Trump lifts sanctions on Syria

Australia Broadcast Center

14-05-2025

Sabra Lane: Good morning, welcome to AM, it's Wednesday 14th of May. I'm Sara Lane, coming to you from Nipaluna/Hobart.
Sabra Lane: The Liberal Party's made history after its catastrophic defeat by electing Sussan Ley as its first female federal leader. A former colleague has questioned her effectiveness on getting women into Parliament, but others are praising her appointment. Ms Ley won the ballot over rival Angus Taylor by four votes. She's promising to harness the talents of all in the party room, including those who didn't support her. She says the party must reflect modern Australia, but as Annie Guest reports, the future of nuclear and net zero carbon emissions policies is unclear.
Annie Guest : The former shearer's cook and stock-mustering pilot, who later studied finance and worked for the Tax Office, labels the sensible centre as her focus.
Sussan Ley : Meeting people where they are involves listening to their views.
Annie Guest : Sussan Ley is not saying where she stands on the net zero emissions target, particularly after the National signalled it might dump it. Ms Ley also isn't clear on whether the Coalition will pursue its agenda of nuclear energy, instead pledging everything is up for review.
Sussan Ley : And every person who walked through that polling booth door and didn't vote for us had some of the same reasons and some had different reasons. So the first thing we need to do is engage with what those reasons are.
Annie Guest : Former Liberal MP Julia Banks quit the party in 2018 over its approach to women, integrity and climate. She doesn't think it will change under Sussan Ley, who she describes as a glass cliff appointment, something the new leader has vehemently denied.
Julia Banks : As the shadow minister for women, she continually said, we're listening to women, we're listening to women, we're going to win the Teal independent seats back. None of that was achieved.
Annie Guest : What then do you think is the direction for the Liberal Party?
Julia Banks : I think the direction for the Liberal Party is very much towards the fringe of the right wing.
Annie Guest : But the former New South Wales Liberal leader Kerry Chikarovski is optimistic.
Kerry Chikarovski : Well it's taken a while for the Liberal Party to get to the stage where they finally had a female leader and I'm delighted that it's Susan Lee because I think that she was a senior minister, she's got a finance background, she was a pilot. She will do an extraordinary job.
Annie Guest : Former Liberal Julia Banks describes this as a glass cliff appointment.
Kerry Chikarovski : Yeah, I've heard that description before, but that undermines Sussan's abilities and I don't think that that's fair.
Annie Guest : While the Coalition's nuclear and net zero emissions policies are up in the air, Kerry Chikarovski says its stance will need to be clear.
Kerry Chikarovski : I think what they need to do is to articulate policies which people understand and their climate policy for example, I think whilst there's a whole lot of discussion about nuclear, that disappeared. They stopped talking about nuclear.
Annie Guest : But if they've now appointed Ted O'Brien as the deputy leader when he was the main prosecutor of the nuclear argument, what does that say about what they've learned?
Kerry Chikarovski : Well I think Ted was doing a very good job of prosecuting the argument but for reasons that I don't understand, they stopped talking about it during the campaign. I think other issues got in the way that they got distracted by. Now whether they're going to continue with that, I have no idea.
Sabra Lane: Former New South Wales Liberal leader Kerry Chikarovski ending any guest's report there.
Sabra Lane: The new Liberal Party Deputy Leader joined me earlier. Ted O'Brien congratulations on winning arguably the second hardest job in Australian politics. What's the most important part of your role now?
Ted O'Brien: Well, I think, Sabra, now is when the Liberal Party comes together and we rebuild. And I think it's recognising that in the Liberal Party room here in Canberra, every single member has something to offer. Everyone has a role to play. And we are deeply united around a common set of values. And it's through those values, and there I'm talking about a belief in freedom, equality, a fair go for all, a belief that with rights come commensurate responsibilities, with effort comes reward. These are the beliefs of everyone in the Liberal Party. Everyone has a role to play. And now we get on with the job at hand.
