Gladys Berejiklian (Image: AAP/Dean Lewins)

CORRUPTION ERUPTION?

Embattled former premier Gladys Berejiklian faces the corruption watchdog today, after yesterday’s session heard she promised to “throw money” at then-boyfriend Daryl Maguire’s Wagga electorate, the SMH reports. Telephone intercepts also revealed Berejiklian said she’d overrule bureaucrats in giving Wagga a stadium. Maguire told ICAC yesterday they were pretty serious as a couple — talking marriage and babies, and holidaying together, The Australian ($) adds. Her legal team has asked why that intimate detail was even mentioned at ICAC, but it’s supposedly part of determining whether she had a conflict of interest.

Speaking of things getting personal, South Australia’s new Speaker Dan Cregan — who was slotted into the powerful role after a late-night coup — has accused the Liberals of using bushfire victims’ phone numbers for political advertising, The Advertiser ($) reports. Cregan, who got victim details as a former Liberal MP, says he’s tossing up a prima facie case of privilege which could lead to a parliamentary inquiry. It comes just weeks after the SA Ombudsman found evidence of “potential” corruption, maladministration, or misconduct within the Liberal Party over data handling, as ABC reported.

Also this morning, more than two-thirds of Queensland public servants say corruption is rife, according to an anonymous poll by the crime and corruption watchdog. One fifth of 14,500 respondents said they’d seen hiring favouritism or nepotism, false entitlement claims or timesheets, The Brisbane Times reports. Around one in 10 reported witnessing contracts go to family members or associates. Sheesh.

[free_worm]

BREAKING POINT

Welcome to freedom Friday, Melburnians — at 6pm the border between the city and the regions will come down, retailers, cinemas and gyms can throw open their doors, and restaurants, pubs, and hairdressers will be able to host more patrons, the Herald Sun reports. Up to 500 vaccinated people can attend a wedding or funeral and masks outdoors are a thing of the past, the ABC continues. Tragically, however, 25 people were reported dead yesterday after contracting COVID — the highest daily total during this outbreak.

And Victoria’s health system is at a breaking point, according to the Department of Health’s latest report, as a COVID patient bottleneck is causing lengthy delays for others. Elective surgery wait times, mental health services, vital cancer screening, emergency department treatment, and ambulance transfers are falling short, The Age reports. Only about 68% of emergency patients are being treated on time, while only half were given a mental health bed within a crucial timeframe.

TOXIC EMISSIONS

Our Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction will promote fossil fuels at the climate summit. Angus Taylor will tell the world’s leaders Australia is a “safe and reliable destination to invest in gas, hydrogen and new energy technologies” — but as Guardian Australia reports, gas has about half the emissions of coal and that’s not counting methane leakage.

It follows Taylor’s confirmation that Australia will sit out an international pledge to cut methane emissions by 30% before 2030, as Reuters reports. Nationals Leader Barnaby Joyce boasted that excluding methane was one of his hostage requirements in the net zero by 2050 debacle, Sky News says — methane comes from livestock and the extraction of coal and gas. But Michelle Grattan for The Conversation says the Libs had been planning to all along.

Ahead of the summit, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has spoken to French President Emmanuel Macron for the first time since we dumped France for our British-American ménage à trois, as AFR reports. The Morrison camp said the call was fine, but the French said Morrison had “broken the relationship of trust” and said it was up to us to repair the damage, The New Daily reports. Morrison told the Today program he didn’t think they’ll chat at Glasgow, continuing that he’s “got to give him a bit of space”. The SMH adds that Morrison sent Macron a handwritten letter earlier this month. Romance ain’t dead, folks.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

It’s spooky season, folks. Halloween falls on Sunday, and whether you like or loathe the mostly American tradition, it’s a great excuse to dress up (I’m thinking there’ll be a lot of Squid Game costumes this year) or even cozy up to watch your favourite spooky flick (Practical Magic, no question). It’s business as usual this weekend for Megan Clawson, however.

The 21-year-old woman lives inside the Tower of London. She moved in to spend time with her father, a Yeoman Warder. The 950-year old castle has been, among many things, a prison (1100 to 1952) and a grand royal palace where, in the 1480s, two young Princes in the Tower disappeared without a trace. They were thought to be murdered by their powerful uncle, who wanted the throne. Despite this torrid history, Clawson says she lives in “your average house” in the tower “apart from the arrow slits and the swords”. Naturally. But, she admits, some of the other guards’ young children have talked about playing with two little boys in the middle of the night called Richard and Edward — the very same as the slain princes.

Wishing you a restful weekend ahead.

SAY WHAT?

Carbon prices and equivalent measures need to become significantly more stringent, and globally better coordinated, to properly reflect the cost of emissions to the planet and put us on the path to genuinely meet the Paris Agreement climate goals.

Mathias Cormann

The former Liberal finance minister, who once called carbon taxes a “very expensive hoax”, has changed his tack completely — as head of the OECD, Cormann is now urging leaders to align the price of carbon emissions to take on net zero. Cormann was a senior member of the Abbott government which tore the Gillard-era carbon tax to shreds. Labor Senator Tim Ayres — who has been quite mouthy this week — asked Senate Estimates yesterday, “is this the same bloke?”

CRIKEY RECAP

Why is the Morrison government suddenly worried about voter fraud?

