SSM POSTAL PLEBSCITE REACTION BEGINS

Following the widely expected failure of the reintroduced plebiscite legislation to pass the Senate yesterday, plans are beginning to move forward with plan B — a voluntary, non-binding postal vote conducted by the troubled Australian Bureau of Statistics. In the event of a majority yes result, MPs would be allowed a free vote on the matter. In the result of a no vote, the government would block any attempts at a future vote on the matter. This policy isn’t making many people happy.

Before the bill was defeated, Labor Senator Penny Wong voiced her concerns about the vitriol the plebiscite campaign had already led to: “The Australian Christian lobby described our children as the stolen generation. It is not a unifying moment. It is exposing our children to that kind of hatred.”

She and many others will not be relieved by the news that, as the plebiscite will be conducted by the ABS and not the Australian Electoral Commission, the usual safeguards around malicious campaign material will not be in place.

But church leaders aren’t happy either, with The Australian reporting that leaders in the Anglican and Catholic churches have written to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull demanding any same-sex marriage bill be made public before a vote is conducted.

“This timeframe is inappropriately short, particularly given there remain a number of un­resolved questions concerning the postal plebiscite process,”Anglican ­Archbishop Glenn Davies wrote.

KOREA CRISIS 

The war of words between North Korea and the US continues to escalate, with North Korea singling out the US territory of Guam, warning of a strike that would cover the Pacific island in “an enveloping fire”. Guam hosts US military personnel as well as bombers capable of carrying a nuclear payload to North Korea.

Despite US President Donald Trump warning of “fire and fury” and Defence Secretary James Mattis saying North Korea was risking the “end of its regime and the destruction of its people”, analysts still believe conflict between the powers is unlikely, though not impossible, as North Korea seeks acceptance as a nuclear power.

US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson is using more measured language than Trump — whose “fire and fury” line was delivered off the cuff — saying he does not believe war is imminent.

In Australia, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has described the threats coming from North Korea as an “existential threat” to Australia, while Malcolm Turnbull has encouraged the continuation of sanctions, which were recently increased by the UN Security Council.

LET YOUR CONSCIENCE BE YOUR GUY

Embattled Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy is digging in, refusing to resign over his dinner with alleged mobster Tony Madafferi and three of his relatives. However, Barrie Macmillan, the Liberal Party official caught on damning secret tapes apparently conspiring with alleged Mafia associates to funnel funds to the Liberal Party (in small enough portions to avoid reporting requirements), has fallen on his sword. According to The Australian Macmillan was “told to quit his role as secretary of the party’s Dunkley Federal Electoral Conference and as vice chairman of the party’s Hastings State Electoral Conference” by Victorian Liberal director Simon Frost and duly did so.

This is unlikely to draw any kind of line under the saga for Guy, however, with several outlets reporting that Frank Lamattina attended a $2000-a-head Liberal Party fundraiser in June, muddyingGuy’s claims that none of the guests at the dinner had recently donated to the Liberal Party.

Despite this, Fairfax reports several senior Liberals remain steadfast in their backing of Guy — but not all of them want to go on the record.

HE REALLY SAID THAT

“I have always thought that I was British, that I was Australian, always thought that I was Australian.” That’s One Nation Senator (for now) Malcolm Roberts at a press conference yesterday, where the party announced it would be referring the vexed issue of whether he was a dual citizen at the time of nomination, and thus ineligible, to the High Court. “His story has changed more times than I’ve changed underpants,” said Greens leader Richard Di Natale, who must be ruing the fact that former Greens senators Larissa Waters and Scott Ludlam didn’t think to simply choose to believe they weren’t dual citizens before resigning.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

King of the Cross brother Michael Ibrahim ‘ran $1bn plot’

Children’s Court bid to gag victims of youth thugs

Car industry complaints to ACCC exceed 10,000 in past two years

Energy executives tell Turnbull they aren’t interested in prolonging life of coal plants

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Canberra: Foreign Minister Julie Bishop to address to the Industry Meets Canberra Breakfast.

Brisbane: Virgin Australia chief executive officer John Borghetti and chief financial officer Geoff Smith will brief media on Virgin Australia’s financial results for the 2017 financial year.

Sydney: MasterChef judge George Calombaris is expected to enter a plea after being charged with assault for allegedly shoving a 19-year-old football fan at the A-League grand final in Sydney. 

THE COMMENTARIAT

Australians to the fore if North Korea conflict erupts — Greg Sheridan (The Australian $): “If there is war on the Korean Peninsula, Australia will be involved from day one. We are a party to the ceasefire that brought a halt to the Korean War in 1953.”

A postal vote is a silly idea, but polling voters makes sense — Judith Ireland (Sydney Morning Herald): “The irony is that under different circumstances, something like the postal vote could be just what we need to refresh the political system. Voters would feel more engaged if they thought their opinions formed a legitimate part of the decision-making process.”

Dodgy from the start: don’t blame Turnbull for Labor’s flawed NBN — Peter Martin (The Age): “There’s nothing inherent in the NBN that’s strangling its speed and giving customers grief; it’s inherent in the pricing model it adopted to make it look as if it could make money.” 

THE WORLD

Eighteen defendants have been convicted for a range of sexual offences relating to girls as young as 14 in Newcastle, England. The case has drawn major attention in the UK because of the scale of the abuse and the fact most of the offenders were of south Asian and Middle Eastern backgrounds. — BBC

Kenya’s main opposition figure Raila Odinga has rejected the country’s election result as a “fraud”. Odinga alleges the poll was hacked to the advantage of incumbent and eventual winner Uhuru Kenyatta. An EU observer mission in the country said it would investigate the allegation. — The Guardian

A man believed to have rammed his car into French soldiers in Paris has been shot and arrested after fleeing in the vehicle. No officers were killed by attack, which French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said was deliberate. It is the 15th attack on French troops in the last two-and-a-half years. — Reuters

WHAT WE’RE READING

North Korea v the US: how likely is war? (The Guardian): “But despite two unpredictable nuclear-armed leaders trading barbs, most observers believe the possibility of conflict remains remote, with the North Korean leadership using its nuclear program as a bargaining chip rather than an offensive weapon.”

When Silicon Valley took over journalism (The Atlantic): “Over the past generation, journalism has been slowly swallowed. The ascendant media companies of our era don’t think of themselves as heirs to a great ink-stained tradition. Some like to compare themselves to technology firms. This redefinition isn’t just a bit of fashionable branding. As Silicon Valley has infiltrated the profession, journalism has come to unhealthily depend on the big tech companies, which now supply journalism with an enormous percentage of its audience—and, therefore, a big chunk of its revenue.”

‘Gene drives’ could wipe out whole populations of pests in one fell swoop (The Conversation): “Our results show that this strategy can work. We predict that a single introduction of just 100 mice carrying a gene drive could eradicate a population of 50,000 mice within four to five years.”

Bill Murray relives a role, seeing Broadway’s ‘Groundhog Day’ (New York Times): “Mr. Murray exhibited a range of emotions throughout the night. At first, it was quirky one-liners to gleeful fans who suddenly recognised him. There were gestures and guffaws during the first act. But by the end of the performance, Mr. Murray was visibly sobbing” 

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