Cartoons of the Week

 

Mark David

Peter Broelman

Has Morrison finally lost all control of the many political crazies within his government?

The list of unreliable and erratic members of the Morrison Coalition Government contains some memorable names famous for climate change denial, conspiracy theories or both - former Nationals Leader & former Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, current Nationals Leader & Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack, Nationals MP for Dawson George Christensen, outgoing Liberal MP for Menzies Kevin Andrews, Queensland Nationals Senator Matt Canavan, Queensland LNP Senator Gerard Rennick, NSW Liberal Senator Jim Molan and Liberal MP for Hughes Craig Kelly, to name a few.

Nationwide arson or exploding horse manure are a cause of mega bushfires in Australia, there was a plot by the Bureau of Meteorology to rewrite historical weather records, the Sun or God or a higher authority is the principle reason for the global climate changing, the "Wuhan flu" is not as bad as 'they' would like you to believe, the UN & most of the world's scientists are lying about climate change, conservative politicians are the victims of cancel culture - these are just a few of the wild opinions which came from the mouths of members of Morrison's government.

@Bishop64

On 2 February 2021 mainstream media journalists began to report that Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison had that day spoken by phone with Craig Kelly (left) and requested that he desist from spreading false and misleading information about treatment and possible cures for COVID-19 infection.

However, it now appears that Morrison did not speak with Kelly on Tuesday, 2 February. 

It wasn’t until after a very public confrontation between Labor’s Tanya Plibersek and Craig Kelly that Morrison did speak actually speak with him.

Morrison’s seeming reluctance had some basis in historical fact. When faced with possible loss of pre-selection in December 2018 it is understood that Kelly threatened to go to the cross benches and bring down the government.

As Morrison only holds federal government with a slim majority and, as rumour has it, is considering calling a federal election this year, it would be risky to discipline an MP who might carry through on that old threat.

Morrison indicated the half-measures approach taken towards Craig Kelly on 3 February 2021……

Australian Parliament, House of Representatives, Hansard, excerpt, 3 February 2021:

STATEMENTS ON INDULGENCE COVID-19

Mr MORRISON (Cook—Prime Minister and Minister for the Public Service) (15:19):

Mr Speaker, I respect the rulings that you've made in relation to matters that have been raised today by the opposition. But, on indulgence, I'll just say the following about matters that have been addressed here today. A key principle of the successful response of our government, and the state and territory governments with whom I work, to the pandemic—a principle that I have applied with the chairing of the federal cabinet, the National Security Committee of Cabinet and the national cabinet—has been respect for the expert medical advice that has guided our response and the institutions that have the responsibility under our system for providing that advice.

It is true that views expressed by the member for Hughes do not align with my views or the advice that has been provided to me by the Chief Medical Officer. Earlier today, the member for Hughes and I discussed these matters, and I made it very clear that that was the view of me, as Prime Minister, and, of course, the view of the government. Vaccination is critical. It is our primary responsibility this year as we continue to respond to the pandemic. I welcome the statement, which I table, that was issued by the member for Hughes following our meeting. Our job is to get on with the job of the vaccine. The Therapeutic Goods Administration is the authoritative body not just in this country; it is respected around the world. So I can say to Australians—indeed,

for the same reason that I and members of this place will take our own children and our own parents to get that all-important vaccine—that our Therapeutic Goods Administration and the medical advice that guides my government's policy on the pandemic is the best in the world.

Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler—Leader of the Opposition) (15:22): I welcome the belated statements of the Prime Minister in distancing himself from the comments of the member for Hughes. The comments of the member for Hughes have been dangerous—

An honourable member: Which ones!

Mr ALBANESE: We have a limited time on indulgence! But, in particular, it was the comments with regard to health, the use of hydroxychloroquine and the use of other drugs that have not been in accordance with the advice of the TGA or the advice of the Chief Medical Officer. Those have been of great concern. It is something

that we on this side of the House have raised—particularly the former shadow minister for health, the current shadow minister for health and myself as leader—for a period of many months.

The challenge of the pandemic requires us to absolutely have faith and confidence in our institutions. We on this side—as the Prime Minister has said himself; I know the minister for health has said it a number of times as well—have faith in and we should be very proud of the role that the TGA plays in this country. As we respond to this crisis, it is absolutely vital that all of us who have the privilege of being in leadership positions show leadership in the information which we put forward to the community. We've said throughout this crisis, 'We're all

in this together.' It needs to be more than a slogan; it needs to be a method of action as well. And that requires responsible leadership from every parliamentarian.

I hope that today sees an end to the information, or disinformation, from the member for Hughes. I haven't had the opportunity to see the statement that was just tabled by the Prime Minister.

On 4 December 2021 Craig Kelly’s Facebook account still carried posts containing false and misleading information about treatment and possible cures for COVID-19 infection. The last ones being posted in the early morning hours of 3 February 2021.

