Recall of Cough Medicine – TGA

Puff, The Magic Dragon Uncategorized

As well as important information, this is a reminder that Australia is fortunate to have a service such as The Therapeutic Goods Administration.

We can have confidence in the health products and medicines available in Australia.

The TGA is just one part of a system constructed to make Australia a modern, first world country.

We do not have to endure prescription medicines being advertised directly to consumers, unlike in the USA. Direct advertising to consumers is banned. I am sure that is frustrating for some drug companies.

In the USA, advertisements along the lines of, ′Do you have a headache, and a itchy toe? See your doctor and check out XYZ disease. XXXXX drug treats XYZ with good results.′

You can imagine the resulting scenario in the doctor′s office, as fearful patients demand XYZ medicine and doctors fearing malpractice suits deal with the demands. We don’t have to put up with this pressure.

Australia has many progressive policies, systems and entities to give the 25 million of us the best chance of a decent life. However, Coalition attacks on these things has seen much suffering, misery, financial ruin and deaths. ROBODEBT is a case in point. The Coalition of the Liberal and National parties committed the worst act of bastardry in 100 years against thousands of vulnerable powerless citizens from the poorest class: social security recipients.

So we must protect the progressive, fair, humane, and compassionate of our society and its systems, and strive to strengthen these attributes.

Note: This recall information came from a Disabilty Care agency.

See below from TGA:

Following a safety investigation by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), 55 products containing pholcodine are being cancelled from the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods and those currently on pharmacy shelves are being recalled from pharmacies.

The cancellation and recall actions are being taken because of a link between pholcodine-containing medicines and an increased risk of anaphylactic reactions (a sudden, severe, and life-threatening allergic reaction) to certain medicines used as muscle relaxants during general anaesthesia (called neuromuscular blocking agents).

Pholcodine has been used in a wide range of over-the-counter pharmacy medicines to treat non-productive (dry) cough, particularly in syrups and lozenges. It is also used in combination with other medicines in products that treat the symptoms of cold and flu. 

…

Now let’s ponder on how fortunate we in Australia are in a chaotic and unfair world, and remember that the biggest threat we have is corruption, and a right-wing government!

469 thoughts on “Recall of Cough Medicine – TGA”

  1. A female shooter wielding two “assault-style” rifles and a pistol killed three students and three adults at a private Christian school in Nashville yesterday in the latest in a series of mass shootings in a country growing increasingly unnerved by bloodshed in schools. It will never end.

    And we chain our future to a country where this sort of thing is BAU ! ? It is a ‘sick puppy’ of a society and their politicians come from that society. Something to remember.

  2. Last week the SMH editorial was urging a vote for the then status quo by re-electing the Perrottet government. Now, a few days after that election the SMH editorial has done a complete backflip and is trying to tell us Perrottet was leading a stale, corrupt government. If only they had said that last week!

    if this election has taught us anything it would be how irrelevant the MSM is. How many people want to be told by some faceless editorial writer what to think? The sooner Nine falls in a heap and has to close its papers the better.

  3. Bloody brilliant! (and definitely “read more”)

    Seems Tony Burke has been sitting on that Barrie Cassidy appointment for quite some time – and has had the last laugh in this saga.

    Insiders host Barrie Cassidy quits post he received from Labor on election eve
    Read more
    Tony Burke and my oma – people who never forget a slight.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2023/mar/28/australia-politics-live-labor-anthony-albanese-housing-future-fund-senate-greens-pocock-nsw-election-minority-chris-minns-climate-gas-bandt-bowen-safeguard?filterKeyEvents=false#top-of-blog

  4. Spluttered into my coffee when I saw this end of a headline in The Australia. They have someone with this title 😆

    GRAHAM LLOYD
    Environment Editor

    They sure do sound deeply concerned with the environment .

    The Greens have secured a bloody-minded victory over Labor that will impose high costs on energy producers and the economy in a way that does not apply to our international competitors.

  5. Seth Meyers –

    Stephen Colbert –

    Rachel Maddow –

    Chris Hayes –

    Lawrence O’Donnell –

    Brian Tyler Cohen –

  7. My OH is peeling and dicing the Biiiiggggggg mango –

    A further update is pending on completion of the ritual, stay tuned!

    • That was a hedonistic pleasure beyond words, tinged with sadness because it is gone.

      We do however have another one about 900 gms or so still ripening on the tree so I still have that to look forward to.

      😀 😀 😀 😀 😀 😀

  8. I think overall that it’s a good thing that the Minns government starts off as a minority, which seems to be the case now. For a start, it would make them somewhat humble in their approach to government, given that a no-confidence motion would be the consequence of outrageously bad behaviour, which could happen at any time and not just at the next election.

    This could then allow for the rehabilitation of NSW Labor in the voters’ eyes, an accountable government that makes up for the sins of Obeid and company during the last period of state Labor rule.

    So far, most of the crossbench seems to be open to giving a minority Labor government a chance, what with the signed document of confidence and supply from 3 Independents, plus hopefully cooperation from the Greens, so I hope that goodwill isn’t squandered.

  10. The Cossacks earned a reputation as being fierce warriors. From this video you can see why but jeebus they must have been pissed when guns arrived .

