian support for Garsons.

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That's where we're at.

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Ah, that's where we're at.

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Incredible.

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Um, there is an Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network.

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They have slammed Australia's decision.

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And, New Zealand hasn't frozen aid yet.

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They're gonna wait for the UN investigation.

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And, um,

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yeah, this Palestinian group says that the UNRWA is the main service on the ground.

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Wow.

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I find that one incredible.

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Yemen, Joe.

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Here's, uh, let me just bring up a little clip from a lady who was interviewed

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on some sort of British, um, maybe it was Sky in Britain, I think, um, and

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I think this lady's a filmmaker, I don't think she's got any particular

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high powered role anyway, and anyway, I just like the straight talking of this.

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I don't I don't see much straight talking like this whenever I used to watch the 7.

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30 report or things like that.

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People being brutally honest.

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So whether you sort of agree or disagree.

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about the Yemenis.

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I just, I like the straight talking plain English of this woman.

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Here we go, have a listen to this.

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Dr Francois, I mean, there are many who are saying that, frankly, the

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Biden administration should have acted sooner and faster, that hundreds of

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billions of dollars has been put at risk because the Houthis have held

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this area in the Red Sea at ransom.

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Sorry, so just let me get this straight, Yalda.

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So we are bombing the poorest, one of the poorest countries in the world.

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That has been under a humanitarian blockade.

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There has been famine.

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These people have been decimated.

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And we are bombing them because a couple of guys in dinghies in support

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for the Palestinians who are having a genocide committed against them.

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They're objecting to that and we're bombing them?

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Come on now.

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I mean, this is just an insane world for us to even think.

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I'm so sorry your Amazon packages are delayed.

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I really am.

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Like, I wish mine came one time.

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But, you know, genocide, guys.

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Genocide.

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There are two mothers a day dying in Gaza right now.

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It's 109 days into a conflict in which a humanitarian crisis has been

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declared to the world day in, day out.

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By the way, Dr.

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Francois, there are many who are Yemen Watchers who monitor and follow

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the Houthis who say This is doing wonders for their branding, actually,

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that it isn't just the Palestinian cause that they're focused on.

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So call a ceasefire now, and end the positive branding.

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If you want to stop the Houthis doing what they're doing, then

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call a ceasefire right now.

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Do you genuinely believe that the Houthis would stop doing what they're doing?

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They have literally said that that's why they're doing what they're doing.

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They have not previously blocked those routes for any

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other reason except this one.

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So yes, I do.

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And I also think the West needs to start to understand You cannot just go

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around playing cowboys in the world.

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There are consequences to your actions.

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You cannot just go around bombing people's countries, ignoring international

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law, and expect no repercussions.

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For every cause, there is a consequence.

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And just because you don't like a couple of guys trying to resist I mean, these are

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now prescribed terrorists, the Houthis.

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Well, also according to the Yemeni people.

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Yeah, which is a Saudi backed government, which is essentially our government.

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But the Yemenis who live, uh, you know, under Houthi rule talk

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about the fact that This group continues to terrorize them as well.

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I'm no fan of the Houthis, apart from when they're blockading in

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favor of a ceasefire which should have been called a long time ago.

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Bill, brother, I'm just going to bring you into the conversation.

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We started the whole conversation an hour ago about how you can't

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afford housing and you're a generation and so on and so forth.

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These people are creating A total trade, um, blockade, um, which is

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causing inflation, which is causing all sorts of problems to everybody.

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When 35, 000 people are dead in Gaza right now, there are over 60, 000 people injured

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with no access to food, water, aid.

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How dare we have a conversation about trade?

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When there are children right now being treated without anaesthetic, Well,

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there are things that require us to make some sacrifices, at least, I mean,

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they do have the global economy, global markets, hostage, good for them, Bill

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Browder, good for them, cease fire now.

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Thoughts, Joe?

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Uh, apparently everything is excusable if, um, uh, it's in a good cause.

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I think you pick a fight with an international trade route, no

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matter your excuse, because it wasn't just Israeli shipping that

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they've been attacking, they've been targeting anything and everything.

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Is that the case?

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Is that the case?

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Well, certainly it's enough to have scared the people using that shipping channel.

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Um, Maersk, which is a Danish shipping company that actually

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is us owned for some reason.

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Mm-Hmm.

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, um, have been targeted.

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Well now because the US and the UK have bomb bombed the Houthis.

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They're now saying they were, they were, they were targeted even before then.

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Well, no, because, because they've bombed the Houthis, the Houthis have said,

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okay, it's not just Israeli connections.

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Now, if you've got a US or UK connection, you're up for grabs.

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And so just cycle back to.

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Prior to the bombing and whether the Houthis were, um, uh, attacking ships

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that did not have an Israeli connection.