BACKGROUND

University of Newcastle, 3 February 2021:

In response to debate around COVID-19 treatment

A media statement in response to the debate surrounding COVID-19 treatment.

Please attribute comments to Professor Alex Zelinsky AO, Vice-Chancellor:

The University of Newcastle is committed to contributing to the response to COVID-19 and we support peer reviewed science-based decision making as we enter this next phase of the pandemic management, in which vaccination plays an important role.

Rigorous peer reviewed research evidence must remain a key mechanism to guide major policy and public health responses. This is the framework that Australian leaders have used to manage our pandemic response to date and the success of this approach is evident.

As a world-class research institute, we encourage and promote innovation in research that is underpinned by rigorous scientific principles. Our researchers are expected to adhere to strict scientific standards in providing opinions on matters of public interest.

While the University always respects freedom of speech, Robert Clancy is not speaking on behalf of the University of Newcastle when offering his opinion on this issue. The University has not funded his research since 2009 and he retired in 2013. The University does not consider Robert Clancy a subject matter expert on COVID-19.

Scott Morrison hauled Craig Kelly into his office today for a talking to in case the PM forgot to take his phone off mute yesterday when he called him for the same reason.

— Peter van Onselen (@vanOnselenP) February 3, 2021

 

#CraigKelly at 3.26pm yesterday after #questiontime. ⁦@10NewsFirst⁩
Q: “Has the PM had any communication with you at all, through any means, to tell you to rein in your comments on COVID19 science?”
KELLY: “No.”#auspol pic.twitter.com/Gzp7pKEMg2

— Hugh Riminton (@hughriminton) February 2, 2021

The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 February 2021:

Every now and then a politician comes around with views so "crackpot" - the word used by the Australian Medical Association president to describe MP Craig Kelly's interesting COVID opinions - that you have to ask: how the hell is this guy in Parliament?

With the eager assistance of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, that's how!

Kelly, member for the southern Sydney seat of Hughes, has long tangoed with the more marginal opinion-holes of the internet, ranging from climate change "scepticism", to his assertion that coral islands float.

Kelly is also an expert on foreign policy. On the 298 people killed aboard flight MH17, shot down by the Russians, he told Sky News in 2018, "If some of the things that Russia has gotten away with in the past has to be slightly looked over, well I'm sorry, that's the price that we have to pay sometimes to have good relations going forward."

Kelly shared false reports claiming the violent insurrection at the US Capitol building in January was organised by left-wing Antifa protesters, and in 2018 he travelled to Azerbaijan, which has been ruled by the same family since the end of Soviet occupation, to declare its election a "coherent, democratic process". He was on the ground for 48 hours.

Everybody has one of those uncles, right? Well, the Liberal Party is no different, and up until now, Uncle Craig has been tolerated with the electoral equivalent of indulgent chuckles.

That Kelly is a member of the Coalition's right-wing conservative faction has a lot to do with his ongoing survival.

It is a brave Liberal Prime Minister who sets off those hounds. Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull both supported Kelly's preselection, despite attempts from the moderates to knock him off.

Then in 2018, Morrison made it clear Kelly was to be protected from a preselection challenge, despite (or perhaps because of) Kelly's support for Peter Dutton in the leadership vote following Turnbull's ousting.

But that decision is looking less than clever now Kelly's misleading views on the pandemic are becoming a public relations headache.

Kelly uses social media to push his theories, and his Facebook page has large levels of engagement. He has also appeared on the podcast of chef-turned-conspiracy-space-cadet Pete Evans.

Kelly has expressed scepticism about the COVID vaccine, he pushes unproven drug treatments, including one that is meant for head lice, and says making children wear masks is akin to "child abuse".

That no child is required to wear a mask is a technicality unmentioned on his posts.

Medical experts have expressed horror at such misinformation being spread by a member of the government. Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has politely said Kelly's views are "not scientifically based".

Kelly claims he is a victim of "cancel culture", but he gets an awful lot of air time.

He is a regular guest on Sky News, he has his Facebook page, plenty of media coverage, and there is also the forum of Parliament, which amounts to a national stage where speakers enjoy parliamentary privilege.

Besides, the harsh arithmetic of politics means that the Prime Minister, who sits on a one-seat margin, cannot cancel Kelly.

He is also not Kelly's boss. The people of Hughes are. Those voters include Labor frontbencher Tanya Plibersek's mum.

Yesterday morning, Plibersek confronted Kelly in the corridor in Parliament House.

"My mum lives in your electorate and I don't want her exposed to people who are not going to be vaccinated because of these crazy conspiracy theories that you're spreading," Ms Plibersek said.

The photographs of the exchange told the story. Plibersek's gestures are a gallery of emotions - the finger point of frustration, the face palm of incredulity, the eye roll of exasperation.

