From the Crikey grapevine, the latest tips and rumours …

No love for Carr from Lowy Institute. It seemed a match made in heaven. On the one hand, former senator and New South Wales premier Bob Carr, leading figure of the NSW Labor Party and foreign policy wonk, releasing the diary of his time as the Gillard government’s foreign minister. On the other, the Lowy Institute, an “independent, nonpartisan international policy think tank” that styles itself as “Australia’s leading think tank”, run by Michael Fullilove, NSW Labor figure and good friend of Carr’s, who was in the mix to take the spot in the Senate that went to Carr. Regular readers of the institute’s blogs could surely look forward to some detailed analysis of this important foreign policy event, and maybe the institute itself would be hosting an event for Carr? Maybe Fullilove would interview Carr for his book, as Carr had interviewed Fullilove when the latter released a book last year?

But curiously that turned out not to be the case: as Deakin University foreign policy academic Scott Burchill first noticed, there’s not a single mention of Carr’s diary anywhere on the Lowy Institute site. Not one, anywhere; it’s almost as if the institute is pretending the book doesn’t exist. Why? We asked the institute’s media people, but they didn’t reply. Then we asked Fullilove himself, and he didn’t reply either.

Is something going on? It wouldn’t have anything to do with Carr’s detailed criticism of the influence of the Israel lobby on the foreign policy of the Gillard government, would it? Not when Frank Lowy, who established the institute and still chairs it, has extremely close links to Israel? Surely not. If only we could get someone from the institute to explain why Carr’s diary has been blackballed …

Qantas hosties on the clock. The clock is ticking on Qantas cabin crew. We’re told domestic flyers are being sent letters to see their managers to discuss on-time performance. “For being one minute late for sign-on even though it doesn’t impact aircraft departures,” says our mole. We’re told morale is low among hosties due to nit-picking; one case had a crew member being stood down for taking a small bottle of water off an aircraft. Rules are rules …?

A holiday from police probe. What’s this about the telco executive who’s gone “on leave” after police began investigating allegations of assault against a junior staff member? Nasty stuff, indeed …

Pensions fight to ease budget burden. Some 210,000 British pensioners are currently in receipt of a Centrelink pension, according to the Department of Human Services. Jim Tilley, a campaigner on the issue of “frozen” British pensions who recently met with the department, reckons the Australian government could save $1 billion from these top-up payments if the British government agreed to pay the full rate to expats.

As Crikey has previously reported, the current policy penalises British pensioners who retire to Australia and most other Commonwealth countries. Even though they contributed to Britain’s mandatory national pension scheme during their working lives in the UK, they don’t receive the annual UK pension increase. Tens of thousands of victims of the policy have not had their UK pensions indexed against inflation since they arrived here last century to join emigrant relatives.

Tilley, a frozen pensioner himself and Australia’s representative on the International Council of British Pensioners, complains that despite repeated attempts he has so far failed to arrange a meeting to brief Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews (Andrews didn’t respond to our questions, either). Recently an all-party group of four British parliamentarians was formed to lobby for the immediate defrosting of the policy. As the government scrambles to find budget savings, will anyone in Canberra throw support behind the campaign?

PUP man’s take on violence. We’re loath to beat up failed and inconsequential political candidates for saying dumb stuff, but this was particularly odious from Palmer United Party member Brian Woods. On a Facebook post from The Age promoting a piece on domestic violence, the ex-Labor, ex-Katter member (pick a side, Brian!) stated that “domestic violence is solely a woman’s choice when it comes to women being assaulted”. Sorry? He posted in response to the howls of protest:

“I am saying women have a choice to accept it or leave it,,..i openly say it is not acceptable unless you women accept it…don’t whinge to me,,,dump them or have them removed by an order..”

Easy. Woods got 1405 votes in the seat of Chisholm at the last federal election. Some of those folks might wish to take them back.

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