One might almost believe that Australian Prime Minister Morrison is casting about for ways to drive his persistent critics from social media

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison and those of his ilk are toying with the idea of creating a law which bans all anonymity on social media.

One which will force women who have accounts with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many other sites to publicly disclose their legal names when creating such accounts and not use a pseudonym when posting or tweeting.

Under scenarios being considered by the Liberal-Nationals Government, all Australians may have to submit 100 points of identification - such as a driver’s licence or passport - before creating a social media account.

Additionally, social media users would be liable for defamation or even subject to criminal prosecution for their activity online.

For some reason he and others in his government are professing to believe this will make the Internet safe for women and girls.

Create a hugh Australian database spread across multiple sites which contains the verifiable ID of tens of thousands of Australian females – including home and/or work addresses. What could possibly go wrong?

Another giant pot for gold every vengeful, misogynistic male who decides he wants to abuse, threaten and stalk in real life not just in cyberspace. 

At least one social media giant clearly demonstrates by way of repeated privacy breaches, just how easy it is to open databases.

This is the latest.......

The Guardian, 5 April 2021:

Australians are being urged to secure their social media accounts after the details of more than 500 million global Facebook users were found online in a massive data breach.

The details published freely online included names, phone numbers, email addresses, account IDs and bios.

In a statement, Facebook said the leaked information was old, and came from a problem it had resolved in 2019, but experts told Guardian Australia the data could still cause problems for users caught up in the breach.

So what might hackers do with your info? How can you check if your data was leaked? And what can you do to protect yourself?

How your information could be used

Dr Andrew Quodling, a researcher in governance of social media platforms at the Queensland University of Technology, said that the data could be used to gain access to people’s Facebook accounts but also emails and accounts with other social media sites.

Once a hacker has your email, they can try to login into your accounts by pairing your email with simple passwords.

“People will take a sort of an easy run at simple hacks – try the top 100 most common passwords, and try to get in with brute force,” he said. “So anyone using the password 123 on that list would be in trouble.”

How to find out if your data was leaked

The quickest and easiest way to find out if your data has been leaked as part of a wider breach is to check on websites run by security researchers.

One of the most popular and effective of these sites is HaveIBeenPwned.com, a database maintained by security analyst Troy Hunt.

It only needs your email, which it cross-references with more than 10bn accounts that have been breached in the past to find if your details were leaked online.

It also has an option, for users to check if their password has been compromised.

Unfortunately, it does not yet track phone numbers, which were the most common user field in the recent Facebook leak.

What to do if your data was breached

In any data breach, it’s important to ensure identity documents, such as driver’s licence and passport details, haven’t been compromised. If they have, replace them immediately.

If your email address was exposed, change your password for that account, and set up two-factor authentication where possible…...

Australian Government's AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine health warning

 

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, media release, 8 April 2021:

Earlier this evening the Australian Government received advice from the vaccine expert taskforce, the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI).

The detail of that advice is attached.

The Government accepts the advice from Australia’s medical experts and will move swiftly to ensure Australia’s vaccination program and advice to patients is adjusted accordingly.

The Australian Government places safety above all else, as it has done throughout the pandemic, and will continue to follow the medical advice in protecting Australians.

The ATAGI advice is clear that the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe disease caused by COVID-19.

The medical advice to the Government is that the risk of blood clotting side effects from the Astra Zeneca vaccine is four to six in one million people, in the first four to 20 days post the vaccine. This is a rare but serious side effect.

On that basis, the recommendation is that it is preferred that the Pfizer vaccine be provided to adults under the age of 50. The AstraZeneca vaccine should only be given as a first dose to adults under the age of 50 where the benefit clearly outweighs the risk for that individual.

AstraZeneca is recommended for those over the age of 50.

The vaccination program will continue, particularly for the most vulnerable Australians in Phase 1B including those over the age of 70 who are not impacted by this revised advice.

The longer term timeframe for the program is being reviewed following this medical advice.

The Department of Health will provide preliminary, updated advice to general practitioners and health professionals.

The ATAGI advice follows further international evidence including from the vaccinations in Europe and the United Kingdom. ATAGI had already provided updated guidance on 2 April.

The ATAGI advice has today been considered by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC), which is the Medical Expert Panel led by the Chief Medical Officer, and also comprising all State and Territory Chief Health Officers.

The advice will be provided to National Cabinet tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) advice on the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine in response to new vaccine safety concerns, excerpts;

“Definitions

 Thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome (TTS) is a rare and new syndrome which hasbeen reported after being given the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine. It may be caused by this vaccine. The condition involves blood clots (occurring in body sites like the brain or abdomen) together with low platelet levels.

 Thrombosis is the formation of a blood clot, which prevents blood flowing normally through the body.

 Thrombocytopenia is a condition in which you have a low blood platelet count. Platelets (thrombocytes) are blood cells that help blood clot. Platelets stop bleeding by clumping and forming plugs in blood vessel injuries.”

“ The AstraZeneca vaccine appears likely to be causally-linked with a risk of this newly recognised thrombosis with thrombocytopenia syndrome.

 There is currently uncertainty in, and different reported rates of risk, for this adverse event.

 Studies have suggested it may occur in approximately 4 – 6 people in every one million people in the 4-20 days after the first dose of vaccine. However, higher rates have been reported in Germany and some Scandinavian countries.

 Some evidence suggests the risk of this condition occurring may be somewhat higher in people of a younger age, however a small number of cases have been reported in people of different ages (including older adults).

