It seems trite to start with anything like “We are all Ukrainians now”. However, in so many ways, we are. We are all little people, doing our best to get on with our lives, looking after those dear to us.
Then life as we’ve known it explodes, and we are shattered into devastating uncertainties – precisely what’s happening to everyone in Ukraine.
To backtrack 60 years, my parents were remarkably open with me from my earliest days about social issues, e.g., cancer and smoking, sexuality, religion, racism, politics – local and world – and everything in between. I knew about the Holocaust, I knew about Anne Frank and so many other victims, I knew about the nuclear bombing of Japan, Yet I don’t recall ANYTHING about the Cuban Missile Crisis.
I do wonder – and now wish I’d asked them – if they’d decided to adopt media silence as far as I was concerned (I was only 6 years old but was already aware of the dangers of cigarettes and often cried myself to sleep thinking about mum’s smoking.
I was well-aware of the Malaysian/Indonesian war. I knew about the Korean war. I most certainly knew about the Vietnam war. And – unbeknownst to them – I had listened to a dramatisation of the Nuremberg Trials.
The only reason I can imagine is that, for them, it was an existential crisis, and they didn’t want me to know about it until it might have affected Australia.
And I weep for all Ukrainians, all of whom have been children, and for all and every Ukrainian child.
THE PUB 
Seth Meyers –
Stephen Colbert –
Jimmy Kimmel –
Chris Hayes –
Brian Tyler Cohen –
That Question Time achieved zero for me the taxpayer.
QT is in need of reform, urgently.
This is the link to watch President Zelenskyy address the Australian Parliament today. President Zelenskyy will address both the House of Representatives and the Senate in the House chamber at 5:30pm.
https://www.aph.gov.au/News_and_Events/LiveMediaPlayer?vID=%7b25C0C2C3-347D-4818-AFAB-3F79D81937DC
I suppose we will have to watch PM Morrison suck up to a real leader, hoping some of the shine is reflected onto himself.
I read that Zelenskyy is considered a Liberal, as in of the Left, in Ukraine. That may explain some of the support for Putin by the Republicans in the USA, also possibly his Jewish heritage, as anti-Semitism is part of far-right-wing ideology.
Anyway this should be interesting and I am going to watch it.
Zelensky campaigned hard on pushing through with peace in the Donbas. Getting Minsk implemented etc.Unfortunately for he and the world the ultra nationalists , despite their electoral losses in that election, still had enough muscle and positions of power to make sure that didn’t happen.One of their leaders publicly stating that if Zelensky “sells out” (implements the Minsk Accord) he’ll lose his life. Zelensky is caught in a very unenviable and dangerous position. One that may easily cost him his life and it won’t be the Russians who kill him. I hope he has an escape ‘hatch’ .
Watching this video it’s a definite yes !! Not a single gram of ‘conservative’ in this dance routine. Tight leather pants and high heels
.
Zelensky Dancing in Heels (original)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcmyUXxFSIM
Ukraine needs to get rid of these scumbags. No doubt they will be committing war crimes and atrocities. Anyone who does should be arrested and end up in prison.
But nazis or not, it it is not Russia’s brief to start a war to get rid of them.
Roghtwing extremists, Nazis, in Ukraine are going to be a problem, assuming Ukraine wins. They will claim credit and attract more recruits, and attract more overseas visitors to train with them. Not that Putin is pure on that issue, funding Nazi groups in Russia to do his dirty work.
One thing is for sure, the Ukrainian people want change, or Zelenskyy would not have got 73% of the vote.
At the end of this Ukraine will be awash with weapons. I think Ukraine’s future could be bleak even if they win.
Morrison is a freaking embarrassment!
He’d have to be the most shameless bullshit artiste I’ve ever seen in politics.
Kaffeekie,
I have had it up to my eyebrows with right-wing-nationalists. Can’t we give them some remote land to go live on away from the rest of us? Then they can wave their damned flags, chant, have a circle-jerk complaining about everything and every one slightly different to them, and beat each other up.
They ruin everything good and are the most selfish, egocentric scumbags of the human race. I think they have an illness of the brain which is incurable. Hence isolation, like in leper colonies.
I hope President Zelenskyy survives and gains enough kudos from this war to stare down those right-wing wangkers.
I was wondering what internal problems he had to deal with because it was obvious there was something happening below the waterline.
He has the same problem as us, rightwing nutjobs in powerful positions making the world fit to their crazy ideology.
They are toxic and over the years since the 2014 coup n Ukraine there have been a number if articles written about Western rwnjs,well white supremacist nazis really, heading off to Ukraine for a bit of training and the threate they could pose..This one written just before the war started.
.
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A Year After 1/6, Ukraine’s War Draws U.S. Far-Right to Fight Russia, Train for Violence at Home
One journalist who tracked this phenomenon in the lead-up to the events of 1/6 is Mariana van Zeller. In the final months of 2020, she spoke with one of the leading neo-Nazi groups in the U.S. and traveled to Ukraine to sit down with far-right figures there as part of an upcoming episode seen exclusively ahead of time by Newsweek for the National Geographic original series Trafficked, airing Wednesdays at 9 p.m.
https://www.newsweek.com/ukraine-war-draws-us-far-right-fight-russia-violence-home-1665027
Well done High Court!
