Rita Panahi:
Joining me now is News Corp Senior Writer Patrick Carlyon and Institute of Public Affairs Research Fellow Colleen Harkin. Patrick, this is a travesty. The Labour government, the prison authorities, they’re also preoccupied with what’s in the interest of this killer than protecting vulnerable female prisoners.
Patrick Carlyon:
It’s ideology gone mad. And you look at Mr. Rintoull, he’s one of seven biological men who have been transferred to female prisons since I think about 2003 in Victoria because of their gender preferences. Now that puts at risk … And some of them had been convicted of sexual assault.
Rita Panahi:
Yeah.
Patrick Carlyon:
What the hell is happening? Where is common sense here? You’re putting women at risk.
Rita Panahi:
I wrote about this back in 2022 when female prisoners from Melbourne’s biggest female prison, Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, contacted me. They had a petition put together because prison authorities were ignoring them. They did not feel safe with a male sexual predator being put in their prison. Patrick, nobody was listening to them, not the Labour government, not prison authorities, and not even the liberal opposition.
Patrick Carlyon:
It is ideology gone mad. To put women at risk, you’re talking about dangerous men, biological men, who have been convicted of terrible crimes. And in this case, Mr. Rintoull, can we call him Mr. Rintoull?
Rita Panahi:
Well, he’s a killer. He killed someone-
Patrick Carlyon:
He’s a murderer.
Rita Panahi:
… with an iron pole.
Patrick Carlyon:
Yes.
Rita Panahi:
It was a brutal killing. And to put someone like that and is now free, so this is the sort of state, Colleen, where you can be sentenced, I think it was back in 2009, if I remember correctly, was sentenced for that killing. You can commit a sexual assault in prison and still, you’re free in 2026 to walk the streets. In fact, it was released some time ago.
But the media is part of the problem here, Colleen. They demonise women who raise this as an issue, calling them anti-trans as opposed to women’s rights campaigners. And they will mangle the English language to respect they/them pronouns instead of actually just being accurate and calling this man what he is.
Colleen Harkin:
Look, and I find it quite difficult reading an article when they’re using they/them because-
Rita Panahi:
For an individual.
Colleen Harkin:
Right? It doesn’t flow, it’s quite difficult to understand the context of what’s going on. But this, I agree with you, Richard, this is absolutely ideology gone mad and too many people acquiesce to ideology above everything else, obviously above women’s rights to safety, but even above prison rights. Our prisons are not places for social experiments or radical experiments where women are vulnerable in those places. So there’s-
Rita Panahi:
And a lot of those women, sorry to interrupt, Colleen, are already victims of sexual violence.
Colleen Harkin:
Sexual abuse, correct.
Rita Panahi:
So they are particularly vulnerable. They’re locked up with a predator with male body parts. And they’re already being victimised. In this case, it was a survivor of rape who was assaulted at a place she should have been safe. And we don’t still know how much of taxpayer funds went into compensating this victim for that particular crime, so there needs to be a little bit of transparency in this area.
Now let’s move on to some federal issues. The architect of the capital gains tax discount has warned Labour there will be consequences if they alter it for a revenue grab. John Ralph organised the first review to the discount for the Howard government back in 1999. There reports Jim Chalmers is expected to use his May budget to reduce the discount from 50%. John Ralph has warned the capital gains tax changes could have an effect on housing supply, telling The Australian newspaper, “If you make it unattractive to hold a property, whether it’s existing or new, the consequences of that are a reduction in rental properties and that would mean the price of rents would go up.”
Colleen, this is going to have all sorts of ugly unintended consequences, but it seems like the treasurer is quite keen on this particular proposal. Ideologically, Labour loves this sort of stuff.
Colleen Harkin:
Yeah, I don’t know that it’s unintended, Rita I think it was actually intended.
This is a revenue grab, it’s an obvious revenue grab from Aussies who are just trying to get ahead. They’ve put enough money together to get an investment property. They’re trying to make themselves completely independent of government dependency and all power to them. We should be celebrating these people, not penalising them for having done the right thing for years to save up to get that deposit to get ahead.
Look, I think that there’s a fundamental problem here that the treasurer doesn’t seem to understand Economics 101, that government spending is part of or very much part of the accrued spending, therefore it’s a contributor, a large contributor to inflation, which is what’s causing the problem. So they want to just go and grab money from somewhere else. I seriously wonder if there’s a better portfolio for the treasurer because he doesn’t seem to be fit for purpose.
Rita Panahi:
I say we give him sport. He can’t do much damage there. He can go along to all sorts of sporting events. It’s fun.
Patrick Carlyon:
A lot of travel.
Colleen Harkin:
Lots of travel.
Rita Panahi:
And I think he fits his skillset more because I think he likes to jog occasionally, so he’s got some sort of expertise, moreso than economics. I think it was absent the day they taught economics at school.
But this is classic Labour indulging in the politics of envy and we’ve seen right here in Victoria what happens when you have a disincentive for everyday mum and dad investors to invest in property. We’ve got enormous land tax here, all sorts of tenancy laws that are in favour of tenants. And people are selling up at record numbers, rents are going up. And also, you’re going to have less supply of property because there’s less incentive for people to build because you’ve got investors out of the market essentially.
Patrick Carlyon:
That’s right. Well, I think Peter Costello and John Howard probably say it best, it’s anti-aspirational to actually punish people for doing well. And as Colleen says, another 10 billion bucks in revenue for the government to spend to push up inflation. And the effects of it, no one’s actually … The experts disagree. Will it mean less houses? Will it mean rents will go up because there’s fewer rental properties? It could have all sorts of intended and unintended consequences that no one really seems to agree on.
