Following a dismissive response to the point of tyrannical arrogance, “Manchurian Dan” Andrews has been forced to act on Crown, via Domain: Victoria’s gaming minister has instructed the regulator to launch an urgent investigation into Crown Resorts’ business ties to organisations linked to Chinese criminals, amid the deepening scandal engulfing the Australian casino giant. In
And why wouldn’t it? Power prices are more than double historical averages: Via The Australian: Rio Tinto’s aluminium smelters in Gladstone and Newcastle are “on thin ice” and face an uncertain future if Canberra does not act on the east coast energy cost crisis, according to Rio boss Jean-Sebastien Jacques. As Rio delivered another $US3.5
Via The Guardian: The powerful US backers of a conservative conference being held in Sydney next week say they are committed to making the event a “multi-year, forever-type project” aimed at galvanising the right wing of Australian politics. The organiser of the first Australian Conservative Political Action Conference, or CPAC, says the event will “not be
It’s fun to watch Asian gas prices, via Bloomie: The latest bad news for bulls came this week, as China National Offshore Oil Corp. bought a liquefied natural gas cargo for early September delivery to China at about $3.90 per million British thermal units, according to traders with knowledge of the transaction. The region’s benchmark
Thank goodness for the lunatic fringe, via The Guardian: The Tasmanian independent Jacqui Lambie says she will consider telling the Morrison government “where to stick their bills” if the Coalition continues to pursue a suboptimal federal integrity commission. Lambie made the threat during a show of unity by parliamentary crossbenchers on Wednesday about the necessity
It is everywhere now, except in the national discussion. Australia’s mass immigration economic model is falling apart. Consider the following. Across all spheres of society there are immense scandals underway. The first and highest order is the nation’s national interest. This is under intense pressure as the US/China Cold War blossoms. We are isolated from
Via Bernard Keane: Crown is always good for a decent chunk of change for the Victorian and WA branches on both sides. So instead of a parliamentary inquiry, Labor and the government were content with Attorney-General Christian Porter referring the whole thing to the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity (ACLEI). This means the matter
Via Michael West comes the WTF of the day amid intense competition: This is the story the Murdoch press buried. Investigative reporter, Anthony Klan, defected from The Australian newspaper after News Corp bosses muzzled his investigations, including this expose into secret Chinese plans to establish a mega-pilot training facility on an Australian airforce training facility. Virgin
Leading us off, The Guardian joins the frenzy: A federal MP has revealed extraordinary allegations from a former Crown casino driver who claims he transported foreign nationals to the company’s Melbourne hotel from a private jet base without being subject to border security checks and saw women degraded, abused and “slapped around”. …Wilkie said the
It’s always refreshing to read an objective take on the great Australian university whorebag. Via the New York Times: The Chinese nationalists disrupting pro-Hong Kong democracy rallies at the University of Queensland arrived 300 strong, with a speaker to blast China’s national anthem. They deferred to a leader in a pink shirt. And their tactics
At Seven: The Morrison government has ordered an integrity watchdog to investigate allegations of corruption involving the gambling giant, Crown. Attorney-General Christian Porter has referred allegations over Crown and government agencies to the Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity. “There are sufficient concerns to warrant at least further investigations,” Mr Porter told parliament on Tuesday.
