Sharri Markson:
Well, it’s a big show tonight. I’ve got the former head of Mossad, counterintelligence coming up in a moment. But now let’s bring in former Victorian Liberal Party President, Michael Kroger, and IPA Chief Economist, Adam Creighton. Great to see you both. I just want to bring in some breaking news. This has just been reported that Dennis Richardson, who was leading an intelligence review as part of the Royal Commission into Antisemitism, has announced that he is standing down. He will not be doing this review. Michael, you’re probably just hearing this now from me for the first time, but my understanding is that Dennis Richardson does have other commitments, that that could be what’s behind this move. Michael, he would have been a very welcome addition. He’s trusted by all sides, by the Jewish community and by the intelligence community.
Michael Kroger:
Other commitments? I don’t think so. Sharri, this is extremely concerning. If you read the scoop that The Australian have just published online, there is a slight reference to him being concerned about being able to do his work properly, whatever that means. But the conclusion I draw … And you’re absolutely right, everyone trusts Richardson. When Richardson was appointed, the whole country gave a collective sigh of relief knowing that it would be someone who was completely independent and trustworthy doing this work. If Richardson’s resigned and the Royal Commissioner gave no comment as to why he’d resigned, boy, that’s a very deep concern and it will send alarm bells through the Jewish community and non-Jewish community members alike, because his loss has to be explained. And the Royal Commission needs to explain it and needs to explain it urgently, because this does not read well for this Royal Commission.
Sharri Markson:
Well, she has put out a statement, the Commissioner, Virginia Bell. Let’s bring that up on the screen if we have it. I’ll read it out here. She said, “As I noted at the Commission’s initial hearing, Mr. Richardson was uniquely well-placed to advise on the material to be sought from our intelligence and security agencies in order to assess the effectiveness of their preparedness for and response to a terrorist attack.” And she then went on to thank him and say that a couple of those people who were helping him, Tony Sheehan and Peter Baxter, will remain with the Commission to continue on the interim report. So as you just pointed out there, Michael Kroger, no explanation for why precisely he has stepped down, although as I said, I do understand he did have other commitments. All right, let’s move on now.
Michael Kroger:
Well, he knew that when he took … Sharri, he knew that when he took on the job-
Sharri Markson:
Correct.
Michael Kroger:
… So that’s not why he’s resigned.
Sharri Markson:
Correct. All right, let’s move on now. I just want to get a comment from you, Adam Creighton, about the John Howard documentary that we just saw. Isn’t it a reminder of what strong, stable, values-based, sensible leadership was like?
Adam Creighton:
Yeah, look, that’s certainly true. I was just thinking about the tax reforms that the Howard government did. They had a much smaller majority than the current government, the Albanese government. And yet in this term, we’re just going to get a change of one percentage point in one income tax rate. That’s all we’re getting. Whereas the Howard government, of course with a smaller majority, did bold tax reform, the GST, huge changes to the income tax scales. So it was a much more visionary government, had much more impact. But I think back to the quality of the cabinet in that era was just so much greater. The individuals in that cabinet were individually very impressive human beings, and I think the quality, I think it’s fair to say has probably declined over time. That is another discussion, but that’s the first thing I thought.
Sharri Markson:
Michael, it’s also a reminder that political comebacks are possible. It’s probably something the Liberal Party needs to hear at this point in time.
Michael Kroger:
Yeah. Well, first of all, the Chris Uhlmann and Mark Calvert, what a stunning piece of work that was. My goodness. For some,, an old party hack like me, your life flashes before your eyes when you see that and see all those figures. What great figures the Howard government had, Costello and Reith, Downer, the Kemp Brothers, Richard Alston, the great national party figures. I mean, what a tour de force that government was. John Anderson, Tim Fischer. But history’s a funny thing. I look back to 1989 when John Howard lost the leadership of the Liberal Party to Andrew Peacock, and I’ve always been partly blamed for him losing the leadership, because a couple of days before he lost the leadership, on May the 9th, three sitting members lost pre-selections here in Victoria to Peter Costello, David Kemp and the late Julian Beale. And Andrew Peacock and his supporters used that as one of the reasons to get rid of John on May the 9th by saying that Howard didn’t stand up enough for his sitting member colleagues.
And that’s one of the reasons, not the only reason, but it was a part of the reason John lost the leadership in May 1989.And quite frankly, thank goodness he did, because history records that even though Andrew got majority of the vote in the 1990 election, I doubt John would have won the 1990 election. If he hadn’t won the 1990 election, he would have lost two elections in a row. He would never have been leader of the party after the ’90 election. He wouldn’t have come back in ’93 or ’96. And boy, how history would have been different. So John lost the leadership in those circumstances, and through the twist of history he came back, and what a magnificent figure John Howard has been and what a magnificent prime minister he was.
