Latest news with #LauraTingle
ABC News
a day ago
- Health
- ABC News
Laura Tingle on who can stop Israel
Sam Hawley: Israel says there's no starvation in Gaza. The pictures tell a very different story and there's now growing condemnation from some of Israel's closest supporters, including Australia. Anthony Albanese says the images of suffering are completely indefensible. Today, Global Affairs Editor Laura Tingle on the mounting pressure and what will really get Benjamin Netanyahu to change course. I'm Sam Hawley on Gadigal land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily. Sam Hawley: Laura, the world is increasingly horrified by what is unfolding in Gaza. Hunger is taking hold, children are dying of starvation. The images are horrifying. Laura Tingle: They're completely horrifying, Sam. I mean, they've been horrifying for a long time and, you know, you just don't think it can get worse and it keeps getting worse. It's just beyond belief. Apart from the fact there's no food or water or sanitation, so much of the Gaza Strip has been bombed to oblivion and to the point where the Israeli government is now just unilaterally clearing out large areas that weren't even bombed, particularly in the south. You just wonder how people are surviving. Sam Hawley: Yeah, and no one's outside the scope of this, you know, doctors, nurses, journalists, aid workers. There's actually not enough food for anyone. Laura Tingle: The reports of doctors feeling dizzy and fainting and aid workers feeling dizzy and fainting because of lack of food. I mean, it just really brings it home just that there is just not enough to eat for, you know, a couple of million people. Sam Hawley: Yeah, there's a story from one of our ABC Middle East correspondents that a member of the team that they're relying on in Gaza, he no longer had enough strength to actually hold up the camera. He's lost 34 kilos. Matthew Doran, ABC Middle East Correspondent: And it's important to point out his story is not isolated. Other members of our team in Gaza have also spoken of their hunger. These are Gazans reporting on Gazans and experiencing what Gazans are being subjected to as the war in the Strip drags on. Sam Hawley: Well, the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu denies that there is starvation in Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel Prime Minister: Israel is presented as though we are applying a campaign of starvation in Gaza. What a bold face lie. There is no policy of starvation in Gaza and there is no starvation in Gaza. Sam Hawley: But Israel has begun airdrops of aid and it has paused military operations between 8am and 10pm in three parts of Gaza to allow aid in. But is that enough, Laura? What are people saying? Laura Tingle: Well, I think that the aid agencies in particular who are the best people to judge this because they're on the ground are saying, no, it's not enough. Because people are desperate, it becomes even harder because, you know, you do these airdrops and often you just, we saw the last time this happened that sort of ended up just being more chaotic than normal aid. And the agencies say it's not sufficient. And of course, a lot of this problem has been exacerbated by the arrangements that have been in place since March with this US-Israeli operation, which has ended up seeing people being killed while they've been lined up for food and water. It's just beyond belief. Sam Hawley: So, Laura, given what the world is now bearing witness to in Gaza, it's not surprising that many people are asking the question, why isn't more being done to end this suffering? So let's unpack what nations, including Australia, are doing and saying. Initially, of course, when the humanitarian crisis began to grow in Gaza, Australia and others were in lockstep with Israel, weren't they? Laura Tingle: Well, I don't know that they were in lockstep with Israel about the humanitarian crisis. I think because the start of this obviously was the Hamas atrocities on October 7, for some period of time there was this view that what's happening is terrible, but of course what happened on October 7 was terrible. And they were very reluctant to sort of take a moral position, if you like, because the original events had been so horrendous. Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister: Israel has a right to defend itself and it will be doing so. This is an attack on Israel by Hamas that has no precedent for what is occurring here. Laura Tingle: Now, you know, they were horrendous, but you've now had over 50,000 people killed in Gaza. Most of them are not Hamas activists. Certainly the children aren't, the women and children aren't. And the pressure and the position of Israel and its support from the United States as a Western ally, I think has really made it very hard for Western governments to actually say, wait a minute, the way Israel is now performing, it's a different place to the one that has been a traditional ally. But I think also there's this general view that you can't go full steam against Israel because, you know, there's this sort of sneaking suspicion that it won't actually make any difference so that all you can do is gradually ramp up the pressure because the Israelis keep ramping up the pressure. We've seen some concessions to the international pressure in the last few days, but it's only, it has that feeling of doing something to just look like it's got an excuse for continuing its actions. And I think this is the crucial and difficult dilemma for other countries that clearly Israel doesn't care what other people say about it now. It believes or its government believes, let's be clear about that, the Netanyahu government does not care what other states say about it. Sam Hawley: All right, well, the Israelis might not be listening, but the international condemnation is growing. We've seen that with our own Prime Minister. His language really started to change in May. Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister: Well, Israel's actions are completely unacceptable. It is outrageous that there'd be a blockade of food and supplies to people who are in need in Gaza. Sam Hawley: You then interviewed him, of course, after his visit to China recently. He went further then. And then again on the weekend on the Insiders program, really strong language from Anthony Albanese. So just tell me about that progression and why you think it's happened. Laura Tingle: Well, of course, there are domestic pressures as well, sort of from local communities about this, not just communities with ties into Gaza, but more broadly, people, as you say, are horrified about what they're seeing. In the government's mind, I think, and in government's minds, they are responding to individual step ups in what the Israelis have been doing. Now, the sort of cutting off of aid started in March and the government has been responding to particular steps along the way. And what really struck me when I interviewed the PM in China at the end of his trip was that you'd say to him, look, the Israel we thought we knew has changed, hasn't it? And he'd say, oh, well, no, it's still this country that blah, blah, blah. And you'd say, but people are now starving. And he'd said, well, we've taken these actions and we've got these sanctions against ministers, but they are all linked to former escalations of Israeli activity. And I had to press him a bit to say, look, we now have people starving. What is your response to that? And it was in response to that that he said that what was happening was completely indefensible. Laura Tingle: With respect, things have escalated. We're now seeing Palestinians regularly killed while waiting for food and water. Do we need to start changing our view of what's happening in Israel? Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister: Well, that is completely indefensible. And we've called that out each and every time that that has occurred. Laura Tingle: Now, as you say, on insiders, he's now stepped that up even further. Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister: Well, quite clearly, it is a breach of international law to stop food being delivered, which was the decision that Israel made in March. David Speers, Insiders host: So it's breached international law? Anthony Albanese, Prime Minister: Well, I'm not a lawyer. Those things will play out their course. But I tell you what it's a breach of. It's a breach of decent humanity and of morality. And everyone can see that. Laura Tingle: But clearly, Australia wants to have this position of being part of an international condemnation. It doesn't want to be standing out at the front of that. I think the prime minister has been quite clear about that. He's always said, look, we act in lockstep with other countries. And I think that's partly because they think that that's going to be more influential. But I think things have got so desperate in Gaza now and the images are so desperate. It's taken a very long time for the government to just go, wait a minute, the way Israel is behaving now is something above and beyond anything we've experienced. They still do, I think, want to keep some options open to them so that they can escalate the language and the actions further. Sam Hawley: And there has been, of course, more debate over the use of the term genocide and what that actually means. But Australia and others are certainly not labelling it genocide at this point, are they? Laura Tingle: No. And I think this has become one of those things where it's very tied up in the legal definition of genocide because there is now this action as well in the International Court of Justice about genocide. And there are these very legalistic terms. You've basically got to, genocide has got to be about wiping out an entire race. And so there's this sort of semantic argument going on about genocidal intent and all these sorts of things. And of course, there's also the whole overlay of the history of the creation of the state of Israel and the connections with the genocide of the Second World War against the Jews, which has made people very reluctant to use the term. And I think some people have argued that it's Israel sort of regards it in what happened in the Second World War as something above and beyond anything else that could happen. So they react really furiously if anybody dares to use the term genocide against them, no matter what they might be doing. Sam Hawley: Laura, France and its President Emmanuel Macron has announced it will recognise Palestinian statehood. Anthony Albanese and the Foreign Minister Penny Wong say they won't do that yet. How significant is that debate, do you think, going on internationally? Laura Tingle: Well, the Prime Minister and Penny Wong argue that there's a whole range of reasons why you don't do it at the moment, which is because essentially, you know, what is the state of Palestine? You don't want Hamas being the governing authority. There are deep flaws in the Palestinian Authority, which means that the question of who actually would be running a state of Palestine are very complex and difficult and cause problems all of their own. So that's their argument. But it's been an incredibly powerful symbol for Emmanuel Macron as the first leader of a major Western country to do it because it shows the sorts of arguments that are going to become the next step along the way, if you like, about what's going to happen. It also, it's a warning shot to Israel, I suppose, at a time when they are actually levelling large parts of Gaza, that you know, you can't just keep taking the rest of the world for granted in the way you've annexed the West Bank, or you're effectively annexing Gaza. I mean, all the language around these things has become so complex. I mean, when is annexing something, annexing it or not officially annexing it when you're forcibly moving people regularly from one place to another? There's sort of something a little bit sick about the sort of semantic arguments, if you like, as opposed to what's actually happening on the ground. Sam Hawley: All right, well, Laura, international condemnation of Israel's actions in Gaza is clearly increasing, but ultimately, more aid is still needed and a ceasefire is crucial. So what can nations like Australia actually do to make that happen? Or really, does it all just rest again with Donald Trump? Laura Tingle: I fear that it largely does because he has got that capacity to pressure Israel. Now, as with everything else, he's been incredibly erratic about this. He's talked about, you know, starvation in Gaza at various times, but he's also talked in recent days about how they've got to basically get rid of Hamas. Donald Trump, US President: Hamas didn't really want to make a deal. I think they want to die. And it's very, very bad. And it got to be to a point where you're going to have to finish the job. Laura Tingle: And, you know, he swings from day to day, but certainly doesn't seem to have any clear resolve to get that involved in this dispute. If there's any pattern we can see out of the way he behaves in terms of his interventions in the Israel-Iran conflict, he likes to have a short, sharp impact and get out again. And how you have a short, sharp impact in something as intractable as Israel and the Palestinians, it's not clear that there is one. So, you know, you can't be at all optimistic that this can be a viable option. Sam Hawley: Laura Tingle to the ABC's Global Affairs Editor. This episode was produced by Sydney Pead. Audio production by Sam Dunn. Our supervising producer is David Coady. I'm Sam Hawley. Thanks for listening.
