I thought it might be best to create an open thread to discuss the Federal Labor Albanese/Chalmers Government’s first budget. It’ll be aired live on TV (and relevant online TV streams) at 7:30pm AEST, 7:00pm ACST and 5:30pm AWST tonight on 9 May.
Feel free to post your thoughts about it and other matters.
THE PUB 
The Albanese Govt at 12 Months: Poll Report
Kos Samaras is Redbridge’s Director of Strategy and Analytics
https://redbridgeintel.substack.com/p/the-albanese-govt-at-12-months-poll
There will be referrals from the RoboDebt RC to the NACC.
Who do you have on your bingo card?
An excellent title .
.
Henry Kissinger, War Criminal—Still at Large at 100
We now know a great deal about the crimes he committed while in office, from helping Nixon derail the Paris Peace Talks and prolong the Vietnam War to green-lighting the invasion of Cambodia and Pinochet’s coup in Chile. But we know little about his four decades with Kissinger Associates.
Henry Kissinger should have gone down with the rest of them: Haldeman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell, Dean, and Nixon. His fingerprints were all over Watergate. ………………….
https://www.thenation.com/article/world/kissinger-100-crimes-watergate/?custno=&utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=5.19.2023%20Weekly&utm_content=B&utm_term=weekly
Chris Hayes –
Ali Velshi –
Brian Tyler Cohen –
I’ve just been down the youtube rabbit hole and thought I’d share a couple of tracks I heard –
The geetar has it!
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
One year in, Anthony Albanese is betting big on Australia’s better angels, writes Katherine Murphy.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/19/one-year-in-anthony-albanese-is-betting-big-on-australias-better-angels
Osman Faruqi gives us something to think about over Stan Grant’s resignation.
https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/stan-grant-s-forced-exile-should-be-a-wake-up-call-for-australia-the-media-20230519-p5d9u3.htm
George Megalogenis examines where the Voice referendum build-up is going.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/yes-no-wait-sport-comes-off-the-bench-to-boost-voice-vote-20230518-p5d9bz.html
Anthony Galloway writes that nine out of ten new jobs in Australia over the past year were in occupations that typically require a qualification, which has prompted cabinet minister Brendan O’Connor to warn that Australia needs to invest more in education and training to boost the skilled workforce.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/energy-defence-medicines-how-australia-can-prepare-for-jobs-of-the-future-20230519-p5d9n8.html
Maddie Hollis writes that architects are saying they were once a byword for poor design but prefabricated houses can be green, fast, affordable – and pretty. She tells us Dimensions X, which launches this month and starts building in July, aims to create large, design-led homes with a small environmental footprint (they will rely on solar, water collection and battery) that the founders say will last well into the future. The prefab homes are customisable to each client and can be built in a matter of weeks. Dimensions X say more than 7,000 people have registered interest.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/21/could-prefab-homes-be-future-australian-house-houses
Michael Pascoe tells us why we might never see that ‘wage growth’ we hear about.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2023/05/20/michael-pascoe-wage-growth-australia/
NSW police commissioner says she won’t watch video of Clare Nowland, 95, being Tasered. Sounds a bit like a man not going in for a prostate examination, being afraid of what he might be told.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/20/nsw-police-commissioner-says-she-wont-watch-video-of-clare-nowland-95-being-tasered
Joe Biden has pledged to ramp up American investment in Australian defence manufacturing and critical minerals as he met with Anthony Albanese and the leaders of Japan and India to address China’s growing military power, reports Michael Smith.
https://www.afr.com/world/asia/quad-leaders-meet-biden-signs-australian-defence-deal-20230520-p5d9wd
Much needless fuss has been generated by President Joe Biden’s cancellation of his visit to Australia for the Quad meeting, a now regular gathering of leaders from the US, Japan, India and Australia. He had other things on his mind: dealing with fractious debt ceiling negotiations taking place back in the United States, writes Binoy Kampmark.
https://theaimn.com/fears-of-abandonment-australia-biden-and-cancelling-the-quad-visit/
According to Josh Gordon and Chip Le Grand, the Andrews government will detail a $31.5 billion “COVID-19 Debt Repayment Plan” as part of Tuesday’s state budget, to repay emergency funds borrowed as part of Victoria’s protracted pandemic response.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/victorians-slapped-with-covid-debt-repayment-bill-20230520-p5d9vt.html
A defecting CSIRO scientist has labelled the agency an “extravagant consulting company” due to its involvement in a controversial deep sea mining project. Suzanne Arnold reports.
https://michaelwest.com.au/scientist-defects-as-csiro-is-co-opted-in-controversial-deep-sea-mining-venture/
Cuts to Australia’s public service and the federal government’s growing dependency on private consultants have not only wasted billions of taxpayer dollars. They have undermined the public service and the integrity of government decisions, declares the SMH editorial which says the restoration of independence is essential to the public service.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/workplace/restoration-of-independence-is-essential-to-public-service-20230519-p5d9q4.html
Brexit has wrecked Britain’s car industry, but so have the Tories, argues Phillip Inman.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/20/brexit-has-wrecked-britains-car-industry-but-so-have-the-tories
Cartoon Corner
Matt Golding
Matt Davidson
Peter Broelman
Reg Lynch
From the US
James O’Brien –
Brian Tyler Cohen –
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/21/rewards-of-failure-jobs-for-osborne-fawning-coverage-truss-moat-for-johnson
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
“If you think getting inflation down is our one big economic worry, you have a cockeyed view of economic success”, says Ross Gittins who says that unless we can get it under control without returning to the 5 to 6 per cent unemployment rate we lived with in recent decades, we’ll have lost our one great gain from the travails of pandemic: our return to full employment.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/our-big-risk-fix-inflation-but-kiss-goodbye-to-full-employment-20230521-p5d9yo.html
The Victorian Liberal Party is facing a demographic time bomb that it cannot tackle unless it overcomes its “cultural cancer” of disunity and scrutinises why the party’s brand is so trashed among young voters, the party’s state president has said. Sumeyya Ilanbey tells us that his scathing assessment at the party’s state council meeting in Bendigo on Sunday drew applause from the floor, a day after some Liberal members booed and heckled Opposition Leader John Pesutto over the expulsion of rebel MP Moira Deeming from the parliamentary team.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/cultural-cancer-victorian-liberal-president-warns-of-demographic-time-bomb-20230521-p5da07.html
The challenge for Peter Dutton is to be honest with Australians about the condition of the nation and still get elected, rather than blamed, says John Roskam.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/the-liberals-need-a-truth-telling-game-plan-20230516-p5d8rb
The AFR tells us that Australian mining and energy companies could get expanded access to billions of dollars worth of subsidies from US President Joe Biden’s signature Inflation Reduction Act, under deals to grant special status to the country’s defence manufacturing and critical minerals industries.
https://www.afr.com/world/asia/g7-condemns-economic-coercion-in-veiled-dig-at-china-20230521-p5d9zw
The building and mining industries will wage war against the Albanese government if it bends to union pressure and captures self-employed tradies, truckies and engineers under its second wave of industrial relations reforms, writes Geoff Chambers.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/builders-miners-unite-for-war-with-albanese-government-over-industrial-relations/news-story/491587d550bf4049bc5931cbf492ac26?amp
Australia’s big supermarket chains persistently increased their margins on their food businesses throughout the pandemic and cost-of-living crisis, with critics arguing the pricing decisions are evidence of inflationary profiteering.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/22/australias-big-supermarkets-increased-profit-margins-through-pandemic-and-cost-of-living-crisis-analysis-reveals
Michael McGowan reports that the NSW government will introduce legislation ending the state’s short-lived optional land tax for first home buyers when parliament resumes this week, setting up the first major fight of the new term as it seeks to repeal one of former Coalition premier Dominic Perrottet’s flagship reforms.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/perrottet-s-flagship-land-tax-to-go-as-minns-introduces-stamp-duty-reform-20230521-p5da1j.html
Sean Kelly says that Stan Grant’s monarchy truth bombs were perfectly timed.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/stan-grant-s-monarchy-truth-bombs-were-perfectly-timed-if-not-now-then-when-20230518-p5d9dd.html
Stuart Littlemore and David Salter wonder if the ABC threw Stan Grant under the bus.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/did-the-abc-throw-stan-grant-under-the-bus-it-s-a-matter-of-opinion-20230521-p5da0b.html
Meanwhile, Nick Bonyhady reports that ABC managing director David Anderson has apologised to journalist Stan Grant after the Q+A presenter quit the show and said he felt the broadcaster abandoned him to face persistent racist attacks alone.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/indigenous-broadcaster-abandons-twitter-after-stan-grant-calls-out-abuse-20230521-p5da1b.html
James Ayres reports that Buy now, pay later will be regulated under credit laws and companies in the sector will have to determine that products are suitable for their users under responsible lending obligations, Financial Services Minister Stephen Jones will say in a speech today.
https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/buy-now-pay-later-to-be-regulated-as-credit-20230521-p5d9zs
The big four consulting firms have increased their federal business by 400 per cent over a decade while donating steadily to the major political parties that shape big decisions on government projects, report David Crowe and Matthew Knott.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/big-four-consultancies-win-1-4-billion-a-year-in-taxpayer-funded-contracts-20230521-p5d9za.html
Parliament is the only hope to unmask partners and clients involved in the tax leaks scandal. The AFR’s Nick Chenoweth explains how it could happen.