Oct 28, 2021

45

“ID laws are a huge part of the many ways Republicans in the United States restrict voting in ways which progressives say systemically disenfranchises poorer, Black and Latin voters who tend to skew Democrat. For years, belief in stopping ‘voter fraud’ was widespread among US conservatives.

“Then Donald Trump’s claim that the 2020 election was rigged turned a conspiracy theory into a full-blown article of faith for the American right. One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts … started repeating Trumpian claims about election software being used to rig the result. And earlier this year he introduced an ‘integrity’ bill which included provisions on voter ID.”

How the pandemic reshaped universities — and delivered on a Coalition dream

and

Oct 28, 2021

11

Unlocked

“Once upon a time there was relative bipartisanship in higher education funding. Then came the Howard government, which shifted the balance of total-education spending from universities to private schools. Its abolition of compulsory student unionism drained millions from student services and organisations while helping accelerate the demise of campus life.

“Under the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government, higher education funding as a proportion of total education spend fell again. The Abbott government was most nakedly ideological, attempting to deregulate course fees (which would have seen costs balloon) and introduce a 20% funding cut.”

Morrison’s do-nothing climate plan is a fraud. It must be called out for the lie it is

Oct 28, 2021

48

“And the most important question of all is this: given that it will be free for Australia to get to net zero, and since Australia always meets its commitments, why not put in place a cap on the total amount of emissions in a given year? This could be done through an enhanced version of the safeguard mechanism already in place.

“The safeguard mechanism requires Australia’s largest emitters to keep their net emissions below a certain cap (or ‘baseline’). In fact, the Business Council of Australia’s climate plan calls for precisely this.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Surge in tax averts Delta recession (The Australian) ($)

Sudan army sacks six envoys as coup condemnation grows (Al Jazeera)

Biden announces $1.85 trillion framework for climate and safety net plan (The New York Times)

DNA confirms man is Sitting Bull’s great-grandson (BBC)

Facebook is changing its name to Meta to emphasise ‘metaverse’ vision (The Age)

Why China is the world’s last ‘zero COVID’ holdout (The New York Times)

Call for action on Tuberculosis as deaths rise for first time in decade (The Guardian)

‘I am not a racist’: Quinton de Kock apologises for refusing to take knee (SBS)

No more skyscrapers, says China (BBC)

Unvaxxed [NZ] teachers to be barred from schools, learning centres from Nov 15 (NZ Herald)

Taiwanese President Confirms U.S. Troop Deployment on Island (The Wall Street Journal)

Ethiopia air raid on Tigray kills six, including children (Al Jazeera)

Moscow shops and restaurants shut in new lockdown (BBC)

THE COMMENTARIAT

When the world is on the brink, $3.5 trillion is a pittance — Abrahm Lustgarten (The New York Times): “Economic policy is no longer distinct from environmental policy, because, for example, creating high-paying jobs in southern Texas isn’t worth much if it’s too hot to go to work. Just as economists have linked hotter temperatures to declining crop yields, they have also linked them to more disease, more crime, more suicides and other effects on people’s health and well-being. All of them result in losses — both social and economic — and threaten the country’s strength and stability.

“Policymakers will have to start somewhere. Among the bill’s lesser-known provisions are funding to survey forests and to hire people to fight wildfires; to provide agricultural research for farmers whose crops won’t grow in hotter climates; to help homeowners transition from gas appliances to low-emission technologies; to study the health risks associated with climate change, which can include pandemics and infectious diseases; and to provide better forecasting of dangerous weather.”

I chanced upon a list of Sydney ocean pools and decided to swim all 45 — Justine Nolan (The SMH): “Chatting to seasoned locals sunning themselves at Malabar I felt like I had been transported to a sunny spot on a Greek island. Discovering the vast picnic grounds which accompany the Chowder Bay baths gave me the opportunity to chat to people who had travelled from distant suburbs to find the ‘perfect’ picnic spot. The hidden sanctuary of Northbridge Baths, gives off Italian riviera vibes, albeit with slightly murkier waters …

“And each spot has its own story. I had never heard the backstory for Forty Baskets′ name, and while I am not inclined to dispute its accuracy, I can say the fish on display for my visit were far more limited in numbers … It started well (and not too far from home) with the discovery of the unbelievably scenic Mahon pool which is nestled into a natural rock amphitheatre at the northern end of Maroubra beach … on a calm day there is almost no better place to complete the requisite laps. And so it began.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

The Latest Headlines

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Australia

  • Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, Atlassian CEO Mike Cannon-Brookes, NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet, and Labor Leader Anthony Albanese are among the speakers at the 2021 Bush Summit, discussing economic, social and political issues and held online.

  • The Indigenous Cultural Heritage Conference 2021 continues, which discusses Juukan Gorge, documenting languages, and institutional change for objects and ancestors, held online.

  • ABC Radio National’s Sarah Kanowski and author Jonathan Franzen discuss the latter’s new book, Crossroads, and more broadly the future of the modern novel. You can catch this one online for the next seven days.

Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)

  • StopAdani supporters, faith leaders, climate justice group Pacific Island Warriors, and Australian Parents for Climate Action will stage the first post-COVID lockdown protest outside the Bank of New York Mellon, calling on the bank to stop funding Adani’s Carmichael coal project.

Whadjuk Noongar Country (also known as Perth)

  • WA Deputy Premier Roger Cook will speak on the state’s economic agenda including policy and industries, held at The Westin Perth.