 You're listening to The Crunch with Cam Slater, right here on RCR, reality check radio. So with me this afternoon on The Crunch is Provocateur, former soldier, former politician even, journalist and a rebel from the start, Avi Yamini, welcome to The Crunch. Thanks for having me, mate. Good to be here. Well, you know, I've been reading your book, Avi, and it's been a real eye opener. But before we crack into some of the details, crunch some of those details in that book, I just want to give listeners an idea about what drives you, what makes you stick cameras and people's faces, politicians and the elites at Davos and all of those. So what drives you to get out a bit in the morning and say, right, I'm going to go and get a story here? Well, no one else is going to do it. So that's what we've learned over the last few years. I guess I started in 2017. So it's been five long years, COVID has been a big part of that. But even before COVID, what we noticed is that there's a gap in the media. If something doesn't suit the narrative, then the mainstream media are not going to run it. And you know, that's where companies like Rebel News, that's where we've started from. We've realized that there is that gap. And you don't have to look any further than something like the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It doesn't matter which side of that conflict or whether you don't have any side. If you don't feel... They're trying to report the facts. If you just want to know the facts, well, unfortunately, you're not going to be able to get that because what journalism has done in 2023 is they've just canceled one side. So instead of sending reporters into Russia and to question Putin and the Putin regime and the government or officials, what they've done is they've just demonized everyone and everything and they've made out that the other side is just this heroic, lovely people that don't have any bad Nazis or whatever and no oligarchs. It's just completely... it's our side against their side. And if you want to get any sort of balanced view of it, well, you need to actually hear from both sides. So our job is to bring you the other side of that story and the side that the media doesn't want to show. That's probably what drives me most is talking to the people in the places about the things that the mainstream media won't cover. That's how you kind of got started, isn't it? When you were serving in the Israeli Defence Forces, you started making videos and things for your business back in Australia, which kind of got you in front of the camera. Well, it wasn't even much the camera back then. It was more... so I talk about it in the book. It's more about just posting on Facebook. You know, we had... it was when I came back from the Army and we had two of, you know, one of the most well-known gym brands in the country because we were... you know, we had a big following and it was pretty high profile. So it was actually called IDF training. Individual diet and fitness, but also it was a Krav Maga gym. So it was, you know, trained with ex-IDF members. So our whole brand was about your learning Krav Maga, which is the Israeli Army Self-Defense System. So when I saw reporting on ABC about the current conflict in Gaza and I saw how once I don't know how untrue, you know, it was my first kind of... It was like I was meeting fake news for the first time and seeing how they report from a biased position, you know, it was like the journalists made up their mind as to what they wanted you to believe in that scenario. And as somebody had actually served exactly where they were reporting from in Gaza, I knew that it was completely false and biased the reporting. And we started using our Facebook pages for the business to voice from firsthand experience the other side of that story. Yeah. So, yeah, you're right. That's how I did start and, you know, the rest is history. Well, some of that history, though, is the the collusion of the New Zealand government immigration and the police to prevent you coming to New Zealand to cover a protest that probably only had about a thousand people at it. It was. It's funny because, look, a lot of that is thanks to you, Cam, because that first initial Interpol leak was given to you guys at your site and it showed clearly that the government and the police, the state was essentially essentially colluding with anyone they could to try ban me before even knowing I was coming. They were colluding with the media that, you know, what was funny about that whole story is that it all started with the New New Zealand Herald. New Zealand Herald, yeah, there are no byline. They're anonymous writer, you know, does a hit job against David Yimini pulling up all the things that are in that you cover in your book, you know, the Tommy Robinson quote about being Australia's proudest Nazi. But you're Jewish, Nazi, yeah, we're wearing a kipper and standing there talking on microphone. There was a reason why they didn't have a byline to that article. And but the interesting thing is, if you notice, they ran that article. They ran that story back then based on a rumor from Chantel Baker on her telegram that I was coming. And it was clearly designed to pressure and to help the government ban me and authorities ban me. And it worked at the time