Illegitimi non carborundum!!!

Fiona Uncategorized
Ausinc A3 Masonite Clipboard

And where do we go from here?

I’m feeling very beige, very uncertain, about what to do next.
However we MUST do something!
I wish I could do an inspiring post, but I can’t do it without your help.
This is the best I can do just now (even though I am so glad that Biden is now POTUS):

Illegitimi non carborundum!!!!!!!

684 thoughts on “Illegitimi non carborundum!!!”

  2. A professor of history, race and public history at Harvard University, Khalil Gibran Muhammad, said Trump’s acquittal made Biden’s election look similar to Abraham Lincoln’s 1861 election win, which was followed by the civil war a few months later.

    “Trump is now the head of the neo-Confederacy, formerly called the Republican party. This is a party made up of people whose ideological ancestors have always been well represented in all levels government, and society. Let’s be clear, this is an America that has always been,” Muhammad said.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/14/trump-acquittal-white-supremacy-racist-vote

  3. Sound familiar? [my bold]

    Democratic presidents from Franklin D Roosevelt to Lyndon Johnson sought to alleviate poverty and economic insecurity with broad-based relief. But after Reagan tied public assistance to racism – deriding single-mother “welfare queens” – conservatives began demanding stringent work requirements so that only the “truly deserving” received help. Bill Clinton and Barack Obama acquiesced to this nonsense.

    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/14/trump-impeachment-biden-american-rescue-plan-robert-reich

    A good article

  6. My comment left on the Wash. Post page.

    As an Australian who lives in Australia, I read the failure to convict Trump with horror, shock and nausea.
    I cannot believe such a verdict was reached.
    The USA just emboldened every democracy-destroying fascist on the planet by showing there are no consequences to their barstardisation of Democracy.

    Trump raped your Capitol Building, defiled Her, wiped excrement on Her walls, ripped Her insides, sent terror and violence to Her core. Yet like many rape victims Her cry for justice was ignored. No one was held to account. The rapist was was found Not Guilty.

    Shockingly, this means She was raped again by enablers, cowards all.

  7. Well said Puff, I agree with you
    Well said Kirsdarke, I agree with you.
    .
    Watching the last few years of the ripping apart of America has been frightening, and it’s not going to get better any time soon.

    What an enormous task the Democrats have to face.

    All of the good stuff needs to happen while at the same time keeping track of Trump, the feral mob of Republican ‘lawmakers’, his supporters and all the opportunistic mobs hanging off him, using him for their own causes.

    Biden, Harris and their team are dealing with Covid, global heating, international relations, the economy, gun culture, crime, racism, corruption, the toxic fall-out of so many recent Republican governments, and all of the disadvantaged, disenfranchised, desperate (accidental alliteration, [again]) people who truly believe Trump and the Republicans are going to help them,

    On a slightly broader scale, look at Johnson and Morrison, two more people entirely unsuited for the jobs they’ve been given.

    Thank goodness we still have some state governments here who understand we all need to work for our people, our society, our country. We have international and humanitarian responsibilities and obligations.

