Colleen Harkin on The Bolt Report Sky News Australia – 31 December 2025

In this interview Colleen Harkin appeared on The Bolt Report – Sky News Australia to discuss the IPA’s research on the economic and societal decline of Victoria.

All media appearances posted onto the IPA website are directly related to the promotion and dissemination of IPA research.

Below is a transcript of the interview.

Kel Richards:

Now here to discuss this and discuss some other topics as well, research fellow with the Institute of Public Affairs, Colleen Harkin. Colleen, good evening. Welcome to the programme.

Colleen Harkin:

Good evening. Thank you.

Kel Richards:

Now, surely we had respect in the past. In decades past, we had respect for emergency workers. Has that now broken down?

Colleen Harkin:

Well, unfortunately since COVID, there has been a decline in respect for authority and a decrease in trust for those in uniform and trust in our institutions. But paramedics, they’re at the frontline. They’re there to help us at our most vulnerable times. They’re often the first on the scene before the police arrive in uncontrolled and volatile situations. So it’s really very alarming to hear that every 15 hours or so, one of the paramedics is assaulted. It’s an alarming statistic.

Kel Richards:

I’m not a Victorian, but tell me, in Victoria, is there not a law that makes assault of an ambo a special offence?

Colleen Harkin:

Well, this is an interesting situation because assault of an emergency services worker has the capacity to be a category one offence, which brings with it jail time. So we actually have the legislation in place for the consequences to be there, but like a number of other areas in the situation in Victoria, we’ve been soft on crime, and antisocial, dangerous, and violent behaviour has been allowed to fester. So again, we’ve seen a situation in Victoria where we have the legislation, but it’s not being implemented.

Kel Richards:

So it’s part of the crime crisis currently enfolding Victoria.

Colleen Harkin:

Look, Victoria, my homestead is a bit of a basket case, I have to say. Our crime is out of control. Home invasions. We’ve had weekend on weekend of really intimidating protests on the street. The average person in Victoria genuinely feels very rattled and unsettled and not safe in our own homes, literally.

Kel Richards:

Let’s turn to the subject of artificial intelligence because everyone’s talking about it these days. We get fed up with seeing the initials AI in headlines. Well, let’s stay in Victoria because the Victorian government is saying they want to become the hosts to major AI data centres. Now, the thing about these data centres is they are huge buildings with massive data stores, massive servers there, which generate a lot of heat. They’re water cooled, they take a lot of water, and huge amounts of power. Now, can Victoria, with the problems it has with power, support that kind of industry they think they can support?

Colleen Harkin:

Well, not at the moment Victoria wouldn’t be able to. These AI data centres, let’s be really clear, we need to have them. There is no question that that is the future and we must have them, but they are incredibly energy intensive, and they require 24/7 reliable power, neither of which renewables can provide. So we’ve got this situation where what we must have is there’s a complete disconnect between the government’s ideological pursuit and the reality of what’s required for the future of the energy requirements that we have. We’ve been promised cheaper and reliable energy for a long time. The lived experience, everybody knows that that is simply not the case, it’s not everybody’s experience. And just as sort of an analogy, if we had a clear pathway under regulation for the development of these data centres, it would take, let’s just sort of say maybe four or five years.

If we had the same regulatory clear pathway for small modular reactors, for example, that would provide the energy for the data centres, it wouldn’t be much more. So we need to get on board with what’s required here. We need reliable, affordable energy. We need coal, gas, nuclear…

Kel Richards:

You need practical action, don’t you? Yeah, practical action.

Colleen Harkin:

Absolutely. Otherwise, we will be left behind, quite literally.

Kel Richards:

Now, another topic I wanted to talk to you about, there’s new resolve polling, which shows that Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce have recorded some of the biggest jumps in personal likability any federal politicians have had riding a broader lift in support for what we might call the outsider figures ahead of 2026. So what does this tell us? Is this just them? Is this just Pauline and Barnaby because they’re such distinctive figures, such good retail politicians, or is it more than that? Is it a warning to the major parties?

Colleen Harkin:

Well, I think it’s definitely a warning to the major parties. People are leaving the major parties in droves. Their statistics are really quite low. I think the coalition’s on about 23% primary, and Labor’s only on about 32% primary. They’re pretty low figures in and of themselves. Whether that’s sustainable or not yet is yet to be seen, but it is most definitely a warning to the conservative, particularly side of politics. It will also remain to be seen, for example, if Susan Lay holds the leadership and if a more conservative leader, for example, like Hasty were to take over, whether the One Nation increase would subside a little bit or not. So it’s early days yet. They’re on about just under 20% of primary vote, which is hugely significant. And in Victoria next year, they’re going to run a candidate in every seat, so that will be quite telling. But it is most definitely people are moving away from the major parties.

Kel Richards:

Indeed. But Colleen, many thanks for your time. Many thanks for your thoughts.

This transcript of Colleen Harkin on The Bolt Report – Sky News Australia from 31 December 2025 has been edited for clarity.