The nutters who were “close friends” of Kimberley Kitching have been thwarted in their attempt to take over preselections and install their own people. Would you want anyone from the corrupt HSU which now prefers to go by “HWU” for Health Workers Union, in parliament?
Court bid to stop Victorian Labor preselections fails
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/court-bid-to-stop-victorian-labor-preselections-fails-20220331-p5a9lg.html
Albo: Aged care and Child care front and centre.
I just heard a senior government politician asking ‘how will the pay for the budget promises’? I did not expect that at all! 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀
Not as unexpected as Leigh Sold’s first question to Albo- ‘How yagunnapayfrit ? “
But not one journalist or interviewer ever asks Scovid how he is going to pay for any of his announcements.
For any Pub patrons who were unable to watch His Excellency Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine, addresses the joint meeting of the House of Representatives and the Senate, this link will allow you to watch an historic event.
An address to the Australian Parliament by a head of state of another country, live streamed from more than 16,000 kilometers across dozens of other countries is truly historic!
An idea of just how much it was valued is to see every visitors gallery seat, as well as in the media gallery, all occupied. Wonderful. Volodymyr even got a standing ovation before he even had the chance to speak. In fact I didn’t think they would ever stop! LOL!!!!!
Did any media ask where the money was coming from on Tuesday night or
Wednesday? If they did I missed it. Of course, I mute any of that lot, so that would be my fault. All I have heard this morning, the only question I have heard this morning, ‘where is the money coming from? over and over and over, the whole interview on RN.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
It’s a paradox. The Morrison government, in deep trouble, has produced a budget that’s shamelessly designed to try to buy votes. But Labor, censorious in its rhetoric, has found itself having to embrace the budget’s central measures. Anthony Albanese neatly summed up the situation in his Thursday night budget reply, says Michelle Grattan about his speech.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-01/albanese-morrison-budget-election-battle-lines/100956988
David Crowe writes that Labor leader Anthony Albanese has made a $2.5 billion pledge to improve the treatment of older Australians with an aged care package that opens a wider election fight on “fairness and decency” by holding out the promise of higher wages for millions of workers.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-pledges-2-5-billion-for-aged-care-in-budget-reply-20220331-p5a9tu.html
Phil Coorey reckons Morrison is putting all his chips on the budget roulette wheel.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/morrison-puts-all-his-chips-on-the-budget-roulette-wheel-20220331-p5a9m5
Budget 2022 is a bit like that last lolly bag at the party. The one with the bottom falling out of it. The one that’s therefore not only joyless, but useless, because it promises everything and contains next to nothing, writes John Falzon.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7680665/one-off-fixes-like-the-ones-in-this-budget-are-no-fixes-at-all/?cs=9676
There are big differences in rhetoric between Labor and the Coalition, but on the economic fundamentals there is little – other than aged care reform – to separate the two, explains economics professor, Stephen Bartos.
https://theconversation.com/labors-budget-reply-goes-big-on-aged-care-similar-on-much-else-180098
David Crowe tells us why Concetta Fiervanti-Wells’ character assassination of Morrison is so powerful. He says the Labor attack ads won’t be hard to make; they can leave it to the intern.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/torpedoed-from-within-why-this-character-assassination-of-morrison-is-so-powerful-20220331-p5a9ox.html
Employers are calling for a 2 per cent increase in the minimum wage in a move that would deliver a cut in real incomes for millions of workers already facing cost-of-living pressures, writes Angus Thompson and Shane Wright.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/don-t-take-chances-employers-argue-for-modest-rise-in-minimum-wage-20220331-p5a9s2.html
For a government professing concern about home ownership, new supply and affordability, the measures in this week’s budget fell flat – benefitting few, largely ignoring renters, and extending underperforming existing policy, argue these three academics.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/dream-on-australia-budget-exposes-fantasy-of-our-home-owning-democracy-20220331-p5a9nj.html
Australia’s recovery is leading the world? Biggest economic shock since the Depression? There used to be a rule against misleading Parliament. No longer, it seems, writes Alan Austin about the budget.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/blinded-by-dodgy-stats-frydenbergs-sermon-relies-on-rusty-tablets/
The Morrison government’s $50 million gas handout undermines climate targets and does nothing to improve energy security, laments Samantha Hepburn.
https://theconversation.com/the-morrison-governments-50-million-gas-handout-undermines-climate-targets-and-does-nothing-to-improve-energy-security-180247
Employers want this year’s minimum wage increase to be tempered by an equivalent 1.3 per cent wage rise that they say workers will enjoy from the Morrison government’s one-off cost of living payments.
https://www.afr.com/work-and-careers/workplace/bosses-say-budget-cash-should-discount-wage-claim-20220331-p5a9oh
And Paul Karp tells us that workers on the lowest pay would receive a real pay cut under a proposal to freeze the minimum wage pushed by the cafe and restaurant industry. The Restaurant and Catering Industry Association called for no increase in the minimum wage in its submission to the annual review, arguing take-home pay is already rising due to job shortages, on top of super increases and budget giveaways.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/01/hospitality-industry-calls-for-pay-freeze-for-australias-lowest-paid-workers
The threat of being unable to afford to buy a home is now supplanted by the fear of being unable to afford ever increasing rents, writes Adam Hughes Henry who looks at tenancy rights and their need for change.
