Via the ABC: The Acting Prime Minister has insisted it is appropriate for Scott Morrison to be having a Christmas break outside of Australia. Michael McCormack has confirmed the Prime Minister is overseas with his family at an undisclosed location. Some Labor MPs have posted online barbs to criticise Mr Morrison for taking a break
Yesterday we had “Pompous Pete” Hartcher telling us all that we’re all racists: For Trump and Johnson, it really is all about winning. The first achievement of right-wing populism was, through men such as these two, to storm the bastions of the centre-right establishment. The movement’s impulses of nationalism, xenophobia, protectionism and populism now inhabit
Every year, once per year, Australians are treated to an exposion of pomposity at the Orica annual general meeting, via Domain: Influential businessman and Orica chairman Malcolm Broomhead has lamented the rise of a culture of “self-righteousness” and a mindset where people are “intolerant” of others. In a speech to Orica shareholders, Mr Broomhead said
I’ve been struggling to find the right label for Labor leader Anthony Albanese for some time. I don’t make these things up. They are an expression of the essence of the person. But today it is finally clear. As all of Australia is burning, at News: As the PM Scott Morrison flies off into the
“Preposterous” Peter Hartcher is grabbing at the pearls again today as he fears the rise of the “right wing populists”: The leaders of the new Anglo-American political reality, Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, were not right-wing populists to begin with. They are both shrewd opportunists who have found a popular wave and ridden it to
I guess because they are not quiet enough, ignored firies are rallying their own national fire crisis summit, via The Guardian: Former emergency leaders who have been pushing the Morrison government to take action on the climate say they will “go it alone” and convene their own summit on the bushfire crisis. The Emergency Leaders
Take a few minutes to watch the Bojo victory speech: BoJo’s is a traditional Labor Government in all but name, far to the left of Tony Blair for instance, with key priorities for national health, carbon neutrality, managed migration, strong borders across the spectrum and working class electorates. Here’s what Catherine West, born and raised
The UK has embraced Brexit in its national election. It’s time Australia followed suit. We need it a lot more than the UK does. Why we need our own Brexit is as obvious as falling wages growth, skyrocketing house prices, smoke choked cities, the staggering water crisis engulfing the east coast, the disappearence of city
At last some sanity from an Australian economic institution on China (perhaps it was hacked by the CIA?). A terrific article in the RBA Bulletin from Ivan Roberts and Brendan Russell: Abstract Slowing trend growth in China, and the risks around this trajectory, are relevant to the future economic prospects of its major trading partners,
Via Michael Sainsbury at Crikey: Kevin Rudd, once a firm China sceptic, has become Australia’s first (former) prime minister to openly consort with the ruling Communist Party’s United Front Work Department (UFWD). The UFWD is responsible for spreading Chinese government interests in offshore nations — including Australia. UFWD groups are disguised with dull and prosaic
At the New Daily at least the Americans want to defend Australian freedom: The United States has suggested China is harassing members of the minority Uighur community in Australia. American ambassador to Australia Arthur Culvahouse said he was outraged by the levels of intimidation and argued there should be serious consequences. “What is happening, and
Via your burning PM today: “I’m a Sydneysider and I know how unusual it is to see that haze across my city, and I know how distressing that has been, particularly for young people, who wouldn’t have seen that before.” “And I can understand that is deeply unsettling to a lot of Australians, particularly those
Ironically from by the AFR, kernel of evil for business parasitism, comes Productivity Commissioner Michael Brennan: Productivity Commissioner Michael Brennan says destructive rent seeking and a lack of entrepreneurship by business has stalled productivity and wage growth and that trying to fix the issue won’t be helped by reform nostalgia or economic pessimism. While business
Sydney has disappeared, at The Guardian: The New South Wales environment minister Matt Kean has split from his federal Coalition counterparts, arguing climate change is behind the bushfire crisis and calling for greater emissions reduction. Kean’s intervention piles pressure on Scott Morrison to do more on emissions reduction and disaster management after his predecessor Malcolm
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has released a “principles-based” responsible lending road map that seeks to replace the flawed Household Expenditure Measure (HEM) – a relative poverty estimate – used widely by banks in the lead-up to the Hayne Royal Commission: ASIC commissioner Sean Hughes said the examples provided by the regulator were