https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/the-senate-s-path-to-unmasking-pwc-partners-20230519-p5d9st
In the 1980s, then Prime Minister Bob Hawke told us we should try to become the clever country. Instead, we have become the stupid country. We now have the trade pattern of a poor developing nation. It is obvious that the decade of Coalition government has moved us away from that goal, giving us instead a country that is less caring, less fair, less focussed on community and less able to respond to accelerating climate change, laments Ian Lowe.
https://johnmenadue.com/australia-the-clever-country/
University professors have railed against the rising corporatisation of Australia’s universities. Mass redundancies, lack of accountability and diminishing quality of eduction are just some of the issues, as vice-chancellors turn the focus to the gigantic market for Indian students. Michael Sainsbury reports.
https://michaelwest.com.au/professors-rebuke-uni-bosses-for-profit-obsession-foreign-students-sagging-standards/
NineFax thinks the internal probe into how grandmother Clare Nowland was Tasered will join a long list of unfinished internal investigations by police.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-government-refuses-to-back-calls-for-release-of-taser-investigation-20230521-p5da16.html
We’ve become a bystander in the Ukraine war, and China will notice, opines Mick Ryan.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/we-ve-become-a-bystander-in-the-ukraine-war-and-china-will-notice-20230518-p5d9de.html
Alan Kohler writes that the debt ceiling was increased or suspended three times during Trump’s presidency without a peep from either side of politics in Congress. Now the Republicans are threatening to force America to default on its debt if there isn’t a crackdown on welfare for the poor.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/us-news/2023/05/22/america-us-debt-alan-kohler/
China is rising. America is in decline. It is a statement of fact, writes William Briggs.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/quality-of-life-in-us-in-freefall-chinas-rising,17533
Cartoon Corner
David Rowe
Peter Broelman
Jim Pavlidis
Badiucao
Spooner
From the US
friendlyjordies –
F.M https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/22/the-voice-as-i-a-white-person-understand-it
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
This adieu from Stan Grant is well worth watching.
https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/may/22/stan-grant-qa-presenter-cites-poison-of-the-media-as-he-steps-away-from-abc-show
Stan Grant’s treatment is a failure of ABC’s leadership, mass media, and debate in this country, declares Denis Muller.
https://theconversation.com/stan-grants-treatment-is-a-failure-of-abcs-leadership-mass-media-and-debate-in-this-country-206080
Nick McKenzie and David Crowe dish out some more dirt on Stuart Robert.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-case-of-stuart-robert-and-a-gold-coast-street-light-contract-20230518-p5d9di.html
Shane Wright tells us about the analysis by UBS economists which shows food inflation is running at 9.6 per cent, well above the overall inflation rate of 7 per cent, with the shelf prices for goods such as Vegemite up 8 per cent, Bega peanut butter up 9 per cent and some types of yoghurt up 12 per cent.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/not-happy-little-vegemites-food-prices-rising-faster-than-inflation-20230522-p5da9w.html
Bitter divisions over the Voice to parliament have descended into a feud over whether the proposal will unite or “re-racialise” Australia, with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton denouncing it as a regressive and radical threat to Australia’s democracy.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/dutton-claims-voice-will-racialise-the-country-as-burney-condemns-disinformation-20230522-p5dab4.html
Paul Bongiorno says that the racial hatred directed at Stan Grant provides even more reason for the Voice to succeed.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2023/05/23/paul-bongiorno-stan-grant-voice/
Karen Barlow explains how Liberal MP Bridget Archer has ripped apart opposition arguments against the proposed Indigenous Voice to Parliament, rejecting that it will divide the country by race and saying support for constitutional recognition and the Voice are intrinsically linked.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8205279/bridget-archer-rips-apart-all-opposition-arguments-against-the-voice/?cs=14329
Every Australian who has sweated over a grant for a modest sum, or who pays taxes and thinks they should get value for money, must be asking questions about a huge swindle that has been growing over the past two decades under our noses. One thing is certain: our parliament needs to act, writes Senator Barbara Pocock after the PwC effort.
https://johnmenadue.com/outrage-is-appropriate-the-role-of-big-consultants-in-australian-government/
The crisis in which PricewaterhouseCoopers finds itself is a useful illustration that the problem of politicians and bureaucrats becoming lobbyists, and of the revolving door syndrome are far from the only ones besetting integrity in public administration. The widespread use of supposedly independent consultants, many with deep and intractable conflicts of interest, is undermining good government, and costing taxpayers extra billions they should not have to be paying, writes Jack Waterford who tells us how PwC monetises its secrets.
https://johnmenadue.com/how-pwc-monetises-its-insider-secrets/
The head of the inquiry into the ACT police investigation of rape allegations against Bruce Lehrmann condemned reporting by the Australian as pointless and a risk to “interfering with the course of [the] inquiry”. In a significantly delayed opening to Monday’s hearings, former Queensland solicitor general Walter Sofronoff KC said the publication of a photo taken of the ACT director of public prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, as he stood in the driveway of his Canberra home appeared entirely unjustified. Sofronoff said he had written to the editor of the newspaper for an explanation.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/22/photo-on-the-australian-newspaper-front-page-risks-interfering-head-of-bruce-lehrmann-inquiry-says
At least 23 aged-care homes have shut their doors since September last year as the sector grapples with Labor’s stringent reforms, including 24/7 mandatory registered nurses and minimum care requirements.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/aged-care-homes-buckle-under-labors-tough-rules/news-story/36568431c541e242d1464752cb5f41c6?amp
The government has acknowledged its planned crackdown on the use of labour hire aimed to drive up wage costs, after BHP complained the policy would cost it $1.3 billion a year and threaten “serious damage to every level of the Australian economy”, reports Phil Coorey.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/bhp-is-right-to-fear-1-3b-hit-from-workplace-rules-20230522-p5da6g
A taxpayer-funded employability course is under fire after jobseekers complained that much of the compulsory training involved being shown irrelevant, inappropriate and, at-times, bizarre YouTube videos. Under contracts signed by the Coalition last year, the federal government will pay private providers about $300m over five years to run Employability Skills Training courses as part of the commonwealth’s $7bn Workforce Australia program.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jul/27/workforce-australia-job-agencies-rake-in-millions-more-from-training-contracts
A hole in federal law over the ownership of lobbying firms has led to a mystery surrounding three firms that contributed to the defeat of the NSW Liberal Government. Anthony Klan tells us about the case of Dylan Whitelaw, one of the so-called “NSW Reformers”, who hid from an upper house inquiry earlier this year, has exposed massive flaws in NSW Government political lobbying laws.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/legal-loophole-a-factor-in-nsw-liberals-downfall-exclusive,17535
Victorians are expected to face new tax measures and lengthy infrastructure delays as Treasurer Tim Pallas begins the task of repairing the state’s finances and paying down skyrocketing debt. Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan warned on Monday that the “time had come” to start balancing the books, with the government vowing to deliver a $1 billion surplus within three years – $100 million higher than forecast in the pre-election budget. The figure is predicted to grow to $1.2 billion in the year after.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/victorian-budget-set-to-include-new-taxes-and-a-1b-surplus-within-three-years-20230522-p5da8a.html
The police officer who Tasered a 95-year-old great-grandmother once unlawfully detained a suspect during an encounter in which his shift partner allegedly threatened to break the man’s legs. The 2020 incident earned a rebuke from a “horrified” Canberra magistrate who said the conduct of the two officers was “outrageous” and “unprofessional”.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-police-officer-who-tasered-95-year-old-once-detained-and-recorded-a-man-illegally-court-20230522-p5dadu.html
NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb has stood by her decision to approve a media release that omitted the fact that 95-year-old Clare Nowland was Tasered by an officer in a nursing home. The first statement declaring the critical incident on Wednesday said the 95-year-old “sustained injuries during an interaction with police at an aged care facility in the state’s south today”. From a PR point of view, this is not shaping up too well for the police.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/top-cop-approved-statement-omitting-police-use-of-taser-on-95-year-old-grandmother-20230522-p5da57.html
The SMH editorial says that the Police commissioner has been caught in her own Webb.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/police-commissioner-caught-in-her-own-webb-20230522-p5daco.html
Matt O’Sullivan outlines the reasons Sydney’s rail network is set to worsen in the future.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/the-reasons-sydney-s-rail-network-is-set-to-worsen-in-the-future-20230518-p5d9cc.html
Transphobia has reached dangerous new levels as online voices are speaking out against the right for trans people to even exist, writes Dr Victoria Fielding.
https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/debate-over-trans-peoples-right-to-exist-fuelling-hatred,17536
Victorian state school cleaning contracts are being reviewed amid a flood of complaints from principals about poor standards. But cleaners say they don’t get enough time and aren’t paid properly.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/dirty-classrooms-upset-cleaners-school-cleaning-under-review-20230521-p5da01.html
The world’s seven most industrialised countries have sent both Russia and China a clear message of their solidarity and resolve, writes Lavina Lee about the minutes from the G7 meeting.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-g7-minutes-make-grim-reading-for-china-and-russia-20230521-p5da3e.html
Numerous police officers lured to new jobs in Florida with cash from Governor Ron DeSantis’s flagship law enforcement relocation program have histories of excessive violence or have been arrested for crimes including kidnapping and murder since signing up, a study of state documents has found. America is f****d!