https://johnmenadue.com/tenancy-rights-offer-opportunities-for-change/
The Morrison government says Victorian Labor’s multibillion-dollar Suburban Rail Loop does not “stack up”, raising questions about the state government’s ability to pay for the project if forced to go it alone, reports Paul Sakkal. In response to the rejection, Victorian Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan said Victorians were “sick of being ignored on projects they voted for by a Liberal government who can’t even build a car park.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/our-way-or-the-railway-canberra-rejects-11-5b-suburban-loop-request-20220331-p5a9mv.html
Leaders of many of the great countries of the world from the US to China have addressed the Australian Parliament but few of them could rival the impact of a 20-minute speech via video on Thursday by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, declares the SMH editorial that says he made a compelling case for Australia’s support
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/zelensky-makes-compelling-case-for-australia-s-support-20220331-p5a9vq.html
Alexandra Smith tells us that the NSW Coalition’s shaky hold on government was exposed on Thursday when the Greens managed to change the state’s constitution to allow Parliament to meet virtually during a crisis such as the pandemic.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/tipping-point-nsw-coalition-defeated-on-floor-of-parliament-20220331-p5a9re.html
Lisa Visentin explains how the High Court has rejected an attempt by Morrison and Perrottet to seek its urgent intervention to resolve a factional feud engulfing the federal Liberal Party, sending the case back to the NSW Court of Appeal.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/high-court-rejects-pm-s-attempt-to-resolve-liberal-preselection-feud-20220331-p5a9so.html
Mike Foley tells us that Angus Taylor has rejected claims of fraud in a $1 billion taxpayer-funded carbon credit scheme, saying the criticism is unfounded and part of a political attack on the industry.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/carbon-credit-fraud-claim-completey-unfounded-taylor-20220331-p5a9rd.html
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned damage is expected in erosion-prone areas as “abnormally high tides” and strong winds batter the coast until the weekend. The new seawalls will get a good test.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/stay-well-away-sydney-faces-new-severe-weather-warning-as-beachfront-homes-put-on-alert-20220331-p5a9kf.html
Michaela Whitbourn reports that a former elite soldier has told the Federal Court that his troop commander, Ben Roberts-Smith, told him to “shoot” a soldier posing as a detainee during a training exercise and punched him in the jaw after a subsequent mission in Afghanistan.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/roberts-smith-punched-sas-soldier-in-jaw-and-ordered-mock-execution-court-told-20220331-p5a9nb.html
From yesterday’s Star inquiry, Harriett Alexander report that the first version of a due diligence report into a junket operator linked him to organised crime. The second version described him as “a successful and astute businessman”. Oh dear!
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/more-succinct-casino-manager-denies-watering-down-report-20220331-p5a9my.html
The inquiry heard that said Huang bought $1.7b in chips at Star. Sound reasonable?
https://www.afr.com/companies/games-and-wagering/billionaire-huang-bought-1-7b-in-chips-at-star-20220331-p5a9lz
National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) staff reviewed the social media accounts of a disabled woman applying for the scheme and sent a report to a doctor engaged to provide an expert opinion, a tribunal decision reveals. But their “intelligence report”, which included Facebook and LinkedIn posts dating back as far as 2015, was dismissed by a tribunal reviewing her case as “far from sound”, writes Luke Henriques-Gomes.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/01/ndia-scrutinised-disabled-womans-social-media-posts-to-challenge-her-eligibility-tribunal-decision-reveals
People with disabilities are being marginalised in politics and wider society, writes Melissa Marsden.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/people-with-disabilities-marginalised-in-politics-and-wider-society,16209
Angus Thompson reports that the manufacturing arm of the CFMMEU is attempting to split from the broader union, after years of fighting between the various divisions over the direction of the controversial industrial body.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/disdain-cfmmeu-manufacturing-division-moving-to-split-from-union-20220331-p5a9s4.html
The head of Britain’s cyber spy agency says new intelligence shows Russian soldiers in Ukraine are refusing to carry out orders, sabotaging their own equipment and have accidentally shot down their own aircraft.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/russian-soldiers-not-carrying-out-orders-and-sabotaging-own-equipment-british-spy-chief-20220331-p5a9os.html
According to Mike Foley, experts are saying a new port could replace the US military’s main fuelling station in the Pacific region after the closure of a storage facility at Pearl Harbour in Hawaii.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/new-darwin-port-could-help-replace-us-pearl-harbor-naval-facility-20220331-p5a9q8.html
Vladimir Putin made a terrible mistake, and his concessions on Ukraine are a sign of his weakened position, argues Patrick Cockburn.
https://johnmenadue.com/vladimir-putin-made-a-terrible-mistake-and-his-concessions-on-ukraine-are-a-sign-of-his-weakened-position/
India’s Foreign Minister says it is natural for a country to seek cheap oil, as criticism grows over India’s purchase of discounted Russian oil.
https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/it-s-natural-india-s-foreign-minister-defends-inking-cheap-russian-oil-deals-20220401-p5a9x4.html
It is very dangerous to simply assume that we will keep on paying more and more forever. Sooner or later one price rise will be one too many – and there will be a reckoning for streaming services like Netflix when that moment arrives, asserts Matthew Lynn.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/the-netflix-model-is-destined-for-a-huge-crash-20220328-p5a8f5.html
The Republican party is obsessed with children – in the creepiest of ways, explains Osita Nwanevu.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/mar/30/republicans-gop-party-children-abuse
Cartoon Corner
David Pope
Mark Knight
Cathy Wilcox
Matt Golding
David Rowe
Alan Moir
John Shakespeare
Jim Pavlidis
Fiona Katauskas
Peter Broelman
Andrew Dyson
Leak
From the US
“Employers are calling for a 2 per cent increase in the minimum wage in a move that would deliver a cut in real incomes for millions of workers already facing cost-of-living pressures, writes Angus Thompson and Shane Wright.”