  11. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    The NSW Liberal Party has been accused of failing to protect one of its most ardent right-wing warriors from an independent threat on Sydney’s south-western fringe, focusing instead on heartland coastal seats. Former government whip Nathaniel Smith was dislodged as the Wollondilly member in an upset loss that further stokes anger within the party’s conservative ranks following the disastrous election result. When will the penny drop?
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/liberals-blindsided-in-sydney-s-south-west-by-independent-20230328-p5cvys.html
    “Infiltrated by extremists, what will the real Liberals do now?”, wonders Lucy Hamilton who says they are partying with a toxic cocktail of base contingents aiming to cobble together a majority; these associations, however, will continue to push them further from government.
    https://johnmenadue.com/infiltrated-by-extremists-what-will-the-real-liberals-do-now/
    The newly elected NSW Labor government will begin drafting terms of reference for a royal commission into the state’s health services within weeks, having announced a surgical taskforce to tackle the state’s elective surgery waiting list. Alexandra Smith reports that Chris Minns and Health Minister Ryan Park, who were both sworn into a skeleton cabinet yesterday ahead of the full ministry, made health the focus of their first formal day on the job.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/one-of-the-most-urgent-needs-nsw-health-system-to-undergo-major-treatment-20230328-p5cvzl.html
    Hung parliaments are terrible, but only for our fading political duopoly, writes Ross Gittins who says, “What’s happening is that the longstanding two-party system of government is breaking down before our eyes. Years of bad behaviour by the Coalition and Labor are leading more people to vote for minor parties and independents.” He states that weaker governments are bad for the major parties, but good for democracy and voters, who get more to choose from.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/hung-parliaments-are-terrible-but-only-for-our-fading-political-duopoly-20230328-p5cvt2.html
    Ten successive interest rate rises are forcing the nation’s shoppers to slash their spending on non-essential items as evidence grows the Reserve Bank will need to pause its aggressive tightening of monetary policy at its next meeting, says Shane Wright.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/consumer-spending-slows-heaping-pressure-on-rba-to-hold-rates-20230328-p5cvsy.html
    Osman Faruqi declares that the Greens’ capitulation over the safeguard mechanism represents Labor’s biggest victory over the minor party.
    https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/greens-capitulation-represents-labor-s-biggest-victory-over-minor-party-20230327-p5cvks.html
    This climate policy doesn’t kill gas, writes Elizabeth Knight who says there was so much fist-pumping from so many quarters with the deliverance of the government’s new and supposedly controversial environmental safeguard mechanism that people were bracing for blowback from the fossil fuel industry. But gas producers were largely silent this week. They knew it was coming and many have already been positioning for it.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/this-climate-policy-doesn-t-kill-gas-despite-all-the-fist-pumping-20230328-p5cvyi.html
    A Labor election promise aimed at addressing Australia’s housing crisis has suffered a major setback after the federal government failed to secure crossbench support for the legislation. The government wanted the policy passed this week, but lack of backing in the Senate means it will now have to try again after the May budget, writes Rachel Clun.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/greens-deliver-blow-to-labor-s-core-housing-promise-20230328-p5cvy1.html
    After nearly a year of accommodation and compromise, the Greens are drawing a line in the sand when it comes to the Albanese government’s Housing Australia Future Fund, writes James Massola who tells us the Greens want $5 billion for social and affordable housing and a national agreement to cap rent increases for two years to help the up to 700,000 people in need of a social and affordable home.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-greens-5-billion-line-in-the-sand-20230328-p5cvyz.html
    Meanwhile, the new Labor government will inherit a shrinking pipeline of new housing across Greater Sydney, with dwelling approvals running more than 15 per cent below the five-year average, threatening to exacerbate the housing and rental affordability crisis gripping the city.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/labor-inherits-dismal-housing-supply-outlook-for-sydney-and-state-20230327-p5cvnd.html
    One million people – including one in seven children – are living below the poverty line in New South Wales, according to a new report highlighting the deepening inequality across Sydney, explains Tamsin Rose.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/28/one-million-people-are-living-below-the-poverty-line-in-nsw-census-data-has-revealed
    The rate of loss-making sales has increased in Melbourne amid the property market downturn, but a string of regional hotspots have bucked the trend, explains Jim Molo.
    https://www.theage.com.au/property/news/the-victorian-tree-change-towns-where-every-property-seller-made-a-profit-20230328-p5cvyf.html
    Labor has ramped up its attacks on Aston Liberal candidate Roshena Campbell, accusing her of hypocrisy for claiming tens of thousands of dollars in ratepayer funded childcare entitlements while criticising Labor’s expanded subsidies.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/labor-targets-campbell-s-childcare-hypocrisy-ahead-of-aston-byelection-20230328-p5cvub.html
    Paul Bongiorno writes about the high stakes in Aston for worried Liberals.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/opinion/2023/03/28/paul-bongiorno-aston-liberals/
    The Commonwealth’s top legal adviser told a key referendum working group the constitutional wording for an Indigenous Voice to parliament posed limited legal risk as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese continues to resist calls to release his advice, report Paul Sakkal and James Massola.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/solicitor-general-didn-t-advise-watering-down-voice-wording-working-group-members-say-20230328-p5cvy6.html
    Lawyer. Legal academic. Constitutional law professor. Constitutional conservative. Many high-profile voice supporters have rendered their job titles close to meaningless. It’s easy to respect these people as activists, but much harder to take seriously their contributions to a rational, legally informed debate, writes an indignant Janet Albrechtsen in full flight.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/voice-activists-not-lawyers-behind-dishonest-debate/news-story/492b0f480470a2443af6536c65a19809?amp
    The bosses of the Commonwealth Bank and Westpac say the local industry can withstand the recent turmoil on overseas banking markets, but they caution that funding markets are on edge and rising interest rates remain a key risk. Clancy Yeates also reports that Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) chairman John Lonsdale also emphasised the industry’s resilience, as the watchdog’s latest stress tests found local banks could handle a severe recession while keeping their capital intact.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/extremely-strong-cba-and-westpac-bosses-say-local-banks-resilient-20230328-p5cvz6.html
    Lucy Hamilton examines the character of the neo-Nazis we are seeing more and more of.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/28/trump-incendiary-rhetoric-could-fuel-violence
    Two independent laboratories have cleared Australian runner Peter Bol of ever using the banned substance EPO in a development his US-based lawyer Paul Greene has described as a “catastrophic blunder” from Sports Integrity Australia, reports Andrew Webster. Bol has said he does not intend to sue SIA for damages, even though his legal costs are more than $50,000.
    https://www.smh.com.au/sport/athletics/catastrophic-blunder-independent-testing-reveals-peter-bol-did-not-use-epo-20230328-p5cvre.html
    Webster goes on to write that Peter Bol should be in Brisbane today for the start of the Australian Track and Field Championships, readying himself to become the first man to win a fourth 800-metre title. Instead, he’ll be at home in Melbourne trying to make sense of how his life and career have been upended after being accused of being a drug cheat.
    https://www.smh.com.au/sport/athletics/peter-bol-deserves-a-senate-inquiry-into-handling-of-his-doping-case-20230328-p5cvrf.html
    Plastics are responsible for wide-ranging health impacts including cancers, lung disease and birth defects, according to the first analysis of the health hazards of plastics across their entire life cycle – from extraction for manufacturing, through to dumping into landfill and oceans. Melissa Davey tajes us through the report led by the Boston College Global Observatory on Planetary Health in partnership with Australia’s Minderoo Foundation and the Centre Scientifique de Monaco
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/29/plastics-cause-wide-ranging-health-issues-from-cancer-to-birth-defects-landmark-study-finds
    Industry super funds say about a million women would be thousands of dollars better off in retirement if the federal government mandated payday superannuation contributions. Rachel Clun tells us that the peak body Industry Super Australia is pushing the government to update laws that allow businesses to pay super quarterly, saying the move could reduce unpaid super by at least 15 per cent.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/women-being-ripped-off-by-quarterly-superannuation-payments-20230328-p5cvsl.html
    The Greens, Coalition and crossbench have teamed up to set up an inquiry into the freedom of information commissioner’s resignation over dysfunction and delays in the FOI system. God, the Coalition INVENTED it!
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/28/greens-coalition-and-entire-crossbench-unite-to-force-inquiry-into-broken-foi-system
    A mammoth meatball has been created by a cultivated meat company, resurrecting the flesh of the long-extinct animals. The project aims to demonstrate the potential of meat grown from cells, without the slaughter of animals, and to highlight the link between large-scale livestock production and the destruction of wildlife and the climate crisis.
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/28/meatball-mammoth-created-cultivated-meat-firm
    Two highly reputable studies show once and for all that ivermectin has no effect on COVID-19 – but that doesn’t mean we’ve heard the last of it, writes Liam Mannix.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/finally-we-have-closure-on-that-horse-drug-covid-cure-ivermectin-well-sort-of-20230328-p5cvsq.html
    The uniformly negative reaction of the national press gallery to former PM Paul Keating’s views on Australia’s security raises questions not just of its intellectual adequacy but of whether the media has been captured by and is knowingly serving the United States at Australia’s expense, writes Mike Gilligan.
    https://johnmenadue.com/has-the-usa-captured-australias-fourth-estate/
    It’s the decades-long human rights tragedy next door that Australia avoids. Abuses in Myanmar, Syria, Palestine, Ukraine and other hate hotspots get stern condemnation sometimes backed by sanctions, arms and sanctuary for refugees. But Indonesia’s brutal suppression of separatists in West Papua goes untouched. It’s a story likely to end badly – then continue, Duncan Graham reports.
    https://michaelwest.com.au/west-papua-a-human-rights-tragedy-right-on-our-doorstep/
    If Vladimir Putin “slips on a banana” and dies tomorrow the Ukraine war would end immediately, a key opposition figure says, because the invasion has no support from either the Russian public or its elites and was entirely the project of the president, says Michael Bachelard.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/putin-s-death-would-end-ukraine-war-says-russian-opposition-figure-20230328-p5cvte.html
    Donald Trump’s demagogic attacks on prosecutors investigating potential criminal charges against him are aimed at riling up his base and could spark violence – but show no signs of letting up as a potential indictment in at least one case looms, say legal experts.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/28/trump-incendiary-rhetoric-could-fuel-violence

