The Chaser Report - Let The Leadership Spills Begin!

Episode Date: May 11, 2025

War is breaking out amongst all the parties as members fight over positions in the new government. As a change of pace, Charles and Dom go into minute details on the behind the scenes behaviours of Liberal and Labor MPs. ---Follow us on Instagram: @chaserwarSpam Dom's socials: @dom_knightSend Charles voicemails: @charlesfirthEmail us: [e-mail] our caviar addiction: https://chaser.com.au/support/ Send complaints to: [e-mail] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Chaser Report is recorded on Gadigal Land. Striving for mediocrity in a world of excellence, this is The Chaser Report. Hello and welcome to The Chaser Report with Dom and Charles. Charles, we take just, what, a couple of days off the podcast. We didn't do one for Friday. Just basically one day we posted the shot. And in that time, Charles, two enormous seismic conflicts breakout. And I don't know which is bigger and more terrifying for.

the wider world, India and Pakistan, fighting over Kashmir. There have been missile attacks on military bases in both countries. Yes, and were still cricket games cancelled. Yeah, the IPL has been suspended indefinitely. Donald Trump appeared to have actually managed to do something on the world stage. There was a ceasefire broken by the Trump administration, which has not held since. But nevertheless, he'd actually, unlike Ukraine or Israel, Gaza, he'd made some progress, and then it was undone.

So there's that, on the one hand, very genuinely concerning. Yes. And then on the other hand, Labour infighting, Charles. I mean, what, the biggest result in what, 100 years for the ALP, an absolute moment of triumph. Yes. And seconds into the second Albanese term. Yes.

Massive infighting to the point where Paul Keating has to send an angry letter. Admittedly, I think he enjoys those moments. Yeah. Because some bloke called Richard Marles, who is the deputy prime minister, apparently. Who no one has ever heard of and who has so far done nothing other than agree with whatever the last guy decided on Orcas. Yeah, he's just said, I think we get extra seats in cabinet for Victoria because we've got more seats. So let's work out which conflict is more serious and more devastating for the world after this. Thank you for your patience.

Your call is important. Can't take being on. hold anymore. FIS is 100% online, so you can make the switch in minutes. Mobile plans start at $15 a month. Certain conditions apply. Details at fizz.ca. Okay, it's clearly India, Pakistan, but do you remember after Anthony Almanesey won office? Yeah. We were very quick off the mark. I think our first podcast, the moment that the victory was won, when lots of people were very triumphant, we were like, it's still labor. And this is one of those moments where you kind of go, there is no moments so sweet, so unifying, that Labor

won't manage to have factional bullshit ruining it, which seems to be what's happening here. Well, I think in some ways, Ed Husek only has himself to blame because he is Muslim. And I think maybe the mistake he's making is going around saying, oh, you know, you need to accept me. Whereas if he just converted to whatever Richard Miles wants him to be. I think he wants him to be a member of the Victorian right. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like, Ed Husek wouldn't have those problems.

Well, to be fair, Charles. You know, in fairness, I think, like, sure, Labour will be Labor. But on the other hand, Ed Husek, come on. Well, let's not forget it. It's not just Ed Hussig. It's also Mark Dreyfus. So, as Paul Keating pointed out in that letter, which I do recommend everyone reads, because it's spicy A.F.

He makes the point that not only did the only Muslim minister get dumped, but also the most senior Jewish MP in Mark Dreyfus. They've sort of solved Gaza by just sweeping down to the carpet. Just get rid of both of them. Yeah, that's, on an equal basis, we just dump them both. Equal lack of opportunity. And so, I mean, I'm a bit torn on this, Charles, because on the one hand, it just seems so unseemly,

it just seems so embarrassing for this stuff to go on when essentially Australia voted overwhelmingly for the status quo. Yes. And so to go messing around with different ministries, But then by the same token, this is labour. This is what they do. Ed Hughesick knew what he was getting into, and so did Mark Dreyfus, surely. You've got to understand, Dom, that Anthony Avenesey, who has a lot of power in this circumstance,