because even within the Interpol and the communications, the internal communications, we saw essentially copy and paste from that article. In fact, when I was at the airport, they said it was went for it. Well, the lady on the phone, I forgot her name, but when she was giving me the news that I'm banned, she was saying she read the article and she was referring to this New Zealand Herald article. And now, though, fast forward to now where I've personally announced I'm coming, so it's no longer a rumor. Yeah. And I'm saying they've overturned that unlawful ban created by the New Zealand Herald. Yeah. You would think that the New Zealand Herald that was so triggered by the rumor of me potentially coming. Totally silent, aren't they? For to cover an event as a journalist are suddenly really quiet that I am coming and I'm saying I'm coming to launch my book. So not even to not even for a to cover an event as a journalist. Suddenly, they're really quiet. Why do you think that is camp? Well, you know, this is the thing that, you know, when we released that memo and everyone, the politicians, the the media, especially people on Twitter went out of their way to try and disprove that memo instead of looking at the story. Hello, here we have the police deciding that they don't want someone coming to New Zealand. So they're begging the Australian Federal Police for some information to help them stop you coming. That's the story. But the media pursued are the memos fake. The people on Twitter accused me of fabricating this this communication instead of being outraged that. That immigration and police were trying to stop someone coming to New Zealand when we've had, you know, people with actually far worse records than yours come to New Zealand, Mike Tyson and people like that, you know, actual. You mean actual violent people, violent people and isn't that funny, a bit like the New Zealand Herald, when they didn't get their way, when it turns out that you didn't fabricate it and it turned out that it was authenticated and it was true. And in fact, the Freedom of Information request that followed proved it proved it and proved that it was far worse, far more sinister from the beginning the entire way. Suddenly, those same people that their entire story was that you faked it. Yeah. So and isn't it interesting that they had to they had to say you faked it because it was clearly so outrageous. You know, why would they care if it was real or fake? If it didn't matter, it obviously mattered a lot. But then when it was authenticated, suddenly, all went silent and that's, you know, I feel bad for them because at the end of the day, yes, this was against what they perceive as their political opponent. But they should probably read history and learn that if if you think that's good for your political opponent, just wait till it happens to you because if they can do it to me, they can they can and will do it to you just when it's others in power. That's exactly right. And this is the thing where I believe that the media in New Zealand, Australia, Canada, United States have have, you know, everyone needs to mock Donald Trump because he said the media were the enemy of the people. But but but that was kind of true because they've got their own agendas that they're pushing. You know, you've got stuff, for example, that touts themselves as New Zealand largest news website. That won't tolerate any sort of narrative that is contrary to the green way of thinking and climate change and all that. They just went, you know, they've even announced when we're not going to publish any contrarian views. It's it's not they say it's not responsible. It's not responsible. But when you get media making decisions like that and what else does it apply to? Covid's a classic example. You saw it in Australia. You know, you were fighting it in Australia. Anything you said would be, you know, censored or banned. I think I think you guys had it far worse to be fair in Australia, as much as the establishment tried to take me on, they failed. And we grew through that entire Covid era. How many times did you get arrested? I've got I've got three and we won all that in court. But that's how we won. That's how we beat him. But in New Zealand, the media is through those different funds, is bought and paid for. It's no secret and you see how that plays out. My my band is a classic example of that. And I often say because I understand why the media doesn't want me there. They don't want to repeat of what's happened in Australia with regards to rebel news, you know, essentially taking away all the eyeballs from from their platforms. Because at the end of the day, you got to remember these media companies, their businesses, they may be state sponsored. So, you know, they scratch the stage. These lockdowns and things, they kind of made you and Rukhshan, didn't they? I mean, Rukhshan was a wedding photographer before that. And I think it depends what circles I before before Covid, you know, I was very involved in the in covering the Hong Kong protests. So in Hong Kong, we were superstars. But in Australia, in Australia, in New Zealand and across the world when it came to the COVID narrative, yes, certainly. It did. And and I don't think it's just me. I think also the mainstream media, they love that's