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!!!”

    • Very reminiscent of Chis Uhlmann blaming the SA storm blackout of 2016 on renewable power when it was actually due to storms blowing over transmission pylons and automated systems at power stations shutting down to protect infrastructure.

  5. If the CrimeMinister’s rubbish about not knowing there had been a rape in Linda Reynolds office two years ago is true then he must be a failure as a leader.

    It’s his job (he loves telling us what his “job” is but never actually does anything) to know everything that goes on, especially something as serious as a top level staffer raping another IN A MINISTER’S OFFICE!!!

    Of course he knew. He even had, allegedly, his private secretary Yaron Finkelstein ring the victim around the time the Canberra Bubble scandal was televised, just to make sure she was OK.

    That he claims not to have known anything about it until Monday is a lie, we all know that, just as his claim his wife had a chat with him is a lie.

    The problem with telling porkies, which the CrimeMinister seems to do every time he opens his mouth, is that those lies eventually collapse into a pile of very smelly ordure. To drag others in with him is despicable. He accused Linda Reynolds and the victim of lying about what he knew and when he knew i, and about contact with Yaron Finkelstein. He even dragged his own wife into the fight – she now seems to have responsibility for talking sense into this liar, (Another responsibility shirked, palmed off onto someone else.)

    The CrimeMinister is about to start digging his way out of the very large pile of very smelly shit he dumped on himself.

    To add to the lies –
    Today David Crowe tells us the CrimeMinister’s office knew about this rape only last week,something that was not revealed yesterday. Why not? Did someone need time to concoct a not very convincing story?Crowe claims phone records show Finkelstein did not ring Ms Higgins at all. Phone records we are never going to be allowed to see, just as Ms Higgins was never allowed to see CCTV footage. Whatever phone records are shown to any inquiry will be reworked (a polite way of saying “faked”) to show exactly what this government wants anyway.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/dispute-erupts-over-timing-of-pm-s-knowledge-of-parliament-rape-claim-20210216-p5730i.html

    Last week a journalist, Samantha Maiden, rang the Prime Minister’s office to ask about the rape allegations and according to Crowe no-one bothered to tell the CrimeMinister until the story broke on Monday morning. Seriously? Pull the other one!

    Are we supposed to believe staff in the CrimeMinister’s own office did not think this news was worth reporting to their boss? Extraordinary! What would be thought worth mentioning? A nuclear attack on Sydney? Probably not.

    This story gets worse the longer it goes on, it gets embroidered and re-embroidered with increasingly fantastical lies. Who knows what added embellishments will be added by the end of the week?

    More questions – if the staffer was “terminated” (surely Crowe, director of the NPC, assumed to be a competent journalist with an above-average command of the English language, meant to say his employment was terminated, not the man himself) then why? We are supposed to believe it was because he had breached security.

    That brings up another interesting question – how many ministers and staffers are able to wander into Parliament House late at night? Apparently it happens all the time, you have a quick chat to the security guard and it’s all OK. This man and Ms Higgins did not sneak in, they walked in with the full knowledge of security guards and with CCTV cameras recording their movements. Are all those who are allowed to enter late at night sacked for security breaches? Of course not. So why this one man? Was it because they knew exactly what he had done? And why was he immediately offered another cushy job in NSW? Compensation?

  7. Defence renews storage deal with Global Switch, years after Government vowed to ditch Chinese-owned firm

    The Australian Defence Department has quietly extended a contract with a Chinese-owned company to continue storing data in its Sydney facilities, despite a push to end the arrangement by 2020.

    For a decade, sensitive military files have been stored by Global Switch, but concerns were raised four years ago when a Chinese consortium bought half of its British parent company.

    The ownership of Global Switch changed in December 2016 when the London-based parent company, Aldersgate Investments, accepted $4 billion in cash for a 49 per cent stake from Chinese consortium Elegant Jubilee.

    In 2017, then-treasurer Scott Morrison confirmed strict new conditions had been placed on the Australian operations — and that Defence would begin to shift its data back to a government-owned hub once the contract expired.

    “They’ve made a decision to get their data out of that data centre and that’s an entirely appropriate decision, and they’ll get that done I understand by 2020,” Mr Morrison told reporters at the time.

    Now, the ABC has confirmed the Defence Department has been forced to delay its exit from Global Switch, signing a new deal with the company last year

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-02-16/global-switch-deal-defence-data-security-files/13149592

    Proving once again that you cannot believe anything the CrimeMinister says, he’s all hot air, blather and lies.

    Funny how this was revealed yesterday, after news broke on Monday of a rape in Linda Reynolds’ office.

