The great pretender … Christensen’s valuable tool … protest on our terms, please

PM on PM He may not wish to subject himself to the forensic gaze of Laura Tingle, but no one could accuse Prime Minister Scott Morrison of ducking the tough interviews. Last night he ran the gauntlet of Paul Murray’s Pub Test on Sky. After all, Murray is the only journalist who had the fortitude to ask Donald Trump: “What do you want to say to your many Australian supporters who wish you nothing but the best in November 2020?”

During the interview, Morrison took the opportunity to swipe at Anthony Albanese’s newly slimmed-down glow-up as evidence of a lack of integrity:

I’m not pretending to be anyone else. I’m still wearing the same sunglasses. Sadly, the same suits. I weigh about the same size and I don’t mind a bit of Italian cuisine … I’m not pretending to be anyone else.

We of course have nothing but respect for Morrison’s unwavering commitment to be who he really is. Like coming up with his own nickname. Like his commitment to bizarre and repeated lies and falsehoods about specific things he is on record as having said and done. Like his commitment to rugby league and the Cronulla Sharks (some time after securing preselection in the shire), and his great integrity in going for the Western Bulldogs, and then not having a team, and then going for “Perth”.

His commitment to dressing up in hi-vis, or running water out to rugby or cricket teams, or dressing up as a doctor or a chef, or having a big go in a truck or a helicopter or a plane.

Or, oddly, since Morrison seems to think weight loss is a sign of a lack of integrity, that time he spoke to Sunrise about his own notable slim-down or that time he started drinking meal replacement shakes.

In all of Christensen What’s our old friend George Christensen up to these days? We’ve found a hint in this flag-heavy “coming soon” announcement for something called Eureka Free Press. “The time is now for every proud Australian to step to the fore and fight for our sovereignty and way of life. Information is a key tool in any battle and Eureka Free Press will be a valuable tool in the battle for our nation’s future,” the landing page promises us.

If that bellicose, patriotic rhetoric wasn’t enough to convince you, Crikey‘s Cam Wilson, who’s been keeping an eye on what Christensen might do next, has done an ABN look-up and Christensen registered it last year.

The revolution will not inconvenience your commute The Climate 200 movement is backing a series of independent candidates in the next election, united by calls for stronger climate action and a strong federal integrity body. While this has talking points like, say, that they are all former Greens members, a clearer indication of who the movement is seeking to represent can be found in their response to Fireproof Australia’s climate protests, which yesterday blockaded the Spit Bridge in affluent Mosman.

The group “strongly denounces the illegal protest … on the Spit Bridge in Sydney. Blocking a major road during peak hour and stopping people from getting to work and school is not the way to accelerate climate action”.

Look, guys, climate action is urgent, but not so urgent it should inconvenience any extremely well-off people.