Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
Okay. Joining me now for more on this is News Corp Senior Writer, Patrick Carlyon and Institute of Public Affairs Research Fellow Colleen Harkin. Patrick. It\u2019s just as well we\u2019ve got our best and brightest on the job here. I mean, how do you get figures that are almost 50% out?<\/p>\n
Patrick Carlyon:<\/p>\n
Look, it\u2019s very unfortunate. That\u2019s the kindest way of putting it. And the fact we\u2019re still-<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
100% percent out. I need to work on my percentages, 100%.<\/p>\n
Patrick Carlyon:<\/p>\n
Yes. Don\u2019t work at Treasury.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
I think that qualifies a need for a job at Treasury. Invoice coming.<\/p>\n
Patrick Carlyon:<\/p>\n
Look, this is very unfortunate, and the fact that it was made almost three weeks after the budget was delivered, we\u2019re still talking about this stuff. Everybody hates it. And the fact that it actually helps the political spin that Jim Chalmers has been trying to sell very unsuccessfully, I should point out. It\u2019s very unfortunate. I mean, Treasury, it\u2019s got 1,600 people working there. How can you make a blue like this that serves a political sort of agenda at the same time?<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
And Colleen, we talk a lot about how little private sector experience the Albanese government has, particularly in its senior ranks. But how little business experience do the bureaucracy, have the permanent bureaucracy in Canberra who really run the show?<\/p>\n
Colleen Harkin:<\/p>\n
Yeah. Well, in very few of the bureaucrats ever have private enterprise experience. But I mean, this is the most significant and controversial change to a tax package for decades. You would think that you would cross your T\u2019s and dot your I\u2019s before you released it. And the fact that they haven\u2019t and the one number that supports the government\u2019s narrative is the only number that they got wrong, it does ring question bells about how did\u2026<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
So you\u2019re saying it\u2019s not ineptitude, it is deliberate.<\/p>\n
Colleen Harkin:<\/p>\n
Well, it\u2019s definitely a question mark over that. And they didn\u2019t publicly come out and fess up to it. It took a journalist to discover it.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
True.<\/p>\n
Colleen Harkin:<\/p>\n
And this sort of scenario, it just undermines public confidence. The further issue to this budget scenario in this piece of the legislation is that there are nine ministerial determinations, which means that they want to pass the legislation and then decide the details of it later. There is nothing about this that is okay for people to understand about what they\u2019re supposed to be signing up for, how it\u2019s going to work, how they\u2019re going to run their businesses, how they\u2019re going to run their lives. It\u2019s outrageous really.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
That is alarming, because this budget has been wildly unpopular and that\u2019s the detail we are aware of. So what detail are they leaving to ministerial discretion, which they haven\u2019t made clear? I mean, now Treasurer Jim Chalmers has deflected criticism that his crackdown on negative gearing and capital gains tax was contributing to weaker auction results and lower property prices.<\/p>\n
Speaking about the decline of auction clearance rates, Jim Chalmers said, \u201cIf we are making it easier for first home buyers to get a fair crack at auctions, then that\u2019s a good thing.\u201d Patrick, a good thing. That\u2019s something an economically illiterate person would say. The strength of the housing market is critical to Australia\u2019s economy. And for most Australians, most households, their house is their biggest asset. So if that\u2019s declining in value, that\u2019s not a good thing.<\/p>\n
Patrick Carlyon:<\/p>\n
Look, the only reason you want property prices to come down is if there\u2019s more housing supply and there\u2019s nothing in this budget that\u2019s going to stimulate housing supply. You\u2019ve got confusion, you\u2019ve got three interest rates recently. There\u2019s probably going to be more. And you\u2019ve got people thinking, \u201cShould I buy a house? Should I sell a house? Will it be worth 10% less than in 12 months\u2019 time?\u201d I mean, there is so much uncertainty and the budget has brought a lot of that uncertainty.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
Colleen, Morgan Stanley last week said it\u2019s likely we could see a 5% to 10% drop in national prices. And that\u2019s bad news for first home buyers who purchase properties using the Albanese government\u2019s 5% deposit scheme. Their homes, Colleen, could be worth less than what they owe the bank.<\/p>\n
Colleen Harkin:<\/p>\n
Negative equity.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
That is a disaster for first home buyers, for anybody really, but particularly if you\u2019re just starting out to be owing hundreds of thousands of dollars and not even being able to sell that property to pay off your debt being in negative equity.<\/p>\n
Colleen Harkin:<\/p>\n
