LIBERAL-MINDED
Outgoing NSW Liberal Catherine Cusack is the latest to accuse Prime Minister Scott Morrison of “self-serving ruthless bullying”, and having “ruined” the Liberal Party, as she writes in Guardian Australia. Cusack is one in a long line of people accusing him of being a bully — namely fellow NSW Liberal Concetta Fierravanti–Wells, One Nation’s Pauline Hanson, independent Jacqui Lambie, former Liberal MP Julia Banks, former NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian (allegedly), and more, as Crikey lists. If Cusack’s name is ringing a bell, it could be because she resigned two weeks ago amid her disgust for the lack of government support for flood victims, as 9News reports. Cusack also accused Morrison of “forcing moderates to vote for [former Liberal and now United Australia Party leader MP] Craig Kelly” when his preselection was under threat before the 2019 election and “finding loopholes in our constitution to delay preselections in order to get his way”. Yikes.
No doubt politics is tough business — just ask Tasmanian Liberal Premier Peter Gutwein, who shocked everybody by resigning yesterday, as The Age reports. His reason is simple, he says: he wants to do more gardening and hang with his family. He said the longest he’s spent at his Launceston home in the past couple years is seven days of isolation. Gutwein is both premier and treasurer — he’ll stay on until the Tasmanian Liberals elect a new leader this week. Keeping it in the (Liberal) family for a moment, Morrison has stacked the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) with Liberal mates just days out from calling the election, The Australian ($) reports — among them Morrison’s former chief of staff, and ex-NSW Liberal MP Pru Goward. They’re “highly remunerated” positions, The Oz ($) adds — Goward will make up to an eye-watering $391,940 a year.
GLOBAL WARNING
We are supposed to be reducing emissions by 45% by 2030 — but we are on track to increase them by 14%. It’s the finding of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)’s third and final report which lays out the solutions to climate change — but it’s also evidence of a “litany of broken promises” and a “file of shame” that’s put us “firmly on track towards an unlivable world”, according to UN Secretary General António Guterres. To stop global warming at 1.5C, we need to have our greenhouse gas emissions reduce by more than a quarter by 2030 — but if we do nothing different from now on, the report continues, we are actually on track for a 3.2C warming, the SMH reports.
The time to act is “now or never”, Guardian Australia continues — it’ll cost us just a few percent of global GDP, but will require big effort from governments, businesses and people worldwide. Here’s what the report recommends: coal must be phased out completely, methane emissions must be slashed by a third, we need six times the amount of low-carbon investment, and sectors from energy to transport to buildings to food must change dramatically and rapidly. It’ll be a bit of a 180 considering the past decade saw the highest increase in greenhouse gases in human history — but the good news, ABC continues, is that all the tools we need to save our planet are “tried and tested and already available to us”.
LAW AND DISORDER
The NT’s Health Minister Natasha Fyles has been snowed in by litigation after 97 people filed applications fighting pandemic powers, the NT News reports. It comes as the NT government is expected to prolong its COVID emergency declaration, as ABC reports — it’s going to a parliamentary vote in May. Darwin’s courtroom was comically packed on Monday morning with applicants like former-Country Liberal Party members and candidates for the Territory Parliament, leaders in the anti-vaccine movement, and business leaders from across the NT all saying they wanted their cases to be heard individually, rather than as a group. One applicant, Craig Oldroyd, told the court he had 100 witnesses in mind. Oh dear.
It comes as ASIC has banned financial planner Mark Babbage from working for a decade, after he sneaked into Western Australia to watch the AFL grand final, WA Today reports. Babbage and friend Hayden Burbank forged NT resident documents to go to WA without having to quarantine, so they could watch the Demons win their first flag in 57 years — even making it into the locker room for a post-match photo. Then the pair spent three months in a Perth jail. Along with the 10-year ban from working in financial services, Babbage also has been disqualified from managing corporations for five years.
