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This is a Squiz Podcast. Wear

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Good morning. I'm Alice Stempster. And I'm

0:59

Siobhan Moore in Macfarlane. It's Thursday the

1:01

21st of March. In

1:04

your Squiz Today, Trump targets

1:06

Kevin Rudd. A new

1:08

search ends in failure. Some

1:10

panda diplomacy. And a

1:13

sideline scandal at the Aussie Grand

1:15

Prix. This is your

1:17

Squiz Today. If

1:21

you opened up a news website yesterday,

1:23

chances are you saw former PM Kevin

1:26

Rudd and former US President Donald Trump

1:28

mentioned in the same headlines. That's

1:31

because Trump was in an interview

1:33

that aired on Sky News last night,

1:35

and he was asked about Australia's ambassador

1:38

to the US, Kevin Rudd. Yeah, and

1:40

he didn't have anything complimentary to

1:42

say. So just

1:44

to recap for those who missed

1:46

it, Trump was interviewed by the

1:48

former Brexit party leader Nigel Farage,

1:51

and it ran on the TV overseas as

1:53

well as here in Oz. And it was

1:55

very much in the same vein as a

1:58

few of those interviews that we've seen. lately

2:00

like the Tucker Carlson one speaking

2:02

with Vladimir Putin or Piers

2:04

Morgan's interview with Rishi Sunak. Now

2:07

Faraj asked Trump what he thought

2:09

about Rudd and his comment was,

2:12

I heard he was a

2:14

little bit nasty. I hear he's not the

2:16

brightest bulb but I don't know much about

2:18

him. So not very nice, Alice.

2:21

And Siobhan, I think there's a little bit of

2:23

context missing here too. The background

2:25

is that Rudd has made several comments

2:27

about Trump and his leadership in

2:30

the past. He's called him nuts,

2:32

the most destructive president in history

2:34

and he's also said that he's

2:36

a traitor to the West. And

2:38

Alice, the reason we're talking about

2:40

this is because there are some

2:42

concerns that the exchange could impact

2:44

US-Australia relations, particularly if Trump does

2:46

get elected back into the presidency

2:48

in November. If you've

2:51

been following the US election campaign, you'll probably

2:53

know he has a good chance of regaining

2:55

the top job and analysts say

2:57

that could make it difficult for Rudd

2:59

to advance Australia's interests in Washington.

3:02

But despite the tough character assessment

3:04

from Trump, the Albanese government says

3:06

that Rudd will stay on in

3:08

his position. Foreign Affairs

3:10

Minister Penny Wong said yesterday that

3:13

Rudd is excellent and she also

3:15

pointed out that even Coalition leader

3:17

Peter Dutton backs him. Victoria

3:21

Police kicked off a new search

3:23

yesterday for Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy.

3:26

But Siobhan, it was all for naught.

3:28

They called it off just after 2pm

3:30

saying they hadn't found her body. So

3:32

just to wind it back a bit,

3:34

the search began earlier in the day

3:36

with investigators saying they had intelligence derived

3:38

from a number of sources pointing

3:41

to the Bunnanyong Bushland Reserve south

3:43

of Ballarat. But despite specialist

3:45

units being called in, as you say

3:47

Alice, the search was called off after

3:49

they came up short. Detective

3:52

Acting Superintendent Mark Hatt says police

3:54

are still committed to doing everything

3:56

we can to locate her and

3:59

return her. to her family. Yeah,

4:01

Samantha's been missing since the 4th of

4:03

February, which is when she went out

4:05

for a run in Ballarat. And

4:08

then earlier this month, a 22-year-old

4:10

named Patrick Stevenson, who's from the

4:12

neighbouring town, was charged with her

4:15

murder. He's been remanded in

4:17

custody and will appear at the Ballarat Magistrates

4:19

Court on the 8th of August. Siobhan,

4:23

it's great to have a nice interaction with a

4:26

counterpart, just like you and I. Yesterday,

4:29

Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong was

4:31

said to have the warm fuzzies

4:33

following her diplomatic talks with China's

4:35

Wang Yi. Yep, reports say

4:37

she's feeling optimistic that the pair

4:39

have built a good rapport. The

4:42

meeting took place behind closed doors,

4:44

but Wong says Aussie writer and

4:47

democracy activist Dr Yang Hengjun, who's

4:49

currently detained in China, was discussed.