would be absolutely licking his lips at this conflict. This is what I wanted to get your labour inside of you on. I just to, we know Charles, I won't say labour royalty, because he's got upset last time, but let's just say you've grown up hearing the insider gossip. And in fact, you know, your. art on election day on my way out of the polling burst she was handing out yeah and she basically said i think we might be in trouble in the ac t with the independent day i hadn't heard that from anybody yes this is about 11 a m on election day yeah and uh meredith bergman's just like boom that's the seat to watch and

and she was right yep no bean is the bean counters are really yeah i don't know what's happening having a hard time there's a few seats still outstanding as we record this by the way so it's uh the size of the margin isn't clear yet but it's obviously very high uh anyway so the whole point One is, so Anthony Albanyes is in the Labor left. Yes. And this is a factional in fight to do with the Labour right. And the way it has been for my entire life, and I think for decades before me as well, the whole way you would decide who gets to be a minister or who gets to be in cabinet,

all that sort of stuff, was decided from a numbers perspective at the faction level. And then the Prime Minister just gets to appoint them into what positions they want. So the factions drew up the list and then the PM chooses the jobs. And so I think that's actually a new rule. I think that was a Rudd rule, wasn't it? That the PM actually gets to choose where people go. I think before that the factions chose where people went. So even getting to go, Richard Moll seems like someone who won't be threatening,

let's make him Deputy Prime Minister. That might have been Albo's call rather than the factions. Yes, it would have been. And Albo's considerations would all be about keeping effectional balance. One thing that was absolutely true, though, was that in the... original Albo cabinet, the New South Wales right was vastly overweight in terms of its numbers. It had three more numbers than it actually deserved at a numerical level. Yeah.

And that is partly because the New South Wales right did do Albo a favour in getting him elected. Yeah, and they had quite a lot of quite experienced people around the table. You sort of Tony, Chris Bowen. Yeah. So that sort of was... Justin Clare. And I think that's probably why a dud like Richard Miles got to be deputy pro. minister in the first place. The deal was, well, you can sort of, you can have that little

big position. Just clarify why you think. So this is the defence minister, which is very unusual job for a deputy PM to get, even in the age of walkers. I once watched him speak at a dinner. And I mean, there was sort of a reasonable presentation of defence policy and so on. But I must say, I don't think I've ever heard his name being mentioned as a potential successor. Is that not a coincidence? No, this is the funniest part of it. Would he say he was a. No, he would definitely say it's success. So this is the hilarious thing. Richard Miles, as soon as you got into the position, right,

I've heard from multiple people who went along to events. There was this very strict edict. They had to be introduced as Deputy Prime Minister Miles, right? Oh, wow. And that is not, like, if you're, like, I've heard it in, you know, like when you're going along as the minister and say you're going along to something about the Australian defence. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You would normally introduce it as he is Richard Miles, you know, the Minister of Vince, Richard Miles, right? Yeah. You might mention that he's deputy prime minister, but it's not like, he's got a strict protocol that follows him around saying you have to address him as Deputy Pro Minister everywhere. He is thrilled with the position. Is that because he likes the vibe in the room when everyone goes, huh? Yeah, yeah. He likes the shock on their face. But the funny thing is, he is the other person who would put up.

And for a long time, everyone who knows the numbers in the LP knows that Richard Miles is the ultimate stalking horse for somebody else because he'll put his hand up. Like as soon as an elbow spill becomes possible, he will put his hand up and bring it on. Might be a while, by the way. He'll get like three votes and then somebody else will come through the minute. So he'll be the Peter Dutton to Scott Morrison.

He'll be absolutely the Peter Dutton to the Scott Morrison because he's got the pretensions, but he doesn't have the number. This is the guy, though. On this case, he does have the numbers because he's being dubbed a factional assassin. Yes, that's right. And so many interesting things about this. Firstly, Richard Miles doing anything consequential.