Staying in WA, a group of 250 nurses, police, prison guards, firefighters and teachers who were sacked for not getting a COVID jab will argue that being anti-vax is a “disability” at the Australian Human Rights Commission this month, The West ($) reports. If the eyebrow-raising complaint is upheld, they could all get re-hired and back paid.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
The woman was taking a turn around the Picasso Museum in Paris when she noticed it. A good-quality blue jacket was hanging on a hook near the entrance with no owner in sight. She peered left and right to make sure, but no one else had even noticed it. She figured — hey, I could use a new jacket, and there’s no use letting this one go to waste. So the 72-year-old took the jacket home — it was nice enough but a little long on her, so she asked her local tailor if they would please take it up. All in all, a cost-effective new addition to her wardrobe, she thought happily when she tried on the finished product.
That’s until she returned to the museum a few days later, and was surprised to find herself under arrest for art theft ($). The jacket was actually a work by the esteemed Spanish artist Oriol Vilanova entitled Old Masters. Vilanova, whose work is a “critical yet lively reflection on issues such as the role of images in transmitting culture and cultural values”, according to a former gallery in New York City, created the masterpiece to encourage thought about flea markets. The scandalised gallery security quickly identified the little old lady as the culprit, and was dismayed to find the “artwork” was now 30cm shorter. They didn’t press charges against the lady, who no doubt was left wondering why it ended up on a hook near the doorway in the first place.
Wishing you a smile this Tuesday morning, folks.
SAY WHAT?
I think it’s pretty obvious he is. He’s got form on that. Just ask Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull, Emmanuel Macron — there are a few people — and Barnaby Joyce has called him out as a compulsive liar … he has certainly used race in the past, on several occasions.
Michael Towke
When the former Liberal candidate was asked if the PM was lying when he denied racially vilifying him in 2007’s preselection battle between the pair, Towke was ready with the receipts — rattling off a list of people who have accused the PM of falsehoods. Morrison says he “utterly rejected” the allegations but said he wouldn’t legally formalise his denial without a court order.
CRIKEY RECAP
‘They just killed them’: Ukrainian refugees share stories of Russian executions
“Russia stands accused of committing war crimes. Fresh claims, including eyewitness accounts and pictures, have emerged about what appears to be random executions of civilians, including children, in the town of Bucha, near Kyiv. This morning, Human Rights Watch added its name to a growing chorus of voices — including the governments of Australia, the US, and Germany — condemning Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The Kremlin has consistently denied targeting civilians in attacks. But Crikey has spoken to numerous refugees who said they have either directly witnessed murders or have lost friends, families and neighbours in attacks against civilians. Here are three of their stories.”
I, Scott John Morrison, make the following statutory declaration…
“During the preselection battle that I initially lost to Michael Towke by 82 votes to 8, I [Scott Morrison] never once hinted to anyone that he may be a ‘Moslem’, nor a ‘Mohammedan’ nor any other colonial administrator term for an adherent of Islam.
“Look, while I’m here, I also didn’t, while opposition immigration spokesman, urge ‘the shadow cabinet to capitalise on the electorate’s growing concerns about ‘Muslim immigration’, ‘Muslims in Australia’ and the ‘inability’ of Muslim migrants to integrate’. I mean, I did bring those things up, BUT because I think they are bad and we shouldn’t exploit them. I never once called Labor Senator Sam Dastyari ‘Shanghai Sam’ in tweets and interviews.”
How Murdoch ended Towke’s run and opened the door for Scott Morrison
“Towke’s claim over the weekend that Morrison racially vilified him to destroy his political career has been denied by Morrison. But it was the stories published by News Corporation at the time that devastated Towke’s reputation and made it impossible for him to maintain his preselection.
