LABOR THE POINT
Global labour shortages have (surprise) hit home in Australia with significant shortfalls projected over the next five years in a range of key sectors, as the SMH ($) reports. Civil engineers, chefs and childcare workers have all landed a spot on the skills priority list’s top 10 in-demand industries. The Daily Telegraph ($) adds that nine of these require a post-high school qualification. As the government gears up to address these gaping holes at its Jobs and Skills Summit next month, pressure is mounting from industry, union, and state governments to move faster.
The view from Down Under is not good. New KPMG modelling finds Australia post- v pre-pandemic to be down more than half a million skilled foreign workers, The Australian ($) reports. The findings are in lockstep with NSW Treasury projections that the state will be short 304,000 employees (best case) by 2025-26 if immigration is not urgently addressed. KPMG chief economist Brendan Rynne wants a “super-size” edition of immigration. NSW Treasurer Matt Kean coined it a “worker drought” in The Australian ($) and said he’d like to hear less talk of summits and more sounds of “passports being stamped”. Even Toll boss Christine Holgate resurfaced to chime in and tell the AFR ($) that targeted training for men and women would be key. Time will (again) tell if the government follows through on structural reform and immigration caps, as the SMH ($) reports, but Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attempted to lower the bar, telling Sky News that the summit would be no Hawke event. Across the ditch, SBS reported that New Zealand announced temporary changes to double the number of working holiday visa holders on its books. The race is on.
TO LONDON WITH LOVE
Former deputy premier John Barilaro has passed the baton to former NSW business chamber head Stephen Cartwright, The Guardian reports this morning. A letter obtained through parliamentary order finds the two exchanging pleasantries before Cartwright’s appointment to a senior trade commissioner role in London. Cartwright showered Barilaro in thank yous for his “accessibility”, “constant support”, and “regular attendance at our numerous functions”, before offering his “knowledge, skills and experience” should it prove to be of “benefit to the government in the future”. Apparently so. Cartwright’s long-term ambitions were signed, sealed and delivered less than a year later.
Seven months after his love letter to Barilaro, Cartwright’s CV was parachuted in and contract negotiations with preferred candidate Paul Webster were canned. Dr Marianne Broadbent oversaw hiring and told the inquiry last week that former Treasury secretary Mike Pratt instructed her to “keep things open” for Cartwright. You’ll never guess who instructed him? Baton back to Barilaro. From New York to London. Where next? American writer Dorothy Parker said: “London is satisfied, Paris is resigned, but New York is always hopeful.” That now reads: “New York is resigned, London is resigning, and Paris is hopelessly hopeful.”
DOSED UP AND BED-BOUND
NSW recorded its first three cases of locally acquired monkeypox yesterday, bringing the state’s total to 42, as Guardian Australia reports. Compare this with Victoria, which has 40 monkeypox-positive patients. This is almost double the number at the beginning of August, says the ABC. Health officials from both states have called for “vigilance” as vaccines remain in short supply. Australia got its hands on 450,000 doses of the third-generation Jynneos smallpox vaccine, SBS reports. 22,000 doses were distributed nationwide in the debut delivery; 5500 went to NSW, adds the ABC. More supply is headed our way, but until that arrives later this year and early next, immunisation is reserved exclusively for those deemed high risk.
The monkeypox caseload comes as health services across the country continue to buckle under pressure. Patients in Victorian emergency departments are spilling out of beds and off charts with a record 486,701 presentations in the previous quarter. Patients were even pushed into makeshift tents, as Guardian Australia reports. The Victorian opposition proposed repurposing a virtually empty quarantine facility for emergency patients, but the government said let’s not “pretend” it’s a hospital, as the ABC reports. Instead, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announced yesterday that he planned to spend big (to the tune of $14.3 million) to ease the burden. The money will be put towards five new GP-led priority primary care centres near major hospitals for non-emergency patients.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
A Kiwi fur seal sick of sleeping rough saw a seaside home in Mt Maunganui and thought: “What an excellent opportunity for me to trade rocks in for couch cushions.” It slid inside through the cat flap, remembered that good manners open doors, so decided to wait patiently inside the front entrance as Guardian Australia reported. Little did it know it had opportunistically broken into a marine biologist’s home. Phil Ross was out at the time, but his wife, Jenn, stumbled upon the intruder, sending it on a self-guided tour of the house. The seal tried the spare room, found it sub-par, and moved onto the chaise lounge. Ergonomics clearly incited etiquette because it refrained from defecating on the interiors. Ross was relieved: “I think that would have been pretty terminal for the furniture.”
