‘Final solution’ speech condemned

‘FINAL SOLUTION’ CONDEMNED

Politicians from across most major Australian parties have condemned Queensland senator Fraser Anning’s first speech to Parliament, in which he called for a ban on Muslim migration to Australia and described a popular vote on non-European migrants as “the final solution to the immigration problem”.

The ABC reports that Labor MP Tony Burke delivered a speech to the lower house condemning Anning’s “bile” against Muslim Australians, the invoking of Nazi Germany’s “final solution”, and the lack of bipartisan denigration of recent white supremacist rhetoric. Many other politicians slammed the speech, including Labor Senate leader Penny Wong, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, and Greens leader Richard Di Natale, while Anning has since defended the term “final solution” as interchangeable with the “ultimate solution”.

As Burke noted, Anning’s comments follow weeks of toxic commentary on immigration, from Andrew Bolt decrying Chinese, Cambodian, Indian and Jewish communities “changing our culture” to Tony Abbott comparing Australia’s acceptance of African migrants to “storing up trouble for ourselves”, to Sky News asking for commentary on Muslim immigration from a fascist.

FIGHT FOR THE NEG

Ten Coalition MPs are reserving their right to cross the floor of parliament to vote against the National Energy Guarantee, potentially forcing Turnbull to rely on Labor to pass the policy.

The Australian ($) reports that, after the Coalition partyroom passed the NEG despite some sniping from the backbench, the Prime Minister held crisis talks with five of the rebel MPs and is understood to be considering a price guarantee, separate from the emissions and reliability targets, to allay concerns over the policy’s effectiveness on costs.

Elsewhere, The Age reports that Labor-led states have still not been provided sufficient modelling or responses to their concerns over the NEG, while Turnbull has voiced his support for a new coal-fired power station taking advantage of the “NEG-plus” underwriting new dispatchable generation.

ANDREWS KICKS OFF

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews will mark today’s State of the State event by promising “the biggest public transport building program in Australian history” if the state Labor government is re-elected in November. The Age reports that, 100 days out of the state poll, Andrews will also take aim at the privatisation of Victoria’s energy market.

In related news, The Herald Sun ($) reports that Turnbull is willing to potentially add billions to the Commonwealth’s existing promise of $1.75 billion for the North East Link and $3 billion to the East West (assuming it ever gets past the planning stage).

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THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

There will be no buggy parking at the helipad.

The Great Barrier Reef Foundation

The controversial foundation celebrates nearly half a billion dollars by bringing mining and banking executives to a clearly sub-par tour of Hamilton Island.

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

NEG on his face: Turnbull’s energy win shows Abbott for a foolBernard Keane

“Tony Abbott’s desperate effort to channel John Howard in his opposition to the National Energy Guarantee (NEG) today demonstrates just how desperate the former PM is in the face of party room indifference to his hysteria. His declaration ‘we will control what happens in this country and the circumstances under which it happens,’ didn’t even have the cut-though ring of Howard’s original line, and was spoken on the eve of a party room victory for the Prime Minister.”

Boris Johnson’s burqa imbroglio sums up UK politicsGuy Rundle

“Has Boris blown it? Or is he a step closer to Number 10? Boris, being Johnson of course — BoJo, the shambling blond Etonian, Tory rat, and serial incompetent whose appeal to large sections of the British middle and working-class (‘well, he’s a bit of a lad, innee? Says what he thinks! Not stuck up like the rest of ’em, arrgghhhhhhh.’) — is a cause of everlasting despair to everyone trying to defend the idea of democracy, least not from their own dark thoughts.”

The secret to taking your mind off civilisation’s inevitable decayHelen Razer

“The world, as we know, is largely down the lav. I may often remind you of this state in print, but I am wont to forget it regularly in life. I urge you to do this as well. We must not gaze too long into the neoliberal sewer of the present. Before it gazes back, we must practise what a youngster might call ‘self-care’, or what I call ‘disavowal of the devastating truth’. You may choose your delusion as a craft, novel or physical exercise. I prefer mine served on china.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

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Nine slams Facebook over ads impersonating TV stars

Emotional euthanasia debate in parliament

Chief Minister Michael Gunner vows to fight latest Don Dale lawsuit ($)

Prison advocacy group founded by former inmate discovers unauthorised transactions

Not been to the Ekka in 10 years? Here’s what’s changed since 2008

No break for drought-hit areas as new research points to warmer years

Barngarla People seeking Supreme Court injunction to halt Kimba vote on nuclear waste facility ($)

Trump calls former White House aide Omarosa a ‘dog’, launches court action

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Canberra

• WA man Aaron Cockman will meet with Health Minister Greg Hunt to warn of the potentially devastating consequences of court involvement in family separation after his wife and children were murdered by his former father-in-law.