“Towke sued Nationwide News Pty Ltd and won a reported $50,000 settlement, with the Murdoch group unwilling to defend the defamation action in court. News had reportedly made an initial offer of $110,000, with demands for confidentiality. Bitter about the attack and its consequences, though, Towke refused to agree to terms that would stop him from speaking.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
India sought probe into ex-RBI gov Rajan for helping ‘white man’ (Al Jazeera)
In a Kyiv suburb, ‘they shot everyone they saw’ (The New York Times)
Hungary election: Viktor Orban’s victory hailed by Putin (BBC)
Shanghai is testing 26m people for COVID-19 in one of China’s biggest-ever public health responses (SBS)
Elon Musk buys 9.2% stake in Twitter, making him the largest shareholder (CNN)
Will the Ukraine war push countries toward renewable energy? Yes — and no (The Wall Street Journal) ($)
Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam says she will not seek second term (The Guardian)
US President Biden calls Bucha atrocities a “war crime” (CNN)
Ukraine war: Peace talks still on despite ‘genocide’, Zelensky says (BBC)
Best and worst moments from the 2022 Grammys (The New York Times)
THE COMMENTARIAT
What Australian cities can do to pull their weight on global warming — Xuemei Bai (The SMH): “For example, building green infrastructure in cities such as leafy parks and green roofs is a great way to absorb carbon emissions, support biodiversity and other ecosystem functions, while helping to alleviate extreme heatwaves caused by climate change … shifting to more plant-based diets and reducing food waste could cut up to 44% emission in the food sector, and shifting to active transport and living in comfortable but smaller housing has the potential to cut two-thirds of emissions in each of these sectors …
“… It would be more enticing to cycle to work if bikes didn’t have to share highways with cars and trucks. Many are concerned with the quantity and the management of food waste, but not everyone has the capacity to do backyard composting. Having food waste separately collected and composted has proven to be effective in Milan in reducing waste streams to landfill and consequent methane emission … Electric vehicles combined with low or zero carbon electricity are identified by the IPCC report as the most promising options for reducing urban transportation emissions. Smart urban policies and regulations can accelerate their adoption.”
TikTok was the first app that made me feel old. Now I realise it’s much more than dance and prank videos — James Colley (Guardian Australia): “I was shocked. Social media apps aren’t meant to improve your life. They’re designed to help you find your niche and use that niche to slowly erode your sanity. Now, when you use the app you get your serving of dances, Stewie behaving in a way a baby absolutely shouldn’t behave, endlessly repetitive low-effort prank videos but also tutorials, lifehacks, and worthwhile bits of knowledge.
“A quick flick through while definitely not procrastinating writing this very article delivered me a tutorial on the vanishing point in art, a guide to men’s wedding fashion by the season, how to get perfect form on incline dumbbell presses and a LinkedIn page optimisation strategy, all delivered with the backing track of the same annoying nine seconds of a song and intercut with clips of a guy walking around a Woolworths saying something rude and pretending he’s actually talking to a friend on the phone.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Online
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Guardian Australia’s Katharine Murphy and Essential Media’s Pete Lewis will discuss the fortnight’s political news in a webinar.
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Federal Housing Minister Michael Sukkar and Property Council’s Ken Morrison will speak about what the federal election means for property and housing in a webinar.
Ngunnawal Country (also known as Canberra)
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison will deliver a keynote speech at the National Farmers’ Federation’s 2022 National Conference.
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Labor Shadow Treasurer Jim Chalmers will deliver a post-budget address to the National Press Club of Australia.
Kulin Nation Country (also known as Melbourne)
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ASIC chair Joseph Longo will speak on the corporate regulator’s priorities for 2022 and beyond, at an event held by CEDA.
Muwinina Country (also known as Hobart)
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Tasmania’s Minister for Skills Training and Workforce Growth Roger Jaensch and Mayor of Glenorchy Bec Thomas will be at the launch of Troublesmiths’ workshop, which helps young Tasmanians build their confidence in making products.
Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)
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Beyond Blue chair and former prime minister Julia Gillard will speak about workplace wellness at the COSBOA National Small Business Summit.