what's so to me crazy that New Zealand's press got all these funding from the government to help them through Covid. When Covid was the one time any media didn't matter what side you were on. Every media had the highest traffic probably in in history. Yes. We certainly gained a lot of traffic and we stole a lot of their potential traffic. And that's what they was. That's what the New Zealand press didn't want. Happening in New Zealand, but. Everybody was glued to their screens or their, you know, whatever. And they were crying poor, they were crying poor. And then when we get something like you coming here and the media in lockstep with the government and, you know, that's what the Official Information Act document showed in the in there, the cozy relationship between media, immigration, police and the government in this whole story about you. It actually revealed an awful lot. I mean, they were quite familiar in their communications. It was quite revealing when we we got into their heads and saw them, the virtual high five. Yeah, we stopped them coming. You know, we did a good job there, boys. And I wonder what those people who are high fiving that now think that you're coming here, you know, in August. Yeah, I'd love to be a fly on the wall, but it's, you know, I think that those those internal communications showed so much and showed how corrupt your system is in New Zealand. The fact that there is this unholy relationship between the media and the government. And then on top of that, how. Institutions like the New Zealand immigration think that they're above the law and they dragged it out. They dragged it out forever. That's the thing. It's almost a year, isn't it? It was almost a year. And the fact is they knew from day one that it was unlawful that I did not meet the threshold. And we know they knew that because we saw the internal communications with the Australian Federal Police. So there was no grounds ever to stop me. I'm grateful that they did because this is so much more fun than coming to that one silly, you know, not silly. You would have been here for maybe 48 hours. Yeah, that was a couple of videos and flown home. And that would have been the end of it. It was one protest that ended up being a bit of a fizzle. And it, you know, I would have been in and out, run a few stories and it would have been over and done with now. I get to come to Auckland and Wellington and, you know, run book launches and it's going to be so much more fun. And and they're going to be outraged by that because they turn something from me just telling other people's stories, which I'll probably still I'm hoping to squeeze that in as well. But they turned it in turned it from just me telling other people's stories about general stuff in New Zealand that you telling your story to now meet. They've given me the platform to tell my story. And ironically, based on all the lies, you know, I get to answer all the lies that the New Zealand Herald used without a byline repeated without a byline in order to convince the government to ban me. That's the craziest part of all of this story. And remember, New Zealand Herald started all of this in that initial article that was then used by the New Zealand immigration over the phone to tell me that that was the article. They were just commenting. And then when we when we look through their internal communications, it was repeated time and time again, parts of that article. They're all the they're basically all the lies about me packed into one article, which was designed to pressure and not only pressure, but validate the government's decision to to ban me. And remember, the New Zealand Herald ran that article based on a rumor from Chantel Baker's Telegram in order, again, like I said, to pressure the government, to pressure immigration and also it's to to make the government know it's OK if if you ban him, we'll support that decision. That's really what it was. It was a message to the government signal. There was a signal, do it. And if you don't do it, we're going to keep going on about all these things that you why you should have done it. But if you do it, we're going to be like, yeah, good on you. And the government went with it and they helped each other. They covered for each other and each other on the back high five each other. And then, first of all, to now where I'm not only, you know, coming in to report on an event and they can't use my propensity to incite other people with other views. That was the you're coming to tell your story. I'm coming to tell my story that they don't want anyone to hear. Hent, their article without a byline. It it's that is the biggest ad for this. Their article is what this what my book and my story answers. It's the truth that they don't want you to hear. But suddenly, the New Zealand Herald is so quiet. It's a bit like when when you revealed that into that that that leaked into poll email after it was proven that it was when it was validated and it was authenticated, suddenly, they all went silent. All the people that were so angry that you were making up something so outrageous. Well, when the outrageous thing ended up being true, that's right. They all went silent and and you would think that the New Zealand Herald would be above that, you know, OK, you can still hate me. But