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/22/ron-desantis-police-relocation-violent-records
Cartoon Corner
David Rowe
David Pope
Matt Golding
Fiona Katauskas
Andrew Dyson
Spooner
From the US
Gosh , I wonder how this all started. oh yeah, that’s right…
The pollies pushing their privatisation bandwagons have much to answer for.
There is a a bit of a pattern re privatisation and “service” and ‘profits’ .
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/the-revolving-door-inside-our-aged-care-sector,14231
https://hellocare.com.au/road-ruin-two-decades-government-mismanagement-devastated-australias-aged-care-system/
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/may/30/we-are-just-money-to-them-why-australias-broken-privatised-job-search-system-needs-to-be-fixed
Interestingly the door was kicked open in Aus, NZ and the UK by Labor/Labour governments, all of whom of course received ‘rock star’ coverage from the Rupertariat. The ‘tories’ of course rushed though the open door with enthusiasm.
Thank heavens! Now for the other states to catch up.
Axe falls on Victorian native forest logging
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/axe-falls-on-native-forest-logging-20230523-p5dahd.html
Chris Hayes –
Rachel Maddow –
Lawrence O’Donnell –
Brian Tyler Cohen –
We are being ripped off in a huge way. Let’s not forget the subs we are going to buy are 2nd-hand.
The Canadians probably brought submarines for the actual defence of Canada whereas our spineless forelock tuggers purchased submarines that are essentially for projection of US power.
An excellent point.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
“Will Jim Chalmers’ budget drive up inflation? Not likely – and here’s why”, explains Peter Martin.
https://theconversation.com/will-jim-chalmers-budget-drive-up-inflation-not-likely-and-heres-why-206171
David Crowe and Nick McKenzie tell us that some former judges believe the new federal integrity watchdog should investigate former cabinet minister Stuart Robert after months of revelations about his help for consultants who sought lucrative deals with federal agencies.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/stuart-robert-should-face-anti-corruption-watchdog-experts-say-20230523-p5daki.html
And James Roberston reckons that, with the Robodebt report looming, Dutton is preparing for long nights before the poll in Fadden.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/politics/2023/05/23/dutton-liberal-leadership-poll/
In the long and lamentable competition for interpreting George Orwell’s sayings from Animal Farm to mean the opposite of what he intended, Dutton is awarded Animal Hero First Class, writes Dennis Glover who concludes by saying Dutton is attempting to undermine the coming vote, and in claiming to be fighting for equality, he’s trying to perpetuate its opposite in a desperate bid to hang on to power. Just the sort of thing the pigs might have done.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/if-dutton-thinks-orwell-s-animals-would-oppose-the-voice-then-pigs-can-fly-20230523-p5daic.html
Ross Gittins reckons it’s time we found out if we can become a caring economy.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/big-change-to-our-economy-will-come-at-a-cost-but-only-if-we-care-20230523-p5dago.html
With taxes up and debt rising, Victoria’s finances are teetering above an abyss, writes Josh Gordon.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/taxes-up-debt-rising-victoria-s-finances-are-teetering-above-an-abyss-20230522-p5dacg.html
The AFR’s editorial says that this Victorian budget could have made a down payment on serious fiscal repair. But once again the government has chosen to raid businesses rather than work out how to make the state’s pie grow.
https://www.afr.com/politics/andrews-sticks-business-with-the-covid-19-bill-20230522-p5da5g
According to the AFR, business and property investors are outraged by $8.6 billion in “temporary” levies imposed by the Andrews government in an attempt to curb surging state debt, and they warn that the decade of extra taxes will hit jobs and investment, and exacerbate the rental crisis.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/victoria-s-8-6b-tax-slug-on-big-business-landowners-20230522-p5dafb
The author of a seminal book on the big four accounting firms says the PwC scandal should prompt regulators to rethink their “too big to fail” view of the businesses.
https://www.afr.com/chanticleer/the-structural-problem-inside-pwc-and-the-rest-of-the-big-four-20230523-p5dak8
PricewaterhouseCoopers was warned for using confidential information gleaned from meetings with senior executives at the agriculture department to make unsolicited proposals for more work. Gabrielle Chan writes that the incident was revealed in the auditor general’s report into the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, which found that PwC suggested work based on information disclosed at the meetings, which it had access to as a strategic partner of the department.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/24/pwc-warned-for-using-confidential-information-to-suggest-more-work-for-australian-agriculture-department
Whether it was considered or merely convenient, US President Joe Biden has called the compact on climate change and clean energy the “third pillar” of the Australia-US alliance – a gift to Anthony Albanese but riddled with unresolved challenges arising from the transformation of US global policy, writes Paul Kelly.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/pm-hitches-renewables-dream-to-third-pillar/news-story/2aee7f6580cf003173e3837939ea9cde?amp
Michael McGowan writes that the NSW coroner, police watchdog and lawyers have all criticised the ability of police to refuse to co-operate with investigations into their conduct, including one case when officers didn’t answer questions for 19 months about a man who died after being Tasered.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/internal-police-probes-under-scrutiny-as-minister-calls-tasering-of-grandmother-shocking-20230523-p5dao0.html
Stan Grant is not part of the problem. Others have questions to answer, writes Jenna Price, clearly moved by Grant’s signing off speech.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/stan-grant-is-not-part-of-the-problem-others-have-questions-to-answer-20230522-p5daeg.html
Stan Grant did not invent anti-imperialism; he just had the courage to speak about it and got shot down, argues Ray Steinwall.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8205503/dont-blame-stan-grant-for-stating-the-obvious/?cs=14258
The Australian’s James Madden whinges that high-profile figures at the ABC and multiple mainstream media outlets have been exposed peddling false claims about the extent of News Corp’s reporting of the national broadcaster’s coronation coverage controversy, in the wake of Stan Grant’s decision to step away from television.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/abc-staff-lead-false-claims-against-news/news-story/6344d6894bc710ac86575424595a2789?amp
Consumers are set to benefit from a change that will permit advocacy groups, such as Choice, to make complaints directly to the competition watchdog, a move that is expected to fuel more investigations and better protect consumers. John Collett reports that the Albanese government will allow trusted groups representing consumers and small business groups from mid-2024 to lodge complaints to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) through a dedicated express lane, where the groups have “strong evidence of systemic market issues under the consumer law”. Good stuff!
https://www.smh.com.au/money/planning-and-budgeting/fast-tracked-accc-complaints-process-set-to-better-protect-consumers-20230519-p5d9o0.html
The Fair Work Ombudsman detects too few employers who underpay their workers and can only hand out weak penalties to those that get caught. Rachel Clun outlines the findings of a Grattan Institute report that says recent migrants are most likely to be taken advantage of, and recommends stronger visa rules to protect them, beefing up the ombudsman’s powers to fine underpayers, and tougher penalties to deter worker exploitation.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/beef-up-workplace-ombudsman-to-catch-underpayers-report-recommends-20230523-p5dah0.html
The AFR also looks at the Grattan report that shows that recent migrants to Australia are 40 per cent more likely to be underpaid than long-term residents, with as many as 16 per cent currently paid less than the minimum wage.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/underpayment-rife-with-recent-migrants-40pc-more-likely-to-be-exploited-20230522-p5daf7
Alexandra Smith reports that the NSW government has been forced to delay its landmark rental relief bill after crossbenchers refused to support its key measure of banning secret rent auctions, arguing it does not stop tenants from trying to outbid each other to secure a property.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/the-last-thing-we-should-be-doing-labor-s-rental-relief-bill-hits-auctions-snag-20230523-p5dan0.html
Australia is on track to have one of the most diversified and lowest-carbon electricity grids in the world, but new modelling shows more aggressive spending on renewable energy, carbon capture and hydrogen is needed to keep the nation’s 2050 net-zero emissions target alive. Nick Toscano writes that, in its latest outlook report for Australia, energy research firm BloombergNEF’s base-case scenario – what it considers the most probable and least-cost outcome based on current climate policies – charts that wind, solar and batteries will grow 6.5 times on today’s levels by 2050 as the country’s ageing fleet of coal and gas-fired generators face intensifying economic pressure.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/australia-can-still-meet-climate-targets-if-it-spends-billions-more-20230523-p5dalh.html
People have been asking why there are so many Nazis in Melbourne. But a better question is why are there so few, writes Jeff Sparrow.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/23/people-have-been-asking-why-there-are-so-many-nazis-in-melbourne-but-a-better-question-is-why-are-there-so-few
The head of the Australian Border Force says the government’s plan to abolish retail vape sales is a “work in progress” with no funding attached to the crackdown in this month’s federal budget. Commissioner Michael Outram warned that banning vapes at the border won’t be enough to stamp out a rampant black market, as his organisation was already only managing to detect a quarter of illicit drugs making their way into Australia, reports Natassia Chrysanthos.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/ban-won-t-stop-vapes-flooding-in-border-force-chief-20230504-p5d5jr.html
In his opening statement to the recent Senate Estimates hearing, Department of Home Affairs (DHA) Secretary Mike Pezzullo again proved he does not understand immigration policy or administration, says Abul Rizvi.
