‘FIGHTING ANIMALS’
Israel is cutting off all food, electricity, medicine, water and gas for 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza, Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Galland says, adding: “We are fighting animals and are acting accordingly.” Some 80% of those Palestinians rely on humanitarian aid, the BBC reports, “mainly due to the ongoing hostilities with Israel”. Some numbers via the SMH: 100,000 troops are on the Gaza border now; some 500 sites in the Gaza Strip have been targeted with jets and helicopters; and there are 700 dead Israelis and 400 dead Palestinians. The Wall Street Journal ($) reports Iran’s military, and at times Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, have attended meetings with Hamas since August. But Israel Defence Forces (IDF) says there’s so far no evidence Iran is involved in any Hamas planning or training. Equally, the Iranian Foreign Ministry says it’s no secret it considers “the resistance of the Palestinian people to be a legitimate resistance” but it hasn’t helped.
Back home, hundreds of Australians marched to the Sydney Opera House which was lit with the blue and white of Israel’s flag. Footage is circulating of a man waving an Israeli flag being arrested at the rally for what cops told Sky News Australia was breaching the peace. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says pro-Palestine protesters need to “take a step back”, but NSW Greens MP Jenny Leong calls the decision to light up the Opera House “appalling”, asking: “What about all of the Palestinian lives lost since occupation?” Crikey’s Bernard Keane reported that 3,081 Palestinian civilians were killed in the past decade; 129 Israeli civilians were also killed in that timeframe. Every innocent life lost is a tragedy — but there’s no doubt we hear about some more than others.
MAN VS CHILD
A warning: this item may distress all readers but particularly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers.
The NT’s Barkly Mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin was filmed sitting on an Indigenous child in what he called a “citizen’s arrest”, while another man with his boot on the child’s head said: “If I catch you around here again, I will kill you.” McLaughlin told the NT News ($) he was “lawfully entitled” to detain the kid, who has foetal alcohol syndrome disorder, and said he didn’t “encourage” the other man. One might note McLaughlin wasn’t filmed telling him to shut up either. Indigenous children’s welfare peak body SNAICC says McLaughlin should resign, The National Indigenous Times reports, calling it “sickening and inexcusable”.
Meanwhile Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney’s electorate is mostly (52%) voting No in the Voice to Parliament referendum, according to data “circulated by senior Liberal officials”, the AFR ($) adds pointedly. Compare that, however, with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek’s seat of Sydney where it’s 70.42% Yes — in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s Grayndler it’s 64.55% Yes, in Alicia Payne’s Canberra it’s 61.91% Yes, in Adam Bandt’s Melbourne it’s 64.02% and in Stephen Bates’ Brisbane it’s 64.02% Yes. It comes as mining billionaire and United Australia Party founder Clive Palmer’s appeal to have ticks not count as Yes votes on the ballot was rejected, The New Daily reports. It’s been that way for the past six referendums.
ELEMENT OF SURPRISE
A “dodgy consultant’s report” is the basis of our failing national hydrogen strategy, the Australia Institute’s Rod Campbell writes for Michael West Media, and it’s put our climate action back. In 2018, a report commissioned by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency projected Japan’s hydrogen uptake to be up to 11 times higher than that government had, calling it an “alternative view” based on “different circumstances” that consultant ACIL Allen never explained. That disclaimer was forgotten when former chief scientist Alan Finkel’s Hydrogen Strategy Group used the figures to claim that “Australian hydrogen exports could contribute $1.7 billion and provide 2,800 jobs by 2030”. Either Finkel knew or he didn’t, Campbell says — either way, our strategy is built on alternative facts.
Meanwhile, power bills will probably be cheaper soon after wholesale electricity prices fell to $63 a megawatt hour for 80% of Australians, Guardian Australia reports. It’s 70% lower than this time last year (when it was a record $264/MWh), the Australian Energy Market Operator says, and 42% lower than last quarter. Why? Less heating in our warmer-than-normal spring, and all that sun and wind bolstered renewable energy. It comes as AGL Energy CEO Damien Nicks says it can take three to three-and-a-half years to plan and build a battery project, and up to six years for a wind farm, during which time the cost of a battery can surge 50%. He blames inflation and supply chain obstacles for the rocky energy transition so far, but told the AFR’s ($) summit the industry would find more even footing eventually.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
In 1997, immunologist Drew Weissman was photocopying documents at the University of Pennsylvania as his colleague Katalin Karikó waited at the machine. The pair started exchanging small talk, finding common ground about how underfunded RNA research was. Karikó was studying RNA therapy to treat strokes, and Weissman was delving into RNA use in vaccines. So what if we work together, they figured. So the pair started their painstaking journey in the field in the years that followed. It was hard — “We had to fight the entire way,” Weissman said. More than two decades later, in 2020, their fight paid off. The duo’s RNA research became the basis of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines, which would go on to save millions of lives.
Last week, Weissman sat on his couch alongside his wife and called his mother. “Hi, it’s your son,” he told his mum. “Is dad around?” When his mum confirmed dad was listening on the phone too, Weissman told them that he had some news for them. “Shoot!” she responded cheerfully. “I won the Nobel prize [in physiology or medicine]!” Weissman responded, along with his colleague Karikó. His parents sounded positively floored down the phone — his dad exclaimed “You’re kidding!” while his mum joked she was just about ready to fall on the floor with joy. “Congratulations, sweetheart,” his beaming mum told Weissman, who looked just about as chuffed as a person possibly could. “You’re the product of our hearts, Drew.”
