Signs of the times

WARNING SIGNS

Liberal MP Tim Wilson has come under fire for an email encouraging his constituents to dob in each other for signs supporting his opponent Zoe Daniel. In urging the curtain-twitching, Wilson has apparently forgotten that he built a career on two things, The New Daily writes: “freedom to choose and the right to private property”. But, Wilson reportedly wrote primly in the email to Goldstein residents, “it is unlawful to erect signs until after the election has been called”. Nevermind, reporter James Robertson writes, that billboards of deputy Liberal leader Josh Frydenberg can be seen in nearby Kooyong. Wilson denied he was being a hypocrite but admitted he was working with council on catching perpetrators. Breaches are punishable by fines worth $909 for individuals and $1817 for body corporates, the Herald Sun ($) adds.

Speaking of homegrown drama, Immigration Minister Alex Hawke was a no-show in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday, even though he was named as the first defendant in the NSW Liberal preselection case, Guardian Australia reports. He’s not legally required to show up, but you’d think he’d want to tell his side of the story in the long-running preselection saga for federal seats in NSW. Or not — Hawke has been accused of running down the clock to dissolve the state executive so the federal government can take control of preselections, as ABC reports.

Things are moving at a slightly different pace in state politics, it seems — a Liberal candidate for the Victorian election in November has been confirmed in the ultra-marginal seat of Nepean, The Age reports — it’s former Australian tennis player Sam Groth who you might recognise as a commentator for Channel 9. He beat the party’s state electorate chair David Burgess by a huge margin. The Victorian Liberals must win the seat, which is partly on the Mornington Peninsula, to have a shot at winning.

[free_worm]

RUSSIAN TROOPS ENTER UKRAINE

Russian troops have entered eastern Ukraine in what the US government has called “an invasion”, The New York Times reports. Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered military into Donetsk and Luhansk for “peacekeeping”, after recognising them as independent states (rather than belonging to Ukraine). Peacekeeping? The US called that “nonsense”, particularly as Putin says the Minsk peace deal in eastern Ukraine “does not exist anymore“.

In response, the US will impose a raft of investment, trade, and financing sanctions, Germany has halted a key gas pipeline called Nord Stream 2 and the UK sanctioned five banks and three wealthy Russians. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has urged citizens to “keep a cool head” but said Ukraine would not give up territory. Ukraine’s defence minister told the military “there will be losses“, “pain”, “fear”, and “despondency”. BBC continues that Hungary is sending troops onto its border with Ukraine for humanitarian reasons, expecting hordes of Ukrainian refugees, while Romania volunteered to take half a million too.

So why is this happening? Basically, Putin really doesn’t want Ukraine to join NATO, a defensive alliance of 30 countries, as BBC explains. Ukraine is a former Soviet republic, and still has strong bonds with Russia — indeed Russian is widely spoken there. Putin has been fuming for years over Ukraine’s move towards European institutions, like the European Union and NATO — back in 2014, you may remember Russia invading and annexing the Crimean Peninsula because a pro-Russian president was toppled, as Vox delved into. More than 14,000 people have died since.

ELECTRIC BLUE

AGL Energy might’ve rebuffed tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes’ offer to buy the energy titan but it’s still happy to keep talking, Guardian Australia reports. AGL’s boss Markus Brokhof says they want a premium of at least 30% on its share price to say yes. That’s substantially more than the 4.7% offered by the tech billionaire and his Canadian investment firm partner, which apparently left the board “extremely unimpressed”, the SMH reports. In dollar terms, The Australian ($) says, it would mean an extra $1 billion added to the offer. Brokhof says he’s yet to hear back from the would-be buyers, but this is the game, baby — “If you would like to get the board’s attention, for sure you need to engage once more, or two times more, or whatever”.

But Brokhof says it’s not realistic to say no coal by 2030, as Cannon-Brookes says — Bayswater in NSW is poised to close in 2033, while Loy Yang in Victoria will close in 2045. Prime Minister Scott Morrison says the assets should reach the end of their life, showing a bit of reluctance for the deal — but the former chair of the Energy Security Board Kerry Schott says the PM is missing the point — money. Coal-fired power is the most expensive energy generation — it must run constantly (guzzling fuel) unlike hydro and gas plants, yet coal-fired power is being dispatched less and less as the supply of renewables surges, Schott, writing for AFR says. Plus, Cannon-Brookes adds, he’s doing what the government asked: providing replacement capacity, bringing $20 billion in private capital, having a reliable power grid, and bringing people’s power bills down, as AAP reports.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

There’s a new burial trend taking the funeral world by storm — incredibly, you can now choose to have your ashes mixed with a reef ball, which is dropped among the coral to offer a surface the oceanic flora can grow across. One marine biologist told The Guardian coral and all sorts of animals actually grow better on a structure than the seafloor. The photograph of a reef ball is gorgeous — different textures and shades of green growing over the surface, with pops of — well, coral red — here and there. The holes in the ball are a passageway for fish and sea life to meander their way through, and slowly you become a part of the sea bed, the ocean currents washing over you gently for millennia.

The idea came from Eternal Reefs, a US-based charity that describes it as a “way to give back after life by replenishing the dwindling natural reef systems”. The reef balls are made from environmentally friendly pH-neutral concrete — along with your ashes of course — and your friends and family are given your coordinates out in the deep blue sea. The charity says they’ve seen enquiries triple in the last few years, mostly from people who feel strong bonds to the sea. One such customer is Janet Hock, a no-nonsense 77-year-old who loves to scuba dive. “My first impression was that they’re really ugly,” she says frankly. But as she watched videos of reef balls bedding themselves into the oceanic landscape, colonised by soft furry algae, she realised “it appeals to me — the thought of regrowing something that’s been destroyed”.

