Crikey Worm: Hastie names major donor in bribe scandal

MAJOR POLITICAL DONOR NAMED IN BRIBE SCANDAL

A Liberal MP has named one of Australia’s most active political donors as a co-conspirator responsible for bribing a former president of the UN general assembly.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Minister Andrew Hastie, under parliamentary privilege, last night identified billionaire Chau Chak Wing as both closely associated with China’s lobbying arm and the unindicted “CC-3″(co-conspirator 3), alleged in an FBI court case to have funded a US$200,000 (AU$263,000) bribe to UN official John Ashe in 2013. This marks the first time Chau, a generous donor to both major Australian parties, has been named as CC-3. He has strongly denied the allegations.

In other Australia-China news, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi has said Australia needs to remove its “tinted glasses” (aka Western bias) and “translate its words into concrete actions” if it wants to improve recent tensions between the countries. Wang’s comments follow a meeting with Julie Bishop at a G20 foreign ministers’ conference in Argentina, and contrast Bishop’s relatively upbeat take on the exchange.

MANUS REFUGEE DIES IN APPARENT SUICIDE

Police on Manus Island have reported that a Rohingya man has died in an apparent suicide, becoming the seventh person sent there under Australia’s offshore policies to die on the island. 

The ABC reports that the unnamed man jumped from a moving bus around 11am yesterday, and had been treated for both mental and physical conditions such as epilepsy since being detained in 2013. Human rights groups including the UN have expressed their condolences and criticised conditions on the island, while the Department of Home Affairs has issued a statement referring the matter to PNG authorities.

Elsewhere in immigration, head of Home Affairs Michael Pezzullo has been accused of a cover up over Peter Dutton’s use of ministerial discretion in granting visas to two au pairs. Also, New Zealand’s immigration minister has said Australia could block any Manus and Nauru detainees his country accepts from travelling back across the Tasman, reiterating his government’s support in ending what for some has now been five years of offshore detention.

Lifeline 13 11 14; Beyond Blue 1300 22 46 36; Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467

NORTH KOREA SUMMIT “MAY NOT WORK OUT”

US President Donald Trump believes there is a “substantial chance” an historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will not take place as planned on June 12, amid pushback from Kim and fears the country is not genuinely committed to denuclearisation.

The ABC reports that Trump has cautioned the date might not work out and said, “that’s ok; that doesn’t mean it won’t work out over a period of time”. This comes following North Korea’s change in tone over the issue of denuclearisation last week and talks with South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who flew to Washington to urge the government not to let the rare chance to negotiate with North Korea slip away.

THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

MC: I know that you always like channeling Senator Hanson.

PW: That’s a little offensive. She thinks people like me were swamping Australia. 

Mathias Cormann and Penny Wong

A clash in Budget Estimates yesterday over who loves Pauline Hanson more. Wong certainly had a lot more to say on the matter.

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

Longman claims its first victim as Hanson backflips again on taxBernard Keane

“The government is correct to hope that Pauline Hanson’s backflip on her backflip on company tax cuts — now opposed again, One Nation’s original position — won’t be her last. Hanson’s reversal isn’t due to any ideological reason or based on evidence — such as, for example, the fact that the Trump corporate tax cuts are flowing almost entirely into share buybacks and dividends — but because of the looming by-elections, and particularly that in Longman.”

Razer: the Duchess of Sussex is a breath of recycled airHelen Razer

“All last week, British media were bound by British mania to report every scrap of news with any royal wedding odour at all. The Times called on ‘plant experts’ to assess the toxicity of the royal wedding cake. The BBC documented the work of an unauthorised royal wedding cake baker who’d sculpted bride and groom in sponge. Several outlets reported that UK Opposition Leader Jeremy Corbyn would not be free to watch the stately alienation on TV. None did so, however, with the passion of Murdoch rag, The Sun.”

Four times Labor rolled over on draconian national security legislationChris Woods

“News that the Coalition aims to give police the power to demand ID papers at airports came as a significant blow to Australian civil rights last week. Defence is, after all, a Liberal issue, and when you look at what Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has done with the judiciary, people seeking asylum, and certain failed crackdowns on visa fraud, giving police the power to demand ID without proper cause just sounded like another step in the slow march to inevitable, absolute surveillance.”

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WHAT’S ON TODAY

Canberra

• Day three of Estimates will look at Communications (Communications Department, Australia Post, ACMA, ABC and SBS), Finance (ASC, Australian Naval Infrastructure, Future Fund Management Agency, Commonwealth Superannuation Corporation, Department of Finance), Legal and Constitutional Affairs (Australian Federal Police, Austrac, ACIC, Attorney General) and Rural/Regional Affairs (Dairy Australia Ltd, Landcare Australia Ltd, Meat and Livestock Australia Ltd and more).

• A ‘Women in Economics – 2018 Federal Post Budget Forum’ will be held at the National Press Club of Australia, with the Grattan Institute’s Danielle Wood, Deloitte Access Economics’s Lynne Pezzullo and Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University’s Dr Janine Dixon.

Adelaide

• British industrialist Sanjeev Gupta will speak at an energy storage conference.

• Bob Katter will join with Rebekha Sharkie to campaign for the upcoming by-election in Mayo.

• The Transport Workers’ Union will protest at Adelaide airport over poor pay and working conditions that affect safety and security. 

Melbourne

• The Victorian-branch of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation will meet with 200 nurses after Healthscope announced it will close Geelong Private Hospital and Cotham Private Hospital in coming weeks.

• The Banking Royal Commission will look at loans to buy franchise businesses that failed, involving ANZ, Westpac and Bank of Queensland.

• May Rental Affordability Index will provide a briefing on the severe implications of rental stress across Australia.

• Anglican Archbishop Philip Freier will discuss whether Australia needs a targeted anti-corruption body as part of an expert panel.

Brisbane

• The annual Pink Lady Luncheon will raise money to support the Breast Cancer Network Australia (BCNA), and feature guest speakers Marisa Vecchio AM, a former national CEO who now runs Brisbane’s historic Hanworth House and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016, and Stuart Diver, a Thredbo landslide survivor and BCNA ambassador who lost his wife to metastatic breast cancer in 2015.

Sydney

• Governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, Philip Lowe, will speak on the bank’s assessment of China’s economic performance and financial system, and the implications for Australia.

• Vivid Preview Week will visit Barangaroo & Darling Harbour.

Australia

• Organisers for a national Guiness World Record attempt for stargazing are hoping to get 30,000 people involved across the nation. Brisbane will form HQ for the event, with 5000 people expected including Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, and roughly 2000 people have registered to attend at The University of Sydney.

THE COMMENTARIAT

How NAPLAN could assess creativity and critical thinking — John Munro (The Conversation): “Recently, some have suggested critical thinking and problem-solving skills should be measured by NAPLAN, in line with other international tests. The ability to solve problems, generate creative outcomes and to analyse and evaluate are seen as key capabilities for living in the 21st century. Both national and state curricula and employment bodies argue these need to be taught. If they have a place in contemporary education, it makes sense their gradual acquisition and use by students be monitored and assessed as they progress through school.”

Banks and the franchise sector is a recipe for a right royal screw up — Adele Ferguson (The Sydney Morning Herald): “‘I had my kids paying my bills for me. That’s not what a mother does,’ Marion Messih told the royal commission into financial services. Messih is just one of thousands of victims of two industries: banks and franchising. In the $170 billion franchise industry stories abound of families losing their homes and life savings, struggling to pay bank loans after buying a franchise that didn’t work out, sometimes due to a flawed business model.”

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