BINSKIN BACKS ISRAEL ON FRANKCOM
The report by former defence chief Mark Binskin into an Israeli drone strike that killed Australian Zomi Frankcom and six of her colleagues in April is set to “largely back the Jewish state’s official response to the tragedy”, The Australian reports.
The broadsheet says the government’s special adviser on the incident accepted Israel’s claim that a serious failure in its targeting procedures resulted in the attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Guardian Australia reports the treasurer and vice-president of Labor’s multicultural branch in Western Australia have quit in protest over the treatment of Senator Fatima Payman, who left Labor after being suspended for crossing the floor on a motion to recognise Palestine.
The officials quitting said the party had “become a spineless jellyfish” that “throws its own under the bus at the drop of a hat”. Payman was secretary of the branch before her election to the Senate two years ago.
Labor is also continuing to come under pressure over allegations published by the Nine newspapers regarding the CFMEU and alleged ties to organised crime.
Last night, cabinet minister Bill Shorten was asked about donations the ALP has received from the union. He told the ABC’s 7.30 he expects all donations from the CFMEU to be banned when the party’s executive meets later today.
Asked if the party should return any of the money, Shorten claimed the last significant donations “were a couple of years ago”. “We know that action has to be taken. The leadership’s been from premiers and the prime minister. I don’t expect any part of the party to be any different.”
Officials at the embattled union have vowed to fight “to the ends of the earth” against the federal government’s plan to appoint an administrator to overhaul the CFMEU, The Age reports.
LABOR MONEY FOR PROMISES ONLY
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wrote to his ministers last week telling them they can now only seek funding for measures that fulfil election promises, Guardian Australia reports.
Election pledges are said to be the priority for any new funding in the budget update, due by mid-December.
Speaking of the pledges, the hopes of turning Australia into a hydrogen superpower hit something of a road bump after Fortescue announced on Wednesday that it will cut 700 jobs and slow its push into green hydrogen, the AFR reports.
Fortescue chairman Andrew Forrest said his initial focus was on renewable electricity.
In a statement on Wednesday evening, Forrest declared: “We fully support the federal government’s green energy ambitions for Australia,” adding the $2-a-kilogram subsidy for green hydrogen was “absolutely imperative to get our country into a leading position to produce a replacement for oil and gas”, The Australian reports.
“At the very least Fortescue’s green iron plans will rely on green hydrogen,” he said, adding: “Only delinquent irresponsible leaders will advocate for the continued use of extremely damaging energy sources.”
Finally, two late tries gave New South Wales victory in the deciding game of the State of Origin series in Brisbane last night.
Guardian Australia described it as one of the Blues’ greatest Origin victories, overcoming Queensland 14-4 at Lang Park to secure the shield.
The ABC called it a “ferocious contest” with players from both sides being sin-binned following an all-in brawl.
New South Wales coach Michael Maguire said keeping Queesland try-less in the deciding game was “probably up there, or if not, one of the best defensive performances”.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
“The Seine is exquisite,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo declared on Wednesday after emerging for her eye-catching swim in the famous river, the Associated Press reports.
Hidalgo’s dip in the Seine fulfilled her promise to show the river was clean enough to host swimming competitions during the Olympic Games, which gets underway next week.
The Guardian reports the mayor’s eagerly anticipated swim was met with cheers and applause as she donned her wetsuit and swam 100 metres downstream. She was joined by officials, such as Paris 2024 chief Tony Estanguet, and swimmers from local swimming clubs.
“The water is very, very good. A little cool, but not so bad,” Hidalgo said afterwards, adding that it was “testimony that we have achieved a lot of work” and “a dream”.
Since 2015, US$1.5 billion (A$2.2 billion) has been spent trying to clean and prepare the Seine for the Olympics.
Concerns have remained over the pollution levels though and daily testing has continued. Last month, unsafe levels of E. coli bacteria were recorded, leading to more intervention.
Hidalgo’s swim had been planned for June but was postponed due to French President Emmanuel Macron‘s snap election. The Associated Press reports that on the first planned date of the swim, ”#jechiedanslaSeine” (“I shit in the Seine”) trended on social media as people threatened to protest the Olympics by defecating in the river.
