Budget Measures to Address Poverty

Fiona Uncategorized

Hope this works:

I (Billie) would like:

1. Workforce Australia abolished along with Mutual Obligation.

2. Cancel contracts of Job Network providers who engage in illegal activity even if it’s one unqualified junior counter staff in remote WA.

3. Covid showed poverty is a policy choice, raise the rate to pandemic levels, $750 per week??

4. Fix NDIS, get rid of the rorters.

5. Fix Medicare.

6. Build social housing, use pre-fab and modular.

7. Stop logging native forests.

8. Fix Murray-Darling water allocations.

9. Get cracking on NACC.

10. Rebuild Public Service.

F

305 thoughts on “Budget Measures to Address Poverty”

  1. Are you a mozzie magnet ? If so, some bad news. There is bugger all you can do about it.
    .
    Some People Really Are Mosquito Magnets, and They’re Stuck That Way

    Certain compounds in our skin determine how much we attract mosquitoes, new research suggests—and those compounds don’t change much over time

    As you may have noticed, mosquitoes don’t attack everyone equally. Scientists have known that the pests are drawn to people at varying rates, but they have struggled to explain what makes certain people “mosquito magnets” while others get off bite-free.

    In a new paper published on October 18 in the journal Cell, researchers suggest that certain body odors are the deciding factor. Every person has a unique scent profile made up of different chemical compounds, and the researchers found that mosquitoes were most drawn to people whose skin produces high levels of carboxylic acids. Additionally, the researchers found that peoples’ attractiveness to mosquitoes remained steady over time, regardless of changes in diet or grooming habits.
    https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/some-people-really-are-mosquito-magnets-and-theyre-stuck-that-way/

  2. Could be some ‘interesting times’ in store for Mordor Media.
    .
    New book by Australian reporter Paddy Manning hints at Succession-style feud with ramifications for US rightwing politics

    The author, Paddy Manning, writes: “A Wall Street analyst who has covered the Murdoch business for decades and is completely au fait with the breakdown in the relationship between the brothers [Lachlan and James Murdoch], volunteers off the record that it would be ‘fair to assume Lachlan gets fired the day Rupert dies’.”
    https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/oct/31/rupert-murdoch-successor-news-corp-paddy-manning-book

  3. Seth Meyers –

    Chris Hayes –

    Rachel Maddow –

    Lawrence O’Donnell –

    Brian Tyler Cohen –

    Jimmy Kimmel – (warning! a bit silly)

  7. Gastro, gastro, two cases of gastro going free, will give the two lucky winners a bottle of Baileys, offer must be taken up in the next 10 minutes.

  8. Good morning Dawn Patrollers. Strange that nothing about yesterday’s Robodebt royal commission jumped out at me.

    Shane Wright tells us that the RBA governor is not done yet in raising interest rates.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/abandon-all-hope-ye-who-believe-the-rba-has-finished-lifting-rates-20221101-p5buo0.html
    After seven straight RBA cash rate rises, more bad news may be on the way, writes Peter Martin who says what is worrying the Reserve Bank, and why it increased interest rates for a record seventh consecutive month on Melbourne Cup Tuesday, is that inflation seems to become completely detached from the band.
    https://theconversation.com/why-has-the-rba-raised-interest-rates-for-a-record-7th-straight-month-high-inflation-and-worse-is-on-the-way-193530
    A sceptical Ross Gittins starts this article on the government’s proposed IR changes with, “Have you ever wondered why capitalism has survived for several centuries in the advanced economies? How a relative handful of rich families and company executives have been getting richer and more powerful for so long in countries where everyone gets a vote and could, if they chose, insist on something different?”
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/if-only-labor-s-wage-changes-were-as-bad-as-bosses-claim-20221101-p5buik.html
    Paul Kelly writes that, starting a long way behind, Dutton is shaping his strategy.
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/starting-a-long-way-behind-dutton-is-shaping-his-strategy/news-story/4d90538a6efdc53365440104d7e6f329
    According to Geoff Chambers, Anthony Albanese will lay down plans to “reform our way through” the impact on Australia of deteriorating global economic conditions and reject one-off cost-of-living cash handouts as “cheap politics and hugely expensive economics” that would have made the problem worse.
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/anthony-albanese-rejects-handouts-to-fix-crisis/news-story/33327e37616405709223a4126bc98a0d
    Albanese has written an op-ed for The Australian in which he outlines how his government is approaching the exigent circumstances we have found ourselves in.
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/holding-the-door-open-for-those-who-come-next/news-story/35c167fb29580be9aaa001c8ba6c08f9
    The good news from the bond markets is that investors clearly believe Australia’s central bank will manage to squeeze the inflation genie back into the bottle, explains Karen Maley.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/why-investors-believe-the-rba-will-succeed-in-its-inflation-fight-20221101-p5bulz
    Maley then tells us how economists believe the eurozone is either in, or on the cusp, of recession, even as the region struggles with double-digit inflation. Stagflation is a possibility, she says.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/europe-sinks-deeper-into-stagflation-20221101-p5bukc
    “Even those who understand very well the whys and the wherefores of the bargain on offer from Treasurer Jim Chalmers would be wise to demand some collateral before they sign up to the bargain. The deal being sought is this. Chalmers wants constituents to see things, particularly the spectre of inflation as he does, and to understand and agree with the need to put priority on fighting inflation first”, writes Jack Waterford.
    https://johnmenadue.com/voters-need-collateral-on-the-new-labor-social-contract/
    Raising interest rates as a strategy to deal with inflation is problematic at best, argues John Haley.
    https://theaimn.com/raising-interest-rates-as-a-strategy-to-deal-with-inflation-is-problematic-at-best/
    Phil Coorey tells us how Tony Burke is telling business he won’t be intimidated on IR.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/burke-tells-business-he-won-t-be-intimidated-on-ir-20221101-p5buj5
    Big businesses that have entered into unfair contracts with small firms and consumers will have 12 months to rewrite the agreements before they face penalties for the first time, the consumer watchdog and the Albanese government have warned. John Kehoe explains the two new laws covering the introduction of penalties and other changes relating to unfair contract terms, and significant increases in maximum penalties for breaches of certain provisions of the Competition and Consumer Act.
    https://www.afr.com/policy/economy/rewrite-unfair-contracts-or-face-penalties-businesses-warned-20221101-p5bun1
    Nick McKenzie and his colleagues report that Australia’s anti-money laundering watchdog has granted a government licence to a cash-transfer company used by alleged money launderers involved in sex trafficking and drug syndicates. AUSTRAC registered the money-moving firm owned by Jintao “Jerry” Li despite red flags that his business empire had long been used by people laundering money.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/watchdog-granted-licence-to-a-business-used-by-money-launderers-20221018-p5bqvw.html
    Patrick Hatch writes that the Victorian opposition’s flagship election policy of slashing Melbourne public transport fares to $2 a day has been estimated by the state’s transport department to cost twice as much as the Coalition claimed.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/coalition-s-2-fares-would-cost-state-twice-as-much-as-claimed-says-government-20221101-p5buom.html
    Dominic Perrottet has vowed to push ahead with a cashless gaming card for clubs and pubs before the election despite walking away from reforms that would have made them mandatory. Alexandra Smith writes that, in his strongest comments yet on the mandatory cards, which the state’s powerful clubs and pubs vehemently oppose, Perrottet said he was “certainly in favour” of pursuing a cashless gaming card.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/perrottet-vows-to-pursue-cashless-gaming-card-ahead-of-nsw-election-20221101-p5bupl.html
    The rise of the Albanese government spared hopes of a new deal for people blowing the lid on government malfeasance. It isn’t working out that way for one prominent whistleblower, writes Callum Foote. It wasn’t the first time David McBride, a soldier and military lawyer, had experienced another defeat at the hands of the government. But last week he was dealt a bitter blow, he says.
    https://michaelwest.com.au/labor-slammed-for-failing-to-protect-david-mcbride/
    The SMH editorial geta behind Clover Moore’s push to remove vehicular traffic from a number of Sydney CBD streets.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/pedestrians-should-take-back-sydney-s-streets-from-cars-20221101-p5burh.html
    Voters want energy networks that support the public good and governments to be accountable for power supply, says Peter Lewis who refers to Essential polling.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2022/nov/01/power-prices-energy-privatisation-super-profits-rewiring-the-grid-renewables
    We all need energy to survive. There are three ways to ensure Australia’s crazy power prices leave no-one behind, explains Rohan Best.
    https://theconversation.com/we-all-need-energy-to-survive-here-are-3-ways-to-ensure-australias-crazy-power-prices-leave-no-one-behind-193459
    Nick Toscano reports that billionaire investor Mike Cannon-Brookes has launched a fresh attack on the board of AGL for questioning the independence of four director nominees he hand-picked to join the power and gas giant to help it seize potentially lucrative decarbonisation opportunities.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/mike-cannon-brookes-in-scathing-attack-on-agl-board-over-nominees-20221101-p5buqz.html
    If we had properly funded research into chronic fatigue syndrome, we’d already be a long way to understanding long COVID. Instead, we’re playing catch-up, laments Liam Mannix.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/we-failed-australians-with-chronic-fatigue-will-we-do-the-same-with-long-covid-20221101-p5bulg.html
    Lisa Visentin tells us that online wagering companies will be required to ditch the phrase “gamble responsibly” by March next year in favour of new taglines that prompt gamblers to consider the consequences of losing a bet. The new taglines include: “Chances are you’re about to lose”; “Think. Is this a bet you really want to place?”; “What’s gambling really costing you?” and “What are you prepared to lose today? Set a deposit limit”.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/gamble-responsibly-message-ditched-from-betting-ads-20221101-p5buqg.html
    The modern Far-Right has become a world of contradiction and stupidity after being consumed by lies and conspiracy scams, writes Alex Vickery-Howe.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/cult-of-denial-lies-injustice-and-the-new-american-way,16925
    Rishi Sunak’s only been in office for a few days – and the errors are already piling up, writes Polly Toynbee.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/01/rishi-sunak-errors-prime-minister-britain-week
    The proxy war between the U.S. and Russia is devastating Ukraine, ironically in the name of saving Ukraine, argues Jeffrey Sachs.
    https://johnmenadue.com/bidens-foreign-policy-is-sinking-the-congressional-dems-and-ukraine/
    Richard Tanter writes that, in an arc of militarisation across northern Australia, successive Australian governments, in close concert with the United States, have responded to the rise of a newly assertive China in terms that constitute an almost historically irrevocable opposition to any accommodation with China as a regional great power.
    https://johnmenadue.com/prepping-for-a-china-war-the-new-arc-of-militarisation-across-northern-australia/
    The attack on Paul Pelosi should be a moment of national reckoning, writes Jill Filipovic who says all political violence is a problem, but in terms of sheer numbers, right-wing extremism is a much more significant problem than left-wing radicalism
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/01/paul-pelosi-attack-rightwing-violence-national-reckoning

