MR NO STRIKES AGAIN
Peter Dutton blocked grant requests to prevent crime in some of the same Indigenous communities he has used as staging grounds for his opposition to the First Nations Voice to Parliament, The Age ($) reports. The grant refusals happened while the opposition leader was home affairs minister and despite his own department having marked them as high-priority, the front-page story says. They included a request for CCTV funding in an East Arnhem Land town near the place where the Garma Festival took place at the weekend, deemed the 26th most worthy out of 211 projects.
Dutton has visited the area in recent months and mentioned East Arnhem Land when he announced his opposition to the Voice. Many of the funding bids that were granted as part of the “Safer Communities Fund” happened to be in marginal seats the Coalition hoped to target in the 2022 election. Dutton’s office called the story an “absurd and pathetic attack from the Albanese government who desperately want a distraction from their shambles on the Voice”.
Speaking of Dutton and the Garma Festival, his office issued a clarification on Monday saying that Coalition No champion Jacinta Nampijinpa Price had made an “innocent mistake” when she incorrectly claimed Dutton had attended the Garma Festival “several times already”. Rather, Dutton had visited the area near the festival location, Guardian Australia reports. Indeed.
So how’s it going with the Voice referendum campaign? Guardian Australia reports today a new poll shows most respondents plan to vote No (47%) compared with 43% Yes and 10% who were unsure. Young people and women remain strong supporters for the proposal.
RON TRUMPS THE DONALD
It may seem strange that a Republican governor of a US state acknowledging Joe Biden won the 2020 election and that Donald Trump lost would be major headline news. But such is the US political climate that Trump has helped create. Overnight Ron DeSantis earned prominent mentions on the websites of The New York Times, The Guardian, CNN, the Associated Press and others for his admission that Trump “of course” lost the election.
He made the comments in an interview with NBC News, and only after DeSantis, a top Republican challenger for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination, was pressed on it. At first, when asked if Trump had lost, the Florida governor answered: “Whoever puts their hand on the Bible on Jan 20 every four years is the winner.” Asked if he wouldn’t give a yes or no answer, DeSantis said: ”No, of course he lost … Joe Biden’s the president.”
Trump is facing several criminal charges into his conduct in office, including allegations he conspired to defraud the US and obstructed an official proceeding in the course of his denial that he lost the election. In other overnight court news, a judge has thrown out Trump’s counter-defamation suit against E Jean Carroll, an author who Trump was earlier found to have sexually abused and defamed, CNN reports.
SAY WHAT?
My butt is fine from her stepping on it, but I mean everyone was in a high pressure situation … There’s no hard feelings. It’s just a game.
Michelle Alozie
Alozie, a defender in Nigeria’s soccer team, holds no grudge against England forward Lauren James for stepping on her rear end during a FIFA Women’s World Cup match last night. James earned a red card, but England went on to beat Nigeria on penalties. Hours later, Australia beat Denmark 2-0 to advance to the quarter-finals, where they’ll face either France or Morocco on Saturday.
CRIKEY RECAP
On February 24, Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigner Joana Partyka’s home was raided by Western Australian police. She wasn’t arrested, wasn’t charged, but was told that the raid was being undertaken under “suspicion of criminal damage” and “conspiracy to commit an indictable offence”. A month prior Partyka had spray-painted the Woodside logo onto Frederick McCubbin’s Down on His Luck at the Art Gallery of Western Australia. She was arrested, detained, charged with one count of criminal damage, and released on bail. She pleaded guilty to the charge on February 10 and paid the fine, believing that was the end of it.
This was just one of the many raids the WA police force made on Partyka and her fellow Disrupt Burrup Hub campaigners. These raids, the seizure of phones and laptops, and what campaigners suspect is the bugging of their homes and communication devices are part of WA police’s ongoing war against climate activists, a war being fought with increasing aggression on behalf of the state government and their business partners, Woodside.
The ABC has spent more than $700,000 settling the various defamation lawsuits brought against it over the past three years, according to documents handed over to the Senate. The settlement figures were revealed last week in response to a throng of questions taken on notice by the ABC during Senate estimates hearings in May, and were limited to reporting periods that saw the broadcaster involved in three or more defamation settlements, reaching back to the 2019-20 financial year.
In that year, the ABC settled fewer than three cases and wasn’t required to report, as the question taken on notice from Nationals Senator Ross Cadell asked the broadcaster to provide costs of litigation and settlement for years with more than three legal cases.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Junta behind Niger coup shuts airspace citing military intervention threat (BBC)
Ukraine foils Volodymyr Zelenskyy assasination plot (The Guardian)
The wrecking ball of the Bruce Lehrmann-Brittany Higgins case keeps swinging (SMH) ($)
Mary Fowler’s success with the Matildas is inspiring children all over PNG (The Daily Telegraph/Post Courier PNG) ($)
Cambodian PM’s son Hun Manet appointed next ruler in royal formality (BBC)
Tax Office warned PwC chief to read emails (AFR) ($)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Will Donald Trump be jailed before his trial? — Robert Reich (The Guardian): “At this moment, about 400,000 criminal defendants are in jail in the United States awaiting trial because they didn’t meet a condition of their release. Donald Trump is now under the supervision of the court, as would be any criminal defendant after an arraignment.
“But he will continue to test the willingness and ability of the court to treat him like any other criminal defendant unless he’s reined in. The court must fully assert the rule of law during these proceedings, even if that requires threatening Trump with jail pending his trial. And if he continues to refuse to abide by the conditions of his release, it might be time to actually jail him.”
Why Putin is losing his war, and Xi is winning his — Peter Hartcher (SMH) ($): “When it comes to encroaching on neighbours’ territory, Vladimir Putin is simply a boofhead. Xi Jinping, on the other hand, is simply brilliant. Both dictators are intent on imperialist expansion into the territories of their neighbours. But they are experiencing wildly different fates.
“Putin is wanted as a war criminal, his troops are dying, his economy suffering, his grip on power under pressure. And after early gains, Putin is losing his war. Xi is feted wherever he goes, his military is expanding, his economy has slowed yet still growing, his power unquestioned. And Xi is winning his war.”
Melbourne, the most liveable city in the world? Pull the other one — Judith Sloan (The Australian) ($): “Melbourne has a temperate climate — it doesn’t get too cold by world standards. Living in a large, rented mansion close to the CBD and a number of private schools (fees paid by the employer, naturally) would be a fantastic arrangement for just about anyone. Add in relative community safety, access to the best doctors, concerts, sporting events and lots of parks in the better suburbs and, voila, Melbourne becomes a highly liveable city.
“The reality for most ordinary folk in Melbourne is very different. Many families live many kilometres from the CBD, there is a shortage of green spaces, the schools are packed and it’s difficult and expensive to get an appointment with a doctor. The roads are choked and the public transport is unreliable and patchy. The train lines simply don’t go to many of the new and rapidly growing suburbs. Housing is increasingly unaffordable and tenants are facing rapidly rising rents. Living in a poorly constructed apartment building — they litter certain suburbs — is hard to square with Melbourne being a liveable city.”
