Coal hard cash

MINING OUR OWN BUSINESS

Our coal exporters are allegedly faking data to make their coal look cleaner so they get more money for it, in a scam involving two laboratories, accountancy firms and an investment bank, the SMH reports. That’s according to independent MP Andrew Wilkie, who was given thousands of pages of documents by a whistleblower and is calling for a parliamentary inquiry into the allegations. Wilkie called it “fraud”, possibly “criminal” and “environmental vandalism”, effectively making our goal of net zero by 2050 a “fiction”. How are exporters allegedly doing it? Coal testing laboratories test Australian coal before it goes offshore, but some labs have been messing with the data so the coal looks drier than it is. Dry coal burns more cleanly, so you need less, so you can sell it for more. And we do — to Japan, South Korea, China and India. In 2020, laboratory giant ALS admitted that half its coal data had been ‘‘manually amended without justification’’ for almost 13 years, as the AFR reports, but last week ASIC said it’s not going to do anything.

Meanwhile the government targeting the mining industry is undermining its climate ambitions, according to mining companies, that is. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says it’s thinking regulation, not taxation, but nothing is “off the table”, The Australian ($) reports. But the mining sector says we need to get critical minerals out of the round (like lithium for batteries, copper for solar panels, and cobalt for electric vehicles) to build enough renewable technology for our targets. It also said the uncertainty swirling around new industrial relations reforms was putting 33,000 jobs at risk. But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says people rebuffing the IR changes just have “an ingrained ideological objection to workers being paid fairly”, the AFR reports. “We know fairness has to be fought for,” he’ll say today. Albanese is back from overseas and is mulling over whether to extend Parliament until closer to Christmas to get the Secure Jobs, Better Pay bill through. The Senate committee scrutinising the bill will report on it tomorrow.

[free_worm]

SEEING RED IN VICTORIA

As Victoria hurtles towards Saturday’s election day, things are really heating up. Victorian Liberal candidate Renee Heath says she’s called in the lawyers about whether she can complain to the Australian Human Rights Commission about the “discriminatory treatment of me” as a potential Liberal MP “based on my faith, or assumptions about my faith”, The Age says. It comes after a joint media investigation by The Age and 60 Minutes revealed Heath had received extensive training from the ISAAC Network — a global network of ultra-conservative Christian churches. The paper says Heath’s brother-in-law received gay conversion therapy while a member of the family church, City Builders. But Heath reckons she doesn’t support the debunked therapy, calling it “completely false and misleading”.

Meanwhile the cops are investigating independent MP Catherine Cumming for saying she “joined the Angry Victorian Party for one reason — to make Daniel Andrews turn into red mist”, as Guardian Australia reports. She continued: “In the army, we would call it pink mist, but I want him into red mist. Give anyone here in the army a job to blow someone up, and they will.” But Cummings was like, I meant it in relation to the “red shirts” scandal, as Crikey reports. She said she actually doesn’t wish harm on Andrews, though: “I can understand how some may have arrived at this interpretation.” Hmm. Also at the weekend, Opposition Leader Matthew Guy defended Liberal candidate for Narre Warren North Timothy Dragan, who apologised after The Age reported comments he made a week earlier in which he railed against Indigenous recognition, climate change and abortion, and described a senior MP as a “prick”. Give me strength.

PRESSING BUSINESS

Editor-in-chief of The Australian Chris Dore left the job because he reportedly made “lewd comments” towards a woman in the US last month, The Age reports. He was at The Wall Street Journal’s Tech Live conference in California when the incident was said to have taken place. Upon his exit, Dore said in a statement he was focusing on his health, but everyone raised an eyebrow when his exit didn’t get the fanfare of previous senior staff members. To another high-profile exit now and media veteran Lisa Wilkinson has quit The Project after five years as host, saying the “targeted toxicity” from “some sections of the media” during the past six months has taken a toll. She told the audience she is “not above criticism” but it had become too much, as Guardian Australia reports. She’s not quitting the Ten network, however, and will move on to new things soon. It comes after Wilkinson’s impassioned speech after winning the Logie for her work on the Brittany Higgins story, leading to ACT Supreme Court chief justice Lucy McCallum, “regrettably and with gritted teeth”, vacating the trial.