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It's actually really hard to tell, um, whether they were getting it right or not.

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It's really hard to know, um, a whole bunch of stuff related to it.

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I was listening to your mate Perun.

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Oh yeah?

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Did you listen to him on this issue?

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Uh, yes, a couple of weeks ago, I think I fell asleep, though,

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because He wasn't very, yeah, he wasn't very convincing about it.

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I think, uh So, I think, because John put me onto it, and, and

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I found him very unconvincing.

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And, anyway, it's really hard to tell.

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Where the truth lies on what any of these things, you know, whether the Houthis

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pretty good in only attacking Israeli ships or Israeli connected ships or

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ships that we're going to deliver stuff to Israel or deliver stuff from Israel.

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Really hard to tell.

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And then even things like, well, what do the Houthis on the ground want?

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Are they happy with this government or not?

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Who knows?

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Who knows?

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Like, that commentator or that lady on the Sky News says, oh, the

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local people think the Houthis are terrorists and don't like them.

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Like, who knows if that's the case?

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Well, look, it's the Saudi Arabia Iran proxy war, isn't it?

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So the Houthis are, on the one hand, freedom fighters.

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For the Iranians, yes.

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One man's freedom fighter is another man's terrorist.

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And who knows where the truth lies?

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We just don't know.

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So, very difficult to, to say with any conviction, those sorts of things, but

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anyway, I like the straight talking of that lady, so, um, Landon says, Trevor,

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this is why we need submarines, so, so we could ship, um, our Amazon products

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through the Suez in a submarine.

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I was wondering where the, uh, submarines were coming from.

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Okay, that makes, that makes more sense.

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Yeah, so, um, good point, Landon.

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Good point.

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Hadn't thought of that.

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Yeah, and that's why we need really big submarines.

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Maybe they're so big, they won't be able to submerge properly in the canal, or

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Talking of international shipping, I sent some packages from the UK back home,

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um, at Surface Mail, and they came in, I think, two and a half, three weeks.

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Pretty good.

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Yeah, I was shocked.

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I was expecting months.

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Mm hmm.

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They did look like they'd been played football with.

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Uh, 28 bucks for two kilos.

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Okay, coming all the way.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, that's all right.

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So yes, I don't know if they came through the Suez Canal though.

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Mmm, don't know either.

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So, what a lot of them are doing and making it clear that they're Chinese

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ships and Chinese owned and and then they're getting through Okay,

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so yeah Is the PLAN there or not?

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I don't know.

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I think there's certainly been murmurs from China that there would

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be a naval presence if required.

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But China would, in the, to stop the Houthis?

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Yeah.

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If, if Chinese ships are getting attacked, I think Chinese Navy would intervene.

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I think a lot of ships are going out of their way to say that they're Chinese

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because they know that that's a good move, and that they'll be let alone.

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Yeah.

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Ah, so anyway, um Maybe the Houthis need their cheap tat.

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Uh, what else can I say about that?

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Um, yeah, I mean, the U.

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S.

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sets up blockades everywhere, all over the planet, and that's all perfectly fine.

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Just a bunch of Yemenis try and do it, and all hell breaks loose.

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Just inconsistent, hypocritical.

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I've never seen the U.

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S.

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shut down a major trade route.

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Well, the trade route to Cuba and to Venezuela and And they

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confiscated an Iranian ship, so, you know, selectively, for people who

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resist, they will, they will block.

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To a single country, I understand, yes.

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Yeah, well it's the trade route to Venezuela, they'll block, so.

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Yeah, but it wasn't the Panama Canal.

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No.

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Ah.

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You know, but they didn't have any UN authorisation to do it, it was just,

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we're going to stop ships going and doing business in this area without

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any international authorisation, other than the international

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rules based order, rather than international law, yeah, so, um.

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Goddamn communists.

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Yeah.

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Um, New Zealand sent military personnel to target the Houthis.

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They've got a bit of a new conservative government there.

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Would not happen, would not have happened under Jacinda Ardern, I don't think, Joe.

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Could you imagine New Zealand sending, like we did, sort of, a

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few guys to tap away at computers, um, assisting the US and the UK

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with their bombing of the Houthis?

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I don't think she would have done it, but the new New Zealand government has.

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So, um, here we go.

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According to the New Zealand Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon, who

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said, A decision to send military personality of the Red Sea to help

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bomb Yemen reflects New Zealand's values and a desire to protect the

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rules based international order.

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There we go.

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That's New Zealand.

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Finding allies, Joe, is not as easy as it used to be.

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So, let me just see if I've got it on this, um, on this chart here.

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Hopefully I do.

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Yes.

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Put this one up on the screen.