  8. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    David Crowe reports that Federal political parties received $50 million in unexplained cash last year in another sign of the trend towards secretive donations, according to a new analysis that calls for tougher disclosure laws.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/hidden-political-donations-hit-record-high-20210214-p572c8.html
    Christopher Knaus says almost 40% of the money injected into Coalition parties in the past 20 years came from unidentified sources. Labor got 27% this way – still a lot.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/15/in-the-dark-almost-40-of-coalition-funds-in-past-20-years-came-from-unknown-donors
    Crispin Hull explains how to stop pork barrelling and government corruption.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7122840/voters-taken-for-granted-how-to-stop-pork-barrelling-and-government-corruption/?cs=14258
    Danial Hurst writes that fresh concerns have been raised about how bushfire grants are allocated, after a federal agency identified significant damage in a New South Wales council area that has so far missed out on help from a key economic recovery program.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/15/labor-steps-up-criticism-of-bushfire-grants-after-damage-report-by-federal-agency-revealed
    John Lord writes that the revolving door of corruption continues to tarnish Conservative politicians’ ranks and their party.
    https://theaimn.com/the-revolving-door-of-conservative-wrongdoings/
    Sean Kelly has written a thoughtful contribution looking at the way we look at racism and other bad things in organisations. He uses Eddie McGuire to illustrate his point.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-eddie-mcguire-paradox-and-the-stories-we-tell-about-australia-20210214-p572bn.html
    Simon Benson suggests that welfare payments could be streamlined into a single payment for unemployed Australians receiving up to a dozen other supplements or subsidies under a proposal being considered by the Morrison government as it maps out options for a permanent rise in the JobSeeker rate.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/doling-out-one-welfare-payment-for-all/news-story/c5e4e3d3ea6b584c89c37504d1b7298b
    It looks like Ken Wyatt has got his hands full with the chairman of a powerful Indigenous organisation that controls hundreds of millions of dollars in land assets.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/lands-boss-digs-in-despite-no-confidence-from-federal-minister-20210214-p572br.html
    Jim Middleton tells us why he says hotel quarantine is no longer fit for purpose.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/hotel-quarantine-no-longer-fit-for-purpose-20210214-p572be.html
    Epidemiologist Adrian Esterman says regional areas are better suited to quarantine and accuses the federal government of abdicating responsibility for quarantine.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/it-s-a-no-brainer-experts-call-for-quarantine-sites-to-be-moved-out-of-cities-20210213-p5726b.html
    Alan Kohler asks,” What the hell is going on with vaccines and quarantine?” He poses many questions, actually.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2021/02/15/alan-kohler-vaccines-quarantine/
    Herd immunity is the end game for the pandemic, but the AstraZeneca vaccine won’t get us there, argues epidemiologist Zoe Hyde.
    https://theconversation.com/herd-immunity-is-the-end-game-for-the-pandemic-but-the-astrazeneca-vaccine-wont-get-us-there-155115
    An infectious diseases expert and member of the federal government’s powerful Infection Control Expert Group says the significant problem that led to the latest Victorian coronavirus outbreak was poor infection control, and not the more-contagious British variant blamed by the state government.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/experts-put-poor-virus-controls-in-spotlight-20210214-p572c0.html
    Jennifer Duke writes about the calls to extend JobKeeper growing after Victoria’s lockdown.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/calls-to-extend-jobkeeper-grow-after-victoria-s-lockdown-20210214-p572cs.html
    Josh Butler explains how the bitter fight over workers’ rights is set to explode in Parliament this week.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/02/14/industrial-relations-sally-mcmanus/
    James Massola refers to Ed Husic’s concern that Australia is not making electric cars.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/the-question-ed-husic-wants-answered-why-can-t-australia-make-electric-cars-20210211-p571s0.html
    Ross Gittins opines that flogging the monetary policy horse harder won’t get us anywhere.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/flogging-the-monetary-policy-horse-harder-won-t-get-us-anywhere-20210213-p57271.html
    Lisa Visentin and Katrina Curtis tell us that Peter Dutton charged taxpayers more than $36,000 to charter a Royal Australian Air Force jet to Tasmania to make a grants announcement for CCTV systems for two councils during the 2018 Braddon byelection campaign.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/dutton-spent-36-000-on-vip-chartered-flights-for-grants-announcement-20210214-p572cj.html
    The stockmarket’s snap trading shutdown last year has forced financial regulators to develop plans to inject more competition against the Australian Securities Exchange and move to compel stockbrokers to connect to its competitor Chi-X.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/asx-outage-to-trigger-market-shake-up-20210202-p56ypj
    Myriam Robin says Andrew Demetriou has only himself to blame.
    https://www.afr.com/rear-window/andrew-demetriou-has-only-himself-to-blame-20210214-p572dh
    The Coalition has failed to appoint any women to the Victorian registry of the Federal Court despite adding nine men to the bench since coming to power in 2013.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/men-dominate-federal-court-appointments-under-porter-20210211-p571j5
    The SMH editorial proclaims that Donald Trump’s acquittal defies logic and evidence.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/donald-trump-acquittal-defies-logic-and-evidence-20210214-p572el.html
    Joe Biden’s recent decision to not immediately re-enter the Iran nuclear deal is a continuation of Trump’s aggressive stance toward Iran, writes Jesse Ward.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/bidens-iran-policy-continues-to-shred-us-credibility-in-foreign-negotiations,14798
    Larry Hackett believes that Trump’s influence is wobbling but he’s still a cult-like force.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/us-news/trump-news/2021/02/15/larry-hackett-donald-trump-impeachment/

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  9. I can’ t read The Australian – this sounds ominous

    Simon Benson suggests that welfare payments could be streamlined into a single payment for unemployed Australians receiving up to a dozen other supplements or subsidies under a proposal being considered by the Morrison government as it maps out options for a permanent rise in the JobSeeker rate.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/doling-out-one-welfare-payment-for-all/news-story/c5e4e3d3ea6b584c89c37504d1b7298b

    • I can read it, thanks to a clever extension, and it sounds like the government is about to pull a swifty by telling those on JobSeeker they have received a pay rise when all they have done is combine all the extras into one payment.

      Here’s the main part of article, with a bit of journalistic blather omitted –

      New dole: one welfare payment for all in JobSeeker revamp

      Welfare payments could be streamlined into a single payment for unemployed Australians receiving up to a dozen other supplements or subsidies under a proposal being considered by the Morrison government as it maps out options for a permanent rise in the JobSeeker rate.

      The Australian understands an option flagged at a meeting of the expenditure review committee of cabinet last week was a significant reform package to accompany any increase to the dole when the $150-a-fortnight coronavirus supplement expires at the end of March.

      It comes as new JobKeeper data to be released on Monday shows while 2.3 million workers moved off JobKeeper in December in another sign of economic recovery, Victoria lagged behind other states in its road back from the pandemic.

      Both COVID-19 support programs are due to expire at the end of March, but with the government under pressure to lift the permanent base payment for JobSeeker, which is at $565 a fortnight for a single non-renter with no dependants, a senior government source confirmed that a streamlined dole payment was being considered that would scrap a long list of other low-value legacy supplements available to the unemployed and roll them into a single increased payment that would leave them better off.

      …………………………………………………………………………………………….

      While previous reforms in 2018 went part of the way, many recipients of JobSeeker, which replaced the Newstart Allowance last March, were still eligible for a long list of obscure supplements including the pharmaceutical allowance, telephone allowance, literacy supplement and utilities allowances which ranged from as little as $4 a fortnight.

      High value payments such as rent assistance and family tax benefits accessed by up to half of all JobSeeker recipients would likely stay under any reform plan

      https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/doling-out-one-welfare-payment-for-all/news-story/c5e4e3d3ea6b584c89c37504d1b7298b

      Then it degenerates into praise for the government and Fraudenberg for allegedly getting thousands off the dole and into work.