Sky News AU
4 days ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Sarah Ferguson refuses to 'accept' Barnaby Joyce's net zero claim as she dominates interview with ex Nationals leader, as the AFR gets the White Australia policy badly wrong
Read Gerard Henderson's Media Watch Dog column every Saturday morning on THE LATEST Here's how Laura Tingle, the ABC's recently-appointed Global Affairs Editor appeared on ABC TV News on Thursday 17 July. La Tingle appears to be standing in front of a photo of Gaza but there is no indication of her location. Could it be the ABC HQ in Sydney's inner-city Ultimo. You be the judge. And here's what the Global Affairs editor declared: Laura Tingle: Man made, mass starvation is considered a crime against humanity. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus: The large proportion of the population of Gaza is starving. I don't know what you would call it, other than mass starvation, and it's man made. Laura Tingle: The World Health Organisation says the man-made cause is the aid blockade imposed by Israel. Episodes of man-made mass starvation are more normally associated with war torn Africa or the actions of totalitarian regimes. In Gaza, the death toll from malnutrition so far stands at 111 according to the Hamas run health ministry, still only a tiny part of the 59,000 Palestinians that it says have been killed. Note that Laura Tingle did not distinguish between the combatants and civilians among the Hamas claim of 59,000 Palestinians that the Hamas-run health ministry says have been killed. Did anyone notice this piece in today's Financial Review Rear Window column under the heading 'Latham's Lemmings still prominent in Labor'? The Labor caucus spent the early part of its week talking about Mark Latham. Or to put it another way: after two months off work and a stonking electoral mandate, Anthony Albanese's team couldn't find anything better to do than talk about themselves. Are they being serious? They resolved to condemn the seedy revelations and allegations involving their former federal leader by adding a small plaque next to his portrait in their caucus room. 'In 2017 Mark Latham was expelled from the Australian Labor Party and banned for life,' the plaque is reported to read. 'His actions do not accord with Labor values and fail to meet the standards we expect and demand.' As an expression of triteness it is total. They could have left the portrait up, saying nothing (and upsetting some people), or simply removed it (angering others). But they came up with a special third thing for what? Their own feelings? It's the equivalent of Disney putting a sensitivity warning before Aladdin to insist the cartoon portrayals of Arabs are out-of-date with modern standards. And the architect of the racist White Australia policy, Arthur Calwell, has his mug up a few frames down from Latham. Where's his plaque? To be fair to former Labor leader Arthur Calwell [Why bother? - MWD Editor], the White Australia Policy came into effect with the passing of the Immigration Restriction Act 1901. Calwell was born in 1896. He was not the architect of White Australia. CAN YOU BEAR IT? First up, some GOOD NEWS. As anticipated in Media Watch Dog last week, Annabel ('I love reporting The Lobster Wars') Crabb has replaced Laura Tingle as ABC Radio National's Late Night Live commentator on Australian national politics. How is this good news? – MWD hears avid readers cry. Well, Comrade Crabb is likely to provide great copy for Ellie's (male) co-owner. As she did last week with her (frightfully interesting) account of The Lobster Wars. As avid readers know, Late Night Live (aka Late Night Left) is an example of the taxpayer funded public broadcaster's lack of viewpoint diversity. After all, the left-of-centre Annabel Crabb reports on Australian national politics, the left-of-centre Bruce Shapiro reports on United States politics, the left-of-centre Ian Dunt reports on British politics and the left-of-centre David Marr is LNL's presenter. Not a conservative among this lot. But MWD digresses. On Monday July 21, among other topics, the decision of the Labor Party caucus to leave Mark Latham's photo on its collection of Labor Party leaders from John Watson to Bill Shorten on the Caucus wall. Anthony Albanese's pic will go up when he is no longer Labor Party leader. Mark Latham's pic will have the following message attached to it: In 2017 Mark Latham was expelled from the Australian Labor Party and banned for life. His actions do not accord with Labor values and failed to meet the standards we expect and demand. Correct MWD if it is wrong. However, Hendo seems to recall that Mark Latham was expelled from the Labor Party in 2017 because he joined the Liberal Democratic Party – and not for bad behaviour. In which case, it is odd that the portrait of Billy Hughes is still on the Caucus wall without a message – since he was expelled from the Labor Party in 1916 for supporting conscription and joined National Labor which later became the Nationalist Party. Ever since, Billy Hughes has been regarded as a 'Labor rat'- he even features in the essay titled 'Rats' by the late John Iremonger in the edition collection by John Faulkner and Stuart Macintyre titled True Believers (Allen & Unwin, 2001). The matter was discussed on Late Night Live where the following exchange took place: Annabel Crabb: His [Latham's] photograph is up in the Caucus room. And today it was resolved that they wouldn't tear it down, they would instead – David Marr: But surely, surely a sensible decision. I mean, it should be there as a warning. Annabel Crabb: Well, I think it would have been a strange thing to turn it around or take it down. Or, you know, replace it with a hand-drawn facsimile. They've decided to add a contextualising note – David Marr: [Laughs] Oh no, saying what? Annabel Crabb: Saying that "this man was the leader of our party, and we've now established that he no longer resembles or personifies anything that we like, but we can't deny history" - it was something like that. Anyway, Mark Latham, then, I think, as is his wont, responded via the X app and said, "Oh, why don't they just go the full Stalin and then white me out with a trace around my head". It's hard to deny history, isn't it? David Marr: It is, and it's and it's hard not to applaud the Australian people who took a look at him and decided, 'no'. Annabel Crabb: Okay, well, look, it's interesting, because the 2004 election campaign, as you remember, you know, there was in the year or two preceding a real, like, a significant expectation that Mark Latham and the Labor Party would overpower John Howard at that election. And I think you know, John Howard was pretty nervous about that too… How about that? Here is Comrade Marr praising the good people of Australia for voting for the Coalition and John Howard over Mark Latham and Labor in October 2004. However, does anyone believe that Comrade Marr said 'No' to Latham and voted for a return of the Howard government in 2004? And, in case the answer is no – here's another question: Can You Bear It? Photographer Mike Bowers, who presents ABC TV Insiders' 'Talking Pictures' segment on Sundays, recently moved