Steve Price: Australia Correspondent on the additional charges laid against Alan Jones

An additional two charges have been laid against former Australian broadcaster Alan Jones. 

The 83-year-old is now facing a total of 26 indecent assault charges, relating to nine alleged victims over the span of two-decades. 

Jones was granted conditional bail, and has been scheduled to appear at Downing Centre local court in Sydney on the 18th of December. 

Australian Correspondent Steve Price told Mike Hosking that the complainants now include a prominent Olympian, a 17-year-old, and several men who were under his employ. 

He says that it’s one of the most high-profile cases of its type they’ve ever seen, with two very prominent Australians —former Prime Minister John Howard and James Packer— both backing Jones. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Speaking of boomer Steve Price, how are you.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Well, my millennials spend less than me because I paid
for everything.

Speaker 1 (00:06):
Yes, isn't that one of the great lessons of life?
Ellen Jones? Where do you think this goes? Because they
added a couple yesterday, a couple of charges yesterday, and
they're looking for more people to come forward, and one
imagines there will be people coming forward.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
Yes. Well, I should say I worked with Jones for
a long time, filled in and did his radio program
for a long time, and so I know him pretty well.
There's always been discussion, rumors, but the police have been
working very hard on this. They had a task force
on it after the Cidney Monty held a year ago
reported allegations of inappropriate behavior as you know, and has

(00:43):
been reporting. I'm sure he's now been charged. Two more
charges announced yesterday. The police said that was quote. Following
through the legal advice, Jones has been charged with an
extra two counts of assault with an active indecency relating
to an alleged victim. The complainants now include a prompt
to Olympian, a seventeen year old and several men who
were under his employee out. We should point out. His

(01:06):
lawyer said he denies any misconduct and assert his innocence
in court where it goes well, it goes back to
court on the eight eighth of December. My other colleague
from t GB and I would describe him as a
friend of mine. Ray Hadley on Are yesterday entered he
may provide evidence in the case against Alan Jones by
At the same time, two very prominent Australians, one being

(01:29):
the former Pro Minister John Howard and the other being
James Packer, the son of Kerry Packer, both said that
they stick by their friend. They would allow the court
process to play out, but that he still has their support.
You've got to say it's one of the most high
profile cases of its type that we've ever seen and
probably lucky never to see.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
Again if it turns out poorly for Ellen Jones, probably
one of the greatest falls from grace ever.

Speaker 2 (01:56):
Wouldn't it be very easily? Yes? Men, We have had
high profile Australians previously end up in prison, most notably
probably Allan Bond. But I would describe it, I would
compare it to an Allen Bond type example. Bond, of
course was a big Air owned half the country, breweries

(02:17):
and all sorts of things. He ended up in prison.
It will have to wait and see. But if Allan
has found guilty of what he's been charged with, he
will do time in jail. And he is eighty three.

Speaker 1 (02:29):
Years old exactly. Chris Bowen, so was he a copp
as well? How many people you have a cop Well
we had.

Speaker 2 (02:36):
Two senior misters at Copp, but Bowen was the most senior.
Is the environment minister. And I think Australians has got
to be right to wake up this morning and go okay,
confusion's over here. Now we're going to have an election
in a few months. If you vote for the Coalition,
you're voting for a country that realizes it has the
energy to build nuclear power plants to keep the lights on,

(02:58):
or you're voting for the government who believes all of
your energy can come from renewables. Bowen yesterday he has
had to defend outlaw lawing nuclear energy. So what happened
was we're in this ORCS agreement with the Yukon and
US nuclear submarines. They have them, we want them, We're
going to service them here, We're going to build them
here eventually. So we're going to have a nuclear industry.

(03:18):
So Ed Milliband, who is the Energy Minister for the UK,
he comes out and says, oh, well, his country was
reversing a legacy of no nuclear being delivered moving forward,
they were going to advance their nuclear energy reactive program
and he included Australia in that. And Bowen came out
and said, hey, Yang, in a minute, we're not having
any part of that. And so now you've got the

(03:40):
situation where Bowen has been described as an embarrassment. Peter
Dutton has quickly jumped on all this said we had
become international embarrassment under the Albanizy government after we refuse
to sign this document. The Minerals Council Chief executive. She
said the refusal to renew membership of a key international
nuclear technology forum was a missed opportunity that undermines the

(04:02):
strength of our partnership. So I think I'm right. I mean,
now it's very clear one hundred percent.

Speaker 1 (04:08):
And what I sort of like about Dutton is he
was written off as unelectable and yet he seemingly picked
an issue. And I'm reading a lot on nuclear at
the moment. I mean, we're never going to be nuclear
here because we're famously anti nuclear and we're sort of
myopic about it, and we can't get out of our
own way, and we've got the same problems you have,
and we think renewables are going to solve the problem
and they aren't. And we can't turn the lights on

(04:29):
a winter and we want to host data centers and
all that crap. But at least you've advanced the cause
to the point where it's a genuine election issue and
it may well go in his favor.

Speaker 2 (04:40):
Yes, And if he wins executive what will happen? We
will have a nuclear industry. I mean, and the labor
premiers in some of the states that the mineral rich
are really constructed, I mean really conflicted here because they
want to do it, but their National Party of which
they're a member, they're saying, no, we don't want any
part of it. I mean, if you had Peter mallanascus
on a the Premier of South Australia, in a truth serumy,

(05:02):
so yeah you did.

Speaker 1 (05:02):
Let's go on a truth serum the Business Council. So
here's the thing I always like to hear about, because
of course there's millions of us coming across to live
in Australia. Australia is not as fleash, correct me if
I'm wrong. It is not as flash as some people
might think it as business wise and doing business in
the economy.

Speaker 2 (05:21):
No, it isn't. And this is a very important report.
It was released yesterday by the Business Council, probably four
months out from an election. How's the language here? This
report said Australia is standing on a burning platform and
living standards will plummet unless labor slashes, taxes and industrial

(05:41):
relations red tape. It says we will Australia will face
a crisis of poorer households. This is for everyone thinking
of coming to live here. Poorer households, lower living standards
unless we have urgent action at statements said the level
because productivity is at lowest level sixty years now. You

(06:02):
don't get any more terrifying or report than that.

Speaker 1 (06:04):
I think exactly, Go well, makee ketchup next week, appreciate it,
Steve Price, and just before we leave a strut where
it's not Australia's nuclear debate. Two things to read if
you're into it. BBC ran why Canada could become the
next nuclear energy superpower they've seen what's bubbling. They are
rich and high grade deposits could become a nuclear superpower
as soon as they pull the trigger. They've got political
issues around it like everybody else. And the other one

(06:25):
you want to read is CNBC. Three Mile Island, which
I told you about before, is about to restart. It
could mark a turning point for nuclear industry. They think
now Constellation Energy is behind all of this, and they've
cut a deal. I can't remember which one it is.
I think it's Microsoft, but it's certainly one of the
big tech players. Big tech people who run data centers

(06:45):
are raither doing one of two things, cutting deals with
places like Three Mile Island, or they're building their own
many nuclear reactors. The world is moving on with nuclear
whether we like it or not.

Speaker 2 (06:55):
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