Trump tells Tehran 'make peace of face annihilation'

0:00ABC Listen, podcasts, radio, news, music and more. Good morning, welcome to AM. It's Wednesday, 23rd of September. I'm Rachel Mealy coming to you from the lands of the trouble and younger people in Brisbane. US President Donald Trump has used his address to the United Nations General Assembly to threaten to annihilate Iran if it doesn't make a deal, while also defending his ongoing war in the Middle East. The threat made at the UN's annual summit to promote world peace came shortly before US officials met with the Iranian delegation to negotiate a possible deal to end the war. America's editor John Lyons is in New York. He joined me earlier. John, you were listening to the president's wide-ranging address. What points stood out to you? Well, Rachel, it was a classic sort of Donald Trump address he talked about. He was in the lines, Dan, if you like, of the United Nations and he talked about how

1:00he'd cut their budget dramatically and whatever. We know Donald Trump doesn't mind upsetting the audience to which he's speaking. A couple of key points, though, he predicted or said that he thought the regime in Cuba would fall and he said that Secretary of State Marco Rubio was involved in working out a plan for Cuba. Now, whatever that means, but clearly there's going to be some sort of action on Cuba. But importantly, he said that if Iran did not make a deal, soon to end the war, that he would annihilate it quickly. Now, we've had in the past threats from Donald Trump about Iran about destroying the civilization, but to actually be saying it in a place such as the UN that's meant to be about peace and ending wars in front of the Iranian delegation as well. A member of the UN talking about destroying another member was pretty impactful. I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country

2:03than it ever was before? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations? John, what do you think those comments mean for the prospects of the Iran war coming to an end? Well, with Donald Trump, we've seen over the term of this presidency, at least the second presidency of Donald Trump, there is a pattern there and he does use language such as that at the same time as he might be negotiating. Now, the really fascinating thing about that is that within minutes of him saying he would consider annihilating quickly an entire country around, two of his top negotiators went into a meeting with the Iranian delegation who are here at the United Nations in New York.

3:05That Steve Whitkov, Jared Kushner from the US side and the senior Iranian officials who have been led into the country, interestingly. And so what I think means is that its classic Donald Trump have a big stick talk tough at the same time as trying to get the deal done. He has predicted that the Iranians will make a deal soon after the midterm elections in November, but he went on to say, I'm not on the ballot. So he was suggesting if there is a bad result at the midterm, if the Republicans do do badly, then that's not because of me. I'm not on the ballot and the Iranians shouldn't get any pleasure from that. But at the moment Donald Trump can't extract himself from that war, the Iranians are not letting him. And so he's saying that the Iranians there in New York, the energy minister is heading to Saudi Arabia this week as part of a multi-stop trip focused on energy security. Damage to Saudis East West pipeline has caused international concern about its ability to supply oil.

4:06It comes as experts at home questioned some details of the coalition's promise to introduce an oil price trigger for cuts to the domestic fuel excise. Here's political reporter Nicole Asher. The energy minister is heading to nation's key to Australia's oil supply in pursuit of fuel security. Well at home, the rising cost of petrol and diesel is on the minds of politicians and the public, says pedicury from the NRAMA. Price has gone up. Australian families will shop that. Chris Bowen will hold talks with his counterparts in both India and Saudi Arabia. His first destination, India, where he's visiting the world's biggest oil refinery. In later this week, he'll fly to Saudi Arabia, where it hacks on a critical oil pipeline and a hoothy offensive in the Babelman Deb Street has threatened its ability to export. Macquarie University analyst Lurian Damello says visits to strategically important countries while useful can have limited benefit.

5:08I can understand the minister travelling to India because India does export a fair bit of diesel and in recent times has been also exporting petrol to Australia. But Saudi Arabia does not have any direct links. In both India and Saudi Arabia, Chris Bowen will promote electrification ahead of November's cop climate summit. He is Shadow Energy Minister, Dan Tien. If Chris Bowen is using that as a pretense to go and promote the cop, then that is not being up front with the Australian people. Chris Bowen says it's more important than ever for Australia to engage with other nations on global energy and fuel security. As the war in Iran drags on, global banking giant JP Morgan told investors it's struggling to predict oil prices and doesn't know how to model the war's endgame. NRMA's Peter Curry warns that's a widely held problem. I don't think anyone can see how this is going to end or when it is going to end.

