Murray Olds: Australian correspondent on Sussan Ley walking back call for Kevin Rudd to resign

Over in Australia, Opposition leader Sussan Ley has walked back hear earlier comments calling for Kevin Rudd to resign as US ambassador.

Ley earlier suggested Rudd leave the role after US President Donald Trump criticised him during a meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Australian correspondent Murray Olds explained the situation further. 

LISTEN ABOVE

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Murray Old's Australia correspondents. So that's hello, MS. Very good afternoon, Heather.

Speaker 2 (00:04):
So how much is Elbow costing you people? Well, we're
not we're not, We're not sure, but it's going to
be an eye watering amount of money.

Speaker 1 (00:15):
Good question.

Speaker 2 (00:16):
I mean, he's home after a much much better expected
meeting than even he would have hoped there for with
Donald Trump, there's the Rare Earth's deal to mine and
partially process these products here with US and Australian government support,
plus of course the private sectors involved.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
And Trump gave very enthusiastic backing for the Orcus submarine
project and didn't bully Australia into boosting defense spending. He
also declared that Elbow was his besting, complete confidence in
Albanezi and in Australia. But very good question of yours.
At what cost? No idea year about yet about Rare Earths.

(00:55):
The deal itself eight and a half billion dollars, but
how much will taxpayers contribute? Plus news court.

Speaker 2 (01:01):
Papers over here, Heather are reporting today that the Australian
Defense Department has been told to pay for ucas these
submarines are nearly four hundred billion dollars. To pay for these,
we have to cut maintenance on existing Australian Defense Force
things like aircraft, things like ships, delay projects, cut as
much as possible from the workforce budget, even cut the

(01:24):
flying hours of the Air Force.

Speaker 1 (01:27):
I mean there's no surprise here. I mean all the
cash is being plowed into the submarine program, but still
on the books head that an Australian Defense Force. Mandarins
have got a dreadful track record. Here's the latest one.
The Navy's buying new frigates at the cost of six
billion dollars a ship. That's four times the cost of
an off the shelf identical boat out of America. But

(01:49):
each Australian ship it's got to have special Australian tweaks,
you know, they have to.

Speaker 2 (01:53):
Have company of bunks or whatever. Nine billion dollars for
a frigate per boat. Now, this is the sort of
stuff that's extravaganst, the waste that people are howling about,
and it's only going to get worse.

Speaker 1 (02:06):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:07):
Now, I see Susan Lee has finally come to her
in senses and she doesn't want Kevin Rudd sacked.

Speaker 1 (02:13):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (02:14):
Well, I mean they fell on I mean look, Donald
Trump gave Kevin Run a backhander in the White House
beating all pretty funny. The opposition here fell on that
like a starving dog on a bone.

Speaker 1 (02:26):
I swear to God.

Speaker 2 (02:27):
Susan Lee couldn't oh howling howling for Rudd to resign,
to be sacked, But within twenty four hours she was
being publicly contradicted by another liberal woman, one who Lea
sacked herself. Put it down the back bench because this
woman backed Peter Dutton. And then another front bench has
come out trying to hose down the opposition criticism, saying

(02:47):
it would be ideal to have an ambassador who hasn't
previously attacked the president but appointedly that.

Speaker 1 (02:53):
Person did not call for Rudd's removal.

Speaker 2 (02:56):
Just another case of the opposition not knowing which day
of the week it is.

Speaker 1 (03:00):
It's just dreadful.

Speaker 2 (03:02):
Mars listener, how do you get buried with your pets?
Which one of you goes first and which one gets
put down to go with the other one? Well, look,
love my dog dearly, but I'm not sure the dog
would be capable of supervising my funeral and there hopping
in after me. It's got to be the other way
around and I didn't even know this was the thing.
It's apparently been in New South Wales for many, many years.
You can have your pet, obviously the pet will die first,

(03:26):
the pets interred.

Speaker 1 (03:27):
In the plot you've bought, and then you hop in afterwards.

Speaker 2 (03:31):
Right now, down to Victoria, there's a woman who's an
MP in the state Parliament with the Animal Justice Party
and she's been jumping up. Now it's outrageous. We haven't
got similar laws in Victoria. This woman, by the way,
he has got about twenty seven pets. She's got a donkey,
you know, sundry cats multiple months, she's got snakes and
birds and all sorts of twenty seven pets. This woman's gone,

(03:53):
so it's a buddy big grave when she shovels off.
But in any event, the new laws are going to
be passing Victoria. And if you run a cemetery, why
should the law say no. I mean, it's perfectly safe
and you know it's hygienic and all the rest of it. Apparently,
in New Zealand, the Funeral Directors Association says there's no
reference to pets in the relevant legislation, so it's generally

(04:17):
considered illegal.

Speaker 1 (04:18):
But local government at that level they made aside to
exempt it.

Speaker 2 (04:21):
I mean, if you got what, if you got a
little dashound or something, maybe it's a bit different with
I don't know, a bloody great.

Speaker 1 (04:27):
Big Saint Bernard or something.

Speaker 2 (04:29):
But if you're going to hop into the grave with
a little, you know, a sausage dog, who's going to
be upset with that?

Speaker 1 (04:36):
No one? Really is a very good point that you make.

Speaker 2 (04:38):
Must thank you, Marry Old's Australia correspondent. For more from
Hither Duplessy Allen Drive, listen live to news talks it'd
be from four pm weekdays, or follow the podcast on
iHeartRadio