from the left-wing Guardian Australia online newspaper to the left-wing New Daily online newspaper. As is befitting for someone who is on the payroll of the ABC Soviet. Which, as the name suggests, is a Conservative Free Zone. On Sunday 20 July, Comrade Bowers ended his 'Talking Pictures' segment with writer Melina Wicks by discussing the Federal Court's recent decision about whether Australia owes a duty of care to Torres Strait Islanders with respect to global-warming and all that. Your man Bowers focused on three cartoons by: The Guardian Australia's Fiona Katauskas All three cartoonists – plus Comrade Bowers and Comrade Wicks – accept the view that Australia, which produces one per cent of global emissions, can determine sea levels around the Torres Strait Islands. How ignorant can cartoonists and those who comment on them get? Moreover, Can You Bear It? On 7.30 this week Sarah Ferguson interviewed Nationals backbencher Barnaby Joyce. He wanted to talk about net zero emissions by 2050. She wanted to talk about the Nationals leadership. Ferguson took up 40 per cent of the interview time and interrupted Joyce no fewer than 20 occasions. Here's how the interview ended: Barnaby Joyce: To the lady who can't afford her power, to the farmer who has been decimated with a massive intrusion, an almost socialist intrusion, with areas with helicopters and planes and security guards going to places, with the people in small businesses who say I just can't afford to do this anymore, it's idiotic. And for the fact that this will have no effect on the climate whatsoever. What is the point of that [Net Zero 2050] folly? Sarah Ferguson: Barnaby Joyce, not accepting your point about folly, but moving on. Thank you very much indeed. Barnaby Joyce: Absolute pleasure, Sarah. Sarah Ferguson: I want to change the tone very slightly here because we are used to politicians appearing to be thick skinned. The execution of power demands it and I should say this is not a reflection on Barnaby Joyce. I wanted to change the tone because tonight we'll see a slightly different side of Education Minister Jason Clare… How about that? First, who cares whether Ferguson accepts Joyce's comments that net zero is a folly. Second, Ferguson appears to blame Joyce for the fact that she interrupted him. Can You Bear It? THE MONTHLY CLAIMS THAT NOBODY LIKES RICHARD MARLES BUT THEN NAMES ONE OF HIS 'OLD MATES' The print edition of The Monthly (publisher Morry Schwartz, chief executive and editor-in-chief Erik Jensen, editor Michael Williams) arrived with a bang on Ellie's kennel on the morning of 24 July. The magazine is so very inner-city Collingwood, in a Melbourne sort of way. It is written of the inner-city left, by the inner-city left and for the inner-city left (to distort an Abraham Lincoln comment). The cover of the August 2025 issue is red print on a darkish blue background – which makes it difficult to read close up and impossible from a distance. On close analysis it declares, ' The Monthly: 20 years of Australia's best magazine'. What does this mean? – Media Watch Dog hears readers cry. Who knows? Inside there are posed photos of two occasional contributors. The following comment is attributed to Sean Kelly: 'You know every issue what you're going to get, and at the same time every issue surprises you'. Clever, eh? But what does that mean? Next page there is a pic of Sarah Krasnostein who declares, '…a space for us to look at something with fresh eyes'. But how is this consistent with Comrade Kelly's claim that you know in every issue what you're going to get since no one needs fresh eyes for such a task? Who knows? Who cares? Returning to the cover, the almost unreadable cover story heading 'Nobody likes Richard Marles (so how did he get so powerful?) by Martin McKenzie-Murray'. Inside, the cover story occupies ten pages of photos and script. The Hyphenated-Name Guy concluded his latest rant against No-Friends-Marles with a reference to his 'old mate Bill'. That is, former Labor Party leader Bill Shorten. Hang on a minute. How can a man 'nobody likes' have an 'old mate'? Over to you Comrades Jensen and Williams. Meanwhile, Can You Bear It? [Good point that you mentioned the Hyphenated Name Set (to borrow Paul Keating's term). Once upon a time they were the preserve of the wealthy Protestant Establishment who belonged to the Melbourne Club. Now, hyphenated names are replete among the inner-city left and rife within the Greens (e.g. Max Chandler-Mather) and Climate 200 financed Teals (e.g. Simon Holmes à Court). – MWD Editor.] There was enormous interest in last week's Media Watch Dog which mentioned comments linking Jillian Segal, the Special Envoy on Anti-Semitism, with the fact that her husband was a director of a company that gave $50,000 to the Advance organisation. They were made, respectively, by Olivia Ireland in the Sydney Morning Herald and Sarah Ferguson on ABC TV's 7.30. MWD commented that, in 2025, it was surprising to find left-of-centre types implying that somehow women are responsible for the actions of their husbands. How surprising to find, then, that La Trobe University Emeritus Professor Robert Manne ran the very same line in his essay 'The wrong way to respond to anti-semitism'. It was published in the 18 July 2025 issue of Inside Story . Here's what he had to say: As we have recently discovered because of the investigative journalism of the independent online media platform, the Klaxon , the man to whom Jillian Segal is married is the partner with his brother of a trust that in 2023 and 2024 donated $50,000 to 'Advance', the most significant mainstream far right movement in Australia, that led the campaign against the indigenous Voice to Parliament and that has described Prime Minister Albanese as 'weak, woke and broke'. Taking cover behind political correctness, Segal has claimed she had nothing to do with her husband's political activities or he with hers, and that it was outrageous to suggest otherwise…. How about that? The oh so intellectually fashionable Robert Manne of La Trobe University has accused Ms Segal of 'taking cover behind political correctness' to justify his attempt to discredit Ms Segal by implying that she is not independent of her husband. Can You Bear It? [No. Not really. But it is very nasty – as befits Manne's style. MWD readers should check out Gerard Henderson's review of Robert Manne's A Political Memoir which is published in the current issue of The Sydney Institute Review Online . – MWD Editor.] AN ABC UPDATE IT'S OFF TO NANCY'S COURTESY CLASSES FOR DAVID MARR FAVE IAN DUNT Here's a reminder to the ABC's new management. MWD is looking at you Kim Williams (chairman) and you Hugh Marks (managing director and editor-in-chief). The late Nancy (2002-2017) may have died [perhaps you should write 'passed' MWD Editor]. But her Courtesy Classes live on. With the help of the American psychic John Edward who can communicate with RIP types who are on the Other Side (so to speak). Media Watch Dog's proposal is that the British journalist Ian Dunt (who has a regular slot on David Marr's Late Night Live program on Radio National every second Tuesday) should get some courtesy training from Nancy via