      The scheme is just an attempt at cutting the value of the payment without actually appearing to do that. The government thinks it is clever – it isn’t. It’s mean and sneaky.

      Some of those “legacy” payments, especially the utilities allowance, are subject to increases in the twice a year adjustments everyone on Centrelink benefits get – some get more than others.

      Cut out the allowances, add them to the overall payment and wave goodbye to a few extra cents in March and September.

      If this happens then it will flow on to other payments – carers, parenting payment, the age pension, DSP etc. It’s a sneaky attempt to cut all benefits across the board. The only reason they will try it on JobSeeker first is because this government hates the unemployed more than they hate everyone else on Centrelink payments. By getting the public onside with a bit more “dole bludger” bashing they hope to convince the voters it’s a great idea.

      Note – last September no-one on any benefit received an adjustment because the government said the cost of living had decreased during the pandemic. This despite the cost of food rising dramatically due to last summer’s drought, fires and then floods. Apparently child care costs had gone down.

  10. At end of March there will be a conjunction of unfortunate events

    JobKeeper ends – currently 1.3 million people on JK

    JobSeeker covid subsidy ends so JobSeeker returns to $565 a fortnight, must wait a week for every $500 in savings upto 26 weeks

    Rent moratorium ends

    Government expects that household savings will keep the economy afloat,

    but economists say savings have been accumulated by the well off and the lower income people have used covid subsidy to pay off debts, eat regularly so the above graph may well trend down after April

  11. Anyone else getting sick to death of the media – all of them – and the government referring to vaccination as “the jab”?

    A few days ago James Massola produced an article with the headline “Jab and go” which is absolute rubbish. Everyone who has ever had an injection of any vaccine knows they make you sit and wait for 15 minutes afterward just to make sure whatever you received doesn’t put you into immediate anaphylactic shock or in case you faint. You certainly do not “jab and go” – especially not with the new vaccines which seem to have all sorts of side effects, some mild others nasty.

    Around here we talk about a “shot” as in “Have you had a flu shot this year?” I have never heard of a shot being called a “jab” until now, and I can tell you that word is getting really, really annoying.

    • I understand that have to apply for your Covid vaccination online and will get an online vaccination certificate that you can store on your new smart phone

      What about equity and internet access?

  12. My pet peeve is “in the bush”
    I don’t live in a city, but I certainly don’t live in the bush or a bush or even a shrubbery.

  13. Shameful for one who doesn’t hold a hose

    Greg Hunt on when politicians and health experts will get the vaccine:

    I’ll give you a simple answer in terms of the prime minister and myself.

    We’ve got the first two vaccines.

    We agreed earlier on that the prime minister would be part of the group to be vaccinated with the first vaccine.

    That will be Pfizer.

    I’ll be part of the first group to be vaccinated with the second vaccine, along with Professor Murphy, and he particularly wanted to make sure that he wasn’t being seen to jump the queue.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2021/feb/15/australia-politics-live-jobseeker-in-spotlight-as-parliament-returns-pfizer-vaccine-to-arrive-this-week#comment-147471793

  18. Poroti

    I could not find the original bulletin but these two snippets show which way around they arrived.Looking at the numbers NZ way ahead on doses per head.

    The Guardian

    142,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine landed in Sydney on Monday afternoon ……..142,000 doses arrived in the first flight just after midday.

    NZ paper says . . . .

    Around 60,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrived on a Singapore Airlines flight from Belgium on Monday morning,

    You can see why Murdoch wants to kill the internet

    • That smile of Scrott shouts “gritted teeth’ to me. I suppose it is hard for him not to use his usual backpfeifengesicht smirk

  21. Former Morrison government staffer Brittany Higgins plans to reactivate a police complaint about an alleged sexual assault by a colleague in the ministerial wing of Parliament House in March 2019.

    Higgins, a former adviser to the defence minister, Linda Reynolds, also plans to lodge a separate complaint with the finance department.

    Guardian Australia understands Higgins, who alleges she was raped by a colleague in Reynolds’ ministerial office, also wants ACT police to be given access to CCTV security footage from inside the ministerial wing from the night of the alleged assault.

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/15/former-staffer-plans-to-restart-police-complaint-over-alleged-in-federal-ministers-office