    Cartoon Corner

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    From the US
















    • I very much agree with the message of this video. Labor needs to build up some numbers of ordinary people out there in the real world, otherwise 10-20 years down the track it’ll be in deep structural trouble, being full of people who went Student Politics > Political Staffer > Elected Politician and has the US Democrat problem of just not being able to appeal to its base.

    • Long ago I intended to become a high school teacher but failed my uni course because I hated uni with a passion. I decided to work for a year instead of going straight to teachers college to become a primary teacher. It turned out to be a wise decision. I worked in three factories and an office, I met people this nicely raised middle-class girl would never have met had I not spent a year among the “working” class. (Don’t we all work anyway?) Some of them became good friends.

      Long term it made me a better teacher because unlike most teachers back then I had some life experience that involved more than going from school to another type of study and back to a school.

      So I agree with Jordan. We cannot allow Labor to become dominated by professional wanna-bees who intend to climb the political ladder until they manage to get into parliament in a nice, safe seat. There are too many of these types in parliaments state and federal already. Life experience is often overlooked by those who only know what it is to go from staffer to MP/senator.

    • So, F.J. What makes you qualified to make such ‘sweeping’ criticism of professional politicians? What are you qualified enough to earn your living by? You sound to me a nasty, not at all funny would-be commentator. Your guest here is doing as good a job as possible in spite of your interviewing tone. Most professionals by definition are paid, as are most professional politicians, which includes people in their offices who type, make tea and clean up. Some would love to ‘sweep’ the floor with you once they get to the dunnies. All of those people need to earn a living, like most other working people in and outside the Labor Party. Salaries, wages, fees and yes, commissions are all money in return for work of some kind. Your off-hand ‘I dunno’ comment says it all. You really don’t know anything about these people you carp on about – who they are, where they have once worked and for whom. Our politicians, right and left, though the latter more so, all have different ‘real life work experience’ before politics. This for some is what led them to accept the call to public service in representing us. Politics is not all fun and games. Nor is it ‘dirty’ in your sense. It’s grinding hard work at times, meeting, greeting and appearing before sometimes hostile crowds, and when occasionally there’s an unexpected one on one call for help in heart wrenching situations.

      Politicians of all persuasions do this for us while staying polite in the face of insults from ‘comedians’ like you. Well in spite of your silly, would-be funny voice which reaches a squeaky pitch when you run out of remotely intelligent things to say, you are a lousy comedian. Come to think of it, you’re a joke!

  13. Roy Morgan federal poll gives Labor a 55.5-44.5 TPP lead, up one for Labor since last week.

    Primaries are L/NP 37, ALP 38, GRN 12, IND 6, ON 3, OTH 4

    Watch the video for more.

    https://www.roymorgan.com/findings/weekly-update-november-2-2022-interest-rates-up-0-25-consumer-confidence-inflation-expectations

  16. Good morning Dawn Patrollers. Again, nothing in The Australian, the AFR and 9Fax on yesterday’s explosive revelations in the Robodebt royal commission. Why?