Yeah. And 66% of Australians own a home. And as you said, most of their equity and their financial security is in that home. And for the treasurer to stand there and fold his arms and say, \u201cIt\u2019s a good thing that all of your hard work and the decades of effort that it\u2019s taken to have that equity in your home, it\u2019s a good thing that it is now decreasing.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is no wonder that people sort of say he doesn\u2019t understand how the economy works and it doesn\u2019t understand what people want and how they\u2019re aspiring to be independent and financially secure. Those poor people who went in on a 5% deposit under the government\u2019s encouraging them to do that. It was never a great idea at the time because the margins are so tight when you\u2019re in that situation. So they\u2019re in the worst situation of having negative equity.<\/p>\n
The other thing that he hasn\u2019t taken into account is when the market is down, people tend not to sell. So it\u2019s not going to free up the real estate that he\u2019s assuming that it will. And the only people who do sell in that time is people who have to, because they\u2019re under pressure and they\u2019re worse off than they were before.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
And again, that\u2019s another disaster. The last thing you want to have is people selling, because they are fearful that the bank is going to take over and that selling due to economic stress is not the sign of a healthy economy.<\/p>\n
Now, the Albanese government has been accused of artificially inflating its defence spending figures to appease the US figures provided to the Australian newspaper following a freedom of information requests show the government is including in its headline defence spending figure, things like $2.8 billion in defined benefit military superannuation entitlements, $10.3 billion in veteran\u2019s welfare payments, $2.1 billion in intelligence agency funding, and $63 million for the defence housing agency. Colleen, a lot of this is essentially welfare payments presented as defence spending.<\/p>\n
Colleen Harkin:<\/p>\n
Yeah. And we\u2019re not in NATO. So they\u2019re using the excuse to say, \u201cThis is how NATO does their budgets,\u201d but we\u2019re not in NATO. And for decades, we have done a comparison of our own budgets compared to our own previous budgets. We\u2019ve always compared ourselves at around 2% and the argument has been that it should increase to 3%. So if they want to play with the figures like that, then let\u2019s have the proper argument, say, let\u2019s just take it to 4%, because welfare has never been included in our previous budgets.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
I can\u2019t imagine the US being terribly pleased with this sort of revelation because I wonder whether they were transparent with our greatest ally about how they were doing their calculations. Well,<\/p>\n
Patrick Carlyon:<\/p>\n
They weren\u2019t transparent with anyone, were they?<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
Yeah, no. Not.<\/p>\n
Patrick Carlyon:<\/p>\n
I mean, somebody called this cooking the books, and that\u2019s what it is. It really is. We\u2019re going to include welfare for veterans. Now, I think most Australians are for welfare for veterans, but it\u2019s not making Australia any safer when it comes to defence, is it? I mean, it really is just cooking the books.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
Yeah, it is. And it\u2019s like, who are you fooling here? We\u2019re fooling voters above everyone else. Now, we spoke yesterday about new polling showing One Nation surging ahead of Labour to be the most popular political party in the country. Well, senior Labour figures don\u2019t think this movement is permanent. One anonymous government sourced all the Australian Financial Review, \u201cPeople now aren\u2019t really voting for One Nation. They\u2019re voting against the system.\u201d<\/p>\n
Colleen, why would they think that sentiment will change? Why are they going to suddenly start loving the system before the next election?<\/p>\n
Colleen Harkin:<\/p>\n
It\u2019s extraordinary that both of the major parties still don\u2019t seem to understand the voter sentiment. They still seem to think that they own the space and that people will come back to them. They don\u2019t understand that what they\u2019ve created is this large sway of people who have had enough for various reasons, and at its absolute best, they\u2019ve created swinging voters. And at its worst, they\u2019ve created people who will never go back to the major parties. So they just don\u2019t seem to still be acknowledging what the issues are, and if they\u2019re ever going to have high relevance again, what they need to do.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
And Patrick, I think the polling that we\u2019ve seen in recent months, it also has a psychological impact, because people who perhaps liked One Nation but thought, \u201cOh, well, they\u2019re 5%, 6%. I\u2019m an outlier if I support them now.\u201d They\u2019re the most popular political party according to the Australian Financial Review zone polling this week. So it really gives people a licence to actually say what they think about this issue.<\/p>\n
Patrick Carlyon:<\/p>\n
Pauline Hanson is legitimate. Now for 29 years, for the past 29 years, she was considered sort of slightly marginal.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
Well, amongst the media and political class, she wasn\u2019t legitimate, but I think probably still isn\u2019t. They probably still see her as an outsider, but the figures aren\u2019t wrong. I mean, you\u2019re just getting poll after poll, and her own personal popularity, Patrick, is well above Angus Taylor and even bigger margin with the prime minister.<\/p>\n
Patrick Carlyon:<\/p>\n