    Anyone would think the CrimeMinister wants Ms Reynolds gone, replaced, of course, by a chap.

    • Striking parallels between Rorts McKenzie and Lovely Linda:

      both up to in their necks, and

      the CrimeMinister knew about both and they know that he knew,

      Linda will be “sacked” and then quietly re-instated. Like Rorts, she could spill the beans.

  9. The CrimeMinister seems to me to be an extreme control freak. Why else would he have insisted on that dreadful one-man-band campaign last election? Because he wanted total control.

    That’s why to me his pretence of knowing nothing about anything does not ring true. Sports Rorts? He knew nothing. A rape in a minster’s office? Again the Sergeant Schultz act.

    Control freaks keep an eye on absolutely everything that happens around them.

    He knew what was going on with any scandal you care to name (Lord knows this government has far more than its share) because he was up to his eyeballs in every single one.

    That’s why his act of total ignorance seems so fake – because it is.

  13. I had forgotten about the CrimeMinister’s nasty remarks about Pamela Anderson – just as well the Twitterverse never forgets anything.

    He lied – again. He doesn’t have “mates” except for that QAnon idiot. He just has sycophants who will dump him when he is no longer PM.

  14. Update – tonight the Senate voted to abolish the Family Court.

    Bastards!

    That label also applies to Rex Patrick who caved in and voted for the bill. Heaven knows what he was offered to give his vote to the government – probably another bag of magic beans.

    Vote: Ayes 32, Nays 30.

    One Nation voted for, well of course they did. Labor, the Greens, Jacqui Lambie and Sterling Griff voted against.

  15. Anyone got a link to the youtube place that shows Dan Andrews pressers on Covid stuff? I signed up to face book solely to watch the conferences from beginning to end. Now that they have dumped Aussie news/propaganda we won’t be able to watch it. I have noticed the odd person saying you can watch it on youtube.

    • SBS shows them all and they have a YouTube channel – SBS News.

      Their ABC also does a live YouTube feed but they often cut away to go to something they consider more important, so I wouldn’t bother with them.

      I’ve been watching their live stream on Facebook, now I probably won’t be able to do that.

      Damn this government and their sucking up to Murdoch! That’s what their code bill is all about – getting more money for Rupert’s failing empire.