Unions want 5%, a more realistic amount. Who will win?
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/unions-to-push-for-five-per-cent-increase-to-australias-minimum-wage/3p1v0hr5e
Over the last few days we have seen retailers demanding a cut! Most of their staff are part-time workers and probably have 2 or 3 jobs already just to make ends meet. How will they cope with what the unions argue is actually a pay cut considering the rapidly rising cost of everything from food to petrol to rent?
https://www.smh.com.au/national/supermarkets-retailers-call-for-wage-freeze-amid-rising-living-costs-20220330-p5a9fx.html
This rotten government WILL try to reduce pay for workers if it is re-elected. Short-term handouts (which few will actually receive in full) are not the answer. I hope voters are able to understand the government’s “cash splash” is just a ploy to get them re-elected.
If the US want Australia to build a new port in Darwin then they can fracking well pay for it themselves. It is only being done for their benefit.
Victoria needs more than 6% of federal infrastructure spend. Melbourne is growing faster than Sydney. The underground rail will save future generations of Monash University students from learning to hitch hike.
In the 1970s when you paid every time you got on a bus or train or tram the fares to Monash, $6.20 were unaffordable for a 17 year old student earning $5 on Fridays dishwashing, waitresses got 50 cents an hour
Given the expected weather this weekend that infrastructure money is needed to build seawalls to protect Sydney’s coastal real estate
Carole Cawalldr has been in court for “was it in the public interest for me, a journalist, to speak about a years-long investigation into Russian interference?”
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1509612965011804162.html
Russians ‘Shooting Down Their Own Aircraft’—Spy Chief on Troops’ Low Morale
https://www.newsweek.com/russians-shooting-own-aircraft-low-morale-spy-chief-jeremy-fleming-1693642
Roghtwing extremists, Nazis, in Ukraine are going to be a problem, assuming Ukraine wins. They will claim credit and attract more recruits, and attract more overseas visitors to train with them. Not that Putin is pure on that issue, funding Nazi groups in Russia to do his dirty work.
One thing is for sure, the Ukrainian people want change, or Zelenskyy would not have got 73% of the vote.
At the end of this Ukraine will be awash with weapons. I think Ukraine’s future could be bleak even if they win.
friendlyjordies –
Seth Meyers –
Stephen Colbert –
Chris Hayes –
Brian Tyler Cohen –
Oooops –
Seth Meyers –
So I am not only getting g one side of the Putin v Ukraine war I watch India Today, which has a pro-Russian stance.
There problems in Ukraine with far-right forces, Nazis, and ultra-nationalists. I think they will prove as much a threat to President Zelenskyy, as in assassination, if Ukraine prevails against Russia. Zelenskyy is from a left-wing liberal/progressive party. Rightwingers will want power, especially when so much money is to be made from rebuilding infrastructure and dwellings.
And there will be guns everywhere. Zelenskyy will need to be very careful even after this war ends.
His life is in grave danger as soon as he hints at a move for peace or of making concessions. The nutters will be quite happy to fight to the last Ukrainian . The fascists hold a number of senior positions in the military and security services so one of the bastards will always be near him. Zelensky wanted to do the right thing and implement the Minsk agreements but those fascist scum would not let him. Grrrrr.
Some booing and hissing in the direction of Nato + USA (same same I suppose) . We turned a blind eye to the ultra nationalists. Well not really ,we actively helped them,,trained,funded them. THEN we turned a blind eye to the nasty little bastards and the control of Ukraine they had. But hey they were useful for overthrowing a government we did not like. They were useful to ensure Ukraine remained a problem for Russia by making sure the Minsk deal was not implemented. The US foreign policy ‘elite’ have had a bee in their bonnet about Ukraine being a key to ‘unraveling’ Russia since at least Kissinger. Personally I think their notion is nuttery but I don’t get to make the call 🙂
Come on Scotty , do the deed, call an election. You know you
don’twant to. It cannot be too long until he has to call it.I thought FUPay was an April Fools Day joke when Twitter informed me that its address is the same as INDUE or cashless debit card
I am disgusted that our society has let so many people get that desperate
Has anyone actually been punished over the vast crimefest that the casinos seemed to have actually been ? By punished I mean jailed not just resigned.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/the-deceit-the-crime-the-destroyed-lives-how-australia-lost-its-gamble-on-casinos-20220331-p5a9q7.html
F.M –
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2022/apr/01/its-time-we-heard-the-voices-of-the-disenfranchised-we-dont-hear-on-the-abc
A wonderful couple of women and their stories.
