Has Morrison's loose lips sunk the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement

The populous Indonesian archipelago is one of our nearest northern neighbours. This predominantly Muslim nation is a significant trading partner which purchased $7.03 billion worth of goods and services from Australian business/industry in 2017.

On 24 August 2018 when Scott John Morrison walked over the political corpse of Malcolm Bligh Turnbull to become Australia’s 30^th prime minister the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement was well on its way to being signed by both governments.

Dept. Foreign Affairs and Trade, 2018:

Australia and Indonesia announced the substantive conclusion of negotiations on the Indonesia-Australia Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (IA-CEPA) on 31 August 2018. This agreement will launch a new chapter in economic relations between Australia and Indonesia…..

Indonesia is a growing market for Australian goods and services exporters. In 2017, total two-way trade in goods and services with Indonesia was worth $16.4 billion, making Indonesia our 13th largest trading partner. IA-CEPA will provide Australian and Indonesian businesses an opportunity to expand and diversify this economic partnership.

IA-CEPA builds on commitments under our existing free trade agreement, the ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement (AANZFTA) across goods, services and investment.

In addition to reducing non-tariff barriers to trade and simplifying paperwork, IA-CEPA will allow 99% of Australia's goods exports to enter Indonesia duty free or with significantly improved preferential arrangements. All Indonesia's goods exports will enter Australia duty free.

IA-CEPA will improve conditions for services suppliers and the climate for two-way investment. Australian services suppliers and investors will have greater certainty for entry and operation in the Indonesian market, helping to facilitate more Australian investment in Indonesia. This will create more opportunities for Australians to help meet Indonesia's growing needs for investment and for the supply of world class services in its market.

Both sides will 'scrub' the full text of the agreement, to verify its accuracy and internal legal consistency.  The agreement will be translated into Indonesian with the Indonesian and English versions being equally authentic.  Once translated, the agreement will be ready for formal signature.  The full text of the agreement will be released publicly once it has been signed.

After signature, Australia and Indonesia will then follow their domestic treaty making processes to bring IA-CEPA into force. For Australia, this will include tabling the text of the agreement in Parliament and an inquiry by the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties (JSCOT). [my yellow highlighting]

By Day 81 of his time as prime minister Morrison had managed to publicly offend moderate Muslims here and around the world not once but twice and, the Agreement which was to be signed before the end of the week has now been delayed indefinitely by Indonesia.

Scott Morrison captain's call over the status of Jerusalem in particular was a grave error -based as it was on Pentacoastal teachings and not existing Australia Government policy.

He needs to think before he opens his mouth in future.

Does the Nine-Fairfax merger mean the writing is on the wall for Alan Jones?

With an ageing listener demographic, big brand unhappiness with 77 year-old wannabee politician Alan Belford Jones’ bitter, angry, bigoted, biased on-air persona, a string of defamation payouts by 2GB on his behalf and, his radio contract coming up for renewal in June 2019, has Alan Jones finally reached his use-by date?

The Australian, 12 November 2018:

Alan Jones has been sensationally disciplined by the board and management of Macquarie Media, which refuses to confirm or deny if it has forced its star breakfast presenter to pay some of the costs of the multi-million defamation action brought against the company by the Wagner brothers.

And the 2GB breakfast announcer’s infamous interview with Sydney Opera House boss Louise Herron was “unbecoming and inappropriate”, bosses say.

Diary is told the board is unhappy with the top-rating veteran broadcaster over three incidents: the Wagner defamation case; the use of the racial epithet “nigger in the woodpile” when discussing Liberal leadership turmoil; and the aggressive Herron interview.

Macquarie Media chairman Russell Tate told Diary: “Absolutely, we had a couple of big issues. As you would expect, the board and management have been very mindful about these things and ­decided to make sure they don’t happen again and that’s been done. Alan is a professional. He gets it.”

Tate dismissed talk that advertising revenues had suffered in the wake of the controversies. “Our revenues are good, ahead of last year and ahead of forecasts.”

The price of defame

After Jones’s repeated defamations of the Wagner family over the 2011 Lockyer Valley floods, which killed 12 people, 2GB was ordered to pay $3.75 million, the largest defamation payout in history after Queensland Supreme Court judge Peter Flanagan ruled the defamation was “extremely ­serious and of the gravest kind”.

Tate refused to comment to Diary if the board had forced Jones to contribute. At Macquarie Media’s annual general meeting last week, chief executive Adam Lang confirmed the station had ­insurance but he also refused to confirm or deny if the board had asked Jones to pay. “Whether Alan is paying or not, those are matters that we would like to keep within the company.” The legal ­action would cost Macquarie about $5m and “we are prepared for that” Lang said.

