Would it be nasty to hope they all catch The Plague?

leonetwo Uncategorized

Fiona thought this should be the next thread starter. I hope you agree.

What mind-bending hypocrisy! One day the federal Libs are whinging about having to go into quarantine, the next they are planning fundraisers starring the PM’s mate Ben Morton.

Would it be nasty to hope they all catch The Plague?

Liberal party plans three $2,500-a-head fundraising events in Canberra amid Covid risk
Attendees told social distancing will be in force and plans may change if crisis deteriorates

The Liberal party is attempting to organise at least three fundraising events in Canberra to coincide with the looming resumption of parliament, despite prior health advice warning of the heightened Covid-19 risk posed by sitting periods.

Guardian Australia understands that the party’s Western Australian division is organising three separate Liberal party fundraising dinners featuring the prime minister’s assistant minister, Ben Morton, for the two-week sitting period starting 24 August.

The events are planned for 25 August, 26 August and 2 September, and are advertised as featuring appearances from Paul Fletcher, the communications minister, Simon Birmingham, the trade minister, and Anne Ruston, the social services minister, respectively.

Attendees are being asked to pay $2,500 a head, and told that social distancing will be in force and that the plans may change if the Covid-19 crisis deteriorates further.

The party’s decision to plan fundraising events in Canberra sits uncomfortably with previous health advice about sitting periods

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/11/liberal-party-plans-three-2500-a-head-fundraising-events-in-canberra-amid-covid-risk

355 thoughts on “Would it be nasty to hope they all catch The Plague?”

  1. Good morning Dawn Patrollers. Barely a sprinkle today, I’m afraid.

    John Falzon says that there is a vaccine for the neoliberal disease. He gives us plenty to think about.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6887078/there-is-a-vaccine-for-the-neoliberal-disease/?cs=14264&utm_source=website&utm_medium=home&utm_campaign=latestnews
    Dana McCauley explains how doctors are urging governments to abandon talk of measures aimed at compelling Australians to accept a COVID-19 vaccine, saying the fast-tracked approval process will create a risk of harmful side effects.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/no-jab-no-play-the-wrong-approach-to-covid-19-vaccine-doctors-warn-20200821-p55o70.html
    The Age’s editorial warns that caution is vital in framing national border rules.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/caution-vital-in-national-border-rules-20200822-p55oav.html
    William Olson writes about the ACTU taking its jobs-based plan into overdrive.
    https://theaimn.com/actu-taking-jobs-based-plan-into-overdrive/
    Bank CEOs are breathing a sigh of relief, but many are unconvinced the lenders have set aside enough for the coming storm, says Clancy Yeates.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/bankers-relief-comes-with-huge-caveats-as-soured-loans-loom-20200820-p55nr2.html
    Boris Johnson demands only loyalty, not competence, in his lust for power writes Nick Cohen.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/22/boris-johnson-demands-only-loyalty-not-competence-in-his-lust-for-power
    Biden was great but it was the power-adjacent women who stole the show opines Jacqui Maley. This is quite a good read.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/biden-was-great-but-it-was-the-power-adjacent-women-who-stole-the-show-20200821-p55o3i.html
    ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has hit back at claims from religious groups that the definition of sexuality and gender identity conversion practices under a bill designed to outlaw these activities is too broad.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6890058/churches-say-bill-to-ban-sexual-or-gender-conversion-practices-is-too-broad/?cs=14329
    Troppo Trump does it again!
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-accuses-deep-state-of-delaying-coronavirus-vaccine-until-after-us-election-20200823-p55ode.html

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  4. Latest from The Juice Media –

    “The US Postal Service has made an ad about mail-in voting, and it’s surprisingly honest and informative.”

  5. Doing the rounds in Melbourne –

    A friend got this in their mailbox in Clifton Hill pic.twitter.com/n4eJ8asJ0B— Asher Wolf (@Asher_Wolf) August 21, 2020

    This filth is being circulated by a nasty old man who goes by the name of John Tiger Casley. Here’s his website.
    http://protectorparty.com/

    And here is a response –

    It is simply unacceptable that a person who espouses such abhorrent beliefs, who has labelled Zionism as racist and as a form of terrorism, and who supports the antisemitic agenda of David Icke is able to keep spreading his poison freely and without consequence.

    Clearly, Mr Casley is animated by the same brand of intolerance that consumes David Icke, who claims, amongst other libels, that Jews funded their own extermination at the hands of Hitler and fomented World War I and World War II .

    Such intolerance and bigotry must never be allowed in our state and it is time that the Victorian Electoral Commission deregisters Mr Casley’s party and the local council takes measures to stop this outrage.”

    https://www.antidefamation.com.au/hate-invades-brighton-and-caulfield/

    Casley was once involved with One Nation but ran as an independent in Goldstein last year.
    https://7news.com.au/politics/federal-election-fake-polls-strippers-human-lizards-and-still-17-days-to-go-c-87662