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Together, 90-year-old Melbourne twins Liliana del Porto and Lydia Marcuzzi have survived wartime bombing, a taste of Italian Hollywood and a total of five husbands. They’re happiest at home watching TV detective shows.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/you-want-sex-i-ll-kill-you-the-capers-that-bonded-these-90-year-old-twins-20220304-p5a1pf.html
Whatever potential benefits the Indue card may have had is destroyed by:
1. Cannot use the card at Farmers Markets—better and fresher fruit/veg/dairy and meat
2. The inefficiency, the glitches—they just take money out of an account for no reason, sometimes you swipe the card and it has money in it but it says no money
3. The cost! $10K per card!
There are no benefits to that vile card – it is all about controlling the most vulnerable, making them suffer and even causing the deaths of those who gave in to card-generated despair and killed themselves. It was all designed by Scovid who dreamed it up as social services minister and approved it as treasurer. Anyone who claims benefits for it is lying or worse, approves of its purpose.
It’s far worse than not being able to shop at farmers markets. Ebay is also banned, as are other sources of second-hand goods which are all most people on the card can afford.
Worst of all – the card will not allow payment of rent. Indue says it does, but unless you are in public housing and agree to pay your rent through Centrepay it is a constant battle. Rent deductions do not go through so tenants have to beg Indue to allow them. This can and does take weeks. It has reached the point where many landlords and real estate agents refuse- quite rightly – to take on anyone on the card because they cannot afford to subsidise these tenants for weeks at a time then do it again and again.. This has resulted in homelessness drastically rising in so-called “trial areas”.
Ah, Lib/Nat efficiency strikes again.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
Laura Tingle contrasts the election approaches of the two major parties.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-04-02/morrison-plan-for-future-budget-economy-win-election/100959902
“This week confirms some serious failings of the Morrison government. On the current trajectory, the people will reward it by sending it into oblivion at next month’s election. But what makes anyone think Labor would be any better?”, writes Peter Hartcher in a rambling contribution.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/it-s-a-leap-of-faith-australia-albanese-pledges-are-light-on-detail-20220331-p5a9v4.html
It’s a paradox. The Morrison government, in deep trouble, has produced a budget that’s shamelessly designed to try to buy votes. But Labor, censorious in its rhetoric, has found itself having to embrace the budget’s central measures, writes Michelle Grattan who says Anthony Albanese neatly summed up the situation in his Thursday night budget reply. She ends her article with, “We’ll know in May whether Morrison enters political bankruptcy, but there is little doubt he’s been running dangerously close.”
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/avoiding-a-budget-battle-labor-eyes-aged-care-to-twin-the-war-20220401-p5a9zs.html
Katherine Murphy has a look at the last days of the 46th parliament.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/02/hell-hath-no-fury-like-the-last-days-of-australias-46th-parliament
Paul Bongiorno sees the government “stewing in their own juices”.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2022/04/02/stewing-their-own-juices/164881800013618
With a strong lead in the polls, the Opposition Leader has Labor in the position exactly where he promised it would be three years ago, writes Phil Coorey who says Albanese is playing the long game.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/albanese-is-playing-the-long-game-20220401-p5a9z1
A plainly disillusioned John Hewson writes that what should be an opportunity for mature debate and to start to create that future gets so easily lost in what has become a very tribal, adversarial, slugging and slanging match, called “the campaign”. So much for free speech about what is at stake: those who dare to offer constructive comments and propose realistic pathways get so easily labelled as “woke” or “left wing”.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2022/04/02/the-power-behind-the-drone/164881800013617
Shane Wright explains how the Coalition’s cost-of-living budget will create a tax “cliff” in the second half of next year that will leave 3.5 million Australians worse off and hit dual-income families particularly hard.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/millions-of-australians-face-1500-tax-hike-as-lamington-crumbles-20220401-p5a9yp.html
“The budget reply has merit, but how would Labor pay for its plans?”, blurts The Age’s editorial.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/budget-reply-has-merit-but-how-would-labor-pay-for-its-plans-20220401-p5a9zc.html
Both major parties are refusing to outline how they will pay for looming cost increases in aged care, with the Coalition slamming Labor’s “blank cheque” promise to fund higher wages, while declining to rule out hiking resident contributions, write Dana Daniel and Angus Thompson.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/aged-care-staffing-budget-hole-nurse-shortage-to-weigh-on-new-government-20220401-p5aa1b.html
The prime minister has said the Coalition would back wage increases for aged care workers if ordered by the Fair Work Commission, but would not commit to directly funding any pay rise out of government coffers, writes Josh Butler.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/01/coalition-would-support-aged-care-wage-rises-but-cant-say-who-would-pay
Labor’s aged care package commendable but more needs to be done, argues Joseph Ibrahim. Ibrahim makes some valid points – as he usually does.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/labor-s-aged-care-package-commendable-but-more-needs-to-be-done-20220401-p5aa1t.html
Chanticleer in the ASR says Anthony Albanese’s focus on improving the quality of life in Australia’s aged care facilities could well be the issue that carries him over the line to victory in the federal election.
