A DEAL’S A DEAL
Treasurer Jim Chalmers will probably increase the JobSeeker payments in May’s budget, according to The Australian, thanks to an independent welfare review Labor traded for its industrial relations reform. The JobSeeker rate — $334.20 a week for a single person — was the top priority at the economic inclusion advisory committee’s first meeting in December. It’s headed up by former Labor minister Jenny Macklin, and includes representatives from the Brotherhood of St Laurence and the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) — it was one of the things independent powerbroker David Pocock got in exchange for his vote on the IR laws.
So what could JobSeeker increase to? ACOSS wants it to be $511 a week — in the past 12 months alone, chief exec Cassandra Goldie said, our rates are up 18% and food by 9%, but the welfare payment wasn’t enough for a person to live with dignity before then either. When asked about raising the JobSeeker rate, Chalmers neither confirmed nor denied it, rather cryptically saying the government would do “what we can when we can”. Yesterday he did point to new jobs analysis from Treasury which shows the Albanese government has had record employment growth in its first six months, The West ($) adds.
Meanwhile, Chalmers has warned gas producers to stick to the temporary price cap, saying the ACCC was watching closely. You may remember Parliament being recalled last month to pass the legislation, which capped gas at $12 a gigajoule for a year to bring our household bills down, as Sky News reports. It would leave the average household $230 better off by the June quarter, according to Treasury modelling that the Guardian Australia delved into last month. People on welfare such as pensioners, JobSeeker and family tax benefits will also have their bills slashed. But energy giants are freaking out. AGL says it can’t get a contract supply of gas for the year, and has stopped taking customers on, news.com.au reports.
HOME AND AWAY
Sydney teacher Myron Love is feared dead in the Nepal plane crash at the weekend. Love, a 29-year-old from Bronte, was on the passenger manifest of the Yeti Airlines flight that went down while descending into Pokhara from Kathmandu, the SMH reports. Yeti Airlines confirmed to the ABC that there were no survivors among the 72 people on board — though the bodies of four passengers have not been found. Yesterday the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) was seeking more information about Love, and his family was still awaiting confirmation about his condition. Friends have posted to social media mourning the cyclist and surfer, described as “a truly kind, fun, energetic man”. So what went wrong? So far it is unclear — Guardian Australia reports the ATR 72-500 plane was 15 years old and “equipped with an old transponder with unreliable data”. The flight and voice recorders have been sent for analysis.
Staying overseas and the 30-year-old cousin of a Sydney man has been sentenced to death in Iran for killing three government militia — but he says his confession was tortured out of him. Former Iranian prisoner and academic Kylie Moore–Gilbert says she’s working with the offices of Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and Labor MP Josh Burns on Majid Kazemi’s fate — though he’s not an Australian citizen, the SMH adds, so our hands are tied somewhat. Even so, Liberal Senator David Van and Greens foreign affairs spokesman Jordon Steele-John have both written to the Iranian government urging it to rethink the sentence amid huge concern among our Iranian population.
ME, MYSELF AND AI
One in five assessments in a class at Deakin University was written using AI, according to a lecturer. It’s the highest rate in the five years Sally Brandon has used software to detect bots, Guardian Australia reports, and comes after ChatGPT exploded on to the internet. It’s a viral chatbot software that can create chillingly human-like answers to rather complex questions — like “write a 1000-word essay on whether Australia is a middle power”, as one Twitter user asked. But is it cheating? Brandon is waiting to hear back.
To another evil machine now and NSW Labor has announced it’ll slash the number of pokies in the state if it wins March’s election, the ABC reports, and limit cash feed-ins to $500, down from $5000. Opposition Leader Chris Minns also committed to a mandatory cashless gaming trial for at least 500 poker machines — but does the policy go far enough? That’s fewer than 1% of the state’s 95,000 machines. Incidentally, NSW is second only to Nevada as the state with the most gambling machines, a dismal fact. Indeed you could combine Queensland and Victoria’s totals and you’re still 30% short of NSW’s total, the SMH reports, meaning there were 82 people in NSW for every machine in 2017. Anyway, Labor has also committed to banning political parties from taking dosh from clubs with gaming machines, Guardian Australia adds, and banning signage like “VIP lounge” that promotes gaming areas.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
A British couple accidentally got down on one knee and popped the question to each other at the same time, BBC reports. Bee Nichols and James Kavanagh met as kids while attending primary school in Hertfordshire. “It was really sweet,” Nichols says. “James’s mum still has a tea towel we’d made in primary school that has both our names on and our self-portraits.” As adults, Nichols and Kavanagh had flown the nest but had both returned to live with their folks in 2020’s lockdown. Their paths had narrowly missed in a few different ways — lots of mutual friends, family members playing sports together and attending scouts. It wasn’t until the pair showed up at the same running club one day, however, that their hearts began to race.
Fast-forward to December last year and the happy couple was looking forward to a getaway in snowy Latvia. Unbeknown to each other, both had bought a ring — Nichols, 29, had seen one that matched a ring of hers perfectly, while Kavanagh had gone all out with the purchase of an engagement ring weeks earlier. The pair had just enjoyed some dog sledding and were looking at a picturesque lookout when it happened. Nichols turned to Kavanagh and dropped on to a knee with her ring, to which Kavanagh rather politely replied: “I hope you don’t mind, I was also planning to propose” — the photo is going to play your heart like a harp, not least because of their matching yolk-coloured beanies. Nichols said she wasn’t really the type to believe in soulmates before this, but she has to admit, the evidence feels pretty compelling.
Wishing you the magic of a coincidence today, folks.
SAY WHAT?