  29. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    Katherine Murphy goes into the details of the latest Essential Poll.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/16/seventy-per-cent-of-australians-think-border-should-stay-shut-until-global-covid-crisis-has-passed-poll
    Katina Curtis and David Rowe reveal more information on the alleged rape in Parliament House which suggests the problem won’t be going away soon.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-demands-answers-after-parliament-sex-assault-claim-20210215-p572l5.html
    On this matter Katherine Murphy says that achieving culture change in politics requires leaders to listen when women speak up.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/16/achieving-permanent-culture-change-in-politics-requires-women-to-speak-up-when-bad-things-happen
    Jenna Price declares that, with no rights at work, MPs’ staffers are the Uber drivers of the political process.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/no-rights-at-work-mps-staffers-are-the-uber-drivers-of-the-political-process-20210215-p572mg.html
    David Crowe writes about the accusations being directed Dutton’s way over grant rorting.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/peter-dutton-defied-guidelines-to-award-cash-in-marginal-seat-20210215-p572oz.html
    The Morrison government has been told to dump the most controversial proposal in its industrial relations omnibus bill if it wants to salvage the rest of the measures, writes Phil Coorey.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/government-must-drop-boot-change-to-save-rest-of-ir-bill-20210215-p572he
    The AMA’s Omar Khorshid writes that Australia will get a fast and safe vaccine rollout – with the help of GPs.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-will-get-fast-and-safe-vaccine-rollout-with-help-of-gps-20210215-p572pi.html
    It’s time for politics to take a back seat to a real effort to find sensible industrial relations reforms, but that looks increasingly unlikely as we enter the federal election cycle, declares the SMH editorial.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/political-schism-on-industrial-relations-will-make-reform-difficult-20210215-p572pm.html
    Through gritted teeth, The Australian informs us that Daniel Andrews has been nominated for a prestigious award for his leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic, despite being at the centre of Victoria’s hotel quarantine debacle and receiving nationwide criticism. He was the only state premier among several politicians nominated for the 2020 McKinnon Prize, including Prime Minister Scott Morrison.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/premier-daniel-andrews-scores-prestigious-leadership-nomination/news-story/2c1ed8c7c54e07193540008277b114b7
    Adam Triggs is concerned that currently and sadly, there is too little competition between the major political parties when it comes to economic policy, and he says when there is competition, it’s often in the wrong direction.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7126956/the-sad-decline-of-economic-partisanship/?cs=14258
    A record share market and bouncing property prices are a boon for many Australians yet the economic recovery is shaping up to benefit the wealthy at the expense of those less fortunate. Michael West reports on the K-Shaped Recovery.
    https://www.michaelwest.com.au/the-k-shaped-recovery-economy-finely-poised-as-jobkeeper-cliff-looms/
    Yes, the Liberals will run a scare campaign. But Labor should tackle negative gearing anyway argues Greg Jericho.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2021/feb/16/yes-the-liberals-will-run-a-scare-campaign-but-labor-should-tackle-negative-gearing-anyway
    Peter Hartcher describes Australia’s casinos as “fun park for felons” that leave the nation vulnerable to hostile foreign powers.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-s-funpark-for-felons-leaves-the-nation-vulnerable-to-hostile-foreign-powers-20210215-p572k6.html
    Paul Bongiorno reckons that patience is wearing thin as we’re no closer to a federal anti-corruption commission.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/02/16/paul-bongiorno-anti-corruption-commission/
    Almost one in ten Canberrans would be impacted when the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme and Jobseeker supplement were wound up at the end of March, prompting fears of business closures and a spike in poverty in the nation’s capital, explains Sally Whyte.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7127643/thousands-of-canberrans-to-lose-support-raising-fears-for-economy/?cs=14225
    The Australian tells us that billionaire businessmen Lindsay Fox and John Wagner want to house up to 2000 international returnees at separate camps ­outside state capitals in Victoria and Queensland to help resolve the row over hotel quarantine ­arrangements.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/billionaires-lindsay-fox-and-john-wagner-offer-to-run-quarantine-camps/news-story/2aea6298462d650442d6d2f748ef67d7
    The Victorian lockdown means more people are demanding an end to CBD hotel quarantine and a federal government takeover. The supposed fix isn’t as simple as it sounds, writes Jennifer Hewett.
    https://www.afr.com/policy/health-and-education/victoria-a-state-of-suspended-animation-20210215-p572oe
    Top hotels are pulling out of the quarantine program amid growing industry fears that the spate of recent coronavirus outbreaks leaking out via staff is causing reputational damage to operators.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/hotels-flee-quarantine-program-over-brand-damage-20210215-p572jj
    Dr Anthony Fauci has won the $1m Dan David Prize, having been credited with “courageously defending science in the face of uninformed opposition during the challenging COVID crisis”.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/fauci-wins-us1-million-prize-for-defending-science-20210216-p572s3.html
    According to Nick Tosciano, Australia’s gas giants are charging local customers higher prices than overseas buyers, threatening the government’s goal of a ‘gas-fired’ COVID-19 recovery.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/unacceptable-east-coast-gas-giants-overcharging-local-buyers-20210215-p572p2.html
    Shane Wright reports that economists for the nation’s biggest mortgage lender believe house prices in Melbourne will rise by at least 12% over the next two years.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/on-the-cusp-of-a-boom-double-digit-house-price-rise-tipped-as-banks-continue-rate-cuts-20210215-p572m2.html
    If Labor is ‘on your side’, it shouldn’t dump its plan to limit negative gearing, opines Joel Dignam.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/if-labor-is-on-your-side-it-shouldn-t-dump-its-plan-to-limit-negative-gearing-20210215-p572ox.html
    Zoe Samios tells us that NBN Co has steered clear of giving telco service providers any substantial relief on wholesale prices, pushing back a review of its controversial pricing structure by another two years.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/no-joy-for-telcos-as-nbn-co-stands-firm-on-high-bandwidth-price-20210215-p572lv.html
    It looks like Google is closing in on news content deals with ABC, Nine and the Guardian.
    https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/seven-west-media-inks-30-million-a-year-google-deal-20210215-p572iv.html
    St Basil’s Homes for the Aged – site of Australia’s worst coronavirus outbreak – has lost access to federal payments, as the safety regulator warns of ‘immediate and severe risk’ to residents.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/future-of-st-basil-s-aged-care-home-in-doubt-after-commonwealth-halts-funding-20210212-p571v3.html
    Kaye Lee writes about Morrison’s propensity for claiming credit when it’s not due.
    https://theaimn.com/claiming-credit-when-its-not-due/
    Josh Butler writes about the government being accused of ‘plain cruelty’ over JobSeeker uncertainty.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/2021/02/16/jobseeker-end-government/
    Michael Pascoe reckons that Crown Casino will climb out of its current woes.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2021/02/16/michael-pascoe-crown/
    Kate McClymont reports on the closing arguments from the defence in the Obeid/Macdonald trial,
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/case-against-obeids-ian-macdonald-is-hopeless-and-doomed-to-fail-court-hears-20210215-p572pg.html
    Mike Foley explains how the Morrison government is eyeing an expanded soil carbon capture scheme so farmers can help Australia meet its emissions reduction targets, but experts warn any future policy should not reward poorly-performing farmers.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/looming-soil-carbon-policy-could-disadvantage-the-best-farmers-20210215-p572n8.html
    Australia’s lack of effort on climate change is going to cost us, explains Bill Hare.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/15/australias-lack-of-effort-on-climate-change-is-going-to-cost-us
    John Quiggin agrees, saying that there is no point complaining about it, Australia will face carbon levies unless it changes course.
    https://theconversation.com/no-point-complaining-about-it-australia-will-face-carbon-levies-unless-it-changes-course-155200
    The Federal Government’s electric vehicle policy was released two years ago, but they still cannot bring themselves to call it that, writes Dr Graeme McLeay.
    https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/australia-lagging-behind-on-electric-vehicles-and-climate-action,14801
    Felicity McCallum tells us, “I’ve got Hunter Valley coal in my blood, but Joel Fitzgibbon doesn’t speak for me or the valley I know”.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/i-ve-got-hunter-valley-coal-in-my-blood-but-joel-fitzgibbon-doesn-t-speak-for-me-or-the-valley-i-know-20210214-p572fk.html
    ‘Trumpism’ in Australia has been overstated – our problems are mostly our own, writes Frank Bongiorno.
    https://theconversation.com/trumpism-in-australia-has-been-overstated-our-problems-are-mostly-our-own-154949

