AGONY UNCLE
Christmas lunch is going to be weird for NSW Minister for Enterprise, Investment and Trade Alister Henskens after he confirmed he’s standing by anti-protest laws that sent his niece to jail, the SMH reports. Deanna “Violet” Coco, 32, could spend up to 15 months behind bars for taking part in a protest about our paltry climate action on the Sydney Harbour Bridge during peak hour, as SBS reports. She and a firefighter friend stopped a truck to highlight that our firefighters need more resources as bushfires increase in likelihood in our rapidly warming climate. Coco was arrested and sentenced to a non-parole period of eight months, something NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet weirdly called “pleasing to see”. Henskens added approvingly that he believes in lawful, peaceful protests — ones that nobody notices and that affect nobody, one presumes.
Crikey published Coco’s statement about her imprisonment, where she wrote that “civil disobedience in the form of strikes, blockades, marches and occupations” helped create democracy and secure “women’s suffrage, eight-hour working days, racial legal equality and environmental protections”. Coco says she doesn’t want to protest, calling it “stressful”, “scary” and “resource-intensive”, but “political leaders and fossil fuel corporations around the globe have either ignored or actively worsened the problem”. She’s right, according to the IEA — energy-related CO2 emissions rose by 6% to 36.3 billion tonnes in 2021, their highest level. Coco also alleged the police had “threatened me with sexual violence” after her arrest.
HOME AWAY FROM HOME
Kurdish refugee and writer Behrouz Boochani has set foot in Australia, SBS reports, three years after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said he would never be allowed back. Boochani, who lives in New Zealand but is here to spruik his new book, Freedom Only Freedom, says he’s here for work reasons and so doesn’t see it as an achievement. It comes just two weeks after the first refugees who spent years in offshore Australian detention camps arrived in New Zealand, Stuff via 9News reports. The nation agreed to resettle 150 refugees annually from our “regional processing cohort”, as a spokesperson for NZ Immigration Minister Michael Wood called them. As of March, there were 112 refugees and asylum seekers in Nauru, and 1100 others have been taken to Australia for medical attention.
To a completely different case now and home affairs will not strip the citizenship of former Sydney man Ahmad Merhi, who is on death row in Iraq, Guardian Australia reports. Merhi went to Syria in 2014 and was captured there in 2017 before being shipped to Iraq by the Americans. He claims he was coerced into admitting to terrorism, but Iraqi court documents said he was paid a monthly stipend by Islamic State and trained in weapons. His Australian citizenship was cancelled in 2018 (he is eligible for Lebanese citizenship so wouldn’t be stateless), but a department spokesperson confirmed a High Court judgment meant he and 18 others retained their Australianness.
REPUTATIONAL MANAGEMENT
Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann is thinking about suing the ABC for broadcasting Brittany Higgins’ statement outside ACT court after the first trial was aborted, according to a source. Guardian Australia explains that some media outlets only ran excerpts because of the strict defamation laws in Australia — but the ABC ran her whole statement live to air. It’s one of a slew of legal dominoes to fall over after Lehrmann’s second trial for Higgins’ alleged rape was cancelled and the charges against him dropped, as news.com.au reported. Higgins is suing two former ministers, Michaelia Cash and Linda Reynolds, for compensation, ACT police are looking into whether Higgins showed contempt of court with her statement, and there’s an investigation into whether “legally protected” material was shared with News Corp.
Speaking of someone with his reputation top of mind, lawyers for former PM Scott Morrison said he can’t properly defend himself at the robodebt royal commission without referring to secret cabinet documents, Guardian Australia reports. We learnt yesterday that lawyers warned officials in March 2019 that the robodebt scheme “may have to be wound up — eight months before it was finally shut down”, the paper says. Morrison’s “reputation is on the line” as the former social services minister, the lawyer said, but the commissioner didn’t seem convinced.