your man Edward. As avid readers know, Late Night Live (aka Late Night Left) only has left-of-centre regular commentators. Comrade Annabel Crabb on Australia, Comrade Bruce Shapiro on the United States and Comrade Ian Dunt on Britain. On Wednesday 23 July, your man Dunt ran predictable left-wing lines on Israel/Gaza, climate change and unlawful immigration. Or something like that. However, he missed the big story of the week – namely Britain's mishandling of Afghans who apparently supported British forces in Afghanistan and sought refuge in Britain. But MWD digresses, yet again. Let's go to the transcript to examine how Comrade Dunt references the Brits whom he does not like. According to The I Paper columnist, Dunt, Suella Braverman (the former Conservative Home Secretary) is a 'sort of walking psychological breakdown'. columnist, Dunt, Suella Braverman (the former Conservative Home Secretary) is a 'sort of walking psychological breakdown'. According to your man Dunt, Kemi Badenoch is 'the leader of the Conservative Party, at least for the next 24 hours'. According to Comrade Dunt, former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson was a 'dreadful reactionary nightmare'. This is not political analysis. It's just political abuse. Ian Dunt – off to Nancy's Courtesy Classes for you. OUTSIDE INSIDERS As avid readers are well aware, a certain William (Bill) Thompson – a Melburnian who identifies as the ABC's Southbank Correspondent – set up the 'Outside Insiders ' video segment some years ago. This is a print edition of the Bill Thompson initiative to report on the ABC TV Insiders program from the outside. Insiders fled Melbourne for the (media) safety of the Canberra Bubble in 2020 and, consequently, was now loosed from the troublesome Mr Thompson. IN WHICH KATRINA CURTIS LOOKS DOWN ON FOX NEWS & DAVID SPEERS ACCUSES THOSE WITH WHOM HE DISAGREES AS DISCRIMINATING It's Media Watch Dog's melancholy duty to record that Mark ('Please call me professor') Kenny was not on ABC TV's Insiders last Sunday. Comrade Kenny is a MWD fave on account of the fact that he provides such great copy. The previous issue of MWD drew attention to the learned professor's howler about the composition of the Reserve Bank's Monetary Policy Board. And then this was his live-to-air somersault as to whether he favours a one-state solution for Israel (entailing the demise of Israel as we know it) or a two-state solution (in which Israel would exist alongside a Palestinian State). Comrade Kenny, after a 10-minute assessment, ended up with a two-state solution. Well done, professor. However, even without the Kenny contribution, there were some Insiders highlights on Sunday 20 July. Let's go to the transcripts. Katrina Curtis ( The West Australian's Canberra bureau chief) said this about Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth: 'He's not a policy guy; he's a Fox News Weekend host'. Somewhat snobbish, don't you think? After all, Hegseth is a Princeton University graduate who has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. His awards include the Bronze Star Medal. Hegseth is also the author of five books – which in MWD's count, is five more than Comrade Curtis' output. Moreover, Fox News hosts are not without talent. Then presenter David ('Please call me Speersy') Speers interviewed the Coalition's Jonno Duniam about what Speersy called 'transgender girls participating in female school sport'. This is a reference to a person born a biological male who transitions to female. This is a controversial issue since persons born male have certain physical advantages as to size and strength due to being born male. The following exchange took place: David Speers: Do you have any problem, as some of your colleagues do, with transgender girls participating in female school sport? Jonno Duniam: Well, of course, we need to have an adult debate about these things. It's not one that's been raised with me since the election. David Speers: What's your view? Jonno Duniam: But in terms of transgender girls, I honestly believe that girl sports should be for girls, boy sports for boys, and if you have a mixed grouping, then that's something you can arrange by competition or in a school arrangement. David Speers: What does that mean for transgender kids? Jonno Duniam: Well then, if transgender kids are part of a school environment where they are offering sports, then that would be up to that individual school. I know that there are certain schools, even in my own home state of Tasmania, that make provision for transgender children, and that's a matter for them. David Speers: So, each school should be able to discriminate. Jonno Duniam: Each school should be able to set up arrangements, I think, that suit their school community. So, there you have it. According to David Speers, any school or parent/grandparent or female-born girls playing sport are into discrimination if, for reasons of physical safety and competitive fairness, they believe that only female-born sports people should participate in female team sports. That's somewhat judgmental. Even for a presenter at the taxpayer-funded public broadcaster which is a Conservative Free Zone. One does not have to be into discrimination to oppose transgender girls/women participating against individuals who are born female. Even if you work at the ABC. THE ABC/AUSTRALIA INSTITUTE ENTENTE As Media Watch Dog readers know, this blog has been monitoring the ABC/Guardian Axis and the ABC/Australia Institute Entente. That is, the ready access that journalists from the left-wing The Guardian Australia and political operatives from the avowedly leftist Australia Institute (which is based in the Canberra Bubble) get on the ABC. Meanwhile, political operatives from the conservative Institute of Public Affairs in Melbourne, Robert Menzies Institute in Melbourne and the Menzies Centre in Sydney have been de-platformed by the taxpayer funded public broadcaster. [Don't you mean censored? MWD Editor.] AMY REMEIKIS' CRYSTAL BALL FAILS TO FORESEE THE OUTCOME OF THE TASMANIAN ELECTION There was enormous interest in this segment in the previous MWD . The focus was on Emma Shortis – the director of The Australia Institute's International and Security Affairs Program. Dr Shortis (for a doctor she is) is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow at RMIT University, where she is presented as 'a historian who focuses on US and global environmental politics'. In view of this, it is surprising that – as pointed out in last week's issue – a historian of the United States believes that 'the war in Vietnam…was a war that the United States started'. What a load of absolute tosh. The Vietnam War began in 1954 when communist North Vietnam commenced its aim to conquer non-communist South Vietnam. The US sent combat forces to South Vietnam in early 1965 – over a decade later. [Pardon me for a minute. Perhaps there is a typo involved here. Could Comrade Shortis hold the position of 'A Junk Professor' at RMIT University? Just a thought. – MWD Editor.] But MWD digresses. An avid reader has reminded Ellie's (male) co-owner that he had overlooked Amy Remeikis' recent appearance doing its 'Newspapers' segment