SOME CHOICE WORDS
One Nation’s Pauline Hanson will preference Labor over moderate Liberals on how to vote cards in marginal seats like Bass, Leichhardt, North Sydney and Goldstein, The Australian ($) reports, potentially giving Climate 200-backed independents in the latter two an unwitting boost too. It’s in retaliation for the Liberals recommending voters preference the Jacqui Lambie Network ahead of One Nation in the Tasmanian Senate race. Hanson called it a “dirty deal with the devil” (though she still plans to support Liberal conservatives and Nationals over Labor candidates). Big deal? Maybe, maybe not — One Nation is polling at 4% in the latest Newspoll, and ABC’s Antony Green says two-thirds of One Nation preferences went to the Coalition at the last election.
Meanwhile, Hanson has taken the credit for a hefty $11 million federal grant to Willowbank Raceway near Brisbane, the SMH reports. Hanson’s confirmation of the upgrade spread on social media which buoyed Blair voters (it’s held by Labor by 1.2%) and MP Shayne Neumann says it shows the collusion between One Nation and the Coalition. See, it’s not the first time this has happened — Hanson also announced a grant for Fitzroy Community Hospice last year, and then One Nation voted with the government to veto more information about the companies that got JobKeeper, as Guardian Australia reports.
[free_worm]
RENT ASUNDER
Just 1.6% of rentals are affordable for those on minimum wage, Guardian Australia reports, and just 1.4% were affordable for a couple on the age pension. For a couple on JobSeeker, there were no affordable rentals in Sydney at all. For people on benefits, it’s nearly zero. It’s the dystopian finding of The Rental Affordability report from Anglicare, which looked at realestate.com.au to see how many rentals cost no more than 30% of a household budget. Looking at the last two years, capital city rents are up by 13.8% while rent assistance has risen by up to 4.52% — dismal.
Yet nearly half a million public-sector employees in NSW have been told to hang on ’til June for a raise, the SMH reports. NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet is facing a sea of discontent from workers of the nation’s largest employer, including a teacher strike, as The New Daily writes. It’s the latest in a long line — nurses, paramedics, bus and train drivers have all previously walked off the job too. So what’s the problem? It’s all centred around the 2.5% public sector wage cap which critics say is smothering wage growth. And times are tough: inflation is up 5.1% as of the March quarter (its highest level in more than two decades) as The Conversation reports, and state Opposition Leader Chris Minns says NSW is the highest taxing state in the country.
WORST CASE SCENARIOS
Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins says the AFP unlawfully disclosed protected evidence to the defence, ABC reports. Higgins made the formal complaint last week, saying the ACT director of public prosecutions told her it’d happened — including two years of counselling notes and videos of her Evidence in Chief interviews. It comes after lawyers for the staffer accused of raping Higgins asked the court to halt the case — temporarily or permanently, news.com.au reports, because of “adverse publicity”, ABC’s Laura Tingle says. The decision has not yet been handed down.
To another twist in a high profile case, “Person X”, a key witness for Ben Roberts-Smith in his defamation case, has been charged for allegedly assaulting a cop. The assault allegedly happened on Tuesday while the AFP executed a search warrant of Person X’s hotel room, Guardian Australia says. Apparently the AFP was enquiring about allegations of war crimes just hours after he gave evidence, the SMH reports.
Meanwhile, NT’s former anti-corruption commissioner Ken Fleming has been accused of throwing away the rule book in going after former Darwin Turf Club board member Damien Moriarty, the NT News reports. Moriarty is suing Fleming because he didn’t know he was under investigation when ICAC came knocking over a $12 million government grant for a grandstand. Fleming also alleges ICAC didn’t let him respond to adverse findings. The hearing continues.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
A cat lost at sea for 10 days has been found alive and well. A family in Auckland decided to spend the Easter long weekend aboard a catamaran near Kawau Island, even bringing their beloved cat, Luchs, along for the cruise. The tabby-Bengal cross is usually pretty lively at night, but when the family noticed all was silent at sea, they woke to realise Luchs was gone. They spent the whole day searching for him along the shore, but they feared the worst for the 1-year-old missing moggy. Julie Rowe posted on the community group offering a reward, and the devastated family left.
Fast forward to 10 days later, excited residents replied that a tabby had been spotted near Schoolhouse Bay — could it be Luchs? Rowe immediately travelled back to the island and hiked for hours looking for her castaway cat, even viewing a video on a local’s camera of a cat spotted in the area. It wasn’t Luchs. After a long day, Rowe had been ready to give up when she heard the miracle of a small meow. Luchs appeared out of nowhere, a little mangy and hungry, but fine. Rowe says Luchs no longer roams at night, preferring to snuggle into bed instead.
Hoping you spot a little miracle today.
If you’re feeling chatty, drop me a line — tell me what you love or loathe about the Worm, a little miracle of your own witnessing, or anything — eelsworthy@crikey.com.au.
SAY WHAT?
The unethical cultures exposed in Operation Watts are not confined to the [Moderate Labor] faction. These unethical practices are embedded within the [Victorian Labor] branch and are systemic to all of the factions … The evidence adduced enables the conclusion that these practices have been approved or condoned by party leadership for decades.
Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC)
Victoria’s watchdog IBAC’s interim findings — reportedly seen in draft form by The Age reporters — have suggested the Victorian Labor Party’s culture is rotten and encourages the serious misuse of public resources and nepotism in a damning and surprisingly far-reaching investigation.
CRIKEY RECAP
By what measure is Australia’s economy leading the world? We went searching
“At every opportunity, Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg declare that ‘our economy today is one of the strongest in the advanced world’, as the PM did at the 22-second mark in the recent televised leaders’ debate, then again several times later. This is not just false but the diametric opposite of the truth, and is extremely easy to disprove.
“Economic outcomes are measurable. We have tables already assembled for most important variables. We don’t need complex formulae, or even a calculator. We just need to read numbers off a screen … We now have annual GDP growth for the December quarter 2021 for all 38 OECD members. Australia’s 4.2% currently ranks 27th.”
Why isn’t the Coalition’s election campaign being called a disaster?
“The way coverage should be framed is around the growing pressure on Morrison and the Coalition. It’s a little more than three weeks until polling day, even less until early voting, and the government is far behind. Every day that Morrison and the government doesn’t gain ground is a loss.
“What they’ve been throwing at the wall doesn’t appear to be sticking. And that’s due, in part, to their inability to run a campaign that makes a case to reelect them without stepping on their own toes or running into bad luck.”
Who knows what the employment rate is? Not Matt Canavan
“Much of the Morrison government’s campaign has been premised on getting the unemployment rate down to 4%, ‘the lowest since the 1970s’ as its advertising has had it. Much hope was placed on the possibility that it would score a ‘number with a three in front of it’.
“This did not occur, and Canavan’s sudden casualness with the figure’s status — which occurred on Saturday night before the release of the current 5.1% inflation figure — may indicate a sudden desire on the Coalition’s part for a ‘conscious uncoupling’ from statistics-led politics.”
THE COMMENTARIAT
Inflation hits an extraordinary 5.1%. How long until mortgage rates climb? — John Hawkins (The Conversation): “Looking ahead, inflation is likely to drop in the June quarter. Oil prices are falling, and the budget petrol price relief will cut prices a further 22 cents a litre. Some supply chain problems and skilled labour shortages caused by the pandemic are likely to ease. And the Australian dollar has climbed, which should push down the price of imports. Unless there is a significant pickup in wage growth (we find out in three weeks, three days before the election) inflation may start to come back down of its own accord, without the need for the Reserve Bank to push up rates.
“But there are certainly alternative scenarios. The response of the Reserve Bank to higher prices is not as automatic as often supposed. But with the RBA cash rate at an all-time low, and an increasing risk that the current inflation will become embedded in expectations, an increase in rates is a matter of ‘when’ not ‘if’. As Prime Minister John Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello discovered in the election they lost in 2007, the Reserve Bank won’t hold off on increasing interest rates just because an election is imminent.”
Lies, damned lies … and political ads on climate policy — Nick O’Malley (The SMH): “This mixed messaging puts the federal government in the same bind that Labor found itself in during the last election, desperately trying to emphasise one message in coal seats and another contradictory one in inner-city electorates. The mixed messaging is becoming evident not only via the outright contradictory commentary of some of the candidates, but in paid advertising and printed campaign material too …
“By contrast, the Coalition’s own action to tackle climate change is raised only by individual members fighting off teal challengers, he says. This is evidence, he says, that the Coalition is now dealing with a political quandary that has plagued Labor for years as it fought off Greens challengers in the city. The thing is, in a world of easily accessed online advertising libraries, neither party can expect the voice it uses on one side of the country not to be heard on the other.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Russia-Ukraine war: Gazprom cuts gas supplies to Poland, Bulgaria (Al Jazeera)
Anti-Semitism: Dramatic rise in 2021, Israeli report says (BBC)
Russia releases former US Marine in prisoner swap (The New York Times)
UN says up to 40% of world’s land now degraded (The Guardian)
Canada’s workforce ‘has never been older’, statistics agency says (Al Jazeera)
Ousted Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi sentenced to 5 years in jail for corruption (SBS)
The US is out of the COVID-19 pandemic phase, Fauci says (CNN)
A woman’s haunting disappearance sparks outrage in Mexico over gender violence (The New York Times)
Bitcoin becomes official currency in Central African Republic (BBC)
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Online
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Foreign Minister Marise Payne will speak on Australia’s foreign policy at a webinar held by the United States Studies Centre.
Kulin Nation Country (also known as Melbourne)
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Labor’s Martyn Abbott, independent Zoe Daniel, The Greens’ Alana Galli–McRostie, and Liberal Tim Wilson will take part in a Goldstein candidates debate.
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Writers Gina Rushton, Sian Prior, and Natalie Kon-yu will discuss the complexities of motherhood at The Wheeler Centre.
Whadjuk Noongar Country (also known as Perth)
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Ukrainian Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko will discuss the conflict and the opportunities for WA to help in the post-war reconstruction of Ukraine.
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