Shownotes are AI slop as usual. It's a week late cause nobody bothered to tell me it was recorded. Apologies for lack of freshness.

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Jack the Insider and Hong Kong Jack are back for Episode 144, recorded on 12 February. It's Liberal Party leadership spill eve and the boys break down whether Angus Taylor has the numbers to end Susan Ley's tenure — and what sort of baggage he'll carry into the job. From there: a landmark High Court ruling on the Catholic Church's duty of care for survivors of clergy abuse; the protests surrounding Israeli President Isaac Herzog's visit to Australia; the widening Epstein-Mandelson catastrophe engulfing Keir Starmer; the slow collapse of the Washington Post; Japan's election result and its implications for China; and a packed sports segment covering the T20 World Cup, AFL State of Origin, the Rugby World Cup opener, and the Winter Olympics.

Show Notes & Timestamps

🏛️ Liberal Party Leadership Spill

[0:00:25]

Jack the Insider opens by noting this is Liberal Party spill number four since 2013 — one per parliamentary term. Recording on the eve of the 9am spill motion, the Jacks dig into the state of play with James Patterson's resignation from the front bench seen as a signal that Angus Taylor has the numbers. Hong Kong Jack raises the "glass cliff" observation from commentator Parnell McGuinness — that Taylor may have waited for Ley to absorb the ire before seizing the job back.

[0:02:44] — Tanya Plibersek's doorstop spray is quoted at length, listing Taylor's baggage: the Jam Land scandal, dodgy water buybacks, 22% hidden energy price increases, the Clover Moore documents, and his claim to have lived near Naomi Wolf.

[0:04:35] — The Jacks discuss whether Taylor will grow or shrink in the job, drawing comparisons to the unexpected rise of John Howard. The Liberal Party room numbers are crunched — just 28 members, including 10 LNP caucusing members.

[0:07:36] — Discussion of the One Nation threat, Newspoll figures, and the argument that the Nats are more vulnerable to One Nation than the Libs. A brief but enjoyable exchange on Murray Watt vs. Malcolm Roberts at Senate estimates.

💬 "It looks to me like in the modern Liberal Party, an incompetent bloke beats a woman any day of the week." — Tanya Plibersek (quoted by Jack the Insider)

⚖️ High Court Rules on Catholic Church Duty of Care

[0:11:44]

Jack the Insider outlines a landmark High Court ruling finding the Catholic Church owed a non-delegable duty of care to a boy abused by Father Ron Pickin in 1969, aged 13, in the Newcastle-Maitland Diocese. The church had won in the NSW Supreme Court but that decision was overturned.

[0:12:47] — Hong Kong Jack reflects that the Church has been waging this legal battle for 30 years, hiding behind its labyrinthine structure to avoid liability — and that he always thought the courts would eventually "sheet the liability home."

[0:13:41] — Jack the Insider connects this to a previous High Court ruling and notes the clarity this decision now brings — not just for the Catholic Church but for all institutions with histories of child sexual abuse. The legal fraternity is expected to respond with a surge of litigation.

💬 "The courts have historically not been very keen on letting people go uncompensated because the defendants had a complicated structure." — Hong Kong Jack

🇮🇱 Isaac Herzog Visit & Sydney Protests

[0:16:29]

Israeli President Isaac Herzog (described correctly as a largely ceremonial head of state, akin to a Governor-General) arrives in Melbourne after two days in Sydney. His visit was formally requested by the Albanese government on behalf of the families of those killed in the Bondi attack.

[0:16:57] — Peter Cronau's criticism that Herzog "politicised" the visit is discussed. Jack the Insider reads Herzog's own words about wanting to explain Israel's perspective on Hamas and Iran.

[0:17:57] — Around 6,000 protesters assembled at Sydney Town Hall, led by the Palestinian Action Group. Police used major-event crowd management laws to block off large sections of the CBD, "kettling" protesters toward Central Station. Requests to march to the NSW Parliament and Hyde Park were denied.

[0:20:18] — The Jacks debate whether police went too hard, with Hong Kong Jack noting mixed footage — some showing aggravation from the crowd, some showing a heavy-handed response. Both agree it would have been deeply inappropriate for the mourning group of ~7,000 attending Herzog's ceremony to have been confronted by protesters.

