DIRECTION 99
Immigration Minister Andrew Giles will rewrite a directive that allowed a slew of non-citizen criminals to remain in the country, Nine newspapers report. Giles has come under immense scrutiny for signing off on “direction 99”, a rule that compels Australia’s Administrative Appeals Tribunal to consider the length and seriousness of an offender’s ties to Australia before ordering deportation. The Australian reports that the directive could have impacted up to 2,800 cases, including one where a man was charged with murder just a month after he was allowed to remain in the country. Giles admitted that “a number of recent AAT decisions have not shown common sense,” and blamed the Home Affairs Department for failing to keep him abreast of potentially problematic decisions.
Meanwhile, the ABC’s Laura Tingle has been “counselled” on her recent remarks at the Sydney Writers’ Festival that Australia is “a racist country”, Guardian Australia reports. News director Justin Stevens said in a statement that Tingle’s remarks didn’t meet the ABC’s editorial standards because they lacked “context, balance and supporting information”. In her own statement, Tingle said she regretted making the comments in a free-flowing panel discussion where such context couldn’t be provided, but called the response “yet another anti-ABC pile-on”. Nationals leader David Littleproud joined in via Sky News, getting one in below the belt, saying “the ABC’s losing anyway, you only need to look at their ratings”.
TRUMP TERESA?
“Mother Teresa could not beat these charges. These charges are rigged, the judge is so conflicted, he can’t breathe” said Donald Trump, news.com.au reports. He made the statement as the jury begins to deliberate on his high-profile hush-money trial following marathon closing arguments yesterday. Trump is accused of 34 counts of fraud relating to the falsification of business records to cover up payments of US$130,000 (A$200,000) to porn star Stormy Daniels in the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. He’s unlikely to be imprisoned, reports The Guardian, as it’s a non-violent crime and he’s a first-time offender. Regardless of the punishment levelled against the former president — should he be found guilty — it’s unlikely to affect his run at the White House in 2024.
It comes as the ABC is reporting that Trump’s election tactics may have found their way across the Atlantic, with conservatives campaigning for UK PM Rishi Sunak labelling his Labour opponent Keir Starmer “sleepy” — an apparent homage to the Trump barb “sleepy Joe” (Biden). Starmer’s stamina is coming under scrutiny by Tory commentators, with the 61-year-old allegedly campaigning during more civilised hours than the 44-year-old incumbent PM. Meanwhile, Sunak’s plan to reinstate mandatory national service has been called “hare-brained” by a former head of the Royal Navy writing for The Independent. Alan West, First Sea Lord (a real thing) from 2002 to 2006, wrote that anyone with any experience in what it costs to train new, useful recruits would understand that the idea was foolish. The UK’s armed forces have shrunk by a third, the paper reports, but Sunak’s tactic is widely seen as an election Hail Mary.
SAY WHAT?
I cancelled more than 6,300 visas — more than any minister since Federation.
Peter Dutton
The opposition leader appears to judge how well an immigration minister is doing their job by how many people they kick out of the country.
CRIKEY RECAP
“While Albanese made at least eight speeches that contained criticism of Israel in his first six years as an MP, he’s been less vocal on the issue since then. In 2011, Albanese wrote an opinion piece for The Australian criticising Greens councillors in Marrickville for seeking to boycott Israeli goods, and in 2015, he used a speech in Parliament to slam a Marrickville theatre group for seeking to ban the Jewish student organisation Hillel from using its premises due to the group’s perceived pro-Israel stance. ‘I believe there needs to be a Palestinian state, but I also believe that Israel has a right to exist in peace and security. A two-state solution is the way forward,’ Albanese said.
Since the current war in Gaza began, Albanese says he’s had a consistent position: ‘To oppose the terrorist atrocity that occurred from Hamas on October 7. To call for the release of hostages. To express concern at the killing of any innocent life, be it Israeli or Palestinian. To support humanitarian ceasefire. To support humanitarian aid going into Gaza. To support a two-state solution, which is the long-term position that needs to be reached. Israelis and Palestinians have a right to live in peace and security with prosperity.’
“By day five, Team Sunak had arrived at that point of the campaign usually appearing in week three: it came off the road for an entire day to sort it all out. The cause was less these petty gaffes — although commentators underestimate them; the public take them as the most basic indication of leadership abilities — than managing the first big, and bizarre, announcement of the campaign: the proposed reintroduction of national service.
A stint in the forces for 18-year-olds, or a year doing community service on weekends for those wimpy pacifist ninnies who don’t want to be yelled at on a parade ground. The proposal has no military utility whatsoever, and in yet another gaffe it was revealed that the defence minister had rejected the idea days before.”
“According to the Australian Financial Review, there are 45 people on the rich list aged over 80 and they control over $136 billion in wealth. That group has 150 children who stand to inherit. Not sure if any of those heirs have Crikey subscriptions, but they will certainly be able to afford to! Hello, if you’re reading.
Here’s the first surprising fact: inheritances are arguably good for equality. It may not feel right, but it’s true if you look at the ratios.
When wealth is spread out from 36 rich listers to their 150 heirs, wealth is, technically, less concentrated and equality rises. Add in the fact that some money goes to charity (an average of 2% in Australia) and some to distant relatives, and the equality-increasing effect is even higher.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Pentagon opens ammunition factory to keep arms flowing to Ukraine (The New York Times) ($)
North Korea drops trash balloons on the South (BBC)
New nationalist left group could blossom in European Parliament. This is how (euronews)
‘Vote for change’: South Africa elects government as ANC legacy on trial (Al Jazeera)
Is Australia doing enough to respond to Papua New Guinea’s catastrophic landslide? (The Conversation)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Taxpayers are poorer without a carbon tax — John Kehoe (Australian Financial Review): “The struggle to keep the lights on is a consequence of incoherent energy policies for more than a decade failing to provide a predictable long-term investment environment for power companies to build the future energy system — be it coal, gas, renewables or nuclear based. Origin’s Eraring power plant won’t be the only recipient of taxpayer funds under our socialist-style, command-and-control response to energy and climate issues …
The Coalition tore down Gillard’s moderate $23-a-tonne carbon price that operated between 2012 and 2014. The Greens blocked Kevin Rudd’s carbon pollution reduction scheme. Conservatives failed to implement the Turnbull government’s so-called National Energy Guarantee for the power grid. Big business, now pleading for investment certainty via a carbon price, deserves censure for helping wreck the ETS a decade ago. It was not a perfect system, but the ETS was far better than any energy and climate policy Australia has tried since.”
The Albanese government looks weak and sounds weak in face of immigration detainees scandal — Samantha Maiden (Herald Sun): “Amid the Albanese government’s ham-fisted attempts to blame their own public servants and the Administrative Appeals Tribunal for the mess, the problem ultimately leads back to the man who thought it was a good idea to appoint him to the job: Anthony Albanese. This week, the prime minister confirmed the government will reissue a revised order to replace the so-called direction 99 to ensure that the protection of the community ‘outweighs any other consideration’.
The prime minister insisted he continued to have confidence in Immigration Minister Andrew Giles. A Senate estimates hearing this week heard that Andrew Giles was warned by his department that his ‘direction 99’ changes, which gave non-citizens with ties to Australia greater leniency during visa decisions, would stop serious criminals from being deported. Opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said Giles and the government couldn’t blame the AAT.”