hey, isn't it newsworthy? The guy that you were so outraged over a rumor that was coming is coming now. But they do that with me all the time, Mavi, because during the first lockdown we had in New Zealand, the same source that gave me the memo, your memo, the Interpol memo. They gave me some internal documents that showed that Crown law had advice, given advice to the police that the lockdown was illegal. And we've we've ran that, you know, very early on. And again, we were accused of making it up. Oh, no, they made he's made it up. That's just not true. The it's all legal. Stay at home or we'll arrest you. But it was illegal. They had advice to say that what Ardern's regime had done in cahoots with the police was illegally lock us down. But they said that I made it up. And when it was no longer tenable to say that I made it up because I did an official Information Act request using the specific document code that was issued by Crown law. So now it was on OK, you didn't make it up. It's a draft. And so they went through that. But then there was a court case is one, you know, brave individual who took the government to court over these documents and proved that, yes, the first lockdown was illegal and that what cams later had written was true. But they but the media all went down. They didn't weren't interested in that. They were going down the narrative. But as you say, you know, you're coming back to New Zealand. You're going to launch your book. Tell us about what that books about, Avi. That's what people want to know that the real RV, isn't it? Well, that's what the book is. It's, you know, for years, you've heard others tell you about me, including the New Zealand Herald, and they've always got these little talking points that they've cherry picked from my life. Some of them completely false and some of them completely out of context. You know, some of them some of them laughable. But it's the time has come. Well, I'm finally able to talk about it all. And I'm telling I'm saying that's everything now, isn't it, Avi? I mean, it's my whole story. Yeah, you cover some, you know, pretty torrid things that have happened in your life, you know, your addiction to drugs. You know, the the the case that the media likes to bash you about, you know, where they try and call your wife, Peter, and all of those sorts of things. And even, you know, even, you know, some of your younger years, how many how many how many children in your family were the RV? I'm one of 17. So, yeah, I'm number 10 of 17. It's been a wild ride. And I think so you've been fighting since since you were born. Just for attention, that's right. I bet you learn to eat fast. Oh, I've learned now to slow down. But yes, that's it's funny you picked that one up because I got in. I got into a lot of trouble about that, about learning to slow down when it's interesting. I've got a maid of mine and he tells me that you can tell somebody's upbringing by how they eat fish and chips. And he said, if you're in a poor household and you were brought up with eating fish and chips, you always ate the chips first because there was always a piece of fish for everybody. Yeah. But if you ate your fish first, there was no chips left for you. And so it's his little way of working out how people are bringing in. And that's why I touched on it. I kind of picked that up from your book that you had to be quick in a family of 17. If you weren't quick, you're going to get hungry real fast. Yeah, look, I don't think you'd be hungry, but yes, you'd get you'd go missing or you won't get what I think the fish and ship story is probably a great example because that's that's the truth. But it's funny, nobody's ever said that to me. And it is a true fact that all of us eat super fast and bless my wife. She's slowed me down. But yeah, I think that the whole book is a I would call it a pretty brutally honest story, you know, with warts and all. It's, you know, not as I say, not all of it's pretty, but it's the truth. And it's it's not what they tell you about me. It's not I think at the end of it, you realize it puts into context. Yeah, me and even all those horrible things you've heard about me. It puts them into perspective and puts them in their right place. Those things that, you know, the complete lies. It helps round out the who is RV, what is RV, what drives RV. That's the impression that I got from reading your book is that here was a person who was driven from an early age and had some pretty serious challenges. You know, you were you were addicted to drugs. You're probably running with the wrong crowd in Melbourne. And yet you saw an obligation or a duty to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces. It probably was from what I can read in the book. It looks like you were that was like the last chance to learn. I need to go and get straightened down and the idea for the ones who are going to do it. Is that pretty much? Yeah, it is. I think, you know, it was it was a journey. But there was two sides to it. Obviously, it was something I always wanted to do. Why is that? Well, I think I had, firstly, my two older brothers and my cousins and my uncle, who, you know, my uncle who passed away in the Army. But it's a sense of duty, I think, as being Jews in the safety of the West, in the safety of