But yet look, you encounter people now who actually say, \u201cI\u2019m going to vote One Nation.\u201d There\u2019s no shame in that anymore. It has been validated as a choice and it\u2019s coming about really quickly. I mean, we\u2019re sort of following what\u2019s happened in England as well, but it is people who have struggled with cost of living who are sick of the system. They\u2019ve tried hard, they\u2019ve worked hard and they\u2019re not getting ahead. And the major parties, as Colleen said, just don\u2019t seem to recognise that sentiment at all and it really has grown really quickly.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
Colleen, it\u2019s incredible. I don\u2019t think enough has been said about the achievement here from Pauline Hanson. A year ago, the party was polling around 6%. It\u2019s now outpolling Labour, which won an election in a landslide 13 months ago. I mean, the turnaround, the political realignment in this country is extraordinary.<\/p>\n
Colleen Harkin:<\/p>\n
I think the critical thing to remember here is that One Nation hasn\u2019t changed. Pauline Hanson has always said the same thing for decades. And that what has happened is that Australia has changed. Australia has become a different place and that all of those things or many of the things that she was warning about for a long time, people thought, \u201cWow, that\u2019s probably either not an issue.\u201d Or, \u201cThat will never happen here.\u201d Or they\u2019re quite dismissive of it. But Australia has changed and changed quite dramatically and most especially since Bondi. And I think people have kind of realised that we do have to stand up for who we are as a nation and what our values are. And she is the only person who has consistently championed that cause for decades.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the consistency, it\u2019s the authenticity and it is those values issues. The Prime Minister calls them culture wars, but they\u2019re actually fairly significant issues that people care about. And even people who are not engaged in politics wouldn\u2019t take much notice of the budget. They care about this sort of things because it impacts their kids, it impacts their workplaces.<\/p>\n
Now, this story only in Victoria, a 14-year-old Melbourne girl who had 109 serious charges dropped while she was back before a children\u2019s court, surprise, surprise, just two weeks later. News.com.au has revealed the 14-year-old is facing three counts of aggravated burglary, two counts of theft of a motor vehicle and an unlicensed driving charge. One of the girls\u2019 family members is also facing serious charges, including aggravated burglary, resisting an emergency worker, burglary, theft of a motor vehicle and unlawful assault.<\/p>\n
Now, Patrick, this teenager had all the charges against her drop because of her tender age, this suggestion that someone who is between 10 and 14 years of age doesn\u2019t understand the seriousness of their offending. Despite the fact that she Googled how long the sentence is for running someone over a few minutes after she allegedly ran someone over.<\/p>\n
Patrick Carlyon:<\/p>\n
Look, she was accused of knocking a cyclist off his bike. He had a blood bleed. He could have died. She got charged with 109 offences. They all got struck out. She\u2019s back in court two weeks later. That rule doesn\u2019t work for some 10 to 14 year olds who are really bad eggs. This looks like one of the bad eggs. We need to be protected from bad eggs who keep on committing violent crimes.<\/p>\n
I mean, I think she was back in court for three counts of aggravated burglary. That\u2019s not still a Mars bar from a 7-Eleven. That\u2019s violent. We need to be protected from people like this no matter what age they are.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
Absolutely. And Colleen, I\u2019ve got a feeling this is going to end in tragedy. It\u2019s headed that way and the politicians, the judicial system has some complicity in that.<\/p>\n
Colleen Harkin:<\/p>\n
Oh, most definitely. This doli incapax that they say that they\u2019re not responsible for their actions, I mean, it has to change. That particular girl, as Patrick just said, 109 allegations. There\u2019s another chapter that had 338 charges dropped against him. 60% of carjackings, half of the home invasions and two-thirds of robberies are done by minors in our state. And it\u2019s a revolving door. They get in, they get let back out again and do the same thing again like this girl has done. They have to get serious about youth crime.<\/p>\n
Rita Panahi:<\/p>\n
And we\u2019ve seen with the hospitality terrorism in this city, they use youth offenders because they know they will be released. They\u2019ll be bailed almost immediately. And even when they admit to arson that has caused millions in damage as happened recently in this city, they walk free from court. So that\u2019s the justice system in Victoria. Colleen Harkin, Patrick Carlyon, thank you for your time.<\/p>\n
Colleen Harkin:<\/p>\n
You\u2019re welcome.<\/p>\n
This transcript of Colleen Harkin talking on The Rita Panahi Show Sky News Australia from 2 June 2026 has been edited for clarity.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rita Panahi: Okay. Joining me now for more on this is News Corp Senior Writer, Patrick Carlyon and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,346013,346014,36974,3403,346015,31990,5693,164,44],"class_list":["post-711781","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-defence","tag-australias-prosperity","tag-australian-politics","tag-defence","tag-defence-funding","tag-defence-spending","tag-economics","tag-economy","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}