    The social services department received “catastrophic” draft legal advice warning the robodebt scheme was unlawful from a top private law firm in 2018, a royal commission has heard. Luke Henriques-Gomes reports that on the third day of hearings, the inquiry was told the Department of Human Services progressed its proposal for the scheme, despite serious legal doubts within the Department of Social Services, after it earned the backing of Scott Morrison.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/02/robodebt-royal-commission-legal-doubts-centrelink-welfare-debt-recovery-scott-morrison-backing-inquiry-hears
    Shane Wright reports that Jim Chalmers is starting to make some noises about intervention in the oil and gas industry.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/we-have-crossed-a-threshold-oil-and-gas-taxes-in-chalmers-sights-20221102-p5buu8.html
    Anthony Albanese has vowed to broker short-term relief from soaring energy prices by consulting heavily with business and governments but dismissed concerns Labor will shun a meaningful reform agenda in its first term. John Ferguson writes that the Prime Minister said he would negotiate with gas companies and the broader resources sector to help achieve household relief but stressed that while his government would not confront business head on it would not be a meek participant in discussions.
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/nation/outlook-conference-anthony-albanese-drives-for-energy-price-relief/news-story/7c899d7a2c2d24249e67f417acb0eeac
    According to James Massola, previously secret reports suggest the future cost of the National Disability Insurance Scheme might not be as severe as projected.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/ndis-consistently-overestimated-future-costs-of-the-scheme-20221102-p5buxk.html
    Alan Kohler is “shocked” that economists disagree on where interest rates are heading.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2022/11/03/interest-rates-economists-disagree-kohler/
    Michael Pascoe writes about the innocent victims of the great inflation conundrum.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2022/11/02/michael-pascoe-victims-rba-inflation/
    Tax is set to become a defining issue between now and the next election after the opposition ruled out supporting any increases in pursuit of budget repair. After Labor used its first budget last week to start making a case for tax increases and spending cuts to address the structural deficit, shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said the opposition would not be backing the former, reports Phil Coorey.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/opposition-rules-out-tax-increases-to-fix-budget-20221102-p5bv0w
    “Bravo to the (federal) government for actually doing something to try and limit the scourge of problem gambling in this country”, says Peter FitzSimons.
    https://www.smh.com.au/sport/will-these-new-sports-gambling-warnings-pay-off-you-better-believe-it-20221102-p5buz0.html
    The Crime Commission report found rampant money-laundering in pubs and clubs, yet just days later NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet caves in on his pokies reform. Is NSW reprising the Rum Rebellion? Michael West reports.
    https://michaelwest.com.au/perrottet-backflip-boon-for-clubsnsw-pokies-lobby/
    No one in authority has yet had the courage and the intellectual honesty to explain the magnitude of the power transition this country is now forced by law to embark on and the dire consequences of its likely failure, moans a bitter and twisted Peta Credlin.
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/speeding-ever-faster-to-renewables-wreck/news-story/fc385576fad0cdd032589fde238e8b7e
    Meanwhile, the head of BP in Australia has said Australia absolutely needs its own version of the US’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) to lure billions of dollars of international capital investment in clean energy needed to meet emissions reduction targets that will otherwise be directed elsewhere.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/no-policy-no-renewables-powerhouse-says-bp-20221031-p5bu9i
    Australia relies on controversial offsets to meet climate change targets. We might not get away with it at COP27 in Egypt, thinks Bill Hare.
    https://theconversation.com/australia-relies-on-controversial-offsets-to-meet-climate-change-targets-we-might-not-get-away-with-it-in-egypt-193460
    “Now that Australia’s house prices are falling, does the RBA really need to raise rates yet again?”, asks Greg Jericho.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2022/nov/02/now-that-australias-house-prices-are-falling-does-the-rba-really-need-to-raise-rates-yet-again
    Employers say Labor’s new industrial relations bill threatens the economy. Denmark tells a different story
    https://johnmenadue.com/employers-say-labors-new-industrial-relations-bill-threatens-the-economy-denmark-tells-a-different-story/
    Labor has asked Australia Post and NBN Co to explain how tens of millions in taxpayer-funded bonuses are in keeping with community expectations and reflect value for money. The Australian Financial Review reported this week that at least 24 public servants and government-owned corporation executives last year earned more than $1 million, including multiple executives from Australia Post, NBN Co and Snowy Hydro.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/labor-demands-australia-post-justify-28m-in-bonuses-20221101-p5bupw
    Alexandra Smith and Tom Rabe tell us that three key independents are demanding NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet establish a special commission of inquiry into the undue influence clubs and pubs have on the major parties, as the Coalition faces an internal battle over cashless gaming cards.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-independents-demand-inquiry-into-clubs-hold-over-major-parties-20221102-p5bv0r.html
    Victoria’s anti-corruption watchdog has obtained a last-minute interim injunction to prevent The Age from publishing details of what IBAC described as a previously unreported investigation. Patrick Hatch says that the newspaper will vigorously oppose the ruling.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/ibac-granted-gag-order-against-the-age-20221102-p5bv4c.html
    It is most unlike the Victorian branch of the Australian Labor Party to let a lower house seat go uncontested in a state election. But less than four weeks out from polling day, Labor has a “vacant” sign hanging over no fewer than seven rural and regional electorates, according to Labor’s latest update to members.
    https://www.theage.com.au/cbd/hard-labor-alp-still-seeking-country-candidates-20221102-p5bv2w.html
    Annika Smethurst tells us that the drunken behaviour of Liberal MPs Tim Smith and David Davis will be at the centre of a new Labor attack advertisement targeting Opposition Leader Matthew Guy.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/labor-kick-starts-election-campaign-with-ad-attacking-guy-and-colleagues-20221102-p5buzz.html
    Sydney and Melbourne’s ‘big infrastructure build’ will soon prove Australia’s ‘big bust’. Our Prime Minister must not aid and abet this madness, urges John Menadue in the first of two articles.
    https://johnmenadue.com/with-interest-rates-rising-sydney-and-melbournes-half-trillion-dollar-junk-infrastructure-addiction-becomes-an-even-bigger-waste-of-money-part-1-of-2/
    Nick McKenzie reveals that more than a dozen Australian education providers for overseas students have been identified as allegedly “corrupt” by state and federal investigators probing the movement of women from Asia to Australia to work in the sex industry, including at brothels linked to illegal sex rings.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/australian-colleges-identified-in-allegedly-helping-women-enter-country-to-work-in-sex-industry-20221027-p5btlh.html
    Lucy Hamilton writes about conspiracy: the disease that threatens our survival.
    https://theaimn.com/conspiracy-the-disease-that-threatens-our-survival/
    The Defence Strategic Review must act in accordance with Australia’s commitment to sign the UN “Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons” (the ‘Ban Treaty’) and not seek to compromise that path by supporting roles in nuclear warfare alongside the US, writes David Noonan.
    https://johnmenadue.com/target-oz-the-defence-strategic-review-and-our-risk-exposure-with-the-us-and-china/
    Meanwhile, Mike Scrafton says that it’s difficult to avoid the conclusion that Australia is not just complicit in, but committed to, America’s nuclear war planning.
    https://johnmenadue.com/b-52s-at-raaf-tindal-commits-australia-to-americas-nuclear-war-plans/
    David Estcourt reports that a court has heard pizza giant Domino’s incorrectly told its franchisees to pay workers according to workplace agreements it struck with the fast food union rather than the award rate, which resulted in them earning significantly less than the minimum wage.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/domino-s-told-franchisees-to-pay-workers-less-than-award-rate-court-hears-20221102-p5buu1.html
    Choice has announced its annual Shonky Award winners. Qantas is among them.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/withered-bunch-of-flowers-for-325-delivered-a-day-late-for-funeral-20221101-p5buqt.html
    The tech billionaire isn’t the sort to suffer from self-doubt, but he needs all of his chess pieces in place before he can reprogram the energy giant, AGL, writes Elizabeth Knight.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/by-any-means-necessary-how-cannon-brookes-plans-to-control-agl-20221102-p5bv07.html
    If we want all of us to have better expectations of our sexual experiences, to safeguard our own and each other’s sexual wellbeing, we must put down our weapons of silence and shame. We have to talk about it, exhorts criminal lawyer, Katrina Marson.
    https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/no-shame-why-we-need-to-talk-about-sex-20221026-p5bszt.html
    Geoffrey Robertson declares that Lula’s triumph in Brazil is a gift for the lungs of the world.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/south-america/lula-s-triumph-is-a-gift-for-the-lungs-of-the-world-20221101-p5burz.html
    After Brazil nearly had its own Trump moment, the SMH editorial says that politicians must stop playing partisan games and restore faith in democracy by quickly accepting the results of free and fair elections.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/brazil-comes-dangerously-close-to-its-trump-moment-20221102-p5bv39.html
    Stephen Bartholomeusz writes that a wave of speculation that China’s harsh zero-COVID policies might be lifted stunned markets this week, highlighting the pressure Xi Jinping is under to change course on the policies that have battered the country’s economy.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/is-xi-jinping-about-to-do-a-u-turn-on-his-damaging-covid-policies-20221102-p5buu4.html
    The facts of “living with COVID” are far from the soothing fairytale of a complete return to pre-pandemic life. Average lifespans are dropping because of the virus, global mortality data reveals.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-notion-that-covid-19-has-been-vanquished-is-not-supported-by-the-facts-20221031-p5budz.html
    A new wave of Covid-19 infections is looming in New South Wales, the state’s chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, will warn on Thursday, with transmission of the virus predicted to increase in coming weeks. It follows Victoria’s chief health officer, Prof Brett Sutton, making a similar announcement last week, with Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and XBB tipped to overtake BA.5 as the dominant variants throughout Australia.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/02/new-covid-19-wave-to-hit-nsw-within-weeks-chief-health-officer-says
    Benjamin Netanyahu may be back – but the true victory belongs to Israel’s far right, explains Lloyd Green.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/02/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-far-right-religious-zionism-party-itamar-ben-gvir
    More austerity, more division, more decline: Sunak is merely a sequel in a tired Tory franchise, opines Rafael Behr.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/02/rishi-sunak-suella-braverman-british-politics-austerity-hostile-environment
    The US Federal Reserve pumped up its benchmark interest rate by three-quarters of a point for a fourth straight time but hinted that it could soon reduce the size of its rate hikes. (The ASX futures are down 109 points as I write.)
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/us-fed-unleashes-another-jumbo-interest-rate-hike-but-hints-at-a-pullback-20221103-p5bv5k.html
    Farrah Tomazin writes that Barack Obama has warned that “more people are going to get hurt” due to the growing trend of political violence in America unless elected officials from all sides condemn the extremism and conspiracy theories fuelling the problem.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/obama-warns-more-people-are-going-to-get-hurt-as-political-violence-escalates-20221102-p5butf.html

    Cartoon Corner

    David Rowe

    Cathy Wilcox


    Matt Golding



    Dionne Gain

    John Shakespeare


    Mark Knight

    Andrew Dyson

    Fiona Katauskas

    Peter Broelman

    Spooner

    From the US













  17. Why was there again nothing in Murdoch and Nine papers yesterday about the Robodebt RC?

    Simple.

    Because the findings are devastating and damning for the previous government, especially for Scott Morrison and past ministers for Social Services/DSS and because so-called “news” outlets owned by Murdoch and Nine are pro-Liberal. They desperately want to see Liberal governments in all states and federally. Heaven help Australia if that ever happens!

    The blatant bias in the MSM and, sadly, on Their ABC prevents us from seeing anything critical of the Coalition on our screens, in the dead-tree press and on the evening news.

    We might as well be living in a dictatorship, so tightly controlled is what passes for “media” in Australia.

    Thank goodness for those who tell it like it is, the independent journalists who work hard to keep us well-informed.

  18. Exactly!

  19. OK – everyone knows I’m a sucker for cats and big cats, so I have my own thoughts on how this “escape” happened.

    Fence ‘integrity issue’ at Taronga Zoo blamed for five lions escaping enclosure, sending staff to ‘safe zones’
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-11-02/taronga-zoo-lions-found-outside-enclosure/101605064

    Actually four cubs and an adult lion.

    Anyone who has looked after kittens will know how much trouble they are, big cats are the same.. I remember when I adopted my three then cats, now sadly down to one. Nicki arrived with three kittens and they were a handful. She had little interest in them, apart from feeding them, so they would often be left in the care of “aunties” Molly and Annie, who would herd them to a quiet part of the garden and supervise them while they played. Occasionally, if they got a bit rough, Annie would box their ears on the basis she didn’t care which one of them had started the fight, they were all to be punished. I have seen mummy cats do exactly the same thing to their own kittens using the same idea.

