LABOR HERO’S SHOCK DEATH
Vale former Labor leader and union giant Simon Crean, who died on Sunday aged 74 after exercising in Berlin, The Age ($) reports. The Advertiser ($) reports it was a heart attack. Crean was the only person to serve as a cabinet minister for four Labor PMs: Bob Hawke, Paul Keating, Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard. PM Anthony Albanese says he will miss the Labor giant’s “advice and wisdom”. Former Liberal PM Tony Abbott called Crean a “thoroughly admirable man” and Liberal Leader Peter Dutton says he was a “gentleman” to deal with, as The Australian ($) reports. Crean was ACTU president during the Hawke reforms in the ’80s — by the 1990s he’d served as minister for science, primary industry and employment. When former Labor leader Kim Beazley stepped down after the 2001 federal election, Crean stepped up.
Among the things he’ll be best remembered for was his opposition to Australian troops going to Iraq — as opposition leader, Crean bravely told then-PM John Howard that weapons inspectors were still “doing their job” and that our alliance with the US “does not” require us to respond to all requests. Read his rousing speech via the SMH ($). Former Labor leader Bill Shorten called Crean’s stance against the second Gulf War “pure integrity”, the ABC reports, and says it showed his “character” that Crean told the troops at their farewell that he supported them, despite his opposition to the cause. Albanese says Crean’s position was “vindicated” by history, noting the intense scrutiny he faced for going against the grain at the time. We never found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Crean leaves behind his wife, Carole, to whom he was married for more than half a century, and two daughters.
ON WAR FOOTING
Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto will argue his claims Moira Deeming associated with Nazi sympathisers at a women’s rights rally are “substantially true”, The Australian ($) reports. It’s according to a legal letter he sent after Deeming issued Pesutto with three defamation concerns notices — she says he unfairly called her a “Nazi sympathiser and Nazi associate” but Pesutto has this 15-page document of social media and media screenshots that he alleges shows organisers’ ties with far-right groups. So Deeming’s claim is “bound to fail”, his lawyers told her. Speaking of defamation — it seems the cops are sizing up possible charges for disgraced soldier Ben Roberts–Smith. The Australian ($) reports the Australian government solicitor sent a letter to both sides in the defamation case saying the office of the special investigator — which investigates war crimes by Australian soldiers in Afghanistan — wants the case’s sensitive court file. It’s packed with classified documents and transcripts of evidence, the paper says.
To other war-related news now and a quick update on the Wagner mercenary group uprising against Russian President Vladimir Putin. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the brief rebellion “was a direct challenge to Putin’s authority” and challenged his claim Ukraine and NATO were threatening Russia, The New York Times ($) reports. But the mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin didn’t get much public support in Russia over what was sizing up to be a possible civil war, and it may be because Kremlin propaganda efforts swayed public opinion before the mutiny. It came to a grinding halt 200km outside Moscow after Belarusian leader Aleksandr Lukashenko cut a deal that’ll see a criminal case against Prigozhin dropped, the ABC reports, though he has to leave Russia too. Putin called old friend Prigozhin’s insurrection a “stab in the back”. It comes as an Irish space industry consultant, Marina Sologub, who was detained in Oz as a possible national security risk had “repeated contact” with a suspected Russian spook, The Age ($) reports. Sologub said he had not told her he was Russian intelligence and she strongly denied being a spy.
THE NAYS HAVE IT
About 43% of people would vote Yes on a referendum for the Voice to Parliament, the latest Newspoll shows; 47% say they’d vote No. By state, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania would mostly vote No, The Australian ($) says, with only Victoria and NSW carrying the Yes majority. “The only demographic where the Yes vote is above 50% is among those aged between 18 to 34 and university graduates,” the paper notes. And men are more likely to vote No than women, news.com.au adds. Former high commissioner to the UK and federal attorney-general George Brandis writes in the the SMH ($) that he has seven ideas for saving the Yes campaign, among them stop with the “deplorable” language. Attacks on the No side are “an insult to everyone who is not (yet) persuaded that the Voice is a good idea”, he writes. And dump the celebrities, he says, adding during the marriage equality debate they adopted a “no Cate Blanchetts rule”. And be open to compromise, Brandis says.
Meanwhile the Yes campaign will offer grants of up to $15,000 for people organising functions supporting the Voice. The Australians for Indigenous Constitutional Recognition has been established as a charity (meaning it can get deductible donations), Guardian Australia reports, with a war chest totalling more than $35 million. It’s hoping forums and community events will take place around the country thanks to the grant. The Advocate also reports on Born Blak, a long-term program that’ll create more opportunities for First Nations content creators who have been underrepresented in media.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
Scooter thinks he is just like any other dog, his owner says, even though he’s officially the world’s ugliest dog. “He kind of reminds me of a hairy hippopotamus,” one of the judges of the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest, Catherine Liang, told The New York Times ($) fondly. He’s charcoal-coloured, with tufts of frazzled white hair sticking out of his face and paws. His belly is splotchy and wrinkled, and his tongue hangs out of his mouth like a deranged emoji. His hind legs are reversed, so he uses a wheeled cart to move around. But proving beauty is in the eye of the beholder once and for all, his owner, Linda Elmquist, said it was love at first sight between her and the mangy mutt.
