weekly columnist at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, author of The Game: A Portrait of Scott Morrison, former adviser to two Labor Prime Ministers
I realise this is subtle enough not to register on the debate, but today the PM is implying his attacks on EVs were fine because the advances in technology could not have been predicted.
But that's also his whole climate policy - that advances in technology are inevitable.
For all those tempted to politely pay tribute to Jones today, perhaps think first about his role in the Cronulla riots, the things he said about Julia Gillard's father, his consistent misogyny, and his use of racist language.
A reader kindly reminded me about this passage from my book about Scott Morrison. Very last bit really jumps out after last few days.
(thanks
@TracyBruce_TAB
)
I feel like we still haven't got an answer to the central, basic question, why do this? If a minister got sick, couldn't you just appoint someone else (or yourself)? What was the precaution for, exactly?
That answer - that he was held responsible for everything so needed to have these powers - seemed to imply that his intention was to be able to override his ministers if they made a decision he disagreed with, i.e. to act like he did with Pitt. That seems like an important point.
His initial announcement got a lot of coverage, as a significant announcement. His subsequent retreat from it got very little. Another big media failure.
Interesting trend right now. A number of serious observers/experts/commentators are (very persuasively) scathing about the current covid situation and the lack of preparation by governments.
But it doesn't quite feel like it's dominating the news/national discussion yet.
How on earth is he now going to come up with remotely credible justifications for being sworn into two ministries he says he doesn’t even remember being sworn into?
The cartoon is racist, it shouldn't have been published, the editor of the paper should apologise (like, now), and anyone who still thinks racism isn't a thing in Australian media is crazy.
apart from everything else, the idea a journalist shouldn't ask a question about a problem in the government, because their news organisation also has problems, is ridiculous.
#Breaking
: The youngest daughter of the ‘Biloela family’, Tharnicaa, is being medically evacuated to Perth after she was hospitalised with a suspected blood infection on Christmas Island,
@Change
says.
#auspol
Returning to Oz and seeing how relaxed people are about social distancing has me deeply concerned. Plus cruise ships.
There’s a lot of faith that ‘she’ll be right’.
I think changing this should be a major gov priority. Getting that message across may require more measures.
So when you actually look at the evidence... yep, Indigenous people overwhelmingly backed the Voice.
Claims to the contrary were a huge factor during the campaign. And the reporting on this and influenced by this was atrocious.
I am at the protest in Sydney. Overwhelming majority wearing masks. Most social distancing. People very considerate and slow if walking through. Very calm.
In a lot of media questioning, and a lot of commentary, I'm seeing the suggestion that "people" are confused about the Voice, "people" want detail, the "Yes" side is losing...
But I'm not sure what this is based on other than comments by other media figures?
Prof Marcia Langton powerful, moving, compelling at the
@PressClubAust
. What an inspiration. Asked if she was interested in working with Peter Dutton in a second constitutional referendum. “Not in the least … it’s is not we asked for.”
@ANUausi
Australian politics is also becoming vulnerable to a loose alliance of fantasists, racists, and politicians willing to disregard convention - which means our media urgently needs to change its approach.
Latest column in
@smh
@theage
For a little while, this press conference seemed significant. Some of it was, perhaps (only perhaps). But still an incredible collection of classic Morrison traits: defensive, doubling down, accusing others, displacing the responsibility for taking action onto other people.
On the topic of Macron, here is a small snippet from my new book - about the PM's seeming ability to convince himself that whatever he is saying at a particular moment is true
This interview is so frustrating to watch. All any of us want right now is clear advice from the PM. Instead, we are getting confusion and defensiveness.
The. Only. Thing. We. Want. Is. Clear. Advice.
just in case you're wondering about the PM's latest answers on Hawaii and Shanghai Sam and how he gets himself into these situations.
(I am amazed he keeps providing new reasons to post this snippet from my book, which you can find at
@BlackIncBooks
)
J.M. Coetzee, one of our Nobel laureates, choosing to write a long piece in the New York Review of Books about Australia's treatment of refugees should be seen as significant.