Australia, you always, in the backing mind, you think about, especially when you have family, so much family there, you feel some sort of duty to help protect them. Yeah. But, yeah, on a personal level, of course, I knew I need a discipline in my life. And I hit that rock bottom and I talk about the rock. You know, the day that I hit rock bottom. Yeah. And I knew that this is the time this is going to make or break me. And I think I think I think I had a few of those moments in my journey. It was easy, though, did you? I mean, you decided that you wanted to serve in the Galani Brigade. Well, that's, yeah, that's right, because that's where all my family go. And if you're going to do things, I think a constant theme through the book is not doing things in harm. So if I'm going to join the Israeli Army, I'm going to join the Galani Brigade. Yeah, I'm not going to join, you know, I'm not going to go there and become a mechanic. Yeah. So you're a fighter. You joined, you're in the infantry. Absolutely. And you're wound up in Gaza. In a war. Well, I was I was first in the beginning of the on my service, I was in Lebanon. Yeah. And then but most of my deployment was in the Gaza Strip. Yeah. But but again, you didn't even speak Hebrew, did you? Very broken. So my Hebrew was ancient Hebrew, biblical Hebrew. So it's a bit like if you think of somebody coming to New Zealand and speaking in Shakespeare English, trying trying to get around like that. That's how I must have sounded to Israelis and I remember their faces. I'll tell you a story that's not in the book is when I have lots of my lots of cousins there that are my age. And I remember when I got there, I was hanging out with my cousin, a couple of my cousins, their sisters and their friends and, you know, it was probably the first week that I was in Israel. And the friends turned to their to my cousin and said, you know, not when the next day when I wasn't around and said, oh, you know, they were talking about me. And essentially, they thought that I was special, that I had some sort of learning difficulty or something. Because you kind of are special. Yeah, I had a look. So that's why this story is probably not. That's why I never made the book because I am. No, but they thought I had some sort of learning difficulty or something. And that's why I was talking like that. And they didn't realize that I was just a straight yet. Just Australian because I look Israeli. And so they, you know, they didn't picture it. And then, you know, to them, an Aussie would be blue hair, blue eyes, blonde hair, white. So they weren't they weren't expecting someone that looked like my family, Yemen, and then on top of that. I was speaking ancient kind of Hebrew, which was really weird. And so then it all clicked and it was we all laughed about it. Over and over again, and they often made fun of me in the army. That's how I learned Hebrew is, you know, people mocking me. But that's that's something I get. I guess through the book, you also learn is that I like to have a laugh at everything, including myself. Yeah. And I I've never been someone that gets easily offended. So the army days were fun. They mocked the hell out of me. Am I accent those days in the army? This is just to put it in context. We're talking about here in 2005, 2006, aren't we? Yeah, 2005 to 2008. Yeah. So that's when the Israeli army were having to change a few things around because they rolled out the Maccava tank. But found that in Lebanon, they had a few issues where the few soldiers getting injured with those tanks. Well, yeah, Lebanon was was what we considered to be a failure. A failed war. And again, to put that into perspective, for Israel, a failed war means, you know, we lost 100 and something, I think. Whereas we took out 10 times that. But the objectives and goals weren't met in the air. And, you know, Israel doesn't because it's such a tiny state and it's a we're fighting, you know, we were fighting for existence, for our survival. It doesn't matter if we lose a tenth. That's not how the war should go. So it was that was a not a great war for Israel. And so there was a lot of training. And I talk about that in the book as well. And then Gaza was it was right as the disengagement from Gaza. So right after Israel pulled out of Gaza and gave it back to or gave it to the Palestinians to, you know, it was land for peace under the under the promise of peace and all all Israel got was rockets and terror attacks. And that's when we were going in there. Like when I when when I first got to Joe, when that disengagement from Israel happened, my cousins were living in Gaza. The disengagement from Gaza. So my cousins were actually living in Gaza. And one of my cousins was a high serving, high ranking special forces police. So border police officer. And he was kicked out of his own home. And so it was quite personal and going in there and seeing what they did to the land that was given to them for peace. Well, the first thing they did was they it was Hamas versus Fata. So they killed their own. Yeah. And then they turned. And then once they would say control that was throwing them off buildings. Each side was throwing each other off buildings in Gaza. And then once Hamas took control of it, then they started targeting Israel. And that's where that's