    Cartoon Corner

    A brilliant Cathy Wilcox

    David Rowe

    Matt Golding


    Andrew Dyson

    John Shakespeare


    Peter Broelman

    Dionne Gain

    Simon Letch

    Mark Knight

    Spooner

    From the US
















  12. Entitled, arrogant bastards.

    Attendant was pushed into doorframe and hurt their arm, Speaker says

    Milton Dick finishes the prayers and then turns to a “very serious and grave incident which occurred yesterday afternoon”.

    After the bells had been rung, all the doors are to be locked. After I gave this order, I’m aware that a number of members exited the chamber where one of the attendants was attempting to close and lock the door to the opposition lobby as directed.

    As all members are aware under standing order 129, after the Speaker orders the doors to be locked, no member may enter or leave the chamber until after the division. It does not matter whether the doors have been able to be fully closed. The point at which the order is given from the chair is the point at which no member is allowed to enter or leave the chamber.

    The most serious aspect of this incident is that members physically pushed their way past the attendant to get out of the chamber.

    It resulted in [the attendant] getting hit [into] the doorframe and hurting their arm. I’m particularly disgusted by this behaviour and I will not tolerate it for staff.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/live/2023/mar/29/inflation-cpi-interest-rates-safeguard-mechanism-chris-minns-nsw-election-result-barack-obama

    Among those who have apologised are Dan Tehan, Ted O’Brien, Angus Taylor, Zoe McKenzie, Llew O’Brien, Andrew Hastie and Sam Birrell. There must have been quite a stampede to leave the chamber.

  15. The debate and the vote was for the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Income Management Reform) Bill 2023. It’s to do with the abolition of the CDC and its replacement with a SmartCard. Those who use this card will do so voluntarily – no one is being forced onto this card.

    Strange as it may seem some people liked income management and want to stay with it.

    The main difference with the old CDC and Basics card – apart from the voluntary aspect – is this card will be managed by Services Australia and not by Indue.

    Obviously some of the members of the opposition did not want a bar of this bill, hence the stampede.

  17. FEATURE Australia’s housing crisis, largely hidden, is getting worse

    Rental supply is at the lowest in two decades, pitting renters against record numbers of people who can no longer afford to buy after a surge in house prices.

    https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/australias-housing-crisis-largely-hidden-is-getting-worse-2022-12-19/

    Straya the ‘Clever Country; . Housing affordability and availability has the alarm bells going ‘Awhoooooga ‘ . What to do ? Oh I know …………………

    Australia will experience the biggest two-year population surge in its history, with an extra 650,000 migrants this financial year and next driving a 900,000 jump in the number of residents.

    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/australia-will-experience-biggest-twoyear-population-surge-in-its-history-with-an-extra-650000-migrants-this-financial-year/news-story/fceff5a7690273c264db601230b5af79

  18. https://australianpolitics.com/executive/pm/hawke/hawke-government-ministers

    https://australianpolitics.com/executive/pm/keating/keating-ministers-1991-1996

    https://www.techdirt.com/2023/03/28/techdirt-podcast-episode-348-sci-fi-silicon-valley/

