Caroline Marcus:
Welcome back. Now let’s bring in our panel, Institute of Public Affairs research fellow Colleen Harkin and Sky News contributor Karalee Katsambanis. Thank you both for your time tonight. Now, Victoria’s unfolding bushfire crisis has turned deadly, with police discovering a body as fire authorities continue to battle uncontrolled blazes across the state. Colleen, I’ll start with you. The premier there, Jacinta Allan, has defended the funding of the Country Fire Authority amid mounting criticism from its volunteers about under-resourcing. What pressure does this tragedy put on her, do you think?
Colleen Harkin:
Well, the fact that there’s been a tragedy is obviously incredibly sad … excuse me … but the firefighters, particularly the volunteer firefighters, have been calling out for some time about the lack of provision of funding. They’re driving in trucks that are 30 years old, no air conditioning. We already have trouble getting people to volunteer for things, and these people are out there putting their lives literally at risk to defend other people, and it’s not like the state didn’t know that this was going to happen. We live in Australia, bushfires are a frequent occurrence, but the lack of servicing, the maintenance of that equipment and the need to purchase new equipment, it is indefensible, particularly when there’s been this emergency services levy that has been put in place. Where has all that money gone? That’s another question that needs to be addressed.
Caroline Marcus:
Yeah. I mean, look, at the end of the day, it is a natural emergency, but a state has to be prepared and these are legitimate questions to be asked. Karalee, as I mentioned earlier in the show, pro-Palestinian protestors in Melbourne have defied calls to cancel their rally over the weekend, yesterday specifically, despite pleas from the Lord Mayor, Nicholas Reece, and police that holding a protest could divert much-needed resources from this bushfire emergency. I think, yet again, more selfish actions from protestors, who it seems it hasn’t dawned on them yet that there’s a ceasefire in Gaza, but to hold a protest when there’s a natural emergency really beggars belief.
Karalee Katsambanis:
It sure does. Good evening, Caroline and Colleen. Look, it’s dreadful. I mean, I want to say to all these pro-Palestine protesters, “Go and live in Gaza. If it’s so wonderful and you are so supportive of the cause, go and live over there.” The Lord Mayor, Nick Reece, the police, all the community leaders, shopkeepers, Melbourne has been smashed because there’s been 106 protests held over the last two years. It shows that they are very selfish. Did any of them think of volunteering to go and fight the fires? No.
I’m not even going to dignify the horrific slogan that they use, because they are calling for the destruction of the only democracy in the Middle East. But it is true to say that this is now rent-a-crowd. These pro-Palestinian protesters are pro-Maduro. They’re pro-the Ayatollah in Iran. They really do not care about human rights, and they’ve also got the audacity. They go after every single cause and when it actually hits them, they don’t know what to say.
So at the moment in Iran, we have innocent people being gunned down by the Islamic Revolutionary Corps. Are they protesting in support of these people’s freedom after nearly 50 years under the Islamic cleric regime? No, they’re not. And then they’ve also got the audacity to then go and march for gay rights, when they’re actually supporting a regime that kills them. It is absolutely insane. And you know what? It is absolutely amazing, because I’ve come to the conclusion that these people, someone must be paying them. They seem incredibly well organised, with every flag under the sun, every t-shirt printed immediately. This is an organised group worldwide, and calling for the destruction of the democratic country of Israel, the absolute destruction of it and the murdering of Jewish people, is absolutely abhorrent.
And, yes, Caroline, on a day with the Victorian bushfires, resources were diverted with these ridiculous protests that actually hold no weight whatsoever, and I repeat it again. If these people are so concerned about Gaza, head over there. It was amazing on Twitter today. There is a picture. It’s not a meme, but it’s a picture of an empty ocean, with people in Iran saying, “Where is Greta Thunberg’s flotilla for us, to support us wanting actually freedom?”
Caroline Marcus:
I mean, you say they support the Iranian regime, and no doubt some of the protesters do, but they’re utterly silent about what is happening about hundreds of protestors being gunned down in Iran. You’re right about that. Look, let’s move on to 150 schools across New South Wales now adopting a new respectful relationships programme. It’s teaching kids about domestic violence and consent, and the subjects include consent, misogyny and gender stereotypes, hoping to prevent violence against women. Colleen, what do you think about this programme? Do you think that this could just be an opportunity for schools to push this idea of toxic masculinity and shaming boys, or do you think there’s merit in it?
Colleen Harkin:
Well, if you listen to the term, respectful relationship, of course it sounds good. Everybody wants their child to show respect to other people and to the other gender, but the trouble is with a lot of these programmes, the devil is in the detail, and we have seen loads of schools where boys have been asked to stand up and apologise for being a male. And traditional masculinity has been promoted as being toxic somehow, that just because you’re a male and just because you’re a boy, you are somehow responsible for every sin that any male has ever done in the history of man, and so we have to be very careful about what the messaging is to these young men.
We should be celebrating masculinity. We should be encouraging boys to be boys and say to them, “It’s fantastic.” Being a male is a wonderful thing, and this drive to gender equity is actually, ultimately, it’s not really clear whether the outcome that they even desire will happen, because in the Scandinavian countries, they’ve had a longstanding pursuit of gender equity, and the Scandinavian countries are in the top five under the World Economic Forum gender equity, and yet their experience of violence is more than the European average and higher than Australia. So it’s not even clear that some of these programmes have the result that they’re aiming for, and potentially backfire.
Caroline Marcus:
Yeah. Well, I … look, domestic violence, consent, they’re worthy topics to discuss. I wish it happened more in the home, more families were discussing it, rather than schools having to take on yet another responsibility, but I share your concerns, Colleen. Colleen Harkin and Karalee Katsambanis, thank you so much for your time tonight.
This transcript of Colleen Harkin talking on Credlin – Sky News Australia from 12 January 2026 has been edited for clarity.
