JUDGMENT DAY
An Australian right-wing Christian conference has been urged to “flood” the country’s Liberal parties with members, the Brisbane Times reports, to ensure conservative religious candidates “prevail” in every branch. The comments were from host Dave Pellowe, the paper says, and came after speakers slammed “the transgender issue”, abortion, climate action, and referenced the Great Reset conspiracy. “We need to save the Liberal Party,” Pellowe said ominously. Among the other speakers were former deputy prime minister-turned YouTuber John Anderson, Northern Territory Country Liberal Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, and Queensland One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts. Former Queensland LNP MP George Christensen said Western culture was possessed by Satan “literally or metaphorically” and warned civilisation would end in our generation unless Christians acted or Jesus returned (whichever comes first).
From Christians to Christian, and the former attorney-general Christian Porter is representing Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska in a legal battle against federal government sanctions, The West ($) reports. Deripaska was thought to be a close pal of Russian President Vladimir Putin and was hit with financial sanctions that restrict his assets in Oz — including a stake in a Queensland refinery — which he is challenging in court. To a very different story about power and influence now and Freedom of Information (FOI) commissioner Leo Hardiman has quit the job less than a year into his five-year stint because he didn’t have enough power to overhaul the sluggish system, the AFR ($) reports. FOI requests are supposed to take 30 days as per the legislation, as The New Daily explains, but a fifth (22.5%) takes longer, double what it was in 2011 (11.5%). Now one in every eight requests take more than four months (!) to come back. Hardiman was the first FOI boss in eight years after the Abbott government tried to shut down the office.
METHANE, MYSELF AND MINE
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese conceded his government will need to “shift a bit” if it wants to get its key climate policy through the Senate, the AFR ($) reports. He says his government is “prepared to”, but adds that gas will have a “key role to play” in smoothing the transition. Meanwhile, the US, Russia and Turkmenistan are the top three leakers of methane from fossil fuel facilities (Australia is 14th), an investigation by The Guardian has found. The biggest leak last year, on Turkmenistan’s coast, was the equivalent of 67 million cars. Methane is really potent — it traps 80 times more heat than carbon dioxide and accounts for a quarter of all heat trapped by greenhouse gases. About 40% of methane comes from cow burps and farts, another 40% from leaks in fossil fuel operations, and 20% from rotting waste. Most of Australia’s super-emitting leaks were from coalmines in the Bowen Basin in Queensland.
Speaking of — Queensland is unlocking the “next mining boom in critical minerals”, The Courier-Mail ($) reports, with a $5 billion project that will connect a major renewable power zone to the national grid. The project will create 800 jobs over six years, and Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk called it “the most significant investment in economic infrastructure in north Queensland in generations”, mind the pun. It’s called Copperstring 2.0, which sounds like contraception, but anyway. Speaking of mining projects, WA Today ($) reports US firm Alcoa is awaiting approval to mine near Serpentine Dam — Perth’s biggest drinking water source. There are major concerns within the government that heavy rain could see run-off poison the water for months or even years.
ZACHARY ROLFE COPS IT
NT cop Zachary Rolfe, who shot dead Indigenous teenager Kumanjayi Walker, has been booted from the police force. NT police assistant commissioner Bruce Porter told the inquest yesterday that Rolfe had been given “a notice of the intention to stand him down from duty”, as Guardian Australia reports. Rolfe is overseas after writing this controversial 2500-word letter accusing every person and their dog of misrepresenting him as “violent” and “racist” — including the media, the NT police commissioner, the coroner, the counsel assisting, and senior members of the NT Police Force. Dismally, as the NT News ($) reports, the inquest into Walker’s death heard yesterday that a NT senior sergeant told Aboriginal justice unit director Leanne Liddle the “only hope” for reducing Indigenous incarceration was for “you mob” to “stop breeding”. Liddle said she has lost count of the number of times she’s encountered racism in the public service.
