Via the AFR comes a huge laugh out loud: China has changed its inspection procedures for iron imports under new rules that analysts say could be used to block Australia’s most important export, as trade tensions between the two countries escalate. China’s Customs authorities said in a notice the new supervising rules, which take effect
‘ We have not “let the relationship slip”. China launched a quiet invasion of Australia via bribery, lawfare and intimidation, and Labor is blaming Australia for it even though Turnbull and Morrison only undertook the most basic pushbacks to protect our sovereignty and freedoms. Post COVID-19, we spearheaded a failed push for an independent inquiry
Via The Guardian: Australian taxpayers should underwrite a massive expansion of the domestic gas industry – including helping open new fields and build hundreds of kilometres of pipelines – according to a group advising on Covid-19 recovery. A leaked draft report by a manufacturing taskforce advising the National Covid-19 Coordination Commission (NCCC) recommends the Morrison
It’s all fake now. Our entire political economy. Right wing politics is an oligarchic fake pretending to compete. Left wing politics is an oligarchic fake pretending to care about workers or the environment. Government is a fake, pretending to do reform but really just stuffing the nation full of coolies to disguise falling living standards.
This time via The Guardian: More natural gas, faster project approvals and lower company tax are critical to achieving “economic sovereignty” and a stronger Australian manufacturing sector, according to the industry minister, Karen Andrews. Andrews will address the National Press Club on Wednesday, calling on governments to streamline project approvals and foreshadowing a role for
From News: China has slammed claims it backed down and Australia had a victory over the probe into COVID-19 as a “joke”. In the latest diplomatic war of words between the two nations, the Chinese embassy has lashed out at claims it has backed down over the investigation under international pressure. “The draft resolution on
The federal government must step into this disgrace, at The Australian: A student activist facing expulsion from the University of Queensland is being threatened with criminal prosecution over his handling of documents relating to the institution’s public response to anti-Beijing protests on campus. Drew Pavlou faces a disciplinary hearing on Wednesday following his protests and
I’m afraid it is an epochal stain that will keep it from power for decades. Labor cannot be trusted with China. Kevin Rudd is the exemplar: Former Labor Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has accused Scott Morrison of exposing primary producers to extra risk by taking the lead against China on a coronavirus inquiry while Beijing
Via The Guardian: The Greens have proposed increasing government debt by $300bn in a bid to kickstart the economy out of the Covid-19 contraction through investments in industry, infrastructure and renewable energy. The Invest to Recover plan, released on Monday, sets up the Greens’ economic argument leading into the next election as a battle against Coalition austerity
He would have to pretty pissed if he didn’t given the virus outcome: Popular support for the federal Coalition has climbed to its highest level since last September ahead of a looming by-election in Eden-Monaro, as Scott Morrison cemented record approval ratings for his leadership during the COVID-19 crisis. An exclusive Newspoll conducted for The
The Chinese Government has threatened trade sanctions if the Australia continues its push for an independent inquiry into the origins and response to the Wuhan Coronavirus pandemic: High-ranking calls to China have gone unanswered amid an escalating trade dispute with Australia that’s been fuelled by calls to investigate the origins of the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
From BioRvix comes the new study: In a side-by-side comparison of evolutionary dynamics between the 2019/2020 SARS-CoV-2 and the 2003 SARS-CoV, we were surprised to find that SARS-CoV-2 resembles SARS-CoV in the late phase of the 2003 epidemic after SARS-CoV had developed several advantageous adaptations for human transmission. Our observations suggest that by the time
China’s wolf wanker warrior diplomats may be a pack of arseholes. But at least they’ve got a bit of get up and go. By comparison, Australia’s possum pansy diplomats are about as fearsome as a trampled flower bed. At The Guardian today: Australia must work to prevent ties with China slipping into permanent hostility as
Thanks, Xi Jinping: The coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could become endemic like HIV, the World Health Organization said on Wednesday, warning against any attempt to predict how long it would keep circulating and calling for a “massive effort” to counter it. “It is important to put this on the table: this virus may become just
CCP mouthpiece, The Global Times, yesterday threatened Australian iron ore exports in the latest amusing twist in the China spat. I would quote it for you but the site is down. Has Australia has been geo-blocked? This is a nice measure of how toothless the CCP regime is. It sources 85% of its imported iron