• Indigenous researchers and advisers from the National Environmental Science Program will present on a variety of topics as part of a National Science Week event at Questacon.

• Chief Creative Officer at PwC Australia and chair of the Australian Film Television and Radio School Russel Howcroft will present at the National Press Club.

• The Cattle Council of Australia will hold an annual gala event for the “Cattle Council NAB Agribusiness Rising Champions”.

• Social researcher and author Hugh Mackay will present “The State of the Nation Starts Right Here”, a discussion of social fragmentation, for the 2018 Annual Burgmann Lecture.

Melbourne

• Premier Daniel Andrews will give a keynote address at the 2018 State of the State event on plans for Victoria’s economic development.

• A banking royal commission hearing on superannuation will hear more from CBA’s Colonial First State, followed by witnesses from Catholic Super and ANZ/OnePath including ANZ’s head of superannuation.

• Victorian Minister for Sport, Tourism and Major Events John Eren will join Fed Square CEO Jonathan Tribe to unveil a new state-of-the-art digital screen at Fed Square.

• The design for a $2 billion-plus Southbank site, set to be Australia’s tallest tower, will be revealed at a press call.

• Sci-fi author Isobelle Carmody and CSIRO’s Dr Katherine Wynn will discuss “Fact vs Fiction: What will the future hold?” for National Science Week.

Sydney

• NSW Chief Cancer Officer and CEO of the Cancer Institute Professor David Currow will present “How Cancer Outcomes Can Continue to Improve” at state parliament.

• Activists will hold a “Protest to Defend Your Right to Protest” event, aimed at recent state LNP legislation banning protests on public land, with Greens MP David Shoebridge set to appear.

• Former Greens’ leader Bob Brown will present “The Battle for the Environment” for UNSW’s Jack Beale Lecture and National Science Week.

Adelaide

• UK billionaire Sanjeev Gupta and Premier Steven Marshall will turn the first sod at Cultana Solar Farm at Whyalla.

• Adelaide Airport Managing Director Mark Young and Watpac Construction SA State Manager Tim Tape will launch construction on Adelaide Airport’s $165 million terminal expansion.

• The Centre for Cancer Biology will hold a panel discussion on “The Future of Cancer Research in Australia” for National Science Week.

Brisbane

• Today is Ekka show day.

• The “It Takes a Spark” conference will connect female students and industry role models as part of National Science Week.

Darwin

• Astronomer Geoff Carr will hold a laser-guided sky-watching session as part of National Science Week.

• Artists Paul McDermott and Steven Gates will hold a live show as part of the Darwin Festival.

Perth

• The Cancer Council Western Australia will hold a roadshow event in Northam.

• Switch Your Thinking will hold a workshop on climate science and adaptation as part of National Science Week.

Hobart

• The Female Convicts Research Centre’s Colette McAlpine will present “Convict: NSW, Norfolk Island, and Van Diemen’s Land” as part of National Family History Month.

• The University of Tasmania will host a community leaders’ panel discussion on “Ethics and Leadership in Volunteering”.

Australia

• Woodside, IAG, Fairfax Media, Wesfarmers and CSL will declare their annual results.

India

• Today is India Independence Day.

THE COMMENTARIAT

Banking royal commission exposes secret fees you’re paying on super ($) — Karen Maley (The Australian Financial Review): “It’s hard to think of a subject with less intrinsic sex appeal than the administration fees charged by super funds. Even those admirable souls who possess sufficient self-discipline to monitor their super savings accounts tend to focus their attention on investment performance, rather than attempting the dreary task of trying to work out what fees they’re being slugged with.”

Napoleon would not rate Malcolm Turnbull — Nicholas Stuart (Sydney Morning Herald): “Our Prime Minister has all the successful qualities of the superb barrister he once was. Once given an issue he prosecutes it brilliantly, and that’s the problem. It’s almost as if he doesn’t understand that the real aim of politics is to create solutions. Instead he’s far too busy, attempting to wring every last piece of partisan advantage from any given situation and, as a result, missing the opportunity to rise, statesman-like above the fray.”

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