  10. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    60 Minutes uncovered a good bit of factional foul play in the Victorian Liberal Party. Nine Media tells us all about it.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/that-s-politics-inside-the-liberal-party-s-branch-stacking-machine-20200821-p55o1f.html
    The editorial in The Age describes the broader implications of another stacking affair and repeats its call for a decent federal ICAC.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/broader-implications-of-another-stacking-affair-20200821-p55nyi.html
    Shaun Carny wonders what federal Labor is all about in 2020.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/so-what-exactly-is-the-point-of-the-labor-party-in-2020-20200821-p55o56.html
    Michael Pascoe begins this contribution with, “With the US presidential election race hotting up, Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has offered a thinly veiled opinion: Donald Trump is second only to the pandemic as a threat to Australia’s welfare.” This is an excellent read!
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2020/08/24/donald-trump-rba-pascoe/
    David Crowe explains what Frydenberg will tell parliament today about the economy.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/treasury-data-gives-frydenberg-cause-for-optimism-20200823-p55ogw.html
    Josh Frydenberg talks up jobs market recovery but concedes more pain ahead writes Euan Black.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/work/2020/08/23/treasury-jobs-market-recovery/
    Nick Bonyhady says that the union movement will push back against the government’s industrial relations agenda as concerns rise among its leadership that workers will face cuts to their hours without JobKeeper to compensate them.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/unions-fire-warning-shot-over-government-s-industrial-agenda-20200823-p55ofp.html
    With the passage of the legislation for the new JobKeeper scheme a priority for this fortnight’s sitting of Parliament, the changes to the industrial relations exemptions are likely to help secure Labor’s support, writes Phil Coorey.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/no-jobkeeper-exemptions-for-profitable-firms-20200823-p55of4
    Rob Harris writes about some candid reflections from Bill Shorten on his election loss.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/shorten-says-he-was-arrogant-failed-to-walk-in-shoes-of-anxious-australians-20200821-p55o8u.html
    Chris Mitchell says that journalists must take Morrison to task over Covid-19 failures in aged care.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/journalists-must-take-morrison-to-task-over-covid19-failures-in-aged-care/news-story/45f07f3512860105367fb5c9c43c4fd8
    The Liberal Party still has neoliberalism at its heart and we should be wary, writes Jack Hansen.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/beware-of-neoliberals-bearing-welfare,14235
    It looks like Labor in the NT will be able to form government.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-set-to-retain-power-in-nt-after-australia-s-first-coronavirus-election-20200822-p55odb.html
    Michelle Grattan says its COVID response helped NT Labor, encouraging Palaszczuk and McGowan to stick to their scripts.
    https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-covid-response-helped-nt-labor-encouraging-palaszczuk-and-mcgowan-to-stick-to-their-scripts-144920
    According to The Age, a public groundswell is building against Victoria’s protracted state of emergency after Premier Daniel Andrews said extraordinary powers in force since the start of the pandemic would be needed until a COVID-19 vaccine was found.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/we-can-t-keep-living-like-this-covid-19-state-of-emergency-opens-political-divide-20200823-p55oi7.html
    But Dan Andrews says he’ll lead Labor to the next state election.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/daniel-andrews-says-he-ll-lead-labor-to-the-next-state-election-20200823-p55ojo.html
    Labor has urged the Morrison government to reinstate JobKeeper payments to childcare workers after a spate of stand-downs during Melbourne’s COVID-19 lockdown.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/jobkeeper-plea-for-childcare-workers-locked-out-of-work-in-lockdown-20200821-p55o34.html
    As the first ‘remote’ sitting starts in Canberra, virtual parliaments should be the new norm, not a COVID bandaid opines law lecturer Sarah Moulds.
    https://theconversation.com/as-the-first-remote-sitting-starts-in-canberra-virtual-parliaments-should-be-the-new-norm-not-a-covid-bandaid-144737
    Given the low numbers in states other than Victoria, travel bubbles between states such as WA, South Australia, Tasmania and Northern Territory would make sense, according to Monash University constitutional law expert Luke Beck.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/not-on-my-watch-victorian-cases-keep-declining-20200823-p55of7
    The Australian’s Perry Williams reports that Santos is devising a giant ‘‘carbon sink’’ scheme where it can offer energy operators the ability to strip out and bury carbon from their gas supplies at its Moomba hub in South Australia as the industry seeks to accelerate efforts to lower pollution from their fossil fuel operations.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/mining-energy/santos-planning-carbon-sink-at-moomba-to-reduce-emissions/news-story/63f1d1b2752b7ba8fdca02907f15b2e3
    With Covid comes the perfect opportunity to shift Australia’s economy away from fossil fuel, explains Greg Jericho.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/commentisfree/2020/aug/23/with-covid-comes-the-perfect-opportunity-to-shift-the-economy-away-from-fossil-fuel
    Rob Stokes, NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, puts the case for “Build to Rent” to get Sydney off the property roller coaster.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/build-to-rent-sydney-can-get-off-the-property-roller-coaster-20200821-p55o7w.html
    Adele Ferguson reports that a former icare employee who blew the whistle on problems at the workers comp insurer was ignored and then victimised after speaking up.
    https://www.theage.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/gutted-destroyed-betrayed-icare-whistleblower-victimised-after-speaking-up-20200823-p55ods.html
    Frictions between ASIC commissioners are bubbling up at a time when the corporate cop has suffered some humiliating legal setbacks, causing many to wonder just what has gone wrong, opines Karen Maley.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/asic-lurches-from-bad-to-worse-20200823-p55oek
    The federal government is prepared to fight Beijing at the World Trade Organisation after the Chinese Ministry of Commerce launched an anti-dumping investigation into Australian wine, reports Jennifer Duke.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/we-ll-vigorously-defend-australia-ready-to-fight-china-over-wine-dispute-20200823-p55oem.html
    Amanda Vanstone says that, despite the trade spats, we must learn to co-exist with China.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/trade-spats-or-not-we-must-learn-to-co-exist-with-china-20200821-p55o58.html
    The Australian reveals that the Chinese government is actively recruiting leading Australian scientists for a secretive research program that offers lucrative salaries and perks but requires their inventions to be patented in China and obliges them to abide by Chinese law.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/china-exploits-australias-lax-laws-to-sign-up-researchers-for-secret-program/news-story/35a48fe48919f0cc2cd269a3bc2fd91d
    Chinese cities have relaxed social distancing rules and mask mandates, and crowds are again filling tourist sites, cinemas and gyms.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/as-the-world-struggles-to-contain-coronavirus-life-gets-back-to-normal-in-china-20200824-p55ok0.html
    The London Telegraph points the finger at the “bumbling bureaucrats” in Wuhan for what the world is now suffering.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/the-world-may-be-paying-the-price-for-wuhan-s-bungling-bureaucrats-20200823-p55ofm.html
    The Covid-19 crisis is accelerating the breakup of the UK says John Harris.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/23/covid-19-crisis-breakup-uk-brexit-pandemic-scottish-independence
    Trump’s older sister and former federal judge, described him as a liar who has “no principles” in a series of audio recordings made by her niece, Mary Trump, in 2018 and 2019.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-s-sister-describes-him-as-liar-with-no-principles-in-recordings-20200823-p55ogk.html
    Amid fire and pestilence, floods and storms, the personal is political and Trump must go urges Robert Reich.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/23/donald-trump-wildfires-coronavirus-flood-hurricanes
    The former FBI director James Comey has said Steve Bannon is “in a world of trouble”, after the former Trump campaign manager and White House adviser was arrested on a charge of skimming donations from a fundraising campaign for a wall on the border with Mexico.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/aug/23/james-comey-donald-trump-steve-bannon

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  13. The media got it wrong on the NT election result. Labor lost votes not just because of Covid border closures, “crime” (whatever that means) and the economy. Gunner’s determination to frack the bejesus out of the territory also lost a lot of votes but the media don’t mention that inconvenient fact.

  18. If it can be stuffed up then the NSW government will stuff it up.

    From Sonia Hornery, NSW Labor MP for Wallsend –

    Yesterday it was asbestos and now they wont fit under the bridges along their route.