4:52

She voiced Australian shock at

4:54

the suspended death sentence he received

4:56

last month. Trade

4:58

was also on the agenda, as China

5:00

is expected to lift its tariffs on

5:03

Aussie wine this month. And it also

5:05

came out that Chinese Premier Li Chang

5:07

is planning a visit to Oz later

5:09

this year. But Siobhan, the

5:11

most important sign of all that Oz-China relations

5:13

are back on track is something that I

5:16

was talking to you about earlier this week.

5:19

Little Aidsoo's pandas, Wong Wong and Foonie,

5:21

are on loan from China, but they

5:23

are tipped to stay put, which makes

5:25

me very happy. I know it does.

5:27

You love them. It

5:34

feels like we're talking about Princess Kate

5:36

a lot. It's because we are. And

5:39

the latest news out of the UK

5:41

yesterday was quite serious, Siobhan. A UK

5:43

tabloid reported that a staff member at

5:46

the London Clinic had illegally tried to

5:48

access the Princess of Wales medical records.

5:51

Now, the London Clinic is the exclusive

5:53

hospital where she recently had her

5:55

abdominal surgery. Yeah, you're so right. There

5:57

seems to be a new development every day at the

5:59

moment. So those

6:02

tabloid claims you mentioned were

6:04

substantiated by the UK's Information

6:06

Commissioner's Office. They

6:08

said they'd received a breach report

6:11

and are assessing the information provided.

6:14

Kensington Palace wouldn't comment but the

6:16

London Clinic is like you say

6:18

a notable place. It's also where

6:20

King Charles had received cancer treatment

6:22

in recent months. So commentators have

6:25

said it's a major security breach

6:27

and it could be incredibly damaging

6:29

for the hospital. And there's

6:31

also been plenty of speculation in the last

6:33

couple of days that the Princess is gearing

6:35

up for her return to public duties in

6:37

the coming weeks. Now that's in

6:40

line with the original announcement from the Palace

6:42

that she would be back in action after

6:44

Easter. So I guess we'll just have to

6:46

keep on watching this space. Siobhan,

6:50

I told you yesterday that I don't know

6:52

much about the Australian Grand Prix but you

6:54

have assured me that it's a thing to

6:56

know about this week. What

6:59

I do know is that it starts today

7:01

and as you were telling me, many fans

7:03

are more concerned about what will happen in

7:05

the pits than what happens on the track.

7:07

Yeah, that's exactly right. So for a bit

7:09

of context, the world's best Formula One drivers

7:12

have been flying into Melbourne for the race.

7:14

But what's really grabbing the most attention

7:16

is that the Red Bull Racing team

7:19

is in crisis. Now

7:21

its team leader Christian Horner

7:23

who is also Mr. Ginger

7:25

Spice aka Terry Halliwell's husband

7:28

is under pressure to quit over

7:30

allegations he harassed a female colleague.

7:33

This has been brewing for a while

7:35

and an investigation found he did know

7:37

wrong and the woman involved was actually

7:39

suspended for lying. But

7:42

then after that, dozens of text

7:44

messages, racy ones that were allegedly

7:46

sent between them were leaked and

7:49

now Red Bull's main driver, three-time

7:51

world champion Max Verstappen has threatened

7:53

to quit the team. And that's

7:56

exactly what Max Verstappen said he'll

7:58

do if veteran adviser Helmut

8:00

Marco, who's rumoured to be the

8:02

person who leaked those text messages, is

8:04

forced out. Reports say that

8:07

the team's Thai owners also aren't happy

8:09

and they've dispatched a Thai spy to

8:11

check up on everyone. I told you,

8:13

Alice, this is a whole thing. Siobhan,

8:18

it's a good day for a shortcut and you

8:20

and Alex have one out which will be of

8:22

interest to our Tassie listeners. Yes, but not just

8:24

Tasmanians, I think. It is all

8:26

about the Tassie election coming up this weekend.

8:29

But it'll also be of interest to people

8:31

in other states and territories because as Alex

8:33

and I delve into this issue, a lot

8:36

of it is about the debate surrounding the

8:38

state's new AFL team and the

8:40

potential stadium, something that will resonate with

8:42

Queenslanders who are having their own stadium

8:45

dramas right now too. If you want

8:47

to have a listen to that, you can

8:49

find it in the Squids Today feed in your

8:51

podcast app. And that wraps us

8:53

up today. Thank you for listening. We'll speak

8:55

to you again tomorrow. Thank

8:58

you.