My country, a land of droughts and flooding rain

A FLOOD OF CONCERN

Every town in Australia should brace for “floods, drought, out-of-control grassfires and torrential storms”, according to forecasters at Sky News, who warned Australians to prepare for one of the most severe weather seasons on record. Greater Sydney copped it yesterday when a massive hailstorm and flash-flooding hit parts of the region. Flooding remains the No. 1 risk, particularly in the eastern states, and we’re starting on the back foot considering our dams, soil and rivers contain more water than this time last year. Indeed dams in the Murray-Darling Basin, which goes from Queensland’s inner south through inland NSW, northern Victoria and south-east South Australia, are on average 96% full. There’s also a dam in Adelaide Hills that’s about to burst, putting up to 40 homes at risk, as The New Daily reports.

Meanwhile, Loy Yang A coal plant in Victoria and Bayswater coal plant in NSW are both probably going to close early, the SMH reports. AGL is expected to announce it today — Loy Yang A will reportedly close its doors in 2035, a decade earlier than expected, while Bayswater will call time in 2030, three years earlier than previously announced. It comes as Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk confirmed yesterday that her state would be 80% powered by renewables by 2035, in light of the state facing what she called a “climate emergency”, Guardian Australia reports. Coal will not provide any power at all after 2037. How? Some 2000 more wind turbines and 35 million more solar panels, she says, with $4 billion allocated towards the project. At the moment Queensland gets 65% of its electricity from coal, 14% from gas, 18% from solar and wind and 1.5% from hydro power — it actually has the highest emissions of any state, and yet the lowest emissions target (30% compared with 50% in NSW and Victoria).

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DOLLARS AND SENSE

We should put an Aussie on the $5 note, Treasurer Jim Chalmers says — it just makes sense. He’s spoken to Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe about replacing the late queen with a local, with a decision to be delivered in the next 18 months. It’s the first time this has come up since financial services minister Joe Hockey tried in 2000, in anticipation of the 2001 centenary of Federation, the AFR adds. Chalmers wouldn’t say who should be on there, but it hasn’t stopped the quintessentially Australian suggestions — what about the round window from ABC’s Play School? Or Kath Day-Knight from Kath & Kim? Or what could be more Australian than Grace Tame shooting ScoMo a death stare, as per Osher Günsberg’s suggestion?

All jokes aside, our budget deficit has hit $32 billion (sorry for the whiplash). Chalmers and Finance Minister Katy Gallagher handed down the final budget outcome for 2021-22, as The New Daily reports, and honestly, it’s better than we thought. It’s about $50 billion less than the $79.8 billion deficit that was originally forecast. And remember the Morrison-era shortfall in 2020-21 of $134.2 billion? So why is our budget $100 billion better off? Record commodity prices mostly, but also a strong labour market. Chalmers cautioned against too much celebration, however — he said health, the NDIS, aged care, defence and the cost of servicing government debt were all weighing heavily on his mind ahead of Labor’s first “austere” budget on October 25, as The Australian ($) reports.

WHAT’S IN A NAME?

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk is under fire for refusing to include the word “Paralympics” in her ministerial title, The Courier-Mail ($) reports. The perceived snub prompted reported months of requests — she was even lobbied by Paralympian Kurt Fearnley, the newly minted chair of the National Disability Insurance Agency, as the Brisbane Times reports. It culminated in an open letter from the Paralympics Australia Athlete Commission requesting the “respectful consideration for a change in the title of your portfolio” to “reflect the importance of both events for Brisbane 2032”. Yesterday Palaszczuk tweeted that she would make the change, saying she was “happy to do that”.