https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/albo-s-got-it-right-on-aged-care-20220401-p5aa5g
The AFR says taxpayers could be saddled with an $18 billion bill over four years to fund Labor’s promise to boost wages for aged care workers, an analysis shows, as Scott Morrison exploited the big-spending policy to assail Anthony Albanese’s economic credentials.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/labor-s-aged-care-pay-promise-could-cost-18b-over-four-years-20220401-p5a9z3
The federal budget delivered a surgical electoral strike at key marginal seats – with borrowed money. Another electoral victory by Scott Morrison may need more, says Shane Wright.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-budget-with-all-the-election-trimmings-but-you-re-paying-for-it-20220331-p5a9nu.html
David Crowe reckons Albanese is banking on ‘safe change’ to woo voters.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-banks-on-safe-change-to-woo-voters-20220401-p5aa5t.html
Despite all the hoopla, the budget’s extra economic stimulus isn’t huge, posits Ross Gittins
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/despite-all-the-hoopla-budget-s-extra-economic-stimulus-isn-t-huge-20220401-p5aa2h.html
Michael Koziol writes that Scott Morrison will likely need to wait the weekend for the result of a legal challenge to the endorsement of three Liberal candidates for the looming election, with a court reserving its decision after five hours of legal argument yesterday.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/court-makes-scott-morrison-wait-for-ruling-on-candidates-ahead-of-imminent-election-20220401-p5aa47.html
After 15 years without answers, a series of statutory declarations finally reveals how race and allegations of ‘criminal’ activities were used in Scott Morrison’s controversial preselection, writes Karen Middleton.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/04/02/actually-moslem-the-true-story-morrisons-ruthless-preselection
Fierravanti-Wells’ allegations were gutsy, but she was part of the problem, says Julia Baird.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/fierravanti-wells-allegations-gutsy-but-she-was-part-of-the-problem-20220331-p5a9v0.html
John Haly writes about Morrison’s feminine appeal – none at all.
https://theaimn.com/morrisons-feminine-appeal-none-at-all/
Andrew Leigh tells us about “shrinkflation”, where prices stay the same but we get less.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2022/04/01/groceries-shrinkflation-consumers/?breaking_live_scroll=1
For nearly a decade the Coalition has been attempting to dismantle the country’s green energy infrastructure – first trying to defund it, then hollowing it out, then using it to fund fossil fuel projects. Through all this, careful drafting has made it almost impossible for the government to fully implement its plans, explains Mike Seccombe.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/04/02/tracking-the-coalitions-attacks-green-energy-infrastructure/164881800013627
The NSW ambulance network hit its highest possible emergency response level multiple times in the past fortnight, as overstretched paramedics struggle to keep up with extreme demand, reports Lucy Carroll.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/overwhelmed-nsw-ambulance-hit-highest-crisis-level-multiple-times-in-past-14-days-20220331-p5a9uh.html
Liberal senator and assistant minister Amanda Stoker charged taxpayers $2,600 for “personal travel” with her family through the Whitsunday region in the weeks before Christmas 2020, reports Christopher Knaus. The unlikeable senator has had to repay taxpayers $2600.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/02/liberal-amanda-stoker-repays-taxpayers-2600-for-travel-with-family-through-whitsunday-region
Lisa Visentin tells us that Victoria and NSW are refusing to be bound by a new mandatory component in the national curriculum that proposes to make it compulsory for year nine and 10 students to learn Australian history, in a sign of ongoing tension after the country’s education ministers signed off on the new curriculum.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/victoria-and-nsw-refuse-mandatory-australian-history-teaching-20220401-p5aa14.html
Raina MacIntyre explains why Australia’s daily Covid cases are on the rise again.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2022/04/02/why-australias-daily-covid-cases-are-the-rise-again/164881800013620
Is playing deputy to America’s sheriff the reason Australian war powers remain unreformed? It’s clear that our politicians remain muddled on this critical issue, writes Zacharias Szumer.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/the-dirty-secret-that-pushes-australia-into-other-peoples-wars/
Here’s Michaela Whitbourn’s report on yesterday’s proceedings in the Ben Roberts-Smith defamation case.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/ex-sas-soldier-in-ben-roberts-smith-case-admits-taking-explicit-photo-during-drunken-incident-in-kabul-20220401-p5aa1f.html
Deborah Snow says the Roberts-Smith trial has entered ‘Heart of Darkness’ territory.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/roberts-smith-trial-enters-heart-of-darkness-territory-20220331-p5a9ra.html
Star Entertainment is moving too slowly to restore the trust of regulators, investors, employees and customers following the damaging revelations at the Bell inquiry, says the AFR’s Chanticleer.
https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/star-s-chairman-mimics-crown-s-governance-strategy-20220401-p5aa2z
Bronwyn Kelly writes about “lies, damned lies and the Morrison’ government’s statistics”.
https://johnmenadue.com/lies-damned-lies-and-the-morrison-governments-statistics/
Johathan Shapiro gives us the story behind Australia’s worst accounting scandal.
