Latest news with #Jayes
Sky News AU
23-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘This is insane': Former Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce unloads on renewable energy policies in fiery Sky News interview
Barnaby Joyce has unloaded on Australia's 'insane' renewable energy policies during a fiery interview with Sky News host Laura Jayes. Mr Joyce has announced plans to introduce a private members' bill to repeal climate reduction targets, and speaking to Jayes on Wednesday, the former Nationals leader said renewable energy policies were putting the nation in 'economic peril' with a 'complete wipeout of manufacturing'. "Unless we've got a strong economic base, we can't defend our nation,' he said. 'Right now, there are pensioners being put out of their houses to live in their cars because they can't afford their power bill. We've got farms being overrun by solar panels, overrun by wind tower transmission lines. 'It's all attached to net zero. We wouldn't have transmission lines and the wind towers, and the solar panels if we didn't have net zero. So get rid of net zero and we don't have to contend with these swindles, that are making billionaires, multiple billionaires, helping overseas companies from China, from Singapore, and at the expense of the Australian people. This is insane.' Mr Joyce said he believed that if the net zero and renewable energy targets are abolished, the renewable energy push would disappear and Australia could return to a reliance on cheap coal-fired power. Jayes hit back at the suggestion, contending the Coalition would not be able to return to government if the Liberals cannot win seats in metropolitan areas due to the Nationals' refusal to embrace action on climate change. The former Nationals leader hit out at the suggestion his party should primarily be concerned with the Coalition regaining metropolitan seats. 'My gosh, use that attitude. We won't even have those seats in the country for much longer either,' he said. 'What you've got to understand is that our role when we come down to Canberra is to represent the people who send us there. And actually, that is your electorate. 'Now, we are being torn apart by transmission lines, solar panels… communities torn - not torn down the middle - torn 10 per cent to 90 per cent; 90 per cent who hate it, 10 per cent who're probably making a little bit of money out of it.' Jayes again pressed Mr Joyce on what his political play he was trying to achieve. 'I'm trying to understand what the realistic outcome of this is, do you think all these transmission lines don't go ahead, we have no renewable power and we go back to coal? Is that really what it is?' she asked. The former Nationals leader pulled up the Sky News host for using the term 'renewables' to describe wind and solar. 'First of all, it's not renewable. It's intermittent. That's an nomenclature that we should use. Wind farms? They're not farms. They're intermittent power precincts and it's intermittent power,' he said. 'So the head of the serpent on this is net zero.... (and) what's the point of us doing this if the rest of the majority of the world, majority of economies of the world, are not doing it?" Pressed again on what he thought Australia's energy mix should be, the Nationals MP said there should be more baseload power, more coal-fired power stations, and as well as nuclear power, before unleashing on the impact of renewable energy. 'As Bowen himself says, you've got about 42 per cent intermittence. If you talk to electrical engineers, they say it really becomes unviable, starts falling off its perch after about 30 per cent intermittence,' he said. 'So you already do have intermittence. And what I'm saying is, if you go around this crazy idea that you're going to have net zero, we might as well turn off the lights and live in a cave. 'It's not going to work, and this idea of 82 per cent intermittence by 2030, this is insane. You've had programmes out… it's said what, seven per cent of Victoria's got to be covered in solar panels'. Jayes asked the former Nationals leader if there should be any renewables or intermittent power in the energy grid, to which Mr Joyce said he thought enough damage had been done. 'The more intimate power we are getting, the higher your power bills are going. How high do you want your power to go? How unreliable do you need your economy to be? How much do you want to shell out and deindustrialise our nation? I would say you've done enough of that,' he said. Mr Joyce also asked why intermittent power needed to be underwritten by 'secret capacity investment schemes' that were not included in the budget. Asked how much these capacity schemes cost taxpayers, the Nationals MP hit out at the fourth estate for failing to hold the government to account on the issue. 'That's your job, Laura. Get Mr Bowen up here and ask him to tell you how much the Capacity Investing Schemes are for,' he said, to which Jayes pointed out the Energy Minister refused to come on her show. Asked if he accepted the energy system was a 'complete mess', Mr Joyce said it was because 'we've stuffed it up'. 'We've absolutely butchered it. And you've butchering it by going down the intermittent power process,' he said. 'You used to have the cheapest power in the world with those evil coal-fired power stations… really cheap, reliable power. 'Now you've got really unreliable, hellishly expensive power, and it's on the premise of you trying to achieve this ludicrous idea that Australia and the minority of the globe can somehow change droughts, change cyclones, reduce the extinction of species because Australia is going to change the temperature of the weather. It is insane.' Asked if he worried about emissions at all, the Nationals MP said he worried about pollution. 'This is this sort of faux virtue that you believe... do you honestly believe in the minority of the economy of the globe, that we are actually going to change the weather? That's insane. That is certifiably insane,' he said.