on ABC TV's News Breakfast . The date was Thursday 17 July – it saw the ABC-Australia Institute entente in action once again. As readers may recall, Comrade Remeikis is a MWD fave. When she was a wage-slave at The Guardian Australia (editor Lenore Taylor), Ellie's (male) co-owner ran a campaign for her to receive a wage increase from the socialist online newspaper which is known to pay low salaries to its toilers. But, alas, without success. In the event, Ms Remeikis decamped from the socialist Guardian Australia to The Australia Institute (also socialist) where she is the leftist hang out's chief political analyst. Hendo hopes that, in this capacity, Comrade Remeikis will soon appear again on the ABC TV's Insiders' panel. Her last gig was documented in MWD on 28 March 2025. As to her News Breakfast appearance on 17 July, The Australia Institute's political analyst was asked about (i) declining birthrates in Australia, (ii) Prime Minister Albanese's visit to China, and (iii) the Tasmanian leaders' debate in the lead-up to last Saturday's Tasmanian state election. Let's go to the transcript for the final comment: Amy Remeikis: …I think also just when you've got leaders who are on the same side of things like the salmon industry and what's happening with energy and even the [proposed Australian Football League] stadium – things start to look a little bit the same. So I think that Tasmania might throw up a few surprises in its results. It seems that Comrade Remeikis' crystal ball needs cleaning. It is unclear what the final outcome of the Tasmanian election will be. But there were no real surprises. The vote in July 2025 was much the same as the last Tasmanian state election in March 2024. That's the problem with predictions – as the saying goes, it's unwise to make them about the future. LEADING MEDIA QUESTIONS OF THE WEEK – STEP FORWARD SALLY SARA Due to enormous popular demand, MWD has decided, once again, to give out the occasional award for Leading Media Question of the Week. And the winner is Sally Sara. On Radio National Breakfast on Tuesday 22 July, Sally Sara – who has returned from her holiday which journalists like to call a W.E.B. or Well Earned Break – asked this question of Finance Minister Katy Gallagher: Sally Sara: Does the government believe that genocide is now unfolding in Gaza? Katy Gallagher : Well, again, our position is that we want to see, you know, seeing innocent lives that are being lost stop. We want the conflict to end. We want aid to get through. We want the international effort to be on ending this conflict. And when I talk to Australian people, that is what they're concerned about. They're concerned about the immediate situation in the Middle East, and they want that to change. Soon after, Ms Sara asked much the same question to Professor Michael Lynk, former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Palestinian Territories, and Associate Professor in Law at Western University in London, Ontario. Sally Sara: Does the government believe that genocide is now unfolding in Gaza? Michael Lynk: I do Enough said. A HUGH WHITE MOMENT (WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM ALLAN BEHM) As avid Media Watch Dog readers know, The (Boring) Saturday Paper is just, so, well, boring. But not so boring as eavesdropping on a 'conversation' between Hugh White and Allan Behm at The Australian Institute. The occasion was an event recorded by ABC Radio National's Big Ideas program which went to air for 52 minutes on 30 June 2025. [Strange that – it seemed like 252 minutes – MWD Editor] Allan Behm is senior adviser, International and Strategic, The Australia Institute and Hugh White is Emeritus Professor of Strategic Studies at the ANU. He is also the author of the recently published Quarterly Essay 'Hard New World: Our Post American Future' published by Morry Schwartz's Black Inc, editor-in-chief Eric Jensen. As MWD recalls, your man White has written as many Quarterly Essays as there are quarters – maybe more. And he essentially writes about the same topic, i.e. the rise of China and the decline of the United States. You have to admire Comrade White. He keeps banging on about the same topic – in spite of the fact that he is no Nostradamus. In that White prophesies are invariably of the false kind. As documented in MWD of 6 June 2025, your man White is consistent – as in consistently wrong. In March 2005, he said that 'we may face … a naval battle this year … between the US and Chinese navies'. Then he predicted a US/Japan v China war in 2013. Then he predicted war in our region in late 2014/early 2015. And so on. But even as a False Prophet, your man White can still draw a crowd at the leftist Australia Institute in Canberra – especially when in conversation with Comrade Behm. By the way, the occasion was presented on the taxpayer funded public broadcaster by Natasha Mitchell. It all started off with Behm declaring that White's latest Quarterly Essay was 'fantastic' and a 'really wonderful book'. Soon after, White declared that it was 'absolutely astonishing that Donald Trump should have not once, but twice ascended to the presidency of the United States'. White soon referred to the United States president as 'this bloke'. Behm then declared that he had attended the Defence Minister's speech at the Australian Defence Conference but 'didn't understand it'. Then White referred to President Trump as 'this guy'. Then Behm referred to 'Morgenthau' – but did not say who he was. And then White commenced an all but incomprehensible coverage of the world. There was reference to the 'European hegemon' (whatever that might be) as well as to 'global hegemony'. Then White threw the switch to an 'etymological analogy' (whatever that might be) and declared that he was 'bullish on China'. A hold-the-front-page occasion if ever there was one. Then Behm threw the switch to flattery declaring: 'I love your poetry Hugh – the caterpillar turning into a butterfly – Europe could just as equally be called a maggot into a blowfly.' Groan. Then there was, yet, more. Your man Behm had this to say: Allan Behm: I want to, Hugh, first of all, congratulate you for mentioning Graham Allison in your book without mentioning Thucydides. That's a very difficult thing to do, and congratulations. I admire it enormously. It took me a little while, about 15 years ago, to retranslate Thucydides for Graham Allison, and he's never acknowledged my email. See there are disappointments for people who work in the Department of Defence, I can tell you that. Hugh, I want to go a little bit further to some really creative wordsmithing that is right bang in the middle of your essay. What was he on about? Or, perhaps, the better question is 'What was he on?' There was another reference to Thucydides and J F. Kennedy and Sir James Plimsoll and hegemonic challenge and the Nietzschean anaesthetic. Then White concluded by saying that Australia should 'not go to war with Taiwan'. Good advice perhaps – but some Australians might prefer a punch-up with China than listening to the verbal sludge of Comrade White. Verily a Hugh White moment (with a little help from Allan Behm). DOCUMENTATION AN UPDATE ON SARAH FERGUSON'S 