Australian Politics

You know the Indigenous Voice and Anthony Albanese are in trouble when even the most progressive state in Australia – Victoria – says “no”.

This is getting embarrassing.

This is so dumb that I don’t know where to look.

The queen of the fake left, Katherine Murphy, may be stuck in woke ideology, but she is also pragmatic enough to know when it is losing: Labor is transiting from a point in the political zeitgeist when voters were more aspirational.

Cronyism, or the Game of Mates as we call it Downunder, is an endemic risk in the Australian political economy.

Why on earth would we do this?

More on rampant US derisking of China today: The share of imported merchandise coming from China was 14.6% on average over that period, the data published Wednesday showed.

When I die, I want to come back as the gas cartel.

Here’s the new Voice ad: I am voting YES, and I hope it passes.

Albo has spent 18 months undoing the trade diversification achieved by Aussie exporters during China’s diplomatic war on Australia.

Oil and petrol are shaping as a problem in the short term.

More China worries today as the Caixin PMI confirms the construction economy is going nowhere. Goldman: 1. The Caixin China General Services Business Activity Index (headline services PMI)fell to 51.8 in August from 54.1 in July, suggesting the activity in services sector continued to improve but at a significantly slower pace.

It is one of those populist ironies that Albo’s crony deals with the likes of the gas cartel, which will cost households untold billions, triggers less outward anger than Albo’s much cheaper cronyism with Qantas.

Anybody hoping for more transparency under the Albanese Government would be sorely disappointed that more than 2,000 requests for answers remain unanswered in the Senate.

The gas cartel is the reaming that keeps on giving.

Victorian Premier Dan Andrews is the master of burning taxpayer money.

He didn’t wait for the women and children, either: Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce will depart the airline on Wednesday, bringing forward his retirement by two months amid a firestorm engulfing the company over allegations of illegal ticket sales and undue influence over government.

The Albanese Government last month announced a two-year review, with the goal of launching a new wave of competition reform to stimulate economic dynamism, promote productivity, and boost wage growth.

Victoria is the nation’s most indebted state thanks to nearly a decade of wasteful spending: Victoria’s $116 billion debt pile has been driven by the state government’s decision to “embark on very big, largely debt-funded infrastructure spending programs”, according to independent economist Saul Eslake.

This legislation looks pretty good: Employers who deliberately underpay workers could be jailed for up to 10 years and fined $7.8 million under proposed new federal wage theft laws, while much larger fines will be levelled on businesses who engage in large-scale underpayment of their staff.

The fake left has a new idea.

When it comes to the fake left (and fake right, but they are not in power), it is all about symbolism over substance.

Nice work if you can get it: Qantas faces tens of millions of dollars in fines over allegations it engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct by advertising tickets for more than 8000 flights it had already cancelled.

By Stephen Saunders Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese both represent feeding the rich and flogging the environment.

The fake left is up to the usual today: The Australian Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has called on people to join disruptive climate protests to pressure the Albanese government to stop opening new fossil fuel mines, saying he plans to help blockade the country’s largest coal port.