Sabra Lane: There's now a review into the party's biggest defeat. Why do you think it happened?
Ted O'Brien: Well, as Sussan Ley mentioned yesterday very clearly, our main job now is to listen and to learn. It's critically important that we approach the next period of time with humility. Clearly people were disappointed with what we had to offer at this election. And we need to take the time to listen and to get it right. That's our approach. We need to make sure that we accept the result and we reflect with humility on how we can do things better. We want to go forward respecting modern Australia, reflecting modern Australia and representing modern Australia.
Sabra Lane: You must have some ideas though as to why that happened?
Ted O'Brien: Well, there's no doubt that when the Australian people looked at the Albanese government, we saw no evidence of them being excited. Indeed, Australians are becoming poorer by the day. And when they looked at the coalition, they unfortunately didn't see, Sabra, the policy suite that they wanted to see.
Sabra Lane: You don't have any thoughts right now yourself?
Ted O'Brien: I think what we need to avoid doing, Sabra, is jumping to conclusions. Because as Sussan made it very clear yesterday, we need to meet Australians where they are, which means we need to better understand where Australians are today. What are the challenges they are facing? And instead of, as a political party, jumping to the conclusions that we might think as politicians, now is the time for us to take a step back, to truly engage with the Australian public and to listen to what they tell us about the challenges they are feeling at the moment. That's our objective.
Sabra Lane: You were responsible for selling the nuclear power policy to voters. Did that have a role in the coalition's defeat?
Ted O'Brien: Ultimately, we're a team and we all take responsibility for the last election. And again, it is with that humility that we engage with the Australian people from here on. We listen, we learn, we regroup and we get on with it.
Sabra Lane: So specifically, did the policy on nuclear power also play a role, given that Peter Dutton said last year he was happy for this to be a referendum on the policy?
Ted O'Brien: Well, there's no doubt that every policy plays a role. Now, my colleagues have some different views on nuclear, different views on every policy that was taken to the election. And we need to ensure that we take the time to talk about that, to ventilate it. But we also need to be engaging with the Australian people. I think that the problems that we sought to address in our energy policy are still there today. You know, the election was two weeks ago, but Australians are still paying among the highest prices in the world for electricity. And the Albanese government does not know its own cost for its electricity plan moving forward. And so the problems are still there. I think what we now need to do, Sabra, with humility, is to listen to the Australian people, to regroup as a united team, and to put every single policy we have on the table for review. Now, that doesn't mean, you know, policies are being all thrown out. We had a meeting yesterday to choose the leadership team. We've now chosen that team, and I'm very honoured to be serving with Susan as our leader. And now we'll do the review that's necessary.
Sabra Lane: Is this now an existential question for the Liberals? If you don't sort this problem out in this term, it could be the end.
Ted O'Brien: No, I don't think so. I know people have spoken about, you know, an existential crisis. I don't believe so. Our real goal as the Liberal Party has to be to save Australians from a very bad Labor government.
Sabra Lane: If that was the case, Labor wouldn't be sitting on a 93-seat win.
Ted O'Brien: That is our primary goal, to save Australia from a bad Labor government, which is making Australians poorer by the day.
Sabra Lane: Ted O'Brien, thanks for talking to AM.
Ted O'Brien: Thanks very much, Sabra.
Sabra Lane: And that's Ted O'Brien, the new Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party.
Sabra Lane: During the past 24 hours, the ABC has exposed terrible abuse of children who are supposed to be living in therapeutic residential care. That system claims to offer 24-7 in-home support for vulnerable youngsters when they can't live with family, foster parents or kinship carers. Instead, these children are being exploited and in some cases placed directly in harm's way, including being sexually abused, with pleas from family for help dismissed, ignored or dealt with at a glacial pace. I spoke earlier with the National Children's Commissioner. Anne Hollands, thanks for talking to AM.
Anne Hollands : Hi Sabra.