where I was stationed. And that's when I was stationed there. And it was it was a crazy time. And you actually saw combat. So you went in the rear with the gear. You were in there. In fact, in the book, you described one incident where you kind of shot myself. You kind of lost your mind and your rifle didn't work and it did all locked up. You carried on in that. I mean, I read that story and I thought, wow, I didn't even need that about you before and to actually just press on even though your rifle isn't working. Well, I don't think I had much of a choice. It was that or give up and get shot and die. But, you know, I don't think I think, yeah, it's it's one of those things that a loudmouth little troublemaker like me thinks he's going to go some one way when it all hits and it gets real real fast and it gets real real fast. And suddenly my big mouth was shot real real quickly. I have a really speechless by fear. Yeah, that that was that was that would have been a an honest headline for that scenario. But I guess it like many things in my life, it put things into perspective. And and it taught me so much and it made me who I am today. And whilst I'm not proud of every moment in every story, they're still pretty happy. I'm pretty happy how the work in progress known as over your mini is going. God, who talks about themselves in third person. But just just to round out the story about Gaza in the military, you were a marksman. Right. You you got additional training, better weapons and you were a marksman. So yes, so you were learning to hit your target. Yes, so yes. When you say better weapons, I just it was better scopes. Yeah, it was a day and a night scope, especially back then. I reckon today I was I was just there, my nephew, my little nephew. I can't believe he just finished the army and he was in Guilani as well. Yeah, he's actually in my same thing. I think most of them have now the great gear, whereas in our days it was specific. So, you know, I'd get a Trigicon. Yeah, and then four and and then four where and then a big this huge night vision scope, which I reckon today, they probably have it much smaller. Yeah. But yeah, what were you asking? No, just it was just noting that you were a marksman. You weren't just you weren't just an ordinary grunt. Mind you, that that was the best job to have. I told my nephew, you know, you should you should go for that. Yeah, because well, if you don't most of the other gear, firstly, you see the most action. That's that's the you know, even when patrol you're always the number one they call because you can have an accurate shot. So even if it's firing warning shots, they want accuracy to ensure that you don't accidentally shoot someone and and then also when it is a terrorist, you you're often the first person they call to neutralize them. So it is the best gig from, you know, quote unquote, an action point of view. But also the gear that you got to carry. So the they call it a Pakal. I don't know what I don't know what that actually translates, but your Pakal is your job. So, you know, if you're if you're the if you're the water man, you've got to carry all that water on your back. Yeah. But why it doesn't give you more action. It just slows you down. And if you're the radio man, yeah, so you've actually the machine gunner, you've got extra machine gunner. The machine gunner has this huge machine gun, which is fun for the three minutes that he gets to fire away if you can handle it. But it is the worst piece of equipment to have to lug around. So the sharpshooter or the or the marksman has the best gig. It's nothing like a sniper. Snipers work on their own and it sucks. I could never do that. I have too many ants in my pants. I would not be able to sit in a one position for three days without, you know, killing my number two. So in Melbourne under dictator Dan, it got pretty torrid there, didn't it? With the armed police and I think the world witnessed what happened there. And I think it's a it's a dark mark on our state's history. I don't think it'll be remembered as as Dan Andrews would like it to be remembered. You know, he he I think he frames it as saved all the lives of everybody in Victoria, he was just under our doing. Yeah, he's the he's the male just in the all. I don't know these days, it can't assume they are the genders. But you needed bodyguards at that time, didn't you? At the protests. Yeah. Yeah. Well, we did. I did for almost two reasons. I did because obviously, as you know, not everyone likes me. And I think those of you who I mean, either. I think my phone need to read my book just as much as, you know, there's I actually think everyone does except for the blind haters that are just that it's their hate for me is politically motivated. So it is essentially that they hate my existence because I stand for everything they don't and they're just groomers. It doesn't really matter. Yeah. But I'm talking about the general public, whether you like or dislike my politics or, you know, often probably the people I want most to read it are those who like some of my work, you know, people often walk up to me and say, hey, I really I really like some of the stuff you did. I don't agree with everything. I like my sometimes I wake up in the morning. I go, what did I say yesterday? So no, but