6:10Unfortunately for Australian motorists, what we've experienced since February really marched when the war began is that we are exposed extremely to that volatility of world oil prices and that's what we've felt at the bowser. Australian fuel prices have jumped since the fuel excise cut expired last month, unleaded yesterday averaging above $2.40 a litre, according to the ABC's fuel price tracker. Diesel rising above $2.90 a litre. Louise Pressure on the weekend, the coalition vowed to halve the fuel excise when the global price of Brent crude averages $100 US dollars a barrel for a fortnight. Though some experts, including Lurien D'Amelho, are questioning whether that's the best approach. It's oil really the right instrument to apply the trigger. For Australia, given that we are importing most of our fuel, the trigger should be based on wholesale costs of actually getting petrol and diesel on our shores. The Shadow Minister again.

7:11You could look at various triggers, but this seemed a very logical one because when you looked at the consequences, that oil reaching US $100 a barrel has on the price at the petrol station for Australian motorists and for Australian businesses, it seemed a logical correlation. He says the mechanisms are sensible approach based on close consideration of international fuel prices. Nicole Asher. The Federal Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme has lashed the Queensland government over its refusal to sign up to the thriving kids program a week before it's set to begin. Mark Butler has made the comments to the ABC in his only interview before the start of the NDIS alternative for some children under nine. Disability advocates are urging Queensland to sign on, saying it's now time for grown-ups to come to the table to ensure no child is left behind.

8:13More from National Disability Affairs reporter Naz Campanella. Mark Butler has been outselling his message about the plans for the $4 billion thriving kids program since the announcement last August. The program, which is to be run by the states and territories, is set to roll out its first phase next week. But Queensland hasn't yet signed up. Obviously, I'm a little frustrated, they haven't signed because all other states and territories, liberal and labour alike, CLP government and the NT has signed on. They're just getting on with the business of developing their programs. And we're losing time, frankly, for Queensland parents and children. Thriving kids will be an alternative to the NDIS for children under nine with autism and developmental delay who have mild to moderate support needs. In exchange for more funding for their hospitals, all states and territories agreed in principle to restart disability services outside the NDIS, known broadly as foundational supports. All jurisdictions have officially now signed on to thriving kids except Queensland.

9:15I can't imagine a Queensland government that for the next 15 months would sit on its hands and pretend it does not have a very serious obligation to follow the rest of the country and to, frankly, implement commitments that the Premier made at the National Cabinet meeting earlier this year to do this. Nicole Rodgerson from Autism Association of Australia is shocked at how long it's taking Queensland. There are families, real children at the NDIS that won't have services in the state of Queensland that it's just not okay. I'm sorry, but the grownups have to come to the table and work this out in order to get these supports to children. In a statement to the ABC, a spokesperson for Queensland's Acting Disability Minister Ros Bates said the state government's concerns remain not only for young people who may fall through cracks in the system, but also for those vulnerable Queenslanders who have relied on the NDIS. The statement adds we have repeatedly outlined our concerns about the Commonwealth walking away from vulnerable Australians without providing long-term funding support.

10:17Minister Butler has also told the ABC talks are starting with the states over the development of non-NDIS services for other groups. We've got to develop foundational supports, programs for children over the age of nine, and for adult cohorts who might not end up being on the NDIS, for example, adults with psychosocial disability. Nicole Rodgerson thinks it's too early to be discussing any other programs until they know how well thriving kids is working. The kinds of supports that we give very small children with autism are very different when children above the age nine, and they're in the school system and the teenage years. We really need everybody to slow down, look at the evidence, look at what works really well for this cohort, because if we don't get it right, I promise you it's going to cost a lot more money because children are adults for many more years than their children. Nicole Rodgerson from Autism Association of Australia ending that report by NAS Campanella. Jenny McAllister is the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme.

11:19She spoke to me a short time ago. Minister, thanks for joining AM. My pleasure. What kinds of criminals and criminal syndicates have been stealing from the NDIS? Unfortunately, we do know that across the world, organised syndicates are targeting government payment programs in Australia's no exception. The NDIS was left a very soft target by the previous government, and we've been making significant investments to improve that. Can you give an example of a criminal syndicate that's been uncovered? What were they doing to get their hands on the money? Recently, we saw the final sentencing of the last affinder in Operation Pegasus. This was very long-running investigation. There were six offenders, and they were collectively sentenced to more than 31 years in jail. Now, there were claims made against participants who did not have a legitimate disability. There were claims made against participants' plans, who did not know that claims were

12:22being made against their plans. In the course of the raids against these individuals, police seized more than $2 million in suspected tainted assets. These were things like gold, bullion, cash, jewelry, luxury vehicles. These are organised efforts to defraud this game. You say that criminals' syndicates around the world increasingly see government as a high-value target. Why is that? Since syndicates are getting organised and targeting government payment programmes, we need to keep pace with that. When we came to government, there were almost no payment controls at all around the NDIS. Now this is a life-changing programme for so many Australians. It has to operate with integrity, and it's why we are investing billions of dollars in improving our capacity to detect and disrupt this kind of behaviour. It's also why we've invested in law enforcement so that the AFP, the Australian Criminal Intelligence