This idea that people aren't interested is just a longer version of all the "Canberra bubble" answers, which were often used to push back against efforts to hold this PM accountable on serious matters.
In case you're suddenly interested in the consistent patterns that show up in the Prime Minister's career, the habits and traits that recur - given his pledge today to change - can I recommend a book?
Peter Dutton's defence of Gladys Berejiklian relies on the idea that nobody with power ever has to take responsibility for what they have actually done with that power.
This week's column
One essential take-out from the robodebt report - not more important than the individual failings, but on a par with them - seems to be that our governmental and political culture is deeply, deeply broken.
I posted this snippet from my book last week - it's relevant again today
on the PM's seeming ability to convince himself that whatever he is saying at a particular moment is true
@BlackIncBooks
As Labor leader, Simon Crean stood up to America on Iraq and stood up to his own party on reform. Political bravery is always rare and should be remembered. He was also decent and determined and conscientious. Vale.
Yesterday, two weeks and a day after it was released, The Game went to reprint.
Thank you to everyone for reading.
I'm going to include a few facts below about the really unexpected things it's been doing, and then I won't do any more of that for a bit.
Besides health officer’s comments, other interesting thing was Berejiklian’s insistence she always follows any advice on going harder. Could come back to bite if Chant conflict stories escalate.
The Game has jumped up a new level at Booktopia. Have been hearing about plenty of bookshops selling out, too.
I'm surprised, and thrilled, and grateful.
Budget replies are weird hypothetical exercises, but... that was really good?
Tbh I was a little surprised at what an effective (much-needed) shift it was from Albanese.
Ten years ago this week Julia Gillard's carbon price started working. Two years later, it was gone.
Has big business learned anything since its aggressive, dishonest campaigns then? Can it be trusted on wages?
Latest column from me.
That is the fourth time in two weeks that Scott Morrison has talked to 2GB, three times partly about the BLM protests.
The other was to pay tribute to Alan Jones, who was officially found to have incited hatred in the lead-up to an actual riot driven by racism (Cronulla).
V interesting that the PM is getting questions from media about his manipulation of media. Suggests some sort of a limit might have been hit. Perhaps a long-term frustration making itself felt.
When some people - women, Indigenous people - transgress, it is used to flatten them into cartoonish stereotypes. But for men like Joyce, transgressions are used as pointers to their depth, essential clues to their individuality.
This week's column
Language from Albanese on the arts today is very strong.
"The arts cannot be left simply to those who can afford to do it. Arts jobs are real jobs."
Also says yes there are economic benefits but we have to rise above that discussion: "This is about our soul... our identity."
"It's no longer about entitlement, it's about need"
Remarkable statement from the PM on both the current situation and, by implication, the previous situation.
"I want to find a place of grace far from the stench of the media. I want to go where I am not reminded of the social media sewer."
Stan Grant is an Australian icon, a serious journalist, a leader in this country. This is a sad and disgraceful result.
You can't claim to be serious about stopping climate change while talking about opening up new gas fields. Or claim to be serious about stopping men killing women while leaving JobSeeker as is.
Latest column, on Labor's various confusing signals.
If our political leaders remain intent on depicting a world in which people from other countries bring disease, hatred, and violence to our shores, can they really be so shocked when it turns out that is precisely the world some people believe in?
Once again, Scott Morrison is trying to erase the past - urging us to return to the way things were, as though we learned nothing from the pandemic at all.
Latest from me in
@theage
@smh
If the media, so fond of deploring soundbite politics, wants something substantial to cover, then it needs to learn that objectivity does not mean treating soundbites as substance just because one side claims that to be the case.
This week's column
Meanwhile: Australia lobbied Unesco to remove reference to the world needing a 1.5C global warming limit to protect heritage sites from the climate crisis
- by
@readfearn
If we are truly entering an era in which government acknowledges then attempts to solve big problems – still a huge if – then the media will have to change the way it approaches politics.