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  30. How dare he!

    Scott Morrison press conference
    The prime minister is addressing the allegations Brittan Higgin’s raised yesterday:

    I said yesterday in the Parliament that we had to listen to Brittany. I have listened to Brittany. Jenny and I spoke last night, and… ..she said to me, “You have to think about this as a father first. What would you want to happen if it were our girls?”

    Jenny has a way of clarifying things. Always has.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2021/feb/16/australia-news-live-new-covid-variant-australia-disability-scott-morrison-victoria-pfizer-vaccine

    • He always, always drags his wife and daughters into everything.

      Who gives a rat’s arse what Jenny thinks. She’s a lazy female who unlike all other partners of past PMs does bugger all. She takes no interest in charity work, she has taken on no patronage of anything, she has no favourite cause, she isn’t even interested in redecorating Kirribilli House, as Janette Howard did or rounding up historic furniture and returning it to The Lodge as Tammy Fraser did.

      Jenny just sits there whining about being bored, so we pay her QAnon best friend to keep her company.

      And this is the creature advising the CrimeMinister!!!

    • There’s an old saying, “Rags to riches and back again in three generations”, meaning vast wealth does not last beyond three generations.

      It certainly seems true of the Packers.

      The family fortune was set up by Great-grand-daddy Robert, vastly added to by Grand-dad Frank and then came Kerry, who did not add to the family wealth at all.

      Now James, the idiot son,having flogged off the media empire and gone full-on into gambling seems intent on destroying both the family’s reputation and what’s left of its wealth.

  33. So – I listened to Rafe Epstein’s interview with Brett Sutton. (Thank you Leroiy for posting it.)

    It was an excellent interview but left me wondering why journalists doing interviews feel the need to be aggressive and downright rude. Rafe would have conducted a better interview if he had held back from the obvious pursuit of a gotcha and had been a lot less accusatory.

    Don;t these idiots realise this virus is deadly and cunning and the latest variants spread like wildfire? Don’t they understand we have lockdowns for a reason?

    Spare me the angry comments from business owners – would they prefer all their customers sicken and maybe die? Dead bodies don’t buy takeaway or eat in cafes. Neither do those suffering from long Covid.

    As for the deliberate question on competition between the states- does that matter? It’s not a competition, although the media tries to make it one. It’s a fight against a deadly virus and we all have to play a part.

  34. About the CrimeMinister needing to be reminded by his wife that he has daughters –

    Any decent father of daughters would, on hearing about a rape, immediately think “Thank goodness it wasn’t one of my girls”. My father, who had four daughters and six grand-daughters by the time he died, certainly would have had those thoughts and would have said something as well. The father of my daughter would have done the same.

    Not the CrimeMinister though. He had to be reminded by his ditz of a wife.

    No wonder the man (?) needed taxpayer-funded empathy lessons – clearly he has never thought about anyone but himself.

    The CrimeMinister would have known all about this particular rape soon after it happened. Why else would the victim have felt so isolated, why else would she have believed her job depended on her not making a fuss, not going to the police? Why else would she have been given absolutely no support by her employer?

    I suspect there were orders from the CrimeMinister to hush it up – he was about to call an election and did not want his already planned one man band campaign tainted by media stories about rape in Parliament House. Once again, he was thinking only of himself

    It took a photo of the CrimeMinister, for once unable to smirk, just pretending to smile, standing beside another victim of sexual abuse to make her realise she had to speak up. Good on her!

