Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Chapter 1: What recent developments are affecting Australia's petrol prices?
A listener production. Hi, Sasha Barber-Gatt with you. Happy Monday and welcome to The Briefing. Australia's neo-Nazi movement was supposed to be banished to the history books when the government declared last month that the National Socialist Network was an unlawful hate group. But the NSN and its members continue to operate and have even secured the backing of some very rich Australians.
Even under the new laws, it might be tricky to look at some of these assets because as we've discovered, even Nazis can be millionaires and if that's legitimate money, it's legitimate money.
A deep dive into the millionaire supporters of Australia's neo-Nazis is coming up in the second half of this episode. First though, it's time for the headlines with Chris Spirou on Monday the 22nd of June.
Morning, Sash. Anthony Albanese has convened National Cabinet today to lock in an extension of petrol price relief for Australians.
Chapter 2: How has the National Socialist Network evolved in Australia?
The Prime Minister announced over the weekend that the cut to the fuel excise will be extended by another month, but it'll look a little different. Since it was announced in April, motorists have been paying 32 cents a litre less at the bowser, but from July 1, it will be halved to 16 cents a litre less. Albanese is calling it a step down in relief with hopes of avoiding panic buying.
Well, step down will ensure certainty. We have worked very hard to ensure there is now more petrol, more diesel and more jet fuel in Australia than there was on the 28th of February when this conflict began. That's the Prime Minister speaking on Sky there.
Yeah, so today the leaders from the states and territories will meet with the PM to discuss the measure and also whether they'll agree to continue foregoing GST windfall profits, which is to help fund the relief extension, which is what they've been doing so far. New South Wales, the Premier Chris Minns has already agreed to that. Now, the relief is due to completely wrap up on August 2.
It's worth noting, though, there has been a lot of acknowledgement, especially from Anthony Albanese, that the deal between the US and Iran is shaky still. There are strong hopes that it'll go through and that everything will be fine.
But we know that how that goes depends on how everything else plays out, whether our fuel stocks are affected, whether petrol prices will go up again, you know, if there's blockages in the Strait of Hormuz, for example. So still kind of a wait and see approach. But at this stage, the fuel excise cut is going to wrap up on August 2.
Yeah, and it seems to be something, at least this extension, this lesser extension is something that the opposition has been on board with. So far, they've spoken quite positively about it. And I wasn't expecting that given the cost of it. We know that it's going to cost $400 million.
I was expecting, you know, Liberal MPs and Nat MPs and even One Nation MPs to be coming out really heavy on that point.
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Chapter 3: Who are the wealthy individuals backing Australia's neo-Nazi movement?
But so far, a lot of the coalition MPs have been like, nah, this is a good call. We back the Prime Minister and the government on this one.
Well, because they know it'll be very unpopular to take away fuel relief for Australians because so many people drive.
Over to Switzerland now where JD Vance says great progress is being made in talks aimed at striking a long-term peace deal between the US and Iran.
What the President has asked us to do is turn over a new leaf to transform our relationship with the people of Iran and to extend an outstretched hand that says to the people of Iran that if your leadership is willing to give up being a driver of regional instability,
If they are willing to give up nuclear weapons ambitions for the long term, then the United States is willing to fundamentally transform our relationship with that country. That is certainly our goal. We've already made great progress over just the last few hours, and I expect that we'll make additional progress in the hours to come.
The talks are being called the Lake Luzerne Summit, and they kicked off yesterday with US and Iranian representatives meeting alongside mediators from Pakistan and Qatar. But the optimism is being tested by what's still happening in Lebanon.
Despite the recent memorandum calling for an immediate end to all fighting, Israeli strikes and occupation continue while Hezbollah keeps attacking Israeli forces.
The continued fighting prompted Iran to claim the Strait of Hormuz was once again closed over the weekend, something US officials disputed, but shipping data has shown a slowdown in transit. Donald Trump has weighed in on Truth Social, as he does, demanding Iran immediately stop their highly paid proxies in Lebanon from causing trouble, warning Iran it would be hit hard again if it didn't.
In subsequent interviews, the US president has even floated taking over control of the strait, warning if no deal is made, Washington will collect tolls. Meanwhile, Vance is striking a more positive tone. He's playing down the violence in Lebanon, insisting progress is still being made towards ending the fighting there too.
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Chapter 4: What is the significance of the NSN's new property in Melbourne?
Yeah, now to give some context around this, Starmer is currently deeply unpopular with much of the British public. Just two years after he led Labor to a sweeping general election victory, winning a majority of 174 seats, Since then, his leadership has been plagued by scandals and controversies, including most recently his appointment of Peter Mandelson, who has links to Jeffrey Epstein.
He was given the UK ambassador role to Washington. There has also been issues around slow economic growth. He also tried to cut welfare spending, which was a hugely unpopular move, something that would have impacted older British residents. So yeah, something that definitely did not win him any favour.
Now, if Starmer does resign, as he's expected to, it will see the UK name a seventh prime minister in just 10 years. So I feel like Australia can hang up its hat of having like the worst run of prime minister swaps. We were pretty bad for a while there. Never forget Rudd, Gillard, Rudd. And then we had, what was it, Turnbull, Abbott,
Jeez, the order this early in the morning, please don't test me. But I mean, they had Liz Truss and the lettuce. So, you know, like you said, they can take the crown.
Seven in ten years, they've won the crown well and truly. It's interesting. So Burnham, this man, so if he takes over the leadership of the Labor Party, he becomes prime minister, similar to our system. But he, when he won this by-election last week,
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Chapter 5: How is the NSN challenging its classification as a hate group?