'STORY OF THE CENTURY' In June 2018 Sarah Ferguson presented a three-part Four Corners report titled Trump/Russia. At the beginning of the first episode, Ferguson described the alleged Trump-Russia connection as the 'story of the century'. So important was this story that it necessitated Ms Ferguson flying around the world (at the taxpayers' expense), travelling to New York, London and even Moscow. The star of the program was one James Clapper, former President Obama's appointee as Director of National Intelligence. Clapper breathlessly informed the ABC audience that the alleged conspiracy by Russia to throw the 2016 election to President Trump made the Watergate controversy, which brought down President Nixon, pale by comparison. The Four Corners 'story of the century' has not aged well. In March 2019, special counsel Robert Mueller submitted his much-anticipated Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election. When the report was released in April 2019 it was greeted by dismay from Trump-haters, who were shocked to learn that Mueller concluded there was no proof of conspiracy or coordination between the Trump campaign and Russia. As MWD helpfully pointed out at the time, the ABC could have saved a bunch of (taxpayer) money if they had only waited for the Mueller report. It has also since been revealed that in 2017 James Clapper told the House Intelligence Committee that he had never seen any direct evidence of a conspiracy between the Trump campaign and Russia. This evidence was given under oath, unlike his later interview with Sarah Ferguson where Clapper said the opposite. The allegations of a Trump-Russia conspiracy in 2016 have returned to the news in recent days, though not in the way that Sarah Ferguson or James Clapper might have hoped. Tulsi Gabbard, who now sits in Clapper's old job as Director of National Intelligence, has alleged The White House under former President Barack Obama directed US intelligence services to manufacture evidence of Russian interference in the 2016 election. Gabbard's office has released intelligence assessments and internal emails from the final months of the Obama presidency. She claims that these documents show the Obama administration put pressure on intelligence services to reach the conclusion that President Trump's campaign had received help from Russia. Gabbard and President Trump have gone so far as to accuse former President Obama of treason, and Trump posted an AI-created video of Obama being arrested and imprisoned. Former President Obama's office dismissed the allegations as 'outrageous' and 'bizarre'. Don't hold your breath waiting for the ABC to cover this new scandal as the very latest 'story of the century'. Ferguson, who was rewarded for her flawed Four Corners reporting with the coveted job of 7.30 presenter, is unlikely to fly around the world seeking proof of Barack Obama's alleged treason. And Tulsi Gabbard is not going to receive a multi-week opportunity to push her claims on the Australian taxpayer-funded public broadcaster like her predecessor James Clapper. [For a more in-depth analysis of Four Corners' Trump/Russia story see the 'An ABC Update' section of MWD Issue 454 – MWD Editor] HISTORY CORNER A BOLT FROM THE PAST – IN WHICH AN ESTONIAN AUSTRALIAN WOMAN SAID THAT PRIME MINISTER GOUGH WHITLAM CALLED HER 'A BLOODY NAZI BITCH' Thanks to the avid Potts Point reader who drew Media Watch Dog's attention to a post on X by Yuan Zi Zhu concerning the one-time Labor prime minister Gough Whitlam. As avid MWD readers are certain to know, on 1 August 1974 the Whitlam government recognised de jure the incorporation of the Baltic States – Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – into the Soviet Union. Sir James Plimsoll was Australia's ambassador to the Soviet Union at the time. In 1940, the Baltic States were invaded by the Soviet Union – under the leadership of communist totalitarian dictator Josef Stalin – as part of Stalin's deal with Adolf Hitler in September 1939. This is referred to as the Nazi-Soviet Pact or the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact. Under the pact, Nazi Germany invaded Poland from the west and the Soviet Union invaded Poland from the east and also acquired the Baltic States. Around this time, some Balts sought refuge in Australia. On 22 November 1974, Prime Minister Whitlam addressed a Queensland State election rally at Brisbane's King George Square. This is how the Sydney Morning Herald reported the occasion: Brisbane, Friday - A woman stood before 2,000 people in King George Square yesterday and accused the Prime Minister of calling her 'a bloody Nazi bitch'. The woman, Estonian-born Mrs Tina Taemets of Brisbane had a front seat at Mr Whitlam's rally and held aloft a placard denouncing Australia's recognition of Soviet sovereignty over the Baltic States. When someone pulled it down and ripped it, she picked up the placard, mounted the platform and handed it to Whitlam saying, 'With the compliments of the Baltic nations.' Accepting the placard, Mr Whitlam said something quietly to her. Ms Taemets turned to the crowd and called: 'Do you know what he called me? He called me a bloody Nazi bitch.' A Labor Party official took her down the steps and pushed her back into the crowd. Members of Mr Whitlam's party on the platform were unable to hear what he had said. But they expressed confidence that he had not used the words quoted by Mrs Taemets. Mr Whitlam would not comment. The Age carried a story by John Jost on the same incident on 23 November 1974. He reported that Gough Whitlam had denied in Townsville that he used the words 'bloody Nazi bitch' to Mrs Tina Taemets. Jost reported Whitlam as saying, 'I never speak to ladies like that; the poor lady was a little hysterical'. Just a hysterical poor lady, you see. However, Mr Whitlam did not make the 'bloody Nazi bitch' denial immediately in Brisbane – it came several hours later in Townsville. It would seem that Gough Whitlam had a thing about anti-communist Balts. As former Whitlam cabinet member Clyde Cameron wrote in his book China, Communism and Coca-Cola, Whitlam told Foreign Minister Don Willesee in Cameron's presence in April 1975 that he was 'not having hundreds of f-cking Vietnamese Balts coming into this country with their religious and political hatreds against us!'. So, clearly circa late 1974 Whitlam did not like anti-communists like Mrs Taemets. MWD has been sent this photo of Mr Whitlam's encounter with Mrs Taemets at Brisbane's King George Square on 22 November 1974. Please advise if you – avid readers – are aware in what newspaper this photo was published. [Interesting. As I recall, Malcolm Fraser's government abandoned Australia's de jure recognition of the Soviet Union's incorporation of the Baltic States soon after becoming prime minister in late 1975. – MWD Editor.] **** Until Next Time. ****
Daily Mail
12-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Laura Tingle's replacement on 7.30 officially announced as surprise pick is slated to take the coveted gig
