NAURU DEFIES COURT ORDER
Nauru’s government has defied a court order to block the medical evacuation of a refugee requiring urgent treatment for post-traumatic stress and a major depressive order, with a senior Nauruan official claiming her case is not convincingly urgent.
According to the ABC, a Federal Court hearing last night found the failure to transfer the woman left Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and the Australian government in breach of court orders made on Monday, and the woman will now reportedly be transported on a commercial flight on Friday.
The news comes as Nauru closes out a tumultuous Pacific Islands Forum today, during which President Baron Waqa blasted China’s top diplomat for “insolence” and bullying, countries signed a climate “threat” declaration, while island leaders called on the US to return to its Paris commitments, and New Zealand journalist Barbara Dreaver was detained while trying to interview refugees.
VIC BURN BOOK
A document dump ordered by Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews against Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has included personal details of a Victorian lawyer. The Herald Sun ($) reports that the woman’s medical history, financial details, and daughter’s name and birthdate were included in a financial advice document released as part of the state government’s 80,000 page file dump on Monday.
The government had previously defended its decision to release files on Guy’s history as planning minister, which showed he had spent millions of public money to settle a confidential planning lawsuit over fears taking it to court would have cost him his job.
LOCKDOWN LOOMS
A union protest against the South Australian government’s privatisation agenda as part of the 18/19 budget could send prisons around the state into lockdown. The ABC reports that hundreds are expected to march from the Adelaide Remand Centre to Parliament after plans to outsource the management of the centre were revealed in Tuesday’s budget.
The Public Service Association’s Neville Kitchin has accused the government of not consulting with the union or its members before making the announcement, while Corrections Minister Corey Wingard has said staff will be guaranteed jobs elsewhere and asked the group to reconsider in a hasty press conference last night.
[free_worm]
THEY REALLY SAID THAT?
There has been some bizarre criticisms about the quickness that one of these cases was determined by the minister. I would have thought we should all be celebrating that the department and the minister can make quick decisions rather than keeping someone in detention unnecessarily.
Eric Abetz
Just over a week before families on Nauru enter their sixth year of detention, the Liberal senator celebrates Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton‘s priorities during the au pair inquiry.
CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY
“Does Scott Morrison really want to go there with the CFMMEU? Deregister a union for a deleted tweet? That makes News Corp’s holy war against Yassmin Abdel-Magied for a deleted Anzac Day post look positively restrained. A social media-based industrial relations policy, to go with ‘fair dinkum power’ (the official new term for dispatchable power, to distinguish it from unAustralian renewable power), and the flag lapel pin to remind people of how he reminds himself he’s on voters’ side: the eccentricities of Morrison’s vision for Australia are mounting up.”
“‘Massive kudos.’ ‘Interview of the year.’ ‘Legendary.’ Such were the gifts from the workers to their queen. The Monday night buzz in legacy media was for Four Corners and its majesty. Sarah Ferguson’s ‘match up’ with Steve Bannon was not ‘gobsmackingly’ good. It was a smack to the gob of good sense. Still, some journalists saw ‘strength’ in Ferguson. Me? I saw a soft-tissue massage.”
“The ABC has embarked on another cringeworthy attempt to improve the dismal view staff have of its management, offering prizes and events for staff who ‘demonstrate the ABC Principles’. In an email to staff on Tuesday, managing director Michelle Guthrie introduced a new ‘recognition program’ where staff will be able to nominate ‘an individual or team who demonstrate the ABC principles and deserve acknowledgement for their outstanding work’.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Shutdown of government spending on infrastructure hinders economy ($)
Santos boss berates federal government for ‘populist’ approach to energy policy
‘Relief and disgust’: Hamze Ibrahim’s family attacked online as Paramedics Association apologises
Tasmanian Treasurer Peter Gutwein hails new figures showing strong economic growth ($)
Denmark shuts out leader of imams, Sheikh Shady Alsuleiman ($)
Tony Abbott’s budget barnacles: the full list of dumped policies
NT Airports land $300m expansion bonus, including $150m NAIF loan ($)
Fears Antarctic is the new frontier for China’s military ($)
THE COMMENTARIAT
I am part of the resistance inside the Trump administration — Anonymous (The New York Times) “President Trump is facing a test to his presidency unlike any faced by a modern American leader … The dilemma — which he does not fully grasp — is that many of the senior officials in his own administration are working diligently from within to frustrate parts of his agenda and his worst inclinations. I would know. I am one of them.”
Stopping the divisions at least as hard as stopping the boats ($) — Niki Savva (The Australian): “The elites have mocked his religion while the hard right warns he has to dump Paris and cut immigration. Or else. Meanwhile, ordinary people wait to see more of who he is, what drives him and what will change. Leaked details of higher infrastructure spending, more small business tax cuts and additional school funding to placate Catholics are legacies of the Turnbull era — which, as Morrison knows, only confounds people still asking: what was the point?”
Time to limit ministerial discretion in the immigration system — Shawn Rajanayagam (Sydney Morning Herald): “Peter Dutton’s use of ministerial discretion to grant visas to two foreign au pairs raises large questions about the propriety of his actions as minister for immigration. But, more importantly, the ongoing debate presents Parliament with an opportunity to introduce real limits on ministerial discretion in the immigration system so as to prevent those discretions from being used inequitably and unfairly.”