Via Domain comes Economist Ross Garnaut: …Carryover credits refer to an accounting measure, where a country counts historical emissions reduction that exceeded old international goals against its current target. Australia will include its carryover credits from its over-achievement on the Kyoto Protocol in its efforts to meet the Paris target. Most countries don’t count their credits,
Andrew Hastie at Domain defines his pushback plan against Chinese Communist Party encroachments:: …First, we need to recognise, understand, and articulate the challenge facing the West. …Second, we must enlist the full weight of democratic institutions in this effort, including the giving of major speeches, initiating parliamentary inquiries and passing legislative measures, and educating the
Via The Guardian: Scott Morrison ends an election-winning year with a strong thumbs up from Coalition voters. But voter disapproval of the prime minister has also crept up in the second half of 2019, from 34% in July to 43% in December, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll. With parliament rising for 2019 and Australians
Via Domain: Millions of Australians are struggling to work more hours and lift their earnings in a “gig economy” that suppresses wage growth, according to new research that reveals key pressure points across the country. …Labor frontbencher Clare O’Neil will liken the trend to a “drought” for workers who need more work, saying the two
Ian McAllister says the level of satisfaction with democracy in Australia is at its lowest level since the constitutional crisis in 1975 that led to the dismissal of the Whitlam government. McAllister is the co-author of the ‘Australian Election Study’, released by the Australian National University in the wake of the May federal election. The
Via the AFR: The key figure in fraud charges brought by the Chinese government against defector Wang Liqiang is linked to a mystery $50,000 Labor Party donation flagged as suspicious by the NSW corruption watchdog. Sydney businessman Xin “Filip” Shu confirmed he made the complaint against Mr Wang in April this year, which is now
For what it is worth, via The Australian comes two primary voting: And two party preferred: I find it hard to believe goiven the burning and stalled economy but there you have it. If you believe it, the polls have diverged since Newspoll shifted methodology two months ago, and with all other polling houses bunkered
Shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers will urge the federal government to address issues such as low wages growth, underemployment and falling productivity in its mid-year economic outlook. He will tell a Chifley Research Centre conference that the economy is not working for ordinary Australians, while warning of the dangers associated with the rise of populism. From
A new probe, via Reuters: Australia on Thursday established an investigation into potential foreign political interference through social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and WeChat. The review comes amid heightened Australian concerns that China is seeking to interfere in Canberra’s affairs, and after U.S. intelligence analysts found Russia had used social media to try
The truth is laid bare for all to see. Australia faces five critical challenges to its social and economic wellbeing today and, alas, it now abundently clear that the nation elected the wrong government to deal with any and all of them. The first and largest challenge is climate change. Science, drought and bushfires are
Trying to get blood from a stone, at Domain: Embattled Liberal MP Gladys Liu has requested her party pay back at least $100,000 she donated to her campaign to win the marginal Melbourne seat of Chisholm. Ms Liu contributed the money to her own election campaign in the lead-up to the May 18 poll after
Some more good news for the species, not, from the World Meteorological Organisation: The year 2019 concludes a decade of exceptional global heat, retreating ice and record sea levels driven by greenhouse gases from human activities. Average temperatures for the five-year (2015-2019) and ten-year (2010-2019) periods are almost certain to be the highest on record.
So says Domain, in news that will shock nobody: Liberal MP Gladys Liu secured access to the federal government for a company and Liberal Party donor endorsed by the Chinese Communist Party and later implicated in a major organised crime probe into $1 million in suspected drug money. Brighsun New Energy is the Australian subsidiary
Nick Xenophon covered in glory again: Huawei Australia’s new external lawyer, former independent senator Nick Xenophon, has launched an aggressive defence of the company, saying the telecommunications giant was being “destroyed” by “false and totally unsubstantiated claims”. The company was banned from supplying next-generation 5G mobile internet infrastructure in Australia last August because of security
Via Nine: Nationals MP George Christensen is facing claims from a staff member of an adult entertainment bar in the Philippines that he was a regular at the venue. The bar manager of the night spot, which identifies itself as an “adult entertainment service”, said Mr Christensen did not reveal he was a politician and
