AUKUS continues to bleed billions

ROLLING WITH THE HOMIES

The Australian government will send $4.6 billion to Britain’s Rolls-Royce over 10 years so it can get on with building nuclear reactors for the AUKUS submarines, Guardian Australia reports. The Derby factory will double in size, and the reactor will be redesigned. We’ll also hear today that the subs — known as SSN-AUKUS — will be built in a joint venture by Australian government-owned ASC and the UK’s BAE Systems. (BAE is also building Australia’s Hunter-class frigates using ASC’s former shipbuilding workforce, The Australian ($) notes, which it purchased for $1 under a deal by the former government). Defence Minister Richard Marles said our “commitment” (read: billions in taxpayer dollars) to both the US and UK to clear bottlenecks was “not without controversy” but AUKUS needed it to work. Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Cameron told the ABC we could be entering a pre-war era.

From war gaming to the Games and former Australian swimmer Tracey Wickham says her city, Brisbane, should give Sydney the 2032 Olympics because of a chaotic three years, The Australian ($) reports. This week Queensland Premier Steven Miles scrapped the $2.7 million Gabba rebuild after a review recommended the Victoria Park Stadium instead. Psych! Miles said — we’re using the old Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre at Nathan instead to save money — even though it may only seat 40,000 people, the Oz notes, and it may threaten koala hotspot the Toohey Forest, The Courier-Mail adds. It’s not just capacity that’s lacking, Wickham said — Brissy doesn’t have the road infrastructure or the transport, adding people will always remember Australia as “pathetic” if we mess this up. Queensland Opposition Leader David Crisafulli agreed with Miles that the Victoria Park Stadium was the wrong choice, but vowed to fix Labor’s 1,000-day Olympic mess in just 100 days if elected in October. How? Yet another review, as the Brisbane Times reports.

DISCRIMI/NATION

One Nation Leader Pauline Hanson says she was “right” when she said in 1996 that Australia was “in danger of being swamped by Asians”, Sky News Australia reports, because four out of the five top migratory countries are in that continent. She also quoted her maiden speech 28 years ago in accusing “unskilled migrants not fluent in the English language” of joining our “dole queues” yesterday. It comes as a record of 548,000 people came to Australia in the year to September, the AFR reports, and our population grew 2.5% — its highest rate since 1952 — because of 145,244 arrivals in the quarter. But it was probably the peak, because the government tightened visa requirements/application processes and scrapped the COVID visa.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says we should scrap section 38 from the Sex Discrimination Act — it allows religious schools to discriminate against people based on their sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, or marital or relationship status — and enshrine the right for schools to choose teachers with faith in a new religious discrimination act. It’s per the Australian Law Reform Commission’s report into religious educational institutions and anti-discrimination laws, The Australian ($) says. Senator Michaelia Cash said Labor’s draft reforms contained “substantial changes” to the Coalition’s 2019 legislation but wasn’t allowed to say more. It comes as the NSW Law Society is urging lawyers to stamp out racism in their workplace and community in a new guide, the National Indigenous Times reports. President Brett McGrath said it’s not only moral, it’s good business because clients are diverse.

THE RUB

Bruce Lehrmann says a “disgruntled” ex-Seven Network producer made up an “untrue and bizarre story” that the pair used the network’s company credit card to book Thai massages for them both months before the former Liberal staffer sat down with Spotlight, per The Australian ($). Samantha Maiden at news.com.au reports the massages cost $1,000 total and the pair allegedly negotiated the interview throughout before hanging out, with extra charges amounting to $2,940 appearing on the company card. Apparently, no-one at Spotlight knew about any of this, and the staffer reportedly reimbursed Seven for the expenses after senior figures found out (including Spotlight producer Steve Jackson, NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb’s “new spin doctor”). Lehrmann said he did meet with Seven producers that night, but there were no massages, adding Seven had only ever paid for his accommodation and travel costs.

Speaking of controversial interviews — British broadcaster and former Brexiteer Nigel Farage said former US president Donald Trump told him “Let’s have some fun with this” before the cameras rolled on an interview where Trump called our ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, “nasty” and threatened to remove him. Farage accused Rudd of being “openly, wilfully abusive” towards Trump, as Sky News Australia reports, and said Rudd’s appointment called Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s judgement into question. The Coalition wasted no time cheering on Trump’s snark, but our former ambassador to the US, Dennis Richardson, said that was at odds with our national interest, Guardian Australia reports. Former high commissioner to London George Brandis said we need bipartisan support of our senior diplomatic representatives otherwise it undermines their authority and influence.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

It’s May 2023, and Dr Gilad Bino and his team from the University of NSW are peering into the inquisitive little eyes of precisely 10 platypuses. The paddle (could that collective noun be any sweeter?) were about to move into their new home in the country’s oldest national park, the Royal National Park near Sydney. Their kind hadn’t been seen around the lush embankments for over a half-century after a chemical tanker spill on the nearby highway poured poison into the river, wiping out the population. Fast forward to last year and scrupulous checks had been done to ensure clean water was flowing, banks were soft for burrowing and there were plenty of nutritious dragonflies and yabbies to snack on. The team carefully set the 10 platypuses free. Good luck, the researchers said.