    These are the new ferries that the NSW Government paid $1.3 billion for and sent the construction work and jobs offshore to China, Singapore and Indonesia.

    Following the delivery of some of the new ferries last week, the Maritime Union of Australia – MUA discovered asbestos in gaskets on three of the new vessels.

    And now, 10 new Sydney ferries will not be able to pass under two bridges on the Parramatta River if commuters are seated on the top deck. Passengers will be required to come down off the top deck of the ferries before the ferries can proceed.

    Last year the Government bought trains from South Korea that didn’t fit the tracks.

    The is proves that we should always Build them here.

    We have world class train and boat builders right here in the Hunter

    https://www.facebook.com/SoniaHornery/

    More –
    The state Opposition has challenged the government to ‘rip up’ the contracts for four Indonesian-built ferries
    https://www.newcastleherald.com.au/story/6892662/opposition-demands-ferries-be-built-in-newcastle/?cs=13296

    • Thank you for posting it. Very interesting indeed.

      More power to her – maybe it will eventually happen that enough people (including journalists) decide to call out the obvious hypocrisy, lies and associated criminality so prevalent wherever the lust for political power and money flourish.

  23. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    The royal commission into aged care has rebuked the federal government for failing to act on persistent problems across the sector, with new research sparking a clash in Parliament over measures that might have saved lives.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/aged-care-commissioners-rebuke-government-over-missed-opportunities-20200824-p55otw.html
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/24/royal-commission-blasts-morrison-government-for-inaction-on-aged-care
    In a political zero-sum game where the squeakiest wheels get the fiscal grease, aged care consistently misses out laments the AFR’s Terry Barnes.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/aged-care-can-t-compete-with-rent-seekers-and-vested-interests-20200824-p55olz
    Michelle Grattan says Scott Morrison is finding, to his great discomfort, the royal commissioners probing aged care aren’t keeping their thoughts to themselves until their final report in February.
    https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-aged-care-royal-commissioners-say-sector-needs-independent-performance-reporting-144964
    The government has thrown another $171 million at the problem. But a real plan for aged care has been missing all along writes Professor Joseph Ibrahim in this constructive contribution.
    https://theconversation.com/the-government-has-thrown-another-171-million-at-the-problem-but-a-real-plan-for-aged-care-has-been-missing-all-along-144929
    If Australia has known for a long time that its aged care sector is in crisis, why is reform so difficult asks Tim Cornwall.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/the-revolving-door-inside-our-aged-care-sector,14231
    The Australian tells us that Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck has been “cut out” of decisions to activate new aged-care emergency measures during a COVID-19 outbreak as Scott Morrison used question time to apologise to families of victims for failures during the initial response to the pandemic.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/colbeck-sidelined-over-activation-of-crisis-centres/news-story/023b04aa70f6cf1f0c98ae94ebf12e44
    Michael McCormack is facing a destabilisation campaign led by senior Nationals MPs and party figures, with rivals laying the groundwork for a leadership transition after the Queensland election writes The Australian’s Geoff Chambers.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/nationals-put-squeeze-on-michael-mccormack-leadership-strike-tipped-after-queensland-election/news-story/e611473848a6b9ae2878408562079789
    David Crowe tells us that state premiers are being blamed for splitting communities with border closures that put jobs at risk, prompting federal Coalition MPs to ramp up calls for intervention to ease the controls.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/backbenchers-businesses-urge-governments-to-ease-state-borders-20200824-p55ovh.html
    According to Nick Bonyhady businesses that have fallen off JobKeeper will retain the power to cut staff hours by as much as 40 per cent if they can show their turnover has fallen at least a tenth under a Morrison government plan to save jobs.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/businesses-who-lose-jobkeeper-will-still-be-able-to-cut-staff-hours-20200824-p55ot0.html
    Paul Karp writes that the government has backed down on plans to grant businesses that have returned to profitability the power to cut workers’ hours. Instead, only employers suffering revenue downturns during the Covid-19 crisis will retain those powers.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/24/labor-welcomes-backdown-on-most-extreme-part-of-jobkeeper-20
    The AFR explains how state governments are being asked to consider privatisations as a new way to help pay for the cost of COVID-19 and protect their credit ratings. What could possibly go wrong?
    https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/privatisation-back-on-the-map-for-debt-laden-states-20200824-p55onk
    After months of COVID-induced irrelevance Anthony Albanese and federal Labor sense a chance to at last get some political traction and dim the resurgent aura of Scott Morrison, writes Dennis Shanahan.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/anthony-albanese-needs-to-box-clever-not-just-throw-haymakers-at-scott-morrison/news-story/10efb9128fe7a7c607236719a6ab8f14
    And Ed Husic has called for the dizzying array of policies his party took to the past two elections to be vastly simplified, saying the kind of complicated tax changes the ALP had previously run on can only be argued from government.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/08/25/ed-husic-labor-needs-new-plan-to-avoid-more-election-losses/
    Luke Henriques-Gomes reports that the Victorian quarantine inquiry heard yesterday that a security guard at Melbourne’s Rydges on Swanston hotel who contracted coronavirus received no infection control training and wasn’t clear on his obligation to tell his superiors if he felt unwell.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/24/melbourne-hotel-quarantine-guard-continued-working-with-covid-symptoms-inquiry-hears
    Paul Bongiorno opines that clever thinking on border management emerges, but the risks are still real, he says.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/08/25/paul-bongiorno-border-management/
    The coronavirus has delivered the biggest economic shock in nearly a century. And yet spending across most of the country is holding up. Several measures show the level of weekly purchasing by households is similar to before the pandemic, writes Matt Wade who says that the economic precipice is upon us.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-wile-e-coyote-economy-australia-too-has-sped-off-the-precipice-20200823-p55oi9.html
    Doug Dingwall writes that new figures from the ABS show that most Australians receiving government stimulus payments are using them to pay household bills and debts,.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6892432/big-screen-tvs-nope-we-spent-our-covid-stimulus-to-pay-down-our-bills/?cs=14329
    These times are financially stressful for many Australians, but not everyone. Alan Austin examines indicators showing the sectors still dining out.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/the-economy-is-still-booming-for-the-rich-despite-the-pandemic,14236
    Insolvency experts are warning that kowtowing to debtors could have an even worse effect than letting some fail.
    https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/too-soft-on-insolvencies-will-do-more-harm-than-good-20200824-p55onn
    The AIMN explains why it thinks Morrison is not a leader.
    https://theaimn.com/morrison-is-not-a-leader/