The man set to replace Laura Tingle on ABC's current affairs program 7.30 has been officially announced. ABC political correspondent Jacob Greber will step into the coveted role of political correspondent, after rumours swirled for weeks that the journalist was the surprise pick for the gig. The announcement was made by 7.30 host Sarah Ferguson during Thursday night's show. 'I'd like to introduce my next guest, who is not really a guest at all. With an almost 30-year career in journalism covering politics, economics, and world affairs – all the things that we want,' Ferguson said. 'He's been a foreign correspondent as well and got a start working as a copy boy in the Canberra Press Gallery. You can't beat that.' From A-list scandals and red carpet mishaps to exclusive pictures and viral moments, subscribe to the DailyMail's new showbiz newsletter to stay in the loop. Greber, who joined the ABC less than a year ago amid a lauded career in journalism, will step into the role from July 7. 'It's an incredible time to join 7.30 with Sarah Ferguson and the team. Our audience rightly demands clarity and insight about the people who govern us and the challenges we face as a nation,' Greber said. 'I also salute Laura Tingle – an absolute class act and fearless force of nature. I'm humbled and thrilled to pick up where she's left off.' Greber will fill the gap left when Tingle announced earlier this month she would replace John Lyons as the broadcaster's outgoing global affairs editor. Earlier rumblings suggested the role might have gone to any number of Canberra bureau insiders including chief David Lipson, national affairs editor Melissa Clark and Insiders host David Speers. Q+A host Patricia Karvelas and ABC Radio Melbourne host Raf Epstein ruled themselves out of the running when contacted by the Herald. Tingle, a double Walkley-Award-winning political journalist, will start new position mid-year while Lyons packs up to become the ABC's Americas editor. Among the nation's best respected political journalists with more than 40 years experience including six years in her latest post, Tingle leaves big shoes to fill. 'The job was advertised, and I applied for it,' Tingle told The Australian last week. 'It's the best job in journalism, I reckon, other than the one I have already got.' A fellow Financial Review alum, Tingle will spend the next two years travelling the world reporting on events 'that also shape our nation'. Despite publicly advertising its shift away from television towards digital, the flagship promise of former managing director David Anderson's five-year-plan, 7.30 remains the jewel in the broadcaster's crown. Presented by former Four Corners host Sarah Ferguson, the program boasted an average nightly viewership of 756,000 in the 2023-24 financial year according to ABC's annual reporting. A dip from Covid-era highs of the three previous fiscal years, the program nonetheless retained its popularity, despite fears of a fallout following the 2022 departure of the inaugural presenter Leigh Sales. Despite being lesser known than Karvelas or Speers, Greber would bring decades of broadcast and print experience and some cachet as a reliable face on News Breakfast, Insiders, Afternoon Briefing, Weekend Breakfast and, of course, 7.30. The more front-facing role brings with it a greater possibility for controversy of the brand Tingle has found herself mired in in recent years. Last year, she was accused of dropping the veil of journalistic impartiality when she accused then Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of stoking racism by raising immigration caps as a possible salve for the housing crisis. She said Mr Dutton's rhetoric had sent a 'terrible chill running through me' before, at the same Sydney Writers Festival event, describing Australia as 'a racist country'. ABC news director Justin Stevens later said Tingle's comments, albeit not made in a work capacity, had prompted the broadcaster to remind her of the 'application' of her 'conversational' rhetoric to 'external events'. Before Tingle's six-year stint on 7.30, the coveted role was something of a hot potato having passed through the hands of four presenters in the six years between 2012 and 2018. She replaced Andrew Probyn who was more recently made redundant as the broadcaster's political editor in 2023. Internal ABC documents reportedly said the move was part of a calculated efforts to reform the Canberra bureau's 'outdated, top-heavy structure still largely focused on linear television broadcast'. Greber's appointment to the newly-minted role of chief digital political correspondent was widely considered a de facto planting of the flag in the broadcaster's 'digital-first' strategy.
Sky News AU
12-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Jacob Greber to replace Laura Tingle as political editor on 7.30
ABC's flagship current affairs program 7.30 has announced the replacement for star political reporter Laura Tingle, who has become the national broadcaster's global affairs editor. Jacob Greber, who joined the ABC as chief digital poetical correspondent from The Australian Financial Review less than a year ago, will take on the high-profile role from July 7. The announcement was made by 7.30 host Sarah Ferguson, describing it as a 'very special moment'. ' With an almost 30-year career in journalism covering politics, economics and world affairs – all the things that we want – he's been a foreign correspondent as well, and got his start working as a copyboy in the Canberra Press Gallery,' she said. 'You can't beat that. Jacob, a very big, warm welcome aboard.' Greber's almost 30-year career spanned the globe, first working in Brisbane at the Courier-Mail covering state politics, before moving to Switzerland to cover the country's global banks and the European economy for the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation, and later Bloomberg News in Zurich. Of the appointment, Greber said he was excited to step into the role, adding the population 'demands clarity and insight' about the current political landscape. 'It's an incredible time to join 7.30 with Sarah Ferguson and the team,' he said in a statement from the ABC. 'Our audience rightly demands clarity and insight about the people who govern us and the challenges we face as a nation.' Tingle, who had been with 7.30 since February 2018, announced she would take up the role as global affairs editor last month. She is set to begin her role later this year, and will replace John Lyons, who was announced as the ABC Americas editor in February. Greber wished her the best in her new role. 'I also salute Laura Tingle,' he said. 'An absolute class act and fearless force of nature. I'm humbled and thrilled to pick up where she's left off.' Originally published as Jacob Greber to replace Laura Tingle as political editor on 7.30
ABC News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Jacob Greber announced as 7.30's new political editor
Jacob Greber has been announced as 7.30's new political editor. With an almost 30 year career in journalism covering politics, economics and world affairs, he's been a foreign correspondent and got his start working as a copy boy in the Canberra Press Gallery. He takes over the role from Laura Tingle, who departed 7.30 last month to take up the role of ABC's Global Affairs Editor.