Say What?
Liz Truss? No, what’s that?
A delegate at the Republican National Convention
Former UK prime minister Liz Truss has traveled to Milwaukee for the RNC in a claimed attempt to show support for Donald Trump. Unfortunately when delegates were asked if they’d met or seen the 56th, and shortest-serving, British prime minister, many at the convention had no idea who she was, The i paper reports.
CRIKEY RECAP
And while the headlines about organised crime and bikie infiltration of the union are more interesting, they’re less important than how the CFMEU captured a state government. That capture, and the bending of Victorian government policy to the will of John Setka and co, is a major problem without any bikies or criminal involvement. It illustrates that a union, one not merely a donor but also one that exercises serious factional power and which is dependent on government policy, is incentivised to use its internal party power to reward itself.
It also confirms a standard Liberal criticism of Labor: that Labor, at least at the state level, is controlled by unions focused on their narrow self-interest and not the public interest. The efforts of Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan — left to clear up Dan Andrews’ mess — to distance herself from the CFMEU look hollow while the union still wields internal power within Victorian Labor.
Next to limestone Trump, there’s a stand with a large sign reading “TRUMP POETRY: THE GREATEST POET OF OUR GENERATION”, and two distinctly hipsterish-looking chaps sitting there, with hardback copies of the collected tweets of Donald J. Trump in a lustrous green-and-gold edition.
“You can do this because Americans don’t get irony?” I ask Ian Pratt.
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Ian replies, utterly deadpan. “We just think Donald Trump is the best poet of all time.”
The culture surrounding freedom of information (FOI) in Australia is secretive, new research finds. It’s clear what could be done to create a more accountable governance environment. Releasing information proactively should be enshrined in law to improve Australia’s freedom of information system.
A new report has found major amendments to freedom of information acts are needed to improve the culture of administering access to information in Australia, which is too secretive and open to abuse by governments unwilling to share with the public.
This could include FOI acts explicitly nominating the proactive release of government information so that FOI requests become a last resort. In addition, the severe underfunding of FOI teams in government agencies is the principal bottleneck for well-functioning access to information systems.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Pelosi Ally Adam Schiff Calls on Biden to Drop Out of the Presidential Race (Daily Beast)
Traces of cyanide are found in the blood of Vietnamese and Americans found dead in a Bangkok hotel (Associated Press)
Smoke on the horizon — Israel and Hezbollah edge closer to all-out war (BBC)
Enzo Fernandez’s video branded ‘racist’ by teammate triggers Chelsea and Fifa investigation (ITV News)
Wall Street Journal fires Hong Kong reporter who headed embattled press club (The Washington Post)
Emmy Nominations 2024: ‘Shogun’ Leads All Shows With 25 Nods, ‘The Bear’ Close Behind With 23 (Variety)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Tenacious D and the Dixie Chicks know the cost of speaking up — but there’s nothing funny about political violence — Karen Middleton (The Guardian): This isn’t just about whether people were offended or whether there might be a penalty for making a tasteless joke. When it comes to normalising and casualising extreme and violent responses to political disagreement, the old lines are blurring alarmingly. And that isn’t funny at all.
In his work “The Second Coming”, the Irish poet William Butler Yeats wrote of fearing anarchy being loosed and innocence drowned. “Things fall apart,” he wrote. “The centre cannot hold.”
The real test of democratic civility is not being glad that our friends or favourites dodged an assassin’s bullet. It’s being glad our political enemies did.
Will Trump meet the moment? — Chris Christie (The New York Times): Here’s the thing. We are all to blame for where we are today. Yes, some more than others. Trump has become a victim of a culture that he manifestly contributed to making worse with his inflammatory and irresponsible language and actions. Democrats have contributed as well, from Hillary Clinton referring to half of Trump’s 2016 supporters as “deplorables” to Representative Maxine Waters of California calling on supporters to harass members of Trump’s cabinet to the near-constant invocation of Hitler by some Democrats.
The harsh truth is that the only way forward is if we have the will. We must look forward as a nation.