https://johnmenadue.com/pezzullo-again-proves-he-does-not-understand-immigration/
From tasering the elderly to gross misconduct in a major sexual assault trial, this week has revealed massive flaws within our justice system, writes Dr Jennifer Wilson.
https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/broken-justice-system-leaves-victims-neglected,17541
Did Governor-General David Hurley and his top bureaucrat Paul Singer break their own Covid protocols to meet with the head of the mysterious Future Leaders Foundation, Chris Hartley? Jommy Tee and Ronni Salt report.
https://michaelwest.com.au/did-governor-general-hurley-ignore-covid-protocols-for-his-future-leaders-foundation/
Here is an open letter to the Australian government from concerned scholars regarding the AUKUS agreement. Their particular concerns relate to pillar one of the agreement, the joint development with the US and the UK of a nuclear-powered submarine capability for Australia.
https://johnmenadue.com/an-open-letter-to-the-australian-government-from-concerned-scholars-regarding-the-aukus-agreement/
The record fine levied on Facebook’s parent company, Meta, by European regulators is a warning shot for the myriad businesses that transfer the data of individuals across national borders. Stephen Bartholomeusz tells us that, on Monday, Ireland’s Data Protection Commission, acting at the behest of the European Protection Board, imposed a €1.2 billion ($2 billion) fine on Meta for not adequately protecting user data that was transferred from Europe to the US.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/the-2b-warning-shot-that-threatens-to-change-the-internet-20230523-p5dah3.html
A debt default would be catastrophic for the US – and Biden’s re-election chances, opines Walter Shapiro.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/23/debt-default-biden-reelection-republicans
Two weeks after a US federal jury found Donald Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation, his accuser E. Jean Carroll has sought additional damages in response to the former president’s ongoing insults. She is now seeking a “very substantial” additional amount after he continued to attack her on air just a day after she won her case.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/very-substantial-e-jean-carroll-seeks-new-damages-from-trump-after-cnn-appearance-20230523-p5dagm.html
And Donald Trump’s trial in New York on criminal charges over hush money payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels will begin on 25 March 2024, amid the Republican presidential primary and less than eight months before the general election the former president hopes to contest.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/23/trump-court-appearance-video-hush-money-case
Relatives of the 43 people killed in Genoa’s Morandi Bridge disaster expressed their dismay after a former executive at the motorways company responsible for the viaduct admitted to knowing it was at risk of collapse years before the incident and did nothing about it. This is in the FMD category!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/may/23/ex-chief-at-firm-responsible-for-genoa-morandi-bridge-says-he-knew-about-risk-of-collapse
And there goes Rolf Harris, his family keeping his death a secret got two weeks to allow him to have a “dignified” funeral.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/convicted-paedophile-rolf-harris-dead-aged-93-20221006-p5bnmv.html
Cartoon Corner
David Pope
David Rowe
Matt Golding
Glen Le Lievre – including a gif
A Mark Knight catch-up
Spooner
From the US
Well Pubsters , In 5 minutes I’m off off and away to
DarwinHumpty Doo . Dreary wet day here in Da Cave is doing an excellent job of making the trip even more appealing 🙂 First holiday in a long while and much needed. A float down the Adelaide River is a great relaxation device. Float as in a boat rather than some ‘flotational device’ , then thar salties are snappy and numerous 😆Chris Hayes –
Lawrence O’Donnell –
Brian Tyler Cohen –
I don’t think Suss is Webb. Nice positioning by TGA, nevertheless
The short version
We can now see and listen to stuff they did a hundred years ago. Wonderful!
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
Anthony Albanese’s premeditated transition from left-wing bomb thrower to centre-road prime minister has been fascinating, infuriating and bemusing to watch, depending on where you reside on the spectrum, writes Niki Savva who says that, a year into government, unlike his most recent predecessors, Albanese has not turned into the incredible shrinking prime minister. He has actually grown in the job.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/albanese-has-not-turned-into-the-incredible-shrinking-prime-minister-unlike-his-predecessors-20230523-p5dapv.html
Michael Pascoe reckons the ‘A’ in ALP stands for Albanese.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2023/05/24/michael-pascoe-anthony-albanese-alp/
David Crowe reports that a bid to tighten the safeguards on major road and rail projects has been blocked in federal parliament after Labor and the Coalition joined forces against moves by teal independents to reveal more about the $120 billion cost.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/dutton-and-albanese-unite-to-block-teal-transparency-demands-on-120b-of-projects-20230524-p5daw6.html
Colin Kruger tells us that the Australian Federal Police has been asked to launch a criminal investigation into the PwC tax leak scandal that has claimed the scalp of its former CEO and sent shudders through the consulting industry and PwC’s global operations.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/pwc-tax-scandal-referred-to-afp-for-criminal-investigation-20230524-p5db1t.html
NSW Police have charged an officer after he allegedly Tasered 95-year-old Clare Nowland, who died in Cooma Hospital on Wednesday, one week after the incident. Senior Constable Kristian White was charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and common assault. As an aside, I just hope there was a Registered Nurse on duty at the time.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/nsw-police-officer-charged-over-tasering-of-clare-nowland-in-cooma-20230524-p5db1w.html
Commissioner Webb has said she was also concerned that police were called to a private health facility to deal with a problem its staff could not resolve.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/don-t-turn-on-police-over-taser-tragedy-says-commissioner-20230524-p5db0b.html
A Taser assault on an elderly woman by NSW Police has caused national outrage and sparked an outcry for answers from the officers involved, writes Dr Binoy Kampmark who describes tasering the elderly as demented policing.
https://independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/tasering-the-elderly-is-demented-policing,17539
There is a definite turning point in the quality and the humanity of Australia’s care for the elderly. The Aged Care Bill 1997 (Cth) was introduced as part of the new Howard Government’s 1996 Budget measures. It was to prove a huge gamble, which still wreaks havoc in the Aged Care sector. And it created a distinctly new group of players in our economy. It showed a government naively putting its faith in the market, writes Mark Buckley who says John Howard wrecked Aged Care for all Australians.
https://theaimn.com/john-howard-wrecked-aged-care-for-all-australians/
The Guardian reveals that the former Australian government continued to pay millions of taxpayer dollars to a businessman convicted of corruption to provide offshore processing services on Nauru, even after he had pleaded guilty to bribing Nauruan government officials.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/25/morrison-government-paid-corrupt-businessman-millions-for-offshore-processing-on-nauru
Australia might not be in a recession, but households are about to feel as if they are, says Greg Jericho who lays out the numbers.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2023/may/25/australia-might-not-be-in-a-recession-but-households-are-about-to-feel-as-if-they-are
Senator Lidia Thorpe has walked out of a parliamentary hearing after being called a disgrace to the Indigenous community by Labor’s assistant minister for Indigenous Australians, reports Paul Sakkal
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/thorpe-storms-out-of-senate-hearing-after-labor-mp-calls-her-a-disgrace-to-her-people-20230524-p5db1c.html
James Massola writes that Liberal MP Julian Leeser has appealed to Australians to vote for the Voice to parliament, saying it will help transform remote Indigenous communities by tackling entrenched problems, as former prime minister Scott Morrison made a rare public intervention to urge a No vote.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/voice-to-parliament-is-ill-defined-scott-morrison-says-20230524-p5daut.html
Opposition leader Peter Dutton is right to defend our history during the Indigenous voice to parliament debate, declares Peta Credlin.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/dutton-is-right-to-defend-our-history-during-the-indigenous-voice-to-parliament-debate/news-story/0d2658eae3225ee723d0fffe10ce2660?amp
Health Minister Mark Butler says he is concerned about Australian start-ups selling drugs online without doctors ever seeing patients’ faces or fully checking their identity, as one company pledges to improve its standards ahead of an anticipated crackdown. Natassia Chrysanthos and Nick Bonyhady tell us that the Medical Board of Australia is expected to tighten its rules for telehealth companies to potentially include banning doctors from prescribing drugs through an online quiz if they have not met the patient before.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/online-doctor-shops-face-crackdown-over-quick-quiz-prescriptions-20230524-p5dav5.html
A Senate inquiry into reproductive health is set to recommend increased accessibility of abortion services at public hospitals. Paul Karp reports that today the Senate community affairs committee will table its report recommending that the Albanese government work with states and territories to boost access to abortion at public hospitals.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/25/senate-inquiry-to-call-for-improved-abortion-access-at-australias-public-hospitals
Did News Corp target the ABC and Stan Grant? The answer’s in the numbers, explains Jarl Quinn.
https://www.theage.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/did-news-corp-target-the-abc-and-stan-grant-the-answer-s-in-the-numbers-20230524-p5daxm.html
Cooperation with the US could drive Australia’s clean energy shift – but we must act fast warns Wesley Morgan.
https://theconversation.com/cooperation-with-the-us-could-drive-australias-clean-energy-shift-but-we-must-act-fast-206199
Mike Foley explains that there are three roadblocks holding the Albanese government back from tougher regulation of native forest logging, following Victoria’s declaration it would shut the industry down in its state by January: unions, lobbyists and the fear of a political backlash if it does anything at all.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-three-things-stopping-tanya-plibersek-from-protecting-native-forests-20230524-p5davj.html
The recent announcement by federal ministers Tanya Plibersek (Environment) and Murray Watt (Emergency Management) of substantial investment in upgrading the nation’s flood warning gauge network is welcome. But gauging is only part of the problem of flood warning: there is another element which is not routinely well recognised in flood management circles, explains Chas Keys.
https://johnmenadue.com/flood-warning-full-potential-not-achieved/
Victorian private schools that charge more than $7500 a year are warning they will be forced to increase fees, cut programs or shed staff to pay millions in payroll tax from which they were previously exempt. Why SHOULD they be exempt?
