NUMBERS OF DEAD ‘HARROWING’
Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has called for “steps towards a ceasefire” for the first time since the decades-long conflict between Israel and Hamas kicked into high gear on October 7. She told the ABC that Israel, as a democracy, is held to a “higher standard” than terrorist organisation Hamas and “should do everything it can to observe international humanitarian law”. Wong called the number of dead civilians — Gaza authorities say it’s 11,078, including 4,506 children — “harrowing”. It comes as Hamas walked away from hostage negotiations with Israel amid the IDF’s attacks on Gaza’s largest hospital, Al Shifa — a Gaza spokesperson said three premature babies were reportedly dead and 45 others in peril from a power outage caused by Israeli bombardment.
In response to Wong’s call, Australia-Israel Jewish Affairs Council’s Colin Rubenstein told The Australian ($): “A ceasefire is a surrender.” The Zionist Federation of Australia and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry both argued, citing the Geneva Convention, that Israel can target hospitals if they’re being used for military purposes. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is gearing up for a big week of saying Wong’s call, and the government’s response to protests at the weekend, are wrong, the Oz added. To finish on a very different attack now — and Australia’s biggest ports operator DP World doesn’t know when it will recover from a massive cyber hack on Friday. It handles 40% of Australia’s container shipments through Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle, the Brisbane Times reports, and there are big concerns about shortages of medical supplies as a result.
GIVING LOGGING THE CHOP
Howard-era environment minister Robert Hill and former Labor environment minister Peter Garrett have joined forces with teal MP Sophie Scamps in urging for a blanket native forest logging ban, Guardian Australia reports. And it’s not just those former heavyweights — former NSW Labor environment minister Bob Debus, and former Queensland environment ministers Rod Welford and Desley Boyle have also signed on to the fight, along with independent Senator David Pocock and nearly every Green politician in the country. Our “koalas, gliders, as well as countless other birds, mammals and reptiles” are all at dire risk of extinction right now, Scamps said. Astonishingly, Australia would actually meet its emissions target of 43% if it banned native logging, an ANU study found, because of how carbon-dense the forests are. It would see 15.3 megatons of carbon emissions disappear each year until 2030, exactly what is needed to hit 43%.
Speaking of former Coalition figures — then PM Malcolm Turnbull’s “bonk ban” spelled his own demise and he’s a “dipstick”, former deputy PM Barnaby Joyce claimed in a Sky News Australia documentary. The ban followed now 56-year-old Joyce’s 2018 extramarital affair with staffer Vikki Campion, now 38 — incidentally the pair got married this weekend wearing akubras after a nearly two-year engagement, The Courier-Mail ($) reports. What interesting timing. The former Nationals leader said he told Peter Dutton at the time that Turnbull would “be gone within three months” if Joyce resigned. It was more like seven months, when Turnbull was ousted in a leadership spill. His rather regrettable successor, Scott Morrison, told Sky the bonk ban was the “right thing”, adding ministers shouldn’t have sex with their staff. If for no other reason than to spare us the mental image, one might say.
NOT ON BEST BEHAVIOUR
ACT Greens backbencher Johnathan Davis, 31, resigned last night from the ACT Parliament and the party amid sexual misconduct allegations regarding a 17-year-old male, the ABC reports. The broadcaster notes the age of consent is 16, and the ACT cops said there was no complaint related to this matter, so it’s not clear yet what may have happened, though last week ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said he’d received “extremely serious complaints” about Davis. Rattenbury’s going to say more today.
To more alleged poor behaviour in Parliament now and new draft laws from independent MP Monique Ryan aim to tighten up the secret influence of lobbyists on our politicians, the SMH ($) reports. The legislation would force the release of ministerial diaries (former senator Rex Patrick will be happy) to show who they meet, and would also stop former pollies moving into lucrative private sector jobs in the same sector as their portfolio. And it’s not just the swamp we’re draining — Optus and Telstra will be fined big if they don’t sign off on new cyber risk management program every year as “critical infrastructure”, Home Affairs Minister Clare O’Neil will say today per the AFR ($), meaning they’ll be subject to the same strict rules that already cover hospitals, utilities, ports and energy generation assets.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
University student Hamish Rose was staring into the distance, pen in hand, when his phone buzzed. It was his mum, Michele, sounding grave. I can’t find Mowgli, she said, but I’m hoping he’ll turn up. The 24-year-old veterinary science student was crushed. His cat was pretty new, having been adopted into the Cornwall family last Christmas from a rescue. Michele told him she’d been scouring the landscape with her trusty sidekick Daisy, the family’s spaniel, and would keep looking. Was Daisy secretly pleased to be the household’s top pet again, or even the reason Mowgli ran off? No-one knew. Six days passed, and the little white-socked cat did not appear. Hamish and Michele’s blazing fire of hope had dwindled to a flicker.
But then Hamish received another call from his mum. She’d been walking with Daisy when the dog went “berserk”, sprinting off and reappearing again. Michele thought it was as if Daisy wanted her to follow. So she did, and Daisy stopped dead at a pitch-black mine shaft, staring up at Michele intently. She called RSPCA with Daisy’s apparent suspicion — it may have sounded a bit crazy on the other end, but her dog just seemed so sure. Animal rescue officer Stephen Findlow lowered himself 30 metres into the shaft, as the Independent reported, emerging with a dusty Mowgli. The vet gave the cat a clean bill of health, and he promptly wolfed down a whole lot of chicken. As for the dog — “If Daisy wasn’t the favourite child already, she definitely is now,” Hamish said.
Hoping you don’t lose hope, however large or small, today.
SAY WHAT?
