NOVEMBER 23, 2019

GIVE THE GIFT OF CRIKEY | TIP OFF | VIEW IN BROWSER

This week we looked beyond the evident strains of climate change denialism in public discourse to the question of why — examining how the conversation got so poisonous, and how it stays that way. The short answer? Money.

Elsewhere, David Hardaker looked further in the prime minister’s use of a phrase associated with the far-right QAnon conspiracy theory, Georgia Wilkins took us inside the billion-dollar robo-debt recovery industry, and Justine Landis-Hanley explained how the government’s new Ensuring Intergrity Bill is yet another assault on the right to strike in this country.

As always, we’d love to know what you thought of the week’s news. Write to boss@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name if you’d like to be considered for publication.

The resilience of high-powered denialism

Climate denialism is bought and paid for by a rotten political system

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

The persistence of climate denialism in Australian politics reflects the wealth of mining and energy companies prepared to use a deeply flawed political system to wield power.

Climate polls suggest most Australians are ‘raving inner-city elites’

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 2 minute read

The Coalition would like us to believe that climate change is only a concern for a hysterical group of fringe-dwellers. But polling data says otherwise.

Rupert claims there are no climate deniers at News Corp

STEPHEN MAYNE 4 minute read

So does that make him a denialism denialist?

PM defied his own expert panel during apology speech to child sex abuse survivors

DAVID HARDAKER 4 minute read

Scott Morrison's use of the term "ritual sex abuse" — a term associated with the extremist QAnon conspiracy movement — appears to run counter to advice given to him by survivors and government-appointed experts.

AAT set for shake-up following Inq investigation

DAVID HARDAKER and JUSTINE LANDIS-HANLEY 3 minute read

The government is set to address AAT appointments following Inq's revelations of partisan stacking.

$500m splash on the War Memorial will help soldiers’ stress? Really?

“

Curious, too, that, in talking about the project, [Brendan] Nelson mentioned Afghanistan but not Iraq, where Australia has been involved, on and off, since 2003. How will Australia’s participation in the illegal attack on Iraq (which Nelson himself admitted was about oil) based on a lie by politicians, be commemorated in the new building? Will the sloppy, politically-determined nature of the deployment of ADF personnel to Iraq be accurately portrayed? — Bernard Keane

The government is using veterans’ PTSD to justify a wasteful expansion of the War Memorial in the name of military glorification.

Inside the debt-collecting machine that’s chasing billions from people on government benefits

GEORGIA WILKINS 4 minute read

The debt collection industry is netting millions of dollars' worth of government contracts — yet, there appears to be little accountability for their behaviour in chasing robo-debts.

Credlin and Co cock up Harvey Norman counter-attack

STEPHEN MAYNE 4 minute read

News Corp brought out the big guns after a proxy firm advised that Stephen Mayne be voted onto the Harvey Norman board. Too bad they couldn't shoot straight.

Westpac’s outrages point to a deep cultural malaise in Australian capitalism

BERNARD KEANE and GLENN DYER 4 minute read

Westpac is at the very heart of the Australian economy and Australian politics. Austrac's allegations about money laundering reveal something rotten inside it.

The spin doctor, the gossip columnist and a whole swag of juicy Afterpay options

STEPHEN MAYNE 4 minute read

Sydney PR consultant Brett Clegg has made close to $800,000 on employee options in the booming buy-now-pay-later outfit Afterpay. There's nothing illegal about it, but the optics aren't good.

Guess who’s back…

JEFF SPARROW 4 minute read

Disgraced alt-right golden boy Milo Yiannopoulos has rebranded as the new leader of young Christian conservatives known as 'Groypers'.

Both left and right miss the point in Folau furore

“

[The right] really are utter, utter cowards aren’t they? They’ll pick up and use anyone for 15 minutes and then disappear them down the memory hole when need be. And need be great at the moment, because of course [Israel] Folau’s fundamentalism is adjacent to ScoMo’s religiosity — the one he has come to use effectively in generating a sense of purpose that Labor is quite unable to do. — Guy Rundle

The latest upset surrounding comments by Israel Folau has once again revealed the left’s tabloidism and the right’s hypocrisy.

The spin doctor, the gossip columnist and a whole swag of juicy Afterpay options

STEPHEN MAYNE 4 minute read

The government is using veterans' PTSD to justify a wasteful expansion of the War Memorial in the name of military glorification.

Lambie sells out her voters

GUY RUNDLE 4 minute read

If Lambie is purporting to represent the non-elites, and Tasmania, and especially northern Tasmania, then hobbling union power is a hell of a way to go about it.

Assange extradition battle could cause an international mess for Australia

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN, AMBER SCHULTZ and BERNARD KEANE 3 minute read

Is an extremely large, uncomfortable, embarrassing international dilemma about to land in the lap of the Morrison government?

Shame File: the biggest bank blunders since the royal commission

AMBER SCHULTZ 3 minute read

Westpac has allegedly breached anti-terrorism and counter-money laundering laws more than 23 million times. And that's just the beginning...

The government bill that could end workplace strikes as we know them

JUSTINE LANDIS-HANLEY 2 minute read

The government's desire to stifle union dissent is once again on full display.

China Matters, especially for big business

BERNARD KEANE 3 minute read

Sections of Australian business would like there to be less criticism of China and more "nuance" and "soundness" in debate. But their latest attempt to tamp down criticism blew up, thanks to Beijing.