NETANYAHU’S VISIT STIRS CONTROVERSIES

It was all smiles between Australian PM Malcolm Turnbull and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday, but the first visit to Australia by a sitting Israeli leader isn’t without tensions. Netanyahu has criticised former Labor prime ministers Kevin Rudd and Bob Hawke over their comments on Israel and Palestine after being asked about the comments at a press conference:

“I prefer not to deal with labels but with substance, and I ask both former prime ministers to ask a simple question: what kind of state will it be that they are advocating?”

“A state that calls for Israel’s ­destruction? A state whose territ­ory will be used immediately for radical Islam?”

Rudd has kept the war of words going, posting on Facebook:

“The boundaries, internal security, external security, public finance and governance of a Palestinian state have been elaborated in detail in multiple negotiations with the US under the Clinton, Bush and Obama Administrations, most recently in the Kerry Plan. Mr. Netanyahu knows these formulations like the back of his hand. Mr. Netanyahu also knows he has torpedoed each of them, often at five minutes to midnight, often by changing the goalposts, to the enduring frustration of both Republican and Democrat Administrations.”

Netanyahu’s visit has also been a who’s who of Australian business leaders, with no fewer than six billionaires in the room at yesterday’s lunch.

STATE OF ORIGIN: POWER STRUGGLE

New South Wales avoided a power blackout during last week’s heatwave, but it’s been revealed the strain on the electricity grid did almost cause homes to lose power — just not in NSW itself. Fairfax’s Peter Hannan writes that chair of the Australian Energy Market Operator Tony Marxsen told the Victorian government on February 10 that residents in Ballarat and Bendigo could have their power turned off to keep air conditioners on north of the border. It’s a sign of how much pressure the regulator and the grid is under, and the NSW government is now investigating ways to avoid power cuts in extreme weather events.

On a lighter note, while the same story made it to the front pages of both The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, there’s just a touch of parochialism in the headlines:

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WHAT’S ON TODAY

Melbourne: The Fair Work Commission is set to hand down its decision on weekend penalty rates at 11am, with unionists preparing to rally outside the commission’s offices to “defend penalty rates”. The five-member bench of the commission will decide whether Sunday penalty rates for industries including hospitality and retail will be lowered to the same rate as Saturday penalties.

Sydney: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu‘s visit continues, with a visit to Bondi and meetings with cabinet ministers expected.

Canberra: Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry will address a CEDA event at the National Press Club. In a preview of the speech in the Australian Financial Review, Phillip Coorey writes that Henry will advocate for an increase in the GST and a more aggressive cut to the company tax rate:

“Business shapes the economy and right now, business investment is soft.”

“Why? Half of business leaders say a lack of a clear plan for Australia’s economic future is holding them back from making investment decisions.”

Sydney: Crown will release its half-yearly financial results and is expected to confirm major cuts to spending, including job losses in Melbourne and Perth. The Australian reports new chairman John Alexander has been given free rein by James Packer to cut costs at the company.

Pune, India: First Test between India and Australia begins today. The ABC reports Australian captain Steve Smith is not ruling out playing three spinners in the match, which starts at 3pm AEDT.

THE COMMENTARIAT

Bill Shorten can’t stop Labor turning against Israel — Troy Bramston (The Australian $): “Shorten is walking a tightrope on the highly charged issue of ­Israel and Palestine. His steadfast backing of Israel is fast losing suppor­t inside the party he leads.”

Anna Bligh appointment: politics via media the dumb way to do things — Niki Savva (The Australian $): “It happens all too often. Government members beat themselves as well as their colleagues over the head with a giant mallet that could be more productively aimed elsewhere. Even better, they could just shut up for a few minutes.”

Australia’s unprecedented decision to snub nuclear talks is irresponsible — Paul Barratt and Sue Wareham (Sydney Morning Herald): “Australia’s boycott of the disarmament talks, a decision that was made public just last week, will have grave implications, quite apart from the unconscionable act of snubbing the most promising disarmament initiative in decades.”

Forget what you’ve heard about coal. Electricity prices are going up regardless — Peter Martin (The Age): “Prices have been unnaturally low because we’ve had more generators able to make the stuff than we have had people wanting to use it. Usage per person started falling in 2010 and has only recently begun to recover.”

THE WORLD (AND BEYOND)

China has constructed buildings on contested reefs in the South China Sea capable of housing long-range surface-to-air missiles, US officials have told Reuters. China is competing with other states to control the vital seaway and has developed atolls and reefs into full islands to bolster its territorial claims. US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has previously said China should be denied access to the islands but softened his language in more recent remarks. — Reuters

Scientists have discovered seven planets approximately the size of Earth. The planets revolve around an “ultracool dwarf” star known as Trappist-1 with some circling at a distance that scientists believe could allow both water and life to exist on their surfaces. — New York Times

Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu has announced his country will build a replica Reichstag so that patriotic youths can recreate the famous storming of the German parliament by Soviet troops at the conclusion of the Second World War. The announcement is seen as a further sign of growing nationalism in the country, stoked by Vladimir Putin and the annexation of Crimea. — The Guardian

A gate stolen from the Dachau concentration camp in 2014 has been returned. No arrests have been made after the infamous iron structure bearing the words “Arbeit Macht Frei” — work will make you free — was discovered thanks to a tip-off. The German camp held over 200,000 detainees between 1933 and 1945, of whom more than 40,000 died. — BBC

WHAT WE’RE READING

When retirement comes with a daily dose of cannabis (New York Times): “Across the nation, the number of marijuana users who are in their later years is still relatively limited, but the increase has been significant, especially among those 65 and older, according to recent studies.”

The private prison industry is licking its chops over Trump’s deportation plans (Mother Jones): “It’s not difficult to guess who profits. In an earnings call last week, the private prison giant CoreCivic (formerly known as the Corrections Corporation of America, or CCA) announced that it saw the ICE detention expansion as a business opportunity. “

Killer, kleptocrat, genius, spy: the many myths of Vladimir Putin (The Guardian): “With Putin the killer, we reach something like Putinology’s conceptual blind spot. What we seem to be dealing with, in Russia, is neither a failed state, where the government has no power, nor a totalitarian state, where it has all the power, but something in between. Putin does not order killings, and yet killings happen. “

Paleocons for porn (Jacobin): “When liberals are no longer in power, the philosophical irreconcilability between its paleo-conservatism, which aims for a return to traditional marriage while disapproving of porn and promiscuity, and the amoral libertine Internet culture from which all the real energy has emerged, will soon begin to show.”

33 days. 132 false or misleading claims (Washington Post): “Throughout President Trump’s first 100 days, the Fact Checker team will be tracking false and misleading claims made by the president since Jan. 20. In the 33 days so far, we’ve counted 132 false or misleading claims.”

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