  16. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    David Crowe tells us about some intrigue over what happened in Parliament House regarding the alleged rape.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/security-expert-checked-cctv-after-claim-of-parliament-cover-up-20210217-p573hx.html
    Jacqui Maley and Katina Curtis reveal that bullying and sexual harassment are rife in the House of Representatives, according to a confidential 2020 staff survey of the department’s employees which contains complaints about “issues caused” by members of Parliament.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/suck-it-up-parliament-staff-claim-harassment-complaints-ignored-20210217-p57381.html
    From The Australian’s Rosie Lewis – “Rape inside corridors of power: who knew what about Brittany Higgins”. She reports that the former Liberal staffer at the centre of the rape claim has reportedly checked himself into hospital in Sydney.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/rape-inside-corridors-of-power-who-knew-what-about-brittany-higgins/news-story/84d7e5aa8db14a444ff4fb076b4f7c8e
    Rape is not a workplace option, writes Pru Goward who says that like any boss, politicians must set standards.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/rape-is-not-a-workplace-option-like-any-boss-politicians-must-set-standards-20210217-p5738w.html
    Michelle Grattan reckons Morrison has invoked the Chinese walls defence on why a staffer didn’t tell him of the Higgins’ rape allegation.
    https://theconversation.com/morrison-invokes-chinese-walls-defence-on-why-staffer-didnt-tell-him-of-higgins-rape-allegation-155505
    Sally Whyte has uncovered the fact that the Coalition government rejected a proposal last year that would have offered better protection for parliamentary staffers from sexual harassment and bullying.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7131395/govt-rejected-sexual-harassment-bullying-clause-in-staffer-agreement/?cs=9676
    Virginia Haussegger tells us why Brittany Higgins’ story has stoked women’s rage.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7131517/why-brittany-higgins-sordid-story-has-stoked-womens-rage/?cs=14329
    Josh Butler writes, “A furious Brittany Higgins has torched the government’s “victim-blaming” response to her horrific report of rape inside Parliament House, with her former boss under immense pressure and Scott Morrison facing enormous scrutiny as he maintains he didn’t know about the allegations.”
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/02/18/brittany-higgins-morrison/
    Female victims are people in their own right – not just some man’s wife, mother, sister or daughter, writes philosophy professor, Kate Mann.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/17/female-victims-are-people-in-their-own-right-not-just-some-mans-wife-mother-sister-or-daughter
    Phil Coorey writes that Brittany Higgins has accused the PM of using ‘victim-blaming’ rhetoric.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/brittany-higgins-accuses-pm-of-victim-blaming-rhetoric-20210217-p57373
    More on this from Katherine Murphy in a long contribution.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/17/brittany-higgins-accuses-prime-minister-of-using-victim-blaming-rhetoric-after-alleged
    And the SMH editorial says that it’s past time to confront Canberra’s toxic culture.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/it-s-past-time-to-confront-canberra-s-toxic-culture-20210217-p573g2.html
    Having almost the same number of people in jobs as a year ago is not a good sign, says Greg Jericho.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2021/feb/18/having-almost-the-same-number-of-people-in-jobs-as-a-year-ago-is-not-a-good-sign
    The head of AstraZeneca’s Australian operations says no agreement has been struck with the federal government to produce updated doses of its vaccine.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/revealed-no-deal-yet-for-boosted-astrazeneca-doses-20210217-p573g6.html
    Professor Ross Coppel urges us to accept any vaccine offered to us as each one will well protect us.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/worried-about-the-vaccine-don-t-be-we-will-be-well-protected-20210215-p572i1.html
    The Conversation explains five things we need to know about the AstraZeneca vaccine now the TGA has approved it for use in Australia.
    https://theconversation.com/5-things-you-need-to-know-about-the-astrazeneca-vaccine-now-the-tga-has-approved-it-for-use-in-australia-155139
    Samantha Dick reports that the Victorian government’s proposed new quarantine model has been praised by leading epidemiologists as “ticking all the boxes”.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/coronavirus/2021/02/17/victoria-quarantine-hotel-avalon/
    Luke Hinsley writes an open letter to the Federal Government detailing his distress and frustration after Centrelink refused financial support because his disability is permanent, rather than temporary.
    https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/an-open-letter-to-the-morrison-government-i-cant-stop-being-disabled,14806
    David Crowe and Mike Foley say that the Liberals are fuming as the Nationals’ energy revolt gains another backer. This time it’s Bridget McKenzie.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/liberals-fuming-as-nationals-energy-revolt-gains-another-backer-20210217-p573cz.html
    According to Patrick Hatch and Paul Sakkal, Victoria is growing increasingly isolated in its tepid response to evidence that organised crime syndicates infiltrated Crown Melbourne and used the casino’s bank accounts to launder drug money, after Western Australia launched an independent review of the group’s casino licence.
    https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/protection-racket-victoria-isolated-after-wa-acts-on-crown-findings-20210217-p573dd.html
    West Australian police have Crown Resorts on their radar after seizing about $50 million in cash in six months from carriers they believe answer to international drug syndicates.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/games-and-wagering/wa-police-put-crown-on-notice-after-seizing-50m-in-cash-20210217-p573gn
    Australia is ludicrously, irresponsibly, culpably, madly unprepared for any serious external national security emergency where the Americans don’t ride to our rescue, writes Greg Sheridan. He is not wrong!
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/lack-of-cargo-ships-and-lax-fuel-security-leaves-australia-exposed/news-story/225012f4f358ee93edfbc5deae9283e5
    Shane Wright tells us that people who lose their jobs would get up to 70 per cent of their former income for a short period under an insurance scheme being examined by the Morrison government as part of a possible overhaul of the JobSeeker system.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/unemployment-insurance-scheme-floated-as-part-of-jobseeker-overhaul-20210216-p572z4.html
    Cairns is about to become a ghost town, at best a retirement village, and its fate is a test case for whether anyone gets left behind while the rest of us enjoy a booming recovery from the pandemic recession, warns Alan Kohler.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2021/02/18/alan-kohler-cairns-jobkeeper/
    Alexandra Smith writes that NSW Labor is getting a bit windy about gong to an election under Jody McKay’s leadership.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/labor-s-nervous-troops-fear-an-election-under-jodi-mckay-20210217-p573ef.html
    Adam Cooper writes that two Australian soldiers expected to be called as witnesses by Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith in a defamation trial against media are set to oppose the proposed release of documents about their own conduct in Afghanistan.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/soldiers-to-oppose-document-release-in-ben-roberts-smith-defamation-case-20210217-p573fe.html
    Rob Harris reports that employees at NBN Co, the taxpayer-owned body which runs and operates the national broadband network, shared in $78 million in personal bonuses last year despite the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. That would buy a few Cartier watches!
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/obscene-nbn-co-employees-paid-78m-in-personal-bonuses-in-2020-20210217-p573g0.html
    Labor’s housing spokesman says allowing young people to use their super to buy a home would drive up house prices, but scrapping stamp duty could help.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/using-super-for-homes-will-mean-bigger-mortgages-labor-says-20210217-p573bj.html
    IN SA, Liberal tension has ignited over the contentious abortion debate, with a war of words erupting between a federal backbencher and a state minister. Earlier, key changes were made to the historic reforms.
    https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/attorneygeneral-vickie-chapman-files-amendments-to-termination-of-pregnancy-bill/news-story/fc56ca8f717418a12d5d4652443865f2
    Sarah Danckert and Charlotte Grieve explain how the largest body of institutional investors in Australia representing $1.5 trillion of super savings has slammed the government’s intention to water down the continuous disclosure regime, saying it will dent market integrity.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/investors-slam-frydenberg-s-watering-down-of-company-laws-20210217-p573ag.html
    A skydiving adventure park in a National Party electorate was showered in bushfire grants, getting far more than it asked for, while a host of bushfire recovery projects in the Blue Mountains were ignored, even badly needed toilet facilities for firefighters. Callum Foote reports on new documents in the bushfire rorts scandal.
    https://www.michaelwest.com.au/bushfire-rorts-excess-grants-for-sky-divers-but-no-toilets-for-firefighters/
    Rob Harris writes that a bipartisan parliamentary report has urged secondary school students should be better taught Australian values, Indigenous history and citizenship studies to increase their knowledge of and engagement with civics and democracy.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/compulsory-classes-recommended-to-improve-democracy-and-civic-engagement-20210217-p573bc.html
    Facebook has just now announced that it will restrict people in Australia from sharing or viewing Australian and international news content in response to proposed media bargaining laws.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/facebook-to-restrict-australians-sharing-or-viewing-news-content-20210218-p573j8.html
    And a disillusioned Michael Pascoe writes, “There’s a big hint in the name, Nine Entertainment – not “Nine Public Interest Journalism”. It’s Nine Entertainment that is reportedly copping $30 million a year from Google after the government, primarily on behalf of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Nine Entertainment, pressured the tech giant into subsidising media companies for their inability to compete in the advertising business.”
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2021/02/18/michael-pascoe-nine-enetrtainment-public-interest-journalism/
    Bye bye Rush, you’ll be sorely missed!
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/us-conservative-radio-host-rush-limbaugh-dies-aged-70-20210218-p573j0.html