It was significant because he was expected to struggle against Reform UK, which is essentially the UK's one nation. It's the far-right party. Nigel Farage is the leader. And there was a genuine fear. There is a genuine fear that if there's no change in leadership in Australia,
the UK of the Prime Minister of Keir Starmer, that Nigel Farage will become the next Prime Minister and win the next election. So that is what is kind of driving this and this push for Burnham, who has proven popular against Reform UK already. So there's hopes he could do it again as Prime Minister.
Back home and auction clearance rates have dipped below 50% for the first time since the start of the pandemic. The weighted average across Australia dropped to 47% last week, another sign of cooling confidence in the property market. Out of 645 total auctions, only 225 were cleared.
Yeah, significant start of the pandemic. Remember, everything stopped happening in 2020 around March when, you know, the whole world shut down for a period. So significant to see this number again now. Look, a number of factors are at play. And while there has been a recent speeding up of this trend, it has been happening since the start of the year.
So the war in Iran has impacted consumer confidence. So too have rising interest rates and inflation, all of which flow on to housing. And Also influencing the auction clearance rate is, of course, the government's CGT and negative gearing changes, both of which were designed to help keep a lid on house prices by making it less attractive for investors.
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Chapter 6: What impact do wealthy supporters have on the NSN's operations?
It's worth saying though, a lot of economists and experts are saying it's still too early to really get a sense that that is the reason. We know it's not the sole reason, but it's probably a contributing factor.
Yeah, experts say Aussies wanting to sell their houses right now should be realistic about the market and what they might get, describing it as a buyer's market right now, right across the country. It's probably worth noting as well that the property data and the house price data that's been coming out over the last 12 months has been so grim. Property prices are just up, up, up, up, up.
So to hear now that it's a buyer's market at the moment... But weirdly enough, dare I say, that sounds like good news to me. The fact that there's at least some options and people aren't rushing into buying houses and there's some availability moving on and that, you know, there's more choice going around and people aren't being pressured into purchases. Like, that's a good sign, right?
Yeah, well, I mean, it's been a seller's market for a very long time. On the topic of house prices, some recent trends, I mean, Sydney and Melbourne housing values have actually been falling since late last year. Adelaide home values only up 0.3% in the last month. Brisbane's up half a percent in four weeks. Perth's was up 0.9%, which is still a decent rate of growth.
However, it's less than a third of what it was at the end of last year. So really since January, we've seen a big change in house prices. And you're right, it's good for first home buyers. It's good for young people wanting to get into the market. It's not great for people who own property, but that's the thing. It can't be perfect for everyone all at the same time, right?
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Chapter 7: What legal challenges are the NSN facing in the High Court?
So interesting to see how this continues to play out.
And while they may have lost against the US over the weekend, hopes for the Socceroos reaching the next stage of the World Cup have been bolstered by a bunch of matches and moving parts involving everyone else but our boys in green and gold. So in case you missed it, Australia lost 2-0 to the host country on Saturday morning in Seattle. Sad.
Some have pinned that on coach Tony Popovich's decision to bench opening match goal scorers Nestri Irunkunda and Connor Metcalf from the starting XI. Others on some terrible calls from the referee who suddenly cramped in the final minutes of the match. That was wild. Wasn't that diabolical?
If you missed this, you know, usually players like to waste time in extra time so that they can wind the clock down.
The referee! Went down and was being stretched by a player. Like, what is going on? It was crazy. Look, anyway, the point is we lost Australia. Yes, we did. But there are still a few different ways for us to advance to the knockout stages.
Okay, so we'll step through a couple of them. Stick with us. The most comfortable option is that we win or draw against Paraguay this Friday, which the game is at 12pm Australian Eastern Standard Time, I believe. That will mean we finish up second in the group behind the US and away we go.
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Chapter 8: What are the implications of the NSN's actions for Australian society?
One and two go through, so we're fine. Now, if we lose to Paraguay on Friday, we drop to third place in the group. Not ideal. However, it means we rely on the wildcard system where the top eight teams are of the 12 groups get through. So there's 12 groups all up. Eight of the third place positions in those groups are going to be able to advance through this system.
Yes. And because Ecuador drew with Caracal yesterday, that's at least one third place ending team that Australia will do better than. And that has boosted our hopes of getting through the next stage from 32% to now 90%. So people smarter than me have run the numbers and this is where they're at. They're like, There is a 90% shot that our boys will go through.
Also, one of Paraguay's star wingers will be out of action on Friday after he was given a red card against Turkey over the weekend. So that also helps our boys in green and gold. I'm so excited. Look, I did say from the lead up, I did say this US match was going to be tough.
Like I mentioned at the beginning of this story, there were some poor decisions that were made that may have contributed to our loss. I'm not going to call it a significant loss. I'm just going to call it a loss. Friday, I'm back. I'm pulling that jersey back on and my hopes are high. 90% is a good number that I want everyone to linger and hang on to.
Yeah, and apparently, I mean, don't ask me what the team is, but my husband, because he's already run me through all of this and I've gone, yes, honey, yes, yes, yes. Apparently, who we play, if we do advance through, we've actually got a half decent chance of beating two. We could make the semis. Is that right?
That's crap. Look. We could. Sure. I like the word could. I like the hope that you have in your voice. It's beautiful.
All we can do is get up and support our boys. You know, they... Yeah. Saturday, let's just forget about that.
Let's forget about it. It didn't happen.
Thank you, Chris. Thanks for that breakdown. Next up, we are getting into my deep dive, looking into the millionaires who are backing Australia's neo-Nazi movement. It's a very interesting chat. Stick around. That's coming up next.
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