RESOURCE BUDGET BUMP

The Department of Industry will today announce a $50 billion surge in mineral exports for the current financial year, a jump that counts as the second-highest ever.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the surge, buoyed by a $20 billion jump in LNG exports, brings the total sale of minerals to $278 billion this financial year. The boost, however, will be short, with a fall in value of $6.1 billion expected in 2019-20. The bounce will contribute to a number of slowly-emerging budget sweeteners, with Coalition announcements today to reportedly include $60 million for social media advertising and, according to The Australian ($), a $2.2 billion boost to road safety programs. 

GOVERNMENTS SLAMMED

A number of legal and justice organisations have slammed both the federal and Northern Territory governments’ management of Indigenous incarceration, as changes broadening the scope of restraints come into force a week after being rushed through the NT parliament.

According to The Guardian, the Law Council of Australia has joined with Amnesty, ACOSS, and other groups in criticising the Coalition for ignoring the “Pathways to justice” report for exactly one year. The Australian Law Reform Commission’s report made 35 recommendations, including a national inquiry into the removal of Indigenous children, abolishing state rights to jail over unpaid fees, and reforming unjust mandatory sentencing, all of which the government has thus far ignored. 

GREENS POINT THE FINGER

A campaign review into the Greens’ disastrous 2018 Victorian election result has pointed the finger at relentless “Labor trolls”, negative media coverage and internal conflict.

The ABC and The Age report that the review, conducted by Melbourne councillor Rohan Leppert, found that the Northcote campaign in particular was “highly malicious” and personal, while party-culture problems cost the Greens figures such as perennial Batman candidate Alex Bhathal.

The review drops as the federal Greens, according to The Australian ($), will today call to redirect military funds to foreign aid programs as part of a broader election-aid and development policy.

[free_worm]

THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

[To Fraser Anning] So would you like to see Australia just tell every Muslim immigrant who’s come here in the past to go home, essentially?

7News Sunshine Coast

Seven continues to give soft-ball interviews to neo-Nazi sympathisers.

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

How The Project started setting the news agenda

Mar 29, 2019

9

“In this two-part series, Crikey looks at an Australian anomaly. The Project has risen above expectations with must-watch interviews and viral videos that most outlets could only dream of. How does such a show come together? And can its success last?”

How the major parties can win over Chinese-Australian voters

Mar 29, 2019

2

“This time around — thanks in part to anti-Asian comments made by New South Wales Labor leader Michael Daley — the group has caught some of the spotlight. This week Bill Shorten has attempted to mend the damage with visits to electorates with large Chinese-Australian populations and a WeChat Live session in which he stressed his party is pro-immigrant and active in fighting racism.”

New report on the economic impact of climate change policy is total garbage

Mar 29, 2019

6

“The report compares the ALP and Liberal National policies, assumes that we limit renewables at 50%, that storage costs are staggeringly expensive and imagines extraordinarily high carbon prices (of between $100 and $700 per tonne). By locking in renewables at 50%, it ensures that higher-cost carbon emissions reductions must be used, and hey presto, allows the authors to forecast economic Armageddon.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern backs Facebook ban on white nationalism

Solar trial turning Sydney homes into mini-power plants

Shooters win Aboriginal votes in western NSW

‘Dangerous’ mercury has skyrocketed since coal plants built

Labor sets January 1 start for CGT and negative gearing plans ($)

WA cashes in on lithium boom as work begins on world’s largest lithium refinery

Australian Conservation Foundation targets big business on climate ($)

Sex workers visit South Australian Parliament to push for decriminalisation of prostitution

Key seats at risk after Scott Morrison sets up clash over preferences with Pauline Hanson

NSW energy policy shakeout looms as new minister picked, staff exit

Australia’s richest and poorest postcodes revealed in ATO’s 2016-17 tax statistics

THE COMMENTARIAT

$500 million war memorial upgrade should recognise unspoken conflicts — Stan Grant (The Sydney Morning Herald): “Given this money is to be spent, let’s recognise the conflicts in our history that still largely go unspoken. Let’s think about how we can acknowledge the wars fought on our soil when courageous Indigenous patriots defended their lands from the British. The frontier wars are our story – all of us. They should form the story of Australia just like Gallipoli, Tobruk, El Alamein, Kokoda.”

Budget 2019: resources revenue tells tale of two treasurers ($) — Judith Sloan (The Australian): “There must be times when former treasurer Wayne Swan feels a pang of jealousy in relation to the position in which Josh Frydenberg finds himself. Instead of being disappointed by tax revenues that don’t meet expectations — Swan’s experience — the current Treasurer has enjoyed actual tax revenues overshooting projections.”

The slow heal of wounds in Gaza — Mohammed Abed (Agence France-Presse): “I had been a photographer with AFP for nearly 20 years, covering three wars in Gaza as well as conflicts in Libya, Egypt and elsewhere. Through a mixture of good planning and good fortune, I had avoided injury for all those years. But last June, on a crisp Friday afternoon, my luck ran out and an Israeli bullet found me.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

The Latest Headlines

PRACTICE BY GUY RUNDLE

Practice distils Guy Rundle’s best writing on politics, culture, class and more. In it, he roves the campaign trails of Obama and Trump, Rudd and Abbott; rides the Greyhound around a desolate America; bails up Bob Katter and Pauline Hanson; and excavates the deeper meanings of everything from Nirvana to Anzac Day.

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Canberra

  • Greens leader Richard Di Natale will launch the party’s aid and development election policy at the Australian National University.

Melbourne

  • The 2018 McKinnon Political Leader and Emerging Leader of the Year, Labor senator Penny Wong and Greens senator Jordon Steele-John, will present keynotes at the University of Melbourne’s prize oration event.

  • Victoria’s Energy, Environment and Climate Change Minister Lily D’Ambrosio will open the Steps to Sustainability Conference 2019 at Melbourne Zoo.

  • The Australian World Health Organisation will launch their three-day annual conference, on the theme of “Refugee Health and Wellbeing”, at Melbourne University.

Sydney

  • Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen will announce a timeline for Labor’s economic policies at the Financial Services Council.

  • Authors Roxane Gay and Christina Hoff Sommers will speak at a This Is 42 event on feminism at Sydney Town Hall.

Brisbane

  • Lord Mayor Graham Quirk will announce his retirement.

Adelaide

  • ATO whistleblower Richard David Boyle will face court on 66 charges, after he used a listening device to build evidence against the tax office. 

Hobart

  • The Bob Brown Foundation will release the business case for the Trans Tarkine Track, set to demonstrate positive cultural and economic impacts and the creation of 15 equivalent full-time jobs, including four Indigenous ranger positions.

  • Liberal senator Eric Abetz will open the Australian Government Small Business Fair.

Christchurch, New Zealand

  • A National Remembrance Service will be held for the victims of the March 15 mosque attacks, with Jacinda Ardern expected to attend.