Rita Panahi:
And there seems to just be this hang-up Labour have about property investment. You can invest in all sorts of other vehicles, share portfolios, businesses, and you get all sorts of tax breaks there that they’re quite comfortable with it seems. But when it comes to property, they have a real sort of chip on their shoulder about that.
Now let’s have a look at this incredible story that I’m going to play you an exchange that’s going to shock you. Last year, multiple people were arrested and charged after allegedly defrauding taxpayers of at least $8 million by impersonating sick Australians to steal their Medicare benefits. Among those arrested were men awaiting deportation in immigration detention. Services Australia officials faced Senate estimates last week where they confirm the accused fraudsters are no longer in detention nor in the prison system. Instead, they have been released into the Victorian community. Have a listen.
James Paterson:
Those three individuals who have been charged, are they just remaining in immigration detention or have they been incarcerated in the prison system? What is their status?
Peter Timson:
My understanding is they’ve been released on bail and being given visas as persons prosecuted before or alleged prosecutions before the court.
James Paterson:
Wait, so they’re out of immigration detention after allegedly committing an $8 million Medicare fraud-
Peter Timson:
That’s a matter for the Department of Home Affairs, Senator –
James Paterson:
I’m not suggesting you’re responsible, but if you’re aware of the facts, they’re important. So they commit alleged fraud in immigration detention, and then they’re released on bail on visas?
Peter Timson:
That’s correct.
James Paterson:
That seems, again, not your area of responsibility but surprising. Have you-
Peter Timson:
Can I just say, they’re out on bail conditions as well.
James Paterson:
For sure. I would hope. One would hope. In Victoria, not very strict, generally speaking.
Rita Panahi:
Surprising, indeed. I’m lost for words like James Paterson there, Patrick,
Patrick Carlyon:
It sets an example, doesn’t it? You want to get out of detention, you commit a crime, a bailable crime, and then two days later you’re out on the street. You got exactly what you wanted because you committed a crime. That’s ludicrous.
Rita Panahi:
And if they have actually committed 8 million in fraud, Colleen, that’s a lot of money to use to perhaps escape any further the punishment.
Colleen Harkin:
Correct. Surprising just doesn’t do the situation justice.
Patrick Carlyon:
No.
Colleen Harkin:
It’s outrageous. But it also, it’s indicative of the weakness in the immigration detention centre situation because how long were they there for? And how quickly should they have been removed from Australia? They should have been gone, they shouldn’t have been able to do this. What is going on in the immigration system that they can do that? And I agree with you, what’s a flight risk? They’ve got 8 million bucks of our money.
Rita Panahi:
Allegedly. Now, before you go, Colleen, I know education is your area of expertise. I’ve got to ask you about this. Victorian Teachers Union has called for a four-day working week. They want a trial for education staff. The Australian Education Union is recommending a 30-hour job share model in state schools that would expand working from home options for teachers while keeping students at school five days a week, thank God. The union says it will be making teaching a more attractive industry and it will address barriers to women’s participation in the workforce and the gender pay gap. Yes, because there’s not enough female teachers. It’s obviously a profession overrun by white men.
Colleen Harkin:
Privileged males. Yeah.
Rita Panahi:
Privileged males. Yes, all that toxic masculinity, that they’re just taking … I shouldn’t – can’t say it. They’re extracting the urine here, Colleen. Australian teachers are well paid by international standards and don’t get me started on the holidays.
Colleen Harkin:
Yeah. Look, this is a different problem, I think, Rita, because if they were talking about going to four days a week because they’re going to get all the rubbish out of the curriculum and just focus on core skills development and making sure we’ve got well-educated kids, I’d have a different conversation. But that’s not what they’re doing. This is trying to backfill the government’s promise of two-day working week. And they’re trying to manipulate the system to say, “Well, now we have to work out a way that it is appropriate for teachers.”
Rita Panahi:
Yeah. We want in on this.
Colleen Harkin:
We want in on this, right?
Rita Panahi:
Yes.
Colleen Harkin:
So the unions and the government need to actually focus on what is the purpose of school? It’s a core service to the community. It is not about union ambition or government’s politicising election campaigns. It’s supposed to be about looking after kids and students, and that’s exactly what they’re not interested in doing.
Rita Panahi:
Well, the unions, as we know, Patrick, have a lot of power over Labour, particularly in Victoria. Can you see them giving into this demand?
Patrick Carlyon:
Look, it’s basically a 20% pay rise, isn’t it?
Rita Panahi:
It is actually.
Patrick Carlyon:
20% less working, get paid the same. We’re seeing this a lot, and it does go back to the work from home legislation, which I think is a political ploy by the Allan government. It’s popular with women. There is no need for it. It actually will have unintended consequences, perhaps with teachers. And perhaps the police union was saying the same thing. Jobs where you have to be on the ground to do your core job are actually suddenly a lot less appealing if most jobs are three days a week in the office.
Rita Panahi:
That is a very good point. And the police association has said that, it’s going to make it harder for them to recruit quality staff because there are some jobs where you need to be there, like police officers, ambulance officers, and you would think teachers as well. Patrick Carlyon, Colleen Harkin, thank you so much for your time.
This transcript with Colleen Harkin talking on The Rita Panahi Show Sky News Australia 17 February 2026 has been edited for clarity.