  20. Teh contortions of his feet was ‘amazeballs’ at the time……………..

  21. Good morning Dawn Patrollers
    In a welcome return Niki Savva headlines this contribution with, “Dutton submerged like a Virginia class sub as periscope turns to Aston”. This is a long and detailed examination of the position the Liberal party gas got itself into. A great read.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/dutton-submerged-like-a-virginia-class-sub-as-periscope-turns-to-aston-20230328-p5cw24.html
    Meanwhile, The Australian’s resident sourpuss, Peta Credlin, writes, “Sadly, events in Victoria this week suggest that NSW is not alone in the woke leftism that appears to have achieved a stranglehold, at least on the state parliamentary Liberal parties.”
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/liberals-win-when-theyre-a-strong-alternative-to-labor/news-story/f62307388840973126d42925bcdba727?amp
    Right on cue, Michael Pascoe explains how News Corp damages the Liberal Party, and Australian democracy. He concludes by saying, “The Murdochs, their myrmidons and the current Liberal Party may well deserve each other – but the poison ends up damaging all.”
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/2023/03/29/michael-pascoe-liberal-news-corp/
    Dispirited, disingenuous, and divided – can the liberal party survive?’”, asks Jenny Hocking who says the Liberal party is broken. Riven by ideological differences, petty personal feuds and bitter factional disputes, the party which once dominated the Australian political landscape so completely, is today uncertain of what it stands for and incapable of working it out.
    https://johnmenadue.com/dispirited-disingenuous-and-divided-can-the-liberal-party-survive/
    Alexandra Smith writes that the Minns government may have had the support of the unions to get them over the line and back into government. But that marriage of convenience is, at least for now, over. Minns faces a very clear challenge. Anything other than a pay rise above the current 3 per cent for the state’s frontline workers will not be tolerated by unions, or the voters who backed Labor to improve wages amid a worsening cost of living crisis.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/those-who-helped-minns-win-will-expect-key-promises-to-be-kept-20230329-p5cw4c.html
    The new government in NSW was voted in because they prioritised hospitals, schools and reducing debt over stadium spending insanity, writes Peter FitzSimons who says that Minns must end the NRL stadium splurge insanity or he won’t last long.
    https://www.smh.com.au/sport/minns-will-end-nrl-stadium-splurge-insanity-or-he-won-t-last-long-20230329-p5cw4j.html
    Angus Thompson tells us that Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke has suggested the government will again push for an increase to the minimum wage in line with the high rate of inflation as Australians grapple with rising living costs.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/burke-hints-at-government-support-for-minimum-wage-increase-to-match-inflation-20230329-p5cw75.html
    And Australian unions have called for a pay rise of 7% for the lowest-paid workers, a raise in the national minimum wage of $1.50 an hour to keep pace with inflation. The Australian Council of Trade Unions made that submission to the Fair Work Commission’s annual minimum wage review, which sets the pay of more than 2.6 million employees on the national minimum or award wages.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/30/simply-about-survival-actu-calls-for-7-pay-rise-for-lowest-paid-workers-to-keep-pace-with-inflation
    “Ignore the doomsayers, the sky won’t fall if Australian workers get a pay rise”, argues Greg Jericho who says it is time to end the fear and instead admit that workers are the ones who have been hurt the most from inflation and they are due some back pay.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2023/mar/30/ignore-the-doomsayers-the-sky-wont-fall-if-australian-workers-get-a-pay-rise
    Peter Martin writes about how the government could increase revenue by $20b per annum to pay for the things the public wants.
    https://theconversation.com/inheritance-taxes-resource-taxes-and-an-attack-on-negative-gearing-how-top-economists-would-raise-20-billion-per-year-202630
    Independent MP Rebekha Sharkie has just dropped a bombshell in Federal Parliament. The Labor Government has been caught in a blatant pork barrelling. Rex Patrick explains the corruption that is “Solar Rorts”.
    https://michaelwest.com.au/solar-rorts-the-federal-labor-government-caught-in-200-million-pork-barreling-scandal/
    Daniel Andrews’ media-free trip tells us something about China – and a lot more about journalists and the premier, writes Margaret Simmons.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/29/daniel-andrews-media-free-trip-tells-us-something-about-china-and-a-lot-more-about-journalists-and-the-premier
    Thanks to February’s unexpectedly large fall in inflation, the Reserve Bank now has an excuse to leave interest rates on hold. But the question remains whether governor Philip Lowe will use it, writes Elizabeth Knight. She says The RBA, like plenty of other central banks, has got form when it comes to being too slow to change course on rates, most recently in 2022 when it arrived too late to the monetary tightening party.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/will-lowe-take-the-inflation-bait-and-keep-rates-on-hold-20230329-p5cwc8.html
    The Reserve Bank is facing its biggest shake-up since the early 1990s, with the institution’s first review in four decades poised to recommend changes to the way it operates and communicates with the public, explains Shane Wright.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/rba-poised-for-biggest-shake-up-in-three-decades-20230329-p5cw4t.html
    A report by the ANAO has skirted around the issue of the Coalition’s illegal practice of limiting partner visas and opposing the Migration Act, reports Abul Rizvi.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/duttons-home-affairs-covered-up-illegal-partner-visa-cap,17373
    The AIMN’s Rosseigh gets stuck into the way the Liberals are approaching the Voice.
    https://theaimn.com/the-voice-remember-when-the-liberals-were-still-deciding-whether-to-invade-iraq/
    The mining billionaire Chris Ellison, says the Albanese government must act now to help fund downstream processing of battery minerals or risk Australia becoming a lithium quarry. Ellison makes a very good point.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/mining/chris-ellison-says-australia-s-lithium-industry-at-risk-20230329-p5cwdf
    Josh Gordon reports that public service bosses have been told to hand in proposals to slash staff numbers by as much as 10 per cent, as the Andrews government gears up for a horror budget that it insists is needed to keep the state’s finances on track.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/thousands-of-public-sector-jobs-face-axe-as-state-orders-10-percent-budget-cuts-20230329-p5cwbe.html
    Nick Toscano and Mike Foley tell us that powerful investors are saying plans to develop new fossil fuel projects in Australia are already facing major challenges and doubts about their viability in a decarbonising world, even before the federal government’s introduction of tougher emissions limits later this year.
    https://www.theage.com.au/business/the-economy/new-gas-fields-in-doubt-even-without-safeguard-investors-say-20230329-p5cwb0.html
    “That mobile global risk-capital views this country as an attractive destination for profitable clean energy investments is reassuring given all the sovereign and regulatory risk hanging over the energy transition”, says the editorial in the AFR.
    https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/global-capital-s-vote-of-confidence-in-australia-s-energy-transition-20230328-p5cvy7
    The nation’s peak motoring body is urging the Coalition to engage with Labor over its plans for fuel standards and electric vehicles, rather than force the government into the hands of the Greens and David Pocock, says Phil Coorey.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/motor-lobby-urges-coalition-to-engage-on-labor-s-ev-strategy-20230328-p5cvvv
    More than a million Australians will be able to access their Medicare card in their phone anytime anywhere with a new digital version to be released today. The Albanese government will announce a digital version of the universal health pass will be added to the myGov app. In NSW it could also soon be accessible via the Service NSW app. The move will revolutionise the way people are able to access medical services as well as provide an extra layer of security. It is part of a root-and-branch overhaul of the government’s online services and particularly the myGov portal to make it more user-friendly and focused entirely on convenience and security for Australians.
    https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/nsw/medicare-card-on-your-phone-mygov-apps-digital-health-card/news-story/76620d99b2d1d52f406aa92eca6a00b0
    More than a third of Australian teachers say they intend to leave the profession before retirement, citing a punishing workload as the main reason for wanting out. Teachers reported spending more time on tasks outside the classroom, with 59 per cent putting in more than five hours a week handling parent issues, up from 49 per cent in 2020.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/more-teachers-want-out-as-student-wellbeing-and-parent-issues-add-to-workloads-20230329-p5cwf6.html
    The impasse in the Senate over the adequacy of Labor’s proposed new fund for social and affordable housing is only one part of a much greater national failure to build enough new houses, writes Jennifer Hewett.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/why-rentals-are-almost-impossible-to-find-or-afford-20230329-p5cwae
    Invoking the butterfly effect theory, Stephen Bartholomeusz tells us how the failure of a small US bank toppled a giant in Switzerland.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/the-butterfly-effect-how-the-failure-of-a-small-us-bank-toppled-a-giant-in-switzerland-20230329-p5cw6k.html
    Finance and neutrality, linchpins of Switzerland for so many years, have left it exposed like never before. Everything is going wrong at once, writes Ambrose Evans-Pritchard who declares that the era of Swiss exceptionalism are dead.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/the-era-of-swiss-exceptionalism-is-dead-20230328-p5cvta.html
    The estranged wife of John Setka has been charged with incitement to commit conspiracy to murder the Victorian construction union boss. Emma Walters, a former lawyer, was interviewed at the Spencer Street police headquarters on Wednesday over claims she asked a third party to provide a gun to shoot Setka. A nice couple, the Setkas.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/john-setka-s-estranged-wife-accused-of-plotting-to-kill-him-20230329-p5cwg7.html
    In this thoughtful contribution, Jerry Grey determines what represents the USA’s greatest threat.
    https://johnmenadue.com/the-usas-greatest-threat/
    Yesterday, Israel’s prime minister brushed aside criticism of his judicial overhaul plan from President Joe Biden, saying that the matter was an internal Israeli issue and would not be influenced by outside pressure. It was a rare bout of public disagreement between the two close allies, and reflected what has been a lukewarm relationship between the Biden administration and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s new government.
    https://www.theage.com.au/world/middle-east/not-another-star-in-the-american-flag-netanyahu-biden-tensions-bursts-into-public-view-20230330-p5cwi4.html