Latest column
As I wrote this morning, one of Morrison's favourite tactics is to introduce new villains, so the story becomes about them and not him.
He did it during the fires, and he did it last week and again just now, blaming social media and lack of "respect".
Perhaps, at some point in the distant future, the gravity of this censure might help Morrison finally understand something he has never previously grasped: the immense power and importance of the parliament.
New from me
Two points today - (1) it’s not too late for Albanese, but he has to change what he’s doing right now (2) media are making the same mistake they made on climate in 2019 - giving too much weight to speculation and not enough to what we already know
It's really wonderful that two years into this pandemic the federal government is emphasising areas the states control, while the state governments are emphasising areas the feds control
That was NOT an answer.
The PM was just asked point-blank about releasing the modelling and dodged it completely.
We all deserve to see the modelling, and that refusal to answer should get a lot of focus.
"The referendum became by proxy a vote on Indigenous peoples’ right to exist in our own land – and our fellow Australians voted to reject us. Imagine how that feels today."
Must-read piece on the referendum and the experience for Indigenous people:
Implications of that massive JobKeeper stuff-up:
1) There is a LOT less stimulus in the economy.
2) We had to "draw a line somewhere", said Frydenberg, to justify exclusions. That response doesn't work anymore.
3) Raises concerns about general competence.
There's growing US interest in whether Rupert Murdoch's influence in Australia is on the wane - I was asked to write this piece for Mother Jones a few months back, and apparently it was the top-read piece on the site yesterday.
Hope you'll have a read
The likelihood is that the next six weeks won’t make the difference; they will merely bring us to the date on which we will know the truth. What sort of Australia are we living in? Or in other words: just how scared and angry are we?
This week’s column
Given that this involves the death of a young man, reports of conflicting accounts from the police, and what most outlets are willing, sometimes, to call a national crisis, it feels like this should be a really, really big story in Australia today
This is what I wrote 3 months ago about the nuclear policy. imo this is still the most important context. I think most people reporting on this realise it - am interested to see what role it plays in reports.
I don't have a t-shirt selfie, but I'm an MEAA member, a freelancer and a Nine columnist, and Nine should dip into its record profits and pay its workers what they're worth.
#FairShareNine
The PM, urging people not to attend protests, spoke of “those who had the absolute agony of not being able to say goodbye to a loved one”.
He could have said the same about the families of Indigenous people who had died in custody, but did not.
Between Glasgow and the subs mess, the Prime Minister is going to great lengths this week to make my new book particularly relevant. Not sure I could have released it at a more appropriate time.
What if Labor announced a stronger climate policy and committed to defending it with every ounce of its being – and, in doing so, claimed the mantle of serious politicians that Morrison has never seemed to want?
Latest from me in
@smh
@theage
"We’re just over a week into the formal referendum campaign and, as feared, its tone shows this country’s inability to have a civil and rational debate"
An unmissable column from
@MrDTJames
Surely (hopefully?!) this is the last time I write at length about Scott Morrison.
My cover story for
@THEMONTHLY
on Morrison's impact, John Howard's continuing domination of our politics, and Labor's need to break free of old fears.
Given how much stonewalling there is, this is quite a bit of interesting information. Had heard a rumour, didn't pay attention. Hasn't read the letter himself.
@CroweDM
is an exemplary journalist who is sharp on all parties when necessary, and pays attention to facts above all else.
He's absolutely right about Peter Dutton's swipe at him and Katharine Murphy:
I'm not really sure what to make of this, but it's interesting that at the time Trump was saying COVID was like the flu - knowing this was false - our PM told us the same thing.
Today is my longform US magazine debut, with a piece for
@MotherJones
on how Rupert Murdoch's influence in Australia might be waning, and whether that holds out any hope for an America still in the grip of Fox News
How strange it was, suddenly, to be listening to a different type of language. On screen, Anthony Albanese was telling the country what he believed mattered, in words only a Labor leader was likely to choose.
New column from me