    Having seen how kittens are disciplined and herded by other adult cats I believe that these cubs escaped and an adult lion went after them in an attempt to bring them back – with force if necessary. The fact that three of the cubs went back to their quarters freely, of their own accord while only the fourth had to be tranquilised adds to this belief.

    Here’s Jimmy Rees having a lot of fun with this news story while also poking fun at the Mosman crowd. (Sydney people will get this.)

  20. Seth Meyers –

    Stephen Colbert –

    Chris Hayes –

    Lawrence O’Donnell –

    Barrack Obama –

    Brian Tyler Cohen –

    Jimmy kimmel –

  21. One thing I choose not to eat is farmed salmon, I think it is vie tasting. Despite the medical profession telling me how good it is for me I don’t believe them. Fish that spend their brief lives swimming in polluted cages where they are fed crap, artificial colouring to make their flesh orange and all kinds of pollutants is not for me or for any sane person. Someone must listen to the doctors and the marketeers because there is big money in farming salmon.

    Foreign takeover of Tasmanian salmon farmer puts state’s marine life at risk, activists say
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/03/foreign-takeover-of-tasmanian-salmon-farmer-puts-states-marine-life-at-risk-activists-say

    Also read the linked article –
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/oct/26/fish-feed-additive-banned-in-eu-found-in-tasmanian-salmon-at-concerning-levels-researchers-say

    I highly recommend Richard Flanagan’s book “Toxic: The Rotting Underbelly of the Tasmanian Salmon Industry”. If that does not turn you off farmed salmon forever then nothing will.

  23. Good morning Dawn Patrollers. Yet another Robodebt reporting drought from the MSM, so I will compensate by putting its stories first.

    Luke Henriques-Gomes report that the royal commission was told plans for what became the robodebt scheme “almost immediately” concerned policy advisers at the Department of Social Services and were viewed by one official as “unethical”. It also heard that the only legal advice held by the government departments was the unfavourable advice created by DSS in late 2014, which suggested the robodebt scheme would unlawful.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/03/robodebt-royal-commission-inquiry-hears-advisers-almost-immediately-concerned-by-initial-plan-centrelink-welfare-debt-recovery
    The Robodebt royal commission is currently hearing evidence of tremendous hardship inflicted on people by a government that appeared to have little concern for the people its actions affected. The bureaucratic process was malign, and it harmed and stigmatised welfare recipients, say these contributors to The Conversation.
    https://theconversation.com/the-robodebt-scheme-failed-tests-of-lawfulness-impartiality-integrity-and-trust-193832
    Mike Foley and Nick Toscano report that the federal government is debating whether to slap unprecedented price controls on gas companies through existing gas trigger laws as it urgently seeks a way to ease the burden of soaring energy bills confronting households and businesses.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/glut-of-greed-unprecedented-price-controls-loom-for-gas-exporters-20221103-p5bv8b.html
    The hard truth for NSW and Victorian leaders in this energy crisis is that their fortunes are now in the hands of the premiers who sit in Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide, explains David Crowe.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/big-states-become-beggars-in-national-gas-wars-20221102-p5bv3e.html
    Michelle Grattan says that Anthony Albanese won’t be at COP27 but energy will be on his mind.
    https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-anthony-albanese-wont-be-at-cop27-but-energy-will-be-on-his-mind-193850
    The oil and gas majors, and their shareholders, have become collateral beneficiaries of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, prompting talk of a Robin Hood-style redistribution profits to consumers and other businesses, writes Elizabeth Knight who says Treasurer Jim Chalmers has made it abundantly clear that finding a mechanism to alter the behaviour of gas companies or redistribute some of that excessive revenue to lower power bills is both inevitable and imminent.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/pitchforks-out-for-greedy-gas-as-high-prices-fuel-tax-talk-20221103-p5bvd2.html
    Conservatives insist policies to cut emissions drive up power bills. There’s net zero evidence for that, argues Graham Readfearn.
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/03/conservatives-insist-policies-to-cut-emissions-drive-up-power-bills-theres-net-zero-evidence-for-that
    Gas producers have hit back at renewed claims by Industry Minister Ed Husic they were motivated by greed, saying the issue lay with retailers. Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association chief executive officer Samantha McCulloch suggested Mr Husic should be focusing his ire on the gas retailers as they were the ones marking up the price.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/blame-the-retailers-not-the-producers-gas-giants-return-fire-20221102-p5butz
    The debate about Australia becoming a renewable energy superpower has reached fever pitch, and banks and other financiers are jostling for a slice of the action, reports The Australian’s Joyce Moullakis.
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/business/green-powerhouse-lure-has-aussie-financiers-salivating/news-story/2ddf86fbf7fbf0406d729e3d7cb56d04
    The Liberals still face a long road back to power, but Labor is now facing the harsh realities of being in government, writes Phil Coorey who reckons the Liberals have found their line and length as Labor shifts to the back foot.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/liberals-find-their-line-and-length-as-labor-shifts-to-back-foot-20221103-p5bv6y
    Writing about terrorism going under a new name in the US, Waleed Aly says, “Right now, that radicalisation is disproportionately on the right and radical violence overwhelmingly so. Since 2015, there have been about four right-wing plots or attacks for every left-wing one. This is what happens when one mainstream party positions itself against the very institutions of democracy, as the Republicans have largely done, and the Democrats have largely not.”
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/where-s-nancy-terrorism-in-the-us-now-goes-by-a-new-name-20221102-p5bv3a.html
    IR professor, Charles F Wright, argues that international evidence supports multiple-employer bargaining. An interesting read.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/international-evidence-supports-multiple-employer-bargaining-20221103-p5bvai.html
    According to Ewin Hannan, businesses would be able to negotiate with workers for six to 12 months before being roped into multi-employer bargaining by unions under confidential concessions being examined by Labor to try to win Senate support for its contentious industrial relations changes.
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/nation/multiemployer-bargaining-labor-eyes-industrial-relations-deal/news-story/556d852559d251b2e19fcd641fc778b2
    AUSTRALIA’S 2022-23 Migration Program will be vastly different to the 2021-22 program, not just in size but also in composition, writes Abul Rizvi who points out that the skill stream under Labor’s migration program hits an historical high.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/skill-stream-under-labors-migration-program-hits-historical-high,16929
    The recent Labor “bullying” claims are just another publicity stunt to add to the great Liberal gaslit bonfire of bullshit, declares Michelle Pini.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/landry-labor-bullying-claim-a-lame-media-grab,16933
    The state’s top secret crime-fighting agency has accused William Tyrrell’s foster mother of disposing of the little boy’s body after he fell from a balcony, a Sydney court has heard. Police have charged the woman with lying to the Crime Commission about hitting another foster child in her care with a wooden spoon.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/no-please-no-secret-recording-of-william-tyrrell-s-foster-mother-allegedly-hitting-child-20221103-p5bvch.html
    There is a deep irony in one of the world’s richest men declaring a platform the “public square” and then using his immense wealth to achieve control of it, writes Osman Faruqi about Musk’s purchase of Twitter.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/a-billionaire-in-charge-of-the-public-square-this-can-t-be-the-internet-s-future-20221101-p5burm.html
    More than 25 years after the Port Arthur massacre and the ban on assault rifles, Victoria still has a gun problem. Police statistics show firearm offences are on the rise after a lull during the pandemic. Marta Pascual Juanola tells us about the secret arsenals and grey market that fuel Victoria’s firearm problem.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/ghost-guns-and-3d-printing-secret-arsenals-and-grey-market-fuel-victoria-s-firearm-problem-20220829-p5bdk5.html
    James Robertson writes that Malcolm Turnbull has slammed Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s stance on renewable energy as based on “complete and utter nonsense”. Further, Mr Turnbull says the Liberal Party has become unelectable and “walked away” from voters at the centre of politics under Mr Dutton’s leadership.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/2022/11/03/turnbull-dutton-nuclear-energy/
    False reporting of bank data over decades has prompted an open letter from Dale Webster calling for Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus to look at the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s faulty management.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/attorney-general-asked-to-examine-apras-integrity-standards,16922
    Hillsong founder Brian Houston will face a three-week hearing into his alleged concealment of his father’s sexual abuse of children next month but rather than turning up to court, which his lawyer did on his behalf, the pastor was addressing his followers on social media, writes Sally Rawsthorne.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/hillsong-s-brian-houston-takes-to-facebook-faces-child-sex-abuse-cover-up-claim-20221103-p5bv8x.html
    Australia’s prison system will cost $7bn a year by 2030 due to higher incarceration rates, with the number of women jailed growing faster than men, a report suggests. Paul Karp reports that a Committee for Economic Development of Australia study on the economic and social costs of keeping women behind bars, to be released today, states that bail reform and other measures are needed to reduce prison populations.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/04/australias-prisons-to-cost-7bn-a-year-by-2030-as-number-of-women-incarcerated-grows-faster-than-men-study
    Australians are reporting online crimes such as extortion and fraud every seven minutes, as authorities sound the alarm on a disturbing new fusion of criminal cyber gangs, explains Matthew Knott in quite a disturbing article.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/cybercrime-gangs-combining-with-nation-states-in-profound-new-trend-20221103-p5bv7h.html
    Lisa Visentin writes that David Littleproud has urged the federal parliament to consider if there should be a total ban on gambling ads during sports broadcasts, saying more could be done to protect children from exposure to online betting. It really is insidious.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/littleproud-calls-for-tougher-crackdown-on-online-gambling-advertising-during-sports-broadcasts-20221103-p5bv6c.html
    Meanwhile, according to Amelia McGuire, the director of Australia’s peak financial counselling body has called for a major regulatory overhaul of online gambling, after the financial crimes watchdog announced an investigation into two of the industry’s biggest players over potential breaches of money laundering laws. AUSTRAC has announced that Sportsbet and Bet 365 may face multimillion-dollar fines and severe regulatory interventions.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/austrac-to-probe-sportsbet-bet365-over-money-laundering-concerns-20221103-p5bv7l.html
    Leading Australian sports organisations have reacted defensively to a poll that shows 62 per cent of people want the multi-million dollar relationship between gambling companies and major codes banned.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/major-sports-play-straight-bat-to-anti-gambling-sentiment-20221103-p5bvcz.html
    Jason Clare has a draft plan to fix the teacher shortage. These contributors to The Conversation explain what needs to stay and what should change.
    https://theconversation.com/jason-clare-has-a-draft-plan-to-fix-the-teacher-shortage-what-needs-to-stay-and-what-should-change-193834
    Here is part 2 of John Menadue’s article on what he describes as “the $530 billion junk infrastructure scandal”.
    https://johnmenadue.com/with-interest-rates-rising-sydney-and-melbournes-half-trillion-dollar-junk-infrastructure-addiction-becomes-an-even-bigger-waste-of-money-part-2-of-2/
    Christine Allen reports that residents who have had flammable cladding removed from their apartments under a Victorian government program say they have been left broke and unable to sell their homes after the building regulator demanded they pay for expensive additional works.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/it-s-cruel-it-s-intolerable-residents-hit-with-huge-bills-for-extra-safety-works-20221103-p5bv9n.html
    Michael Gleeson reports that Essendon’s short-lived chief executive Andrew Thorburn has hired legal counsel and is pursuing legal action against the club after he was forced to resign. Thorburn’s position has hardened in recent times with the former banker believing the case is of religious discrimination and wanting satisfaction for damage to his reputation.
    https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/thorburn-hires-lawyers-over-departure-as-essendon-ceo-20221103-p5bvh0.html
    Epidemiologists Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz and Greg Dore explain what the future of ‘living with COVID’ looks like.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/what-the-future-of-living-with-covid-looks-like-20221103-p5bvap.html
    The explosions at the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines on September 26 in the Baltic Sea have been deemed an act of sabotage – but which nations or actors are responsible is yet to be known. Given the scale of the environmental crime, why are we not demanding the truth? What explains Western silence, asks Chandran Nair.
    https://johnmenadue.com/nord-stream-urgent-need-for-international-investigations-into-crimes-against-the-environment/
    Nobody knows what military threats to Australia from China or anyone else, will exist in 2050. In these circumstances, it is folly to commit to spending over $200 million on acquiring eight US designed nuclear attack submarines to deploy in support of the US on the China coast, writes Brian Touhey.
    https://johnmenadue.com/australian-submarine-madness/
    Britain is facing its longest recession on record, the Bank of England warned on Thursday, as it delivered its biggest interest rate rise in more than three decades to fight a surge in inflation from soaring energy prices. Rob Harris writes that Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey said the UK economy likely entered a recession in the three months through September, when output fell an estimated 0.5 per cent. He warned it would last until mid-2024 with inflation, as measured by the consumer prices index, expected to peak at 11 per cent this winter before falling next year.
    https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/tough-road-ahead-britain-already-in-recession-that-could-last-two-years-warns-bank-of-england-20221103-p5bvho.html
    The Bank of England has warned of the UK facing its longest recession since the 1930s.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/nov/03/bank-of-england-raises-interest-rates-to-3-percent
    Donald Trump has sued the attorney general of New York state, Letitia James, over what he claims is a “relentless, pernicious, public, and unapologetic crusade” against him, in the shape of her recent civil lawsuit against the former president and three of his adult children, Donald Jr, Ivanka and Eric.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/03/trump-sues-letitia-james-ny-attorney-lawsuit

