Halton catch fire As we’ve previously pointed out, former Health Department secretary Jane Halton wears many hats, some of which are novelty ones with flashing lights that spell out the phrase “conflict of interest” in bright pink neon. So it was when she was appointed to lead a nationwide review of all hotel quarantine arrangements in July last year, despite sitting on the board of Crown casino, a company deeply entangled with the very crisis she was reviewing.
And just to ram home the point, the Perth casino royal commission has revealed that mere weeks before her appointment Crown Perth’s high-roller room remained open during the state’s brief June/July lockdown, contrary to the company’s disclosures to the ASX.
Pollywaffle If there was a medal for equivocal language, the following effort from Prime Minister Scott Morrison — in response to US President Joe Biden’s contention that the world is fast approaching “a ‘point of no return’ in the literal sense” on climate change — would win gold so comfortably it would attract the attention of anti-doping agencies.
In Australia, it’s not enough to have a commitment to something — you’ve got to have a plan to achieve it. And this is an important part of the way we approach this task. You have a plan to meet your commitment. If you don’t have a plan, you don’t have a commitment.
This runs under the headline “Australia will aim for net zero, Scott Morrison tells Joe Biden”. Even that seems to oversell it.
GB Keep an eye on nascent right-wing UK network GB News — some drama this way comes. A mere three months after the launch, founding chairman Andrew Neil has scarpered. The network is an attempt to meld the fury of right-wing posting with the gravitas of a BBC veteran of decades’ standing like Neil. Alas, as Guardian Australia points out, Neil simply does not have the soul of a poster.
And his exit is turning ugly. According to Neil, the network has broken its exit agreement “by briefing Mail on Sunday with load of smears/lies then unilaterally cancelling exit deal”. This in turn leaves Neil “free to do, say whatever I want + never again be on GB News. Couldn’t be happier”.
We’re looking forward to seeing how this plays out.
Quake up Anyone remember the December 1989 Newcastle earthquake — Australia’s most damaging quake — amid all the verbiage yesterday? In all the breathless comparison about earthquakes in Australia yesterday, last night and this morning, Newcastle1989 was ignored. The Australian Financial Review, for example, ran a handy table showing the top 10 quakes recorded in Australia. The final listing was a 6.1 trembler in Western Australia in 1979. It missed the worst quake ever recorded in this country — not in terms of its scale estimate but in the death and damage caused. In fact there is no comparison between Mansfield 2021 and Newcastle 1989 — the latter was a killer.
The 1989 earthquake occurred on Thursday, December 28. The shock measured 5.6 and was one of Australia’s most serious natural disasters, killing 13 people and injuring more than 160. The damage bill was $4 billion in 1991 dollars. The quake triggered what’s called liquefaction — that’s where the ground shakes and sand and soil in the areas of alluvial deposits and reclaimed areas turn to liquid (often causing buildings above to lose their footings and collapse). It was the first quake in Australia to cause casualties.
“In Australia it’s not enough to have a commitment …”
Well, actually PM, it is exactly enough, because if you have a commitment then you get off your ass and develop a plan. This is actually how everything works in life, the commitment comes first and is then followed by action. This is what human beings do.
Your lack of a plan indicates that you have no commitment. Your lack of commitment is exactly the problem. You are a cliche machine, an idiot blessed with verbiage and yet no thought takes place. Do us all a favour ScoMo. Nothing in your Prime Ministership would become you more than the leaving of it.
Asked whether Australia had made a commitment, the PM told reporters: “If Australia had made such a decision I would have announced it (he’s not wrong there!). Australia has not made a final decision on that matter. I will consider it further when I return to Australia.“
It’s not enough to have a commitment but anyway, if it existed he would have announced it. I thought a commitment had been made, to achieve net zero asap, and preferably by 2050. What was that if it wasn’t a commitment?
The sooner we start calling the submarine fiasco “Underwatergate” the better
Channel 10 Brisbane last night referred to Newcastle. May have been The Project.
So did the ABC.
Morrison says we need a plan. If only we had a government or a bureaucracy or a contractor or a think tank or an overseas example to guide and develop such a unicorn.
“The quake triggered what’s called liquefaction — that’s where the ground shakes and sand and soil in the areas of alluvial deposits and reclaimed areas turn to liquid.”
Not my understanding of it Charlie. In fact these sand and soil particles can’t exist in liquid form except at very high temperatures. What happens is that the shaking loosens the friction between particles and that allows them to move in a way that resembles a liquid. As soon as the shaking stops, or the frequency is not resonant with the material, they friction returns and they no longer ‘flow like liquid’, but they never turn to liquid. Well, not in this case.
It’s a bugger getting the soil and sand out of the drains. That’s where it mostly ends up.