yeah, the people I want really most importantly to read it are those that follow my work that and they've been bombarded for years with negative reporting about aspects in my life by people that are bad faith actors that have that have to be honest, a lot of the people that originally started the reporting knew the bigger context of any story they were reporting, but they cherry pick parts that is easy to sell in a headline. The many pleads guilty to assaulting ex-wife. Yeah. Yes. OK. Spoiler alert. I did do that, but I did it. I played guilty to a crime that I didn't commit because I put my kids first because as much as I knew that that was going to be the headline, I really wanted to see my kids. And while I had an open domestic violence matter, the I wasn't going to be able to get my kids. So I needed to close that matter by pleading guilty to a summary offence. Doing what it takes, isn't it? It's like what you do in Israel. Absolutely. And if I had to go back in time, well, it depends how far back I could rewind. But if I could only get back to that point, I would do the same thing. Because guess what? My kids matter more to me and my relationship with my kids matters more to me and the well-being of my kids matters more to me than what you think of me because of some reporting from some journalist that hated my guts and found something they could weaponise in my life to to bring me down. But what I would say to those people that have read that message, I heard all those stories about me for so long and they they're in two minds, they think, oh, I really like some of the work he's done. But these stories sound horrible. Read my book and make up your own mind. It's a bit of a tear-duker in some parts, are we? You've got to say, you know, it actually moved me. Some of the things that you've written in that book. Well, I was being honest and that's the thing. I I know that there are parts in my life. It was hard for me to write. But I think when when you read it with an open heart and an open mind, you realise how horrible the the legacy media and and my detractors, those who knew and know better, you realise how horrible the whole system and how rigid it is that when they want to bring a person down, when they want to shoot the messenger, it's not that hard because everybody has stories in their lives that if you cherry picked half of it from somebody else, you can really paint somebody in a bad light. And that's what they've done. And in my case, they did it whilst I couldn't respond and they knew that. So they had free reign until now. And so now he's a story. This is my story and it's in my words. And and do you know what? Read my story and read their reporting again. And then I bet you'll have that little light bulb moment, that click where it goes. Now it all makes sense because that old saying about you should walk a mile and your opponent's shoes to understand what what they're about. You know, yeah. But look, I also don't blame I'm talking about that same group of people that that have liked my work, but felt like they couldn't get past what they were being told about me because I'd never defended myself. So why the hell should they? But so I don't really blame people that have have taken it. But I hope that this opens people's eyes to the fact that when the media is working so hard to ruin somebody's reputation, ask yourself why? And then ask yourself why that person isn't defending themselves. Because silence isn't necessarily an admission of guilt. No, silence may be that because the person has no choice, especially on these sorts of issues. And, you know, I don't blame people that judged me based on the stories they were told because they weren't given the other side of the story. Now I'm saying to them, read the other side of the story, make up your own mind. And I bet you if you read the story and you read the entire story, because like I've said a few times in this discussion is I don't hide anything. I tell you the stuff that is that may shock you. That's pretty horrific. But everything that they what I can guarantee is everything that they have told you about me is a complete lie. Yeah. And I know I know exactly where you're coming from. I am I am many, I am many things. I'm just not what they say that I am. So let's just crunch that a little bit before we wrap up. Do you think it's possible that these attacks on you by the mainstream media come out of a form of embarrassment? That during this time of covid in particular, they lay down and didn't stand up for the people. Look, I think it's just a tool to discredit me. They've done it even before covid. You know, the Jewish Nazi thing was before covid. There's always been something. I think when that story with my ex-wife, when that played out, they found the perfect thing that they could use it. I couldn't answer. You know, I was a wife. No, but nobody does. And guess what? That was probably the one that stung. It definitely stung the most one, because I couldn't answer it, but two, because it's so false and three. I hate wife beaters more than most people. And and it's and it's funny because often these people that are social justice warriors behind there, you're so brave behind their screens. You know, I'm often the one that will confront violent people directly with a