It’s not the first time this year that a seal has gone the extra mile for a spot of leisure. The New Zealander’s 150-metre ocean-to-couch commute paled in comparison with a Scottish seal pup’s 480km pint pilgrimage to a Bristol pub, as the BBC reported. Sadly it was found to be under the influence of seal pox so was denied a seat at the bar. But seal-safe R&R sobered it up. Both animals were carpooled safe and sound back to their respective beaches.
Hoping this week takes you someplace new, folks.
SAY WHAT?
The nuclear debate has gone off the table. We should be manufacturing small modular reactors. They want a manufacturing industry? Manufacture them. In the future they’ll be ubiquitous, they’ll be all across the world.
Barnaby Joyce
One of many “oblique” statements made by the former deputy prime minister during an Insiders interview about what he knew about former PM Scott Morrison’s manifesto of ministries. In the space of 15 minutes, Joyce U-turned, reversed, ran a couple of reds, and even tried EV-mode before concluding that “there’s nothing confusing about it … no trick, hockery pickery”. But a mixed metaphor would beg to differ … Joyce declared former resources minister Keith Pitt “was all over the PEP 11 issue like a bad suit”. I implore you to try to arrive at the meaning of this “obliquely”, much like Joyce said he did for Morrison’s plethora of portfolios.
CRIKEY RECAP
The horror, the horror — Morrison’s quiet coup unleashes square-ups and hypocrisy on a grand scale
“If nothing else, this week has confirmed the notion of Australian politics as a small town of dysfunctional families and seething, petty resentments. It doesn’t help our own sense of self to admit it but — let’s be honest — nothing much really happens in Australian politics.
“In some countries foreign tanks are on the move, dissidents are being jailed and tyrants are tearing apart the social fabric. In Australia we have belatedly discovered that a mendacious Bible-basher had moved furtively around the portfolios of other ministers without actually doing much at all and for reasons even he struggles to explain. Nevertheless it’s our own homegrown kind of coup that never happened. In a week of grand hypocrisy and personal get-squares, here are some of the best from deep inside the Canberra bubble.”
Can we guarantee the safety of those who flee Saudi Arabia? Do we even want to?
“If the sisters had sought asylum from Russia, Iran or China rather than Saudi Arabia, it would be very, very different: politicians would be demanding answers; the flow of information from police that accompanies high-profile cases would be steady and full; theories of Russian, Chinese or Iranian agents murdering people in Australia would be regularly aired. Instead, police have allowed a theory of ‘tragic suicide’ to be filtered into the media.
“With that, we seem to be being encouraged to forget about Asra and Amaal, two evidently frightened women who were hoping for sanctuary in Australia after fleeing one of the world’s most appalling regimes, who now join the list of women who end up dead when they try to escape a brutal, misogynist regime. All the more so because in Australia we’re accustomed to seeing asylum-seeking through the lens of the maritime arrivals conflagration, not the desperation of people being victimised by their own governments.”
Twiggy, pal of the global elite: a look at Andrew Forrest’s buddies on the world stage
“This week the Nine papers gave a stirring account of a speech delivered by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the European resort town of Davos to a collection of powerful business figures about what they could do to help Zelenskyy’s besieged nation. However, the piece makes clear there was more than one hero at that ski resort. ‘… it was Andrew Forrest, introduced to the gathering as one of the world’s most successful businessmen, who sprung to his feet and issued a rallying call to his fellow influential corporate leaders.’