Sabra Lane: You started your career as a frontline child protection worker. You're now the National Children's Commissioner. Reading that ABC report yesterday, has anything changed in how officials respond to this?
Anne Hollands : Well, Sabra, it seems that not enough has changed. When I was a frontline child protection worker, that was an awfully long time ago, one would think with decades of royal commissions and inquiries since that time, that we would have a system that was able to protect the safety and wellbeing of our children, but we're still not able to do that. I was really shocked reading yet again how many children are being failed by the systems that are meant to be helping them and keeping them safe.
Sabra Lane: Does there need to be another inquiry? As you mentioned, there have been dozens over the years. Do we know the solutions and what works right now?
Anne Hollands : Well, I think the problem is not a lack of knowledge. The problem is a lack of accountability for action. What I would like to see is that the safety and wellbeing of children be made a national priority in this country and that we work together across the Federation to actually finish the job to implement the recommendations of these many, many reports and inquiries, including by Children's Commissioners in every state and territory. The five-year-long Royal Commission that reported in 2017, that's eight years ago. We have looked at these issues again and again and it's time to act on the evidence.
Sabra Lane: The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, announced a new ministry earlier this week, a Cabinet-level Minister for Children, was not in that list despite many people saying he should have one. Should it have been there?
Anne Hollands : Well, many of us are extremely disappointed that there is still no Cabinet Minister for Children when we've had Cabinet Ministers for women, for example, for decades. And women and women's safety is also a priority for National Cabinet, but children are not mentioned on that list of priorities. So there are a number of things we can do to ensure that across the Federation we are implementing evidence-based safety measures for children and that we can actually fix these problems. They are preventable. That's the thing. We should make child safety and wellbeing a national priority at National Cabinet because that's where all the heads of the states and territories and the Prime Minister work together on issues of national significance. Clearly, the safety and wellbeing of our children has to be a national priority.
Sabra Lane: It costs about a million dollars for one child a year in residential care, yet many people would find that hard to believe, especially foster families. They struggle to get appropriate money. On that measure alone, is it worth trying to find different solutions to help these children become normal, well-adjusted adults?
Anne Hollands : Well, I think we need, what we need is some independent monitoring and oversight of how these children are being cared for, whatever the system is, whatever kind of out-of-home care is involved. But we've also got to look at the money that's being put into prevention, Ms Arborer, and reports again and again show that while it costs a million dollars to put a kid in resi care, we're spending minuscule amounts on intensive early intervention with their families. And I think we also need to be examining how well we're trying to prevent and intervene early to protect these kids and keep them at home with their families because clearly removing them is not necessarily keeping them any safer. We're swapping one set of harms just for another set of harms, as we've seen in these ABC reports.
Sabra Lane: Anne Hollands, thanks for joining us this morning.
Anne Hollands : Thank you.
Sabra Lane: Anne Hollands is the National Children's Commissioner.
Sabra Lane: The United States President Donald Trump's on his first trip to the Middle East since being re-elected, with his first stop in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Our Americas editor John Lyons is in Washington. Join me earlier. John, what did we learn from President Trump's first major address?
John Lyons: Well, Sabra, in some ways this was almost like the Trump Doctrine. Quite a fascinating speech. He outlined a whole range of things on his visit to Saudi Arabia. For example, he was so effusive in his support for Saudi, for its leader. The Saudi economy, he said, was so hot, it's rocking. He signed the largest arms deal, or one of the largest arms deals in history, for the US to sell $142 billion worth of armaments to Saudi Arabia. He foreshadowed normalisation between Saudi Arabia and Israel, which is something his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has been pushing hard for. He said Iran would never be allowed to develop nuclear weapons. He said Iran had a short time to accept the US offer to get sanction relief, or else there would be massive maximum pressure on them. And he announced that the US would immediately lift sanctions against Syria. So it was a very comprehensive remaking of America's policy in the Middle East.