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  17. Leone

    Thank you, I’ll check out SBS, I like to see the lot, and partially hear the ‘journalists’ making idiots of themselves. Wonder if the so called government realise they are cutting off their biggest propaganda outlet?

    • Speaking of propaganda – will the CrimeMinister have to tone down the news aspect of his own page?

      I bet he didn’t think that could be a consequence of his actions.

  18. Leone

    I’ve never seen his page, and never plan to, but good he can suffer in his jocks.

    I would have thought the media would be having a go at the government, but they are deadly silent, it’s all facebook’s fault apparently.

    • It’s a shame Jenny’s alleged “moral compass” points in only one direction – herself.

      How could anyone with any morals, let alone a woman who claims to be a devout “Christian” not want to impress on their partner the dire plight of two little girls and their parents who have been in detention – Melbourne and now Christmas Island – since March 2018?

      Jenny is as full of shit as her husband, and every bit as hypocritical.

  21. These are the “good guys”, the media outlets who will struggle to get comment out there thanks to the Facebook ban..

    And from Michael West –

    Labor supports the government’s bargaining code bill. I wish they had not gone that way.. This is just an attempt by the government to silence all but 7, Nine and Murdoch

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/landmark-media-code-set-to-become-law-with-labor-s-backing-20210216-p572wv.html

    Here’s the bill, because the media never refer to bills by their proper names.

    Treasury Laws Amendment (News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code) Bill 2020
    https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r6652

  22. More than a bit hypocritical when Labor, yesterday, waved the bill that has caused this through the Reps.

    State health Facebook pages have been the source of news for thousands during the pandemic. This is completely irresponsible from Facebook. They must be restored immediately. How could the Morrison Government bungle this so badly? https://t.co/1VCfnFP0uG— Mark Butler MP (@Mark_Butler_MP) February 17, 2021

    We’re in the middle of a pandemic. Australians need to hear from credible voices in the vaccine rollout. This is completely irresponsible from Facebook. The Morrison Government needs to fix this today. https://t.co/wPM7oibNRm— Mark Butler MP (@Mark_Butler_MP) February 17, 2021

    Weather bureaus have also been taken down at a crucial time.

    • Could the ALP actually be on the right side of this? If Google and Facebook are no longer supporting “news” by removing it from their services, then all the soft soaping that this L/NP government gets will disappear, which suggests that the omissions about the ALP won’t be bruited about any more?

