SECRET LABOR BUSINESS
Labor has been accused of running a “cult of secrecy” in Canberra after shutting down questions on a new climate change report. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has refused to release the report on how the climate change crisis will impact national security, saying the “content and judgments of the assessment are classified”. More “bizarre” yet, according to Greens Senator David Shoebridge, is the fact that the PM won’t even reveal when the report was finalised.
Shoebridge told Guardian Australia: “When you can’t even get the date of a high-profile, publicly acknowledged report then you know that something’s gone wrong with the cult of secrecy in Canberra.” Albanese’s responses to Shoebridge’s questions were recently tabled in Parliament. “Along with the government’s climate statement, tabled in Parliament on 1 December 2022, there is already considerable material available in the public domain discussing national security threats from climate change,” one of the answers read.
This is happening as Australia gears up for what’s likely to be a hot and dry — and possibly fiery — El Niño summer. The Bureau of Meteorology said yesterday that “sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific were rising and an El Niño weather event, which typically brings hotter, drier weather, would likely develop between September and November”, Reuters reports. The BOM is famously cautious when it comes to calling El Niños and La Niñas; other trusted bodies, such as the World Meteorological Organization, have already called it: we’re in for an El Niño summer. People worried about their homes being affected by bushfires can check out a list of preparedness tips given by University of New South Wales fire expert Professor Guan Heng Yeoh to The Property Tribune this week.
KING PINGED
As readers of the Worm and recent Crikey stories will know, outgoing Qantas boss Alan Joyce stirred up emotions with his testimony before a cost-of-living Senate inquiry earlier in the week. Among the current Qantas controversies is the airline’s lobbying of the federal government to block competitor Qatar Airways from operating more flights to Australia. The Australian Financial Review ($) published comments on Monday from Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones, who explained it was in the national interest to keep Qantas profitable.
Now The Australian ($) reports Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has distanced himself from the move to block Qatar, which reportedly was made solely by Transport Minister Catherine King. “The decision to deny Qatar Airways more flights into Australia was not taken by cabinet and key ministers were not consulted on the decision, with ANZ boss Shayne Elliott saying he was ’disturbed’ by the government’s protection of Qantas profits,” the front-page exclusive says.
Albanese was quoted as saying: “Well, it’s not up to me. It’s up to the transport minister, who’s made the decision … But there are decisions like this all the time. I can state there is nothing unusual about this. There is nothing unusual about a nation state not having access to unlimited flights wherever they like to go.” He also said the former Coalition government “made a very similar decision”. King’s office told the newspaper she “consults with relevant colleagues on all matters, as appropriate”, without offering specifics.
SAY WHAT?
I don’t think the minister was influenced by somebody purchasing a ticket to a fundraiser.
Chris Minns
NSW Labor, which in its last months in opposition made lots of hay out of a “jobs for mates” scandal involving the former state Coalition government, now faces a similar scandal. At issue is whether or not NSW Transport Minister Jo Haylen was right to have hand-picked a former Labor staff member to be the state’s transport boss. New Transport Secretary Josh Murray is a Labor member who was once chief of staff to a Labor premier, and reportedly donated to Haylen’s campaign. But he did not rate as the “preferred candidate” by an independent evaluation panel charged with recruiting for the top transport job. The state’s powerful Public Accountability and Works Committee, which in its earlier iteration probed John Barilaro’s appointment as US trade envoy, has launched an inquiry into Murray’s hiring. The first hearing is on Thursday. At least Premier Chris Minns, according to The Daily Telegraph ($), doesn’t reckon Murray’s donations to Haylen had anything to do with the hiring.
CRIKEY RECAP
“March 4 2024 has been set as the date for the case of The United States of America v Donald J Trump, which concerns his alleged involvement in attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 US election. It’s the first of three trials the former US president has scheduled for next year, and potentially the most serious.