    Cartoon Corner

    David Pope

    David Rowe

    Cathy Wilcox

    Matt Golding



    Andrew Dyson

    Jim Pavlidis

    John Shakespeare

    Simon Letch

    Fiona Katauskas

    Peter Broelman

    Mark Knight

    Leak

    From the US















  24. Thanks BK for your daily round up

    Its drizzling here today so I will be listening into Julian Hill MP at Workforce Australia enquiry found at
    aph.gov.au whats on today

    Yesterday I saw bits of it and noted

    1. the disconnect between the bubbly Canberra bureaucrat rosy view that

    2. jobseekers know what they want and can navigate the system when the system is designed to disempower and break them
    3. that counter staff know the legislation and how to navigate through it when the reality is counter staff are low paid, uneducated (former hairdressers) with high job turnover

    4. Julian Hill asked whether approved job search activities actually helped job seekers get their next job or were busy work that hindered successful job search

    5. Job seekers have to apply for 25 jobs a month, as it takes 6 hours concentration for me to apply for a job I want I think this is ridiculous

    6. 200,000 jobs listed on Workforce Australia noticeboard but there is double counting if same position on Workforce Australia, Seek, Maxima websites, not counting same position advertised with 5 seperate employment agents

    7. stepped through a curated software demonstration where Barista applies on line for a job. Around here coffee shops put up signs saying BARISTA WANTED and the applicant drops off CV in person

    8. DSS had a horrible reputation for software development so I think Workforce Australia is a modified SALESFORCE package designed for a different purpose

    9. Workforce Australia was designed by Scott Morrison and his cronies so it is guaranteed to be vicious and nasty

    10. There is no guarantee that the HELP DESK personnel hired during the pilot are still in palce and expanded as the new system has gone live nationally

    • And of course Job Seeker has to own late model phone $700+ to interact with software and have access to a laptop or tablet to complete job applications

  25. Amanda Rishworth at National Press Club address proudly announcing program to get more people on NDIS working GRRRRR

    I am sure everyone on NDIS wants to work but some people are just too damaged to work without a great deal of support.

    People with downs syndrome go to sheltered workshops where they make clothes pegs under supervision. They earn pitifully low wages so they can still get their disability pay. I understand it’s very social and productivity is patchy

    There are people who take 2.5 hours to get up, showered, toileted, dressed, breakfasted and ready for work. They may not have the stamina to travel more than 20 minutes to work or to work 5 hours a day

    Other people have been damaged by their workplace, used to be mediterranean back now its teachers, police and firemen with stress, all the responsibility and blame when things go wrong but no authority or support and workplace bullying

    Then of course there is the obscenity of making people undergoing cancer treatment or dying with debilitating condition continue work or looking for work