Sky News AU
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Zero good news for the Liberals': Federal election result examined
Sky News AM Agenda host Laura Jayes has examined the Liberals' major defeat against Labor in the 2025 federal election. 'When you look at these results, there is zero good news without caveat for the Liberal Party here,' Ms Jayes said. 'They have not just an identity crisis now; they don't have any real representation to speak of.'
Sky News AU
26-04-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Monique Ryan turning her back on Sky News host a spectacular own goal for the Teal movement and its promise to champion women
The Teal independents swept into office three years ago on a promise to 'fix' the bloke-heavy culture and give women a voice in federal politics. Transparency and that ubiquitous deep blue-green remains their self-appointed brand, designed to appeal to female constituents - working mums like me now searching for the right person to vote for on May 3. So it was a curious message to broadcast this week when one of their much-hyped female MPs avoided an accomplished female journalist in a public space who was politely asking reasonable questions on camera. In a now viral video, Kooyong member Monique Ryan turned her back in an attempt to dodge a simple 'How are you?' from Sky News host Laura Jayes. After a brief exchange, she then instructed Ms Jayes to move along because voters apparently now needed her attention before leaving it to a junior staffer to reiterate that an interview opportunity had already been 'declined'. Don't forget that just weeks ago, Dr Ryan fled from a female Channel Seven reporter inside parliament asking why her husband was ripping down her Liberal opponent's campaign corflutes. Her patronising rudeness to Ms Jayes at a pre-poll site in Melbourne this week invited the spotlight for all the wrong reasons but mainly, I would argue, for this one. In a week when women's support for the Coalition was tanking and Labor was doing a better job framing female-focused election policies, the Teals squandered an opportunity to advocate for us. Labor and the Coalition have always been criticised as having 'a Problem With Women' - in the party or in the community - because they have no idea what matters to female voters. Indeed, a review of the 2022 Federal Election, co-authored by Liberal Senator Jane Hume and former federal director of the Liberal Party Brian Loughnane, noted: 'Liberal defectors in 'Teal seats' were highly likely to agree with the statement that 'the treatment or attitude toward women within the Liberal Party had a strong influence on my vote'.' I would argue that the Women Problem own goal is now well and truly in the Climate 200-backed Teal net, along with their glossy branding. These independents have had plenty of opportunity to flex their female power but in reality they have failed to deliver any meaningful policy outcomes for women. Nothing tangible on childcare reform or the pressure of small business where so many women work and the Big One: cost-of-living relief. Crickets. How do you 'redefine' leadership for women when your appeal is marinating in privilege? Sure. It's another federal election and therefore another scramble for the female vote, especially with pre poll numbers so high. And Labor sure is doing everything it can to frame the Coalition as out of touch and regressive, despite the TV debate sting of Opposition Leader Peter Dutton telling PM Anthony Albanese that he 'couldn't lie straight in bed'. But Labor, now ahead among women 54 to 46 points via the latest Newspoll for The Australian which was a staggering reversal from numbers in January, has filled the void. And credit where it is due, especially regarding the pledge made this week by Minister for Women Katy Gallagher to end the vile and all too frequent financial abuse of women by fixing loopholes in tax, social security and superannuation. This is a key area where women feel no one in government has been listening. 'We will take action to legislate practical changes in the superannuation, tax and social security systems so they cannot be weaponised by perpetrators,' Ms Gallagher said. 'We will look at how we can stop abusers receiving their victim's superannuation because there is no world where we believe that perpetrators of violence should benefit from the death of someone they themselves have abused.' Interestingly, the Labor's Commitment to Women package was unveiled a day after Mr Dutton, no doubt wounded by that evaporating female support, said he would announce more domestic violence initiatives. 