In-house now and editor-in-chief of Crikey Peter Fray will take indefinite leave from his role, a joint statement from parent company Private Media’s CEO Will Hayward and Fray reads. It follows the Walkley Awards last week where Fray shouted “What about Crikey?” when ABC journalists Anne Connolly, Stephanie Zillman and Ali Russell won the Gold Walkley for an investigation into public guardian and trustee agencies, which aired in March this year. Six months earlier Crikey had published a series of articles on the same subject by Amber Schultz, called Kidnapped by the State. Fray apologised to the ABC winners, continuing: “It was wrong for me to question the veracity and originality of the ABC’s work and the excellence of its journalism.”

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

We’ll be living on the moon by 2030, according to NASA. The head of the US agency’s Orion lunar spacecraft program revealed the plan yesterday, saying astronauts would live and work on the moon, complete with habitats and rovers. We’re also planning to build a Lunar Gateway — a satellite that will orbit the moon, where folks can work on getting to Mars next. “We are going to be sending people down to the surface, and they are going to be living on that surface and doing science,” the NASA boss said. It comes as the most powerful rocket ship in history is en route to the moon right now — incredibly, this marks the first time in 50 years that we’ve been back to our only natural satellite. The last time was in December 1972, during the Apollo 17 mission. At the time, commander Eugene Cernan said it would’ve been unthinkable that humans wouldn’t be back for half a century. And, well, we kind of aren’t going back yet.

That’s because Artemis 1, which should reach the moon sometime in the next 24 hours, doesn’t have humans on board. It does, however, pave the way for Artemis 2 and 3 flights — the second will send humans around the moon, and the third will see us walk on it again. Artemis 3 is expected to launch in 2026, when a woman will walk on the moon for the first time. But Artemis 1 almost didn’t make it off its launchpad in Florida last week. Right before the incredibly powerful rocket was ready to blast off, a fuel leak was detected. Faced with the prospect of cancelling the launch, NASA made a risky decision to send in a “red crew” to zero deck instead, as Space tells it. Crouching at the base of the rocket fixing the leak, crew member Trent Annis said he was terrified — “The rocket is, you know, it’s alive, it’s creaking, it’s making venting noise,” he said afterwards. “So on zero deck, my heart was pumping. My nerves were going but, yeah, we showed up today.”

Hoping you feel inspired to show up today too.

SAY WHAT?

Matthew Guy’s Liberal Party are preferencing Nazis, they’re preferencing extremists, they’re preferencing Catherine Cumming.

Jacinta Allan

The Victorian deputy premier has slammed Guy’s preferencing ahead of Saturday’s state election. Cumming, an independent, hit the headlines for telling protesters she wanted to see Premier Daniel Andrews “turned to red mist” at an anti-vax World Wide Rally for Freedom protest on Saturday. The cops are investigating.

CRIKEY RECAP

Victorian Liberals are dogwhistling to conspiracy theorists to win votes. It’s not working

Cam Wilson

Nov 18, 2022

30

“[Liberal member for Caulfield David] Southwick’s ‘vote-rigging’ claim is a lie. Even if [Glenn] Druery’s claims are proven, Labor’s ongoing support for the much maligned group voting tickets is based on taking advantage of the system as it’s designed and not illegally interfering with an election. The post itself is inscrutable — it doesn’t even mention the video’s claims or Druery — unless the reader is immersed in online, right-wing and/or conspiracy spaces where claims of unfounded or untrue claims of corruption and election rigging are commonplace.

“It’s Victoria’s own version of Trump’s ‘Big Lie’, laying the groundwork for a ‘stolen election’ claim. And now the Liberal Party candidate taking on Dan Andrews in the seat of Mulgrave, Michael Piastrino, is reportedly calling for the election to be postponed on these grounds. The Victorian Liberals have frequently indulged in everything from nods to full-blown embraces of conspiracy theories and extreme rhetoric …”

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The right’s woman problem is bigger than ‘single young females’ and they know it

Kristine Ziwica

Nov 18, 2022

79

“I would argue that, contrary to [The Australian columnist Nick] Cater’s assertion, the biggest danger to parties on the right are not single young females but old, white, misguided male dinosaurs like Cater and the self-serving and/or silent women of the right who enable them. Both are unwilling or unable to engage with the changing demographics of modern Australia and women’s current lived reality.

“It’s not just single young women who pose a threat to parties of the right. The Liberal Party has a much broader ‘woman problem’ widely recognised as a growing threat to its electoral fortunes for years. Cater should know that. The Menzies Research Centre has published three — that’s right, three — reports entitled “Gender and Politics”, and all were co-authored by him. They all mapped out in no uncertain terms the size of the growing so-called ‘gender gap’ in women’s voting habits — and what that could potentially mean for the Liberal Party.”