  29. Good morning Dawn Patrollers – another MSM Robodebt drought.

    Bombshell legal advice finally revealed this week was initially dismissed, discarded or overruled. The consequences for many have been tragic, writes Luke Henriques-Gomes about the Robodebt royal commission.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/05/a-shameful-chapter-how-australias-robodebt-saga-was-allowed-to-unfold
    Departmental and legal advice both showed the robodebt scheme was unlawful – but once Scott Morrison had seen the proposal, he wouldn’t give up on it, writes Rick Morton in a long explanation. THEY. KNEW.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/11/05/robo-debt-liberals-knew-it-was-illegal-before-it-started
    Anthony Albanese this week gave The Australian a long interview. Paul Kelly says the PM promotes ‘orderly change’ but he faces an imminent reality check.
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/albanese-promotes-orderly-change-but-faces-an-imminent-reality-check/news-story/1454ff4760b4c43dc3538ed9988674e7
    Shane Wright tells us that Reserve Bank forecasts are pointing to slowing economic growth, higher unemployment and ongoing cost-of-living pressures on households. Stagflation-lite?
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/stagflation-lite-warning-as-inflation-lifts-economy-slows-20221104-p5bvjs.html
    Can Labor provide cost-of-living relief without feeding inflation and interest rates? An expert panel responds.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/05/can-labor-provide-cost-of-living-relief-without-feeding-inflation-and-interest-rates-an-expert-panel-responds
    The Albanese government spent the past week coming to grips with theory versus reality in government. The vast gap between the budget handed down by Treasurer Jim Chalmers and the media’s reporting of it is still being processed by government MPs, writes a quite outspoken Chris Wallace. This is a cracker!
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2022/11/05/budget-reality-checks-bounce
    John Hewson’s contribution is also a cracker. He writes that it’s time to act on gas and ASIC and says “The debate [about energy costs] since the budget has been an unedifying blur, with deliberate obfuscation by the opposition and their media mates, the gas producers and the usual energy commentators. There’s been a fair bit of arse-covering but little light shed on a sensible path forward.”
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2022/11/05/time-act-gas-and-asic
    The Treasurer is no Paul Keating and Albanese is no Bob Hawke. While I hope they prove me wrong in making that assumption, the overwhelming odds are they won’t. When you also consider the Opposition Leader is no John Howard, the difficult economic situation our country is in becomes even more apparent, writes Peter van Onselen.
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/burnt-by-hot-house-market-but-no-relief-in-sight/news-story/e579ad1b3eef637ccf428c6f68ae8a24
    George Megalogenis wonders if the PM needs Dutton to secure the Voice.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/does-the-pm-need-dutton-to-secure-the-voice-20221103-p5bvgd.html
    The $48 billion of annual superannuation tax breaks should be curtailed for the wealthy to make the retirement system more equitable and to help repair the federal budget, the head of the former government’s retirement income review says.
    https://www.afr.com/policy/tax-and-super/call-to-cut-super-tax-breaks-for-the-rich-to-aid-the-budget-20221104-p5bvib
    Nick O’Malley and Latika Bourke tell us about criticism over Albanese’s decision not to attend climate talks growing.
    https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/criticism-over-albanese-s-decision-not-to-attend-climate-talks-grows-20221104-p5bvqb.html
    Labor will struggle with deficit and debt until it raises taxes, writes Ross Gittins.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/labor-will-struggle-with-deficit-and-debt-until-it-raises-taxes-20221103-p5bv64.html
    The federal government has accused the opposition of “rank hypocrisy” for opposing the repatriation of Australian relatives of Islamic State fighters from refugee camps in Syria as debate over the issue grows increasingly personal and partisan, writes Matthew Knott.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/disgraceful-bitter-debate-erupts-over-syria-repatriations-20221104-p5bvn4.html
    Senator David Pocock will ask the Australian Electoral Commission to review its controversial decision to backtrack on a ruling against Advance Australia “robocalls”. In a shock decision, this week the AEC announced that automated calls a conservative lobby group sent to Canberrans before the last election did not breach electoral laws. An electoral law expert has blasted that decision as “soft” and questioned the commission’s justification.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7968999/pocock-insists-electoral-commission-revisit-robocall-decision/?cs=14329
    Karen Middleton says the High Court appears likely to examine the constitutionality of Scott Morrison’s secret ministerial appointment to the Resources portfolio after the energy company whose project he vetoed updated its claim in the Federal Court to argue he acted unlawfully.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/11/05/push-legal-case-against-morrison-go-high-court
    In this very readable contribution, Malcolm Knox asks, “When does COVID recovery become COVID revenge?”
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/when-does-covid-recovery-become-covid-revenge-20221027-p5btmo.html
    Taxpayers didn’t rate a mention at the Flying Kangaroo’s AGM on Friday. But as the excuses for poor performance pile up, the airline is planning to play on our patriotism and better judgment in its push to thwart competitors, writes Michael Sainsbury.
    https://michaelwest.com.au/joyce-wont-stop-jesting-but-can-albo-and-the-public-avoid-being-dacksed-again/
    The early phase of the pandemic saw property prices surge, but those gains could evaporate as higher interest rates flow through to highly indebted mortgage holders, explains John Collett.
    https://www.smh.com.au/money/borrowing/funds-giant-warns-covid-property-price-gains-likely-to-be-erased-20221102-p5buzc.html
    Hyperventilation around the workplace overhaul feels like a curtain raiser for Labor’s next thought crime – cutting emissions, laments Katherine Murphy who concludes with, “It is much harder politically to implement a halfway serious climate policy in the middle of a cost of living crisis, with News Corp already mounting a campaign on its editorial pages about how renewables (the cheapest form of energy) is secretly responsible for power prices going up by a forecast 56% by the end of next year. Once upon a time people were embarrassed to say ludicrous things. Some days, verifiable facts feel like a relic from another age.”
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/05/hyperventilation-around-the-workplace-overhaul-feels-like-a-curtain-raiser-for-labors-next-thought-cutting-emissions
    A polarising figure who doesn’t mind a little blowback, Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has a simple response to critics of his IR proposals, writes James Massola in this article about the IR changes that are on the table.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/can-tony-burke-be-the-bandleader-on-ir-and-labor-frontman-one-day-20221101-p5bulj.html
    Aged care workers will receive a 15 per cent pay boost after the Fair Work Commission handed down its decision in the high-profile wage case backed by the government.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/aged-care-workers-to-get-15-per-cent-pay-rise-20221104-p5bvol.html
    The surge in energy costs is pressuring the Labor government to find a way to stop gas producers gouging households and businesses and to claw back some of the windfall profits flowing to mostly foreign-owned corporations, writes Mike Seccombe laying out the truth about today’s gas prices.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/11/05/the-truth-about-todays-gas-prices
    The federal government will have to put “something in the tin” to make social and affordable housing an attractive investment for superannuation funds, with experts warning of a raft of complications in making its new housing accord a success, reports Simone Fox Koob.
    https://www.smh.com.au/money/super-and-retirement/only-if-the-return-stacks-up-super-funds-will-demand-sweeteners-to-back-labor-housing-plan-20221028-p5btsq.html
    Anthony Albanese has taken aim at business groups threatening a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign against industrial relations changes, saying they should spend the money on paying workers better.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/04/albanese-hits-back-at-business-groups-threats-to-run-anti-industrial-relations-bill-ad-campaign
    Commercial property yields are paying their lowest premium above government bond yields in history, which presages big price falls, explains Christopher Joye.
    https://www.afr.com/wealth/personal-finance/alarm-bells-ring-for-commercial-property-20221102-p5buzv
    Health Minister Mark Butler has bowed to pressure and launched an independent inquiry into Medicare in an attempt to curb fraud, errors and over-servicing within the troubled universal healthcare system. Adele Ferguson tells us that the probe – to be fronted by health economist, Deloitte Access Economics partner and former Victorian Department of Health secretary Dr Pradeep Philip – will also look at ways to beef up penalties for any medical professionals abusing the system.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/health-minister-raises-stakes-by-calling-independent-inquiry-into-medicare-20221104-p5bvq3.html
    Annika Smethurst won’t give up bashing Dan Andrews. Lucky he’s not in NSW, she says.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/daniel-andrews-should-count-himself-lucky-he-s-not-in-nsw-20221102-p5bv0m.html
    And The Age has another go at IBAC and secret hearings with Daniel Andrews,
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/ibac-probe-uncovers-a-troubling-picture-20221104-p5bvnb.html
    Charlotte Grieve writes that leaked documents reveal a medical company part-owned by celebrity surgeon Munjed Al Muderis planned to use aggressive targets to conduct an ever-escalating number of surgeries in a bid to maximise profits and pay doctors higher rates. That plan has since been abandoned, but some surgeons remain concerned about financial interests conflicting with patient care.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/doctor-shareholders-celebrity-surgeon-s-draft-medibank-plan-leaked-20221024-p5bseo.html
    The whole idea of the Me Too movement and the Respect @ Work report was to make workers safer. So it was surprising that the politicians who resisted some of the Jenkins recommendations are often the ones most willing to drape themselves in worker safety gear, writes Lucy Hughes Turnbull.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2022/11/05/me-too-us-all
    The Star’s involvement in fraud, money laundering and improper tax dealings hasn’t stopped the NSW government making planning and development decisions that facilitate the casino’s expansion, write Claire Connelly and Wendy Bacon.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2022/11/05/questions-over-stars-influence-planning
    Amy Remeikis reports that Mark Dreyfus has asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to review the country’s religious exemptions for schools in federal anti-discrimination law, in the first formal step towards new religious discrimination laws. The government won’t be moving forward on any proposed legislation until at least the middle of next year, with the ALRC not due to report back until April. The review will be headed by Justice Stephen Rothman AM of the NSW supreme court, a former president of the Great Synagogue.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/nov/04/labor-takes-step-towards-new-religious-discrimination-laws-with-review-of-exemptions-for-schools
    “Religious extremists, you have a problem. It’s called the growing awareness of younger generations. They’re coming for you”, writes Nikki Gemmell who says stubborn old people of the church are destroying their institution; leaving it, in the western world in particular, as a fragile movement of its time – that’s not moving with the times.
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/weekend-australian-magazine/hardline-religion-young-people-look-on-in-bewilderment-and-revulsion/news-story/a801b646664e742d10db5a31490ed3e9
    With violence and hatred occurring overseas, it’s worth reflecting on the positives of living in Australia, writes Adam Abbasi-Sacca.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/amid-the-worlds-upheaval-australia-is-still-the-lucky-country,16935
    News that the US plans to base six B52’s at RAAF, Tindal, will likely change the dynamic, in what has admittedly been a half-hearted attempt by Australia, at improving relations with China, says Bruce Haigh.
    https://johnmenadue.com/b52s-mark-the-demise-of-australia-as-a-self-reliant-nation/
    We have recently learned that Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton secretly installed senior US military officers in Australia’s Defence Department, at taxpayers’ vast expense, and it appears that the present Government is complicit in perpetuating this arrangement, writes Alison Broinowsky.
    https://johnmenadue.com/familiar-and-surreptitious-ways-to-war/
    Twitter began notifying employees affected by a far-reaching round of job cuts as new owner, Elon Musk, said the business experienced a “massive drop” in revenue due to advertisers withdrawing. Twitter’s “curation” team, which is responsible for “highlighting and contextualising the best events and stories that unfold on Twitter”, has been axed, employees said on the platform. He’s really stuffed this up. He needs a mirror to work out the problem.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/elon-musk-begins-mass-layoffs-with-emailed-firings-to-staff-worldwide-20221105-p5bvs1.html
    Diana Bossio tells us why Elon Musk’s first week as Twitter owner has users flocking elsewhere.
    https://theconversation.com/why-elon-musks-first-week-as-twitter-owner-has-users-flocking-elsewhere-193857
    It seems as if web designers working on the MyGov website designed it for themselves, not for a pensioner with no computer skills, complains Steve Meacham.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/mygov-is-a-dog-s-breakfast-and-i-m-stuffed-20221031-p5bugw.html
    In the next few weeks, the noose will tighten on the collective neck of one of the country’s most well-known fund managers, Perpetual, and its board. Adele Ferguson tells us that the day of reckoning began yesterday when private equity and hedge funds joined forces to lob a $30 a share bid for the iconic fund manager at an 11 per cent premium to its last share price.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/perpetual-motion-the-takeover-party-begins-20221104-p5bvo9.html
    If anyone had any doubts about the degree of hyperpartisanship in the United States, the latest United States Studies Centre research on public opinion in the United States fully captures the immense divisiveness engulfing the country, writes Bruce Wolpe who does not paint a pretty picture.
    https://www.afr.com/world/north-america/who-can-heal-these-disunited-states-20221102-p5bv1j
    The US is on a knife-edge. The enemy for Trump’s Republicans is democracy itself, posits Jonathan Freedland who tells us that most candidates from the GOP in these midterm elections refuse democracy’s most basic tenet: accepting the voters’ verdict
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/04/us-knife-edge-trump-republicans-democracy-midterm-elections
    Australia’s best known bookmaker Robbie Waterhouse may be fined up to $121,000 after allegedly incentivising a customer to continue punting after they requested their account be closed. This qualifies him for nomination for “Arsehole of the Week”.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/bookmaker-robbie-waterhouse-charged-with-inducement-offences-by-gaming-regulator-20221104-p5bvq4.html

