OUR WA OR THE HIGHWAY
Western Australia’s Labor Deputy Leader Roger Cook will be the state’s next premier, after shoo-in Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson pulled herself out of the race, The West Australian ($) reports. United Workers Union-backed MPs (that’s 28 of the 75 in caucus) had decided to support Sanderson for the role, cracking the left faction down the middle as the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union-backed MPs got behind Cook, its most senior figure. Why couldn’t they both run? Because of Labor Party rules heralding from the Rudd-Gillard years, as the ABC covered at the time, that would’ve seen a four-week-or-more leadership selection process ahead, and WA Labor’s popularity is built on the bedrock of unity. After factionless Transport and Planning Minister Rita Saffioti withdrew her leadership bid and said she’d be Cook’s deputy and treasurer instead, Sanderson knew she had to walk away. She would’ve been the state’s first female premier since Carmen Lawrence three decades ago, Guardian Australia notes.
Staying in WA for a moment and Alumina Limited has got behind American operator Alcoa’s bauxite mining, even though it’s feared the latter’s operation in WA’s Northern Jarrah Forests may make the water undrinkable. Outgoing WA Premier Mark McGowan, who usually gets behind big mining, as WA Today ($) reports, said Alcoa needed to convince “very, very cautious” WA regulators that run-off wouldn’t seep into the Serpentine Dam, a major water supply dam for Perth. But Alumina Limited chair Peter Day reckons media coverage was poisoning the well, so to speak. Hey, speaking of McGowan — his nemesis Clive Palmer waved him off on social media, tweeting “Goodbye @MarkMcGowanMP Goodbye”, attracting a string of rebukes from the popular premier’s fans, including one that called the billionaire a “vile treasonous glump”. Yikes.
SHAKIN’ ALL OVER
Melbourne has experienced another earthquake, this time measuring 2.3, the Herald Sun ($) reports. It struck Croydon at 5.03pm local time, Geoscience Australia confirmed, originating from four kilometres beneath the surface. It follows a magnitude 4.0 earthquake near Sunbury this week, a 2.5 quake near Ferntree Gully on May 16, and a 2.0 quake around the same area on May 22. But there’s no need to be shakin’ in your boots, The Conversation says, because “earthquakes are not becoming more common in Melbourne” — there are usually 10 to 12 a year in the greater Melbourne region, it explains, because of the Pacific-Australian plate boundary squirming in place.
Meanwhile, the City of Melbourne has ended things with sister city St Petersburg after 34 years, The Age ($) reports, after suspending the relationship last February. Deputy Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece said he hoped Russian President Vladimir Putin and pro-war Russians would notice, though I’m not sure I’d bet on it. Melbourne’s other sister cities are “Japan’s Osaka, China’s Tianjin, Greece’s Thessaloniki, Italy’s Milan and Boston in the United States”, the paper notes. Meanwhile a sticker is popping up around Melbourne that parodies that ’00s-era “Piracy. It’s a crime” announcement that would play before movies. It reads “You wouldn’t open an Airbnb in a housing crisis”, news.com.au ($) reports. There are a mindblowing 5000 (!) Airbnbs listed in the Mornington Peninsula alone, but rental vacancy rates reached a record low of 0.8% in Melbourne in April.
WAKE-UP CALLS
Complaints about telehealth appointments are up 413% in three years to 503, the Medical Board of Australia says, with a chunk relating to prescriptions. Guardian Australia reports guidelines will be released on Friday that will recommend video or phone consults rather than online chat, text message or email, and online quizzes that diagnose or prescribe medications will be banned. It comes as Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott has revealed plans to enter into the $40 billion health, medical and beauty sector with the new Wesfarmers Health arm, The Mercury ($) reports.
Speaking of enormous percentage rises — your HECS debt is about to climb by a whopping 7.1% tomorrow, quite the turn of events considering indexation averaged 2% for the past decade, the ABC reports. And it could hurt now and into the future — one expert told the broadcaster higher student debt could delay life goals such as “getting married, starting a business, starting a family”, particularly as “university-educated females have more HECS debt and earn less than their male contemporaries”. A study found 59% of people said student debt had affected their ability to buy a home, with 51% still repaying debt in their 40s.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
Muuuuum, Karin Arsenius’ kid hollers through her London home. There are toooourists at the door again! The Plumstead family is used to greeting confused travellers, which so far have come from Algeria, Canada, India and the US to check in, as The Guardian tells it. Except the Arsenius’ home isn’t accommodation — it’s just a regular old home for her family of four. Through some sleuthing, she worked out that her street’s postcode had been mistakenly used on a listing on Booking.com for a place in Greenwich. Unlike Australia, postcodes in the UK are alphanumeric, starting with the cardinal directions (north, south, east, west) and ending with a number that represents a small group of addresses in that post town. It’s pretty specific stuff.
One time, three bleary-eyed women from Argentina with bags in hand turned up, no doubt looking forward to a warm bed after their trip. An exasperated Arsenius explained that her home was not, as the site had led them to believe, theirs, and her partner volunteered to take them to the pub to sort out some alternative accommodation. Clutching pints, everyone’s hearts sank as it became clear all the local hotels were completely booked out. After the four returned to Arsenius’ home, she figured, what the hell. “We’re not comfortable with just letting you go out in the night,” she told the women, and the mum-of-two dutifully started making up beds in her lounge room. Booking.com has since removed the listing, but the show of British hospitality will surely not be forgotten.
Hoping you can make the best of the situation today too.
SAY WHAT?
Every time I see and hear @HonTonyAbbott I feel regret that he wasn’t given enough time to lead our country. His superior brain, ethics and dedication to service are a big loss to us.