“Weeks after this meeting, we are told that Forrest, ‘determined to put his vast resources and networks to good use, had talked his way into a face-to-face meeting with Zelenskyy in the presidential palace in Kyiv. The meeting was supposed to be brief, but it went for over an hour and was followed by several phone calls in the following days.’ Our Andrew sure is adept at talking his way into face-to-face meetings with world leaders. Let’s head around the world with Twiggy!”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Darya Dugina: daughter of Putin ally killed in Moscow blast (BBC)
Photos: Algeria reels from deadly wildfires (Al Jazeera)
Mogadishu hotel attack: Somali forces end siege (CNN)
Zulu King Misuzulu ka Zwelithini crowned in South Africa (BBC)
The final days of the Trump White House: dhaos and scattered pPapers (The New York Times)
Women in Finland post party videos to back PM Sanna Marin (The Guardian)
THE COMMENTARIAT
How to avoid a crisis over Taiwan – Kevin Rudd (The Saturday Paper): “Enter Nancy Pelosi. Nobody should doubt the genuineness of her commitment to human rights, proved over many decades across Tiananmen, Tibet, Xinjiang, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Nor should we object to Taiwan’s prerogative to extend invitations to foreign politicians. However, as speaker of the US house of representatives, Pelosi is the third-most senior US politician after the president and vice-president. In China’s eyes, her visit calls into question her country’s commitment to the ‘One China’ policy. The crucial question is whether Taiwan’s security is better or worse after the visit. The answer from every Taiwan analyst I have worked with over the years is that it is worse.
“… As the risk of crisis increased last week, Beijing also seized on the moment to unilaterally cancel what little security stabilisation machinery there was remaining in the US-China relationship. So just when we need it most, four separate military-to-military channels were unilaterally ‘abolished’. Another six bilateral channels across the rest of the relationship were suspended indefinitely, including climate collaboration, which both sides had tried to keep open given the mutual interest at stake. The basic mechanisms of the US-China relationship have now been reset to square one. This is bad for Taiwan, bad for the long-term strategic stability of the US–China relationship, and bad for regional stability to boot.”
Indigenous voice: a chance to finish reform of original constitution – Ben Wyatt (The Australian): “It is critical that political consensus is reached on the central question of First Nation constitutional recognition as occurred in 1967 — and this is where Peter Dutton finds himself in a position to have a significant impact on the way the debate is conducted. The opposition leader, more than most, is aware of the pragmatism displayed at Uluru and has himself regretted his position on the Apology. This is why I suspect he finds it difficult to navigate a path to clear opposition; the Aboriginal leadership has dealt with his concerns in Uluru. Even former PM Malcolm Turnbull, the person who did the most to derail consensus on a Voice, has had the opportunity to reconsider the issue and is supportive.
“Ideally, the central question should not be a matter of political combat. But the form of the proposed Voice and issues surrounding treaty and truth telling should involve rigorous public discussion and debate. However, I fear the longer the conservative side of politics holds back on support for recognition, the potential for toxic politics will grow.”
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Nationwide
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The twelfth year of National Skills Week 2022 kicks off today across the country under the ambitious banner of anything is possible: “A Universe of Skills: Go Beyond Your Imagination”. Dreamt up by SkillsOne and supported by the federal government, the week-long event is a who’s who of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in Australia.
Ngunnawal Country (also known as Canberra)
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Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth will host a Disability Employment Roundtable ahead of the federal government’s Jobs and Skills Summit in September. The event follows a government decision yesterday to discontinue 6% of all Disability Employment Services due to “poor quality and a lack of achieving outcomes”.
Larrakia Country (also known as Darwin)
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100 aircraft from 17 nations strapped in over the weekend to launch Exercise Pitch Black 2022: the beginning of three weeks of international military aircraft training exercises in the NT. It’s the first time that Germany, Japan and the Republic of Korea will join Australia’s airborne antics.
Turrbal and Jagera/Yuggera Country (also known as Brisbane)
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Wangan and Jagalingou cultural custodians will host a five-day cultural ceremony opposite Adani’s Carmichael coalmine in Waddananggu to celebrate one year of reoccupation. In August 2021, they set up a stone Bora ring and ceremonial ground to re-occupy their land.
Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)
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A red-carpet event and screening of Written in Chalk: the echo of Arthur Stace will feature at Eternity Playhouse Theatre. Over three decades, Stace wrote the word “Eternity” more than 500,000 times in yellow, waterproof chalk on Sydney’s pavements.