    Australians are prepared to countenance much stronger surveillance measures to ensure people diagnosed with Covid-19 remain in quarantine while they recover, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll. Katharine Murphy also explains other outcomes from the poll.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/25/essential-poll-australians-back-strong-surveillance-and-banning-all-international-flights-to-curb-covid
    Tony Wright has a look at yesterday’s first day of the new form of parliament.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/the-day-the-nation-s-politicians-found-reason-to-hide-behind-masks-20200824-p55ovs.html
    Scrapping a rise in the super guarantee will expand the future welfare state and force up personal taxes. Is that what conservatives want, asks Craig Emerson.
    https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/the-coalition-s-weird-policy-on-super-20200824-p55olx
    The rampant commercialisation of Australia’s public universities has been laid bare as they engage in behaviour more expected of multinationals than learned institutions. While huge numbers of teaching staff have been casualised, the sector is reporting bumper profits and eyewatering corporate salaries. Michael Sainsbury runs the numbers.
    https://www.michaelwest.com.au/australian-university-profits/
    Clive Palmer’s challenge of Western Australia’s border closures is set to reach a critical juncture with a judgment due in the Federal Court today.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6893710/federal-court-to-rule-on-wa-border-closure/?cs=14231
    Some disturbing news from Bevan Shields who reports that researchers have analysed the genome sequence to confirm that the 33-year-old IT worker had been infected by two different strains of coronavirus four months apart.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/researchers-announce-world-s-first-confirmed-case-of-coronavirus-reinfection-20200824-p55ox1.html
    Jewel Topsfield reports that a more infectious mutation of the coronavirus known as the G-variant is now the most common form of the virus in Australia – but some believe it will have only a ‘moderate effect, not a massive effect’ on infection rates.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/fast-spreading-mutation-now-australia-s-most-common-strain-of-covid-19-20200824-p55oto.html
    Josh Butler writes that Australian health officials have promised there will be no “cutting of corners” in the testing and approval process for any potential coronavirus vaccine, while also fending off criticisms from the country’s most powerful Catholic archbishop about the development of a treatment.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/08/24/no-cutting-corners-covid-vaccine/
    The Smage continues its digging on Sukkar and finds some more dirt.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/sukkar-uses-taxpayer-budget-to-employ-friend-who-also-designed-smear-sheets-20200824-p55osu.html
    Meanwhile the Victorian Liberal party will probe all members signed up in the past five years to see if they are genuine, while several operatives face suspension or expulsion from the party.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/conservative-liberal-powerbroker-marcus-bastiaan-resigns-from-party-20200824-p55opd.html
    These two public health practitioners put forward a case that says Australia’s federation system is broken and needs urgent clarification.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/hand-more-power-to-the-states-before-the-next-pandemic-hits-20200816-p55m7p.html
    Now Lisa Visentin reveals that the scandal-plagued insurer, icare, paid its senior executives almost $4 million in salaries and bonuses in the 2018-2019 financial year as its return-to-work rates plunged and the regulator began raising concerns about solvency.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/icare-paid-executives-4-million-in-salaries-and-bonuses-20200824-p55orf.html
    Employers who use approved payroll software could be provided “safe harbour” against prosecution and penalties for wage underpayment under a plan put forward by the small and family business ombudsman.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/25/payroll-software-could-protect-employers-who-commit-accidental-wage-theft-ombudsman-says
    Michaela Whitbourn tells us that lawyers for a nine-year-old Indigenous boy who is suing Daily Telegraph columnist Miranda Devine for defamation may be forced to serve legal documents on her in the United States, where she is on secondment, because her Australian employer will not accept them on her behalf.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/news-corp-not-acting-for-devine-so-lawsuit-may-be-served-personally-in-us-20200824-p55oo5.html
    “There must be a full scale inquiry into icare. Anything less is a cop out”, shouts Adele Ferguson.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/there-must-be-a-full-scale-inquiry-into-icare-anything-less-is-a-cop-out-20200824-p55ouc.html
    So many swords were fallen upon at the AMP yesterday!
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/finance-veteran-david-murray-exits-amid-more-upheaval-at-amp-20200824-p55os7.html
    Mike Foley reports that twenty five of Australia’s top scientists have taken the rare step of speaking out about the Chief Scientist’s support for the use of gas as a transition fuel to a cleaner energy system.
    https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/australia-s-chief-scientist-is-wrong-on-gas-say-leading-experts-20200824-p55oty.html
    And the SMH editorial says that the argument over whether natural gas is the right way to transition to renewable energy is far from settled.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/environmental-doubts-over-natural-gas-cannot-be-ignored-20200824-p55ovm.html
    Coal power plant owner Delta Electricity has told a NSW inquiry that increased investment in power transmission cables isn’t necessarily the answer for NSW’s energy system.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/nsw-warned-on-loss-of-power-self-sufficiency-20200824-p55opc
    More from Mike Foley as he writes that farmers are saying public pressure is forcing the agriculture sector to set greenhouse gas targets, as the Morrison government increases its criticism of the national farm lobby after it set a goal to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/agriculture-s-future-is-riskier-with-no-climate-change-goals-farmers-20200824-p55ork.html
    Kasey Edwards who has seen a loved relative turn into a conspiracy theorist, says that in lockdown, fearful and faced with uncertainty, with too much time spent watching online videos, the only winners are the shonks counting clicks and monetising lies.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-heartbreak-of-loving-a-conspiracy-theorist-20200813-p55ldw.html
    Why QAnon is attracting so many followers in Australia — and how it can be countered.
    https://theconversation.com/why-qanon-is-attracting-so-many-followers-in-australia-and-how-it-can-be-countered-144865
    Peter Hartcher describes the breathtaking political events taking place on Thailand as protests against the king mount.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/to-anyone-familiar-with-thailand-what-s-happening-is-breathtaking-20200824-p55opm.html
    Idiot Trump marked his official nomination for a second term with a speech complaining about voting by mail, alleging that his opponents were attempting to steal the November election and accusing Democratic nominee Joe Biden of being a puppet of Beijing.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-marks-nomination-by-complaining-about-mail-in-voting-20200825-p55oxk.html
    The New York state attorney general is investigating whether Donald Trump and the Trump Organisation improperly manipulated the value of the US president’s assets to secure loans and obtain economic and tax benefits, and said Trump’s son Eric has been uncooperative in the civil probe. What a family!
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/new-york-probing-whether-donald-trump-and-the-trump-organization-manipulated-asset-values-20200825-p55oxu.html
    Yet another police shooting effort in the US sparks a big protest.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/protests-erupt-in-wisconsin-after-video-shows-police-shooting-black-man-20200825-p55oxf.html