Making headlines at all is that's a big thing. It's a big thing. That doesn't usually happen. Normally, his position is, yes, what they said about Orcas. That's what we've seen so far. But then also, yeah, just the idea that he has any numbers. And Charles, correct me if I'm wrong, you'll know this. But isn't that the case that this is the first time in a very long time,

that the left have more numbers in raw terms than the right. So the left have actually under the ascendancy. We don't know what the numbers are going to be, but I think the left are actually doing better than... I must say I haven't been paying attention to that, but that would not surprise me. I did hear that. Because they were very close.

And a lot of, and maybe quite a lot of the unwinnable ones went to the left. And a lot of the elbow pinks. There was things like, who's that Tasmanian woman who was the Premier for a while, who's now, or maybe she was the Deputy Premier, but she was an elbow pick.

You're one of the seats in Tasmania. Yeah, one of the seats in Tasmania. I can't remember. I'm sorry. Apologies to Tasmanian listeners. Anyway, well, who cares? Well, Alba. I'm right, gather.

Yes. No seat too small, Charles. Yes. So I think the point is that Albo's attitude would be let them fight it out. This is hilarious. I love watching the right, you know, just fuck themselves. So the point is, he's thinking long term. Like, if he gets himself involved in the,

this conflict now within the right then he suddenly becomes complicit all the way through like he then has to keep intervening whereas he wants the right to sort of have a shit fight I love that I love the notion if this is true that you've returned as prime minister and he all he said all the right things in terms of humility we won't take this for granted folks on the job straight back into it but I'm not going to you know yeah all right so I want to know have you heard any more goss unverified goss, because one of the things we've looked at quite a lot on the podcast in recent years is the fate of Tanya Plibersec, clearly one of the most high profile people in the party, you'd imagine, you know, former deputy leader, I don't know that she insisted on being

introduced as that back in the day when she was shadow education minister, but someone who potentially, you know, has the profile to be a threat to Anthony Albanesee, has been given the environment portfolio and had to approve coal mines. That's been her job for the past three years. There's rumours that she'll leave that gig. Have you heard anything about who might be going where or if there's any, you know, surprises in store before we hear who the cabinet is. Well, I think isn't the point that you've got to work out what will be, what's worse than giving 10-year environment and then making her open a whole of the coal mines, and Albo will put

her in that position. Just remind us what this is all about, because they're both from the Labour left, Charles. Shouldn't they be close allies? At a completely professional level, and I'm only going to talk at the sort of public life level about the animosity of course they structurally have to be enemies

right because they are two inner city lefties right next to each other in seats right next to each other yeah grey a lot of Sydney but they originally actually got on really well

before they were in Parliament right but just based on humanity based on you know yeah humanity and the fact that they were cut from the same cloth oh so there's only one spot for an inner Sydney labour left

well you can't run on a ticket at Albo Tanya because that excludes everyone else in the thing you have all of whom resent inner city Sydney types yeah well no but also just just from a factional level you've got to have a Labor Riding and a Labor Left paired together to be a leadership team on a sex so maybe what needs to happen possibly that's why Bill that's why Bill that's why Tanya had to go with Bill Shorten so it was Bill Shorten Victorian Labor right with Tany Pliber six you know Sydney Labor Left so should not so wouldn't the best thing

Tanya to do, to move to Queensland and join the right? We may be being flippant about this, but we haven't got to what's happening in the coalition, yes. Senator Jacinta Napidupa Price. Yeah. Okay, so, no Goss yet. We'll figure out, we'll go to the other leadership. No, no, but I just invite the listeners to think, what's the worst portfolio?

And then that will be what tenure gets. Isn't it always, isn't it always home affairs? I've got to, well, but I reckon that's too much power. It's got to be humiliating as well. I wonder whether NDIS will be the thing, because that's a complete... I actually heard that being suggested at one point. Yeah, because that's a horrible gig to have. I mean, that really matters in his very consequential level's lives.

