A WOMAN PROBLEM
Retiring Transport Minister David Elliott wants upper house Liberal MP Peter Poulos’ spot, the SMH ($) reports, because a man should replace a man. Poulos is suspended after it was revealed he shared intimate photos of fellow MP Robyn Preston five years ago in a preselection battle, the ABC reports. Poulos also resigned as parliamentary secretary. NSW Treasurer Matt Kean and former federal MP Trent Zimmerman want NSW Liberal Women’s Council president Jacqui Munro in the seat, but Elliott is reportedly telling people it makes sense for a man to take the spot because a man is vacating it. Women make up less than 30% of the NSW Liberals’ parliamentary ranks, Crikey points out, and the party has long been accused of having a woman problem, including by the Coalition’s own staffers.
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Katy Gallagher knew Brittany Higgins’ boyfriend David Sharaz before her department paid out a multimillion-dollar settlement to her, according to former defence minister Linda Reynolds. It’s been breathlessly reported by The Australian ($), even though Gallagher told the paper she had no decision-making role in the significant legal matter. Reynolds maintains “this was clearly a political hit job on the government of the day to bring down the defence minister” — speaking about herself in the third person for gravitas, one presumes. Yawn. It comes as Higgins was dismayed that a page of her diary was referenced by The Australian ($), saying it was given to police and no journalists should’ve seen it. Higgins added that the story claimed she merely “planned” to donate the damages she received to charity, and posted the charity receipt showing she did so immediately. In the sprawling interview, Reynolds said Higgins and Bruce Lehrmann entering her ministerial suite unauthorised that night was a “sackable offence” and “it doesn’t get much worse than that”.
PLEASE RELEASE ME…
Dozens of people will be re-detained by the Albanese government after they were released from immigration detention over Christmas, Guardian Australia reports. The Federal Court ruled aggregate sentences — when you get a single sentence for multiple offences — don’t count as part of the Migration Act’s automatic visa cancellations. About 160 people were released. But legislation to change that sailed through the Senate on Monday thanks to the Coalition’s support. Crossbenchers and advocates are dismayed. At least one person re-detained was from a refugee background, the Human Rights Law Centre, the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre and the Visa Cancellation Working Group said. Independent Zoe Daniel was concerned too, saying it’ll see people with some low-level offences treated the same way as serious offenders. It’s not the first time our deporting criminals has attracted ire — New Zealand loathes it.
Speaking of our mates across the ditch, some 6431 people are missing and 11 are confirmed dead after cyclone Gabrielle swept through New Zealand’s North Island, The Age ($) reports. Prime Minister Chris Hipkins said Gabrielle was New Zealand’s biggest natural disaster this century and warned fatalities could rise. Telecommunications are still down, 28,000 don’t have power, there are shortages of fresh water, and damaged roads are preventing access to some areas. Australia has sent 27 emergency workers, which hardly seems enough, but anyway. Bloomberg ($) reports NZ Finance Minister Grant Robertson revealed yesterday the clean-up would cost “multi-billions” and that they still didn’t really know the full extent of the natural disaster.
PICTURES OF HEALTH
Fewer than 65% of Australians’ GP visits are bulk-billed, The Age ($) reports, with folks in the ACT and Tasmania finding it the hardest. In western and south-west Sydney, by comparison, nine out of 10 patients get fully subsidised GP visits, nearly twice the rate of their northern Sydney neighbours at 55%. This is according to new federal health data this morning. Meanwhile, an investigation by Nine newspapers ($) says silicosis, a lung disease, is on the rise because we keep building and renovating our homes. Tradies can inhale it in tiny particles when working with engineered stone such as Caesarstone — typically used for kitchen benchtops and bathroom vanities. The paper reports there are now more than 70 silicosis court cases unfolding in Victoria and Queensland, with workers suing employers for not providing a safe work environment.