    Cartoon Corner

    Jon Kudelka

    David Pope

    Andrew Dyson

    David Rowe

    John Shakespeare


    Alan Moir

    Fiona Katauskas

    Jim Pavlidis


    Matt Golding


    Simon Letch


    Matt Davidson

    Mark Knight

    Leak

    From the US














  36. Good morning Dawn Patrollers. I had to sift through a lot of lightweight dross to pull this paltry offering together.

    Angus Thompson reports that Australia will jointly bid with Pacific nations to host the United Nations climate summit in 2026 after the government decided against putting itself forward for an earlier conference.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/it-s-the-right-year-for-us-australia-launches-bid-to-co-host-cop-2026-20221105-p5bvum.html
    Employers who fail to protect their workers from sexual harassment can be named under a new power given to Australia’s human rights watchdog. Mark Dreyfus said there must be ways of showing there were consequences for breaching the new national law to proactively prevent harassment in the workplace in the positive duty reform making its way through federal parliament.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/employers-to-be-named-for-flouting-new-sexual-harassment-laws-20221104-p5bvqx.html
    Jacqui Maley explains how costs changes in sexual harassment cases, despite the best of intentions, could deter litigants.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/costs-changes-in-sexual-harassment-cases-could-deter-litigants-20221104-p5bvnu.html
    “The political writer’s life was much easier when the previous government was in power – almost a scandal or some form of corruption every day. We didn’t have to think much about what to write. Now with a more sensible government in power, we have to think more deeply about what keys our ever-sensitive fingers hit”, writes John Lord beginning this contribution in which he does find substantial issues to write about.
    https://theaimn.com/theres-always-something-to-write-about/
    Here’s a very good interview Peter FitzSimons did with Michael Parkinson.
    https://www.smh.com.au/culture/celebrity/warnie-was-a-superstar-but-he-wasn-t-michael-parkinson-s-favourite-interview-20221103-p5bvgg.html
    The Budget’s big spending and “repair” measures are under the microscope. Barely acknowledged is the biggest immigration drive ever, explains Stephen Saunders.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/population-mistruths-in-the-budget,16940
    Michael Pascoe rhetorically asks, “Will NSW’s political parties put people before donors?” Don’t bet on it, he answers.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2022/11/04/gambling-pokies-report-nsw/
    Smarting over a loss in court, The Age says that Daniel Andrews hasn’t ruled out introducing new laws that could mean reporters face jail after the integrity watchdog called for changes to make it an offence to publish or leak information from its draft reports.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/corruption-watchdog-calls-for-tough-laws-against-journalists-as-andrews-rebuffs-questions-on-investigation-20221105-p5bvta.html
    Here are this week’s opposing views on the Victorian election from Neil Mitchell and Jon Faine. Mitchell says, “The campaign is turning ugly and personal – blame Labor”, while Faine says voters are beingleft to sort what’s real and what’s not from the daily drop of election promises
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/the-campaign-is-turning-ugly-and-personal-blame-labor-20221104-p5bvk5.html
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/voters-left-to-sort-what-s-real-and-what-s-not-from-the-daily-drop-of-election-promises-20221104-p5bvk7.html
    Mark Dreyfus has conceded a referral from him to the government’s slated integrity commission would be treated differently than one that came from a member of the public. Dreyfus said he would expect the National Anti-Corruption Commission to treat a referral from a minister or departmental head “very seriously” because of its source, but stressed he wanted all “complaints of substance” to be given clout.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/dreyfus-expects-corruption-watchdog-to-take-ministers-referrals-very-seriously-20221105-p5bvty.html
    “How do we explain that half the Australian community thinks we should go to war with China? After twenty years of conflict in the Middle East, will our addiction to war and our insouciance about its consequences finally catch up with us in an American war over Taiwan?”, asks Henry Reynolds.
    https://johnmenadue.com/australia-is-addicted-to-warfare/
    Nino Bucci describes how new clients are rarely accepted at Inner Melbourne Community Legal centre, where lawyers say the pressure of handling the cases they already have is becoming overwhelming.
    https://www.theguardian.com/law/2022/nov/06/saying-no-has-an-enormous-impact-overwhelmed-community-legal-centres-forced-to-turn-away-clients
    Chronic pain advocates have criticised proposals to impose further restrictions on the sale of paracetamol, saying the move would disadvantage millions of Australians, writes Mary Ward.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/paracetamol-sale-ban-will-affect-millions-pain-advocates-warn-20221101-p5buoj.html
    Sports journalist for The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, John Pierik, argues that a major AFL-wide review into racism is long overdue.
    https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/a-major-afl-wide-review-into-racism-is-long-overdue-20221105-p5bvsv.html
    International T20 competition provides a way to grow the whole game in a way franchise cricket does not, as Ireland, Zimbabwe and Afghanistan have shown at this World Cup, argues Geoff Lawson.
    https://www.smh.com.au/sport/cricket/those-who-bemoan-irrelevance-of-white-ball-cricket-are-missing-point-20221105-p5bvtu.html
    Elon Musk “doesn’t know what he’s doing” with Twitter and is “making everyone alarmed”, a former executive has said, after major brands paused their advertising spend on the platform and the company laid off thousands of staff.
    https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/05/elon-musk-doesnt-know-what-hes-doing-says-former-twitter-executive

    Cartoon Corner

    Matt Golding


    Richard Giliberto

    Reg Lynch

    • BK

      Thanks again for your wonderful efforts. If the pub patrons don’t mind me talking on their behalf we are very grateful and in awe of the effort you put in on our behalf.

      If it were mine to give you would receive a gold echidna with laurel wreath everyday.

  37. “The Budget’s big spending and “repair” measures are under the microscope. Barely acknowledged is the biggest immigration drive ever, explains Stephen Saunders.”