Last weekend, the team returned to find the local paddle positively thriving throughout the park. All 10 had made their homes in the river and creek, while at least one puggle (the term for a baby platypus) had been born in spring. Bino was beside himself with joy, saying the platypus gods must have smiled down upon them, knowing their intentions were pure. A female named Delphi, who weighs one kilogram, got a little check-up before being released again with a clean bill of health (mind the pun). You can see the paddle yourself, Bino told the SMH, if you go at dusk or dawn and stay very quiet. Take a picnic, NSW Environment Minister Penny Sharpe added, and make a half-day of it, because once you see these sweet little animals in the wild, you’ll feel a profound sense of clarity about protecting Australia’s unique animals.

Wishing you the resilience of a new puggle today, and have a restful weekend.

SAY WHAT?

I fully recognise that cat calls are not allowed, but I think this was in reference to a genuine cat — that of the member for Ryde. It says here that he shared a meal with the cat.

Chris Minns

The premier was responding to a scold from the speaker about catcalling in the Chamber. The speaker promptly told Minns to sit down, adding that “his additional guidance was not helpful”. Minns piped up again to say “the cat’s name is Oscar” — a video of MP Jordan Lane does show him enjoying a slice of banana bread with his cat, who happens to be in a pram.

CRIKEY RECAP

Will Plibersek let a property developer destroy the habitat of our critically endangered birds?

DAVID PAPPS

“This decision is Plibersek’s because this massive real estate project occurs within the boundaries of the Moreton Bay Ramsar site — one of Australia’s 66 wetlands recognised under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Significance.

“The Ramsar Convention was established to halt and reverse the worldwide loss of wetlands, and in 1993, the majority of Queensland’s Moreton Bay — including the mudflats and sandflats of Toondah Harbour — was designated as a Ramsar site for their outstanding conservation value and biological diversity.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Turkey central bank stuns market with 500-point rate hike to 50% (Al Jazeera)

Trudeau’s Jamaica vacation cost far more than same trip the year before (CBC)

October 7: Forensic analysis shows Hamas abuses, many false Israeli claims (Al Jazeera)

Donald Trump to make $3.4bn if shareholders back plan to float Trump Media (The Guardian)

Sonia Gandhi says India PM Modi using tax office to cripple opposition (BBC)

Pig kidney transplanted into living person for first time (CNN)

Eleven pro-nuclear member states back declaration at landmark conference (euronews)

Apple lawsuit: US accuses tech giant of monopolising smartphone market (BBC)

U.S. home sales jumped 9.5% in February (The Wall Street Journal) ($)

THE COMMENTARIAT

Cleaner cars a politically charged driving test for Chris Bowen — Phillip Coorey (The AFR): “With the bonus of such cars having great towing capacity and being multipurpose, it is little wonder that the Ford Ranger, Toyota Hi-Lux and Isuzu D-Max were respectively the top-selling cars in Australia in 2023. Which, in turn, was always going to make the introduction of the NVES politically charged, by effectively branding the drivers of such vehicles as climate criminals. Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen has felt the wrath of the car industry before, when during his brief stint as treasurer at the fag end of the Rudd/Gillard government, he tried unsuccessfully to curtail the use of novated leases.

“With the NVES, Bowen, along with Transport Minister Catherine King, is implementing a long-overdue policy to ensure the transport sector does its bit to reduce emissions and help the nation reach its targets. It was always going to be sensitive, but the starting point from a strong reliance on heavy vehicles has made it even more so. The challenges are cost and capability … The Coalition drew up plans for an NVES under then minister Paul Fletcher but never proceeded due to internal resistance. When Fletcher drew up his policy in 2016, it was supposed to start in 2020, thus giving the industry four years to prepare. The transition would not have been so onerous.”

Australian PMs did OK under Trump Mark 1. Could Albanese manage Trump Mark 2? — Michelle Grattan (The Conversation): “Both sides of politics frequently put former politicians into the US ambassadorship, and they can be particularly effective in the Washington jungle. They can get good access in political circles and they have the ear of their political masters back home. In recent years Kim Beazley (former Labor leader), Joe Hockey (former Liberal treasurer) and Arthur Sinodinos (former Liberal minister) have all served Australia extremely well in Washington. Hockey was able to get an ‘in’ with the Trump camp before he was elected, and used some golf diplomacy to build a relationship with the president himself.

“Rudd was a controversial appointment, even within Labor. But his background, both as a former PM and foreign minister and an expert in international relations and notably on China, well qualified him for the post. He has so far met its key performance indicators, especially in the lobbying required to get support to implement AUKUS (an ongoing task, incidentally). Predictions he’d shoot his mouth off have, so far, been off the mark. How well Rudd would go if there were a Trump administration is unknowable. Not as well as Hockey did probably. But likely well enough; he should have the skills and contacts to work around some of the obstacles he’d face. The bigger and broader question is how the Albanese government would manage a Trump presidency.”

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WHAT’S ON TODAY

Kulin Nation Country (also known as Melbourne)

• Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto will speak at the state’s Rural Press Club.

Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)

• Author Brydie Lee-Kennedy will speak about her new book, Go Lightly, at Better Read Than Dead bookshop.