To other police news now and SA cops can have tattoos and long hair under changes aimed to boost recruitment, The Advertiser ($) reports. The ink must be “non-offensive” — whatever that means — and not anywhere on the head or neck, and now men can have long hair like their female counterparts. Some 159 SA cops have resigned in the past seven months, but only 79 graduated, leaving a gap.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
If you have a subscription to The New York Times, you may not realise that you get access to the “TimesMachine”, an incredible digital archive of the newspaper dating back some 150 years of our recent history. Type in any date (before 2002) and you can browse the newspaper of the day. For instance, Sunday, September 3, 1939’s headline reads “Britain and France in War at 6am; Hitler Won’t Halt Attack on Poles, Chamberlain Calls Empire to Fight”. On Monday, July 21, 1969, the headline reads “Men Walk on Moon. Astronauts Land on Plain; Collect Rocks, Plant Flag”. On Thursday, August 19, 1920, an item reads “Tennessee Completes Suffrage Victory; Move to Reconsider is Feared Today; Parties Spur Battle for Women’s Votes”. And on Sunday, February 2, 1908, a rather less significant report was buried on page 14 and headlined “Dog a Fake Hero”.
It was an exposé on a Parisian dog that was widely celebrated for a heroic rescue of a young child playing near the Seine. The kid had fallen into the river and was in “imminent danger of being drowned”, the report read. Hearing the panicked cries, the “splendid Newfoundland” valiantly leapt over a hedge and plunged into the cold water to pull the “little victim” from danger. The father, beside himself with appreciation, presented the pooch with a big juicy beef steak. “Up until this point there was nothing extraordinary,” the Times writes, “but rescues became more and more frequent. Hardly a day passed but that some unfortunate infant was brought safely to the bank by the dog after an involuntary bath.” So a couple of people kept watch, and the truth came out. Whenever the dog saw a kid playing, “he promptly knocked it into the water, and then none the less promptly jumped in to the rescue”. The reason? He wanted more beef steak. “He had thus established for himself a profitable source of revenue,” the paper concludes primly.
Hoping the smiles come easily today, folks.
SAY WHAT?
I’ll be [prime minister] before you are.
Monique Ryan
The crossbencher told Opposition Leader Peter Dutton her shot at the top job was better than his. It came after Ryan’s chief of staff, Sally Rugg, said the Kooyong MP had leadership ambitions as reason for allegedly requiring her to work 70-hour weeks.
CRIKEY RECAP
Christian Lives Matter: inside the Facebook group endorsing anti-LGBTQIA+ vandalism and protests
“Bakhos has denied on social media that he attended the protest or that he or his group were involved in organising it. For half a decade, Bakhos and his Facebook group have played a role in amplifying anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiment and calling for action against people perceived to have disrespected their Christian beliefs. Bakhos has endorsed increasingly frequent acts of vandalism during WorldPride.
“Bakhos did not respond to a request for comment, instead blocking this reporter and this publication’s Instagram accounts when approached. Christian Lives Matter is a Facebook group with more than 25,000 members that was started in 2017. Bakhos, whose Facebook profile lists him as being from Beirut, Lebanon, and has spoken at Maronite Catholic churches in Sydney’s south-west, is the group’s only administrator …”
How will Fox News survive the Dominion lawsuit and angry Trump voters?
“US cable companies are under pressure to drop the station from their bundle. Reporting by the US traditional media is slashing away at Fox’s ‘news’ credibility. In Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age — normally so cautious about poking the Murdoch bear — can’t get enough of it.
“The Australian, on the other hand, has been remarkably quiet. Here, the mastheads have cast around for something they’d rather talk about — the 80,000-odd people with superannuation over $3 million facing the inconvenience of finding new ways to avoid tax on the money their money makes them. The credibility crisis crashed into last week’s advertising numbers, which showed January’s spend in all Australian news media down 26.1% year-on-year. Print newspapers? Down 34.3%. Ouch!”