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  25. Yesterday, in parliament –

    #auspol24-8-2020 Albo stands in Parliament & reads a litany of failures by Morrison & his govt.Morrison turns his back!Josh Frydenberg interjects & has to come to the dispatch box & withdraw swear words.A shocking state of affairs by a useless & unjust Liberal Party! pic.twitter.com/8U0orhmMxM— Sir Thomas Wynn (@mister_wynn) August 24, 2020

    Albo’s speech – no wonder the CrimeMinister did not want to listen.

    https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Hansard/Hansard_Display?bid=chamber/hansardr/29e6e8cb-9928-4774-850a-c2018b9b3e7e/&sid=0000

  30. A bit of a worry. Hopefully something can be done to ensure this route is closed.
    ……………………………………………………………………….
    Covid 19 coronavirus: Virus can survive on frozen meat and fish for up to three weeks, study shows

    Individual pieces of salmon, chicken and pork from supermarkets in Singapore were sliced into cubes then a sample of the virus was added to them.

    The meat and fish was stored in conditions which simulate those used to transport food between countries – 4C (standard refrigeration temperature) and minus 20C (standard freezing temperature).

    Scientists found that infectious Covid-19 was still present on the samples after 21 days.

    They are now warning that this may explain outbreaks in countries that have not had any coronavirus cases for long periods – and could lead to future spikes.

    The study states: “An explanation is required for the re-emergence of Covid-19 outbreaks in regions with apparent local eradication. Recent outbreaks have emerged in Vietnam, New Zealand and parts of China where there had been no cases for some months.

    “Importation of contaminated food and food packaging is a feasible source for such outbreaks and a source of clusters within existing outbreaks.
    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=12359546

  31. The members of this government just don’t care about anything but their salaries and rorts.

  36. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    Nick Bonyhady and Shane Wright say that Labor will back a JobKeeper overhaul giving businesses that have at least partially bounced back from the virus the power to cut workers’ hours.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/parliament-set-to-pass-jobkeeper-extension-as-job-losses-grow-20200825-p55p61.html
    Meanwhile, legislation giving all workers two weeks of paid pandemic leave is on the verge of passing the Senate after Labor threw its support behind the Greens push.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/senate-push-is-on-to-give-paid-pandemic-leave-to-all-workers-20200825-p55p69.html
    Scott Morrison has blamed “unacceptable” failures in Victoria for deepening the coronavirus crisis as he comes under more pressure in Parliament over his response to infections in aged care, reports David Crowe.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-turns-fire-on-victoria-in-aged-care-blame-game-20200825-p55p85.html
    Phil Coorey tells us that Morrison has taken the gloves off and gone after Dan Andrews.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/masks-on-gloves-off-as-federal-government-turns-on-andrews-20200825-p55oz4
    Ross Gittins describes how Morrison was masterfully noncommittal on his government’s plan to help those hit hardest.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/morrison-masterfully-noncommittal-on-plan-to-help-those-hit-hardest-20200825-p55ozn.html
    JI calling for political leaders to take charge, John Hewson begins this contribution with, “Branch stacking is one of the most unedifying, if not sordid, features of Australian politics. It is a fundamental tool of the factions evident in both Labor and the LNP. Labor has been at it longer, and is better at it. Indeed, Labor factions are more structured, disciplined and effective – LNP factions are more amateurish and aspirational.”
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/leaders-must-respond-to-cancerous-branch-stacking-20200825-p55p4f.html
    A secret plot to dump seven Victorian Liberal MPs based on skin colour, gender, ethnicity and religiou­s beliefs has sparked a new branch-stacking crisis that has embarrassed the party leadership, says The Australian.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/liberals-in-crisis-over-secret-plot-to-dump-mps-based-on-skin-colour-gender-ethnicity-and-religious-beliefs/news-story/1294445e748db306a707dd458c6d6bda
    Pontificating Paul Kelly says that over-protective states are throttling our nation.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/coronavirus-overprotective-states-are-throttling-our-nation/news-story/eb29a154d19ccfc834948fac4ef3f096
    Australia’s COVID vaccine has performed “better than expected” in trials and is likely to protect against the coronavirus and its symptoms, it has been revealed.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/coronavirus/2020/08/26/religious-vaccine-stance-coronavirus/
    The quarantine hotel accommodation in Sydney was not too good. Apparently. Another Dan Andrews cock up.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-police-reviewing-infection-control-at-hotel-quarantine-as-state-records-three-cases-20200825-p55p7s.html
    David Crowe reports that Sarah Henderson is calling on people to use state law to seek financial redress if they have lost work from the curbs imposed to counter the coronavirus.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/liberal-senator-urges-victorians-to-demand-compensation-for-lockdowns-20200825-p55p8x.html
    Nick McKenzie and his co-writers now reveal that new messages and emails show the assistant federal treasurer was personally involved in a potentially illegal scheme to use taxpayer funded staff as factional operatives. Who’s been a naughty boy then, Mr Sukkar?
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/sukkar-helped-install-factional-operatives-in-kevin-andrews-office-20200825-p55p1b.html
    Julie Moulds writs on why she thinks virtual parliaments should be the new norm.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6893707/as-the-first-remote-sitting-starts-in-canberra-virtual-parliaments-should-be-the-new-norm/?cs=14350
    Lisa Visentin explains how Dominic Perrottet has apologised to workers let down by scandal-ridden insurer icare as he conceded there were serious issues that needed to be addressed inside the agency.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/the-buck-stops-with-me-nsw-treasurer-apologises-to-injured-workers-let-down-by-icare-20200825-p55ozp.html
    Nick O’Malley tells us that Alan Finkel, has defended his position on the use of natural gas after being criticised by some of the nation’s leading climate change scientists.
    https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/chief-scientist-alan-finkel-responds-to-criticism-from-colleagues-20200825-p55p8l.html
    Liberals who have been outspoken in their opposition to taxpayer funding of new coal projects predict a new power plant in north Queensland being championed by the Nationals will never proceed because there are cheaper and more environmentally friendly alternatives for energy generation.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/26/collinsville-coal-power-plant-will-never-proceed-as-renewables-are-cheaper-liberal-mps-say
    The Coalition Government favours fossil fuels at the expense of renewables, but Australia needs to get off coal to save both lives and money, writes Professor John Quiggin.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/every-day-coal-is-killing-us,14237
    According to Kate Aubusson, GPs are urging the federal government to make Medicare rebates for telehealth services permanent and allow GPs to privately bill patients beyond the September 30 cut-off, as practices buckle under the financial pressure of COVID-19.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/gp-push-to-remove-ban-on-private-billing-for-telehealth-20200824-p55oti.html
    Anthony Galloway reports that Australian defence reservists will be recruited for longer and military bases across the country upgraded under a $1 billion boost to the nation’s defences to be announced today.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/more-defence-reservists-to-combat-coronavirus-and-natural-disasters-20200825-p55p7l.html
    Peter Lewis writes of the latest Essential poll that it seems the Australian government can’t go too far when it comes to shutting the gate to Covid.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2020/aug/25/it-seems-the-australian-government-cant-go-too-far-when-it-comes-to-shutting-the-gate-to-covid
    Kevin Rudd settles a score with odious mouth for hire, Mitch Hooke.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/how-mitch-hooke-axed-the-mining-tax-and-climate-action-20200825-p55oz3
    The AFR explains how WA notched up a major win in the border war with Clive Palmer.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/wa-notches-up-major-win-in-border-wars-20200825-p55p1f
    And Anne Twomey writes that the Federal Court has found border closures are the safest way to protect public health.
    https://theconversation.com/federal-court-finds-border-closures-safest-way-to-protect-public-health-in-clive-palmer-case-145038
    Jennifer Duke tells us that Incentives to lure women back to the workforce and boost their earnings and retirement savings will be unveiled by the Morrison government as part of a pandemic recovery plan.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/women-s-work-a-government-focus-for-coronavirus-recovery-plans-20200825-p55ozt.html
    Melbourne millionaire Mark Simonds and his family face a two-week stay in hotel lockdown after the Queensland government revoked a quarantine exemption for their super-yacht Lady Pamela. Stiff shit!
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/hotel-lockdown-for-melbourne-millionaires-after-exemption-revoked-20200825-p55p5v.html
    Nearly 2500 more Qantas jobs are at risk as the airline looks to outsource domestic ground handling operations in a bid to save cash during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/qantas-says-2500-more-jobs-are-at-risk-20200825-p55p3o
    For at least 20 years, the much-maligned skilled temporary visa – formerly sub-class 457 and now sub-class 482 – has tracked the relative state of the Australian economy.
    For at least 20 years, the much-maligned skilled temporary visa – formerly sub-class 457 and now sub-class 482 – has tracked the relative state of the Australian economy, explains Abul Rizvi.
    https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/skilled-temporary-visa-holders-a-barometer-for-the-australian-economy,14239
    Australia’s largest shopping centre landlord, Scentre Group, is in open warfare with one of its major tenants, clothing retailer Mosaic Brands, which is threatening to shut 500 stores unless landlords reduce rents.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/retail/retailers-landlords-in-open-warfare-over-rents-20200825-p55p5f
    Under Biden, the US would no longer be a climate pariah – and that leaves Scott Morrison exposed opines Professor Matt McDonald.
    https://theconversation.com/under-biden-the-us-would-no-longer-be-a-climate-pariah-and-that-leaves-scott-morrison-exposed-144870
    The first night of the 2020 Republican National Convention was a fire hose of false or misleading claims, mostly drawn from US President Donald Trump’s arsenal of falsehoods. Here are 19 claims fact-checked by The Washington Post.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/fact-checking-the-first-night-of-the-2020-republican-national-convention-20200825-p55p98.html
    As Republicans try to broaden their appeal, Matthew Knott describes its national convention as more than Fox News on steroids.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/more-than-fox-news-on-steroids-republicans-try-to-broaden-appeal-20200825-p55p5d.html
    For once, the Trumps are only the Republicans’ second most dysfunctional family, writes Marina Hyde.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/aug/25/trumps-republicans-family-don-rnc-americans-conway