https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/the-story-behind-australia-s-worst-accounting-scandal-20220325-p5a7uj
Germany is facing a poisonous combination that could lead to a recession even if it can avoid the full shock of a Russian energy blockade, writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-german-economic-miracle-no-longer-exists-20220401-p5a9y7.html
Eryk Bagshaw explains how China stole a march on Australia in the Pacific.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/asia/how-china-stole-a-march-on-australia-in-the-pacific-20220330-p5a9ia.html
A year ago, China seemed to be one of few places prospering financially through the pandemic. Now the tone is more one of anxiety, anger and despair, says the New York Times.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-china-model-is-being-put-to-the-test-20220401-p5a9yb.html
Mick Ryan says Russia’s use of mercenaries in Ukraine is a sign of desperation.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/russia-s-use-of-mercenaries-in-ukraine-is-a-sign-of-desperation-20220331-p5a9v7.html
Pope Francis has issued a historic apology to Canadian indigenous peoples for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in residential schools that sought to erase their cultures and where many children suffered abuse and were buried in unmarked graves.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/pope-apologises-to-indigenous-canadians-for-abuse-at-schools-20220402-p5aa8g.html
Cartoon Corner
David Pope
David Rowe
Alan Moir
Peter Broelman
Matt Golding
Jon Kudelka
Jim Pavlidis
John Shakespeare.
Mark Knight
Joe Benke
Richard Giliberto
Andrew Dyson
Leak
From the US
“Pope Francis has issued a historic apology to Canadian indigenous peoples for the Roman Catholic Church’s role in residential schools that sought to erase their cultures and where many children suffered abuse and were buried in unmarked graves.”
Good!
Now do the same for Australian Aborigines who suffered the same fate, not just from the Catholic church but from other “Christian” denominations as well.
And when you have finished apologising to indigenous people do it for the Irish girls who were impregnated by males, sent to the Magdalen sisters to await birth of their babies, forced to be slave labour in laundries while they were incarcerated and then had their babies forcibly taken away and adopted or worse, killed and buried in unmarked graves. Many mothers who died in or just after childbirth were also buried in mass graves.
The references under this article provide further reading, if you have the stomach for it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_Laundries_in_Ireland#:~:text=The%20film%20is%20loosely%20based,experiences%20in%20Ireland's%20Magdalen%20institutions.
Last night there was discussion about that abomination, the Indue card.
The thing that disgusted me was news a few months ago about a lady on the card who had suffered a double mastectomy and wanted to buy a prosthetic bra. She had to send a photo of her mutilated chest to the Indue contractor so they could ponder whether or not to agree to the purchase.
Note that the incoming government has promised to abolish this shameful attempt at controlling peoples lives.
I’ve heard similar stories – one that sticks in my mind is a woman who has a large bust and needs to buy her bras from a retailer in – I think – the UK., because Australian retailers and brands just don’t have anything that fits her. She was easily doing this for ages before the damned card arrived.
Anyway, Indue refused the purchase, despite all the bullshit about the card being “just like a debit card. (I do all my online shopping with a debit card and have never had any problems, especially not from overseas sellers/retailers.) They said this woman had to send photos of the bra she wanted and her chest before they would approve the item.
There’s a word for people like that – PERVERTS!
They bloody well better get rid of the Indue abomination,
Labor has promised to get rid of it, so have the Greens.
Scovid and Hawke?
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2022/apr/02/australia-live-news-updates-tehan-to-sign-trade-pact-with-india-nsw-to-be-lashed-by-wild-winds-covid-case-spike
Bill Maher – (new rules 43:10)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s18eNMir4lM
Overtime –
Brian Tyler Cohen –
Seems like good news –
More refugees out of detention: supporters
https://www.northweststar.com.au/story/7683789/more-refugees-out-of-detention-supporters/
BUT – never underestimate the deliberate cruelty of Scovid.
And even crueler on those still left behind in detention.
The ASRC is finding Mastercards and food for these men.
In my honest opinion,
Morrison et al are so bloidy vindictive. They had to release those refugees because of the election but they want ti hurt those traumatised detainees at every opportunity. These men are being bullied by our shameful government. We actually need to pay compensation to these asylum seekers/refugees for the lost years of their lives, locked up to help Lib/Nat Coalition win and stay in power in goverment.
Morrison et al totally reek of rottenness, putrid decay, and sepsis of the soul. To breathe the air around them or touch them even slightly is like playing in a sewer drain.
The ‘Australian Parliament needs a thorough clean-out, and only the voters can do that.
to breath in t
“Sepsis of the soul”. Totally brilliant expression, says it all eh!
I totally agree with you, Puffy, and with CK on your brilliant line.
The judges verdict is in for Sepsis of the soul
Well here’s a real surprise!
This thread is horrific, but the things this nurse describes happen every day in nursing homes across Australia.