On Tanya Plibersek’s reticent ambition and why Albanese’s team is confused by it
“Those closest to her say it was the experience of watching and living through Labor’s leadership contortions, from Beazley to Crean to Latham to Beazley and then to Rudd, that helped Plibersek begin to sense her own leadership ambitions. She watched the manoeuvring and assessed the talent and the judgment of those who circled the leadership race and compared her own abilities to those of the contenders.
“Nobody was speaking of Plibersek as a leadership contender at that time. She was not even in shadow cabinet. Rebecca Huntley is one of Plibersek’s supporters. She talks about Plibersek’s ‘conspicuous, extraordinary empathy’. But, says Huntley, ‘The Achilles’ heel of Tanya’s deep and almost poetic humanity is her reticence to make herself into a guru.’ “
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Pakistan bans airing of Imran Khan speeches, suspends TV channel (Al Jazeera)
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya sentenced to 15 years in prison (EuroNews)
US sanctioned 2 Montreal companies for supporting Russian ‘war effort’ (CBC)
Iran supreme leader calls suspected schoolgirl poisonings ‘unforgivable’ (The Guardian)
Novak Djokovic withdraws from Indian Wells because of vaccination status (BBC)
Lynyrd Skynyrd founding member and guitarist Gary Rossington dies aged 71 (ABC)
THE COMMENTARIAT
The one thing we could do on International Women’s Day to advance gender pay equity — Jessica Irvine (The SMH) ($): “I do, however, have one suggestion as to how we could transform future International Women’s Day events into truly powerful moments for advancing women’s pay equality. And it arises from recent changes to the Australian law governing so-called ‘pay secrecy’ clauses in employment contracts. Gender equality advocates have long argued women need access to better information about actual pay rates in their workplaces to know if they are being underpaid relative to their male colleagues. Countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Denmark and Canada have all moved to crack down on pay secrecy clauses in contracts forbidding employees from disclosing their salary and bonuses to other employees or competitors.
“In early December last year, Australia followed suit, with changes to the Fair Work Act introduced by the Albanese government. Under the changes, workers have a new right to disclose their pay and also to ask others what they are paid. Importantly, everyone also has the right to not answer such questioning. However, it will take some time before the changes wash through the system. For contracts entered into from December 7 last year, employers are forbidden from taking action against any employees who breach ‘pay secrecy’ clauses. From June, it will be illegal for contracts to have pay secrecy clauses written into them at all and companies face fines for doing so.”
We must seize this chance for Australian renewal and reform — Anthony Albanese (The AFR) ($): “One in four Australian jobs are related to international trade. I am determined to create more jobs in export industries and broaden our export base so that more Australian businesses — big and small — can find markets for their products and services overseas. If you look at India, they have set ambitious goals for 50% renewable energy by 2030 – and 30% electric vehicles by the same year. Australia can help realise those goals — and not just as a supplier of critical minerals. But as a provider of technology and services, mining equipment, software and systems expertise, training and skills. And value-added products, made in Australia: batteries and storage and charging technology; the next generation of solar panels; electrolysers and zero carbon fertilisers through green ammonia.
“And in resources too; green steel, green aluminium and green iron. The point that is always worth making here is that this is not a zero-sum game. We can do all these things as well as remaining a trusted and reliable supplier of energy to key trading partners such as Japan and the Republic of Korea, as well as supporting their transition to cleaner sources such as green hydrogen. Australia has the natural advantages to make this happen. We can be a global provider of choice in the resources, research and expertise that will drive the world to net zero. But as every business person understands, natural advantages are no guarantee of success. Securing the next generation of Australian prosperity depends on making the right investments in our workforce, our infrastructure, our productivity and innovation. Because the world isn’t waiting for us.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Online
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University of Michigan’s Betsey Stevenson and CEDA’s Melinda Cilento will speak about female workforce participation in the US and Australia in a webinar.
Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, and US Ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy are among the speakers at the two-day AFR Business Summit at the Hilton Sydney.
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ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb will deliver her first annual enforcement and compliance update in an event at The Fullerton Hotel.
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Author Ben Macintyre will talk about his new book, Colditz, at Glee Books.
