TURNBULL’S BIG SHORT

In news that does not exactly correlate to his pro-business image, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has reportedly invested $1 million in a Sydney investment fund predicated on the falling share price of specific businesses.

The Daily Telegraph ($) reports that the fund Turnbull invested in five years ago, Bronte Capital’s Amalthea Fund, currently profits through an investment strategy based on the underperformance, known as “short selling”, of Australian mining and retail companies.

STATES NEG THE NEG

The Queensland and Victorian government’s have announced that they will not support the federal government’s flagship National Energy Guarantee (NEG) if it undermines their renewable and climate change policies.

The Guardian reports that Labor state energy ministers Anthony Lynham and Lily D’Ambrosio, from Queensland and Victoria respectively, have announced their approval of the NEG will depend on the proposal not undermining their existing renewable targets and policies. The AFR today ($) reports that a draft design of the policy does at least not actively privilege coal as part of its reliability rules, and is set to be debated in full at next Friday’s COAG meeting where it will require approval from every state and territory.

Separately, the Victorian government yesterday joined Turnbull in pledging $50 million a piece to a brown coal-to-hydrogen pilot program ($), because apparently the state’s commitment to renewables is not quite that resolute.

WHO’D HAVE THOUGHT?

The company behind White King “flushable wipes” has been slapped with a $700,000 fine for misleading advertising.

The Age reports that Pental Limited and Pental Products Pty Ltd has been ordered by the Federal Court to pay penalties for claiming that their products disintegrate in the sewage system “just like toilet paper”. Evidently, the wet wipes do not disintegrate and can end up creating massive blockages known as “fatbergs” (AKA the single most upsetting combination word and photograph I have ever seen).

THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all! In any event, the United States, under my Administration, has done a great job of ridding the region of ISIS. Where is our ‘Thank you America?’

Donald Trump

Donald Trump continues spouting opaque threats and demands for appreciation a) from people that aren’t quite clear and b) that, as Crikey covered yesterday, he has not quite earned.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

England’s Zharnel Hughes disqualified in Commonwealth Games 200m drama

Etihad Stadium set for major upgrade in Andrews government cash splash

Mark Butler defends his use of parliamentary travel expenses ($)

Australian author Yassmin Abdel-Magied claims she is being deported from the US after visa cancellation

World Bank sounds the alarm on China’s development loans and trade war

Store rice, iodine: Russian TV jokes about doomsday scenario ($)

Labor MPs fighting for proposed federal seat of Salisbury due to low population growth ($)

University of Sydney academics to boycott Israeli universities ($)

Australian scientists pioneer new way to hear black holes colliding across the universe

THE COMMENTARIAT

The foreign donation bill is a smokescreen to attack civil society — Lee Rhiannon (The Guardian): “We’ve seen the power of big money in politics. From tax regulations that allow one third of companies to pay no corporate tax to the mining lobby toppling a sitting PM; from a housing system that puts profit before the human right to shelter to a gambling sector that is allowed to funnel billions out of the pockets of working Australians, some of whom are suffering crippling addictions. Yet instead of tackling the issue of big money, the Turnbull government ignores the evidence, ignores the public outcry for change, and disingenuously dresses up an astounding attack on political enemies as political donation reform.”

Gig economy changes tune as public opinion shifts — Sarah Kaine and Emmanuel Josserand (The Sydney Morning Herald): “When the gig economy first emerged, we welcomed the convenience and flexibility it brought to our lives. But the public is starting to realise that for all its benefits, the gig economy carries significant costs. And now its big players, like Deliveroo and Airtasker, appear to be responding to that shift in public opinion.”

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

Syria would test any president. It is far, far beyond the abilities of Trump.Guy Rundle

“Donald Trump is finding that the Middle East is coming apart in his hands. The Trump cheer squad is so quiet about this, there is almost anti-noise. In the past two months, the US’ NATO allies Turkey have invaded northern Syria to crush the independent Kurdish city of Afrin, a centre of activity by the Syrian Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG).”

Razer: Anne Edmonds’ comedy is truly, madly, deeply Australian – and that’s why it worksHelen Razer

“I’m still a comedy reviewer every so often, so remain bound to offer no spoilers. But, let’s say that Edmonds goes well beyond breastfeeding in the vulgar, exquisite and very Australian work Helen Bidou: Enter the Spinnaker Lounge. This white midlife woman whose identity is divulged through details, self-loathing, aspiration and naked horror would probably give Dad another hernia.”

No, the wages drought isn’t ‘over’. In fact, things have gotten worse.Glenn Dyer and Bernard Keane

“The narrative from both the government and the Reserve Bank, reflecting neoliberal orthodoxy, is that wages growth will return as strong jobs growth tightens the labour market. They’ve persistently rejected the notion that repeated and decades long industrial relations “reform” to reduce the bargaining power of workers and unions, and growing market concentration and the power that has delivered corporations at the expense of workers and consumers, has permanently undermined wages growth. It’s therefore crucial that the long period of wage stagnation endured by workers be declared over as soon as possible.”

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Sydney

  • Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt will meet with state and territory counterparts at COAG.

  • NSW government and Spanish company Acciona will appear in the Supreme Court over the Sydney light rail contract.

  • Wild Life Sydney will launch an interactive gut bacteria “zoo”.

  • Dee Why RSL will host the annual Resilience Lunch ahead of Anzac Day, along with a Q&A with a veteran who has suffered from PTSD, Invictus Games medalist, 2018 Invictus Games ambassador and a local MP.

  • Liverpool Hospital nurses and midwives will, in their own time, gather opposite the hospital to protest understaffing, increased workloads, and poor skill diversity issues across various wards and units.

Adelaide

  • Australia’s education ministers will meet and discuss a Gonski 2.0 panel report on how best to spend money in schools, the possible federal government response, and other issues.

  • Federal electoral boundaries commission are set to rule on which federal seat in Adelaide will go under a redistribution.

  • 10-day eating and drinking festival “Tasting Australia” begins.

Melbourne

  • Air Vice-Marshal and current Commander Joint Health and Surgeon General of the Australian Defence Force, Tracy Smart, will open the exhibition For Humanity: Medicine in war and peacekeeping since 1945.

  • Final dress rehearsal of Opera Australia’s La Traviata, featuring American star Corinne Winters and open to media.

  • Gorman launches new range of dog coats with Guide Dogs Australia.

    Fashion brand Gorman will launch a new range of dog coats to raise money for Guide Dogs Australia.

  • Media call for Grease Is The Word, featuring leading actors Courtney Act, Meghan O’Shea and Damon Wade.

  • Start of the two-day Melbourne Central Cactus Festival. Does what it says on the tin!

Perth

  • Voluntary euthanasia advocates Exit International’s Philip Nitschke, media personality and Go Gentle’s Andrew Denton, and former NT chief minister Marshall Perron will speak at WA inquiry.

  • WA Treasurer Ben Wyatt will announce a new export plan at a breakfast held by the Committee for Economic Development.

  • Protests at Foreign Minister Julie Bishop’s office from both far left and far right activists over white South African farmers.

  • A concert by the University of Western Australia’s Conservatorium of Music in Perth will see roughly 1000 singers and musicians perform to raise awareness for homelessness in WA. 

Canberra

  • State Funeral Service for Howard government minister Jocelyn Newman, mother of former Queensland premier Campbell Newman.

Australia

  • The Reserve Bank of Australia will release their half-year financial stability review.

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