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  37. What the hell is wrong with Labor’s tacticians?

    I thought Labor stood up for workers. I must have been mistaken.

    Nick Bonyhady and Shane Wright –

    The overhaul of JobKeeper includes changes to working conditions. Normally full-time workers can be stood down if there is no work for reasons outside their boss’s control but the JobKeeper extension makes that power broader and more flexible.

    It allows businesses whose turnover is down between 10 and 30 per cent, so they are no longer eligible for JobKeeper payments, to drop staff hours to 60 per cent of pre-COVID-19 levels if there is less work for them because of the pandemic.

    “That is going to mean flexibilities continue and jobs will be saved,” Attorney-General Christian Porter said in question time on Tuesday

    No, Porter lies. It means more money for business owners and less pay for workers. What’s the point of having your job “saved” if you no longer earn enough to live on? If this bill becomes law we will have more people working two or three jobs just to make ends meet, more of the employment disaster that got us into the current mess.

    Tony Burke says Labor MIGHT try to amend the bill in the Senate. Fat lot of good that will do, the Reps will just knock back the amendments.

    Labor does not have the numbers to amend bills in the Reps, not even if the entire crossbench vote with them, so why waste time trying to move pointless amendments that will fail? Why not just vote against the bill?

  38. Penny Wong is not asked about Richard Colbeck while speaking to Patricia Karvelas – but asks to make some comments on him as the interview ends.

    This is an extraordinary comment.

    Can I just say something quickly about Richard Colbeck? You know, I sit in the Senate every day with this bloke, and I tell you, Patricia, I would not trust the care of my parents to him.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2020/aug/26/australia-coronavirus-live-update-sydney-quarantine-hotel-scott-morrison-qld-health-defence-latest-news#comment-143264609

    I await the CrimeMinister’s comment with interest.

  42. Will Tony Abbott be any more successful building UK trade than he was in Australia
    Great at wrecking, yes, building – no