Hoping your hard work pays off today too.
SAY WHAT?
The audacity of a business assuming you’ll steal simply because they don’t provide any practical option other than checking out your own shopping is mind-blowing.
Vivienne Pearson
The freelance writer says she was wrongfully accused of theft while using the self-serve checkout because no conveyor checkouts were open. Pearson notes both Coles and Woolies recorded billion-plus-dollar profits last year and says she “resisted the urge to hold a carefully selected finger firmly in [the security camera’s] direction”.
CRIKEY RECAP
“But compare the almost complete absence of condemnation for the murder of 185 Palestinian civilians this year by the Israeli Defence Force, or Israeli settlers — the number according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Or the 172 Palestinians murdered in 2022. Or the 80 in 2021.
“There have been 3,081 Palestinian civilians killed in the past decade, and 132,000 Palestinians injured, including 16,300 shot with live ammunition. In the same period, 129 Israeli civilians have been killed, and 3,686 wounded. The steady killing of Palestinians draws virtually no comment from Western governments …”
“Its modesty, as a purely advisory body, is reflected in the exceedingly more ambitious constitutional arrangements for Indigenous recognition that exist elsewhere in the world and under international law.
“From New Zealand, where designated Māori seats in Parliament have existed since 1867; to Sweden, Norway and Finland, where there are permanent (though consultative) Sami parliaments; to Canada, which has long recognised the special status of Indigenous peoples in its constitutional arrangements and formal treaties; and the United States, which acknowledges forms of Native American self-determination. Australia is well behind …”
“Anthony Pratt is one of Australia’s biggest political donors. Just last year he donated $1.5 million to the Labor Party’s national division, as well as about $1.7 million to the Liberals and Nationals. In non-federal election years, when miner Clive Palmer spends up very big, Pratt has for some time been at the top of the donation list, giving almost $1.3 million to the Liberal Party and just $10,000 to Labor’s NSW branch in 2021 …
“The Pratts have, at various times, put former prime ministers Bob Hawke, Malcolm Fraser, Gough Whitlam and NSW premier Nick Greiner on the Visy payroll after they had left office. Crikey is not suggesting any impropriety here.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
California governor vetoes caste discrimination bill (BBC)
Zelensky compares assault by Hamas on Israel to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine (The New York Times)
Afghan earthquake survivors sleep amid rubble as death toll nears 3,000 (The Guardian)
Oil price surges 4% as attack on Israel prompts fears of expanding Middle East violence (CBC)
How Hamas duped Israel as it planned devastating attack (Reuters)
Sunrise swims in ancient bogs: How Estonians are logging off from their tech-savvy lives (euronews)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Australia must finally listen to its Indigenous people — Thomas Mayo (The New York Times): “Discriminatory policies and laws providing for the segregation, forced assimilation and marginalisation of Indigenous peoples continued into the 1970s. Many Aboriginal people still live in overcrowded housing and lack access to clean running water, adequate roads or reliable power. Many are illiterate and, for some, English is only a third or fourth language. Indigenous people are 14 times as likely as other Australians to end up in prison, and their life expectancy is around a decade less. These statistics are not a reflection of our culture — they are the result of invasion, failed policies, neglect, prejudice and our lack of a voice.
“Moving to cities in search of a better life is out of the question for many people who feel an attachment to the lands of their ancestors and a responsibility to stay and care for it or for sick or ageing family members. Those who do leave often face racist barriers to jobs or housing. Our political influence is minute. Of Australia’s 26 million people, around 1 million are Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders. Spread across a vast continent, we are easily divided and exploited — voiceless in our own land … In essence, the referendum is about enshrining the principle of listening to us, through a body whose members will be chosen by Indigenous communities and who will advise Parliament and the government on matters pertaining to Aboriginal people.”
Combating online disinformation is no threat to free speech — Rod Sims (The Australian) ($): “One problem in defending the Combating Misinformation and Disinformation Bill — as I am — is the poor understanding of these terms. Misinformation is clearly untrue information. Disinformation is clearly untrue information intended to mislead. Both do not involve opinion. In many debates people label as ‘disinformation’ views with which they disagree. If someone says, for example, a new law or policy will have a particular consequence, even if others strongly believe it will not, this is usually an example of differing views; it is not misinformation or disinformation. I acknowledge that sometimes difficult judgments may be involved, but having this bill will help Australians understand better what is disinformation and what is simply divergent views.
“And let’s understand the current bill. It is directed solely at encouraging digital platform providers to have robust and transparent systems and measures in place to address what the platforms consider misinformation and disinformation on their services; it does not involve the regulator, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, directly regulating individual pieces of content. To be clear, the ACMA will not have the power to request specific content or posts be removed from digital platform services. The bill puts the onus on the platforms. The bill proposes giving the ACMA powers to gather information or require digital platform providers to keep certain records about matters regarding misinformation and disinformation.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Kulin Nation Country (also known as Melbourne)
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See Also podcasters Kate Jinx and Brodie Lancaster will record an episode with actor and writer María Angelico at the Wheeler Centre.
Yuggera and Turrbal Country (also known as Brisbane)
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Author Suzie Miller will talk about her new book, Prima Facie, at Avid Reader bookshop.