    Good article. Something left out of this very comprehensive list is this – who will teach the children of these immigrants?

    Australia already faces a drastic shortage of teachers. Where are the necessary teachers going to come from to fill the current shortage? Is immigration supposed to fix this problem too? If so we are going to need to focus only on immigration aimed at teachers. Not only are we looking at current losses in the teaching profession but we know that many more will leave the profession in the near future, and not only due to an ageing workforce. New trainees will not graduate for a few years. Has anyone in government thought of this?

    Even with the best will possible Australia is facing a future where a shortage of teachers is going to last well into the future. Deluging our hard-pressed schools with an influx of immigrants is not going to be helpful at all.

  40. Something that’s been on my mind lately is the state of the Murray-Darling basin over the next 6-12 months.

    At this moment, both the Murray and Darling rivers are in flood, with major flooding in places. Often the problem has been not enough water being allocated downstream, but in this case, it seems like there’s going to be too much water.

    I’m hoping the federal and state governments of Queensland, NSW, Victoria and SA can handle this medium-term issue effectively.

  43. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    Nick McKenzie and Amelia Ballinger reveal that a company run by Jack Ta, who boasted of “cosy” dinners with former Home Affairs minister Peter Dutton, has been used by more than a dozen drug offenders to remain in Australia on bogus asylum seeker claims.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-migration-agent-and-the-liberal-ministers-how-one-man-gamed-australia-s-visa-system-20221104-p5bvjm.html
    And they tell us that the home affairs minister, Claire O’Neill, says criminals are getting into Australia as corrupt agents, and education institutions help traffic sex slaves. But legitimate workers can’t find their way through the system. She has flagged an investigation.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-state-of-disrepair-home-affairs-minister-slams-immigration-system-20221104-p5bvjn.html
    Skilled occupation lists could be axed and hundreds of visa sub-categories slashed to make way for a demand-driven immigration system where businesses have a greater role in determining what jobs are in short supply, explain Michael Read and Tom McIlroy.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/gutsy-immigration-review-flags-bigger-industry-role-20221105-p5bvtk
    In this interesting contribution, George Brandis writes about how the Senate’s estimates committees have become such an important forum in which the details of numerous affairs and scandals are revealed or prosecuted.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-forgotten-tricyclist-who-left-his-mark-on-our-democracy-20221103-p5bvey.html
    Hooray! 9Fax breaks its duck on the royal commission here as Darren O’Donovan says that every Australian has a stake in learning from the robodebt scandal. And it’s a very good read.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/every-australian-has-a-stake-in-learning-from-the-robo-debt-scandal-20221106-p5bvx1.html
    Karen Barlow writes that Labor frontbencher Katy Gallagher has recommitted the Albanese government to bringing the restoration of territory rights to a Senate vote before the end of the year, as ACT crossbencher David Pocock raised concerns the “best chance” to upend the 25-year-old ban was “about to slip away”.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7965004/pocock-concerned-best-shot-to-restore-territory-rights-will-slip-away/?cs=14329
    “Why is it easier to imagine another Indigenous child’s death than to disrupt our plans?”, ponders a thoughtful Sean Kelly.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/why-is-it-easier-to-imagine-another-indigenous-child-s-death-than-to-disrupt-our-plans-20221104-p5bvqv.html
    Ross Gittins explains how we’re used to using the consumer price index (CPI) as a measure of the cost of living. But the bureau knows it’s not. So, a week later, it always issues its living-cost indexes for key household types – which the media always ignore.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-cost-of-living-isn-t-as-high-as-we-ve-been-told-20221106-p5bvxd.html
    ASIC’s Joe Longo has warned of the risk that rising interest rates and any sharp deterioration in the economy could cause some highly leveraged companies to collapse, while also squeezing consumers.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/failures-and-job-losses-asic-eyes-risk-of-company-collapses-if-economy-sours-20221104-p5bvq2.html
    Australia is lagging behind other Western nations in protecting press freedom and the Albanese government should consider going further than the recommendations of a parliamentary inquiry in overhauling federal search warrant laws, legal experts say. Michaela Whitbourn explains the committee’s recommendations.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-lagging-behind-on-press-freedom-experts-20221104-p5bvo7.html
    Dennis Muller argues that the attacks on Dan Andrews are part of News Corporation’s long abuse of power.
    https://theconversation.com/attacks-on-dan-andrews-are-part-of-news-corporations-long-abuse-of-power-194023
    Melissa Cunningham reports that Victorians are waiting up to six months for crucial scans as record demand and ongoing staff shortages force wait times for vital health checks to blow out.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/cancers-diagnosed-late-as-worker-shortages-blow-out-medical-scan-waitlists-20221106-p5bvwd.html
    ABC managing director David Anderson is planning to overhaul the way programs are commissioned in a review that could result in the most significant change to the public broadcaster’s structure since 2017. According t Zoe Samios, ABC sources, who requested anonymity to speak freely, said Anderson told a meeting of about 50 managers last Thursday that he planned to alter the broadcaster’s structure in an effort to improve processes around how content is commissioned and delivered to audiences, and to focus on growing the ABC’s digital platforms.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/abc-boss-david-anderson-to-restructure-organisation-shift-to-bbc-model-20221106-p5bvxo.html
    Projects meant to regenerate Australia’s outback forests to store carbon dioxide have been awarded millions of carbon credits – worth hundreds of millions of dollars – despite total tree and shrub cover in those areas having declined, a new analysis has found. Adam Morton report that this is the latest claim that raises doubts about the integrity of Australia’s carbon credit system, which the federal government and polluting businesses rely on to meet targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/07/forest-regeneration-that-earned-multimillion-dollar-carbon-credits-resulted-in-fewer-trees-analysis-finds
    Tomorrow evening people across Australia and New Zealand will be treated to a total lunar eclipse, weather permitting. It’s an opportunity to not be missed, as the next one won’t be visible from our region until 2025.
    https://theconversation.com/a-total-lunar-eclipse-is-set-to-dazzle-tomorrow-along-with-some-other-stellar-sights-192734
    Dennis Argall reckons Prime Minister Albanese has little understanding of regional issues.
    https://johnmenadue.com/prime-minister-albanese-has-little-understanding-of-regional-issues/
    Richard Sima explains why our brains believe lies even when we’ve been told the truth.
    https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/why-do-our-brains-believe-lies-even-when-we-ve-been-told-the-truth-20221104-p5bvox.html
    British police say evidence revealed “an extreme right-wing motivation” behind an attack last week at an immigration centre on the English coast, describing it as “a terrorist incident”.
    https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/bomb-attack-on-british-migrant-centre-fuelled-by-extreme-right-motive-20221106-p5bvwr.html
    Greg Sheridan writes about what he describes as “Midterm mayhem in the Divided States of America”.
    https://amp.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/midterm-mayhem-in-the-divided-states-of-america/news-story/c7e98d44e861fdf5a45e6dd5a39ca58f
    The results of the midterms may determine if American democracy endures, writes Robert Reich.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/06/robert-reich-2022-midterms-can-democracy-endure
    Farrah Tomazin opines that what happens in Nevada will shape the US in next two years. The US is really sick!
    https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/what-happens-in-nevada-will-shape-the-us-in-next-two-years-20221105-p5bvs7.html
    “The Irish poet W. B. Yeats could have had the upcoming U.S. midterm elections in mind when he wrote, ‘Things fall apart, the centre cannot hold.’”, writes John Queripel about the U.S midterms being set against a fractured nation.
    https://johnmenadue.com/u-s-midterms-set-against-a-fractured-nation/
    Boris Johnson would have forfeited earnings of at least £10m a year from speeches and sales of his memoirs if he had fought a leadership battle against Rishi Sunak and lost, according to informed sources in the entertainment industry, who believe financial considerations played a part in his decision to pull out.
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/nov/06/boris-johnson-quit-pm-race-over-risk-to-10m-earnings-sources-say
    Italy’s new Prime Minister Georgia Meloni’s inaugural address confirmed a neoliberal agenda that will serve the rich and powerful and exploit low-wage workers, writes Adriano Tedde.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/far-right-neoliberal-agendas-a-threat-to-democracy,16931

    Cartoon Corner

    David Rowe

    Matt Golding

    Mark Knight

    Leak

    From the US



    • Can you imagine going to the doctor for a prescription for paracetamol? It takes three weeks to get an appointment now. Just imagine how bad it would be if you needed to see a GP for a prescription for something you can now buy in the supermarket!

    • Cheaper to smoke marijuana for pain relief or buy a bottle of scotch than pay $105 to see a Dr for a script for 10 paracetamol

      If teenage girls are overdosing on paracetamol provide more mental health practitioners and let the over 50s with osteoarthritis gain some relief with paracetamol unless this is an insidious plot by college of surgeons to line up more patients for dubious knee shoulder and spine operations

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