camera in their face. These people, they're so brave at home, you know, but it's disseminating lies about just a political rival. They don't care about my ex-wife. They don't care. I don't care about anything. They just want to demonise. They want to demonise me. They don't care about my kids. I have the most beautiful kids and, you know, the stuff that they say about me will hurt my kids. They don't care. They don't care about any of that. This has always been to just discredit me at any cost. And, you know, that's why I'm excited about this, because I'm reclaiming my own story. Yeah. For the for the first time, I'm getting to tell people to set the record straight. That's why it's called a rebel from the start, because when you read the book, you'll learn that from day one from birth. I was rebel, but it is setting the record straight. And those little lies are only a few pages of the book. That's the funny thing. Yeah, I keep doing interviews. I had a great I had to say that. It comes about that, but it's not the whole book is really not about those. No, it's it's completely it's really fascinating. And like I read it from cover to cover in one go. You know, I just sat there and read it. And I thought, wow, I don't know if I should take that as a as a compliment or it sounds like a great six. I couldn't I couldn't put it down. I couldn't put it down. So how do people get this book? Rebel from the start.com. You can get the book there. You can also sign up to the book tour that is launching in New Zealand. First, the censorship capital of the world. Yes, I said it. And if you're going to do the next obvious thing that some of you have done and cry about me calling it the censorship capital of the world because you think North Korea is worse. OK, you win North Korea is worse. The difference is they don't pretend not to be. Yeah, they're not pretending to be kind. So the sense of coming here. I mean, your fans are really looking forward to seeing you. I hope so. I'm looking forward to seeing them. Twenty fifth of August in Auckland, twenty six in Wellington. And then other dates in other places will be not not in New Zealand. So I think Melbourne will probably do on the Monday after that. But I hope to see and, you know, as many of you guys as possible. Sorry, I can't get around the entire, you know, the other island. But I know some people said it's quite expensive to get there. I would come. I just at this stage, it's impossible. So I'd love to see for those of you that can make it come. I'll I'll sign the book if you want. I find that a bit funny. You know, have we have we got that? Have we got any other news that we can tell? Is is is it confirmed about the rebel commander? The rebel commander is coming here. You can break that here. The event is coming to New Zealand as well. So if you're going to go to these events, you're going to get a two for. Yeah, you're going to get answers. Probably better than me. So you're going to get there. You know, and Abby and then I'll be there at the book launches, of course. And we really look forward to seeing you here, Abby. Finally, something you know is that immigration and the police on the way through and Chanel L who will no doubt be outside crying about something. But unlike with Posey Parker, he's not going to chase anyone out. And, you know, they'll be nice, safe events. You don't have to worry. It's not going to be a replay of what happened there. This is going to be well organized with everybody's safety in mind. And yeah, I really rebel from the start. Come get the book, read it and then bring it on the day. And if you want me to, I'll sign it up. I do feel a bit awkward about that at the moment because people are asking me and people that I actually look up to are making me sign their books. And I'm like, I'm going to make you I'm going to make you sign mine, Abby, because I don't look up to you. I'm not in the book. You put Chantel Baker in the book, but you didn't put me in the book. So it's true. I was when we were talking now, I got a bit embarrassed thinking, I didn't actually because we talk. I talk about the things you did. Yeah, but I didn't name you. But it's all right. I'm not after glory. I'm just after the end result, which is Chantel Baker, I put in the book because she she screwed my life. I was outing her mind. I'm doing a podcast with her in Melbourne tonight. She's in Melbourne. All right. Good. Thank you so much for coming on my first show, Abby. I really appreciate it. I feel honored that I was actually your first show when you told me I'm going to be the first show. I was thinking it's a good move because it can only go uphill from here. Yeah, you popped my cherry, so to speak. Yeah, but you can have the worst episode next week and it'll still be better than this one. I don't know about that, Abby. Look, I'm looking forward to seeing you when you come back into the country. Me too, mate. Thank you for coming on The Crunch with Cam and we'll catch up in August. We definitely will. Don't worry about that. You've been listening to The Crunch with Cam Slater. Remember, you can check out the replays for today's show on our website at www.realitycheck.radio forward slash replays. Tune in every Thursday at 4 p.m. for more with Cam Slater. Right here on RCR, Reality Check Radio.