Transcript
Wednesday, 5 August 2026
Topics: Royal Commission, Tony Burke deprioritises skilled migrants, Albanese skips Japan dinner for Spotify gig, Albanese ‘melon’ comments
E&OE.......................
SHARRI MARKSON: Let's bring in now Shadow Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs, Dave Sharma. Dave, great to see you again.
DAVE SHARMA: Good evening, Sharri.
SHARRI MARKSON: Now, you've just watched me speak about what happened with David Ossip. What do you think of the Commissioner's defence that this was simply procedural fairness?
DAVE SHARMA: What I don't understand is the Palestine Action Group, the organisers of these 9th of October protests, they should be in the dock. Answering the questions. They shouldn't be asking the questions. It was those protests that opened a window, a torrent of antisemitism in Australia, which we have struggled to contain ever since. They were the fuel, they were the fire that, you know, kickstarted everything we've had to endure, the Jewish community has had to endure the past 2 and a half years. How they were given the right to cross-examine David Osip, not about the experience of the Australian Jewish community, not about the events at the Opera House that night, but about the conduct of a foreign state for whom he has no responsibility and for whom he is not the spokesperson. I just find that entirely bizarre, and I don't find the explanations for it convincing. Apparently, it was one paragraph in his statement. Why were they entitled to cross-examine him for an hour?
SHARRI MARKSON: Exactly, absolutely. And, and the questioning went on and went on about casualty figures and a United Nations report. I mean, he wasn't in a position to answer that. I mean, I totally agree with you, an excellent point that they should have been the ones in the dock answering the questions, not the ones asking them. But if she wanted procedural fairness, then have them give their own testimony. They shouldn't have been grilling David Ossip.
DAVE SHARMA: I agree. I don't— I mean, if procedural fairness requires them to give their own version of events, then they could have appeared as witnesses and been asked questions by commission lawyers. But why they were entitled to the right to walk, to all intents and purposes, looks like a cross-examination of David Ossip. It looks to me like an abusive process. It looks like the Royal Commission was hijacked to make the subject of the investigation not about antisemitism in Australia, but about a war that's happening overseas and in which we exercise no control as Australians.
SHARRI MARKSON: And I understand Josh Lees was in the audience watching on, by the way. I've got— want to move to another couple of topics. But just very quickly on that point, why aren't politicians appearing this week? Shouldn't the Prime Minister have to answer for why he didn't show stronger leadership in the wake of the Opera House rally? Because as you say, that's when this sort of aggression became normalised.
DAVE SHARMA: I quite agree. I've been surprised that more people in government haven't been called before the Royal Commission, not just public servants or people in uniform or police officers, but people who took decisions about how about how Australia would respond to this outbreak in antisemitism, and it was clear that the Labor government, the federal Labor government, has a lot to answer for here. Thus far though, their conduct seems to have escaped any scrutiny.
SHARRI MARKSON: The PM should be called, Tony Burke should be called, absolutely. All right, let's get to a couple of other topics. Now, Tony Burke is reportedly deprioritizing overseas skilled workers as part of this push to cut down on migration. Now, he's— it seems like he's reacting to One Nation, but if you're going to cut down on, on migrants, Surely the skilled cohort is the one that you'd leave?
DAVE SHARMA: Absolutely. We are so short of skilled workers, especially in construction. If you want to know why houses cost so much to build, if you want to know why it's taking so long to build, it's because of a shortage of skilled workers. You know, people who are, you know, massage therapists and catering and hospitality, in the skilled migration stream, they get a higher priority. I have to say though, I mean, overall Labor's policy here seems completely in disarray. Tony Burke was due to address the National Press Club tomorrow. That appearance has now been cancelled because seemingly the Labor government cannot agree on how they deal with migration. And it's clear they don't have control of the migration program, they don't have a strategy for it, and this is just yet another example.
SHARRI MARKSON: Yeah, it seems like there's a crisis in cabinet. I'll come back to that with my panel a bit later. Now, the Prime Minister's been criticised for snubbing an important diplomatic dinner that celebrates Japan's relationship with Australia, and instead he was seen schmoozing with singer Amy Shark. At a Spotify music event, as you can see on the screen. Now, many other ministers went. John Howard, Matt Canavan all managed to make it to the Japanese event. I mean, he should have prioritised that, surely?
DAVE SHARMA: I don't see why he couldn't have made an appearance there. He was clearly in Parliament that night. He wasn't offsite. Sure, if he wants to stop by the Spotify event and say hello to Amy Shark and get a selfie, go right ahead. But he should have been at that dinner. It's the 50th anniversary of a relationship with one of our most important longstanding and valuable trade, commercial, strategic, and defence partners. That relationship matters. And of course, it comes on the back of a gratuitous insult he levelled at Japan's Prime Minister not long ago.
SHARRI MARKSON: Exactly. So the Japanese Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi, visited. She brought Albanese a ceremonial melon, and he then went and made this tasteless and sexist gag about it on a podcast. Let's have a look.
[CLIPS STARTS]
ANTHONY ALBANESE: The Japanese Prime Minister brought a melon. She—
NIKKI OSBORNE: Did she smuggle it?
ANTHONY ALBANESE: I don't know. Oh, I'm expecting— Got a couple of melons.
NIKKI OSBORNE: She brought two.
ANTHONY ALBANESE: She brought two, as you do.
NIKKI OSBORNE: She just came in looking like Pamela Anderson.
ANTHONY ALBANESE: She brought two.
NIKKI OSBORNE: Yes, really?
ANTHONY ALBANESE: And they're beautiful.
[CLIP ENDS]
SHARRI MARKSON: It's so inappropriate, so offensive. And I mean, you're a former diplomat, Dave. I mean, how would that go down with Sanae Takaichi?
DAVE SHARMA: It's gone down terribly with Japan. I mean, Japan is too dignified and polite a nation to make their public— make their anger known publicly. This is one of the highest order diplomatic insults you could give. The gift was a genuine and valuable gift which has a high status in Japanese society. And here's the Prime Minister of Australia, the leader of our country, our chief diplomat, making fun of a foreign leader, making lewd and sexist remarks about a female foreign leader of one of our closest and most dependable partners. I can't overstate what a diplomatic blunder this is. This is of nuclear proportions.
SHARRI MARKSON: And you think how hard they went against Scott Morrison for genuinely confected problems. You know, they claimed he had this women problem. He had no women problem. And yet the Prime Minister gets away with jokes like this and no one says a word.
DAVE SHARMA: Oh, absolutely. And you would know in the same podcast He had to— he apologised for one element of this podcast saying— I'm not even going to repeat it because it's too disgusting for us. But he's already apologised for one sexist element of the podcast. Why hasn't he apologised for this? And why has no apology been given to Japan?
SHARRI MARKSON: Yeah, very quickly, Dave, we're here where it's reported tonight exclusively in The Australian that two Iranian footballers who you remember, they didn't sing the Iranian national anthem when they were here for the Asian Cup. They have now officially become Australian citizens. Well, that is one good move.
DAVE SHARMA: That is a piece of good news, and I'm glad we've given them a home.
SHARRI MARKSON: Wonderful. All right, Dave, great to see you. Thank you so much.
DAVE SHARMA: Thank you so much.
[ENDS]