They were interviewing [Hungary PM Viktor Orban] two weeks ago and they said: ‘What would you advise President Obama? The whole world seems to be exploding and imploding.’ And he said: ‘It’s very simple. He should immediately resign and they should replace him with President Trump, who kept the world safe.’
Donald Trump
Actually, Orban said Joe Biden should resign, considering Barack Obama has not been president in nearly seven years. Orban might be rethinking his vote of confidence considering Trump recently referred to him as the president of Türkiye and wrongly said Hungary borders on Russia.
CRIKEY RECAP
“That’s what makes this a hard case. [The refugee codenamed] NZYQ and an indeterminate number of others held in indefinite immigration detention are people granted humanitarian visas because they have been found to have a legitimate fear of persecution in their homeland — a determination that for a Rohingya person isn’t difficult to make.
“But they have then committed serious crimes and had their visas cancelled so it is impossible to deport them either because that would amount to refoulement, or because their home countries refuse to accept them.”
“It’s obvious why Australia would be interested in that result: Australia sells a third of its exports to China, and now ministers appear to have been promised an end to disruptive trade tariffs. But why would China, whose economy is 10 times larger than Australia’s, care about the visit or the temperature of the countries’ relationship?
“Laurenceson told Crikey that thawing relations mean good global optics for Beijing: ‘I think it’s useful for China to be able to point to Australia and say, ‘Look, Beijing can actually run a very constructive, mutually beneficial relationship with a country like this.’ “
“The news had all been bad for the Democrats — until it wasn’t. Recent polling has shown President Joe Biden’s approval drifting downwards and, most worryingly, below Donald Trump’s in five out of six battleground states. This led to the slightly belated realisation among senior party figures that it might have been a good idea to come up with an alternative to an increasingly shaky-looking (in every sense) candidate whose 2020 victory is thought of as a greatly successful compromise.
“Then came Tuesday. There was a flurry of gubernatorial, state legislature, mayoral and other local office elections, as well as a series of citizen initiatives. The Democrats greatly outperformed expectations — and it seems to largely have come down to reproductive rights.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
FBI examining whether Adams cleared red tape for Turkish government (The New York Times) ($)
Iceland volcano: Emergency declared over volcano Fagradalsfjall eruption concerns (BBC)
Pope removes outspoken conservative Texas bishop after investigation (CNN)
Tens of thousands protest across Spain at proposed Catalan amnesty (Reuters)
‘Immense sadness’: Two workers for NZ charity killed in Gaza bombings (NZ Herald)
Hamas needed a new way to get money from Iran. It turned to crypto. (The Wall Street Journal) ($)
THE COMMENTARIAT
‘Selfish, rich geriatrics’ are holding the Liberal Party back from young voters — Matthew Bach (The Age) ($): “Instead of pandering to the few, Victoria needs to embrace a mentality of ‘yes in my backyard’. Scrapping stamp duty and moving to a land tax arrangement would slash upfront costs, up-zoning Melbourne’s inner- and middle-city suburbs would allow more development and greater density, reforming heritage overlays to be more permissive allows dwellings and areas to change with the city, not hold it back. These sorts of changes are radical, but they would create the conditions for housing abundance and drive prices down. They would enable young people to buy a home in a place they want to live; somewhere that’s close to work, public transport, parks and schools.
“Embracing change for future generations isn’t just good policy for the people of Victoria, either, it’s good politics for the Liberal Party. It’s no secret that at both a federal and state level, young people have been turning away from the Liberal Party for decades. Among 18- to 34-year-olds, Resolve polling has primary support for the Liberals in Victoria at just 16%. Not coincidentally, this same cohort is most impacted by housing scarcity and affordability. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Why would you vote conservative if you’ve got nothing to conserve? But it doesn’t have to be this way. In Canada, the Conservative Party embraced YIMBYism some time ago, currently hold support among 40% of young people. They’re tipped to win the next general election.”
Jezebel gave us the tampon story when we needed it most — Monica Hesse (Stuff): “That essay was published in Jezebel’s second year of existence, when the site was already loved and hated, dissected and mimicked. The founding editor, Anna Holmes, had come from a world of vapid lifestyle magazines and was convinced that women deserved something better. Jezebel’s opening stunt was offering a US$10,000 bounty to anyone who could provide the unretouched version of a celebrity magazine cover. A few months later the mission was accomplished: the site posted side-by-side photographs of Faith Hill, who had been elongated and de-wrinkled in order to grace the front of Redbook.
“What kind of culture was this, Jezebel demanded in a series of accompanying articles, in which an already beautiful woman was declared not perfect enough? What kind of message did this send to the average reader about her own self worth? The site was smart and sharp. It launched writer Lindy West into literary and Hollywood stardom. It was Jia Tolentino’s warm-up for a career at The New Yorker. You could find funnier writing in the Jezebel comments section than you could find on late-night television; Erin Ryan was working in finance at Merrill Lynch when Jezebel editors took note of her comments and decided she should be on the editorial staff. She went on to write for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and now hosts the popular podcast Hysteria.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Kulin Nation Country (also known as Melbourne)
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Human rights campaigner Isabelle Reinecke joins authors Dan Box and Veronica Gorrie on a panel to discuss the social, political and legal barriers to justice, at The Wheeler Centre.
Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)
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CAPA Centre for Aviation founder Peter Harbison will give the 65th Sir Charles Kingsford Smith memorial lecture at the Kirribilli Club.
Ngunnawal Country (also known as Canberra)
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Former Indonesian finance minister Chatib Basri will speak about the political economy of the Indonesia 2045 vision, at the Molonglo Theatre.