Scooter had been brought into a pound to be euthanised, but Elmquist knew he just needed a loving home and promptly adopted the little scamp. When Liang and the other judges saw him wheel himself into the World’s Ugliest Dog Contest last week, they were horrified. But they quickly saw Scooter’s resilience, strength and positivity shine through — the crowd swooned as Scooter lapped up the attention. And that’s what the contest is all about: celebrating dogs that have “missing fur, crossed eyes, duck waddles or mismatched ears”. Another of the contest’s judges, Debra Mathy, said the message is clear: “All dogs regardless of their appearance deserve to be loved.”
Hoping you see beauty everywhere today.
SAY WHAT?
If we recognise Indigenous Australians in our constitution, people will look back and say, ‘Why didn’t we do it earlier?’, just like people say why didn’t we make the apology earlier.
Anthony Albanese
The PM says the Voice to Parliament referendum will be like Parliament’s apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008 — a historic moment that was also long overdue.
CRIKEY RECAP
“But as it happens, neither Indigenous peoples in Australia nor their concerns about entrenched disadvantage and the blood-stained prisons of today were the true focal point of his speech.
“On the contrary, they were merely the frail reed upon which Morrison executed his larger argument, which was that not only should the West instead celebrate its defining attributes of liberalism and democracy, it ought to go to war for them. And soon.”
“The campaign is authorised by Phillip Mobbs, who registered the campaign’s website under his company Learning International Pty Ltd.
“Business and website records show that Mobbs has registered a slew of other companies, including autism development program Life Concepts International and a more recent Cardano cryptocurrency venture Thriv Staking Pool.”
“As renters face astronomical rent rises and mortgage repayments balloon under creeping interest rates, the political debate on the housing crisis rages on.
“Drawing on the rich resource that is Crikey’s Landlord List, here’s what some politicians who own multiple properties, per their parliamentary disclosures, have had to say about housing.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
‘Incomplete revolution’: Tunisia crackdown slammed by critics (Al Jazeera)
Titanic sub firm: a maverick, rule-breaking founder and a tragic end (BBC)
Russian mercenaries return to bases after challenge to Putin’s authority (Reuters)
One killed and several injured in Stockholm as rollercoaster derails (The Guardian)
6.4 magnitude earthquake strikes south of Tonga (NZ Herald)
Exit polls suggest historic win for ruling party New Democracy in Greek election (euronews)
Klobuchar says she supports allowing abortion restrictions in late pregnancy (CNN)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Wagner’s rebellion may have been thwarted, but Putin has never looked weaker and more vulnerable — Matthew Sussex (The Conversation): “It is increasingly clear that a rattled Vladimir Putin’s political end is approaching. All that really matters now is whether it comes sooner or later. Having appeared on national television to warn of a coup attempt by traitors — and an impending civil war — Putin abruptly reversed his position only a couple of hours later. The Kremlin announced that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the chief protagonist, would go into exile in Belarus and all charges against him had been dropped.
“It’s little wonder that Prigozhin, the one-time hot dog vendor who rose through the ranks of Putin’s patronage to head up the infamous Wagner Group, was at the centre of the political maelstrom. Chafing for weeks at the requirement for Wagner fighters to integrate into the Russian armed forces, Prigozhin became enraged when a Wagner base was attacked by Russia’s military. His response was nothing short of extraordinary: to drive a convoy into Russia, swearing to confront Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and Russia’s chief of the general staff, Valery Gerasimov.”
Why non-compete clauses don’t stifle competition or suppress pay — Alice DeBoos (The AFR) ($): “These restrictions are limited in duration, geography and scope depending on the circumstances. In return for this obligation not to damage their employer’s business for a period after termination, the employee receives consideration, or in non-lawyer speak, payment. The law relating to the enforceability of non-compete clauses in Australia is well settled and often litigated. A court will uphold the restraint on the employee only if it is to protect a reasonable business interest of the employer. Where this is not the case and the employer is merely trying to stifle competition, the restraint is not enforceable.
“In a market where there are few employees and many employers seeking talented people, there is no monopsony. Rather, employers desperate to attract talent are placing large incentives in front of candidates to jump ship from competitors. This is being done despite restrictive covenants and is fuelling exponential salary increases and bonuses in those sectors. It will be very interesting to see what overseas evidence exists but for my money, I expect it will have no relevance to the current Australian job market. There are two key reasons for this: first, the law in relation to non-competes and second, the use of them in practice.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)
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Parramatta MP Andrew Charlton and Fowler MP Dai Le will speak about western Sydney’s progress and communities at the Novotel Parramatta.
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Author Dennis Altman will speak about his new book, Death in the Sauna, at Better Read Than Dead bookshop.
Ngunnawal Country (also known as Canberra)
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The Lowy Institute’s Ryan Neelam and Jennifer Hsu, as well as The Saturday Paper’s Karen Middleton, will talk about the findings of the 2023 Lowy Institute Poll at the National Press Club.
Yuggera and Turrbal Country (also known as Brisbane)
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Psychologist Rebecca Ray will talk about her new book, Difficult People, at Avid Reader bookshop.