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/private-schools-say-they-ll-be-forced-to-increase-fees-as-sweetheart-tax-deal-ends-20230524-p5daw8.html
Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner mercenary group, has warned that Russia could face a revolution similar to those of 1917 and lose the conflict in Ukraine unless the elite gets serious about fighting the war.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2023/05/24/wagner-leader-yevgeny-prigozhin-warns-russia-revolution/?breaking_live_scroll=1
Clarence Thomas should resign from the supreme court, for the good of the court, argues Steven Greenhouse who, after laying out his reasons, says, “Anyone so allergic to complying with basic ethical standards has no place working in government – and least of all serving on the supreme court, where we should expect the highest ethical standards. It is time for Thomas to go.”
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/24/clarence-thomas-should-resign-from-the-supreme-court-for-the-good-of-the-court
Donald Trump threw up his hands in frustration as a judge scheduled his New York criminal trial for March 25, putting the former US president and current candidate in a Manhattan courtroom in the heat of next year’s presidential primary season.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/angry-trump-told-to-clear-his-calendar-for-remainder-of-ny-criminal-case-20230524-p5dax1.html
In a rare moment of lucidity, Republicans in Texas failed to pass legislation that would have required the Ten Commandments to be prominently displayed in every public school classroom.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/24/republican-bill-ten-commandments-texas-schools-fails
“Arseholes of the Week” nomination goes to the couple who have been charged with modern-day slavery offences after they allegedly kept a woman as a domestic slave at their home in Melbourne’s south-western suburbs for about 10 months.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/melbourne-couple-allegedly-kept-domestic-slave-at-point-cook-home-20230524-p5dayy.html
Cartoon Corner
David Rowe
David Pope
Matt Golding
Mark David
Andrew Dyson
Fiona Katauskas
Mark Knight
Seriously, Spooner needs help with his unhealthy obsession!
From the US
Michael West –
Chris Hayes –
Lawrence O’Donnell –
Brian Tyler Cohen –
Oh dear …
The sight of the PM of Australia paying court and gushing all over Modi makes me wonder how little Albo knows about about what sort of a PM Modi really is. It was sickening in the extreme. Whoever advised him to do this is no friend to Albo.
Read this from my email from The Echidna” this morning –
I love the very appropriate use of the word “fawning” – it is exactly what it was.
Vale Tina, you were –
Back in 1970 …
Musk has just alienated half of the US population.
The rest of the world has just put him in the right wing box. And will treat him accordingly.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
Writing about the Voice debate, David Crowe says that Albanese lights the spark while Dutton plays with fire.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/albanese-lights-the-spark-while-dutton-plays-with-fire-20230524-p5dati.html
Jenna Price reckons Scott Morrison’s input on the Voice to Parliament was a bit rich. It’s quite a pile on!
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8209589/a-lecture-from-this-man-on-racism-inclusion-and-executive-govt-not-now-not-ever/?cs=9676
Two MPs have made complaints to the Speaker of the House of Representatives about “vicious” attacks on first-term Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather amid a stalemate in parliament over an Albanese government policy to boost affordable housing. Paul Sakkal reports that independent Helen Haines and the Liberal National Party’s Michelle Landry have spoken to Speaker Milton Dick to raise concerns about Labor MPs allegedly personally abusing the Greens’ housing and homelessness spokesman in parliament.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/vicious-personal-attacks-on-greens-mp-draw-complaints-from-cross-party-mps-20230525-p5dbao.html
Greens leader Adam Bandt has warned the government it can’t count on the minor party’s support for its “weak” changes to the petroleum resource rent tax. Paul Karp says that the comments underscore the possibility that if the Coalition blocks the changes the Greens may demand more revenue from offshore oil and gas in return for its support in the Senate, where it holds the balance of power.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/26/labor-cant-count-on-greens-support-for-petroleum-resource-rent-tax-warns-adam-bandt
Meanwhile, Peter Dutton will demand Anthony Albanese reduce red tape and approval timelines for gas projects in exchange for the Coalition’s support for the government’s $2.4bn tax impost on the industry. The Opposition Leader said the Coalition was “happy to engage constructively” with Labor and would work closely with gas companies to negotiate an outcome on an overhaul to the petroleum resource rent tax, just as Joe Biden had worked with Republicans in the US.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/peter-dutton-is-open-to-the-governments-prrt-changes-but-has-conditions/news-story/072a5d4cf5b6842848040a7209cdde89
The NSW Police officer who Tasered great-grandmother Clare Nowland before her death is “very distressed” for himself and all involved, his lawyer says, as he prepares to fight the charges. The SMH can also confirm Senior Constable Kristian White allegedly said “bugger it” after repeatedly asking the 95-year-old to drop a steak knife, sources with knowledge of the incident but who are unable to speak publicly have said.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/officer-who-tasered-nowland-very-distressed-will-fight-case-lawyer-20230525-p5db6e.html
History may struggle to define the most significant factor in the demise of Stuart Robert’s political career but the ultimate end can be calculated to the minute, thanks to John Margerison.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/stuart-roberts-fall-from-grace,17548
The independent Sydney MP, Alex Greenwich, has made explosive claims that the NSW Crime Commission may not have been given full access to information about money laundering in pubs and clubs. Alexandra Smith tells us that in an extraordinary move, the Minns government backed Greenwich’s parliamentary order to force the state’s gaming regulator to release surveillance data and compliance checks, amid concerns that money laundering is more extensive than identified in last year’s report from the NSW Crime Commission.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/vital-information-about-money-laundering-in-pubs-and-clubs-was-kept-secret-says-greenwich-20230525-p5db7p.html
Labor was politically savvy in targeting property investors and big business, writes Annika Smethurst who says the state budget has served as another reminder of how brilliant the Andrews government is at politics.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/labor-was-politically-savvy-in-targeting-property-investors-and-big-business-20230525-p5dbam.html
Victorian state school funding is up, but high inflation and enrolment growth have combined to deliver an effective cut of 2.7 per cent, according to a budget analysis by the Australian Education Union.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/school-funding-blow-up-as-union-accuses-andrews-of-shortchanging-students-20230525-p5dbbg.html
The compact agreed by Anthony Albanese and Joe Biden last week underscores the opportunity and potential risks created by America’s push to get less dependent on China for strategic resources, explains Stephen Bartholomeusz.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/once-in-a-generation-opportunity-for-australian-resources-is-opening-up-20230525-p5db4z.html
Alan Kohler posits that productivity has collapsed because workers have lost hope.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2023/05/25/alan-kohler-productivity-workers-hope/
Government departments have been told to take the past behaviour and conduct of all firms into consideration when deciding on contracts for any companies following a scathing assessment of PwC’s conduct by the head of the Finance Department.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/no-pwc-staff-with-links-to-leak-can-work-with-government-afp-investigating-20230525-p5db56.html
Potential charges for current and former partners, and the loss of the Commonwealth as its largest customer, is a real possibility for PwC Australia, writes Colin Kruger who points out that the movement of involved PwC staff to other companies carries with it the risk of contagion.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/contagion-shows-no-one-is-safe-from-pwc-scandal-20230525-p5db9c.html
Why are the corporate regulator (ASIC) and the Commonwealth Bank so deeply immersed in a simple case of collecting a fine for a misdemeanour? After four days in court, the Magistrate is not the only one that is confused. Lisa-Jane Roberts reports from Southport.
https://michaelwest.com.au/crown-vs-shannon-a-tangled-web-of-lies-and-collusion-or-a-commbank-and-asic-vendetta/
A repeat of the “cooks and hairdressers” debacle that engulfed the international education sector a decade ago is predicted to be repeated, after the federal government made visa changes that will allow people to do a six-week course in aged care with minimal English as the first step to permanent residency, writes Julie Hare. Hey spivs, come on in!