Oh, that's a big. And yet the optics. Yeah, the optics, as you would say. Well, because it'll be like... I mean, your job is to cut $10 billion from people who... Well, and that's where he put Bill Shorten last... Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah.

All right, we'll get on to the other leadership contest in a moment. Thank you for your patience. Your call is important. Can't take being on hold anymore? FIS is 100% online, so you can make the switch in minutes. Mobile plans start at $15 a month. Certain conditions apply. Details at FIS.ca.

The Chaser Report. Less news more often. So, I mean, speaking of conflicts, this isn't quite as big as India, Pakistan or the labour in fighting. But what's happened in the coalition is, really fascinating. So Senator just just into Numberjimpur Price from the Northern Territory

it's kind of a weird thing. I'm sure you know this Charles but just to give context. She's from the country Liberal Party which is an NT only creation, bizarrely enough and it's kind of like the LNP. It's the only coalition group in the

NT. And for some reason they have this weird arrangement whereby if you are a lower house MP from the CLP you caucus with the Liberals or that I wouldn't say caucus, whatever is it? You join the Liberal Party room. If you're a senator, you join the National Party room. Yeah.

But Senator Price has just quit the National Party room and joined the Liberals, which she's entitled to do because she's sort of part of both parties. But not only that, Charles, she is running for deputy of the party. She's part of the room she's just joined a moment ago. Yes. With Angus Taylor. Yes. Which I must say, like the task of appealing to the room might be a little bit challenging.

And wouldn't the nationals get a vote on who the lead? Or maybe not. No, they don't. Not on who gets to be the liberal leader. No, because the deputy opposition leader is always the deputy liberal leader. Well, it's the deputy of the party with the most number of members. Yeah, so always the liberals, for now anyway. For now, yeah.

Yeah. So, I mean, talk about putting a lot of noses out of joint. The nationals are furious. So I wonder whether this is a lot shrewder than you'd expect, right? Which is, my understanding is the numbers between Angus Taylor and Susan Lee are pretty close. right um and you know so susan leys one more vote in the room at the very least she's one more vote in the room and that may actually be enough to tip the balance because remember it's one vote out of what 39 or something like that there's actually not that many votes anyway so i mean

she was such a star of the last parliament with the voice obviously a huge uh um kind of ally of Peter Dutton's which seems not to be hurting her despite the Make Australia Great Again stuff Yeah, yeah And so But there's a, no, there's a genuine belief by the Angus Taylor side of the party

That, you know, the reason they lost Was that they didn't go hard enough On the culture stuff, cultural stuff Well, that's what Gina Reinhart's been telling them And sky after dark Yeah, and I think also If you go, actually, we're going to be out of power For six years realistically,

what do we actually want to do? We want to fundraise a fuck ton of money so that our lives are good and go to good cocktail parties and things of that. What you would do is you'd line yourself up with the Gina Reinhardt's because I was in Perth on the weekend and I was talking to this person who had been

to Gina Reinhardt fundraising party. Guess how many people were at the fundraising party? 5,000? No, it was 15 people. Really? And they just snuck in and they got to go. But really high-powered people. The right 15 people.

It was the right 15 people. And they were all sort of, like, it was libs and a couple of really, really rich people. I presume when you get off the tarmac at Perth, I haven't been there for a while. But there's something in the air, the water, you're just kind of going, gosh, mining does. Mining's fantastic for this country. And also, don't know if I really get stiffed on the GST. We've got to do something about that. Also, coffee should cost $8.