      On the other hand, it does mean a more open slather for “bad” or “fake” news from more radical and violent purveyors like those Proud Boys and ISIS!

      Oh! What a problem these folk have created * laughs sourly *
      On the other hand, perhaps all the sheeple who think that Facebook and Google are the whole internet might learn differently? One can only hope …

    • Labor supported this bill from the start so to me Labor shares the blame- including blame for Murdoch and Nine being paid millions by Google.

      I no longer get the US and UK news and comment I’m used to, so that has been taken away too.Instead of having everything in one place and regularly updated I have to search for umpteen different sites, so that’s a real annoyance. Important local organisations like the Australian Marine Conservation Society, charities and even satire like The Shovel and the Betoota Advocate have been purged.

      If the government wants to shut down all non-right-wing media then they are doing a great job while enriching Nine and Murdoch, and probably 7 as well, the media organisations that provide so much pro-government propaganda. And – they achieved it with Labor’s willing support.

      Sometimes I wonder what goes on in the heads of federal Labor politicians.

  27. Inspired by the CrimeMinister disappearing to Hawaii?

  28. When Facebook removed vast swathes of Australian media from its platform overnight on Wednesday the social media company intended to shock the system of Australian government and media cronyism and send a strong message to regulators everywhere.

    Instead, Facebook managed to turn attention away from a flawed piece of legislation and on to its own reckless, opaque power.

    Even for a company that specialises in public relations disasters, this was quite an achievement. Everyone from the head of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to the organiser of the North Shore Mums page found their links and pages missing from Facebook. Campus newspaper reporters, half of the editors in the First Nations media network, public health officials preparing for the Covid vaccine rollout and weather services found their Facebook presence suddenly, without warning wiped away.

    A company that cannot reliably identify legitimate news sites or make a determination between a vital information service and the conspiracy-laden Epoch Times (which was also cut off) should not be part of a country’s critical communications infrastructure. Yet this is the Facebook paradox.

    Facebook had not thought whether the week before vaccines roll out was appropriate timing for a news blackout. Facebook and Google have, over the past three years, been sprinkling grants on journalism organisations and newsrooms at the rate of $100m a year each, making them the largest philanthropists and supporters of journalism on the planet. The money is not a deep commitment to producing equity and integrity in news; it is a lobbying exercise, a hedge against external regulation.

    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/18/even-for-a-company-that-specialises-in-pr-disasters-facebook-has-excelled-with-its-australian-blackout