Morrison Government determined to turn Clean Energy Finance Corporation into a slush fund for the benefit of its fossil fuel industry mates?

The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) was established in 2012 to facilitate increased flows of finance into the clean energy sector.

It has been provided with access to $10 billion in capital and

invests directly and indirectly, in clean energy technologies.

These clean energy technologies include: energy efficiency technologies; low emission technologies; and renewable energy technologies.

As of 30 June 2020 CEFC had investment commitments (deployed and contractually committed capital) of $5.95 billion.

The uncommitted $4.05 billion is firmly in the sights of the Morrison Government who would like to see this money go to its major donors in the fossil fuel reliant energy industries.

Commencing with carving our an initial $1 billion to to establish a Grid Reliability Fund to support the largely privatised, heavily coal-reliant, electricity supply corporations.

Clean Energy Finance Corporation Amendment (Grid Reliability Fund) Bill 2020 is back before the House of Representatives today.

The Sydney Morning Herald, 4 February 2021:

Federal Labor remains opposed to a proposed overhaul of Australia's clean energy fund rules aimed at fuelling investment in gas power plants and grid infrastructure despite a shake-up in its approach to climate policy.

The Morrison government's plans to change laws that stop the Clean Energy Finance Corp from investing in conventional fossil fuels and remove a rule that prevents it from investing in loss-making projects will be debated in Federal Parliament today.

The proposed changes will apply to the taxpayer-funded green bank's $1 billion Grid Reliability Fund, making it responsible for an underwriting scheme to encourage private companies to build new power supply.

New climate and energy spokesman Chris Bowen said Labor would only support the changes it if is successful in amending the legislation, including rejecting the proposed definition of gas as a low-emissions energy source.

"Labor created the CEFC and has consistently protected its integrity," Mr Bowen said yesterday, after he last week replaced Mark Butler after seven years in the portfolio.

"We'll be putting forward sensible amendments to ensure the CEFC won't be turned into a slush fund, and can only invest in economically viable, clean energy projects.

"If the government is able to move past its paralysing internal climate wars and accept these amendments, we will support the bill."….

The CEFC was created in 2012 under a deal between Labor, the Greens and independents with a mandate to invest in renewable energy, low-emissions technology and energy-efficiency projects that would deliver a return. 

Institute of Public Affairs produces yet another dodgy study

 

Pearls and Irritations - Public Policy Journal, 30 January 2021:

The Institute of Public Affairs has scored an epic “own-goal” by calling out the slide in quality of life. A new report by the Liberal Party think tank identifies the drop in home ownership, high incarceration rates, the low level of skills training and debt as the main culprits but declining living standards are a direct result of Liberal Party policies.

It was to much fanfare (at least in some areas) that the Institute of Public Affairs announced the hiring of Tony Abbott to “lead a new movement to defend and revive traditional Australian values”. Such a movement was deemed necessary by the release of the IPA’s report titled “The Fair Go – Going, Gone: The Decline of the Australian Way of Life, 2000 to 2020”. The report and The Australian’s accompanying editorial lamented the “collapse of living standards over the past two decades”.

However, the “collapse of living standards” is the culmination of near two-decades of policy driven by the Coalition and the Institute of Public Affairs and with The Australian as cheer-leaders in chief.

The authors analysed 25 aspects of Australian life that they believe give a representative account of the quality of life of individual Australians, across five major categories: home, work, enterprise, governance and lifestyle. Each measure is tracked across the past two decades in comparison to 2000 standards.

According to the report, major contributors to the fall in living standards include housing affordability, household debt, government debt, underutilisation rate, vocational training, and the incarceration rate.

All part of the Coalition’s plan

But such falls in living standards are all part of the Coalition’s plan. The under-utilisation rate has been driven up, and the vocational training rate down by, in particular, the deregulation of Vocational Education and Training (VET) and TAFE: apprenticeships have fallen from 446,000 in 2012 to 259,000 today……

Housing is less affordable than ever, as the government steadfastly refuses to make key policy changes such as ending negative gearing, introducing the long-promised money-laundering reforms and increasing the capital gains tax…..

Meanwhile, the increasingly punitive justice system of recent years drives the incarceration rate ever higher. In 2018 a Victorian Liberals backbencher even criticised his own party’s “law and order” campaign, warning about the dangers of populist tough-on-crime policies.

Not to mention reductions to penalty rates, and further attempts to strip rights from casual workers through the proposed industrial relations reform, which further contribute further to household debt…..

The report can in fact be summarised as a damning indictment of Coalition policy over the past two decades…...

The report was co-authored by Research Fellows Cian Hussey, Kurt Wallace, and Andrew Bushnell, and Director of Research Daniel Wild.