But critics say it took way too long and way too much noise. So what’s the deal? Well, Palaszczuk appointed herself Olympics Minister last October, with Stirling Hinchliffe holding the much longer title of minister assisting the premier on Olympics and Paralympics sport and engagement. The premier said Australian Olympic Committee boss John Coates told her to use the title “minister for the Olympics”, the paper continues, and that’s why she refused calls to add the word “Paralympics” all these months. But Paralympics Australia chairman Jock O’Callaghan says words matter — barriers like this stifle attempts to create a more inclusive society. Snub or following instruction? You be the judge.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

It’s the early ’70s and a musician named David is scrawling some lyrics in blue pen onto a gridded piece of paper. He pauses, scribbles a word out here and there, weaving the words together on the page while the rhythm hums in his head. It had a little Wizard of Oz in there, maybe even a little Doctor Who. The Starman lyrics would, along with an electric line-up of hit songs on The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, go on to catapult David Bowie to international rock and pop stardom. Fast-forward to September 2022 and the page is going under the hammer. The auction house staff are pulling their hair out — they have five telephone lines in operation, as well as keen bidders online and on the edge of their seats in the room: “We had almost unprecedented interest from around the world.”

Everyone expects the page to sell for about $67,000. The auction moves at a lightning-fast pace with bids coming from all directions, and once the gong sounds for the final time, it is our very own Olivier Varenne from Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art (MONA) cheering the house down. His final bid is an eyewatering $335,000 — nearly five times as much as expected. MONA’s owner and founder David Walsh pulls no punches. “We got carried away and paid too much,” he admits, as Guardian Australia reports. But everyone is ecstatic. The historic piece of memorabilia will now head Down Under and go on display in a library MONA is building, “along with many other items we got carried away with and paid too much for”, Walsh says.

Hoping your Thursday feels weird and wonderful.

SAY WHAT?

When we were in government, we had a record spending on defence. Under [the previous Labor government] it had been down to the lowest level since 1938 and we have a lot to do in the defence space.

Peter Dutton

Sound the furphy bell. ABC’s Fact Check says the Coalition’s defence spending (2%) is nowhere near the highest on record, which was 34% in 1942-43. Researchers also found “most of Labor’s tenure saw record spending in real terms at the time”. Dutton declined to comment when asked about the source of his claim.

CRIKEY RECAP

The Optus hacker is being treated as the real deal by the government. Its apology can’t be trusted

Cam Wilson

Sep 28, 2022

18

“Home Affairs and Cyber Security Minister Clare O’Neil released a statement yesterday saying she was troubled by reports about Medicare numbers being leaked … Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Health Minister Mark Butler reiterated concerns about Medicare details being made public, the latter saying the government was considering allowing people to get new Medicare numbers.

“The reaction by senior ministers suggests that the Optusdata account is being treated by the government as belonging to those responsible for the cyberattack, and not an opportunistic scammer trying to extort the company. O’Neil has been briefed by security agencies and Optus. Her criticism of the telecommunication company only makes sense if she believed that the anonymous extortionist was releasing real information obtained from Optus.”

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Greens’ handling of Lidia Thorpe bullying allegations is lacking. Supporters deserve better

Bernard Keane

Sep 28, 2022

42

“While not on the same level as Thorpe’s disgusting abuse of Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes late last year — Thorpe allegedly yelled ‘at least I kept my legs shut’ at Hughes, who has a son with autism — the incident was serious enough that Atkinson sought medical assistance at the time. Thorpe later apologised and ‘unreservedly’ took back her comments.

“The Greens’ response, however, is that there is nothing to see here — it was merely a ‘robust’ discussion, is the official line. No apology necessary, apparently. Move along. If this had been a white Liberal senator yelling abuse at a stakeholder, especially an Indigenous elder, talk of ‘robust discussions’ wouldn’t have got far with the Greens, who would have labelled it evidence of bullying and racism.”

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Why Giorgia Meloni will fail

David Killen, The New European

Sep 28, 2022

20

“I was at a friend’s house high in the Sabine Hills and on the horizon I could see the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in Rome. We sat drinking coffee in the early autumn sunshine in the garden, surrounded by four generations of his family, along with other friends and neighbours. It was a scene that could hardly be more Italian.