Unbelievable. Via Domain: Liberal senator James Paterson has taken aim at universities’ reliance on international students, using a speech in Parliament to reveal confidential details about the University of Queensland vice-chancellor’s pay incentives to deepen ties with China. In a late-night speech on Tuesday, Senator Paterson said a whistleblower from the university had given him
Via the ABC: There’s a battle of ideas over how to reinvigorate the economy after the shock of COVID-19, but the make-up of the advisory body the Federal Government has set up to lead the recovery gives a good indication of which way it’s leaning. Amid calls for new investment in clean energy to cut
The MSM is clutching its Chinese pearls today. Here are the links, courtesy of Sinocism: Our great brawl with China risks trade war – The Australian Beijing has accused Australia of launching an inquiry into the COVID-19 pandemic for political reasons, declaring that “mutual respect and equality” must form the basis of bilateral relations amid
Well oh dear, at Domain: Hospitals are struggling to source drugs including propofol and cisatracurium, used to sedate patients before they are intubated, which are needed to take ICUs to full capacity if there is a second wave of coronavirus infections after restrictions are lifted. “As part of Australia’s COVID-19 response, hospitals are still on
At News: Author Clive Hamilton says the idea the coronavirus originated in December in a Wuhan wet market “simply doesn’t stack up,” as evidence mounts that the virus in fact leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology. US and UK intelligence agencies are currently reviewing private analysis of cell phone location data which purports to
George Megalopolis produced some basic data on the weekend with a very strange conclusion: Australia faces a realignment of the economy at warp speed. Almost a third of the 950,000 jobs lost across the economy since March 14 have been in accommodation and food services. Most were casual positions. They are not easily restored without
Via the ABC: Concerns over another spike in coronavirus cases have been raised after thousands of people flocked to shopping centres across Australia on Saturday, many flouting social distancing rules. Although the pre-Mother’s Day boom was a welcome lift for the retail industry, it caused alarm over a potential surge in COVID-19 cases after weeks
Via Domain: Labor leader Anthony Albanese will call for a new focus on fairness in the recovery from the coronavirus crisis, naming housing construction and local manufacturing as two priorities in his economic agenda. …In a major speech in Parliament House on Monday, the Labor leader will instead describe the crisis as a “once in
Via SCMP: China says it supports World Health Organisation efforts to investigate the origin of the Covid-19 pandemic, but rejects any “presumption of guilt”, after the global body said it was talking to Beijing about sending another delegation to the country. The remarks came as Beijing is under mounting international pressure – particularly from the
Magnificent! Via UBS: Government suggests ~330k less migrants than expected in the next 18 months With reports suggesting over 300k tourists and temporary residents had already departed Australia by mid-April, and expectations that perhaps another 300k may leave by the end of 2020, a collapse in Australian net overseas migration (NOM) and visitor arrivals is
Former Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, claims that Australia’s public service is no longer able to function effectively after being stripped bare by years of outsourcing: Speaking to InnovationAus’ Commercial Disco podcast as part of a virtual book tour to promote his political autobiography A Bigger Picture, Mr Turnbull said one of the big challenges facing
Via Bloomie: Among recovered Chinese Covid-19 patients, about 5% to 15% may have tested positive again, a Chinese study found. The rate of reactivation in China varied among different places, with some regions showing less than 1% of such cases among recovered patients, Wang Guiqiang, director of department of infection at the Peking University First
One week Labor is calling for JobKeeper and JobSeeker to be extended to more than a million temporary migrants, taxpayer bail-outs for all “critical businesses”, taxpayer bail-outs of universities, and taxpayer support for industry superannuation funds that failed to manage liquidity. Now, Labor is calling for an audit into the explosion of federal government debt:
Via The Australian: The national cabinet will today pave the way for a return to retail trading, greater freedom of movement within states and getting people back to work, in a landmark meeting to map out a plan for economic recovery. But Australians will face weeks of tough restrictions in some states as nervous premiers
Via Crikey’s Bernard Keane: How many Australians have to download the Morrison government’s surveillance app for it to be effective in helping health authorities trace contacts of people who have tested positive for COVID-19? At least 40% of the population, says Scott Morrison. Not 40%, say bureaucrats from the Department of Health. In fact, they hadn’t suggested