  36. Essential Report – https://essentialvision.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Essential-Report-150221.pdf

    Victorian press conference here

  37. ABC youtube channel flipped to CNN when Prof Brett Sutton said it was up to the Commonwealth government to dictate how much Astra Zeneca would be produced so first 1 hour 13 minutes here

    • Had to go down the line for an appointment, but before we left, on 774 abc, the reception he was getting for his stupidity was a wonder to behold, and most of the responses were from men. We left for our trip with smiles on our faces for a change.

  40. Geez!

    The government could be done for destroying a crime scene.

    Their excuse, “We didn’t know a crime had been committed” is as bogus as the CrimeMinister telling the media he knew nothing until yesterday.

  43. M R-D

    Australia’s press watchdog has ruled an article in the Australian newspaper that fuelled misinformation that arsonists were a major cause of the Black Summer fires was not misleading.

    The Australian Press Council found the article, which appeared in print and online in the middle of last summer’s unprecedented fires, had not breached the council’s general principles.

    “The council concluded that the publication took reasonable steps to ensure that the report was accurate and not misleading when reporting information from various authorities,” the adjudication states.

    But the adjudication also says the council “accepts that the publication’s initial representation of the data may have led readers to consider that an unusually high number of ‘arsonists’ had been arrested since the beginning of the 2019/20 fire season”.

    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2021/feb/16/bushfire-article-in-the-australian-that-fuelled-misinformation-cleared-by-press-council

  44. K1w1’s rightfully a bit pissed with Scrott.

    How Australia raised a ‘terrorist’ – then dumped her on NZ

    Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Aden had not lived in New Zealand since she was 6 years old, grew up in Australia, has family in Australia and left for Syria from Australia on her Australian passport.

    “I think New Zealand, frankly, is tired of having Australia export its problems. This is clearly an individual whose links sit most closely with Australia.”

    https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/isis-bride-grew-up-in-australia-now-theyre-sending-her-to-new-zealand/BIZEGW4EIUD4FPC46KKUDURRH4/