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For those playing along at home, so in the Gulf War, um, the Americans were able to,

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uh, rustle up a coalition of 38 countries.

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The Afghanistan War, a coalition of 42 countries.

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The Iraq War, 48 countries.

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Syrian war, um, 13 countries, and the Yemen war, we're down to 9 countries.

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So, just interesting that it's getting more difficult to rustle

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up allies for these things.

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And some of the participation by these countries, fairly minimal.

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Like, I think our participation is half a dozen guys tapping away

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on computers, um, ordering coffees and lunches for everybody, perhaps.

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So It's critical intelligence.

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Yes.

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Um, and what else we got here?

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Well, you see the Gulf War was the coalition of the drilling, wasn't it?

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Yes, that's right.

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Yeah, there was a chance to get some oil.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Um, yeah.

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So really only the US and Britain are actively involved in

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the military strikes on Yemen.

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So everyone else is pretty low key in their assistance.

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So, so there we go.

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That's a roundup of.

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Um, Gaza, Israel, Palestine, Yemen, Stage 3 tax cuts, and the disappearance

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soon of Scott Morrison from the scene, Joe, let's make a prediction,

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how will How will we hear of Scott Morrison again in a few years time?

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How will he pop up, do you reckon?

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I reckon he's going to be caught in some gentleman's lavatory.

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Right, with his pants down.

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Yes, exactly, with a Ramp Boy.

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Right.

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Having bought some meth.

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Right, some sort of I mean, isn't that, isn't that the way that evangelicals go?

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It could be, um, yeah.

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You know, they wouldn't give him any serious role to do, it would

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just be, it would just be payback.

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It would just be a sign to future politicians.

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I think he's going to grease the wheel, isn't he?

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He's, he's gonna set up meetings with his former colleagues and Yeah, I guess

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he's gotta wait for a conservative government to come into power.

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And then we'll hear about Scott Morrison, the lobbyist, having organised meetings.

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But without that, he's got no hope of being, doing anything of the sort.

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So, um, uh When I was in London last week, I went round the Palace of Westminster,

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which was an interesting tour.

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Why was that?

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Walking around the Houses of Parliament.

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Okay, yes.

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Any connection to Scott Morrison there or anything, no?

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No, just the corridors of power.

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See where it all happens.

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Yes.

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Which is interesting, because you actually get to walk through literally the House

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of Commons and the House of Lords.

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Yes.

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Right.

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Yeah.

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Walked, walked through, well, just past the open door, look in.

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No, no, no.

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Walked physically inside.

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They ask you not to sit down on the benches.

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Right.

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You get to walk past the, uh, dispatch box and the, the table

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where they all stand and talk.

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It's remarkably small, isn't it?

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It is.

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Basically, there's only seats for about half of the number of MPs.

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Um, so if there's a big vote coming, they all crowd in various places.

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Yes.

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Um, but they're not allowed to give a speech unless they're

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physically sitting down.

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Right.

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So, yeah, it was quite interesting.

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Yeah.

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Can they all fit, even if they're standing then?

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Uh, I don't know.

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I mean, there's the upper galleries as well above the main house.

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Right.

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And so they get a few hundred more up there.

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Yeah, very good.

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Right, well Joe, uh, our best wishes, our thoughts and prayers go to Scott

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up there in Mackay, tucked away in bed.

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He might have just gone to bed with a bit of, um, lemon tea or

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something like that, battling COVID.

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And, uh, hopefully he'll be fine for next week.

Speaker:

You around next week?

Speaker:

Yeah, should be.

Speaker:

Okay, I am as well.

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Uh, to the people in the chat room, thank you for your comments.

Speaker:

Uh, Watley only just arrived, late again.

Speaker:

Well, Watley, you'll just have to watch the replay.

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And, um, Joe, I'm gonna go watch now that, uh, new ABC series.

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Which is looking at, um, basically the Turnbull Morrison governments.

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And they've interviewed a whole bunch of the players, Barnaby Joyce and Tony Abbott

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and Christopher Pyne and all these people.

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And talking about, um, the whole shitshow that it was.

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And I think a few of them are motivated to, to, to bag various players,

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so That could be an interesting exposé of What a bunch of horrible

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munchkins we had around the joint.

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I'm fairly sure there was a Four Corners on, uh, Turnbull coming down.

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Was that Scotty?

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Came off Turnbull?

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Yeah.

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But it was basically about how the right wing had taken over.

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Yeah.

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It's quite an interesting one.

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Yeah.

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So I think ABC has just had something.

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Series has just started.

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So anyway, I'm gonna watch that and, um, thank you in the chat room.

Speaker:

We'll be back next week.

Speaker:

Talk to you then.

Speaker:

Bye for now.

Speaker:

And it's a good night from him.

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