  30. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    Anthony Galloway and Katina Curtis tell us that a growing number of Liberal MPs believe Defence Minister Linda Reynolds should resign over her handling of a reported sexual assault in her office, as she said she was deeply sorry some of her actions added to her staffer’s distress.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/poor-judgement-liberal-mps-question-if-reynolds-should-go-over-handling-of-staffer-s-rape-claim-20210218-p573pa.html
    David Crowe proclaims that Morrison must be held accountable for inaction that left women vulnerable.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-must-be-held-accountable-for-inaction-that-left-women-vulnerable-20210218-p573s0.html
    John Faine wonders if the argumentative, dismissive Scott Morrison is becoming the new Jeff Kennett.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/argumentative-dismissive-is-scott-morrison-the-new-jeff-kennett-20210217-p573b0.html
    The Australian’s Rosie Lewis tells us that one of Scott Morrison’s staffers was “mortified” after learning of an incident involving Brittany Higgins in early April 2019, ­according to explosive new text messages casting doubt over whether senior members of the Prime Minister’s office found out only last Friday about the alleged rape in a ministerial suite.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/parliament-house-rape-allegations-pm-sorry-brittany-higgins-feels-hes-victim-blaming-reynolds-again-fails-to-clarify-timeline/news-story/a89553c652f6723a51995d5ddec07da0
    Katherine Murphy and Christopher Knaus write that the department which oversees Parliament House has confirmed incident reports after the alleged sexual assault of former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins in 2019 were not handed to police until two weeks after the incident.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/19/brittany-higgins-incident-reports-into-alleged-werent-handed-to-police-for-two-weeks
    Michelle Grattan has concluded that a wounded Scott Morrison dealt poorly with a young woman’s shocking story.
    https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-scott-morrison-dealt-poorly-with-a-young-womans-shocking-story-155570
    A culture of cover-ups and victim-blaming is on full display in all its proudly backward glory as the Morrison Government responds to Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations, writes managing editor Michelle Pini.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/scotty-stuffs-staffers-under-steam-cleaned-parliamentary-rug,14811
    Kaye Lee describes the daggy dad’s empathy vacuum.
    https://theaimn.com/the-daggy-dads-empathy-vacuum/
    Phil Coorey adds that the events of this week have highlighted just how quickly the government’s fortunes can run off the rails and how the political prism is alive and well.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/parliament-plays-catch-up-with-the-rest-of-society-20210217-p573hc
    And Michaela Whitbourn writes that former High Court justice Kenneth Hayne has condemned sexual harassment in the legal profession and the culture of victim-blaming as he urged senior lawyers to deliver “blunt messages” aimed at curbing unacceptable behaviour.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/it-has-to-stop-former-high-court-judge-calls-out-sexual-harassment-20210217-p573fr.html
    John Warhurst takes a close look at the levels of disunity in each of the political parties.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7131084/pm-cleared-out-most-disunity-in-coalition-but-two-types-remain/?cs=14258
    Richard Denniss opines that the Liberals’ agenda is bad for regional Australia – but the Nationals play along anyway.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/feb/18/the-liberals-agenda-is-bad-for-regional-australia-but-the-nationals-play-along-anyway
    Lucy Cormack reports that the NSW government says it will be forced to delay funding to bushfire-affected communities if it is made to release documents detailing the first round of a $177 million bushfire relief scheme. This comes after the upper house on Wednesday night passed a motion ordering the government to produce papers outlining how it chose bushfire-affected regions to receive fast-track funding under a state and federal program last year. Most of the funding was given to Coalition-held seats.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/held-hostage-government-says-funding-for-bushfire-victims-will-be-delayed-by-parliamentary-order-20210218-p573lp.html
    Whether it’s a unicorn or not, Morrison is going after Facebook and is asking other countries to join the fight.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/we-will-not-be-intimidated-pm-takes-facebook-fight-to-india-and-the-world-20210218-p573se.html
    The SMH editorial says that it’s only right Facebook is held to account for its failings.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/only-right-facebook-is-held-to-account-for-its-failings-20210218-p573tj.html
    In his blunt action to delete news from the Facebook platform, Mark Zuckerberg has demonstrated beyond doubt that Facebook is a publisher, writes Ticky Fullerton in The Australian.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/ban-proves-facebook-is-undoubtedly-another-publisher/news-story/d5bd0f63df38688eae21b2a3292ba9e4
    Peter Lewis reckons that it’s time to unfriend Facebook when it resorts to starving us of news. He urges Australians to respond with their mouses.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/it-s-time-to-unfriend-facebook-when-it-resorts-to-starving-us-of-news-20210218-p573lt.html
    And a former chief executive of Facebook in Australia and New Zealand says the company is taking a dangerous global gamble by blacking out news in Australia.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/as-a-former-facebook-chief-here-s-my-verdict-it-s-a-shameless-demonstration-of-corporate-might-20210218-p573s4.html
    Facebook has pulled the trigger on news content — and possibly shot itself in the foot, argues Diana Bossio in The Conversation.
    https://theconversation.com/facebook-has-pulled-the-trigger-on-news-content-and-possibly-shot-itself-in-the-foot-155547
    Harley Dennett says that Facebook’s ban of Australian news is paving the way to wasteland of cats and conspiracies.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7132462/facebook-paving-way-to-wasteland-of-cats-and-conspiracies-democracy-groups/?cs=14225
    Even for a company that specialises in PR disasters, Facebook has excelled with its Australian blackout, writes Emily Bell.
    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/18/even-for-a-company-that-specialises-in-pr-disasters-facebook-has-excelled-with-its-australian-blackout
    Simon Benson says that the Morrison government is poised to legislate a permanent increase to fortnightly dole payments as early as next week, as cabinet’s budget committee is expected to sign off on a potential new welfare payment on Friday.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/coalition-poised-to-lock-in-permanent-dole-rise/news-story/010ec673779f3308520b4c5c8d09641b
    A new survey has found Australians are more afraid of climate change than catching Covid-19 – and they want government to do something about it.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/19/australians-fear-climate-change-more-than-catching-covid-survey-shows
    According to Mary Ward, syringes designed to extract the maximum amount of doses from Australia’s shipments of COVID-19 vaccines will not be available when the national rollout begins, potentially wasting 20% of the available vaccine doses.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-sixth-of-australia-s-vaccine-supply-at-risk-due-to-syringe-shortage-20210218-p573sj.html
    Madonna King urges that it is time to end the dangerous anti-vaccination conspiracy theories.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/coronavirus/2021/02/18/madonna-king-anti-vaccination/
    Bevan Shields reports that the Australian government has rejected pleas by its diplomats and consular staff for access to coronavirus vaccines even though they are working in some of the world’s hardest-hit countries.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/dfat-under-fire-over-vaccine-snub-for-staff-posted-in-coronavirus-ravaged-countries-20210217-p5736x.html
    The federal government is encouraging people to link their Medicare accounts to their MyGov accounts in advance of the COVID-19 vaccination rollout, to ensure their vaccination certificates can be accessed as easily as possible.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7133430/call-to-link-mygov-and-medicare-before-vaccination/?cs=17318
    Australians’ willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine has dramatically decreased, with more than one in five now contemplating refusing the jab, even knowing it’s safe.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7132624/one-in-five-australians-could-refuse-the-covid-19-jab/?cs=17318
    A vitriolic Elizabeth Knight slams the “new transparent Crown” and gives Helen Coonan a serve.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/if-this-is-the-new-transparent-crown-then-saviour-coonan-needs-to-work-miracles-20210218-p573r4.html
    And the AFR says that Crown’s list of known unknowns is daunting.
    https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/crown-s-list-of-known-unknowns-is-daunting-20210218-p573s3
    Professor of Workplace Law Anthony Forsyth is concerned that Porter’s new workplace law attacks long-held protections for employees.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/new-workplace-law-attacks-long-held-protections-for-employees-20210216-p572zs.html
    Timna Jacks reveals that Metro Trains promised the Andrews government it would reduce train cancellations when it bid for a lucrative contract to run Melbourne’s railways, but more than three years after that deal was inked, it had failed to meet that target.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/metro-trains-fails-to-deliver-on-promise-after-scoring-6-3b-contract-20210217-p57376.html
    Kevin Rudd points out that few Australians would have heard much about the dramatic schism at the Pacific Islands Forum last week, but its consequences for our region could be long-lasting and disastrous.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/trouble-with-paradise-the-crisis-australia-has-hardly-noticed-20210218-p573ki.html
    Samantha Dick writes that legal experts fear for domestic violence victims with Family Court changes.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2021/02/18/family-court-changes/
    Michael McGowan reports that the head of the Presbyterian church in Australia says its pastors will not be directed to obey the Victorian government’s new law banning gay conversion practices, calling the bill “a declaration of war on scripture”.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/feb/18/presbyterian-church-head-says-victorian-ban-on-gay-conversion-practices-should-be-ignored
    Despite unprecedented damage to forests and wildlife, NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro overruled the Environment Protection Agency and determined that industrial-scale logging continues in NSW’s burnt and unburnt forests. Suzanne Arnold reports on the extraordinary protections afforded the forestry industry by the government of Gladys Berejiklian.
    https://www.michaelwest.com.au/barilaro-overrules-epa-ramps-up-logging-funnels-bushfire-grants-to-loggers/