13:25Commission can work with the NDIS to uncover and prosecute these offenders. The blowout in the NDIS is a huge electoral issue also. Isn't this crack down aimed at saving seats at the next election? This work is squarely targeted at protecting people who use the NDIS every day. Unfortunately, when we see fraud, we often also see neglect or exploitation. We can't allow that to continue. My concern is making sure that the NDIS operates safely participants and also that it retains its social life. All of this fraud policing has come at a cost, though. Our government has had to spend $1.3 billion to set up the systems to combat the fraud, including $800 million in this year's budget. That's a pretty hefty price. This is work that the previous government should have done in the nine years that were in office.

14:26We have had to start almost from scratch. But the good news is that we are making these investments in digital payment platforms. We do expect to see much higher levels of compliance, as a consequence of the investments we are making. And I want the community to know that we're doing that. I also want any would-be criminal to understand that if they see this scheme as a target, they can expect to receive a knock on the door from police. You spoke at the International Public Sector fraud forum. What are we learning from other countries about how crooks are ripping off governments? We have very good collaborative arrangements with counterparts from countries like the UK and Canada. In speaking with some of those officials yesterday, it was clear to me that they value very much the collaboration they have with each other and with Australia. Right across the world, governments are finding that they need to invest more in understanding

15:29the identity of providers who make claims against government payment systems and that digital systems can help governments very much in pursuing this work. Jenny McAllister, the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, thanks for joining AM. My pleasure, Rachel. This week, a group of volunteers will head into the West Australian wilderness to conduct a fresh search for four people who disappeared nearly 20 years ago from the small town of Nanup, Dominique Bayon's reports. In a stretch of almost impenetrable bushland near the WA town of Northcliffe, a citizen search is underway to find answers to one of Australia's most baffling missing persons' cases. Right behind us here is a real point of interest. Francesa and Tael McDougall, along with her partner Simon Cadwill, their five-year-old daughter Leela and their friend Tony Poppich, haven't been seen since July 2007.

16:33They've become known as the Nanup 4. This week, a team of volunteers will start a new search for them, led by Matt Strickland, the Vice President of Missing Person's search team, find our lost loved ones. There's a lot of work to do, but it's not impossible. Matt Strickland was part of the group which found the remains of Missing Belgian Hiker Celine Cremeur and Missing Man Peter Willoughby in Tasmania this year. This is something different because we're potentially looking for buried human remains. He's been working with the family of Chantal and Leela McDougall after the case was the subject of ABC's Expans podcast, which uncovered police error, new details of coercive control, and evidence pointing to a possible burial site. In the weeks after her daughter disappeared, Catholic Dougall believed the four had travelled to Brazil, but she raised to the alarm with police when Chantal failed to contact her.

17:39In the ensuing police investigation, it was revealed their bank accounts were untouched and their passports hadn't been used. It was also discovered Simon Cadwill was living under a stolen identity and operating an online cult where he espoused doomsday beliefs and told followers of plans for a murder suicide. After nearly two decades of hoping for answers, Cath and her husband Jim have driven across the country from their home in regional Victoria to join the search. I want to be really involved. I want to help search if I can if I'm not a nuisance and want to be sort of there in amongst it all. The search is focusing on a dense area of bushland near the small town of Northcliffe, an hour south of where the group lived. The town became a place of interest when police discovered two bus tickets to Northcliffe were purchased by a member of the group in the days around the disappearance. Two months after the four vanished, a group of prisoners carrying out track clearing reported

18:43finding items of clothing. Police conducted a search, but later admitted they were in the wrong location. Cadalvidogs were taken to the correct location in 2024 and indicated a scent of human remains. After years of waiting for closure, Cath is balancing the hope of finding answers with the reality she might never get them. We try not to get our hopes up too much because over the years we felt that all the little needs and things we had have come to a dead end and we sort of still don't know anything. My mind goes crazy, but I suppose I'm a little bit anxious of how it's all going to pan out. I'm just hoping we get some really good results. Catholic Dougal, the mother of one of the missing Nanop 4, ending that report by Dominique Bans. And that's AM for today. Thanks for your company. I'm Rachel Mealy. Hi, I'm Melissa Clark, host of the ABC News Daily Podcast.

19:44Another tragic string of suspected domestic violence attacks has turned up the pressure on governments to address the crisis. ABC political reporter Claudia Long on why, despite decades of effort, we're still struggling to stop the deaths of women and children. Look for the ABC News Daily Podcast on ABC Listen.