[0:23:49] — A digression into the 2007 APEC security lockdown of the Sydney CBD — including the Chaser stunt and the lesser-known story of 12 missing rocket launchers from Holsworthy Army Base, one of which ended up in the hands of a South Western Sydney crime figure.

🏚️ Victoria Barracks & Defence Property Sales

[0:26:23]

The NSW Government is exploring options after the federal government moved to offload prominent defence properties, including the Victoria Barracks on Oxford Street, Paddington. NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully flagged interest in residential development potential.

[0:27:41] — Hong Kong Jack recalls a lunch at the Officers' Mess — good food, excellent wine list, and a wonderful colonial-era building. Both agree it would be a shame to see it converted to apartment blocks. Cartoonist Warren Brown of the Daily Telegraph is noted as particularly distressed by the development.

🔓 Tony Mokbel Released

[0:29:34]

Tony Mokbel has had his electronic monitoring bracelet removed after drug charges (allegedly occurring post-prison) were dropped. He's reportedly looking forward to international travel. The Jacks revisit the Lawyer X (Nicola Gobbo) scandal, calling it "a monumental cock-up" for Victoria Police — with at least two former Chief Commissioners potentially implicated — and question why no one has faced criminal accountability.

💬 "Sometimes you get to a point where this is a complete mess. What's the best thing we can do now?" — Hong Kong Jack

🇬🇧 Keir Starmer, Mandelson & the Epstein Files (UK)

[0:33:04]

Starmer's appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK Ambassador to Washington is unravelling. MI5's pre-appointment security assessment apparently flagged concerns about Mandelson's Epstein connections — and at PMQs, Kemi Badenoch executed what Hong Kong Jack called "a masterclass": softening Starmer up with gentle questions before dropping the boom — "Did the security services mention the Epstein files, and what did they say?" Starmer confirmed they did.

[0:34:48] — Prospects for Starmer's survival are assessed. Potential successors — Angela Rayner, Ed Miliband, Wes Streeting — are judged to be worse options, which may be keeping Starmer in his job for now. Labor MPs were notably thinning out from the benches toward the end of PMQs.

[0:36:47] — The broader Epstein fallout: Sarah Ferguson (Fergie) reportedly dobbing her own daughter in over a "shagging weekend" with the then-convicted Epstein; a Starmer-appointed Lords communications adviser stripped of the whip for defending a man convicted of possessing child abuse images.

💬 "At that moment I thought — you are toast, son." — Hong Kong Jack, on Starmer confirming the MI5 briefing

🇺🇸 The Epstein Files & the Clintons (US)

[0:41:00]

The Clintons push back on closed-door congressional testimony, with both Bill and Hillary Clinton demanding a public hearing. Jack the Insider notes there is no evidence Clinton had contact with Epstein after his 2008 conviction — a point he considers the critical ethical line.

[0:43:51] — Discussion of others in Epstein's orbit — Noam Chomsky, Woody Allen, Deepak Chopra — with Hong Kong Jack urging caution before assuming the worst of those who knew Epstein, while agreeing that continued association after his conviction is morally indefensible.

[0:45:34] — Six co-conspirators identified by the House Judiciary Committee from unredacted files, though the DOJ has declined to act further. Jack the Insider flags the US midterms as the likely next inflection point.

📰 Washington Post Cuts & Newspaper Endorsements

[0:51:15]

Jeff Bezos's Washington Post has made sweeping staff cuts, eliminating its sports desk entirely. Nate Silver is quoted calling the paper's influence "cratered" following its reversal on endorsing Kamala Harris in 2024. 14 of 19 climate reporters were laid off.

[0:53:12] — A broader discussion on whether newspaper endorsements matter at all — Hong Kong Jack and Jack the Insider agree they probably don't, noting neither can reliably recall who Australian mastheads have endorsed in decades.

💬 "If you're going to run a national newspaper, you've got to stand for ...

The Two Jacks - Episode 144 - Angus, Epstein and the Ashes of the Washington Post