TRUMP RETURNS TO THE WHITE HOUSE
“Welcome back” is how 81-year-old Joe Biden greeted president-elect Donald Trump at the White House a couple of hours ago as the pair yet again promised a smooth transition of power.
In rather different scenes to the conclusion of the 2020 election, Biden hosted Trump in the Oval Office and shook hands on camera on Wednesday. As the BBC reports, sitting in front of a roaring fire Biden said to his successor (and predecessor): “Well Mr president-elect and former president, Donald, congratulations. We look forward to having a smooth transition, doing everything we can to make sure you’re accommodated and get what you need. We’re going to get a chance to talk about some of that today. So welcome, welcome back.”
In response, Trump told the outgoing president: “Thank you very much. Politics is tough, and it’s in many cases not a very nice world, but it is a nice world today and I appreciate it very much… A transition that is so smooth, it will be as smooth as it can get. I very much appreciate that Joe.”
How nice and friendly of everyone.
Back to reality and further appointments and announcements have occurred in recent hours with John Thune elected the new Republican Senate leader. The South Dakota senator will replace Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell who held the post for 17 years.
Elsewhere, Trump has named former Fox News host, author and military veteran Pete Hegseth as his choice for Defence secretary. CBS News reports Trump said of 44-year-old Hegseth: “Pete is tough, smart and a true believer in America first. With Pete at the helm, America’s enemies are on notice — our military will be great again, and America will never back down.”
The broadcaster said much of the initial reaction from other Republican senators to the announcement was “muted”. NBC News quotes Senator Lisa Murkowski as saying in response: “Wow. I’m just surprised, because the names that I’ve heard for secretary of defence have not included him.” Senator Bill Cassidy replied: “Who? I don’t know Pete. I just don’t know anything about him.”
The pick for defence secretary must be confirmed by the Senate, which is set to be under Republican control (the fate of the House of Representatives is still not decided but continues to lean towards also being Republican-controlled). As The Guardian flagged previously, Trump has demanded that the Senate leadership allow him to appoint officials to his new administration without the traditional confirmation hearings. Those calls have been backed by his supporters, including billionaire Elon Musk.
Talking of Musk, there’s been plenty of reactions to his appointment as joint lead of the new Department of Government Efficiency with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy. As The New York Times put it: “The statement left unanswered all kinds of major questions about an initiative that is uncertain in seriousness but potentially vast in scope.”
Elsewhere, Musk’s social media platform X is continuing to see users claiming they are leaving (as CNN notes, any claims of an exodus need to be taken with a pinch of salt) with The Guardian now joining their ranks. “We wanted to let readers know that we will no longer post on any official Guardian editorial accounts on the social media site X (formerly Twitter). We think that the benefits of being on X are now outweighed by the negatives and that resources could be better used promoting our journalism elsewhere,” the newspaper said in a statement.
It added: “The US presidential election campaign served only to underline what we have considered for a long time: that X is a toxic media platform and that its owner, Elon Musk, has been able to use its influence to shape political discourse.” Guardian journalists will carry on using X for “news-gathering purposes”, the statement said.
SOCIAL MEDIA ‘DUTY OF CARE’
Talking of social media, which is all anyone seems to be doing these days, the ABC has led overnight on plans from the federal government that would require the platforms to take proactive steps to keep Australians safe online.
The broadcaster flags the Digital Duty of Care laws were recommended in the yet-to-be-released independent review of the Online Safety Act, which the government received in October.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland is quoted as saying: “What’s required is a shift away from reacting to harms by relying on content regulation alone, and moving towards systems-based prevention, accompanied by a broadening of our perspective of what online harms are.”
The Digital Duty of Care laws would be in addition to the proposed ban on children under 16 using social media. That proposal continues to attract plenty of attention with Guardian Australia reporting senators are now demanding an inquiry into the plans, citing concern the bill will be pushed through Parliament with little scrutiny. Nationals Senator Matt Canavan criticised the potential inclusion of YouTube in the bill, telling the site: “Banning YouTube would be the modern equivalent of banning children from libraries because there’s a few books not suitable for children.”
He added: “Absolutely there should be a Senate inquiry. There’s grave risks this legislation locks adult Australians out of communication on social media, and potentially goes way too far on young people. The detail will be crucial, which we haven’t seen.”
The Greens’ Communications spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said potentially rushing the bill through Parliament “smacks of cheap politics in an election year”. She said: “This legislation is widely anticipated to be contentious and complex, with a range of potentially unintended consequences. The Parliament will need the appropriate time to receive and review the detail as usual.”
Guardian Australia highlights the government is planning to introduce the legislation to bar children from social media in the coming fortnight even though the trial of age verification technology hasn’t commenced and won’t report back before the bill is introduced. The site reminds readers how deputy secretary of the Communications Department James Chisholm replied simply “yes” when asked at Senate estimates last week if everyone, not just children, faced going through an age-verification process.
Guardian Australia also reports this morning that Australian online gambling operators spent at least $240,000 on Facebook ads promoting novelty bets on the US election last week. The site claims between October 31 and November 6, TAB, Ladbrokes, Sportsbet and Neds were the top four Facebook advertisers in the country, according to Meta’s ad library tool. It adds there is growing expectation the government could announce its long-awaited plans for reforming gambling advertising as early as next week.
As mentioned yesterday, all these announcements could end up falling within the last two weeks of this parliamentary term if Anthony Albanese goes for an early election next year. The prime minister is now in South America for the APEC and G20 summits and the AFR reports he reckons Australia could be the one to prevent a trade war between China and the US.