Meanwhile, NSW women will soon be able to get the contraceptive pill straight from the pharmacist, the Herald Sun ($) reports. Usually they would have to get a prescription from a GP, but from July 1 pharmacies can renew them. The pharmacist will also be able to prescribe antibiotics for urinary tract infections from April 1, and both will be subsidised as part of a one-year trial, saving women $25. And Michael West Media has a good story this morning about folks calling for a public inquiry into the privatisation and performance of Northern Beaches Hospital — it says the Sydney public hospital is now controlled in the Cayman Islands, and doesn’t get penalised for healthcare failures.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
Flaco has had a taste of freedom and he ain’t going back. The stunning Eurasian eagle-owl escaped from New York City’s Central Park Zoo a few weeks back and has been hanging out in Central Park ever since. It seems someone set him free, as CBC reports, because Flaco’s stainless steel meshing was cut open. At first pearl-clutchers were hysterical that the owl, who was raised in captivity, would be lost, hungry and frightened in the big, bad world. How would he hunt?! What if he is hurt?! Flaco’s fine. He’s been feasting on NYC’s ample supply of rats passing through the park — it’s so bad that last year the city advertised a “rat tsar” job — and enjoying surveying the park from the highest treetops. We know he’s feasting because he keeps coughing up fur and bones, something that caused much excitement among New York City’s many entranced bird watchers.
At first, zoo officials were determined to get Flaco back into his enclosure. They spent a week setting up tasty food traps and even playing recordings of other eagle-owls to lure him down. But Flaco, in his newfound freedom, was decidedly not falling for it. Now officials have announced the suspension of the rescue operation because, well, it appears Flaco doesn’t actually need rescuing. We’ll still monitor him, they assured people, and promptly “resume recovery efforts if he shows any sign of difficulty or distress”. He’s hard to miss — the Eurasian eagle-owl is one of the bigger species, with a wingspan of up to two metres, gorgeous amber-coloured eyes and two sweet little ear tuffs. So far Flaco has been spotted on shopping mecca Fifth Avenue, and at the park’s ice-skating rink. “He seems to be enjoying himself out there,” birdwatcher David Barrett remarked fondly.
Hoping you feel unencumbered today too.
SAY WHAT?
Let me see if I’m following. I’m publicly defamed by my former employer. I donated the money to charity because all I wanted was an apology and a retraction. And yet… somehow Linda Reynolds is the victim in this scenario?
Brittany Higgins
The former Liberal staffer says her former boss’s emotional tell-all interview with The Australian was bizarre and unsettling. She also says she was not contacted by the paper for a right of reply on the many claims.
CRIKEY RECAP
A political obituary for Alan Tudge
“As the junior welfare minister in 2016-17, for instance, Tudge presided over the introduction of a series of punitive and degrading reforms, including the cashless welfare card, random drug testing for welfare recipients in certain areas, and, not least, the unlawful and now disgraced robodebt scheme.
“Tudge, for his part, never pretended to be anything other than a jealous guardian of the scheme. When confronted with media reports regarding the legality of robodebt in early 2017, he responded by launching what appeared to be an undisguised campaign of intimidation against the thousands who had and would in time fall victim to it by leaking to ‘friendly’ media the private data of those who’d complained.”
Christian extremist belief that inspired the Wieambilla shooting a growing threat, experts say
“Pre-millennialism is a belief the second coming of Jesus Christ will happen after a judgment day, ushering in 1000 years of peace. The Trains’ YouTube and Rumble accounts included frequent references to an imminent apocalypse. Both Gareth and Nathaniel were brought up in a Christian church created by their father, Ronald Train, and Stacey was said to have strong religious views.
“Dr Gerard Gill is an independent researcher who’s written about Australian extremism for the Global Network on Extremism and Technology, including on millenarianism in Australia’s freedom movement, an umbrella term for a (typically Christian but not always) belief in an impending apocalypse that includes pre-millennialism.”
