IT’S NOT A(BOUT) RACE
Prime Minister Scott Morrison wants to swear he didn’t racially smear a competitor when both were battling it out for Cook preselections in 2007, the SMH reports. At the weekend the The Saturday Paper ($) published allegations that, in the wake of the Cronulla riots, Morrison supposedly told party members not to vote for fellow candidate Michael Towke because of his Lebanese heritage and a rumour he was actually a Muslim (Towke grew up a Maronite Catholic). Towke signed a statutory declaration swearing to the smear along with preselector Scott Champman in 2016, The New Daily reports, which surfaced at the weekend — so reporter James Robertson hit the phones and called 20 Liberal Party members from Cook to see what’s what.
All agreed Towke was besieged with falsehoods at the time but no one could say that Morrison was the reason. Wade McInerney did say that Towke got 82 votes to Morrison’s 8 in the ballot — but then “spurious” claims about Towke surfaced, the party bosses annulled Towke’s victory, and “crafty” Morrison won a second vote. Towke told the SMH he stands by his stat dec — but PM has told the paper he “fundamentally” rejects the allegations and is willing to sign his own stat dec denying it all.
It comes as support for Labor has fallen three points to 38%, while the Coalition’s support has climbed one point to 36%, according to the latest Newspoll. The Australian ($) reports two points went to the Greens, who now have 10% support — but on the two-party preferred basis, Labor is still ahead 54-46. There’s a national swing of 5.5%, but that’s still a loss of 17 seats for the Coalition and a convincing victory for Labor — if you believe the numbers, that is. Newspoll speaks to 1531 voters. The AFR has also published poll results this morning, taken in the aftermath of the budget — it showed fewer than a third of respondents would vote Coalition right now.
CLIMATE REPORT, CLIMATE RETORT
We’re about get the world’s most up-to-date and accurate document about how to stop climate change, BBC reports. After working “through the weekend”, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) will today release the third and final instalment of their climate series — cast your mind back and you may remember the first was on the causes, and the second was on the impacts. Most of the world’s top researchers in the climate space have worked on the report — so why the last-minute rush? Scientists and government officials have been going through the report “line by line” to make sure it’s airtight because it will be used by international governments to drive policymaking. So what can we expect? An imperative to cut back on fossil fuel use, and carbon removal like tree planting and technology-based storage will probably be in there, the Beeb predicts.
Meanwhile the Victorian government will restore an area five times the size of Melbourne, with a whopping $31 million in funding on offer for private land conservation, Guardian Australia reports. Expressions of interest are open from today for the first 20,000 hectares — which will see traditional owners working alongside private landowners on putting trees in the ground, creating biodiversity corridors, and doing carbon capture, Victoria’s climate minister Lily D’Ambrosio explains. Good for the planet and good for our health? The New Daily reports this morning that, during extreme heat, 12% more people seek emergency medical intervention for things like substance use, anxiety and stress disorders, and mood disorders.
THE LONG AND THE SHORT OF IT
Did you dodge catching COVID-19 while your family or colleagues tested positive? ABC has an interesting story this morning about why some of us are more resistant than others. Partly it’s down to genes — some people can just make better antibodies. If you’re one of those people who always gets the common cold, your memory T-cells might make you more resistant to COVID too, an immunologist told the broadcaster. People who have recently been boosted are also highly protected, because of all the antibodies circulating in the aftermath. Finally, maybe you did get it — many people are just asymptomatic. Lucky buggers.
It comes as experts are calling for more long COVID data, the SMH reports. One 43-year-old victim says that eight months on she still has no sense of smell whatsoever, and can barely taste things. She also had bad chest pain, brain fog, and fatigue three months after her infection. But we don’t really have any idea of how widespread it is, a health economist told the paper. One estimate says up to 30% of seriously ill COVID-19 patients reported at least one symptom after six months. Experts are calling for a national survey and database to help victims be heard.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
Friday marked the beginning of Ramadan, a month-long observance for Muslims where no food is eaten from sunrise to sunset. But The Guardian’s Nadeine Asbali says the holy event has lessons for us all — and it’s about much more than food, she rather beautifully writes: “By temporarily depriving our bodies of what they need, we forge room for spirituality and introspection, generosity and discipline, to blossom in its place”. She says Ramadan is a time for community, something we have gone without in the pandemic, as we stayed in our homes and stayed safe. Asbali says it’s a time when food is shared with neighbours, and observers make a point of giving food away wherever the need shows itself. “A famous Hadith reminds us that nobody can call themselves a Muslim if their own stomach is full while their neighbour is hungry. What if we all lived by this sentiment?” she wonders.
Beyond food, Asbali says Muslims are obliged to give 2.5% of their wealth away (above a certain threshold), and asks what the world would be like if billionaires gave even 1% of their wealth away. The central tenet of the weeks ahead will be prayer, Asbali explains — and in exploring the difference between the trendy self-improvement habit of manifestation and traditional prayer, she asks whether we all would benefit from “curbing our insatiable appetite to constantly acquire” and focusing on humbleness and gratitude. “Ramadan reminds us all that introspection is vital and healthy. Less ‘what do I want?’ and more ‘how can I be better?’,” she writes. It’s a time, she concludes, when one ponders on personal and communal change to bring peace and prosperity in an anxious world.
Wishing you a calm Monday morning, folks.
SAY WHAT?
I have known Finkelstein since the 1990s. We were once close friends. While at my home, Finkelstein behaved in a very sexually inappropriate manner. I took issue with this and made it clear in the weeks following that our friendship would not resume until I had received an apology or explanation. Finkelstein asked to see me again to explain his conduct in person, only on his second visit to my home behaved in an even more sexually inappropriate way.