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Appointment of FOI commissioner was a Coalition captain’s call

Denham Sadler

Nov 18, 2022

18

“Deputy chief general counsel at the Australian Government Solicitor Leo Hardiman was appointed as the FOI commissioner in March this year by the Coalition government, two months before the federal election. Crikey can reveal that Hardiman was hand-picked for the role by then attorney-general Michaelia Cash, despite having not applied for the role.

“Hardiman has significant legal and public sector experience from the Australian Government Solicitor, where he formerly was deputy chief general counsel and national leader in the Office of General Counsel. The Coalition had received 20 applications for the role and appointed a panel including the public service commissioner to make a recommendation. But this process was bypassed with the appointment of Hardiman according to an answer to a Senate question on notice provided by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

No clear winner as Malaysia election ends in hung parliament (Al Jazeera)

UN climate talks end with a deal to pay poor nations for damage (The New York Times)

At least five people killed in shooting at gay nightclub in Colorado Springs (The Guardian)

Donald Trump’s Twitter account reinstated after Elon Musk declares ‘the people have spoken’ (SBS)

Turkey launches air raids on Kurdish targets (BBC)

Ukraine nuclear plant shelled, UN warns: ‘You’re playing with fire!’ (Reuters)

Kazakhstan goes to the polls in ‘low-key’ snap presidential election (EuroNews)

THE COMMENTARIAT

China’s new journey a starting point for relations with Australia — Xiao Qian (The AFR): “Particularly, achieving modernisation for more than 1.4 billion people, a number larger than the combined population of all developed countries in the world today, will be a major feat with far-reaching significance in human history. It is fair to say that in the new era, China will influence the world in a profound and positive way. We will continue to build sound relations with countries in the world, engage in friendly cooperation, and share win-win results. China’s long-term sound economic growth fundamentals will not change, and China will open its door wider to the world. I believe the Chinese economy, which boasts strong resilience and great potential, will surely bring important opportunities and strong impetus to Australia and other countries in the world.

“The 20th CPC National Congress has reaffirmed China’s commitment to maintaining world peace and promoting common development. Today, our world, our times and history are changing in ways like never before, posing unprecedented challenges for human society. The Report to the Congress has pointed out that the future course of humanity should be decided by all the world’s peoples. As long as all countries pursue the cause of common good, we can live in harmony and engage in cooperation for mutual benefit. In recent years, China has put forward a series of proposals, such as the Belt and Road Initiative, the Global Development Initiative, and the Global Security Initiative, which calls on the international community to bring more stability and certainty to our turbulent times.”

COP27: one big breakthrough but ultimately an inadequate response to the climate crisis — Matt McDonald (The Conversation): “There were hopes COP27 would lead to new commitments on emissions reduction, renewed commitments for the transfer of resources to the developing world, strong signals for a transition away from fossil fuels, and the establishment of a loss and damage fund. By any estimation, the big breakthrough of COP27 was the agreement to establish a fund for loss and damage. This would involve wealthy nations compensating developing states for the effects of climate change, especially droughts, floods, cyclones and other disasters.

“Most analysts have been quick to point out there’s still a lot yet to clarify in terms of donors, recipients or rules of accessing this fund. It’s not clear where funds will actually come from, or whether countries such as China will contribute, for example. These and other details are yet to be agreed. We should also acknowledge the potential gaps between promises and money on the table, given the failure of developed states to deliver on US$100 billion per year of climate finance for developing states by 2020. This was committed to in Copenhagen in 2009. But it was a significant fight to get the issue of loss and damage on the agenda in Egypt at all. So the agreement to establish this fund is clearly a monumental outcome for developing countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change — and least responsible for it.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Online

• Former prime minister Kevin Rudd will give the JG Crawford Oration 2022 about how Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ideology is shaping China’s worldview and actions on the global stage.

Ngunnawal Country (also known as Canberra)

• Margin Notes podcast host Zoya Patel and Gomeroi/Gamilaroi/Kamilaroi woman and academic Amy Thunig will speak about the latter’s new book, Tell Me Again, at The Australian National University.

Yuggera Country (also known as Brisbane)

• Author Kris Olsson, Micah Projects’ Karyn Walsh, Lotus Place’s Katie McGuire, author Edwina Shaw, and Forgotten Australian Sherryl Munson will speak about the late Bryan Hartas’ book, Hard As, at Avid Reader bookshop.

Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)

• Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Catherine King, NSW Minister for Infrastructure, Cities and Active Transport Rob Stokes, and Queensland Minister for State Development, Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning Steven Miles are among the speakers at the AFR Infrastructure Summit 2022.