Presented in association with The Unshackled. Trans-Tasman Talk (TTT) is hosted by Tim Wilms from Melbourne and Dieuwe de Boer from Auckland. The show debuts every Tuesday at 9pm New Zealand time and 7pm Melbourne time. Episodes are broadcast live on Youtube via Right Minds, The Unshackled, and The BFD.
Who runs the countries on either side of the Tasman? Revelations in Australia have shown that the Chinese Communist Party tried to plant a spy as a Liberal MP. There is some actual journalism being done as Australian media investigates, but on the other side of the ditch, the reaction to CCP influence is always far more muted. In New Zealand, American comedian Stephen Colbert was on a state-funded visit to do PR with Jacinda Ardern and announce that he'll move to New Zealand for real next year - but Tim and Dieuwe don't think he'll give up his 15m salary.
Former Australian senator David Leyonhjelm has lost a defamation suit that Sarah Hansen-Young of the Greens took against him. Th court ruled that he owes her $120,000 for slut-shaming her, but if progressives believe that being a slut isn't a bad thing, how can it be defamatory? In New Zealand, the legal feud between NZ First and National continues as threats of fraud and lawsuits continue to fly. It's all about the donors, and by now it's more than clear enough that both parties have special interests buying up influence.
The extent to which the bureaucracy is running and how disconnected MPs often are have been highlighted by Scott Morrison's office having transgender bathrooms, which he quickly ordered dismantled after their existence was revealed. Morrison's image seems to be starting to fade as he shows little tangible progress on the issues that got him elected.
A Westpac scandal has rocked Australia where it's been revealed that 25 million illegal transactions for sex trafficers and paedophiles had been approved by the bank amounting to 11 billion in revenue. The CEO has since resigned and been given a 2.7m "golden handshake" after he made statements that the breach was not an issue for everyday Australians and seemed more concerned that they'd have to cancel their Christmas party.
In a more lighthearted story to round out the show, we see that 25% of Kiwibuild homes have not sold on the market, nor will Housing NZ attempt to acquire them. Comrade Jacinda is building houses that even her own government won't buy.
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