    Cartoon Corner

    David Pope

    Andrew Dyson

    Matt Golding


    Peter Broelman

    Mark David

    Mark Knight

    Johannes Leak

    Simon Letch

    John Shakespeare

    From the US









  31. Vaccinations start today in NZ. The people being done first ? The ‘vaccinators’ who will be administering the vaccines.

  37. So first tranche of pfizer vaccines
    NSW 35000
    Vic 12000

    Population of
    NSW 8 million
    Vic 6 million

    Sounds fair [not]

  38. The more the government lies about this rape the more the media dig up.

    We know the rapist was given a cushy job in Sydney, no doubt as compensation for the real reason to suddenly leave Canberra.

    True Crime Weekly News has named the alleged rapist. I’m not sure of the legal implications of revealing even a link to that information so I’m not saying any more – for now.

    We also know the government knew all about what they referred to as “a serious incident” soon after it happened. The President of the Senate knew.

    ‘Occurred on my watch’: Senate President admits knowledge of rape allegations
    He and fellow Liberal MP Tony Smith, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, are Parliament’s ‘presiding officers’ and are responsible for services inside Parliament House.

    In a statement on Wednesday, the pair said they learned of a serious incident that had occurred in Senator Reynolds’ office just days after it occurred.

    But they maintain they did not know the full story until much later

    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/02/19/brittany-higgins-assault-knowledge/

    So the two men charged with running services in Parliament House couldn’t bother asking what this “serious incident” was? As if!

  39. Yesterday the PMO was backgrounding their favoured journalists with false allegations about Ms Higgin’s current partner. So much for the CrimeMinister’s false words about concern for Ms Higgins, so much for his lies about that alleged conversation with his wife. His office does what HE, a known control freak orders, so any dirty backgrounding was done because HE wanted it.