“Trump’s legal team had argued the trial should not start before April 2026, citing a ‘huge volume of evidence’ to review and a ‘novel and unprecedented prosecution’ for which it had to prepare. But of course it can’t have escaped his team’s notice that 2024 is the year US citizens go to the polls to decide their next president, and Trump is once again comfortably leading the field as the preferred Republican nominee.
“ ‘I want to note here that setting a trial date does not depend and should not depend on the defendant’s personal or professional obligations,’ Judge Tanya Chutkan said in setting the date.
“Sorry may be the hardest word — but obviously changing the Australian constitution is even harder. Former Kevin Rudd speechwriter Tim Dixon, who helped write the 2008 Apology to Australia’s First Nations peoples, is watching keenly as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his team work to convince voters to say Yes to an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
“ ‘It’s interesting, because there is a parallel there — they’re not the same thing. It does feel like a natural evolution,’ Dixon told Crikey. ‘The difference between 2008 and 2023 is politics is more polarised. And the fracturing of the media environment means that outlets tend to cater to the more highly engaged and more hard-line groups.’
“Dixon also said he felt there was less diversity and ‘fewer liberal voices’ inside the Liberal Party this time around than in 2008 when the Coalition reluctantly offered bipartisanship for the Apology.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Lawyers indicted with Donald Trump say they were doing their jobs. But that may be a tough argument to make (Associated Press)
Wagner chief Yevgeny Prigozhin buried in private funeral (BBC)
Two Ugandan men may face death penalty after ‘aggravated homosexuality’ charge (CNN)
Husband of Sweden’s crown princess denies marriage crisis rumours (The Times) ($)
Argentina’s Javier Milei will need time to scrap peso if he wins, advisers say (Reuters)
Asia markets rise, led by Hong Kong and China; Japan unemployment higher than expected (CNBC)
THE COMMENTARIAT
How to help your kids financially without spending money on them — Paridhi Jain (SMH) ($): “Parents want to give their kids ‘the best’, and will often go to great lengths to afford it. This could look like overspending on a bigger house than you can actually afford. Or sacrificing your retirement to afford private school. Or going into debt to afford tuition.
“On a smaller scale, it could look like trying to ‘keep up’ with others so your kid doesn’t feel left behind. Over the years, the fancy vacations and big birthdays start to add up.
“But ‘good’ parents do anything for their kids, right? Isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? Well, actually, no.”
An infamous Spanish kiss overshadowed meritorious women doing their job — can you believe it? — Annabel Crabb (ABC): “Whenever women move into male-dominated fields, whether it be politics, media, the resources sector — you name it — they are regularly reminded of the importance of making it on ‘merit’. Wherever quotas are proposed to introduce gender balance, the ‘M-word’ will invariably arrive within seconds.
“There’s a double fiction at play here: first, that men have always gained their successes on merit, and second, that merit in women will be recognised and rewarded the same way as it is in genuinely talented men.
“And if you need these concepts demonstrated, look no further than the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup; several weeks of sustained and glorious high performance by a fleet of underpaid women, from whom our rapt gaze was periodically distracted only by a series of less gifted dudes setting their own silly arses on fire.”
Co-sleeping with children has biological benefits — but it’s not always the answer to a good night’s sleep – Sarah Blunden (The Guardian): “Medieval records of European sleeping habits as early as the 5th century show that sleep was a social and communal practice where it was not uncommon to receive visitors, or passing travellers, into the bedroom, or for many family members to sleep in the same bed.
“Sleeping with others was often viewed as a way to increase personal security, conserve resources and generate warmth. Separate sleeping spaces were something few could afford, so the choice of bed companions mirrored existing social and community relationships and structures.
“As society progressed, around the 15th century, individual sleeping spaces became more common and were viewed as an indicator of wealth and prosperity emerging in many Western countries. Gradually, social guidelines around who slept with whom changed, and this continued to mirror the broader changes in sociocultural and family values around belonging, identity, care, intimacy and independence.”