On the prospect of Trump hitting China with huge tariffs and the potential impact on the global economy, Albanese is quoted as saying yesterday: “Everyone benefits if you have a fair trading system, and we’ll continue to advocate that because that’s in Australia’s national interest. We think that we can play a role as a middle power… we’re trusted, our word matters.”
Speaking at the National Press Club, Opposition Foreign Affairs spokesperson Simon Birmingham questioned such influence. “There will be ways in which we want to seek to encourage the US as to how they engage in our region. But are we going to step up and be able to fulfil some situation that is foreseeable as a significant interlocutor between the two? I think we’re a few steps away from that at this point in time,” he is quoted as saying.
Finally, AAP flags Victoria Police officers will today begin rolling strikes for the first time in more than 20 years after a breakdown in pay deal talks.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
Wellington Phoenix captain Annalie Longo’s dog stole the show in their game against Canberra United at the weekend.
Just after the start of the second half, the canine pitch-invader made its daring escape and ran into the middle of the game.
The AAP reports that as multiple players tried to catch the dog, the crowd at Porirua Park began singing the Baha Men song “Who let the dogs out?”.
Ten commentator Jason Pine declared during the attempted dog rescue: “This is indeed the best league in the world.”
Longo was eventually able to catch her dog and have it taken off the pitch. Canberra United won the game 1-0.
Say What?
I am pleased to announce that the great Elon Musk, working in conjunction with American patriot Vivek Ramaswamy, will lead the Department of Government Efficiency (‘DOGE’).
Donald Trump
Nothing says efficiency like having two heads of a department. Cue the use of the very good SNL skit.
CRIKEY RECAP
Coincidentally, the government announced yesterday it “will provide financing of up to $80 million to keep Rex’s regional routes running during an extension of the voluntary administration process, as well as granting early access to entitlements for former employees of the business”. Other regional airlines are unhappy with the government for not giving them that money to take over Rex’s routes. But the bigger question is why the government isn’t considering giving Rex enough capital to restore and continue its metro routes in exchange for 51% of the airline and the board spots that go with it.
As the ACCC says, we’ll be waiting a long while for anyone else to take the risk of investing in Australia’s third airline. But there’s one ready to go (back) to providing real competition for Qantas. And with government backing of Rex, Qantas will know it can’t just resort to its usual anti-competitive tricks — below-cost pricing, slot hoarding — to drive a rival with shallower pockets out of business, as it did with Rex.
It would be a strong signal to not only the gougers of Qantas but also voters that Labor takes competition and inflation seriously.
The cumulative effect is that tech companies are actively choosing to reduce the amount of journalism that’s being seen by their users.
That’s not to say whether this is a good or bad trend; it’s not just Trump supporters who are happy about this shift away from mainstream media. Nor does the mainstream media have an entitlement to preferential treatment by big tech.
But in an election where billionaires and business shifted towards Trump — in some cases tacitly by choosing to remain silent, in other cases with full-throated endorsement — it is worth acknowledging that the ways an increasing number of us find out about the world are controlled by a handful of tech companies, their shareholders and their largely unaccountable CEOs.
And, over the past four years, they put their fingers on the scale. Less news, more content. Fewer outlets, more creators. These were the conditions that helped pave the way for Trump to make the most unlikely political comeback that any of us have ever seen.
Because the Coalition has said it will oppose the bill, the government will need both the support of the Greens and several extra yes votes from the crossbench. The Greens have said they will await the outcome of an inquiry into the bill before deciding their stance.
Communications Minister Michelle Rowland has said mis- and disinformation “harms democracies [and] economies”.
“Doing nothing is not an option,” she told reporters last month.
Ex-Labor gone independent WA Senator Fatima Payman also appeared sceptical towards the legislation. Her chief of staff Glenn Druery told Crikey the government’s chances of passing it were “not looking good”.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Peter Dutton goes cold on income tax cuts for high earners (The Australian) ($)
Interest rates on hold until 2026 not ‘inconceivable’ (AFR)
Málaga evacuates thousands as Spain issues more flood alerts (BBC)
Trump’s pick for ambassador to Israel once said ‘there’s really no such thing as a Palestinian’ (CNN)
At Mar-a-Lago, ‘Uncle’ Elon Musk puts his imprint on the Trump transition (The New York Times) ($)
US Congress to hold second hearing on UFOs in attempt to ‘pull back curtain’ (The Guardian)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Abortion’s postcode lottery: Where women are being denied essential care — Anna Noonan (The Sydney Morning Herald): News in small towns spreads quickly. When Orange Hospital announced its ban, a local friend texted me from the sidelines of a school sports day. She said women, for the first time, were openly furious. Her text read: “No quiet niceties, no behind-hand comments, loud rage.” Loud rage might just be what we need. No more quiet niceties, no more erroneous beliefs.
In Orange and Queanbeyan, abortion access is now a community responsibility. The community’s rage will not subside until we are all convinced that the pathway to public abortion is cleared permanently, free of all obstruction.
We spoke with 13 young undecided Americans for months. Here’s how they voted — (The New York Times): As for Trump, many of our 13 participants said they were hopeful that his second term would be better for America than his first, and believed he would take serious actions to secure the southern border and deport undocumented immigrants who committed crimes. No issue animated the group more than immigration — though at the same time, several Trump voters said that they did not support mass deportations of migrants who were in America working and not posing a threat to anyone.
Reflecting on our three months of conversations, some participants wondered if gen Z was more conservative politically than millennials and expressed optimism that their generation would be better at problem-solving in America than their elders. Even those in our group who sharply disagreed with one another felt a measure of appreciation for the chance to talk and listen.