  43. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    Anthony Galloway reports that China-funded culture and language centres at Australian universities and Victoria’s Belt and Road deal with Beijing could be cancelled under a powerful intervention to be unveiled by the Morrison government.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/they-can-be-cancelled-commonwealth-to-review-states-overseas-agreements-20200826-p55pmt.html
    And David Crowe says that Morrison is pulling rank on the premiers in one area where his powers are clear – foreign relations.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-asserts-power-in-one-area-where-he-can-20200826-p55ply.html
    Melbourne multi-millionaire Mark Simonds and his family face criminal investigations in two states over their super-yacht’s voyage to the Gold Coast.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/queensland/millionaire-group-face-two-criminal-investigations-over-yacht-voyage-20200826-p55pma.html
    David Crowe tells us that, under a sustained attack on the government over aged care, Morrison may give the sector a funding a boost.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/aged-care-spending-on-the-agenda-as-labor-slams-old-cuts-20200826-p55pmg.html
    The aged care sector needs another $621 million per year to be operating to the best possible quality, a report prepared for the aged care royal commission has found.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6897280/aged-care-needs-621-million-extra-a-year-to-be-at-best-standard/?cs=17318
    Meanwhile, The Age tells us that the Greek Orthodox Church has received $14.6 million in “exorbitant” rent and fees in the past five years from St Basil’s, the aged care home where Australia’s deadliest COVID-19 outbreak has occurred. It won’t be the only church!
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/church-received-14-6m-in-exorbitant-rent-from-st-basil-s-over-five-years-20200826-p55pki.html
    Michelle Grattan declares that the role of ‘profit’ is the elephant in the aged care room.
    https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-the-role-of-profit-is-the-elephant-in-the-aged-care-room-145118
    Nurses would not be infected with Covid-19 at such devastating rates if more privately operated aged care homes had surge workforce plans in place and were audited regularly to ensure those plans were adequate, the nurses’ union has said.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/27/nurses-union-says-lack-of-surge-workforce-plans-behind-devastating-covid-19-infection-rate
    Youth detention is a national crisis in these Covid-19 times writes Paul Dutton.
    https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/youth-detention-is-a-national-crisis-,14242
    The NSW economy could shrink to where it was in 2017-18 as its shuttered border with Victoria and the world weigh on the state economy writes Shane Wright.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/nsw-could-take-three-years-to-recover-from-coronavirus-recession-20200826-p55pjn.html
    Fergus Hunter explains how law enforcement agencies would face a higher bar to carry out raids against journalists under a range of bipartisan findings of a parliamentary inquiry that has disappointed media organisations by rejecting their key demands.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/press-freedom-inquiry-recommends-higher-standard-for-warrants-but-rejects-media-demands-20200826-p55pfi.html
    Palliative care doctor, Julia Corfield, writes about this being a bad time with people dying alone.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/these-conversations-are-among-the-hardest-i-have-had-as-a-doctor-20200826-p55phh.html
    According to the AFR editorial, the inflammatory rhetoric over the extension of the state of emergency in Victoria is a distraction from the immediate major challenges of reopening state borders in the national interest.
    https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/reopen-borders-and-suppress-the-culture-war-20200826-p55pc8
    The idea of American exceptionalism has infected Australia, laments Bruce Haigh.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/the-idea-of-american-exceptionalism-has-infected-australia,14241
    Caitlin Fitzsimmons warns that variations on the “buy now, pay later” theme are proliferating and consumer advocates warn people are running up balances on multiple apps and this will only get worse as the recession deepens.
    https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/buy-now-pay-later-you-say-innovation-i-say-gateway-to-debt-20200825-p55p78.html
    In quite a good spit, Michael Pascoe says the ‘inexcusable’ is being routinely excused in the Age of No Responsibility.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2020/08/27/age-of-no-responsibility-pascoe/
    In a very interesting article, Peter Lewis writes about what we give up for free to be potentially used to our own detriment.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/every-keystroke-you-make-if-the-boss-is-mining-your-data-should-you-be-paid-20200826-p55pex.html
    Noel Towell writes that the Victorian government has agreed to a shorter extension of emergency powers as the Australian Medical Association calls for a royal commission into Labor’s response to the pandemic.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/andrews-yields-on-emergency-powers-as-doctors-call-for-royal-commission-into-slow-car-crash-20200826-p55pmc.html
    Dana McCauley tells us that the Victorian Health Department has quietly scrapped its paper COVID-19 notification system in a major boost for the state’s trouble-plagued contact tracing unit.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/trashed-their-fax-machines-health-department-scraps-paper-contact-tracing-20200826-p55pnr.html
    Jess Irvine looks at the state of the housing market and what impact a collapse would have.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/how-worried-should-you-be-about-falling-home-prices-20200826-p55pj3.html
    The editorial in the SMH says that written between and within the lines on almost every page of the NSW Bushfire Inquiry report is a glaring and brutal fact: climate change. It also urges Morrison to heed these warnings. to
    https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/morrison-must-heed-warnings-in-bushfire-report-20200826-p55pku.html
    The Defence Department has been ordered to release details of just how much it is paying to a French state-owned company to design and build the navy’s new submarine fleet. Details of the contract have been kept secret on commercial confidentiality grounds during a lengthy freedom of information battle waged by independent Senator Rex Patrick. Nice work, Rex!
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/defence-ordered-to-hand-over-submarine-contract-details-20200824-p55opw
    Rob Harris writes that the nation’s highest-paid civil servant, Australia Post’s Christine Holgate, has been lashed by a bipartisan parliamentary committee for attempting to avoid scrutiny over the future of Australia Post’s service delivery.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/australia-post-boss-lashed-over-lack-of-understanding-of-senate-scrutiny-20200826-p55pmi.html
    In a reversal of events, Telstra, being the former telecoms monopoly, is trying to take on NBN Co, the monopoly that displaced it says Paul Budde.
    https://independentaustralia.net/business/business-display/telstra-is-going-on-to-take-the-nbn-monopoly,14240
    ABC has for too long been unwilling to push back against interference – at its journalists’ expense says Dennis Muller.
    https://theconversation.com/abc-has-for-too-long-been-unwilling-to-push-back-against-interference-at-its-journalists-expense-143999
    The long-simmering dispute between the powerful Scentre Group, owner of the local Westfield property empire, and high-profile retailer Solomon Lew is moving to a legal confrontation that could trigger the closure of hundreds of stores.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/just-jeans-portmans-peter-alexander-and-smiggle-face-westfield-lockout/news-story/941bf21b8e56414eb866d697c7519437
    And Matthew Bailey writes that there is trouble at the mall as landlords and tenants ponder mutually assured destruction.
    https://theconversation.com/trouble-at-the-mall-as-landlords-and-tenants-ponder-mutually-assured-destruction-145094
    The affordable family car opened the way for the suburban shopping centre. Now technology, in the form of online shopping, is remaking the retail industry, writes Robert Harley.
    https://www.afr.com/property/commercial/landlords-v-retailers-why-the-long-game-has-just-begun-20200826-p55pga
    Between 30% and 50% of the world’s water supply is stolen each year, mainly by agricultural interests and farmers, yet the crime itself is not well understood, a new international study led by the University of Adelaide says.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/aug/27/up-to-half-of-worlds-water-supply-stolen-annually-study-finds
    ASIC will not take any action against Commonwealth Bank directors or executives after concluding its investigation into events surrounding Austrac’s 2017 claim against the bank.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/financial-services/asic-drops-cbas-austrac-investigation/news-story/a0a36f41a96e0d9a9f95b11e292682a4
    Eryk Bagshaw reports on the rather unusual talk the Chinese deputy head of mission gave at the NPC yesterday.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/australia-brutus-to-china-s-caesar-20200825-p55p84.html
    Greg Sheridan has his say on the matter.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/unscripted-beijings-theatre-of-the-absurd/news-story/3aa956410c3837b7ebbbda11a2d43ab6
    Tony Abbott was granted an exemption from the Australian government’s international travel ban to fly to London where he has accepted a job spruiking British trade after Brexit. The Poms can HAVE him!
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/tony-abbott-granted-travel-exemption-to-take-on-uk-brexit-job-20200826-p55pnv.html
    It seems Cricket Australia will set up Big Bash hubs in every state capital except Melbourne, while Adelaide could host the Boxing Day Test.
    https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/on-the-move-ca-weighs-up-big-bash-hub-roadshow-20200826-p55pmo.html
    Is ASIC a poodle for Rich Listers and big business or a serious corporate regulator? In their seven years in power the Liberals have appointed all the key personnel. The decision on whether to appeal the loss it suffered in the court case it brought against advertising mogul Harold Mitchell will be a key test. Stephen Mayne makes the case for an appeal.
    https://www.michaelwest.com.au/asic-mitchell-case/
    The decision to withdraw the anthem song from the Last Night of the Proms has touched off an almighty clash that may test the public’s patience with contemporary reassessments of Britain’s history, writes Bevan Shields.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/time-we-stopped-our-cringing-embarrassment-boris-johnson-urges-rule-britannia-rethink-20200825-p55pa8.html
    The New York Times says that if Biden wins, pushing back on an aggressive China, without blowing up the global trading system, will require reversing one of Donald Trump’s biggest mistakes — his failure to build a partnership with Germany to counter Beijing.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/to-deal-with-china-trump-should-learn-german-20200826-p55pj7.html
    The uneasy trade understanding is not living up to US expectations but both sides need to maintain the appearance that it is intact, writes Stephen Bartholomeusz.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/us-and-china-are-conveniently-friendly-on-a-trade-pact-that-isn-t-delivering-20200826-p55pfy.html
    More than 500,000 people are under evacuation orders in parts of Texas and Louisiana as Hurricane Laura is predicted to make landfall, bringing destruction to the US Gulf Coast.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6897540/us-orders-hurricane-laura-evacuations/?cs=14232
    Matthew Knott gives his impression of what looked like a rather bizarre second night of the Republican national convention.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/time-we-stopped-our-cringing-embarrassment-boris-johnson-urges-rule-britannia-rethink-20200825-p55pa8.html
    “If pushed a little most Americans would admit that their President is a mental cot case and Australians would put it rather more forcibly: “A dead-set wanker of the first order” , writes John Lord.
    https://theaimn.com/they-know-trump-is-a-basket-case-but/