Natalie Baini
The independent candidate for Reid alleges Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s principal private secretary Yaron Finkelstein behaved “inappropriately” towards her when she complained to him about the Liberal preselection process for the Sydney seat at the last federal election. Baini made the allegation in a witness statement tendered to the Fair Work Commission.
CRIKEY RECAP
Scott Morrison lashes out at Crikey, says Australians aren’t interested in ‘juvenile debates’ about whether he’s told lies
“Prime Minister Scott Morrison has criticised Crikey and other media for covering his lies, saying that Australians ‘aren’t interested in these types of juvenile debates’. One day after cancelling an interview with ABC’s 7.30, Morrison sat down for a 20-minute interview with 6 News’ Leo Puglisi, where he responded to questions about his credibility by saying that he tells the truth …
“When pressed on direct quotes, Morrison doubled down on his claims. ‘They’ve quoted out of context, and they’ve been able to pursue a line they’ve been pursuing for a while. But I’m up front with the Australian people,’ he said. Crikey’s Dossier is a rolling list of the lies told by Morrison throughout his term as prime minister.”
Murdoch empire borrows US$100m from state-owned Bank of China
“It seems ESG lending in Australia is increasingly blackballing coalminers but hasn’t yet reached key propagandists such as News Corp. So why does News Corp need this money. Well, according to the filing it’s for unstated “general corporate purposes” — a big takeover in the offing?
“… But for Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch, it was no problem whatsoever — meaning that, as of yesterday, parts of the Murdoch media empire are ‘partially brought to you by the autocratic dictators in Beijing’. But don’t expect this to be disclosed by News Corp’s anti-China shock jocks any time soon.”
The bully list: a growing line-up of people who say Scott Morrison is a bully
“The list of politicians and prominent figures who have called Prime Minister Scott Morrison a bully — on or off the record — grows longer by the day … Former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian allegedly told colleagues that she doesn’t like dealing with Morrison because he is ‘evil’ and a ‘bully’.
“Former Australia Post chief executive Christine Holgate said Morrison’s dressing-down of her during a parliamentary question time when he pushed for her resignation was ‘one of the worst acts of bullying I’ve ever witnessed’ and an ‘utter disgrace’.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Pakistan PM escapes removal but triggers a constitutional crisis (Al Jazeera)
Sri Lanka protesters defy curfew after social media ban (The Guardian)
How two best friends beat Amazon (The New York Times)
Short sellers bet tether, crypto’s central bank, is vulnerable to a run (The Wall Street Journal)
Tigray receives aid for first time in six months with locals ‘on edge of starvation’ (SBS)
Taliban chief orders ‘strict’ ban on opium poppy cultivation (Al Jazeera)
Yemen: two-month ceasefire begins with hopes for peace talks (The Guardian)
Cherry blossom madness: How far will you go for the perfect cherry blossom picture? (CBC)
6 people are dead and at least 10 others are injured after a shooting in downtown Sacramento (CNN)
THE COMMENTARIAT
West must do more to help heroic Ukraine — Tony Abbott (The Australian) ($): “As well, consideration should be given to declaring some red lines the invader should not be allowed to cross, such as the use of thermobaric weapons against cities, without triggering the creation of NATO-protected safe havens inside Ukraine. After all, if there have been red lines drawn in Syria and the Balkans, for instance, that when crossed triggered a military response from NATO or its individual members, why not in Ukraine too, or does principle only apply where the risks are low? This should further raise the costs of invasion and perhaps create misgivings in some of Putin’s domestic allies.
“In all this, there’s no doubt the arrival of Bushmasters from Australia will be a huge morale-booster for the Ukrainians — the more, the bigger — so I hope we’re planning to send at least a hundred of the just over a thousand we have. Certainly, they’re going to do more for freedom there than mouldering away in a giant yard near Brisbane Airport. In my judgment, as a NATO partner, we should be prepared to consider helping to buttress our allies’ vulnerable eastern flank, were a contribution of tanks and jets to be requested; because if Putin eventually prevails in his current war of conquest, there’s little doubt the Baltic states and Poland would be the next targets of his quest to recreate Greater Russia.”
Australia needed a reform budget with climate at its centre — Allegra Spender (The AFR): “Investing in the future also means investing in the Australian people, yet the budget contained nothing on childcare subsidy reform. This is despite the estimated $11 billion a year economic opportunity it could unlock through increased female participation in the workforce. Second, we need fundamental tax reform. Despite some small temporary offsets announced on Tuesday, Australia still has some of the highest business and personal tax rates in the OECD, and this Coalition is among the highest taxing governments of the last 30 years.
“We remain dependent on income from productivity-reducing stamp duty and have avoided questions on GST reform for too long. We need a wide-ranging parliamentary inquiry established on tax, reporting back before the 2023 Budget for a final say. I agree with business leaders that such a review needs to be coupled with a re-evaluation of the state and federal responsibilities. Although reform is never easy, we need to make the tough decisions now to deliver an efficient, simple and transparent system for the future.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Yuggera Country (also known as Brisbane)
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Author Sarah Krasnostein will discuss her Quarterly Essay, Not Drowning, Waving: mental illness and vulnerability in Australia at Avid Reader bookshop. You can also catch this one online.
Kulin Nation Country (also known as Melbourne)
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Consulate-General of Japan Shimada Junji will speak on international conflict and the relationship between Australia and Japan at La Trobe University City Campus.
Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)
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Hawkesbury city LGA residents can head along to a food waste workshop, to learn about how to meal plan and avoid throwing food out.
