Jeremy Corbyn

ELECTION IS GO

The UK is set to head to the polls, with Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn agreeing to back an early election bill as long it sets a date, ruling out the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.

The date is currently being debated in the House of Commons, with the government proposing December 12 and Labour pushing for December 9. Amendments seeking to grant 16- and 17-year-olds and EU nationals a vote were not approved. The Conservative Party is expected to win the election comfortably, regaining its majority and ratifying its Brexit deal. In less positive news for Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the government has been forced to melt down millions of commemorative Brexit coins, which listed the recently extended October 31 deadline.

‘VOICE TO GOVERNMENTS’

Minister for Indigenous Australians Ken Wyatt will today announce a co-design process for the Indigenous voice to parliament, reframing it as an “Indigenous voice to governments”. 

The government intends to convene a senior advisory group, co-chaired by Professors Tom Calma and Marcia Langton, to oversee the process. The government has already ruled out enshrining the voice in the constitution, as proposed in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, with Wyatt acknowledging “the contribution of the Uluru Statement and … the ideas that have flowed from it”. Langton is on the record arguing that the voice should be constitutionally enshrined rather than legislated, The Guardian reports.

CLEAN ENERGY BOOST

Prime Minister Scott Morrison will give clean energy a $1 billion boost ($), investing the money into the Clean Energy Finance Corporation in order to meet ­future energy pressures, The Australian reports.

The Grid Reliability Fund will be used to fund hydro, battery and gas projects, as well as upgrades to storage and transmission infrastructure, with an ­expectation that investments made under it will make a return. The funding cannot be used for new or upgraded coal-fired projects, and will not divert from the CEFC’s existing $10 billion allocation for clean ­energy projects. 

[free_worm]

THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

I think a lot of what’s said today about him is quite unfair, quite frankly. I think he was a man of his time. We’re judging him on 21st century morals.

Sir Michael Parkinson

The English broadcaster defends Captain Cook’s legacy, praising him as a self-made, Yorkshire man.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Taxpayers may face $230m bill to clean up toxic stockpiles

Police release images of two brothers hunted over Essex truck deaths

First home owners plan unlikely to help those in greatest need, say economists 

Grenfell Tower inquiry says London Fire Brigade’s decisions exacerbated death toll

Stop looking for even lower rates and start borrowing, RBA boss urges business

NSW youth justice system overhauled after riots

Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Joshua Wong disqualified from district elections

Unions back Anthony Albanese’s call for portable entitlements for gig economy workers

Lebanon’s PM Saad Hariri says he’s reached a ‘dead end,’ will resign

Working parents would gain thousands under childcare subsidy overhaul: KPMG

Foreign Affairs Minister rebukes China on human rights

Rush back in Hollywood spotlight ($)

Private health insurance: Review finds reforms failed and industry in a ‘death spiral’

Queensland to introduce campaign spending limits as part of integrity reform

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

The government’s game of drought roulette

Amber Schultz

Oct 29, 2019

3

“Even if we look at drought-declared areas (NSW, Queensland and SA state governments declare regions to be in drought, the rest of the country doesn’t), only one of the three regions to be awarded the most recent round of funding in NSW are in drought. Neither of the LGAs in South Australia are currently in drought. This isn’t to say the regions aren’t in need of funding — or rain. It just shows that, even using the government’s own loosely defined methodology, questions remain.  What’s the difference between these communities? Who they voted for at state and federal elections.”

Inside the Biloela family’s Christmas Island detention quarters

Rebekah Holt

Oct 29, 2019

9

“The family can no longer video call from their phones, because they are not given access to wi-fi, but they have described their accommodation to Crikey. They say the four family members currently all share one queen-sized bed. There is another room the toddlers could sleep in, but they say it is located in an adjacent cabin that makes it hard to easily hear or access the girls. They also say the room isn’t safe, as they have seen a scorpion and mosquitoes.”

Why is Home Affairs sticking its nose into online porn?

Bernard Keane

Oct 29, 2019

10

“The problems with the proposed UK scheme are the same ones that will bedevil any Australian equivalent: such a scheme will be trivially easy to evade with a VPN (like the current internet censorship scheme put in place at the behest of the copyright industry). It also relies on establishing a trove of potentially embarrassing personal information, with operators of pornography sites collecting identification data — or handing that same data to a government. Imagine Home Affairs having access to every pornography site visited on your family computer.”

THE COMMENTARIAT

Fine words but Albanese still failing to face up to some hard truths – Caitlin Fitzsimmons (The Age/Sydney Morning Herald): “It is terrific to see a political leader embracing the idea that the shift to a low-carbon economy can create opportunities for our national prosperity. However, Albanese’s promise that coal mining has a bright future is disingenuous. Rather than placate coal miners and their communities with an unrealistic view of the future, it would be better to start planning “just transition”. Albanese didn’t mention the term but it is used by his colleagues in the union movement. It describes a gradual, planned approach to the closure of environmentally destructive industries and replacement by new industries in a way that ensures social and economic fairness. The phrase is used when talking about the shift away from the mining and burning of fossil fuels, though it also applies to industries such as old-growth logging.”

Time for open minds and hearts on indigenous voice ($) – Jamie Walker (The Australian): “Having unwisely raised expect­ations that an indigenous voice to parliament could be embedded in the Constitution, Ken Wyatt was always going to struggle to keep this process on track. There was no way around the prime ministerial veto of constitutional recognition and Wyatt’s language reflects that political ­reality, for better or worse. The challenge for the indigenous leadership, and also for the Labor Party, is not to let a conception of the perfect become the enemy of the good. A legislated voice might not be what the framers of the Uluru Statement from the Heart envisaged in 2017, but it is still a meaningful advance, and to mire the discussion in further recrimin­ation would squander an important opportunity to reconcile our national life.”

Fresh food people? Let’s not bury our heads in the sand – Garry Linnell (The New Daily): “The Food contamination scandals and product recalls are a weekly event, making it easy to forget – or to choose to forget – those recent incidents of frozen berries contaminated with salmonella or hepatitis A. It’s little wonder so many consumers are confused by various product claims and prefer to shy away from wanting to know where their food really comes from. But pleading dumb innocence is no excuse. By willingly removing ourselves from the process, we give the giant food manufacturers and marketers more opportunities to boost profits by lowering product quality and fudging information about its true origins. At least I know where my fish comes from. And when it comes to our food chain, we all have a little blood on our hands.”

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WHAT’S ON TODAY

Melbourne

  • An anti-racism and anti-discrimination meeting about defeating Islamophobia and antisemitism will include groups such as the Jewish Community Council of Victoria and Australian Intercultural Society.

  • The Senate Community Affairs References Committee will hold a public hearing into the adequacy of Newstart and related payments.

Whyalla, South Australia

  • The Select Committee into Jobs for the Future in Regional Areas will hold a public hearing,

Albury, New South Wales

  • RSL NSW CEO Jon Black will emphasise the need to do more for veteran community at its annual congress.

Brisbane

  • Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will give her state of the state address.

Hope Vale, Queensland

  • The Joint Standing Committee on Northern Australia will resume its inquiry into the Opportunities and Challenges of the Engagement of Traditional Owners in the Economic Development of Northern Australia.

Hobart

  • The Tasmanian government fiscal sustainability report inquiry will hear from Department of Treasury and Finance secretary Tony Ferrall and deputy secretary Fiona Calvert.