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/aged-care-visa-changes-ripe-for-rorting-20230525-p5db9w
Angus Thompson reports that a former high-ranking officer within ACT Policing said she feared investigators speaking with Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyers during the former Coalition staffer’s rape trial would fuel rumours of police conspiring with defence.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/lehrmann-officer-says-she-was-wrong-about-threshold-for-charging-a-suspect-20230525-p5db4w.html
Britain’s high court last year determined $382,000 was a reasonable value to assign each of the approximately 340 survivors of sexual abuse at five Fairbridge Society Institutions in Australia. Now, the redress scheme administrators have slashed the payment to $3820 due to “insufficient moneys” being set aside for claims by the Prince’s Trust which took over the Fairbridge liabilities. The SMH editorial declares that such parsimony is obscene and incomprehensible. The failure to provide adequate funds to meet legal, and indeed moral, obligations to child abuse victims sits oddly with an organisation that helps high society dispense largesse to those it deems deserving or in need of help.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/hardly-a-princely-sum-for-victims-of-child-abuse-20230525-p5db7o.html
All public hospitals should offer surgical abortions or steer patients to affordable providers and the abortion pill should be easier to prescribe, says a Senate inquiry that found reproductive healthcare is a postcode lottery for many women. Natassia Chrysanthos outlines the recommendations.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/public-hospital-abortions-and-cheaper-contraceptives-needed-inquiry-finds-20230525-p5db6y.html
Firefighters and police are working to determine the cause of the major building fire that brought Sydney’s inner city to a standstill yesterday afternoon. I bet they are!
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/major-fire-breaks-out-in-surry-hills-20230525-p5dbct.html
Australia and its fellow Five Eyes security partners have called out China for a major state-sponsored hacking operation targeting critical infrastructure networks in the United States. Matthew Knott writes that technology giant Microsoft, which uncovered the hack, said the campaign had been active since the middle of 2021 and targeted critical infrastructure assets in Guam, an island in the west Pacific Ocean that is home to some of America’s most important military bases.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/australia-five-eyes-partners-blame-china-for-malicious-hacking-campaign-20230525-p5db4v.html
Stewart Rhodes, the founder of the far-right Oath Keepers militia, was sentenced on Thursday to 18 years in prison, after being convicted of seditious conspiracy for his role in the January 6 attack on Congress.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/25/oath-keepers-far-right-stewart-rhodes-sentence
Bill Wyman takes a look at the Ron DeSantis tilt to be the Republican nomination for US President.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/america-suddenly-feels-like-gotham-but-i-can-t-see-batman-20230524-p5datq.html
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is staking a claim to the Republican party’s presidential nomination by taking a harder line than Donald Trump on many issues, says Farrah Tomazin.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/out-trump-ing-trump-desantis-plan-to-lift-his-presidential-campaign-20230525-p5db8h.html
“What is going on with Elon Musk and Ron DeSantis?”, wonders Robert Reich.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/25/elon-musk-ron-desantis-authoritarianism
Victorian construction union boss John Setka has been interviewed by police over an alleged sexual assault in March, writes Cameron Houston as Setka angles for another nomination for “Arsehole of the Week”. Setka has strenuously denied the allegation.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/setka-under-police-investigation-over-alleged-sexual-assault-20230525-p5dbdu.html
Cartoon Corner
David Pope
David Rowe
Matt Golding
Mark Knight
Andrew Dyson
Jim Pavlidis
Leak
From the US
friendlyjordies –
Chris Hayes –
Lawrence O’Donnell –
Brian Tyler Cohen –
The Senate was in estimates and the Reps was debating the referendum bill.
Here’s the 5&5:
BEST
The Opposition still haven’t learned
Dutton’s not Dutton when he’s hungry
Did Peter Dutton actually make me laugh?
Andrew Giles’s quick wit
We got to perform with The Wiggles!
WORST
Dutton’s divisive and destructive debate
Remember Scott Morrison?
Perhaps the 73rd time will be a charm for Fletch?
Make that the 74th time… 🤦♂️
The Oppositions great migration dilemma
1. The Opposition should have two rules. One: never ask the PM about infrastructure. Two: never, never, never ask him about wages. Oh did this one backfire. The PM was straight up reminding them that the Government backed the increase to the minimum wage last year. And he grabbed his same lucky $1 coin he’d used during the election campaign. The Opposition were incensed, jumping up on a series of points of order. The PM responded perfectly. “They find the dollar coin offensive? You know what I find offensive? The fact that they thought a $1-an-hour increase for people on the minimum wage would wreck the economy. That’s what I find offensive.”
2. Remember during the 2018 Liberal leadership spill Peter Dutton told us he was going to smile more? I’m not sure what happened to that pledge. Since becoming Opposition Leader he’s been angry. Very angry. During Question Time on Monday the PM suggested he cheer up. The member for McEwen, Rob Mitchell, went one better, suggesting the Opposition Leader needed a Snickers, like in those old ads – “You’re not you when you’re hungry?”. I reckon he’s going to need a lot more than just chocolate.
3. Credit where credit’s due – Peter Dutton did actually make me laugh this week. Speaking about the reception that the Indian PM Narendra Modi received at Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, he said how impressive it was to see 20,000 people chanting the name of a politician. Jim Chalmers interjected “You don’t get that?” The Opposition Leader quickly shot back “Mainly at Labor party events, yes.” It was a moment of humanity – brief – but I’m glad it happened.
4. Andrew Giles didn’t miss in Question Time on Tuesday. Answering a question about the mess we’re cleaning up with the migration system, he asked what the previous government’s legacy was. “Nothing” came the cry from the backbench. Andrew Giles didn’t miss a beat. “Nothing is generous! It was worse than that.”
5. This one’s pretty special. On Wednesday night our parliamentary pub rock band ‘Left Right Out’ got to play with The Wiggles as part of the launch of Parliamentary Friends of Australian Children’s Storytelling. It’s been in the works for a while and was great fun! I reckon it was undoubtedly the best pub rock performance anyone has ever seen in The Great Hall at Parliament House on Wednesday the 24th of May, 2023.
1. We saw the best and worst of our Parliament all rolled into one debate on the referendum. Peter Dutton’s speech was divisive and destructive. Linda Burney spoke straight after the Opposition Leader. Here’s how she responded, “We have just heard, in one speech, every bit of disinformation and misinformation and every scare campaign that exists in this debate.” On Thursday morning the PM gave one of the best speeches I’ve heard in the Parliament. There was a spontaneous standing ovation.
2. Apparently Scott Morrison is still in Parliament. Remember him? He gave just his third speech since losing the election – arguing against The Voice. His reasoning? “It presents serious and unnecessary risks both known and unknown to the operations of the executive government and our parliament, upon which all Australians depend.” The man who secretly appointed himself to FIVE portfolios while he was Prime Minister is all of a sudden concerned about the operation of executive government and parliament. Really?!
3. Poor Fletch. He happened again. On Monday the Treasurer Jim Chalmers was answering a question from Angus Taylor. 20 seconds into the answer the shadow Treasurer jumped up on a point of order, citing relevance. Jim responded by asking what would Angus know about relevance. Fletch saw red! He jumped up – arguing that the Treasurer had used an offensive word and was being unparliamentary. Incredible! They’re now arguing a word they use about 27 times each Question Time is unparliamentary. In terms of a point of order, if the word ‘relevance’ is now going to be unparliamentary, there are not many words left.
4. To complete the daily double, they also asked the PM about infrastructure. Manager of Opposition Business Paul Fletcher decided to ask the PM about the Western Sydney airport. Yes – you read that right. Here’s how the PM responded. “I’m asked a question about infrastructure. I’m asked a question, as well, about infrastructure around Badgerys Creek airport, remarkably, from a minister who presided over the purchase of land that had been valued at $3 million for over $30 million.”
5. The Treasurer Jim Chalmers called out the Opposition’s hypocritical approach to migration during Thursday’s Question Time. Since the Budget they’ve been calling for more immigration, while arguing for less immigration. Jim described it as playing “two different tunes with the same dog whistle.”
Next week the Reps is back, and it’s a further week of Senate estimates.
’til then,
Tony
PS. As a lesson to Peter Dutton who believes the answer is always “no”, this week’s song of the week is actually a newly released album from Alex Lahey called ‘The Answer Is Always Yes’.
This sort of vandalism makes me both hopping mad and sick to my stomach –
Sacred Indigenous site on Sunshine Coast defaced with religious message
Queensland parks service investigates after the words ‘Jesus saves just ask him’ carved into rock at Mt Beerwah
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/26/sacred-indigenous-site-on-sunshine-coast-defaced-with-religious-message
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
Tasmanian MP Bridget Archer thinks the Libs are unelectable in their current form. And she wants nothing short of a revolution to “take the party back”, writes Melissa Fyfe. Archer told her that “We’ve seen an infiltration of right-wing religious conservatism that’s infected the Liberal Party and turned it into something it was never conceived to be.”
https://www.smh.com.au/national/we-ve-got-to-have-a-revolution-this-liberal-mp-is-spoiling-for-a-fight-within-her-own-party-20230405-p5cygb.html
Peter Dutton treading water and simply holding the show together won’t get the Coalition into a competitive position ahead of the next election, says Simon Benson.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/not-only-must-dutton-start-winning-the-cost-of-living-contest-he-must-ensure-libs-are-ready-to-take-onlabor/news-story/062ce7acfb1a6c929dc8f90393040cf5?amp
While some inside Labor struggle to grasp the drivers of Australia’s inflation challenge, the RBA governor can still do what’s right for the country, writes Jacob Greber.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/philip-lowe-has-a-historic-opportunity-on-his-way-out-20230526-p5dbm2
The next two years look a lot tougher than the first and, like Howard in 1998, Albanese would be well advised to take some substantial economic reforms to the next election, says John Black.
https://www.afr.com/politics/why-the-signs-aren-t-as-rosy-for-labor-20230525-p5dbav
Coalition’s pity party at estimates is a sure-fire recipe for electoral embarrassment, writes Paul Karp who says the opposition’s pursuit of fringe issues and fishing expeditions are not doing Peter Dutton any favours.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/27/coalitions-pity-party-at-estimates-is-a-surefire-recipe-for-electoral-embarrassment
Michael Bachelard lays out why Dutton’s claim the Voice will ‘re-racialise’ Australia is wrong.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/dutton-s-claim-the-voice-will-re-racialise-australia-is-wrong-here-s-why-20230525-p5db7i.html
Paul Bongiorno writes, “Make no mistake: the opposition leader, in the words of one of his backbenchers, ‘went for broke’. For Dutton, no exaggeration was too great. In his telling, the Voice would destroy democracy as we know it.”