  47. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    David Crowe writes that a crucial dispute has erupted over allegations of rape in Parliament House after Scott Morrison said his office was only told of the events last week, a claim at odds with statements from former staffer Brittany Higgins.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/dispute-erupts-over-timing-of-pm-s-knowledge-of-parliament-rape-claim-20210216-p5730i.html
    And Katina Curis reports that twin reviews of Parliament’s workplace culture are now under way after a staffer alleged a colleague raped her may result in mandatory reporting, psychological testing for new advisers and a review of security.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/here-to-ensure-it-doesn-t-happen-again-mps-examine-parliament-culture-20210216-p5730j.html
    Katherine Murphy declares that Australians don’t need a father figure, Scott Morrison. They need a prime minister.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/16/australians-dont-need-a-father-figure-scott-morrison-they-need-a-prime-minister
    Jacqui Maley says it shouldn’t take a rape to change a political culture that women have endured for years.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/it-shouldn-t-take-a-rape-to-change-political-culture-that-women-have-endured-for-years-20210216-p572x7.html
    And politics lecturer Maria Maley explains why political staffers are vulnerable to sexual misconduct – and little is done to stop it. She says it is leadership from the top that is needed to change a culture that enables and tolerates poor conduct.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7128680/why-political-staffers-are-vulnerable-to-sexual-misconduct-and-little-is-done-to-stop-it/?cs=14350
    Phil Coorey suggests that Morrison may have thrown Lynda Renolds under the bus.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/minister-should-have-told-me-about-alleged-rape-pm-20210216-p57310
    And so does Katherine Murphy.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/16/scott-morrison-publicly-rebukes-defence-minister-for-not-reporting-allegation-to-him
    Michelle Grattan says Linda Reynolds feels the lash after Scott Morrison says he was blindsided by the rape allegation.
    https://theconversation.com/view-from-the-hill-linda-reynolds-feels-the-lash-after-scott-morrison-says-he-was-blindsided-by-rape-allegation-155400
    The New Daily’s Christine Jackman says the focus must shift to sexual assault itself after the sorry excuse for response to it.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2021/02/17/christine-jackman-sexual-assault/
    “When will Conservatives ever treat women with a modicum of decency, even dignity?”, asks John Lord.
    https://theaimn.com/when-will-conservatives-ever-treat-women-with-a-modicum-of-decency-even-dignity/
    Twice herself a victim of sexual assault and rape, Amy Remeikis writes that too many men need to imagine a woman they love to feel empathy.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/17/trauma-like-mine-doesnt-have-a-gender-but-too-many-men-need-to-imagine-a-woman-they-love-to-feel-empathy
    This is quite a good contribution from Chris Uhlmann about the risk appetites of the PM and the LOTO.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/will-scott-morrison-or-anthony-albanese-dare-to-take-rare-chance-20210216-p572vl.html
    For all the challenges, it’s a good time to be a Premier or a Prime Minister in Australia, but Shaun Carney asks when it will end.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/political-leaders-beware-the-fall-from-grace-20210216-p572uc.html
    Paul Kelly calls for conservatives to be brave and deny fealty to Trumpism.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/conservatives-must-be-brave-and-deny-fealty-to-trumpism/news-story/5aebf4da9857f5773fb160d644b8f63f
    David Crowe and Mike Foley write that Barnaby Joyce infuriated Liberal MPs by lodging a formal amendment in Parliament yesterday to overturn the longstanding limits on the Clean Energy Finance Corporation spending money on fossil fuel projects.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/nationals-spark-liberal-fury-over-bid-for-renewable-fund-to-invest-in-coal-20210216-p57336.html
    Ross Gittins looks at what is buried in the Productivity Commission’s draft report on national water reform and what he sees there are big warnings.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/water-reform-report-s-big-smile-hides-its-big-teeth-much-more-to-do-20210216-p572ul.html
    Rachel Klun reports that NSW quarantine and essential border workers will all be vaccinated against the coronavirus within three weeks, with the state set to receive more than 14,000 doses a week of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-will-be-able-to-vaccinate-all-quarantine-workers-within-three-weeks-20210216-p5732r.html
    An expert witness to Victoria’s hotel quarantine inquiry has called for the rebooted program to be shut down following a string of infection control breaches.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/victoria-can-t-be-trusted-with-hotel-quarantine-disease-expert-says-20210216-p572yx.html
    And Stephen Duckett and Brendan Coates say that the Morrison government should live up to its constitutional responsibilities and establish national quarantine facilities.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-federal-government-must-step-up-how-to-fix-our-quarantine-system-20210216-p572wp.html
    Peter Lewis says Scott Morrison’s job description for 2021 is keeping the virus out and ensuring an effective vaccine rollout.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2021/feb/16/scott-morrisons-job-description-for-2021-keeping-the-virus-out-and-ensuring-an-effective-vaccine-rollout
    This epidemiologist will be glad to get whatever vaccine he is offered.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/17/im-an-epidemiologist-ill-be-glad-to-get-whatever-vaccine-im-offered
    Jacinda Ardern has unloaded on Scott Morrison, accusing Australia of “exporting its problems” amid a row over a former dual citizen who is allegedly aligned with ISIS.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/australian-politics/2021/02/16/ardern-australia-citizenship/
    Matthew Elmas writes that the ACCC has inferred that our gas market is broken and consumers are paying too much.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/consumer/2021/02/16/accc-gas-market-broken/
    The AIMN’s RossLeigh reckons Morrison needs a bigger carpet to sweep things under.
    https://theaimn.com/note-to-morrison-youre-going-to-need-a-bigger-carpet/
    Peter Hannam tells us that the Insurance Council of Australia has dropped its support for the Berejiklian government’s plan to lift the Warragamba Dam wall and called on it to find other ways to reduce downstream flood risks in western Sydney.
    https://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/peak-insurance-body-drops-support-for-warragamba-dam-wall-raising-20210216-p572yu.html
    The federal government is extending its push to make it harder for disgruntled shareholders and class action lawyers to sue businesses.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/disclosure-laws-eased-for-good-20210216-p5730z
    Australia’s aged-care system is failing to meet the care needs of the vast majority of those using it despite overwhelming public support for quality aged care, a new study has shown.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2021/02/17/australia-aged-care-study/
    Philanthropist Nicola Forrest is on a mission to transform Australia’s childcare system, so it works for parents and children instead of being expensive and hard to access.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-billionaires-pushing-for-australians-to-get-universal-affordable-childcare-20210216-p572zx.html
    Garry Linnell declares that the Catholic Church has no right to lecture us on ethics or morality. He says the issue at stake is the federal government’s decision to buy 50 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, which the majority of Australians will be offered over the coming six months.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2021/02/17/garry-linnell-catholic-church/
    Hiding behind a pay wall and in hoc to its advertisers, The Bully, The Townsville Bulletin, is a law unto itself in Queensland as its owners demand subsidies from the Government. Should we pay? asks Kim Wingerei? Meanwhile, Seven Network gets the first forced payment from Google for its “journalism”.
    https://www.michaelwest.com.au/do-we-pay-the-bully-rupert-murdoch-paper-hits-peak-nasty-demands-bail-out/
    Australians have proven highly capable of adapting international conspiracy theories like QAnon to the local context – and the problem is not going away, says Michael McGowan.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/16/how-australia-became-fertile-ground-for-misinformation-and-qanon
    John Collett explains how Paul Keating has warned against ‘poking holes’ in superannuation and said that it is taxation policy, not super, that will fix the housing affordability problem.
    https://www.smh.com.au/money/super-and-retirement/keating-warns-against-poking-holes-in-super-20210211-p571l1.html
    Emma Kemp tells us how the AFL is considering a proposal for the establishment of a multimillion-dollar fund to assist past, present and future players suffering from the long-term effects of concussion in what could, if accepted, become a watershed moment in Australia’s sporting landscape.
    https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2021/feb/17/afl-considering-proposal-for-landmark-multimillion-dollar-concussion-trust-for-players
    Casino giant Crown Resorts’ search for new board members is being led by Harold Mitchell who himself is under pressure to resign.
    https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/under-fire-director-harold-mitchell-to-lead-the-search-for-new-crown-board-members-20210216-p572yj.html
    Meanwhile the AFR reports that legal heavyweights are saying the corporate regulator should investigate whether any Crown directors allowed criminal activities to flourish at the gambling giant, in a potential breach of their duties to shareholders.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/games-and-wagering/call-for-asic-to-probe-crown-directors-failure-to-act-20210215-p572j5
    Since World War II Australia has progressively ceded its sovereignty to the United States, argues Bruce Haigh. He says the process was hastened by former Prime Minister John Howard who had little sense of national independence.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/australias-sovereignty-is-in-unsafe-hands,14805
    The Trades Union Council has urged the UK foreign secretary to reject the Australian candidate to lead the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), saying it would set back the fight against poverty and the climate crisis.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2021/feb/16/tuc-calls-raab-reject-australian-candidate-lead-oecd-mathias-cormann
    A Democratic congressman has filed a lawsuit accusing former president Donald Trump and lawyer Rudy Giuliani of conspiring to incite the violent riot that shook the US Capitol. The little-used Ku Klux Klan Act is being used. Let the litigation games begin!
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-giuliani-accused-of-conspiring-to-incite-riot-in-new-lawsuit-20210217-p5735a.html
    Today’s “Arsehole of the Week” nomination goes to former Olympic silver medallist, Scott Miller, who was collared yesterday over allegedly masterminding a multi-million drug ring.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/olympian-scott-miller-was-mastermind-behind-drug-ring-police-allege-20210216-p5731h.html

