ANTISOCIAL MEDIA

Two Liberal Victorian candidates have stood down over, respectively, Islamophobic and homophobic comments written in 2018, while, in what has become a stacked 48-hours for social media political controversies, Labor’s Melbourne candidate Luke Creasey has apologised for sharing a rape joke on Facebook in 2012.

Days after Labor NT candidate Wayne Kurnorth stood down ($) for sharing an anti-Semitic conspiracy theory video in 2015, The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Liberal NSW candidate Sachin Joshi wrote in a 2018 LinkedIn post that women lack the “business skills” for pay rises, while The Mercury reports ($) that Tasmanian Liberal candidate Jessica Whelan denies having written Islamophobic comments found on her Facebook account. 

HEALTHY PROMISES

Scott Morrison has announced a $308 million extension of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme ahead of a National Press Club debate between health spokespeople Greg Hunt and Catherine King, ahead of which The Age reports that Labor has unveiled its own $116 million plan to tackle obesity and take on other preventative health measures.  

Appearing at Tasmania’s Agfest today, Morrison is also expected to unveil a suite of new fair water trading and on-farm loan initiatives that the ABC notes overlook industry calls for a comprehensive drought policy and agriculture specific visa. For the opposition’s part, The NT News reports ($) that Labor will commit to match the territory government’s $1.1 billion, 10 year remote housing plan, while Bill Shorten, amidst another report from consulting firm BAEconomics, will continue a string of clean energy announcements with a $75 million Renewables Training Package ($).

ASSANGE SENTENCED TO 50 WEEKS

Julian Assange has received a sentence of 50 weeks in a London prison for skipping bail during his 2012 asylum attempt at the Ecuadorian embassy.

The ABC reports that Assange, who had apologised unreservedly for the breach, maintained he had a well-founded fear of extradition to Sweden for a since-dropped sexual assault case that could have seen him then face extradition to the US and possibly Guantanamo Bay. Assange tonight faces the US extradition request over charges of conspiracy to hack a computer.

[free_worm]

THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

Fantastic. Great move. Well done Angus

Angus Taylor

Turns our Energy Minister Angus Taylor is a big fan of car park announcements courtesy of Energy Minister Angus Taylor.

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

Labor’s focus on ‘big ticket’ rather than ‘big picture’ is a problem

May 02, 2019

44

“Well, May Day and the first bite of autumn, and here we are in the middle — is it the middle — of this scattered, unfocused slogathon. Your correspondent returned from the UK just as it began, revved up on Brexit and the gilets jaunes, ready to keep the adrenaline flowing and… this? Where’s the energy?”

Pauline Hanson’s cult of endless victimhood

May 02, 2019

10

“When Pauline Hanson broke down in tears on A Current Affair last night, she was replaying something we’ve seen many times before. Since her political career was in its very infancy, Hanson has frequently tried to cast herself as a victim.”

How the political situation in Venezuela spiraled out of control

May 02, 2019

14

“An attempted coup currently unfolding in Venezuela is a bleak reminder that the Latin American nation is grappling with a worsening humanitarian, socio-political and economic crisis, with opposition leaders out on the streets with armed soldiers calling for a military uprising.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Advocates slam holding Manus Island refugee ‘in police cell’ after self-harm

Threats from white extremist group that ‘tried to recruit Tarrant’

Emissions from big polluters will ‘fully erode’ the benefits of Coalition’s climate policy

Sanjeev Gupta will invest up to $100 million in iron ore and copper miner Havilah, his third major SA investment ($)

Melbourne’s ‘Little’ streets could be closed at times under council plan

BCA defends climate stance amid claims of rising revolt

Qld laws set to give prisoners right to vote ($)

Labor battery subsidy could deliver 80% cut to household electricity bills

Tasmanian Speaker Sue Hickey votes against Government to kill mandatory sentencing bill

Caster Semenya loses landmark legal case against IAAF over testosterone levels

THE COMMENTARIAT

Why the death of the Liberals’ liberals is bad news for Australia — Michael Pascoe (The New Daily): “Whoever wins government on May 18, there is one certainty: It will be a decidedly more conservative, more neo-liberal and less liberal Liberal Party than the one elected in 2016. And whether that party occupies the Treasury benches or not, it poses a problem for the good governance of Australia.”

How the major parties’ Indigenous health election commitments stack up — David Coombs and Diana Perche (The Conversation): “Government policies have a critical role to play here. But funding cuts, policy incoherence, and governments retaining control over resources and decision-making explain why the gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health outcomes are not closing.”

The Guardian breaks even against the odds: ‘We couldn’t have done this without you’ — Katharine Viner (The Guardian): “Three years ago we faced a very different situation, when a broken business model for news was threatening to destroy media organisations around the world: print advertising was collapsing, newspaper sales were declining, and the promise of digital advertising growth was going almost entirely to Google and Facebook. These threats still exist, and while we’ve found a way to counter them, the situation remains fragile.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

The Latest Headlines

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Melbourne

  • National campaign group Early Learning Everyone Benefits will hold an election forum at the Wheeler Centre with Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education Amanda Rishworth, Greens Senator Janet Rice, Liberal Senator James Paterson and Independent candidate for Macnamara Ruby O’Rourke.

  • La Trobe University will host forum event Post-Truth Politics — Make Your Vote Count with retiring independent MP Cathy McGowan, political scientist Andrea Carson, press gallery veteran Karen Middleton and media commentator Nasya Bahfen.

  • Former Greens MP Lidia Thorpe will host a nation-wide, all-tribes forum on sovereignty, treaty and constitutional recognition.

  • Opening day of the Yirramboi Festival, Australia’s premier First Nations arts festival, to run until Sunday May 12th. The Other Art Fair will also open today and run until Sunday May 5th.

  • The Melbourne Mining Club will host a conference looking at major issues impacting funding for the next generation of mining projects and companies.

  • ACTU Secretary Sally McManus will launch journalist Iola Mathews’ new book Winning for Women, an investigation into the union’s equal pay cases in the 1980s, at RMIT.

Sydney

  • Finalists will be announced for the 2019 Archibald, Wynne, Sulman Prizes and 2019 Young Archie prizes, as will the winner of the 2019 Packing Room Prize.

  • Former federal court judge Margaret Beazley will be sworn in as the 39th NSW Governor.

  • Writer Jeff Sparrow will speak in-conversation with podcaster Wilamina Russo about Sparrow’s new book ‘Trigger Warnings: Political Correctness and the Rise of the Right’ as part of the Sydney Writers’ Festival.

  • Voices Of Warringah will host forum event The Tunnel Debate with local councillors, economists, researchers and residents.

Brisbane

  • Prison officers will continue a series of rolling strikes at Queensland jails, accusing the state government of proposing unsafe staffing arrangements.

Adelaide

  • Adelaide Town Hall will host a candidate forum for the federal seat of Adelaide, which, following Labor MP Kate Ellis’ decision to not recontest, will include Labor’s Steve Georganas, Liberal Shaun Osborn, the Greens’ Barbara Pocock and others.

  • The History Trust of South Australia will launch a three-week History Festival lecture series exploring the theme Queer Time and Place at Torrens Parade Memorial Hall, to begin with Madeleine Seys’ presentation Queering the map of Adelaide.

Perth

  • Attorney-General Christian Porter and Jobs Minister Kelly O’Dwyer will hold a public forum on Labor’s “retiree tax” at Ellenbrook Library.

London, England

  • Julian Assange is due to face a London court for a US extradition request between roughly 18:00-19:00 AEST.