Yeah, look, it is fascinating. Because on any, I would have thought that on any sensible analysis of what just happened last weekend, spending time on getting distracted by culture wars that don't resonate with people's lives, it doesn't seem like the greatest takeaway from the conflict. But it's, I mean, people are always going to say, you know, keep doing the stuff I like doing. So it's not surprising that Sky After Dark has come out as pro-cultural wars. Like, that was inevitable. And I think there's also, like, I've always thought the game with those sort of extremist fringes

of the party. I think their theory of change is that eventually Labor will become so hopeless that it will be unelected. And at that point, if you're in control of the party, no matter how sort of awful your party actually is, you'll end up being elected by default. But wasn't that the Tony Abbott approach? I mean, he was a very effective opposition leader, but he had a lot to run against. I mean, the Rud Gillard chaos stuff was so extensive. So you hold on waiting for the government to just get too old and if you then control the party at that point then you can be as extremist as you like

because you just get in by default. So it's not about, it's not at all about trying to win back the centre at all it's just basically waiting for the government to stuff up so badly that the centre's just repelled through natural attrition. And it might take one more election cycle than you think.

I mean you might have a sort of Paul Keating, Graves, Rickery the Mall or a Scott Morrison. Yeah, but eventually you'll get it. So Albao, by virtue of being super cautious and careful, has not learnt his first doctrine. Abba Abba hasn't gone hard. He's constantly thinking about the centre. He should have, no, no, I'm not saying that's my theory of change. I'm saying that that's what their theory of change is.

And it explains why these sort of far-right, especially Christian, like Victorian Christians are another sort of thing where you're just going, I don't understand how they think that they can be running these. extremist cultural wars in Victoria and ever hope to be elected. And the answer is, well, actually, they probably will end up being elected next time because Labor has been in power for, I don't know, a hundred billion years. They even had a dictator for a while. They're just trying to go.

As good as a holiday. Okay, so that's an interesting idea. So, I mean, Susan Lee, presumably partnering with Dan T, and I'm not sure if that's formal yet. But, yeah, look, I don't know how that's going to go down. both Angus Taylor and Susan Lee incredibly kind of connected to the Dutton period

one of them is treasurer, one of them as deputy so if there's any thought of sort of a new broom with a very different approach to Peter Dutton I suspect that person is not on the ballot at this point so we'll see what happens there what about the Greens because this this is a massive bombshell we haven't talked about this yet Adam Bantz losing the seat of Melbourne

I don't you? I know I didn't did you call it no I didn't just say you called it No, no, but I did on Thursday, I see Adam Bantz in real trouble. Yeah, no. And so I don't know what they did for me. Marine Furuki's been the deputy for a while. You know what they should do? They should draft Ed Husek to the roll.

You think? Well, he might be looking for any. He says he's sticking around. Yeah, he will. He's total labour. Like, he'll end up running the party one day. He's a lovely guy. He's a lovely guy.

He's a young, he's a lovely guy. Being a lovely guy, if that's the case, It's generally not. Yeah, no, you're right. When in Labor did the nice sky ever finish first? But grains, I think it's a pity. What do? I mean, what's the point of the Greens now?

So David Shoebridge, friend of the podcast, has an interesting take, which he says, it's time for the Greens to have a woman leader, which I didn't think they're in that much trouble, but obviously they are. Oh, that's the sort of dire, Christina Kinnelli point, right? Well, there's Marine Farooke. Yeah. So Marine Farooqui, I assume, will become the leader. I mean, who else has a profile?

I mean, there is another woman running. I presume Sarah Hansen Young will be interested in the job. But I don't think that Sarah Hansen Young, remember Sarah and Hansen Young sort of was very prominent when she began. I'm not sure she's had her quiet few years. Yeah, she, I don't think that's her vibe. She's still only 43, my goodness. So let's look at there are a couple of articles around

about the most recent Greens leadership. I haven't even been following. So the ones who are being, so it's Sarah Hansen Young and Marine Farooke are the two, and Larissa Waters' possibility. So if that's the case, yeah, definitely a woman and David Shoebridge is out. And applauded to David Chubridge, he went, it should be a woman, I'm not going to run. Yeah, he did. But wouldn't mind being deputy. So between Waters, Farooqui and Hansen Young, who's got the numbers?