We fact-checked The Daily Telegraph’s rubbish about “gender whisperers” and trans kids — Sam Langford (Junkee): “This morning, Prime Minister Scott Morrison tweeted a bizarre statement. ‘We do not need ‘gender whisperers’ in our schools,’ he wrote. ‘Let kids be kids’. He then linked to an article published by the Daily Telegraph, which claims that as a result of some school teachers receiving training to help them identify and support transgender kids, there has somehow been a sudden spike in kids receiving ‘irreversible surgeries’ and other miscellaneous harms.”
HOLD THE FRONT PAGE
WHAT’S ON TODAY
Albury, NSW
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Scott Morrison will speak on returning to Menzies-era values in his first headland address as prime minister at a community forum.
Adelaide
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SA Opposition Leader Peter Malinauskas is expected to give his budget reply speech in parliament.
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Host of The Airport Economist TV show and author Tim Harcourt will present at a UniSA Business School “View from the Top” event.
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The Adelaide Sustainable Building Network will launch the latest edition of its guide to South Australian providers for sustainable built environments, the ASBN Green Book.
Sydney
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Day six of NSW budget estimates will hear from Minister for Mental Health, Women, and Ageing Tanya Davies; Minister for Innovation and Better Regulation Matthew Kean; President of the Legislative Council John Ajaka MLC; Minister for Health and Medical Research Brad Hazzard; and Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
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The Catholic Bishops of Australia will call on governments and the community to address growing rates of homelessness in Australia.
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Deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek will speak with UTS Deputy Vice-Chancellor Shirley Alexander at a McKell Institute event.
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Guugu Yimidhirr lawyer and activist Noel Pearson will present UNSW Law’s 2018 Hal Wootten Lecture.
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Parliamentary Secretary to the NSW Premier and Treasurer Jonathan O’Dea and Chairman of Vantage Asia Holdings Jason Li will deliver keynotes at Australia China Business Council’s forum “Building Business Infrastructure to Grow in China”, to be followed by a expert panel discussion.
Melbourne
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The Australian Services Union will rally outside 1 Treasury Place over what it says is a mental health crisis as community services are defunded amid the NDIS rollout.
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The Joint Standing committee on electoral matters will hold a public hearing to see whether 16 and 17-year-olds should be given the vote.
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Melbourne man Andrew Nolch will face court for defacing a memorial to Eurydice Dixon.
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Representatives for 66 Records will speak at a press conference about the brawl involving up to 200 youths early Sunday morning following the record launch at Collingwood’s Gasometer Hotel.
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Maribyrnong Council will hold a community meeting to discuss the recent West Footscray fire.
Brisbane
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Queensland Parliament will formally confirm Senator Larissa Waters, ahead of her being re-sworn into the Senate in Canberra on Monday.
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Day one of the four-day Brisbane Writers’ Festival.
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QATSICPP will host the inaugural Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Controlled Child Protection Awards.
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Biomedical illustrator Madeleine Kersting Flynn will present a keynote at the Australian Science Communicators’ exhibition event “Art Lab: Where science and art collide”.
Darwin
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Dementia Australia will hold a “Small Actions, Big Difference” roadshow for Dementia Awareness Month 2018.
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Day one of the Darwin Street Art Festival, set to run until Sunday September 16.
Bendigo, Victoria
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Motorcycle Riders Association and Loved Ones of Victims of Road Crashes will rally for more to be done to prevent country crashes.
Canberra
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Governor General Sir Peter Cosgrove will invest 99 recipients of the 2018 Queen’s birthday honours in three ceremonies at Government House.
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Director of Arizona State University’s Centre for Negative Carbon Emissions Professor Klaus Lackner will present “Cleaning up our carbon dioxide waste: technologies to achieve global climate targets” as part of the Elizabeth & Frederick White Conference 2018.
Perth
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Director of the UWA Centre for Software Practice Dr David Glance will present “The secret agent’s guide to staying safe online” at the City of Perth Library.
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Edith Cowan University’s Office of Research and Innovation will launch partnership program Innodate and research lab Des_rupt Lab.
Hobart
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EnergyLab will hold an expert panel event discussion on “The Future of Energy in Tassie: Electrified Transport”.
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NAPCAN will host this year’s National Child Protection Week Tasmanian event.
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SBS & NITV broadcasters will present their commissioning slate and ambitions for 2018/19 at a Screen Tasmania event.
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A “Science in the Pub” panel event will discuss “How does science help us manage the sea-land interface?”.
“Daniel Andrews’ document dump runs into serious trouble” – Yes, just like when all the people turned on the Liberal Party in outrage when Alan Tudge used that woman’s private information to get back at her for criticising him.
No, while I think it’s pretty crappy of the government to not make the effort to have a team go through and redact at least the most grossly obvious privacy breaches, I struggle to see this as “serious trouble”, especially as Fairfax today is running a story demonstrating that Guy and his cohorts just lied their asses off about the legal costs of the case (being their excuse for the settlement). I reckon Guy is still the one in serious trouble. Reckon you’ve spun in the wrong direction there.