Journo watch - Speers and Dutton - Insiders 2 Feb 2025

David Speers interviewed Peter Dutton on his first Insiders programme of 2025. He ignored the orange elephant in the room.

Like his predecessor Scott Morrision, Dutton embodies the Trumpian lesson that the truth need never inform nor interfere with a political utterance. Buoyed by the election of Trump, Dutton looks set to head to the coming election spruiking policies that can have no standing in a political universe where facts matter.

Which brings us to Speers and Insiders.

I decided to watch Sunday’s show hoping Speers would ask Dutton a few questions reflecting the perilous times we're living in - globally and regionally.

Not one of the issues that I reckoned needs attention got a run.

As usual, it felt like Speers the 'Insider' was fitting in with the Murdoch cycle or the News(corp) cycle - rather than a news cycle with its eye on Australia in the world.

Worse, Speers let Dutton spew forth lies at length only occasionally providing brief, meek corrections.

As a failed journalist, I've taken the liberty of listing some of the questions I reckon should also have been on Speers' agenda. I’m sure Speers could frame them with more elegance.

Australia Day and Sussan Ley - Colonisation and Australia’s First Peoples

Ranter to Dutton - You’ve expressed strong ideas about Australia Day over the years. In her Australia Day speech, your deputy Sussan Ley didn’t mention Australia’s sixty thousand years of Indigenous occupation prior to colonisation? Is that a credible telling of January 26 in 2025? Is it OK to write our First Peoples out and why is that any different to what China does with Tibet and Tiananmen Square, or Japan has done with its World War II history?

Ley inserts Elon into Australia Day

Ranter to Dutton - Another interesting part of Ley’s Australia Day speech was the insertion of Elon Musk into our history. Given your current concerns about extremism and your virulent campaign against anti-semitism, are you comfortable with the lionising of a man who has a history of anti-Semitism, whose platform may be the main disseminator of antisemitism and who many think performed a Nazi salute at President Trump’s inauguration?

Are you concerned that while Ley was praising Musk’s heroics, he was throwing his support behind a German far-right political party imploring Germany to move on from the “guilt” of the holocaust?

Trump’s first weeks and Australia

Ranter to Dutton - President Trump has had a busy two weeks back in the Oval Office.

Trump seems to be attacking traditional US allies and making nice with traditional adversaries like China and Russia. Should that bother Australia? Does it bother you?

Indonesia’s moves and your approach to Muslim concerns?

Ranter to Dutton - As Indonesia becomes a major regional economic and political power, do you think the perception that you are insensitive to Muslim interests and concerns might some day have implications for our relations with our giant neighbour - the world's biggest Muslim country?

Finally - do you have any thoughts on Indonesia’s recent decision to join BRICS?

Should Indonesia recognise Israel?

Thanks Mr Dutton.

Okay - so those questions might be a bit wonky for Insiders - but I would love to hear Dutton asked them somewhere.

Years ago we had programmes like Lateline, Sunday and other long form current affairs TV shows. Serious issues could be properly probed and superficiality challenged. In 2025, there is no place to force politicians to account for themselves and their policies in a substantial way. Dutton loves that. Speers is happy too.

That must be bad for policy and bad for the country.