Labor’s $10 billion housing policy of spin and abusing the Greens won’t play like it used to
“Labor is being dishonest about the Greens’ criticism. The mainstream media is reporting the ‘$10 billion housing fund’ po-faced. The Greens, it appears to me, are being a little cute in suggesting the larger chunk of the housing deficit should be filled from public build — and if one applies that, then the Jim’ll Build It Scheme comes out as ludicrously wanting.
And Jimbo is presenting the ‘1 million homes’ scheme as if it were mandated superfund spending. In fact, it will simply offer some incentives for super funds to switch their investment, with no guarantee they will do so. You know what? With the Coalition nowhere in particular, it would be really great if Labor and the Greens could have an honest debate about an issue like housing policy.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
‘Pump the brakes’, US envoy tells Netanyahu on judicial changes (Reuters)
Sweden police refuse permission for new Quran-burning protest, citing security fears (EuroNews)
[US Secretary of State Antony] Blinken has tense meeting with Chinese official [Wang Yi] amid spy balloon furore (The New York Times)
Cyclone Gabrielle: state highways left unrecognisable in the wake of the floods (Stuff)
Under Elon Musk, Twitter faces suits claiming over $14m in unpaid bills (The Wall Street Journal) ($)
Here’s how you can keep your Twitter account secure — without paying $8 US a month (CBC)
US holds drills with Asian allies after North Korea’s ICBM launch (Al Jazeera)
Cattle, not coca, drive deforestation of the Amazon in Colombia – report (The Guardian)
THE COMMENTARIAT
We’re not asking the right question about Biden — Ezra Klein (The New York Times) ($): “Campaigns are a (lengthy) sprint. But governing is a marathon. Last year, as Biden’s agenda languished, I found myself worried about his vigour again. Perhaps a younger, more energetic Biden would’ve proved better at managing relationships in the Senate. But then he passed a flurry of major bills — the Inflation Reduction Act, the CHIPS and Science Act — that amounted to a remarkable legislative record given the narrowness of Democrats’ congressional majorities. His party defied expectations in the midterm elections, gaining a bit more power in the Senate and holding losses down in the House. His State of the Union address was widely regarded as a success.
“At some point, those of us who keep declaring Biden too old to do the job need to reckon with what they’ve missed until now and might still be missing. So let me give it a try: members of my profession have built our lives around our mastery of words, and so we overestimate the importance of eloquence. We like politicians who speak as if Aaron Sorkin is cranking out their dialogue. But voters don’t see malapropisms and run-on sentences and unfinished thoughts and occasional fabulism as the disqualifiers that we do. Ronald Reagan proved that, and George W Bush proved it again; then Trump tried to teach us the same lesson, and now Biden is taking his turn. And Biden’s age has carried some quiet benefits. One is that he has deftly bridged Democrats’ generational and demographic gaps.”
EVs will not stop climate change, but we must help motorists make the shift — Clover Moore (The SMH) ($): “We can’t expect electrification of vehicles to be the silver bullet. If we simply swap internal combustion vehicles for EVs we’ll have done more to save the car industry than the planet. That’s why our first priority is creating a city for walking, cycling and public transport — this is the most effective way to reduce emissions from transport. We must improve accessibility while reducing the amount of driving that is necessary. Of course, some people are not able to walk, ride a bike or use public transport easily, and we will continue to need service and delivery vehicles. Electrification of high-impact fleets and private vehicles will help complete the journey to net zero transport.
“There are obvious barriers to this, not least of which is the sheer cost of electric vehicles. We need federal and state governments to introduce more stringent fuel and emissions standards for vehicles to facilitate the increased availability, affordability and diversity of electric vehicles in Australia. Costs will also go down as technology and scale of production improves. Another barrier — one that we as a local council can help address — is access to charging. It’s a key consideration in the city’s new electric vehicle strategy. Our new strategy will see us increase public charging capacity in our own car parks and encourage the uptake of charging capacity in publicly accessible places like supermarkets, petrol stations and other parking garages.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)
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Federal Minister for Skills and Training Brendan O’Connor, and NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello are among the speakers at CISO Sydney 2023.