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2023/05/27/duttons-vicious-attack-the-voice
In post-war Australia there has rarely, if ever, been a political alignment like this. Our elites have come together – political, corporate, financial, university, media, sporting, trade union and religious – to persuade and intimidate the Australian people to put an Indigenous voice to parliament into the Constitution, complains Pontificating Paul Kelly.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/division-is-no-path-to-reconciliation-via-the-indigenous-voice-to-parliament/news-story/b48c599822686f80098a83d05722b57f?amp
The SMH editorial is concerned that it saddens, given all that is at stake, that the war for the Voice will be so bitterly fought. What began six years ago at Uluru as a historic decision to call for a meaningful referendum to improve the lives of Indigenous Australians risks being derailed by fear, anger and re-surfaced outright racism, particularly in the cesspools of social media.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/voice-debate-must-not-be-pulled-into-vitriol-20230526-p5dbo5.html
John Lord tells us why the Conservatives cannot win the next election and why Labor will go early.
https://theaimn.com/why-the-conservatives-cannot-win-the-next-election-and-why-labor-will-go-early/
In this op-ed, Senator Deb O’Neill tells us why former PwC boss Luke Sayers has questions to answer on tax scandal.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/former-pwc-boss-luke-sayers-has-questions-to-answer-on-tax-scandal-20230525-p5dbe9.html
In a very long exposition, Jack Waterford tells us why sending police into PwC is the tamest possible response to fraud on the taxpayer.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8210326/the-afp-investigating-pwc-is-a-terrible-idea-here-are-some-better-ones/?cs=14329
And Karen Middleton says that questions have been raised over police conflicts of interest as the PwC scandal engulfs multiple departments.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politics/2023/05/27/police-doubted-pwc-scandal
There is a legitimate concern that Australians have become addicted to debt, begins John Hewson in this contribution on afterpay products. He says that, just as lay-bys and hire purchase had an easy appeal for Mum 60 years ago, this new form of credit is a tantalisingly simple form of stress relief. But it can have similar, and indeed far worse, financial consequences.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2023/05/27/afterpay-and-our-addiction-debt
According to Annika Smethurst, the national rail safety regulator and rail operator Metro Trains are also investigating the claims of fraudulent invoicing and “ghost” shifts by labour hire companies contracted to remove level-crossings and build Melbourne’s Metro Tunnel rail project. Hello spivs!
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/ghost-shifts-big-build-invoicing-claims-referred-to-police-20230526-p5dbnm.html
Ross Gittins explains what they don’t tell us about how the budget works.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/what-they-don-t-tell-you-about-how-the-budget-works-20230525-p5dbdr.html
The solution to Melbourne’s rental crisis won’t come easily – or quickly – but as build-to-rent moves from a niche product to the mainstream, it will pave the way for more diverse housing options for our rapidly growing population, explains Josh Rutman.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/build-to-rent-paves-way-for-housing-crisis-solution-20230526-p5dbkt.html
David Littleproud has offered to help Labor bolster competition law protections for farmers and suppliers in a bid to prevent potential abuses of market power by Australia’s big supermarkets. Paul Karp writes that the Nationals leader proposes making the grocery code of conduct compulsory, boosting penalties to a “punitive” $10m maximum and adding powers to break up grocery giants in the event of misconduct.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/27/nationals-push-for-10m-fines-and-ability-to-break-up-coles-and-woolworths-if-they-abuse-market-power
Michael Pascoe argues that we urgently need a real national security review.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/2023/05/27/michael-pascoe-urgently-need-a-real-national-security-review/
Australia’s peak medical lobby group is set to lose its veto power over who runs a key regulator as part of efforts to restore public confidence in the integrity of Medicare following a landmark review of non-compliance and fraud in the $38 billion system.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/medical-lobby-set-to-lose-veto-power-over-who-runs-key-regulator-20230526-p5dbk9.html
The death of the grandmother has shone a spotlight on a swathe of policing issues, from oversight, their presence in aged care homes and the use of Tasers, write Mickael McGowan and Perry Duffin.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/the-system-did-this-after-clare-nowland-s-death-a-reckoning-on-who-polices-the-police-20230525-p5db9j.html
The death of Clare Nowland this week underscores the failings in aged-care policy and policing, explains Rick Morton.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/health/2023/05/27/charges-laid-aged-care-taser-killing
Stan Grant is always intelligent, insightful and provocative. He demonstrated this in his extraordinary farewell piece last Monday night on the ABC’s Q+A, writes Paul Collins.
https://johnmenadue.com/vale-stan-grant-pic/
Megan Gorey reports that unscrupulous builders and developers would be forced to fix serious defects in new detached houses under a crackdown on shoddy operators flagged by the NSW’s building commissioner. About time!
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/judgment-day-is-near-building-commissioner-to-target-new-homes-20230524-p5dauj.html
David Livingstone opines that the frigates disaster is a taste of the AUKUS catastrophe to come.
https://johnmenadue.com/frigates-disaster-a-taste-of-the-aukus-catastrophe-to-come/
The Conversation invites us to picture green hydrogen plants next to green steelworks to boost efficiency and kickstart both industries.
https://theconversation.com/picture-this-green-hydrogen-plants-next-to-green-steelworks-to-boost-efficiency-and-kickstart-both-industries-205845
The coming months will be fraught for immigration policy and administration as the Government tries to fix the mess inherited from the Coalition, writes Dr Abul Rizvi.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/immigration-policy-about-to-undergo-massive-shake-up,17537
Sumeyya Ilanbey reports that the Andrews government is considering overhauling the way pokies venues are taxed after a local council accused pubs and clubs of widely abusing generous concessions designed to pump money back into local communities.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/pokies-taxes-to-be-reviewed-after-claims-venues-are-cashing-on-loophole-20230525-p5db6g.html
Wendy Touhy writes that, as stigma about mothers working full-time plummets and living costs rise, data shows the proportion of dual-earner families has increased to 71 per cent, nearly double the level of 1979.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/australian-families-changing-as-more-mothers-return-to-work-full-time-20230523-p5daml.html
If you feel disposed to read it, here is dear old Gerard’s weekly rant at the ABC.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/abc-apologises-all-around-for-stan-grant-saga-except-for-lack-of-balance/news-story/a1404c4d2ad4ac3b9374a531ed0d472f?amp
US president Joe Biden’s plan promises billions for Australian companies, while securing minerals for the US military, explains Mike Seccombe.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/economy/2023/05/27/pentagon-secure-australian-minerals-green-deal
Angus Thompson reports that an ACT deputy chief police officer who oversaw the Lehrmann rape investigation said the intense media pressure hanging over the police motivated him to direct the former Coalition staffer be charged in late 2021.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/higgins-sharaz-used-media-as-tool-investigator-20230525-p5dbey.html
The detective superintendent in charge of the investigation into Brittany Higgins’s rape allegations said that pressure to make progress had led to errors in police handling, reports Marilyn McMahon.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/law-crime/2023/05/27/top-cop-fronts-lehrmann-inquiry
The “overwhelming majority” of submissions to a confidential Greens inquiry argued that trans activists are more harmful to the party than transphobia, writes Chip Le Grand.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/lost-in-transition-report-lays-bare-greens-gender-rift-warns-of-split-risk-20230526-p5dbgu.html
According to Colonel Richard Kemp, the coming Russian revolution will unleash horrifying new demons.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/mobs-with-pitchforks-the-coming-russian-revolution-will-unleash-horrifying-new-demons-20230526-p5dbfx.html
Federal prosecutors have evidence Donald Trump showed classified documents to people, the Washington Post reported on Thursday, citing unnamed sources, as the investigation into his handling of national security materials and obstruction of justice approaches its conclusion. The development could raise the stakes for the former president as it exposes him to serious action under the Espionage Act, of wilfully communicating national security materials rather than simply retaining them, which is rarely charged.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/26/trump-classified-documents-workers-moved-boxes
Cartoon Corner
David Pope
Alan Moir
David Rowe
Andrew Dyson
Matt Golding
Mark David
Jon Kudelka
Simon Letch
Jim Pavlidis
Matt Davidson
Glen Le Lievre
Mark Knight
Leak
From the US
From The Saturday Paper’s editorial today – well worth reading in full.
https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/editorial/2023/05/27/base-costs?fbclid=IwAR0VMHKglKj_R8Awlmum2QMANStHWzAHITHmhbvF-h4VXCPCn7stFw2eaXc#mtr
If this does not make you ashamed to be Australian then what will?