    Cartoon Corner

    David Pope

    Cathy Wilcox

    Alan Moir


    John Shakespeare

    Andrew Dyson

    Dionne Gain

    Matt Golding



    Glen Le Lievre

    Johannes Leak

    Mark Knight

    From the US












  44. Best comment on Tony Abbott I’ve seen in ages, and it took the Brits to do it –

    His appointment was met with derision by the British Labour party. Shadow trade secretary Emily Thornberry said the nomination of a failed Australian prime minister was a “humiliation,” particularly given the UK was hosting the next round of global climate talks.

    “On a personal level, I am disgusted that Boris Johnson thinks this offensive, leering, cantankerous, climate-change-denying, Trump-worshipping misogynist is the right person to represent our country overseas,” Thornberry said.

    “He was ousted by his own colleagues after two years in power, and kicked out of Australian politics by his own constituents just last year.

    “They are the people who know him best, and they wanted rid of him — yet here we are, hiring him to negotiate our trade deals around the world. If it wasn’t so downright humiliating, it would be almost hilarious

    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/tony-abbott-granted-travel-exemption-to-take-on-uk-brexit-job-20200826-p55pnv.html

  45. Van Badham, on Facebook, says –

    Remember how I told you a couple of weeks back that there was a conspicuous “fake news” digital disinformation project online that was trying to attack Victorian Labor Premier, Dan Andrews?

    Well, well, WELL – just you *look* here at what young Cameron at Gizmodo has discovered: a murky political organisation set up in Australia with obscure sources of funding, splashing its bucks on “bipartisan” campaign pages that JUST SO HAPPEN to be run by personalities in… the Victorian Liberal Party.

    SAY IT AIN’T SO, JOE!

    Who are those personalities? Well, one of them turns out to be the DELIGHTFUL accused branch-stacker Marcus Bastiaan, who you would have seen picking his nose and then spreading his boogers across his puffer jacket on 60 Minutes Australia last Sunday night

    https://www.facebook.com/ThatVanBadham/

    Here is the link –
    This ‘Bipartisan’ Anti-Dan Andrews Facebook Group has Links to the Victorian Liberals
    https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2020/08/bipartisan-anti-dan-andrews-facebook-page-and-group-has-links-to-the-victorian-liberals/

  46. Excellent article from Josh Butler on the government’s new Australia’s Foreign Relations (State and Territory Arrangements) Bill 2020.

    ‘One voice’: PM Scott Morrison wants power to tear up foreign agreements
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/08/26/federal-government-new-powers/

    Whose voice, exactly? Trump’s? Twiggy’s? Looks like the IPA has been whinging to the government.

    Funny how the government suddenly wants to take responsibility for foreign agreements while trying desperately to shrug off their responsibility for aged care and quarantine. I’m classing this as yet another attempt at distraction, maybe urged by Trump.

    Let’s hope Labor finds a bit of intestinal fortitude (at last) and votes against this nonsense. It won’t stop the bill, but it might stop Labor’s current idiotic tactic of wasting hours on pointless debate and moving amendments that are voted down, then voting for bills in both houses.

    Time to make a stand, Albo – just say “NO!”.

    Related reading –
    Henry Reynolds -China: are we asserting Australia’s independence or America’s?
    https://johnmenadue.com/china-are-we-asserting-australias-independence-or-americas/

    • And more –

      This government, particularly the PM, is now so in thrall to Trump that they are pushing his ludicrous ideas on us from parliament. Tanya is right – soon we will have anti-vax comments presented as fact.

      This is what happens when the CrimeMinister has been brainwashed by QAnon, by his cult and by Trump.

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