    Cartoon Corner

    David Rowe

    Cathy Wilcox

    Matt Golding


    Mark David

    John Shakespeare

    Andrew Dyson

    Fiona Katauskas

    Glen Le Lievre – also with a gif

    Peter Broelman

    Mark Knight

    Spooner

    From the US

















  22. Careful Jim, you’ll be drummed out of the Dismal Science fraternity if you keep up such heresy.

    ‘Rubbish’: Treasurer slams wages inflation myth

    “Some people want to pretend that we’ve got an inflation problem in our economy because the lowest-paid Australians are getting paid too much. And that is obviously absolute rubbish,” Chalmers said on RN Breakfast today.

    https://www.smh.com.au/national/australia-news-live-rba-faces-major-shake-up-unions-push-for-the-largest-minimum-wage-rise-in-decades-20230330-p5cwih.html#p54ppw

  23. Some depressing ‘deja vu’ in this article about the UK Tories. I suspect Chris Bowen would have felt right at home .
    .
    Thursday was supposed to be “green day”, when the government, forced to act by a court ruling, would unveil a new, more detailed plan for achieving net zero emissions. Instead, the occasion has been rebranded “energy security day”.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/29/uk-green-day-fossil-fuel-dirty-money-sunak-renewables

  24. Seth Meyers –

    Stephen Colbert –

    Chris Hayes –

    Lawrence O’Donnell –

    Brian Tyler Cohen –

  26. In The Grauniad…………

    ‘I see this as a global fascist moment’
    Author Jeff Sharlet on interviewing far-right Americans

    Check out the charts below and wonder no more why ‘wreck the joint’ might start looking attractive to people. The status quo sure ain’t working for them. Thanks Maggie and Ronny