In research, the title “Fellow” is typically bestowed on employees of university who 1) have a PhD and 2) have a job at the university. None of the four researchers meets the first criteria; the highest degree among them is a Masters, awarded to Bushnell. The highest degree conferred on the Director of Research Daniel Wild, according to the IPA website, is an honours.

Consider the career track for a researcher in academia. It would involve first completing an undergraduate degree, then an honours degree, often followed by a stretch as a research assistant, then applications to PhD programs – which are ever more competitive as government funding falls ever lower. Then comes three years of formal research training completing said PhD, followed by a gruelling search for a job. When successful, only then might one term themselves a “Research Fellow”.

The irony is apparently lost on the Institute of Public Affairs that the Coalition has been the party in government for 14 of the past 20 years during which there has been this “collapse in living standards”.

On this report’s own measures, it makes the IPA’s decision to hire Tony Abbott a strange choice to herald a new movement for “saving the Australian way of life”. 

Read the full article here.

Clarence Valley Council community consultation concerning implementation of policy concerning unauthorised memorials on public land - submissions accepted until 4pm on 12 February 2021

Clarence Valley Council, Public Exhibitions, retrieved 31 January 2021:

Draft Memorials and Plaques on Public Land Policy

The purpose of this policy is to provide a framework for the installation of all memorials and plaques on public lands.

The draft Memorials and Plaques on Public Land Policy was considered at the 15 December meeting of Council, where it was resolved to place it on public exhibition for community comment.

Memorials and plaques to commemorate the life of a family member may not have any significance to the broader community. However, the appearance of such memorials and plaques may also be offensive to other members of the community and can have the effect of creating a cemetery appearance on public land. Council has powers pursuant to the Local Government Act 1993 to regulate the use of its public lands.

The purpose of this policy is to provide a framework for the installation of memorials and plaques on public lands.

Objectives in relation to memorials and plaques on public land are to:

• minimise the occurrence of memorials and plaques;

• restrict memorials and plaques to persons, associations or events of outstanding significance to a place; and

• minimise any perceived public risks and environmental impacts of memorials and plaques.

In order to ensure that this policy meets the needs of the whole community we are seeking your feedback on this matter.

To make a submission, click on the ‘Make a Submission’ button below.

You can also send formal submission by mail to the General Manager, Clarence Valley Council, Locked Bag 23, Grafton, NSW 2460, clearly marked “Draft Memorials & Plaques on Public Land Policy"

Submissions close 4.00pm Friday 12 February 2021.

• https://www.clarence.nsw.gov.au/cp_themes/metro/make-a-submission.asp

 

Australian Prime Minister can't stop people speaking out on the matter of the annual anniversary of the invasion of Australia

One of the reasons why Prime Minister Scott Morrison will fail in his bid to deny Australia's colonial history.......

The Daily Telegraph, 28 January 2021:

Hayley Talbot has long been recognised as a leader, an innovator, and a person with a drive to create positive change within the Clarence Valley.

In the past year, among a myriad of projects she helped drive a revitalisation of koala habitat devastated by bushfire with a program that planted 5000 trees and empowered many in the community who had lost their jobs due to COVID-19.

Along with her team, she also hosts a safe space for young women through her Blanc Space business in Yamba, where they provide an atmosphere to create, learn and converse openly.

It was for these works she was this week awarded the Clarence Valley’s Citizen of the Year.

While Ms Talbot said she was grateful to be honoured, she made the brave decision to use the opportunity to express what she described as an incongruous meeting of both celebration and mourning on Australia Day.

“... in good conscience I have to say, we should be doing this on another day. Ms Talbot said the decision to speak her mind and to receive the award was one she deliberated over, and admitted nerves beforehand, having heard the crowd boo 2019 Citizen of the Year Susan Howland for expressing her views at the ceremony.

“I was concerned at that, but I thought that if I didn’t accept the nomination, and didn’t show up, I would lose the opportunity to speak that truth and add to the conversation that needs to be leading the discourse on Australia Day,” she said.

“I know that conversations were catalysed among new hearts and minds, that was my goal, and I consider that a vindication of my decision to attend the ceremony and accept the award.” Ms Talbot told the hard truths of our history, including the atrocities perpetrated on the banks of the Clarence, and urged the crowd to consider the voices of those most hurt by the day.

“I can’t stand here today wholly with joy in my heart knowing that the neighbours I’m called to love are shattered apart by a day that’s considered a day of mourning by many Aboriginal people,” she said.

“I can’t stand here another white woman in a room of mostly white people pretending that in 2021 we’re all equal when we are governed by a system that still says we’re not.

“There’s a ‘ray’ in Australia, and there’s an us too, but only if we’re brave enough to tell the full story. Even though a date change can’t change it can we at least try?” 

For what it's worth, the first Newspoll of 2021

 

via @Leroy_Lynch

This 27-30 January 2021 Newspoll online survey is based on the answers of 1,512 respondents.