To another reputational story, several students have been expelled from a Jewish school in St Kilda because their parents refused to sign an agreement that stopped them from going public about allegations of child sexual abuse, The Age reports. The parents were worried about the school considering opening its doors to a student who had been investigated by the cops — the principal wrote to the parents saying their kids’ attending the school was “untenable”.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
The best Christmas gifts are free, The Guardian’s Nell Frizzell writes — and no, they’re not “a handmade card” (have you seen the cost of art supplies lately?) or “a big hug” (not really post-pandemic etiquette). In a rather jarring analogy, the frank Frizzell says there is “much joy to be had at Christmas if you can somehow pull yourself off the meat hook of consumerism”. First of all, she says, presents don’t have to be physical. She suggests giving friends or family something that needs doing — “fix the worn-out things in their house that they’ll never get round to. Paint their ceilings, do some repairs on their bike, fix the holes in their jeans or buttons on their shirt.” Or cook them some trays of food for their freezer, clear their garden, or “dress up as Laura Dern in Jurassic Park and serve them breakfast in bed” — whatever that person is into. As someone who spent an evening reading Garfield to a kid jumping on to her neck screaming “flying squirrel”, Frizzell may also suggest putting an evening of babysitting to worn-out new parents on your list.
If you’re feeling festive, you could combine two or three into a chore coupon book — Etsy has loads to draw inspiration from. And it seems it’s catching on, in Frizzell’s world anyway — her parents recently recorded her young son a whole set of his favourite stories on their phones for Christmas so he can listen to them before bed. Sure, it takes a little preparation, “but, like all handmade gifts, [it’s] immeasurably more meaningful”. Or tell people you’re altruistically not buying presents in order to give them back time spent shopping for you — “Weeks they don’t have to spend traipsing around overheated, cinnamon-smelling [stores], being served by bored staff … choosing between a dressing gown, a set of egg cups and a portable speaker in the shape of a butt plug.” My stars. Anyway, the point is, affection and love don’t have to be shown through shopping, and it’s a poignant reminder of what’s truly important at Christmastime. But, Mum, if you’re reading this, I really want a new blow dryer.
Hoping the smiles come easily today, folks.
SAY WHAT?
I didn’t seek to suggest that nuclear power should be part of the mix in our nation. I think we should acknowledge that nuclear power would make energy more expensive in our nation and [we should] put it to one side, rather than having a culture war debate around nuclear power.
Peter Malinauskas
Malinauskas was like, when I said I “always thought the ideological opposition that exists in some quarters to nuclear power is ill-founded”, what I meant was, nuclear is bad and I hate it. The SA premier was in a bit of damage control after the PM called him “wrong” for encouraging people to be “open-minded” about nuclear energy.
CRIKEY RECAP
Higgins threatened the powerful, and criminal justice failures only partly explain her treatment
“Higgins’ treatment since she emerged in 2021 has been a reaction to the threat she posed, regardless of the merits of her allegations against Bruce Lehrmann, who maintains his innocence. A Coalition politician allegedly linked her drinking with her alleged rape, though he denies having done so. Senator Linda Reynolds, a senior minister and Higgins’ former employer, called her a ‘lying cow’. The Prime Minister’s Office smeared her partner in background briefings. A sham review was established into who knew about the alleged assault.
“That review became the subject of a prime ministerial lie to Parliament. Reynolds’ partner attended the trial, at which the minister was to give evidence, and Reynolds texted suggestions to defence lawyers for Lehrmann. After the director of public prosecutions discontinued the prosecution out of concern for Higgins’ health, an Australian Federal Police source leaked information to News Corp attempting to undermine the prosecution. Today News Corp has continued to try to do so.”
How Scott Morrison won the election for Labor
“Other factors, according to the party, included declining voter trust in both the Coalition and Labor, driven by mistrust in government, politics and politicians. The party also concluded many of its supporters cast tactical ballots in support of high-profile independent candidates. One such candidate was Dai Le, the independent who won Fowler. It was Labor’s first loss since the seat was created in 1984.
