Andrew Bolt:
Joining me is Sky News host James Macpherson and Mia Schlicht, research fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.
James, you used to be a pastor in a Christian Church. Did you ever in your church have this kind of problem with gay bashers bashing for their faith and people forcing girls to marry men they didn’t want?
James Macpherson:
Andrew, Christian churches are far from perfect, but no, this is not something that you will ever associate with any sort of church in Australia. Now to be clear, Christianity says homosexuality is a sin, but Jesus also teaches very clearly while we call out sin, we are to love the sinner. And it was Jesus who said, “Unless you’ve lived a perfect life, maybe don’t throw stones.” So there’s that.
So anyone who did anything like this and claimed to be a Christian would be in complete violation of the Bible and the teachings and the example of Jesus Christ.
But while we’re talking about failings of the church, you remember there was a Royal Commission where the church was forced to confront its problems with child abuse and the failure to report it. Now, that’s instructive in this instance because if there is an issue within Islam that is leading people to bash gays and to engage in child marriages, there’s nothing to be gained by pretending it doesn’t exist or by obfuscating for the sake of the community and indeed for the sake of Muslims themselves. This should be confronted in the same way that the church had to confront issues of sexual abuse.
In seeking to not stigmatise Muslims, we’ve stigmatised everybody. And that is hardly fair or helpful. So we need to deal with this issue sensibly, honestly, and for the good of everybody.
Andrew Bolt:
Now, I’ve got to say again that it’s not condoned, force marriages are not condoned in Islam. It’s just that it seems to be prevalent in Muslim communities, nevertheless.
Now, Mia, the sensitivity that you saw with the federal police, for instance, and with the forced marriage charity, I guess they’re thinking we don’t want to stigmatise our community, the Muslim community. We don’t want to do that. But is that a good enough reason for blinding us to where a problem is very prevalent?
Mia Schlicht:
No, it’s absolutely not a good enough reason. We’ve got horrific instances of things happening on our streets like bashing or underage girls being forced into marriages. That’s a really big problem that’s occurring here in Australia. And the only way through that is to reveal all the facts. I want to make sure that never ever happens again for any reason. And the only way we can make sure it never happens again is to find out why exactly it did happen.
And all religions, there’s been problems with many religions. But I will point out that for example, when there were issues with the Catholic Church and there are allegations of abuse and misconduct, the media absolutely threw its full weight behind calling out those institutions. And I think it’s a bit of a hypocrisy that here we’re protecting basically extremists who are hiding behind their religion, which is also wrong. And it’s also insulting to other Muslims who this absolutely is not a Muslim issue, it’s extremists and they’re the ones being protected in all of this. I mean, come on.
Andrew Bolt:
And also, I think it’s also blinding people to the wider problem of integration from people of a different culture. It has specific issues. And I don’t know why politicians have flinched from admitting that.
To a new analysis, James, in the Financial Review using research by domain, this shocked me. It highlights what I think is not just an economic disaster, but a social one. It says an average couple under 34 and on a median income cannot afford an entry-level house at median prices in any Australian city now. And the price of houses at the lower end of the market has actually grown nationally from just over $400,000 to 685,000 in just five years. It’s grown 68% when wages have grown only 22%. How bad do you think it is to have made houses unaffordable for so many of our young?
James Macpherson:
Andrew, it’s terrible. I’ve got young adult children. They’re never going to leave home at this rate. There’s a couple of major problems with this. The first is that if our young people can’t afford to buy a home in capital cities, they are going to delay long-term relationships and/or marriage. That means that children will come later in life, if at all. And we’ve got a major problem with population growth or lack thereof in this country. The housing crisis is only going to exacerbate that.
And a second problem, of course, is that young people will grow incredibly frustrated, realising they have no hope or future in purchasing a home. That will only lead to civil unrest. And the likelihood of young people abandoning your traditional political parties, Labour, Liberal and seeking those groups that will disrupt the status quo, maybe even with crazy suggestions such as the Greens have on housing. But can you really blame young people for being attracted to some of those extreme policies such as the Greens put forward when Liberal and Labour are offering them absolutely zero hope at all?
Andrew Bolt:
Mia, it is really a social disaster, isn’t it? Because owning your own home is almost literally putting roots into the community. You plant your garden. In a rental home, you wouldn’t do that. You probably couldn’t do that. You paint your own home. You’re invested in it. It’s a socialising thing. Plus the debt, of course, makes a lot of men stick to the straight and narrow.
Mia Schlicht:
Yeah. Look, Andrew, I’m one of those young people who doesn’t own a home, and that dream is slowly slipping further and further away with each terrible decision that this government makes.
But it’s more than just owning a home. It’s about giving young people a stake in the nation. And that’s really important. And the ABS released new data. It was just this month, and it showed that housing dwelling approval numbers are less than they were a decade ago, despite the population growing by 15%.
So clearly we have a supply problem that this government is completely incapable of addressing. So I think it’s about time that we start looking at the demand issue, and that’s looking at our out-of-control migration programme that’s not benefiting those who already live here and those who want to come here. And without addressing that, I don’t see there any solution occurring.
Andrew Bolt:
Can I just ask you Mia, I mean the Prime Minister coming under attack for calling Grace Tame difficult. A lot of women said, “Oh, that’s misogynistic.” Not a lot of women, some women amplified by the media. As a woman, did you find that word particularly gendered?
Mia Schlicht:
No, absolutely not. I mean, there are plenty of difficult women out there. There are plenty of difficult men out there. It’s not a misogynistic term at all. And I honestly thought it was really, really weak by Albanese to come cowardly pander to Grace Tame’s accusations there. I mean, this is why mainstream Australians are sick and tired of our political class just pandering to these elitist activists. If Grace Tame is so concerned about the offence that was caused by that term, why doesn’t the Prime Minister call out Grace Tame and ask her to apologise for the offence she caused by basically leading a crowd to chant globalise the Intifada? Why don’t we talk about that offence that was caused, but no, it only matters when Grace Tame is offended.
Andrew Bolt:
And is she going to apologise for calling an old man very personal. Jason Macpherson and Mia Schlicht, thank you very much to you both.
This transcript with Mia Schlicht talking on Bolt Report Sky News Australia from 26 February 2026 has been edited for clarity.