In the meantime, the Nuremberg parade ground dispositions of this premier make him unworthy to lead the state. It’s now a matter of whether, stimulated by a photo, or something else, his party removes him before the voters do.
Bob Carr
When NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet pointed the finger at the Bob Carr Labor government as the reason for so many pokies in NSW (the state is second only to Nevada), Carr was ready with a clap back. The former premier said there’d been 12 years of Coalition governments in between, and that Perrottet was on the way out amid his Nazi costume debacle anyway.
CRIKEY RECAP
Anthony Albanese weighs in on Perrottet’s Nazi uniform scandal
“Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has commented on Dominic Perrottet’s Nazi uniform scandal, saying voters will judge the NSW premier on his policies at the upcoming election, not on his youthful sins. Albanese appeared on 2DayFM on Monday morning and was asked about the scandal, which broke last week when Perrottet came clean about the Nazi costume he wore to his 21st birthday party …
“His comments come as NSW Liberals worry the costume scandal could escalate. Crikey reported last week that rumours have circulated for weeks about a photo of Perrottet’s costume, although the premier said he wasn’t sure if any pictures existed.”
Should unions be able to charge ‘free riders’ for pay rises?
“But in Australia, unions remain smothered in the kind of red tape that conservatives would usually oppose. Unions cannot negotiate agreements for their members alone — differentiated pay scales are prohibited. And even though other bargaining agents generally charge for their services, unions cannot insert clauses charging non-members for theirs, even though the agreements containing such clauses would have to be voted for by a majority of employees regardless.
“This is despite the fact employees who don’t want to be represented by a union can represent themselves at the bargaining table — though few would, given the required time, effort and expertise.”
How satirist Nordacious’ pop art portrait of Anthony Albanese ended up in the PM’s hands
“In the dying days of 2021, artist Nordacious was gobsmacked to see one of his artworks had made its way into the hands of its subject: Anthony Albanese. He was shown a photograph of Albanese posing with a mug featuring an illustration of the then-opposition leader’s face along with the phrase ‘Sit down, boofhead’, a commemoration of an infamous question time retort delivered to Peter Dutton.
“Nordacious, whose real name is James Hillier, has worked as a full-time artist for eight years. His distinctive style applies a nostalgic, pop art aesthetic to well-known characters and moments from Australian pop culture.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Somalia claims capture of key port town from al-Shabab (Al Jazeera)
German defence minister resigns after months of criticism over army, Ukraine (Al Jazeera)
Mafia boss arrested in Italy after eluding capture for 30 years (The New York Times)
Armed insurgents kidnap 50 women in Burkina Faso (The New York Times)
Jeremy Clarkson says he apologised to Harry and Meghan for Sun column (BBC)
Average Canadian house price fell 12% last year, new CREA numbers show (CBC)
EVs made up 10% of all new cars sold last year (The Wall Street Journal) ($)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Why Labor’s plan is a game-changer for rental and housing affordability — Chris Minns (The SMH): “From my first day as opposition leader, I have not hesitated to back good ideas from the NSW Liberal government. Whether it was dealing with COVID, or the national energy package, when they got it right, I backed them in. That’s the way I practise politics, and it’s the right thing to do. But that support is not a blank cheque, and it doesn’t extend to poorly thought out or half-baked policies, or policies where the Perrottet government has straight out got it wrong. That’s why Labor has developed its own comprehensive plan for housing affordability in NSW and why we will abolish the Perrottet government’s plan to begin charging land tax on the family home.
“The reality is over the last 12 years NSW has slowly, but inexorably, spiralled into a devastating housing and rental affordability crisis, with fewer and fewer families having the capacity to buy their own home. Since 2011, the proportion of households owning their home outright has fallen by about 5% and almost 1.3 million people in NSW are now experiencing housing stress. In 2022, the social housing waiting list increased to 57,550 and the number of priority applicants increased by 12% in one year. The numbers speak for themselves, but behind the numbers are hundreds of thousands of young families, seniors, essential workers and other hardworking people struggling to find a place to live, and struggling to meet the costs of renting, or buying a home. That’s a failure of policy and a failure of leadership.”
Why does Nepal’s aviation industry have safety issues? An expert explains — Chrystal Zhang (The Conversation): “Topography has gifted Nepal with picturesque landscapes, but posits unrivalled challenges to flight operations. Nepal, situated between India and China, is home to eight of the world’s 14 highest mountains, including Mount Everest or Sagarmāthā. For flight operations, it’s an almost unrivalled, harsh environment with sudden weather changes that can make for hazardous conditions. Airports built in mountainous regions often need to have shorter runways that can only accommodate turboprop-powered regional aircraft, rather than large jet airliners that can access larger cities in Nepal.
“As a result, aviation carriers in Nepal have a variety of aircraft on their fleets. These craft vary in condition, presenting potential safety hazards. The ATR 72 aircraft is one typical aircraft used by Nepali carriers. It is a turboprop-powered regional aircraft with a capacity between 44 and 78 passengers. These aircraft are manufactured by a joint venture of Airbus in France and Leonardo in Italy. The aircraft involved in this crash had been in service for 15 years, a fairly typical age for an aircraft. The final report on what happened to the tragic Yeti Airlines flight will take over a month to complete. Nepal has welcomed private investment into its aviation sector since 1992. Yeti Airlines is one of 20 domestic carriers. The airline, headquartered in Kathmandu, flies to 10 domestic destinations using ATR 72-500 aircraft. In addition, 29 international airlines operate into Nepal’s capital too.”
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WHAT’S ON TODAY
Larrakia Country (also known as Darwin)
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The Museum and Art Gallery of Northern Territory is hosting a workshop to celebrate Country, a travelling art case filled with artworks by First Nations artists from the National Gallery of Australia.