    Cartoon Corner

    Cathy Wilcox

    David Rowe

    Matt Golding





    Mark David

    A good gif from Glen Le Lievre

    Mark Knight

    Johannes Leak

    Fiona Katauskas

    Simon Letch

    John Shakespeare

    Andrew Dyson

    From the US








  48. Maria Maley –
    “But it is leadership from the top that is needed to change a culture that enables and tolerates poor conduct.”

    There is no leader, just an ego who believes he was given his position by whatever god he worships, an over-inflated ego who refuses to take responsibility for anything. He fobs off all responsibility to others, lies constantly and never hesitates to throw ministers under buses, as he did yesterday with LindaReynolds.

    They say a fish rots from the head – Parliament House is an excellent example of what lack of leadership does to a government and a country.

    Also – isn’t it about time alcohol was banned in Parliament House and all government offices?

    Clearly ministers and staffers have a huge problem with alcohol abuse. Why does parliament need to be a “hard-drinking” place? How about regular unscheduled breathalyser tests on politicians and their staff. And while they are looking at addictions compulsory drug testing would also be a great idea. How many in Parliament House are regular users or addicts?

  49. Jacqui Maley says it shouldn’t take a rape to change a political culture that women have endured for years.

    Worse than that Jacqui, it was not the rape. it was only when the rape was brought to public attention there was any move for change. Without that all those Coalition big wigs and lackeys who knew of the rape would have happily left it under the carpet they had swept it.

  50. Funny how everyone has just accepted the spin about Jenny Morrison setting her husband straight on rape.

    Clearly it’s just another lie from the CrimeMinister. We know he loves to blather on about his wife and kids at every opportunity – the wife who insists on staying in the harbourside mansion, who is so bored there we have to pay her best friend to keep her company, the wife who also tells lies, especially about her daughters. She insists she still drives then to school each day, an hour-long trip each way, and she says she does it alone, without security.

    Although she lives over an hour away from her daughters’ school, that hasn’t stopped Jenny from travelling the distance each morning and afternoon for drop-offs and pick-ups.

    As well as driving her kids to school every morning, the 51-year-old chooses not to travel with any entourage and stops by the same café she used to.

    “They all can’t believe it,” she said.

    “They’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, you’re here! Where are your people?’ And I went, ‘No, it’s just me’.”

    Their new life doesn’t stop Scott and Jenny’s girls from attending the same school they have always attended, located in the Sutherland Shire in NSW

    https://www.oversixty.com.au/lifestyle/relationships/everything-you-need-to-know-about-scott-morrison-s-wife-jenny

    Well, that’s bullshit.

    She’s an even bigger fool than her husband if she expects us to believe that. No security staffer is going to allow the PM’s wife to drive an hour across Sydney twice a day, over the same route, let alone stop off at a cafe for coffee with friends after the school drop-off. I doubt she even gets out of bed to get her kids ready for school. Security go everywhere she goes, everywhere the girls go.

    This couple are perfectly matched – both liars, both totally lacking in empathy, both without a conscience and both extremely gullible. How do we know they are gullible? Because they accept all the nonsense preached by their money-hungry cult, and because they accept as close friends Tim and Lynelle Stewart, the QAnon couple, people so despicable even their own families refuse to have anything to do with them.

    Here’s Karen Stewart (Tim’s sister) on the CrimeMinister –

    "Morrison, Australia’s most prominent Pentecostal Christian, is connected to the Capitol attack by his religion and QAnon. He is not condemning the violence committed in the name of his God nor is he condemning QAnon’s involvement in the attack." #auspol https://t.co/0UERONJ4NE— Karen Stewart (@KazzaRBazza) January 25, 2021

    If you read Karen’s blog you get an understanding of the behaviour she has experienced from her brother, Tim, and his wife and son. It’s grim reading.

    These are the people the Morrisons choose as their best friends. Would you believe anything either of them say? No, I wouldn’t either.

    • I forgot to mention Jenny’s white supremacist beliefs.

      As proof – here she is making THAT sign on her daughter’s hand-

      What makes that photo even worse is the context – it was taken during an official visit from the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk (Harry and Megan), Megan being mixed race.

    • I’m no fan of the Morrisons or their ilk, but this is not the WP sign. It would not work in this context because the upraised fingers are an integral part of that sign…the “W” of WP.
      This looks a lot like the super-lame “Circle Game” that was floating around a few years ago…probably an attempt to have fun with the kids, as in “look how cool your Mum is”.
      While I do think she does have those beliefs (after all she is a good Pentcostal Christian wife), I don’t think this is an example of it.

Comments are closed.