APRIL 12, 2019

GIVE THE GIFT OF CRIKEY | TIP OFF | VIEW IN BROWSER

How did you feel when the election was called on Thursday? Relieved? Bored? Furious?

It took him a minute, but Scott Morrison finally sallied down to Yarralumla on Thursday to get this thing on the road and it’s already shaping up to be a hard and dirty few weeks to May 18.

Crikey won’t be riding alongside Morrison and Shorten on those tightly media managed campaign buses. Instead, we’re embedding reporter Charlie Lewis in Warringah to watch that messy fight unfold.

We’re taking as many political claims from all sides as possible and running them through our nonsense filters. And we’re relying on you to send us snapshots from the ground, either to boss@crikey.com.au or via the tip line.

Have a great weekend,

Bhakthi Puvanenthiran
Managing Editor

Assange is in the dock, but it’s investigative journalism on trial

GUY RUNDLE 5 minute read

On the ground in the UK, Crikey's correspondent-at-large covers Julian Assange's first court appearance in London.

Called it!

Election battle will unfold amid smoking ruins of neoliberalism

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

The crisis in neoliberalism that marked the last three years has shaped the electoral contest that will unfold over the next five weeks.

The smart money points to a Labor win, but Libs retain some hope

WILLIAM BOWE 3 minute read

To get into a position where it is even able to cling to minority government, the Coalition will need to hack a path through seats currently held by Labor.

The chaotic final days of the 45th parliament

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 3 minute read

Last minute appointments, messy estimates, and fast-tracking the Adani mine — Scott Morrison called the election this morning later than initially expected, following a frantic few days in Canberra.

A Crikey guide to the next five weeks of election campaign cliches

EMILY WATKINS 2 minute read

If it ain't broke, don't fix it — a guide to some of the cliches we hear time and time again whenever election time rolls around

Is Peter Dutton a risk to national security?

BERNARD KEANE 3 minute read

Malcolm Turnbull says Peter Dutton has questions to answer about national security. He's right — Dutton's record in key areas is at odds with his hardline reputation.

Fascists’ tricks of deception are working on a media preoccupied with snobbery

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It was the sort of conversation you’d have with a real-life Pepe the Frog. You tell the fascist they’re a fascist and they deny it with a joke. I have read in online glossaries that this is known as “hiding power-level”, but who knows what they’re calling it now The only thing to know is the trick of fascist deception. — Helen Razer

Banging on about Pauline Hanson getting words wrong and Fraser Anning being a bogan doesn’t just miss the point, it feeds the flame.

Rush judgment a crushing blow for Me Too

MICHAEL BRADLEY 5 minute read

The Rush case points to a deeper problem and a systemic misunderstanding about the issues that drive complicity in sexual harassment and assault cases.

How print mastheads are beating the ABC in the podcast boom

EMILY WATKINS 4 minute read

With podcasts growing more and more popular, it may come as a surprise that that the shows getting the most attention are coming from traditionally non-audio media.

A step to the right: Lachlan Murdoch’s more conservative News Corp

CHRISTOPHER WARREN 3 minute read

Lachlan Murdoch's News Corp is shaping up to be even more right-wing than his father's.

No winners: crowd gathers for final scene in Rush courtroom drama

EMILY WATKINS 3 minute read

Outside court, Eryn Jean Norvill, decked in purple, said she stood by her evidence at trial and called for change in her industry.

Why doesn’t Australia have a fixed election date?

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 4 minute read

Scott Morrison still hasn't called the election, much to everyone's frustration. We take a look at why Australia has been kept waiting.

Doug Cameron was right all along

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

Former union official and Labor senator Doug Cameron once looked like a dinosaur. But the collapse of neoliberalism has shown him to be far more insightful than many of us gave him credit for.

French report finds no campus free speech crisis, leaves conservatives dissatisfied

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 3 minute read

Chief Justice Robert French's review into Australian universities found no evidence of a free speech crisis on campuses. That didn't stop conservatives from reporting that it had.

In political advertising, the Liberals have always looked after their mates

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The Coalition has always billed taxpayers for its partisan advertising and always done so via dodgy means. The notorious “unchain my heart” ads from the introduction of the GST two decades ago weren’t by any means the worst of it. Government advertising in the later Howard years for campaigns such as WorkChoices saw tens of millions of dollars handed to Liberal Party mates at the behest of an internal Liberal committee that had no authority to direct spending. — Bernard Keane

Using taxpayer money to fund ads doesn’t just benefit politicians — it’s money in the bank for their friends in the media.

Can the ‘right-wing GetUp’ make a dent in this election?

KISHOR NAPIER-RAMAN 3 minute read

With Advance Australia now back in the spotlight ahead of the election, Crikey looks beyond the lurid superhero costume.

What can be done for towns like Glen Innes?

ROD WISE 5 minute read

Poverty in the heart of Barnaby Joyce's electorate of New England — over the past 40 years Glenn Innes went from prosperous railway town to a ghost of its former self. What happened?

Years of Coalition failure behind Adani panic

BERNARD KEANE 4 minute read

The government's panic over the Adani Carmichael project is driven by five wasted years that have seen unemployment spike in Townsville and surrounding regions.