‘Disgraceful decision’: Hollie Hughes slams government’s Red Sea warship call

Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes says the decision to send a small number of ADF personnel to the Red Sea operation in defence of the Suez Canal has now been applauded by the Chinese government.

“This is a disgraceful decision,” Ms Hughes told Sky News host Caleb Bond.

“The US, the UK, and a series of our other close allies are all joining in this defence of the Suez Canal.

“Which is what 12 per cent of the world’s trade goes through.

“We have walked away from being part of that alliance … to move us away from our traditional allies … the decision has now been applauded by the Chinese government.”

Time to bring in my panel to discuss the rest of the day’s top stories joining me now is liberal Senator Holly Hughes and PR Council managing director Christie mcweeny um I think I’m going to have to call you the the Bond girls we’ve got the uh the two blond lasses here the uh

The Roses but to next to the thorn which is me of course now the defense minister Richard miles of course today announced that Australia will be sending a small number of Defense Personnel to the Red Sea but no warship and this obviously all comes on the back of the Iranian

Backed houthi Rebel Group which has been attacking cargo ships in the region I mean we have a problem here clearly Holly where we we cannot send a ship because we literally don’t have the ships to send we’ve got three I think um and they’re not really up to scratch so

What can we do so M says Ah the US has got no problem we’re going to send 16 Defense Force personnel I mean surely we can do better than 16 people look and I’m not sure it’s actually correct that we don’t have a ship that’s ready to go because when the

Request was first made uh the Navy certainly said that they were ready to respond so I’m not quite sure that that’s actually the truth behind the matter but this is a disgraceful decision uh the US the UK and a series of our other close allies are all

Joining in this defense of the sewers Canal which is what is 12% of the World’s Trade goes through and the fact that we have walked away from being part of that Alliance uh and this constant move by this government to move us away from our traditional allies

And in fact the decision has now been applauded by the Chinese government So within a couple of weeks we’ve had Australia and the UN vote with Iran Russia and North Korea and now we’re making decisions against a US request that is being applauded by China so if those facts alone don’t give Australians

A great deal of pause to think about what this government is doing to our future National Security concerns leaving us you know their whole thing is oh we’re concentrating on the Pacific well let’s hope nothing happens and our allies turn around and say well you know we’re not worried about the Pacific

That’s your Bailey Wick you know we need these guys if anything happened down uh in the you know in the southern part of the world uh and this absolute Defiance of us request of them refusing to be part of uh something that could have not

Only a great impact on World Trade but a very direct impact on Australian’s back pocket when it comes to cost of living pressures because the more Goods that can’t get in the more Goods that can’t get out and the higher costs associated with them uh would just mean that we’re

Paying more for everything at home time well don’t forget that the Chinese State media was publishing editorials supporting that the albanesi government or was in the opposition when they were running for government last year so we kind of know where this was all going this was Richard miles today yeah we are

Making a contribution which is significant which is commensurate with our size and our place in the world I mean blah blah blah if we don’t have defense capability chrisy we’re stuffed look the government released the defense strategic review uh not long ago it’s the first one uh that’s been done

In a couple of decades I think there was a mini one done uh in 2012 but this is a significant piece of work and it simply says that uh Australia needs to um develop a restructure um of Navy Air Force and in particular in very controversially Army um so there was a

Lot of talk around uh defense and strategic policy advisors in Cambra uh that the review was welcome uh but it didn’t have a road map uh of what Australia needs to do to equip itself to defend itself uh and not signaling that we’re ready to stand with the United States uh and the

United Kingdom is a snub uh to orcus it’s a snub to the alliance uh it’s a snub to our top two foreign direct Investment Partners in Australia uh and I have no idea what Anthony albanesi spoke to Joe Biden about if this is the first test of those two trips to the

United States uh I would really like to understand what went on we don’t know what he’s talked to anyone about well we know he talked to jiing Ping about tazzy devils and pandas but I mean apart from that his interactions with with world leaders we don’t really know now look if

I had it my way we would abolish councils I hate them I used to be a local government repor order I saw it up close I have a distinct disdain for councils and I never fail to have this confirmed again uh a northern New South Wales Council debated this week whether

To install five nuclear free zone signs across the region because they decided earlier in the year that they were going to become a nuclear free zone because I don’t know they were going to build a waste plant on top of them or something who knows but the cost for these five signs 41

$1,000 now I mean this proposal came from the Clarence Valley climate change advisory committee whatever that is I mean holy can’t these people just stick to their knitting or or perhaps more accurately uh the emptying of the bins well that’s right rates roads and rubbish that is what councils are

Responsible for and we know that many of them aren’t too good at doing those things uh but this is just another example of this woke virtue signaling that councils seem to find part of their remit I mean has anyone in the Clarance had a think about if they actually need

Access to an MRI I mean do their hospitals have MRI machines because the use of nuclear medicine is actually quite a considerable part of Health Care nowadays so it is just I mean it it’s beyond stupid uh but it’s an absolute shame for those people and rate payers

In the Clarance that are now going to have to stump up through their rates an extra $440 plus th000 for them to put these stupid signs up well I think they’ve they’ve decided they’re not going to do it in some sort of breakthrough of of common sense but the

The fact that it even got CU like when a proposal comes to council it has to go to the council staff the council staff then put it on the agenda to go to the C I mean the fact that got through all that process to begin with uh is just

Extraordinary now labor is in the spotlight today after it was revealed by the Oz that bill Short’s Department Services Australia failed to answer any of the 362 questions asked of it by deadline during the latest round of Senate estimates but shorton says they haven’t been answered because he reckons

The Coalition got chat GPT to write them I mean uh Christie in all your days of of working for MPS did you ever get out the AI to script your questions oh gosh well I mean I’ve been there since um the dawn of blackberry Caleb right up until um TW you know

24-hour TV and all the technology help you could possibly have and gosh at no point ever do you not write your work check it you’re almost paranoid uh sending something to a minister and the day they take your piece of paper into the chamber for question time you watch

And hope that you have done the the right thing because on your head be it uh it is one of the most scary days as an advisor when that happens if you’ve got it wrong oh my gosh we’re pretty serious about question time I’ve got to

Just very quickly Holly like come on 360 odd questions he couldn’t answer a single one of them I mean please no and look I’m I’m pretty sure there’s one or two from me in there because I uh don’t see in that did you write you write them with chat GPT

Though no no no no see this is the thing though so a lot of Senate estimate questions that are taken on notice are questions that are asked verbally that either the representing minister or the department are unable to answer and so they ask can we take that on notice so

These aren’t necessarily questions are submitted to them later these are questions that are asked by the Senators during the estimates process so quite often this is is quite a a robust discussion it’s certainly a live discussion uh that you might start with one question that takes you in different

Directions and quite often uh if they can’t provide the detail that you want they will take that on notice so a lot of these questions that Minister shorten has ignored and you know not to pick on Bill he is not the only offender here he’s one of the

Worst a lot of the Departments here it is absolutely this was going to be the most transparent government that yet they have the most outstanding number of questions on notice but the ndis is one of the biggest parts of the budget I was certainly in that committee

For that part of the estimates and asked some questions that they could not answer and so they were put on notice so uh these are questions that are very relevant to very significant parts of the budget yet Bill shorton and many other labor government ministers are treating the Australian people forget

The Senate but they are treating the Australian people with contempt their abing good luck getting an answer out of them maybe they could get the answer from chat GPT that seems like the easy solution to me