This quote by Albert Einstein after he was exiled from Germany after the Nazis came to power in 1933 matches my feelings on this matter.
For me it’s all about the major parties trying to outdo each other in despicable behaviour towards people who came here seeking refuge in hope of finding a better life. Instead they were met with almost indescribable cruelty.
Despite what we are constantly told it is NOT illegal to seek asylum in any country. Why is this dreadful behaviour tolerated?
from @joneshowdareyou
I have it on good authority that Scott Morrison’s upcoming book will be titled –
“Holy Bible”
(Many thanks for the illustrated cover, @jjjove)
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FxHuNMbakAABxyd?format=png
I was reminded of this painting of Last Supper in Cusco where the meal is Guinea Pig (tastes OK) and Judas == Francisco Pizzaro – conquistador
Scotty
Interesting that Pizarro (I am not a fan) should be portrayed as Judas.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers. I have to say that this is the sparsest collection the patrol has ever produced.
The most active Twitter accounts opposing the Indigenous Voice to parliament are people using false identities who are stoking an increasingly divisive online campaign, rather than computerised “bots”, an analysis reveals. Anthony Galloway reports that racial abuse is occurring on both sides but there is overwhelmingly more hate speech in tweets supporting the No side. Now, why would THAT be?
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/anti-voice-accounts-on-twitter-abusive-with-impunity-by-using-false-identities-20230525-p5dbbn.html
A whopping 27 buyers registered to bid on a one-bedroom Newtown unit that sold for $847,000 at auction on Saturday. This is beyond ridiculous!
https://www.smh.com.au/property/news/first-home-buyer-beats-26-bidders-to-one-bedroom-unit-with-847-000-bid-20230525-p5db5z.html
Victorian landlords could cop a further hit as the Andrews government considers measures including capping the number of nights properties can be listed on Airbnb, imposing a “tourist tax” and empowering councils to charge owners higher rates.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/short-shrift-for-short-stays-labor-mps-plot-airbnb-crackdown-to-tackle-rental-crisis-20230527-p5dbqz.html
Jakarta Embassy is Australia’s largest diplomatic mission. But what do they do? And what could they be doing? Duncan Graham reports on a project that shows what can be done with a lot of goodwill and not a lot of money.
https://michaelwest.com.au/indonesia-our-biggest-and-closest-neighbour-needs-our-aid/
Cartoon Corner
A Glen Le Lievre gif!
Matt Golding
Peter Broelman
From the US
In case you did not know Mick Fuller is heavily involved with PwC.
Do a search (if you use Twitter) for “Mick Fuller” for more,
Kangaroo Court has all the grubby details –
Hi, I am still in The Kimberleys. WA. Everyone else is wearing jumpers because Winter is almost here. This little Piping Shrike is wearing T-shirts because the weather is still warm enough for an Adelaide woman to find the weather glorious. I still run an airconditioner!
It is a privilege, although hard work. Keeping a service running for the Aboriginal community here in a difficult time is good, and I get great satisfaction from giving something back. Although I indicate in a low key way that I support The Voice (if for no other reason than the Aboriginal people have asked for it and who the hell do I think I am to say no?) the topic is not something I hear discussed. There is probably a correct time and place for that.
I have been treated well and with kindness by the people here and in the nearest town, and I have friends. My only difficulty has been with a couple of persons of my own, err, peers? anglo-extraction? I obviously cannot discuss it in a public blog. Let’s just say you will find one everywhere whose main interest is in defending their sand castle to the detriment of reason and outcome! I only mention this because it is the only blot on a fantastic, privileged experience. You find them in clubs, groups, politics, online forums, and even blogs unless the mods are strict.
The one thing I hate, as it is the first time I have seen them alive, is the damn cane toads. Last year we had a native species of small green frogs living in the toilet cisterns. They are gone now that we have the bluddy cane toads hopping about. The toads do not live in the cisterns, thank dog. There was just one sort of frog that did it.
cheers
Puffy
Good morning Dawn Patrollers. Another sparse collection.
Mark Kenny begins this contribution with, “Have no illusions, at the heart of the campaign to incite fear against the Voice is fear itself. The tell-tale signs are manifest. Shrill claims. Disproportionate anger. Absurd equivalences. And self-interest. Exhibit A is Australia’s least authoritative prime minister. Having debauched Westminster conventions, Scott “multiple ministries” Morrison piped up on Wednesday to defend sacred governing norms. True story!” And then he gets stuck into Dutton.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8211750/it-is-sameness-that-we-should-fear/?cs=14258
Moderate Liberal MP Bridget Archer has called for a drastic reconsideration of the Coalition with the Nationals if the party is to win back a slew of city-based seats and save the careers of half a dozen MPs she believes are the party’s future. Paul Sakkal and James Massola tell us that the Tasmanian MP has said the decades-long Coalition agreement had merits when the parties were in government, but argued it was time to redraw the relationship in opposition.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/we-re-not-the-lnp-liberals-call-for-coalition-rethink-to-save-city-seats-20230527-p5dbs0.html
The battle to release the names of PwC staff implicated in the tax scandal is set to intensify this week as the global consulting giant prepares to make its first significant announcement since effectively losing any further business with the Commonwealth. According to Colin Kruger, PwC insiders who are not authorised to speak on the matter have confirmed that acting chief executive Kristin Stubbins will make an announcement this week.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/pwc-boss-to-take-action-as-battle-to-release-names-heats-up-20230526-p5dbn3.html
And the AFR says PwC is now unlikely to win the external audit tender for Lendlease despite earlier being a favourite for the role, in one of the first signs the consulting giant’s ongoing tax leaks scandal is beginning to affect the firm’s ability to win work from commercial clients.
https://www.afr.com/companies/professional-services/lendlease-hits-pause-on-pwc-audit-deal-20230528-p5dbuz
John Kehoe writes that Australia could have built an extra 1.3 million homes over the past 20 years, but costly zoning, planning and building red tape imposed by local councils is chiefly to blame for a huge housing undersupply, according to analysis by former Reserve Bank of Australia economist Tony Richards.
https://www.afr.com/property/residential/1-3-million-missing-homes-blamed-on-councils-and-nimbys-20230515-p5d8d3
Nursing home providers have backed a new Albanese government consultation paper that floats making elderly Australians pay more from their own pocket for aged care as part of efforts to relieve pressure on taxpayers. The draft National Care and Support Economy Strategy also warns that higher wages for carers working in the aged, disability, veterans and early childhood sectors can only be achieved through productivity gains to avoid driving up costs of services further.
https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/albanese-government-floats-making-people-pay-more-for-care-20230528-p5dbvc
Australia’s largest miner, BHP, is about to test run heavy-haul trucks with electric motors charged by renewable power in a bid to slash fossil fuel use that accounts for 40 per cent of its carbon emissions. These huge ore trucks run 24 hours a day, burn vast reservoirs of diesel and are ubiquitous across Australia’s open-pit mines.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/monster-movers-bhp-tests-electric-trucks-the-size-of-two-storey-house-20230526-p5dbjb.html
The SMH editorial says that the Victorian government’s announcement last week that it will end native forest logging in the state next year has accelerated debate about the future of the industry elsewhere, particularly in NSW, and given rise to the prospect of greater federal government engagement on a nationally significant issue.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/native-forest-logging-back-in-the-spotlight-in-nsw-after-changes-in-victoria-20230528-p5dbus.html
Woohoo! Two of the biggest tax cheats, ExxonMobil and Chevron (auditors for both are PwC) have finally begun to pay a mite of income tax in Australia but they also ripped out more than $13bn in dividends and returns of capital last year. Michael West reports their latest financials.
https://michaelwest.com.au/exxon-confirms-tax-office-in-pursuit-as-it-and-chevron-rip-13bn-dividends-out-of-australia/
James Massola writes that Brittany Higgins notified one of the ABC’s most respected journalists that she planned to make a formal complaint against the federal police, according to leaked WhatsApp messages.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/leaked-texts-suggest-brittany-higgins-not-top-prosecutor-tipped-off-media-about-complaint-20230528-p5dbwu.html
The debt ceiling deal isn’t perfect but it’s the only one – and it must pass, urges Robert Reich.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/28/debt-ceiling-deal-house-biden-mccarthy
Twitter’s reinvention of its verification program, combined with a new generation of synthetic media, could create a perfect storm for misinformation, warns Tim Biggs.
https://www.smh.com.au/technology/ai-fakes-and-twitter-s-lack-of-control-are-a-dangerous-combination-20230526-p5dbm5.html
Cartoon Corner
David Rowe
Megan Herbert
Leak
From the US
An excellent and thoughtful piece, not that I expect any of the dolts and clots currently in government to have read it.
I didn’t see this coming at all –
***Mark McGowan standing down as WA premier in shock announcement, citing exhaustion***
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-29/wa-premier-mark-mcgowan-resigns-from-politics/102406610
Note to self “refresh before posting comments”!!!!!
Political parties depend on press coverage.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/may/28/media-shuns-tory-party-conference-over-demands-for-attendance-fee
An old article
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2022/nov/23/how-putin-is-preparing-children-to-die-for-the-motherland
Hitler Youth and the League of German Girls?
You might also try Jugendwehr – goes back a little further