“But he was pessimistic, even fatalistic about Italy’s future. Italy has just elected Giorgia Meloni, a hard-right prime minister, who invokes uncomfortable memories of Italy’s political past. But he told me that in power Meloni, like all populists — and despite her sudden rise and all of the media attention, both in Italy and around the world — will fail to deliver on her promises.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Taliban signs ‘preliminary’ deal with Russia for oil, gas, wheat (Al Jazeera)

Over a decade after 150 were killed, Guinea puts an ex-president on trial (The New York Times)

Banana thrown at Brazil football star in Paris match as racial abuse from crowds intensifies (SBS)

Saudi king names crown prince PM (The New Daily)

Biden administration unveils plan aiming to end hunger in US by 2030 (The New York Times)

Nord Stream: Norway and Denmark tighten energy infrastructure security after gas pipeline ‘attack’ (EuroNews)

Revealed: 5,000 empty ‘ghost flights’ in UK since 2019, data shows (The Guardian)

Federal government warns Canadian hockey players in Russia, Belarus to leave (CBC)

THE COMMENTARIAT

Peter Dutton backs national anti-corruption commission bill, breaking ranks with Morrison’s policies and trialling a new persona — David Speers (ABC): “He’s confirmed the Coalition is now willing to support an integrity body that accepts public referrals, has the power to look retrospectively and an ability to hold at least some public hearings. On each of these fronts, the Morrison government was unwilling to budge. This represents the first substantial policy shift for the Coalition under Peter Dutton’s leadership. Desperate to shake his negative, conservative hard-man persona, he wants the world to know he can be collegiate and cooperative …

“Some of Dutton’s colleagues point to his background in the Queensland police as a factor in his more forward-leaning approach on the NACC. The Fitzgerald Inquiry into political and police corruption shaped the view of many in the Sunshine State about the extent of the problem and the need to stamp it out. Coalition MPs from other states come to this with different perspectives, particularly in NSW where three Liberal premiers have walked the plank following ICAC investigations … Ultimately, the government has options. It could tweak the bill to keep the crossbenchers onside or stare them down. Particularly now it appears to have Dutton on board. The prospects of the NACC being legislated before the end of the year have dramatically increased.”

World’s most important power shift? No, it’s not the British monarchy — Geoffrey Robertson (The Age): “On Sunday, Trump-adoring neo-fascist Jair Bolsonaro faces the verdict of its 220 million citizens over his responsibility for logging and burning the Amazon and belittling the danger of COVID (‘just a little cough’) from which 700,000 have died. He continues to stoke hatred against homosexuals and Indigenous people, promises to enforce a ban on all abortions, and has so loosened the law on gun ownership that a million lethal weapons have come into circulation during his presidency. This weekend, Brazilians will decide whether they prefer former president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, known mononymously as Lula.

“Lula is a phenomenal figure who has in the past inspired working-class leaders throughout the developing world. His beginnings could not have been more humble; at the age of eight, he sold peanuts in the streets to support his family, and at 14 began his trade as a lathe worker. Later he emerged to lead the trade union movement to overthrow the army dictatorship and was elected president in 2003 and again in 2006 — then, by 58 million votes — and was hailed by Obama as the most popular politician on earth. He was also, arguably, the best: even his enemies concede that he lifted more than 20 million people out of poverty by increasing the minimum wage and adopting novel policies (now recommended by the United Nations) such as giving family allowance to mothers if their children were schooled and inoculated.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)

• Author Eloise Grills is in conversation with book critic Madeleine Gray to discuss the former’s new book, Big Beautiful Female Theory, at Better Read Than Dead bookshop. You can also catch this one online.

• Academic, author and former prisoner Kylie Moore-Gilbert will give the 2022 Michael Hintze Lecture, speaking about state hostage-taking, in an event hosted by Sydney Ideas.

Yuggera Country (also known as Brisbane)

• Author Jane Harper will speak about her new book, Exiles, at Avid Reader bookshop. You can also catch this one online.

Kaurna Country (also known as Adelaide)

• The South Australian edition of Parity magazine August 2022 will launch at Flinders University, exploring the future of SA homelessness and domestic and family violence services.