I especially like the comments on how this extra care can be funded.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
This story’s not going to go away. In a long article, David Crowe writes that a key figure in the Liberal Party contest that vaulted Scott Morrison into federal Parliament in 2007 has gone public with his claim that the Prime Minister was directly involved in “racial vilification” against him.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-accused-of-using-race-in-bid-for-seat-20220402-p5aaax.htmla
Labor is careful not to write him off, but the pressure is all on Scott Morrison, says Hugh Riminton.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2022/apr/03/labor-is-careful-not-to-write-him-off-but-the-pressure-is-all-on-scott-morrison
Jacqui Maley recons the budget was aimed at key demographic – non-university-educated women who may lack social capital but are powerful in an electoral sense.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-women-voters-morrison-needs-to-woo-are-not-the-ones-you-might-think-20220401-p5aa4a.html
The Liberals’ bid to retain the formerly blue-ribbon seat of Wentworth has hit a snag, with the local council requesting the removal of Dave Sharma’s billboard in Edgecliff. Dave’s not finding re-election easy.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/woollahra-council-says-no-to-dave-sharma-billboard-20220401-p5aa3b.html
Scott Morrison is entreating voters “not to change course” and has attacked Labor over the details of its proposed $2.5 billion aged care “fix”. But aged care operators have welcomed the renewed focus and there’s now a race to fill staff shortfalls.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7683154/dont-change-course-pm-dismisses-labors-aged-care-plan/?cs=27845
The prime minister’s office has been ordered by the information watchdog to search for text messages from Barnaby Joyce to Scott Morrison reporting on his work as drought envoy, in the second ruling this week on freedom of information battles involving Morrison’s phone. This ruling comes right on the heels if its order for the PMO to search Morrison’s phone for text messages from his friend – the prominent QAnon supporter Tim Stewart – after the PMO refused a request made by Guardian Australia.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/02/barnaby-joyces-drought-envoy-texts-to-scott-morrison-should-be-released-information-watchdog-rules
Morrison has defended the trade pact with India after its refusal to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/02/scott-morrison-defends-trade-pact-with-india-after-its-refusal-to-condemn-russias-invasion-of-ukraine
Kaye Lee gives us a tale of two liars.
https://theaimn.com/a-tale-of-two-liars/
James Massola tells us that Labor has been war-gaming how to protect Anthony Albanese on the election campaign trail.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/the-secret-plan-to-save-anthony-albanese-from-covid-and-what-happens-if-he-catches-it-20220401-p5aa5u.html
Sydney’s entry-level house prices have soared 127 per cent in a decade, new figures reveal, leaving first-home buyers struggling to keep up with the growing deposit hurdle. That is only likely to become harder, experts say, as the most affordable homes will soon be fielding extra demand from the expanded Home Guarantee scheme announced in the federal government’s final budget prior to the election.
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/sydney-entry-level-house-prices-soar-widening-the-deposit-gap-20220331-p5a9qo.html
Don’t let the PM or the Home Guarantee Scheme persuade you to buy too soon urges Nicole Pedersen-McKinnon.
https://www.smh.com.au/money/investing/don-t-let-the-pm-or-the-home-guarantee-scheme-persuade-you-to-buy-too-soon-20220401-p5aa4y.html
As water levels rise so too does the pressure to stop building houses on flood plains, writes Mostafa Rachwani.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/apr/03/as-water-levels-rise-so-too-does-the-pressure-to-stop-building-houses-on-flood-plains
“Arseholes of the Week” nomination goes to the Mormon Church which has been accused of engaging in significant tax evasion in Australia, allowing its adherents to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in tax exemptions that are not lawfully available to followers of other religions. Some of its tax activities are run through a shell company, with no paid employees, that could be in breach of Australian tax laws, an investigation by The Sunday Age and The Sun-Herald has found.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/mormons-inc-church-accused-of-multinational-tax-rort-20220330-p5a98p.html
Cartoon Corner
Matt Golding
Joe Benke
Reg Lynch
Richard Giliberto
Mark Knight
From the US
David Crowe’s article –
Doesn’t Scovid know by now that his constant lying means no-one, especially not the party faithful and Liberal members of parliament, now believe him? Or is he too arrogant to care?
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
On the same day this story broke Scovid posted Ramadan greetings on Twitter. The sheer, utter gall of the creature! It did not go down well with the Twitterati. There were several mentions of Scovid saying in 2010 that the Liberal Party needed to use anti-Muslim sentiments to win votes.
Now all we need is someone to reveal the papers concerning Scovid’s disappearance from the NZ Office of Tourism and Sport a year before his contract was up. Rumours abound, but no-one knows the real reason.
Even Michael West tried to find the truth and was met with a FOI wall of silence.
Anyone got any comments on Jacqueline Maley’s article that LNP needs to appeal to the young women without university degrees.
Will the $420 tax concession appeal to them as household prices spiral? Election must be held before May 21. The tax concession appears after tax return is submitted in July or August and middle income workers will be paying $50 per week more week
Every household has to find money for face masks, RATs as well as higher petrol, electricity and food prices
I don’t usually read Ms Maley’s stuff, but I did read this one so I could reply.
I think it’s rubbish. She quotes a lot of polling to “prove” Scovid appeals more to women that Albo does. Why then are so many “youngish” women attracted to liars and bullies? Which is really what she is saying. Does he remind them of their partners? Their fathers? If so I pity these women, they must have had miserable lives.
The tax concession is all but useless – as you say no-one gets it until they have put in their tax return in July or later. By then grocery prices will be through the roof, petrol will be more costly.
This sort of thing was repeated at other Sydney beaches yesterday.
The abuse suffered by young girls at Esther House (a Pentecostal establishment) are detailed in this series from Crikey –
The Age and (!) David Crowe are going in hard on Scovid
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/how-michael-towke-s-brutal-political-takedown-came-back-to-bite-scott-morrison-20220403-p5aafu.html?utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1648983419-1
I think the bell is tolling and we know for whom.