'The whole area of protecting women and children is incredibly important to me,' Mr Dutton said. He has leaned on his police past to show he is serious about women's safety and on Thursday, the Coalition said it would tackle domestic violence nationally via a $90 million 'comprehensive package'. Framing it as 'a very clear message that we don't accept violence against women', Mr Dutton added that 'we're going to fix up Labor's mess'. No matter how critically important these issues are though, how much faith should female voters have in any of these promises? A woman in an abusive relationship might now think that her life is about to change, only to be told in a few months: sorry, we don't have the cash for that. Teals, as architects of virtue signalling, have sold women voters a fantasy of politics. They may talk a big game but where is the follow through? We only want answers to the hard questions and to cast our vote where we know it will matter. Louise Roberts is a journalist and editor who has worked as a TV and radio commentator in Australia, the UK and the US. Louise is a winner of the Peter Ruehl Award for Outstanding Columnist in the NRMA Kennedy Awards for Excellence in Journalism and has been shortlisted in other awards for her opinion work.
Daily Mail
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Excruciating moment politician turns her back on reporter - while she's on live TV across Australia
Awkward footage captured a Teal MP turning her back on a reporter and refusing to answer her questions on live TV despite championing for greater transparency. Monique Ryan, who is defending her seat in Kooyong, was confronted by Sky News host Laura Jayes in Malvern, south-east Melbourne, at 9am on Tuesday. Jayes had requested to chat with Dr Ryan prior to the confrontation, however her invitation had been rebuffed. Dr Ryan had been standing outside an early voting centre and was handing out flyers when she was unexpectedly forced to speak to the Sky News host. Jayes asked her for an update on her campaign and whether she believed it was okay for politicians to pay 'influencers' for sponsored content. The question came after it emerged fellow Teal MP Allegra Spender had not disclosed she paid an Instagram influencer with more than 135,000 followers to endorse her. Ms Spender has since admitted to paying an agency and using influencers and content creators to make social media content. Dr Ryan repeatedly ignored Jayes' questions before lecturing the journalist for interrupting her campaigning. 'I'm actually just trying to... I am here to engage with voters. We're in pre-poll,' Dr Ryan said. 'It's the middle of an election campaign. I'm not sure it's ideal for you to be interrupting that process. 'I have declined an interview with you already.' Jayes continued to question Dr Ryan for her opinion on political paid content, prompting the MP to turn her back. Dr Ryan's media minder quickly rushed to cover for the MP. 'She's already declined an interview,' she told the reporter. Ms Spender earlier said she had 'worked with an agency and a bunch of influencers and content creators to reach different audiences'. The Australian Electoral Commission has suggested political authorisations should be added to influencer posts that have been paid for by politicians. The change would help create transparency between viewers and politicians and help audiences distinguish what online content has been paid for. Dr Ryan's latest brush comes just days after a leading spine neurosurgeon was filmed tearing down one of her election signs. Footage circulated on social media this week showed Melbourne-based Professor Greg Malham ripping down the campaign board. In the middle of a dark street, the senior spinal neurosurgeon for Epworth Richmond can be seen placing the sign in his car as an unidentified woman asks if he had anything to say. Professor Malham raised a fist and said 'Go Trump'. The footage also included a shot at a different location where he removed the sign, trampled it and addressed the camera. 'Just finishing the job, boys. Always gotta bury the body. 'Just remember these tutorials. It is all about technique, Nigel. Always remember guys, good technique, then dispose of the evidence. 'Always remember boys, bury the body under concrete.'