Sabra Lane: So the speech then has given us an idea of the kind of foreign policy this second Trump administration is going to pursue?
John Lyons: It sure did. If anything, he used the phrase himself, no mercy. If I could sum up this speech it would be, don't mess with America. He was saying that we have the largest military in human history. He said we have lethal weapons. He singled out submarines, which I thought was interesting. He said the most lethal of all the US's weapons were its submarines, which of course would be of interest to Australians, given that if AUKUS does go ahead, then Australia's would presumably be getting some of these submarines.
Sabra Lane: John, where to next in this Middle East visit?
John Lyons: Well, now the President will be travelling to Doha and to some of the other Gulf states. He said that the Saudi Arabians will hopefully agree to the normalisation deal with Israel in their own time. That's of course part of the Abraham Accords that he signed some of those in his first term. But the main game really now for the United States for Donald Trump is Iran, and he's going to do what he can. However, from the left flank may well come up, he may well depart on Thursday to go to Istanbul. If Vladimir Putin does come to Istanbul to meet Vladimir Zelenskyy, the Russian and Ukrainian leaders, there's a chance that Donald Trump will suddenly divert there, which would be an absolutely remarkable summit, those three men.
Sabra Lane: Obsessive compulsive disorder can be debilitating but often goes untreated. Now a new global study has identified the genes linked with the condition. Researchers hope it'll lead to better treatments and diagnosis. Isabel Moussalli reports.
Isabel Moussalli : Dr Leigh Sheppard's earliest memory of her obsessive compulsive disorder was being asked to pick a balloon for her sick brother.
Leigh Sheppard : In my mind, if I chose the wrong balloon, my brother would die. And so I'm making these huge decisions in my mind, but also it's really illogical. Often it doesn't make sense.
Isabel Moussalli : But the now medical doctor didn't receive a diagnosis or treatment until she was 33. Her struggle in finding support led her to start the non-profit OCDWA.
Leigh Sheppard : At my worst, I was almost bedridden. I could barely function and through treatment I now function really well and it's meant that I can return to work.
Isabel Moussalli : And more people could soon receive the diagnosis and treatment they need. That's the hope of a large global group of scientists who've just published significant findings.
Eske Derks : This is the first time, the first large study where we found genes linked to OCD risk.
Isabel Moussalli : Professor Eske Dirks is a senior scientist at Medical Research Institute QIMR Berghofer and was involved in the decade-long project.
Eske Derks : We have access to data from 50,000 patients with OCD and 2 million people who don't have OCD. And then we looked at the genetic profiles and compared them and yeah, we found 250 genes that are increasing OCD risk and 25 of these are very likely to be causal.
Isabel Moussalli : She cautions it doesn't mean they're the only genes as larger studies are being conducted.
Eske Derks : But... It's very important findings I think for several reasons. Because we have a better understanding of the genes that are related to OCD, we can look at existing drugs that might be effective. The other important reason to do this research is that it's also the first step into being able to predict the risk for OCD.
Isabel Moussalli : Dr. Sheppard from OCDWA believes it'll be a landmark moment for her community.
Leigh Sheppard : Identifying the genes and brain regions that are involved in OCD confirms what clinicians and people with lived experience have long understood, which is that OCD is a complex neurobiological condition, not a personality trait or a behavioural choice.
Isabel Moussalli : Sane Australia's CEO, Rachel Green, also hopes it'll break down the stigma.
Rachel Green : OCD is a condition that carries with it some incredible stigma that actually prevents people from seeking help. It's not just wanting to keep your house really clean and it's important not to use it as a term in that sort of context. It can be a really debilitating condition for people who live with it and a very lonely and isolating experience, especially if they haven't yet been able to seek help.
Isabel Moussalli : And she says one place people can seek support is the Sane Australia website.
Sabra Lane: Isabel Moussalli reporting there. And that's AM for today. Thanks for your company. I'm Sabra Lane.