    But scrutiny has exploded after claims inside the parliamentary press gallery that staff from Mr Morrison’s office had briefed media with claims to “undermine” Ms Higgins’ current partner.

    Network 10’s Peter van Onselen first made that allegation on ABC radio on Thursday morning, and it was followed by a story in The Guardian.

    “The Prime Minister’s office has been backgrounding that her partner, her now partner, has a vendetta, or a gripe might be the better way to put it, against the government because of him being a former public servant,” Van Onselen said.

    The New Daily did not receive any such backgrounding, but sources close to Ms Higgins have told TND they believe it occurred

    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/02/18/linda-reynolds-tears-brittany-higgins/

    And here – RN interview yesterday with PvO – starts at 44 seconds in.
    https://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/politics-with-peter-van-onselen/13166422

  40. Victorian press conference can be replayed below

    https://www.rrr.org.au/explore/programs/surrounded/episodes/15050-surrounded-18-february-2021

    A few interesting bits in Bernard’s interview above

  41. Am I missing something here. I am not into social media but almost all of my extended family are, especially the younger ones. None use it to source serious news, that is the sort of stuff you see in a TV news bulletin or read in the first few pages of a newspaper. They use social media to gossip and for enjoyment. We have bred like rabbits, with them and their friends it is a huge sample of the community.

    What I have seen about the sky falling in because Facebook won’t show us what the dinosaurs in the MSM have to say is all one sided propaganda.

    Facebook might make a minor change at the edges so that the conservatives can claim a win but if I was a gambler I would wager that Zuckerberg won’t be handing cash to the Murdoch/Stokes/Costello cartel.

    • I use Facebook for three things – listed in order of importance.
      1.Keeping in touch with my family becuase I have sisters and their families and two of my kids in various places across NSW. I
      2. Following some hobby and special interest sites.
      3 – As a news feed.

      The advantage of news via Facebook is it’s immediate – same as Twitter. You get word as soon as something happens. I can have all my favourite news sites in one place which means I don’t have to waste time trawling the internet. I can also access a lot of UK and US news from sites I have “liked” – or could until yesterday.

      So yes, Facebook has uses beyond gossiping and entertaining teenagers.

      Will I miss what is no longer there? Not much. It just means I need to bookmark some more sites.

  43. And by the way, I don’t get news from Facebook, TV, or printed newspapers. I get it from places like this and other websites. It is not difficult and I consider myself to be well informed about what is going on in the world. If Facebook was obliterated overnight I would know if it wasn’t in the “news”.

  44. He is so obvious

    Prime Minister Scott Morrison has asked his department to check on whether his office was alerted to an alleged rape within days, after revelations of a text message that counters claims the office did not know.

    The move came after the disclosure of a text message to Brittany Higgins, who says she was raped in Parliament House in March 23, 2019, saying her experience had been raised with an adviser in the Prime Minister’s office on April 3.

    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/pm-asks-for-more-checks-on-who-in-his-office-knew-about-rape-allegation-20210219-p5740i.html

    • Brittany & her boyfriend had better be planning their next career running a coffee shop or coffee cart in Cairns or some other tourist destination because no corporation will touch them and Centrelink will flag their files to give them hell

  45. I hate Facebook but have to use it to interact with some organisations.

    I have a friend who gets her Italian News via Facebook, she alerted us to the dangers of Covid in Jan 2020 before it was taken seriously here.

    I have other friends who didn’t have free-to-air and got their news from Facebook because they were under the imported american evangelical sway of why bother with politics, you can’t change anything – but Australians must vote.

    Facebook have read the legislation and scrupulously scrubbed their app of all items defined as “news”

    The legislation is poorly written, has malign intent, ie to prop up News Corp & Nine Entertainment

    I applaud Facebook’s actions

    • Senator Ted Cruz looks like he learnt his lines about personal responsibility from Scott Morrison.
      He will make a perfect Republican President

  49. No, Albo, Z will maximize his profits within the regulatory framework

    Mr Albanese said the company needed to accept media companies should be paid for content to keep journalism alive.

    “It’s in Mr Zuckerberg’s interests, and Facebook’s interests, to basically grow up, to accept that governments have a right to determine the regulatory framework in which businesses operate.”

    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2021/02/19/frydenberg-zuckerberg-facebook-media-code/

    • Facebook is in business to maximise its profit in a socially acceptable manner
      It’s up to government to set the framework

      Not happy that Morrison like Menzies and Abbott before him are picking winners ie propping up dying industries by knee cappying new industries

      Menzies chose sheep over computers and aircraft
      Abbott chose to kill car industry
      Morrison strong arms Google and Facebook for Murdoch & Nine Entertainment

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