Via William Bowe: The Australian has reported the result with its characteristic bullish confidence, precisely attributing the Coalition’s 1.5% improvement as compared with the election result to the “passage of the government’s $158 billion income tax cuts, drought funding package and national security legislation”. YouGov Galaxy principal David Briggs also seemed hesitant to concede that anything had
MB’s favourite minor party is joining the crusade, via the AFR: The Greens are pressing Labor to support a Senate inquiry into alleged “special favours” Crown received from the government in relation to fast-tracking visas and lobbying government ministers…The Opposition is yet to support an inquiry pushed by several crossbench… Centre Alliance Senator Rex Patrick
Australia’s political economy has turned into one gigantic lie. Via AAP: Pauline Hanson’s push to have a national vote on immigration levels has been crushed in the Senate. The One Nation leader on Monday asked the Upper House to support a plebiscite, arguing the country’s roads and health system were buckling under the weight of
More horrendous revelations about Crown today. Again at Domain: A serving Australian Border Force official moonlighted to provide security for an international criminal fugitive who has worked with Crown Resorts to bring Chinese high rollers into Australia. Border Force official Andrew Ure worked at least once for Tom Zhou, a Crown high-roller junket agent who
Via The Australian: Scott Morrison has spearheaded a post-election surge in support for the Coalition following passage of the government’s $158 billion income tax cuts, drought funding package and national security legislation, while cementing his authority as Prime Minister. The first post-election Newspoll conducted exclusively for The Australian shows a swing towards the Coalition of
Let’s hold the moralising because all Crown has done is pursue the contemporary Australian business model. Via Domain: Jiang opened the door to see four men and one woman wearing grim expressions. It was clear they weren’t plumbers. Flashing cards identifying themselves as agents of China’s secretive Ministry of Public Security, they hustled into her
Sure looks that way. Anthony Albanese’s judgement is poor, via The Australian: Zero. That’s how many questions Anthony Albanese asked during yesterday’s question time. Staying true to his strategic promise of unpredictability, the Labor leader yielded the floor to his backbench for two hours. His frontbench were left to sit on their hands, literally in
Ah, yes, anothery: Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has not ruled out standing aside her deputy Jackie Trad from Cabinet if the state’s corruption watchdog launches an investigation into her investment property. The Crime and Corruption Commission is considering two referrals about Ms Trad’s inner-city investment property, which she failed to publicly declare and which stands to increase
Via The Guardian: Australian voters are warming to both Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese, with approval of both the major party leaders increasing as the 46th parliament settles into its post-election tempo, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll. According to the latest survey of 1,091 respondents, the prime minister’s approval rating is five points higher
Bravo Crikey and its new investigative unit, INQ: The man sitting opposite us says he has found happiness. He lives in a small rented room in an outer Sydney suburb. He works a 60-hour week in a low-paid maintenance job from which he could be fired at any minute. He travels three hours a day
Via ASPI: Hugh White sees the US–Australia military alliance weakening, possibly disappearing, as China’s rise undermines US hegemony in East Asia and as US relative power wanes. ‘We will really be on our own’, he observes in How to defend Australia. On this foundation, White builds a provocative case for greatly expanded acquisitions of submarines, fighter
It smells to high heaven, via the AFR: Scott Morrison and senior partners from consultancy EY will be called to appear before a Senate committee to explain career moves by former ministers Christopher Pyne and Julie Bishop. …The vote, held on Monday afternoon, was delayed after Prime Minister Scott Morrison agreed to ask his departmental
Hong Kong keeps burning, via Bloomie: Hong Kong police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators who had earlier surrounded China’s main local government office, as an otherwise peaceful protest march turned tense late Sunday. Clashes broke out as police attempted to clear the remnants of the latest mass rally against the government and its now-suspended
It’s painful to watch the Fake Left go in circles inside of its closed ideology trying to figure out why it lost the unlosable election. We’ve watched as various doyens of the left have proposed that it was climate change, Adani, bogans, housing or Bill. On Saturday the normally more incisive Mike Seccombe at the
With good reason. As we know, Housing Minister Michael Sukkar has morphed from policymaker to spiv in the blink of an eye, via The Australian: Housing Minister Michael Sukkar has urged first-home buyers to try to snap up a property now, ahead of the government’s signature loan deposit scheme starting next year, warning that housing prices
At a certain point the corruption of your nation has gone too far and this is it, via the ABC: Two Australian universities are reviewing funding and research approval procedures due to concerns over links to technology that is being used to carry out mass human rights abuses by the Chinese Government in Xinjiang province.
Via The Guardian: Australia remains “deeply concerned” about China’s treatment of the Uighur people, including use of forced labour, the foreign affairs minister Marise Payne has said. On Monday Payne revealed that China had blocked Australia’s attempts to offer consular assistance to dual citizens and their families, and rejected China’s claims that concerned nations had rebuffed an
by Chris Becker The recent public comments by Hugh White, that Australia should “dramatically increase military spending” due to the temporary perceived unreliability of Trump’s Presidency and the strategic risk of a rising China have been muddled due to his additional remarks surrounding a nuclear weapons option. Unfortunately, the nuke angle is now clouding any
Former editor of the Canberra Times, Crispin Hull, has delivered another pinpoint dissection of Australia’s immigration system: Immigration is now a win-win for wealthy elites and the Coalition. The election has shown that not only does high immigration provide cheap labour and new consumers for big business it also provides the resentment that bolsters One