But legal sources put the total cost of the action much higher, ­between $8m and $10m. And other sources at Macquarie told Diary the board had demanded Jones pay some of the costs. One 2GB insider said board members snubbed Jones after a board meeting at the network’s Pyrmont studios.

At the AGM, Tate said: “We have learnt from this and there are new procedures and new rules and new training regimes in place ­including in the case of Alan.”

The company also told the AGM it had “dealt” with Jones over his widely criticised interview with Herron.

Shareholder and anti-gambling activist Stephen Mayne told the board the interview was an “outrageous breach of editorial standards”. Lang said: “I agree it was unbecoming and it was inappropriate. Many in the community including some internally were ­offended by the way in which he handled Louise Herron AM in that broadcast. We have dealt with that directly with Alan.”

Jones was enjoying record ­audiences, Lang said.

Macquarie Media is 54.5 per cent owned by Fairfax Media, whose chief executive Greg ­Hywood sits on the Macquarie Media board. Nine Entertainment is due to complete its takeover of Fairfax next month. How any of this ­affects negotiations over Jones’s contract, which expires mid-next year, remains to be seen.

Mr. Jones is now on indefinite leave due to ill health.

Like Turnbull before him, Scott Morrison fails to connect with voters

According to Newspoll it is Australia’s leading public opinion polling company . Established in 1985, we have Australia’s best track record having estimated the outcomes of every state and federal election since our company was founded. 

In its national opinion poll released on 11 November 2018 Federal Primary Votes came in at:

Liberal-National Party 35 (-1)

Australian Labor Party 40 (+1)

Australian Greens 9 (0)

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation 6 (0)

These results gave this Two-Party Preferred Voting breakdown (based on 2016 federal election preference flows):

The Australian, Twitter, 11 November 2018

AAP General Newswire, 11 November 2018:

Bill Shorten has narrowed the gap to Scott Morrison as preferred prime minister as Labor extends its lead over the coalition in the latest Newspoll.

The coalition government has slipped further behind Labor in the latest Newspoll as Bill Shorten narrowed the gap to Scott Morrison as the nation's preferred leader.

The Liberal-National coalition now trail Labor by 10 points after slipping to 45-55 on a two-party preferred basis, according to the Newspoll published in The Australian on Sunday night.

The coalition’s primary vote fell by a point to 35 per cent - two points higher than the record low of 33 per cent.

Labor's primary vote, according to the national poll of 1802 voters, sits at 40 per cent - only the third time it has hit such a mark in almost four years.

The coalition has been behind on the primary vote since the leadership change in August.

Mr Morrison's latest effort to win back votes - his bus and plane tour of Queensland - appeared to not work with voters with his net approval rating sinking another five points to minus eight.....

This Christmas advert has been banned from TV in the UK for being too political

This Christmas advert has been banned from TV for being too political.

I think what's happening to our rain forests should be banned for being criminal to life on earth.

This needs to be the most viewed Christmas advert ever! Do your best Twitter! pic.twitter.com/c9YEbVyIuw

— Dan Lewis (CWU NW Chair) (@Think_Become) November 9, 2018

FauxMo is not cutting through so he's started the flag routine

The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 November 2018

Standing in front of two Australian flags, interim Prime Minister and Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison has "called out" violent, extremist Islam, saying it is the biggest religious threat to Australia. Scott Morrison says radical Islam threatens Australia's way of life.



Given Morrison history of politicizing his own extreme religious views pushback was inevitable.......

Dear #PMScum, over the last few years more people have died on #Manus & #Nauru at the hands of yourself and Dutton than have been killed by terrorists in Australia. Since you are both extremist faux-Christians, I'd argue that you are more dangerous than Islamic extremists #auspol

— John Wren, Fair Dinkum Scomophobe (@JohnWren1950) November 10, 2018

Australia's faux prime minister now has an Australian flag behind his desk as a photo opportunity prop and religious images showcased for effect. Dog whistles discreetly kept out of sight. Yep, a hard right PM at the helm following the US GOP campaign playbook pic.twitter.com/B8PapxjG4l

— no_filter_Yamba (@no_filter_Yamba) November 10, 2018

Australian Politics 2018: the emperor's new clothes

i360 sits on the bleeding edge of technology, delivering innovative products and services through the strategic use of data, software and analytics. Bringing together this unique set of data science, marketing and analytical capabilities, i360 drives innovation and results for our customers in both the political and commercial spaces…..Using predictive modeling and state-of-the-art grassroots tools, i360 helps candidates and issue advocacy organizations target the right individuals with a strategy guaranteed to make an impact whether at the local, state or national level. [https://www.i-360.com]

It’s no secret that the Liberal Party of Australia has contracted the services of data miner and political micro-targeting analyst i360, a conservative-aligned platform funded by hard right US billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch.

i360’s services were used in this year’s South Australian state election and it is rumoured these services will be available to Liberal Party sitting MPs during the 2019 federal election campaign.