“The party came close to acknowledging the widely held view that voters there punished Labor for trying to parachute in ex-senator Kristina Keneally, rather than running a local candidate. ‘Labor’s candidate selection’ was listed as one of the reasons for the loss. But the review also pointed to the prominence of Fairfield City mayor Frank Carbone, ‘a former Labor powerbroker in the area’, who backed Le. The review said Carbone’s status in the district was elevated by his tough opposition to the extra-harsh lockdowns …”
Robodebt evidence confirms every bad stereotype about the modern public service
“Those who actually had to endure robodebt, or the families of those who took their lives or who suffered real health consequences over the scheme, might be forgiven for having zero sympathy for the poor bureaucrats forced to endure criticism over a Sunday barbie. Services Australia’s [Jason] McNamara also complained that the negative press coverage of the scheme harmed the reputation of the department and the government.
“But where McNamara really demonstrated how out of touch he and his Services Australia colleagues were was in his lament that people were too stupid to understand robodebt. Having to design a flyer describing the concept of averaging prompted McNamara to complain [people don’t understand averaging]. Averaging, it turned out, was an unlawful way to estimate income, something the government was forced to admit after being taken to court.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Al Jazeera takes the killing of Shireen Abu Akleh to the ICC (Al Jazeera)
Indonesia bans sex before marriage for locals and foreign visitors (EuroNews)
Apple is sued by women who say AirTag lets stalkers track victims (Reuters)
Top US conservatives pushing Russia’s spin on Ukraine war, experts say (The Guardian)
Xi will wisit Saudi Arabia, a sign of China’s growing Middle East ties (The New York Times)
Cristina Fernández: Argentina awaits verdict in VP’s trial (BBC)
Meta’s targeted ad model faces restrictions in Europe (The Wall Street Journal) ($)
Trump expresses support for Capitol rioters as he continues to embrace extremist groups (CNN)
THE COMMENTARIAT
After watching how Brittany Higgins has suffered, how many women will be silenced? — Jennifer Robinson (Guardian Australia): “I cried. And I know I’m not the only woman in Australia who did. We cried seeing Brittany’s anguish. And we cried for every woman who, like my friend, felt they couldn’t report their abuse. We cried for every woman who had just watched Brittany’s experience confirm why they would never report. How many more women will be silenced because of what we have just seen happen in this case?
“Soon after Brittany’s speech that day, it was announced that Lehrmann’s lawyers had referred her comments to the police and the court for contempt, showing how women cannot speak freely about their experience or the failures of the criminal justice system. It also gave rise to the ironic possibility that a woman who has made a rape allegation could face a criminal conviction for speaking about it, while the man she accused might not face trial.”
This latest increase in RBA interest rates might well be the last, for some time — Peter Martin (The Conversation): “Although the annual inflation figure for the year to December due on January 25 is expected to be high — the bank is expecting 8% — the quarter-to-quarter result is likely to show inflation weakening. The Bureau of Statistics releases the quarterly inflation figures only once every three months.
“But for some time now it has also been calculating inflation monthly, using a smaller survey that seems to give a pretty good indication of what the larger survey is about to show. [Shane] Oliver has graphed what the smaller survey has been saying each month about inflation over the previous three months alongside what the larger quarterly survey has been saying. The two line up, except that in recent months the monthly measure has been sliding.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)
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Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury Andrew Leigh will discuss market power and markups in the macroeconomy, in a talk held at the Sydney Institute.
Guardian Australia’s Katharine Murphy will speak to writer David Marr about her new Quarterly Essay, Lone Wolf: Albanese and the new politics, held at White Bay Beer Company
Kulin Nation Country (also known as Melbourne)
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Writer Françoise Vergès and activists Grace Dlabik and Kameron Locke will speak about decolonial feminism, antiracist action and community activation, at The Wheeler Centre.
Yuggera Country (also known as Brisbane)
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State Treasurer Cameron Dick will give the mid-year Queensland Budget update at the Queensland Media Club.