I don't know. The thing is, David Shoebridge probably couldn't do with Marine Farooke because that would be two. New South Wales. So Sarah Hanson Young is now the longest serving Greens member of either House of Parliament. Yeah, right. So if they don't pick her, it'll be pretty damning. I feel like we don't know enough about the Greens. No, and that's okay.

Yeah, I'm just reading out of the article. I wouldn't, the last thing I'd want to do is comment on the Greens and be wrong. So the one thing about Hanson Young that's worth noting is that she's twice run for deputy. She's run, she tried to take on Christine Millen for the job in 2010, and then she wanted to be co-depity in. in 2020 and missed out on that as well. So I think it's possible, Charles, but she's not enormously popular with the other Greens.

Or maybe they're jealous. I don't know. I don't have the insight into the party, but it will be interesting to see how that plays out to some degree. Not huge and consequential, but it's the Greens. Look, the one... They've got the balance of pair in the Senate. So Labor can pass legislation with either the Greens or the Coalition.

That's... Yeah. Odds on they're going to choose the Coalition. The Coalition. Well, I think 90% of legislation is passed on a liberal labor. But isn't the point, I mean, what is the point of the Greens? This is the interesting question. It's should they be attacking Labor?

Should they be, you know, as Bant was doing? And Adam Bant has said that the whole thing. Adam Bant said that the reason why the Greens did badly in this election, at least in terms of the lower house, is because people wanted to vote against Dutton, which I think, you know, what if people didn't want to vote for the Greens? We don't know the answer to that, do we?

Isn't it also, well, isn't it that Labor was getting ahead of the Greens in all the things? So it's actually, they've always held lower house seats with just a few points of luck. You know, and so, yeah, in an election where there's a race to a single party, you know, blah, blah, blah. But this is feeling way too much like a regular podcast now. Yeah, okay, sorry. I think, I mean, the point where we're trying to look at the percent, the point being that the Greens won those seats with a bit of luck. But I think they've got to just stop, you know, worrying about housing.

I think there was a huge mistake to want to do something that will actually work for housing. I think they've just got to put that in their back pocket. Well, the negative gearing. Yeah, especially negative gearing. And all the sort of rental reform. Rental reform and stuff like that. And that's still going on about it. Which hurts mum and dad investors.

Free education and all stuff. Free dental. I mean, what are they doing? Oh, dental and Medicare. I mean, Adam back with the big toothbrush. And they've just got to get back to saving the whales. The people of Australia have very comprehensively told the Greens, we like paying a lot of money for identities.

That's what they've said. Or having private health insurance. Didn't they go, their actual vote in the Senate went up, though? Well, they've done just fine in the Senate. They've done about what they normally do, yeah. So Adam Bann was in the wrong house, in other words. Yeah. Sorry, Adam.

Also, he's been on the podcast too, isn't he? Yeah, yeah, yeah, Adam Bant. Probably easy to get him now than it was last week. We should get Ed Husek while he's being spicy. He's doing interviews with everyone at the moment. Oh, you put the feelers out. Okay, I will. Yeah, it's good.

Thank you for persisting with the podcast at this point. I don't know. I'm not comfortable with this analytical analysis. I think we should, tomorrow, let's talk about something fanciful, like my poisoned chicken shwama or something. Yeah, death cap mushrooms were a very bad idea, Charles. I actually served some mushrooms for dinner tonight. They went down a treat. For now.

For now. All right, this could be the last episode of the podcast. Did you forage them? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, Charles, if that happens, it's been lovely working with you. And if you want to be the next guy to the Chaser report, she's email podcast at chaser.com.com. You know, only one of us will be able to reply.

Yeah, we're part of the Ocona Class Network, and we'll catch you next time. Thank you for your patience. Your call is important. Can't take being on hold anymore? Fizz is 100% online, so you can make the switch in minutes. Mobile plans start at $15 a month. Certain conditions apply. Details at fizz.ca.