It’s no accident that interim Prime Minister and Liberal MP for Cook Scott Morrison (who had a Kiwi grandfather and a mother who was a New Zealand citizen by descent) has suddenly turned himself into a virulent ‘ocker’ - complete with an Aussie beer or meat pie in hand, thumbs forever standing to attention when cameras begin to click, spewing forth g’days and fair dinkums ad nauseum while sporting a cheap Australian flag lapel pin on his business suit jacket. Togged out in hi-vis vests whenever possible. Wearing a veritable parade of caps for less formal media moments as a "good bloke' and nicking the moniker “ScoMo” from other Facebook users for his own public relations purposes.

No recognition of his own multicultural background for Scott Morrison - it might offend the One Nation supporters he is so obviously wooing!

One has to suspect he is personally getting a calculated makeover by a professional image manager. If the image advice is coming from Finkelstein and Kunkel they are definitely not earning their salaries.

The problem for Morrison is that he has been a federal MP since 2007 and was a Cabinet Minister from September 2013 until he became prime minister in August this year, so his underlying character is widely known to the national electorate. 

A man without a genuine empathetic bone in his body; single-mindedly ambitious, self-righteous, arrogant, prevaricating, unwilling to accept responsibility for the consequences of his ministerial decisions, a shameless dog whistler and, a victim blamer from way back who believes that political or business success and/or personal wealth are visible manifestations of God's approval of the individual and consequently lacking success and wealth indicates moral failure.

His track record as Minister for Immigration and Border Protection (18.9.13 to 23.12.14), Minister for Social Services (23.12.14 to 21.9.15) and Treasurer (21.9.15 to 26.08.2018) precludes him from ever being considered a good bloke.

So it was inevitable that the artifice of his new persona would be mocked……

The Guardian, 7 November 2018:

He didn’t want the job, it was handed to him – just ask him. But now that the mantle of greatness has been thrust upon him, Scott Morrison, ScoMo to you thanks, is going to take that mantle, put a surf cap from Mick Fanning’s mum on it and serve it meat and three veg. Fair dinkum. He’s the nation’s daggy dad and, just in case you weren’t aware of it, he’s going to stone the flamin’ crows and show you just how ridgy-didge he is. Below are some memorable quotes. But who said them? Our 30th prime minister, or an Australian icon?

Top of Form

 1. "That’s why you keep backing it in. If something is working well, you should back it in. And that’s what we are doing here."

Scott Morrison

Alf Stewart from Home and Away

2. "The right is constantly procreating while the left is grooming a dead dog."

Scott Morrison

Cleaver Greene from Rake

3. "No wonder the country’s in a mess."

Scott Morrison

Ted Bullpitt from Kingswood Country

4."We’ve got a future CEO of the farm down here, I reckon. He’s pretty keen on the ice cream."

Scott Morrison

Bill Heslop from Muriel's Wedding

5. "This is me doing what I do – I’m out, I’m listening, I’m hearing and I’m doing."

Scott Morrison

Kenny Smyth from Kenny

6. "It’s a simple rule: pants first, shoes second. That always usually works for me."

Scott Morrison

Alvin Purple from the movie of the same name

7. "Feels good to be on the road again. Feels like a drug. Not an illegal drug, a good drug."

Scott Morrison

Russell Coight from All Aussie Adventures

8. "Mate, I think I’ll take you down to Canberra and let you give the boys a bit of a rev-up."

Scott Morrison

Barry McKenzie from The Adventures of Barry McKenzie

9. "People don’t hassle me. It’s always very friendly anywhere in the world."

Scott Morrison

Paul Hogan

10. "Lily and I had a great time yesterday doing the hot lap with Mark Skaife and coming down it was a bit like doing the Wild Mouse."

Scott Morrison

Steve Irwin

11. "And yeah, fair dinkum, we should be supporting Australian businesses."

Scott Morrison

Darryl Kerrigan from The Castle

Image Credit:The Guardian