  28. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    David Crowe reckons that, as Dutton flounders, Bandt is moonlighting as the real opposition leader.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/as-dutton-flounders-bandt-moonlights-as-the-real-opposition-leader-20230330-p5cwmw.html
    Josh Butler writes that the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has given the clearest details yet of how the Indigenous voice would work as the words to alter the constitution were presented to federal parliament. He also points out that Dutton was a no show for the bill’s introduction.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/30/indigenous-voice-referendum-bill-introduced-to-standing-ovation-but-peter-dutton-fails-to-show
    Australian voters have collectively risen up and overthrown practically all traces of blue from the mainland, including in five states, two territories and at the federal level, with Tasmania now the solo Lib state. It’s a significant political coup for the Australian Labor Party and a monumental rejection for the Coalition parties. It is also a proverbial finger to the Murdoch-led mainstream media obsession with all things conservative, says Michelle Pini.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/all-traces-of-liberal-blue-wiped-off-mainland,17377
    The government and Coalition have struggled to reach common ground since last year’s election, but there are hopes on both sides for an agreement on RBA reform, reports Shane Wright.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/chalmers-seeks-bipartisan-approach-to-any-rba-overhaul-20230330-p5cwqr.html
    There is a lot riding on the outcome of the Reserve Bank decision on rates next week. Already more than one-quarter of those with a home loan are at risk of mortgage stress, and this number will rise to almost one-third if April yields another rise, writes Elizabeth Knight who says borrower stress is reaching levels not seen since the GFC.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/borrower-stress-reaches-levels-not-seen-since-gfc-20230330-p5cwrc.html
    Hundreds of thousands of low-paid workers should receive ­inflation-linked pay rises, the ­Albanese government has urged, as business warns the economy risks being plunged into recession if unions succeed in their push for a 7 per cent increase for 2.6 million workers, reports The Australian’s Ewin Hannan.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/bosses-warn-granting-actu-pay-claim-risks-recession/news-story/1015af03e12dd44f155667945a0b43e3?amp
    Increasing the GST, axing negative gearing, a carbon price and land taxes? Unless we reform the system, Australia won’t be able to pay for the essentials, argues Danielle Wood. As more and more bring this up it is apparent the penny is dropping that Australia has a revenue problem.
    https://www.theage.com.au/money/tax/time-for-some-big-bang-tax-reform-and-yes-that-includes-negative-gearing-20230329-p5cwfl.html
    Michelle Grattan says, “We need more tax revenue, but don’t ask the major parties how we’ll get it”.
    https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-we-need-more-tax-revenue-but-dont-ask-the-major-parties-how-well-get-it-202954
    A tax rise on the soaring profits of gas producers looms as soon as the May federal budget, as the energy industry braces for the Albanese government to raise billions of extra dollars from the petroleum resource rent tax, says the AFR’s John Kehoe.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/labor-puts-gas-tax-rise-on-budget-agenda-20230329-p5cwbx
    A climate policy that actually cuts emissions? It’s the reality that fossil fuel bosses and News Corp commentators can’t see, says Graham Readfearn.
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/30/australia-finally-has-a-policy-that-will-cut-emissions-and-thats-a-cold-hard-fact
    Phil Coorey writes that new data compiled by Treasury shows Australia’s banks are well in excess of their capital adequacy requirements and sufficiently regulated, leaving them well-placed to keep lending and ride out global volatility in the sector.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/australian-banks-in-better-shape-now-than-before-the-gfc-chalmers-20230330-p5cwjp
    The erosion of the Medicare rebate is hitting the most vulnerable Australians hardest, with new analysis revealing almost $4bn was denied to patients in ­rebates under years of freezes. That comes on top of decades of paltry indexation that has led healthcare subsidisation to fall behind the cost of living. Mark Butler has said “nothing is off the table” in this year’s budget but is refusing to show his hand on whether the government will move to increase rebates as pressure grows to take decisive action, with the general practice sector failing to meet patients’ needs for access to doctors and affordable healthcare.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/rebate-freezes-have-ripped-38bn-out-of-medicare/news-story/bf1ff7b6ae7ab6f5a2110984c7e9e7be?amp
    Australia’s biggest polluters face a combined carbon offset bill of between $2 billion and $9 billion by 2030 under the government’s new climate policy, but major manufacturers say their lower emissions reduction target under the safeguard mechanism will spare consumers from significant flow-on costs.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/safeguard-mechanism-has-multibillion-dollar-price-tag-for-industry-20230330-p5cwmv.html
    Alan Kohler argues that Australia’s emissions reduction target is not enough. He says that if delusions and lies were solar panels, we’d be safe.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/science/environment/2023/03/30/climate-change-safeguard-alan-kohler/
    Adam Morton reports that Greens senator Nick McKim has urged Australia’s climate and environment movement to “collectively get its shit together” and adopt a model for bringing about rapid change that does not involve “sitting in Labor ministers’ offices having cups of tea”.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/31/greens-senator-nick-mckim-blasts-climate-groups-after-divisions-over-safeguard-mechanism
    Monday’s emissions pact struck by Chris Bowen and Adam Bandt has hit shares in Beetaloo Basin gas frackers Empire and Tamboran. Yet confusion reigns. Bandt says the deal has “derailed” the Beetaloo and Barossa gas projects. The frackers say it’s business as usual. Callum Foote reports.
    https://michaelwest.com.au/drowning-or-waving-will-beetaloo-gas-frackers-survive-greens-labor-safeguard-deal/
    The federal government watchdog has torn apart the Home Affairs Department’s defence of itself after a scathing audit report revealed serious deficiencies with a troubled $2.6 billion surveillance contract. Labor committee chair Julian Hill colourfully added the Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo’s arguments were a “classic diversionary tactic” from valid criticism of his department.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8141462/a-classic-diversionary-tactic-audit-committee-scraps-home-affairs-boss-defence/?cs=14329
    The barrister investigating the conduct of authorities during the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann has expressed frustration about the difficulty his inquiry has faced obtaining important police documents. “I have to finish this inquiry by the 30th of June, and I can’t do it if I don’t know when crucial documents are coming,” board of inquiry chairman Walter Sofronoff KC said at a preliminary hearing yesterday. Hark! Is that the sound of wagons circling?
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8141916/i-cant-do-it-lehrmann-inquiry-boss-laments-trouble-obtaining-crucial-documents/?cs=14329
    And Josh Gordon tells us that the Australian federal police has not handed over evidence from the investigation into the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins to an inquiry into how police handled the case. Documents published by the board of inquiry after a preliminary directions hearing yesterday reveal the AFP is yet to hand over thousands of documents to the inquiry.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/30/australian-federal-police-fails-to-hand-over-evidence-from-investigation-into-alleged-of-brittany-higgins-to-inquiry
    Paul Osborne reports that the Albanese government has announced five union-linked appointments to the industrial umpire in a bid to “restore balance”. The former Coalition government made 27 permanent appointments to the Fair Work Commission – 26 coming from an employer background. As a result, there are now 29 commission members with an employer background and nine members with a worker background.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2023/03/30/government-appoints-five-union-figures/
    Annika Smethurst reckons Dan Andrews’ secret China trip is among his most flagrant acts of arrogance.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/andrews-secret-china-trip-is-among-his-most-flagrant-acts-of-arrogance-20230330-p5cws3.html
    Royce Millar tells us that the public row between the Andrews government and former IBAC commissioner Robert Redlich has sparked concern top candidates will shy away from putting their hand up to be the anti-corruption chief.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-high-powered-500-000-a-year-job-that-no-one-wants-20230328-p5cw39.html
    An AEC form reveals Optus made questionable political “donations” after Gladys Berejiklian was appointed a senior executive to the foreign-owned telco last year. Anthony Klan reports.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/exclusive-optus-political-donations-made-under-berejiklian-sketchy,17374
    Lucy Hamilton describes Victorian Liberal MLC Moira Deeming as the pretty face of a scary ideology.
    https://theaimn.com/victorian-mlc-moira-deeming-the-pretty-face-of-a-scary-ideology/
    New obesity treatments offer hope, but can we afford them, asks John Dwyer who looks at the condition.
    https://johnmenadue.com/new-obesity-treatments-offer-hope-but-can-we-afford-them/
    Plans are under way to develop Australia’s first ethanol biofuel refinery to produce sustainable aviation fuel under a new partnership between Qantas, Airbus and the Queensland government, reports Amelia Maguire.
    https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/plans-are-taking-off-for-australia-s-first-green-jet-fuel-refinery-20230330-p5cwly.html
    “I loved the US. Now, I wouldn’t take a Green Card if it came with a bag of cash and a date with George Clooney”, writes Kerri Sackville who says, “America, like Bill Cosby, has become a fallen hero”. A good read.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/america-like-bill-cosby-has-become-a-fallen-hero-20230329-p5cwfv.html
    Israel hasn’t been a democracy for a long time. Now, Israelis need to face this fact, says Joshua Leifer.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/30/israel-hasnt-been-a-democracy-for-a-long-time-now-israelis-need-to-face-this-fact

    Cartoon Corner

    David Rowe

    Cathy Wilcox

    Jim Pavlidis

    Marija Ercegovac

    Matt Golding




    John Shakespeare

    Peter Broelman

    Simon Letch

    Mark Knight

    Leak

    From the US















  32. I need to pay more attention to Senate Estimates.

    Santos whistleblower exposes cover-up of huge oil spill and dead dolphins
    https://www.echo.net.au/2023/02/santos-whistleblower-exposes-cover-up-of-huge-oil-spill-and-dead-dolphins/

    Not a word of this was reported in the MSM, although The Guardian gave a whole article about it.
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/16/santos-whistleblower-accuses-company-of-covering-up-extent-of-australian-oil-spill-that-killed-dolphins