Prue MacSween
The Sky News commentator is nostalgic for the days when former PM Tony Abbott’s “superior brain” was at the helm of the country. That’s a brain that thought it pertinent to eat a raw onion, knight the late Prince Philip, and more recently, call Cardinal George Pell “the greatest man I’ve ever known” despite him being found guilty of child sex abuse (it was later quashed).
CRIKEY RECAP
“The Albanese government, in this respect, is no different, as its signature climate policy attests. Though the much-lauded safeguard mechanism carries the appearance of progress, requiring the country’s major polluters to cut emissions by almost 5% a year, the entire edifice allows this objective to be ostensibly met through the scam of carbon credits.
“In practice, this means fossil fuel projects can continue to expand under the guise of a climate policy otherwise described by experts as ‘environmental and taxpayer fraud’. The problems only deepen when we’re reminded that the government’s central advisory body on climate policies — given an expanded mandate under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese — is still chaired by a man with links to not only the fossil fuel industry but so too the carbon credit market.”
“But like Victoria’s Dan Andrews, his most analogous COVID contemporary, that lack of any discernible glamour or upfront charisma was part of the appeal. The sight of him, early in the pandemic, collapsing into exhausted giggles in response to a question about a guy who’d gone for a jog and got a kebab, was instructive: who couldn’t relate to the moment in the middle of great stress and overwork where your addled mind latches on to some faintly absurd detail as the funniest thing you’ve ever encountered?
“Once the sudden nature of the departure sank in, it made sense. After a strong victory in 2017 with a mind-boggling annihilation of the Liberal Party in 2021, McGowan has already established his legacy as the person who delivered WA Labor at least 12 years in government. The party can fashion politics in the state with that kind of uninterrupted platform.”
“People soon started lecturing us, telling us we shouldn’t be using these services for products we ‘can’t afford’, even when they were absolute essentials. They began ‘educating’ us on how to save money, as if we don’t already know, and saying we should instead use other, more expensive and bureaucratic forms of credit.
“We shouldn’t use BNPL because it has harmed others with irresponsible lending leading to debt spirals, we were told — the expectation being that poor people should bear the cost of the government’s failure to ensure everyone’s needs are met. However, we are the experts in our own lives, and regulating BNPL risks harm to many of us who rely on it … But conventional measures of what people in poverty can ‘afford’ are based on paternalistic attitudes.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Ukraine war comes to Moscow as drones strike both capitals (Reuters)
Air New Zealand regains title of world’s best airline (Stuff)
How wildfires are changing in Canada (CBC)
Risk of extinction by AI should be global priority, say experts (The Guardian)
Turkey wants action from NATO hopeful Sweden over Kurdish political stunt (euronews)
Japan PM fires son after pictures emerge of ‘inappropriate’ private party at official residence (The Guardian)
THE COMMENTARIAT
UK trade deal is a new chapter in old friendship — Don Farrell (The Australian) ($): “Australian producers of wine, beef, sheep meat, grains, rice, sugar and dairy products will all benefit from duty-free quotas or tariff elimination. Manufactured products such as auto parts and electrical equipment, as well as cosmetic products, will also receive a boost through duty-free access into the UK market. There is also good news for Australians who love British products. This trade agreement will cut Australian tariffs on British favourites such as cars, whisky, confectionery, biscuits and cosmetics, bringing down prices and saving Australian households and businesses around $200 million a year. Trade is more than just the exchange of products and services, it also boosts the exchange of ideas.
“Our new trade agreement delivers for Australian creators and artists, including First Nations artists, by ensuring they receive royalties when their original works of art are resold in the UK. The agreement provides a framework for companies to streamline licensing processes to facilitate the movement of qualified professionals between Australia and the UK in areas like business, finance, and telecommunication services. We have included measures designed to improve the mobility of skilled workers and young people, in both directions. From January 31, Australians will be able to apply for working holidays in the UK to the age of 35, up from 30, and stay for a maximum of three years instead of two.”
MPs are right: This Morning is a hotbed of scandal. Thank goodness Parliament isn’t — Marina Hyde (The Guardian): “As always with this story, further alleged grownups are available. Last night viewers were also treated to media analysis from former How Clean Is Your House? presenter Kim Woodburn. A builder once recommended me a particular brand of sink unblocker with the words ‘That’ll even dissolve a rag if there’s one down there’ — and there was something of this quality to Kim’s thoughts on Phillip’s erstwhile co-presenter Holly Willoughby …
“Yup, there really are some absolutely lovely people getting involved with this one. Speaking of which, we’ve heard plenty about it from Nadine Dorries, who (among much else) thinks This Morning’s editor, Martin Frizell, has questions to answer about how the young man’s appointment happened and was managed. No doubt. Yet I can’t help feeling Nadine’s moral outrage is somewhat selective. I never remember hearing her tell the world that Boris Johnson had questions to answer when he decided to actually promote someone he knew very well had issues with non-consensual sexual misconduct to the position of deputy chief whip.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Online
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Yorta Yorta man and the First Nations Foundation’s Ian Hamm, the Ethics Centre’s Narelle Hooper, Active Super’s Kyle Loades, and Bundjalung woman and Reconciliation Australia’s Karen Mundine will talk leadership and the Voice to Parliament in a webinar.
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Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, Melbourne University’s Yung En Chee, Common Cause Australia’s Eleanor Glenn, and the Green Institute’s Tim Hollo will talk about how we can protect nature and not leave it to the market in a webinar.
Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)
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The Robert Menzies Institute’s Zachary Gorman will speak about Australia’s first centre-right prime minister Joseph Cook at the Sydney Institute.
Kulin Nation Country (also known as Melbourne)
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Writer André Dao will chat about his book, Anam, at the Wheeler Centre.