Wishing you the magic of a second thought today, folks.

SAY WHAT?

I support it. I think it is a terrific bill and I’ve given her great encouragement. [Liberal Senator Claire Chandler] is a champion for women’s sport and I think she has been right to raise these issues in the way that she has.

Scott Morrison

The PM backed a new bill that would allow sporting groups to exclude transgender people from single-sex sport. It would see discrimination against children under 12 legalised for the first time, according to Equality Australia’s Anna Brown. Plus, Brown adds, the Sex Discrimination Act already allows discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity where “strength, stamina and physique” is relevant, so what’s the point of going harder?

CRIKEY RECAP

Morrison’s attempt to derail AGL takeover is a new challenge for ‘moderates’

Bernard Keane

Feb 22, 2022

28

“Because of the involvement of Canadian firm Brookfield in the proposal, Morrison and Frydenberg can shut it down without any recourse or need for justification via the Foreign Investment Review Board, which operates with no rules, transparency or appeal rights.

“There’s also the threat of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) assessing the competition implications of the deal. Who’ll be running the ACCC from next month? The government’s hand-picked chair, former apparatchik of the climate denialist Murdoch family, Gina Cass-Gottlieb.”

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Anti-vaxxers and Facebook have found a way to co-exist

Cam Wilson

Feb 22, 2022

Unlocked

“Perhaps the biggest change I’ve seen recently is the way that anti-vaccine actors have learned to weave their messages through platforms and mediums in a way that evades Facebook’s ban. They’ll post YouTube videos (around three-quarters of the Convoy to Canberra content was hosted on YouTube) featuring claims that would get them banned on Facebook.

“They link people to their Telegram channel where they can say whatever they want without repercussions. Or they’ll host livestreams of rallies and interviews that seem largely unmoderated too.”

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War! Who is it good for? Morrison most likely

Bernard Keane

Feb 22, 2022

66

Unlocked

“But Morrison is convinced the tradition of voters preferring conservative governments on national security remains true — whether or not his incessant lying about Labor being soft on China has worked — and that Australians will rally to him at a time of global insecurity.

“It might also mean that any backbenchers on his side restive enough to contemplate dumping him might think twice about doing so during a moment of serious conflict abroad. Morrison also has Defence Minister Peter Dutton, who will seize on the conflict to do what he does best — talk tough and rattle sabres, even if there’s no role for Australia to play.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Pakistan allows first shipment of Indian wheat to Afghanistan (Al Jazeera)

Italy rescues nearly 600 migrants off Calabria, finds one dead (Al Jazeera)

Less than 10% of the world’s plastic is being recycled, new report shows (SBS)

Supreme Court to decide constitutional right to deny service to same-sex couples (The Wall Street Journal) ($)

Abandoned burning ship ‘had $400m cargo of luxury cars’ (The Guardian)

Tonga volcano: Internet restored five weeks after eruption (BBC)

US soccer agrees to equalize pay in $24m deal with women’s team (The New York Times)

‘Dangerous’ and ‘appalling’: Fury after Wellington mayor meets protesters (Stuff)

Burkina Faso gold mine blast kills 60 (BBC)

Ottawa convoy protest organizer Tamara Lich denied bail (CBC)

Colombia legalises abortion in move celebrated as ‘historic victory’ by campaigners (The Guardian)

THE COMMENTARIAT

Interest rates won’t rise until wages are higher — Ross Gittins (The Age): ” But here’s the thing. We’ve had a smaller rise in prices but, so far, little rise in wages. (We’ll see on Wednesday, with the publication of the Bureau of Statistics’ wage price index, how much that changed in the three months to December.) And Reserve Bank governor Dr Philip Lowe has said repeatedly that he won’t be raising interest rates until he sees that the rise in prices is also reflected in wage rises. As he put it in his recent parliamentary testimony, ‘the higher interest rates will be occurring in an environment where people have stronger wages growth and jobs’.

“So the banks’ predictions about rising interest rates imply that most workers will be getting a pay rise of 3% or so this year. Find that hard to believe? According to the wage price index, wage rises have averaged 2% a year over the past six years. And, as you remember, businesses and governments were quick to impose wage freezes when the pandemic began in 2020. A move to 3%t rises is always possible of course but, given recent history, I’ll believe it when I see it.”

Birthing on Country is a sovereign right for Indigenous parents — Melanie Briggs (IndigenousX): ” The lack from the Australian government to implement a midwifery-led continuity of care (CoC) model has a profoundly negative impact on the outcomes of mothers and babies. Many of these outcomes can be prevented. Indigenous neonates are twice as likely to die within the first year of life than non-Indigenous babies due to premature and low birth weight … Nationally, Indigenous midwifery is in crisis, with less than 300 practicing midwives. The Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives are working with national bodies and government to highlight the urgency and work towards increasing the number of Indigenous nurses and midwives across the country.

“… Indigenous women felt more comfortable and were more likely to access maternity care when they were being cared for by an Indigenous midwife. Indigenous women preferred their maternity care to be provided by an Indigenous midwife as they felt a deeper connection and understanding which can be linked to our shared inter-generational trauma from invasion … We have been advocating for birthing on country for more than five years and it’s now time for action and investment to give our mothers and babies the opportunity for a cultural birth guided by ancient traditional ways.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Ngunnawal Country (also known as Canberra)

• Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Rod Sims will speak to the National Press Club about his time at the watchdog and challenges he sees.

Yuggera Country (also known as Brisbane)

• Renowned doctor Tim O’Dowd will speak about his new book, Our Children Our Legacy, which explores reproduction and nutrition.