  35. Good morning Dawn Patrollers

    Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is leading the most purposeful and unified government of any since Hawke in 1983, writes Peter Hartcher who describes it as “a government of grown-ups.” This is a really good read.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/a-government-of-grown-ups-how-albanese-s-making-it-look-easy-20230330-p5cwpf.html
    Shane Wright says that strong tax collections from workers and businesses are improving the budget, but calls are growing for tax reform to save the nation’s finances.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/budget-20-billion-boost-as-calls-grow-for-tax-reform-20230331-p5cwyg.html
    And Laura Tingle adds to this, writing, “With Australia facing unprecedented economic challenges, we need a courageous reset in our federal budget discussion”.
    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-01/australia-budget-2023-economic-challenge-reset-budget-discussion/102169856
    Both major parties are predicting a tight result in the crucial Aston byelection, with Labor’s hope of a history-making win hinging on whether it can convince apathetic voters to turn up to polling booths on Saturday, writes Annika Smethurst who says the battle in Aston is just getting voters to bother turning up.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/the-battle-in-aston-is-just-getting-voters-to-bother-turning-up-20230331-p5cx0t.html
    Peter Dutton faces his first real test at the ballot box as Liberal leader in the Aston byelection. He is bracing for the worst while hoping he is saved by the century-long precedent of oppositions never losing seats to governments in these contests, writes Paul Bongiorno.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2023/04/01/dutton-sweating-aston-byelection-result
    A key player in helping Paul Keating roll Bob Hawke, Stephen Smith now has a major role to play in AUKUS as Australia’s high commissioner to London, explain Rob Harris and Latika Bourke. “The PM gave me a one word brief,” Smith, whose voice is somewhat scratchy as he recovers from a nasty bout of COVID, said in London this week. “Security.”
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/a-one-word-brief-albanese-s-to-the-point-call-with-our-top-man-in-london-20230331-p5cwzd.html
    The closer you looked at Canberra this week, the uglier it got – especially MPs’ behaviour, declares Paul Karp.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/01/the-closer-you-looked-at-canberra-this-week-the-uglier-it-got-especially-mps-behaviour
    Jordan Baker reports that the frontrunner for a hotly contested Liberal Party Senate vacancy has ruled himself out, leaving former NSW transport minister and moderate Andrew Constance as the favourite for a seat usually considered the property of party conservatives.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/frontrunner-for-molan-senate-vacancy-withdraws-saying-seat-doesn-t-need-to-go-to-a-woman-20230331-p5cx4e.html
    Madonna King tells us what NSW Premier Chris Minns must do next.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/2023/03/31/madonna-king-chris-minns-mobile-phone-ban-schools/
    Greg Sheridan says that conservatives are failing dismally worldwide and in Australia. He writes, “In Australia, conservatives hold office neither nationally nor in any mainland state or territory. Worse, they seem intellectually and politically exhausted, and don’t look as if they’re on the brink of posing a serious electoral challenge in any jurisdiction. Peter Dutton is a substantial politician but he is miles behind Anthony Albanese. Most Coalition state leaders are anonymous and ineffective.”
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/conservatives-fail-dismally-worldwide-and-in-australia/news-story/df92723e8b3275fc757aa231d27956a1?amp
    “Glitch or death spiral: can the Liberal party brand be revived?” headlines this extensive examination by Tory Shepherd and Anne Davies.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/apr/01/australian-liberal-party-caught-between-glitch-and-death-spiral
    As the NSW Liberal Party reels from its loss last weekend, party insiders worry the debate is being framed in a way that will push them to the right and further from electability, writes Mike Seccombe.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2023/04/01/hes-not-bambi-how-the-liberals-lost-nsw
    Peter van Onselen says that the cost-of-living woes pose a political catch-22 for Albanese.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/costofliving-woes-pose-a-political-catch22/news-story/943316e1edf75452190eeabf4678a85b?amp
    Richard Dennis lays out what the safeguard means for the climate wars.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2023/04/01/what-the-safeguard-means-the-climate-wars
    Criticised as an unreliable and inadequate source of funding, the government’s $10 billion housing initiative has stalled in the senate, in what has become a test of one of the Greens’ rising stars. Karen Middleton looks at what’s next for Labor’s housing future fund bill.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2023/04/01/whats-next-labors-housing-future-fund-bill
    You don’t need to look very far to get a sense that there could be some dangerous structural cracks forming for the building sector, says Josh Gordon in the wake of another company collapse.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/when-a-respected-builder-goes-under-economic-alarm-bells-start-to-ring-20230331-p5cx2e.html
    Meanwhile, a large construction firm specialising in building schools and other government infrastructure is in administration, the second firm within 24 hours to collapse as mounting pressures in Australia’s building industry reach a crisis point.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/school-builder-lloyd-group-slumps-into-administration-dozens-of-projects-affected-20230331-p5cx1f.html
    The global drift towards a recession with entrenched inflation was quite enough for central banks and governments to grapple with. Now add to that concerns about the stability of the financial system, says John Hewson who examines the stability of our banking system.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2023/04/01/how-stable-our-banking-system
    Ross Gittins writes that it’s easier to improve productivity in some industries than others. In particular, industries that produce goods – on farms, in mines and in factories – can, and have, hugely increase their productivity by mechanising and computerising. Same in utilities, transport and communications. Unfortunately, a very large part of our economy is in the services and care sector where productivity gains are much harder to achieve.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/we-re-stuck-in-the-slow-lane-and-may-never-get-out-20230330-p5cwvo.html
    Trailing Kim Beazley in the polls and under fire over the GST, John Howard needed a byelection win in Victoria. He got it – but there was a price to be paid, explains Tony Wright.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/locked-out-of-home-ownership-thank-john-howard-and-the-seat-of-aston-20230329-p5cwgd.html
    According to the AFR, China has backed Japanese alarm that Australia is slowly abandoning LNG exports, saying it is a “major issue” as the Albanese government weighs up crimping foreign gas sales and saddles the sector with tough new emissions reduction measures.
    https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/china-japan-united-on-australian-gas-export-fears-20230331-p5cx2p
    Angel Macdonald-Smith writes that Queensland’s LNG producers will know within two weeks whether Resources Minister Madeleine King will kick off the process to curb exports this year after toughened rules came into effect. The rules are aimed at heading off gas shortages for east coast buyers.
    https://www.afr.com/companies/energy/lng-exporters-on-tenterhooks-pending-trigger-decision-20230331-p5cwzs
    News Corp has become the unofficial mouthpiece of the ‘No’ campaign against the Voice to Parliament, although its editors say they are just reporting both sides. Paddy Manning explains how News Corp is framing it.
    https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2023/04/01/how-news-corp-framing-the-no-case
    The SMH editorial declares that Mark Latham is not fit to remain in parliament.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/mark-latham-is-not-fit-to-remain-in-parliament-20230331-p5cx0q.html
    But Lucy Cormack tells us that the NSW parliament is powerless to condemn Latham over his offensive comments.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-parliament-powerless-to-condemn-latham-over-offensive-comments-20230331-p5cx1v.html
    It wouldn’t be a complete Saturday morning without a whinge from dear old Gerard. This time it’s about Ms Deeming and her treatment by the ABC.
    https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/pesuttos-wronged-target-moira-deeming-exposes-liberal-leadership-malaise/news-story/67bbf9321d9747d82d91ed33ee8b11cb?amp
    Social media is hurting teens, but no one is doing anything about it, bemoans Jacqui Maley.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/social-media-is-hurting-teens-but-no-one-is-doing-anything-about-it-20230331-p5cx3i.html
    Working with the steelmaker Molycop, scientists from the University of NSW have commercialised a process that replaces coking coal with rubber from used tyres, dramatically reducing the amount greenhouse gasses emitted per tonne of steel produced. Nick O’Malley tells us how, with the process proved, Molycop is in talks to license the technology to a world desperate to clean up steelmaking as it grapples with global warming.
    https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/in-a-world-desperate-to-go-green-nsw-steel-town-is-providing-a-solution-20230330-p5cwl4.html
    In Amanda Meade’s weekly media roundup, we see, “Barack Obama’s views on world affairs, including the Chinese president, Xi Jingping, his successor, Donald Trump, and Russia’s war on Ukraine, were widely published by Rupert Murdoch’s Australian newspapers this week. But when Obama took aim at the Murdoch empire for creating polarisation in western society and for making people “angry and resentful” his editors gave the comments a wide berth.”
    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/mar/31/news-corp-gives-barack-obamas-swipe-on-splintering-murdoch-media-a-wide-berth
    Sumeyya Ilanbey and Matthew Knott write about how Daniel Andrews pulled off a China trip shrouded in mystery.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/how-daniel-andrews-pulled-off-a-china-trip-shrouded-in-mystery-20230331-p5cwyr.html
    If the Australian Public Service and its satellite institutions were to last a thousand years, people will still say “The Robodebt was one of its most dismal hours”, says Paddy Gourley.
    https://johnmenadue.com/robodebt-and-the-aps/
    The Department of Agriculture is projecting a $60 million deficit this financial year, after the agency revealed it was slashing contractors, travel and training. Department officials told the Joint Public Accounts and Audit Committee the deficit for its biosecurity and export activities, which are intended to be cost recovered, was expected to reach $60.13 million in the 2022-23 financial year.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8143391/the-departments-broke-agricultures-massive-deficit/?cs=14329
    Two prominent New South Wales irrigators have been ordered to pay more than $500,000 in fines and legal costs for illegally taking almost 2bn litres of water from the Barwon-Darling River system in 2016. Cotton farmers Peter and Jane Harris were fined $60,000 in a judgment handed down by the land and environment court on Tuesday for taking 1,896.17 megalitres from the Barwon River, at the head of the Darling River, between 22 and 27 June 2016 in contravention of the conditions of the relevant water licence.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/mar/31/prominent-nsw-irrigators-fined-60000-for-breaching-water-licence-conditions
    The spirits of Australia will be flowing liberally tonight when Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce and chair Richard Goyder wine and dine 1200 corporate elites and titanium frequent flyers at the airline’s belated 100th birthday bash. Michael Sainsbury reports and checks out the race to succeed Joyce.
    https://michaelwest.com.au/spirits-of-australia-soothe-pandemic-hangover-as-alan-joyce-hosts-hangar-party-for-qantas-100th/
    High-profile journalist Laura Tingle has been voted in as the staff-elected director of the public broadcaster’s board. Tingle beat ABC business journalist Daniel Ziffer by 30 final votes out of the 2073 ballots cast by staff. The 7.30 chief political correspondent will be appointed to the board on May 1.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/laura-tingle-to-join-abc-board-after-winning-staff-vote-20230331-p5cx72.html
    Some of Sydney’s most sought-after private schools are operating with hundreds more students than enrolment caps allow, with multiple high-fee colleges breaching strict limits on how many pupils can be educated at the schools. So, what’s going to happen about it?
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-private-schools-breach-enrolment-caps-by-hundreds-of-students-20230328-p5cw2r.html
    Donald Trump and his legal team were preparing for the unprecedented spectacle of an appearance in court on Tuesday of a former US president facing criminal charges. The indictment of Trump remained under court seal on Friday, with details of the charges awaited.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/31/trump-appear-court-new-york-tuesday-criminal-charges
    Donald Trump has been indicted for hush money payments to a porn star. The betting now involves how many more times he may be indicted in coming months, writes Bill Wyman who wonders if we are watching the dying days of Trump’s shambolic dynasty.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/are-we-watching-the-dying-days-of-trump-s-shambolic-dynasty-20230331-p5cx0l.html
    Farrah Tomazin says we underestimate Trump at our own peril.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/underestimate-trump-at-your-own-peril-20230321-p5cu4m.html
    In Ukraine, Moscow is pursuing an unprovoked war of aggression. In The Hague, Vladimir Putin is facing an arrest warrant for war crimes. But at the UN, Russia is about to take charge of a powerful international body, the security council. How absurd!
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/mar/31/absurdity-to-a-new-level-as-russia-takes-charge-of-un-security-council
    Netanyahu is leading a coup against his own country. But the threat is not only to Israel, explains Jonathan Freedland.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/31/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-northern-ireland-palestine
    Vandalism and assaults targeting Christians and Christian institutions in Jerusalem have risen sharply since the beginning of the year, something leaders of churches in the city link to the tone of the new government.
    https://johnmenadue.com/anti-christian-hate-crimes-in-jerusalem-soaring-this-year/