Sharri Markson:
Indeed. Adam, I’ve been keen to have you on the show to ask you about the fuel prices, how this is going to impact on inflation-
Adam Creighton:
Sure.
Sharri Markson:
… and whether you think we will face another rate rise.
Adam Creighton:
Yes. Look, I think that we will. The fuel price globally has fallen a little in the past few days, but it’s still about $30 USD a barrel greater than it was about a month ago. That is a huge increase, and it’s going to add about 0.5 to one percentage point to the rate of inflation nationally throughout this year. So certainly, we are looking now at one or two more interest rate rises. That’s going to have a huge impact on the economy. It’s going to have a bad impact on the economy. But of course, for the government’s point of view, they now have an excuse. They can blame everything on this war and they have already started to do that, when actually the cause of inflation really is mainly the government, not the oil price. The oil price is only about 3% of the consumer price index.
But the politics are very interesting. The economics is very interesting. We just have to wait and see how the war goes. Hopefully the price will come down further, but it could go up. I mean, we just don’t know. There’s so much uncertainty in the fog of war.
Sharri Markson:
Of course, and Trump is taking that action that I already spoke about in the Strait of Hormuz. But we know, as you say, that inflation was already rising. We’ve already had that one interest rate lift, but now I bet you, Michael, the rest of the year, the Albanese government’s phrase will probably be, “global factors.”
Michael Kroger:
Yes, of course. Well, we saw that after the Ukraine war started and how wrong that complaint was, that it was all to do with them. This is just politics, Sharri. What’s the bigger issue here? Look, we had petrol rationing during Second World War. I mean, that’s just what happens in a war. This whole notion that there’s fuel supply shortages or whatever. Well, yes, of course. This is a worldwide phenomenon during the war. Churchill said in 1940 that one of the reasons they were at war with Nazi Germany was to end the scourge of Nazism throughout the world, because he saw them creeping throughout Europe. This is what happens. When you start World War III against this neo-Nazi regime, there are consequences. I’m sorry about that. But this notion that, “Oh, 11 days in, it’s an endless war,” for goodness’s sake. When Chamberlain said we’re at war with Germany in 1939, he didn’t say, “Don’t worry, folks, it’s only going for 12 days. It’s a short, sharp war against Adolf Hitler. It’ll be over in a few weeks.”
People didn’t think, “Oh, well, we need a short, sharp war.” I mean, Lindsey Graham’s got it right. This will be a great triumph for American Trump, Israel, and the free world if there’s regime change in Iran. And if there isn’t, despite all the achievements of the American government in what’s happening, it won’t be a complete victory if that regime stays in place, Sharri.
Sharri Markson:
Agree. It would have been a wasted opportunity. Very quickly before we go, we’ve been discussing this week an incredible story that Ben Fordham broke. Two foster children, age 12 and 14, have been living with a triple killer, Reginald Arthurell, who now calls himself Regina. Well, Ben had on this morning, the New South Wales Government Minister, Kate Washington, who admitted that her department was first told about this back in December. Now, Adam, this entire story is beyond belief.
Adam Creighton:
Well, look, it’s just a reminder of the inefficiency of bureaucracies, and they don’t have the best interests of their subjects at heart, as an ordinary family would or relations of the family would. So look, it’s a shocking situation, but sadly, these sorts of situations are inevitable with government. And we just have to face up to those facts and let’s hope they happen less.
Sharri Markson:
I disagree with that. You don’t want them to be inevitable. You want proper checks to be done about who foster children are living with. I mean, that’s the very least we can expect, surely. Moving on to a final topic-
Adam Creighton:
Well, of course, but you will never have perfect government, Sharri.
Sharri Markson:
Well, I mean, you should have a perfect situation where every foster parents or people in the house are checked by the Department of Community Services. We’ve got 20 seconds, so I’ll end on this one. Clive Palmer announced his political comeback today, and you think he would claim he changed policies, but listen to what he said.
Clive Palmer:
I’ve lost a lot of weight. Can’t you see that? I’ve been on a keto diet. I’ve been running. Right? I’ve been reinvigorated by not having too much sugar and too much carbohydrates. I think-
Sharri Markson:
Michael, he’s quit sugar. It’s going to make all the difference.
Michael Kroger:
Oh, enough. I mean, look, can he please stop advertising on Sky News? I don’t want to watch him all day for the next two years, please. Go on the other networks, please, Clive.
Sharri Markson:
Yeah. Right.
Michael Kroger:
Give us a break.
Sharri Markson:
All right. We might like the ad income, but that’s all he’s good for, I think, Clive Palmer. All right, Michael Kroger, Adam Creighton, great to see you.
This transcript of Adam Creighton on Sharri Sky News Australia from 11 March 2026 has been edited for clarity.