    Cartoon Corner

    Alan Moir

    David Rowe

    Andrew Dyson

    Matt Golding


    Jon Kudelka

    John Shakespeare

    Jim Pavlidis

    Joe Benke

    Peter Broelman

    Simon Letch

    Glen Le Lievre (including a gif)


    Mark Knight

    Leak

    From the US


















  36. Bill Maher – (new rules 46:45)

    Chris Hayes –

    Rachel Maddow –

    Lawrence O’Donnell –

    Brian Tyler Cohen –

  37. Today is the birthday of my husband Arthur who died in 2011. English by birth, I am posting this as a tribute. He emigrated here for the warmer climate, as he suffered chest infections every English winter. He loved Australia but remained staunchly English when test cricket was played.

    A former Royal Navy sailor.

    And a Manchester United fan for life.

    And a tot of rum from The Pub to you, Arthur.

  39. @PTMD

    My best wishes to the memory of your husband. I’m sorry to hear that he’s no longer with us, but may his memory exist forever.

  40. With over 30% of the vote counted, so far it looks very likely that Labor will win the Aston by-election. On the Primary vote, Labor is up 8% and the Liberals are down 7%. Labor are leading in Primary votes, with the Greens on 12%. That makes it very unlikely that the Liberals will win.

    If that holds, it’s a fantastic result for Labor. But of course, after the experience of the NSW election, I’m waiting for more results to be certain about it flipping.

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