 While there have been more reports of TTS in women in some settings, this may be because more vaccine doses have been given to women. In one country the reported rate of TTS (number of cases adjusted for the number of men and women vaccinated) was similar in men and women.

 TTS can cause serious long term disability or death (with death occurring in approximately 25% of reported cases).

 So far no specific biological risk factors or pre-existing medical conditions have been found to modify (i.e. increase or decrease) the risk of TTS occurring after AstraZeneca vaccine.

 We do not yet know to what extent earlier recognition of this syndrome and improved treatments will improve patient outcomes. More cases can be expected to occur, albeit rarely.

 Comirnaty (the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine) does not appear to carry a risk of TTS. [my yellow highlighting]

NOTE: On 13 July 2020 AstraZeneca shares were worth US$61.10. By 8 April 2021 share price has fallen to US$49.78. 

Labor MLA for Lismore urges Berejiklian Government to consider taxi licence buyback scheme

Office of the NSW Labor MLA for Lismore, Janelle Saffin, media release, 7 April 2021:

Saffin goes into bat for Lismore’s hard-working taxi drivers

TOP RANK: Lismore MP Janelle Saffin with taxi owner/drivers, from left, Justin Stevenson, Gurdeep Singh, Richard Hunter and Vikram Singh following their recent meeting.

STATE Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin is going into bat for local hard-working taxi owner/drivers, once again calling on the NSW Government not to abandon them by allowing their taxi licences to be devalued until they are worthless.

Ms Saffin has written to NSW Transport Minister Andrew Constance and NSW Minister for Regional Transport and Roads, asking them to throw taxi owner/drivers a financial lifeline so they are not left high and dry when they retire from the industry.

“In Lismore, there are 19 owners of taxis in our local co-operative, all respected small business owners who work incredibly hard serving our community,” Ms Saffin said.

“They are facing financial stress as a result of the decreasing value of taxi licences in New South Wales. They are concerned about their future and feel like they are being abandoned by the NSW Government.

“They’re worried about the sharp drop in the value of their taxi plates, that the Government’s support schemes are not nearly enough and that current Government regulations are failing to deal with how ride sharing has impacted taxi drivers.”

The NSW Legislative Council Inquiry into the Operation of Point to Point Transport Act 2016 found that taxi licences have incurred a net loss of at least 80 per cent in value since 2015.

This inquiry recommended that the NSW Government establish a buyback scheme for the taxi licenses.

Ms Saffin said a buyback scheme could be paid for by the NSW Government’s $1-per-trip Passenger Service Levy, introduced in February 2018 to raise up to $250 million over five years towards an industry assistance package.

“I am strongly encouraging Ministers Constance and Toole to adopt the inquiry’s recommendation to give our taxi drivers financial security into the future,” Ms Saffin said.

“Our local taxi drivers have also expressed to me how they have gone into debt to initially purchase their taxi licences and now that they are so devalued, they are left with the debt over their heads.

“These are not wealthy people and we must act to avoid our taxi drivers being left high and dry.”

Since 2009, Lismore’s taxi drivers have completed over three million trips.

According to Ms Saffin, they provide outstanding community service to the elderly, people with a disability and many locals who don’t own a car and need transport.

The MP has offered to work with Ministers Constance and Tool to give taxi drivers a fair go.

NSW Deputy-Premier, Minister for Regional New South Wales and Liberal MP for Monaro, John Barilaro, ignores council and communities strong opposition to mining within the Clarence River catchment area

Clarence Valley Independent, 31 March 2021:

Clarence Valley Council’s only declared politically-aligned councillor, Greg Clancy, tabled a motion at yesterday’s March 30 CVC meeting, to restate CVC’s anti-mining stance.

At the November 24, 2020, CVC meeting, councillors voted six to one (Cr Baker was opposed and councillors Williamson and Kingsley were absent) to “oppose mining in the Clarence River catchment”.

Councillor Clancy’s motion – tabled after the Independent’s editorial deadline – is a response to Deputy Premier John Barilaro’s letter to CVC, which rejected CVC’s plea to impose a moratorium on mining in the Clarence Valley’s river catchment.

Following the November decision, CVC wrote to Mr Barilaro, NSW Minister for Energy and Environment Matt Kean, state Member for Clarence Chris Gulaptis and federal Member for Page Kevin Hogan – Mr Barilaro responded on behalf of himself and Mr Kean; Mr Gulaptis and Mr Hogan had not responded, according to CVC’s meeting papers.

Councillor Clancy’s motion sought to “thank” Mr Barilaro “for his response on behalf of the Minister for Energy and Environment Matt Kean”, and to “advise that CVC was not seeking an explanation of the process of developing mining in the Clarence Valley, but was advising the state government of its strong opposition to mining in the Valley”.

The rest of his motion stated: “Advise [Mr] Barilaro that the council, representing the community’s strong opposition, is seeking support for the Clarence Valley to be identified as a no-go zone for mining due to its almost unique natural and cultural values, many of which depend on the Clarence River, and which support essential and valuable industries contributing to the local economy;

“Write to the Premier of New South Wales, Gladys Berejiklian, advising her of Council’s resolution and seeking her support for a moratorium on mining in the Clarence Valley;

“[and], write to the adjoining councils that have responsibility for areas draining into the Clarence River catchment requesting that they support council’s stand and ask them to pass resolutions to oppose mining in areas affecting the Clarence River catchment.”…...

Clarence Valley Independent, 6 April 2021:

In last week’s story, ‘Greens councillor revisits CVC’s anti-mining stance’, the Independent outlined a motion put to the March 30 Clarence Valley Council (CVC) meeting, however, the motion was deferred to the April meeting.

Councillor Greg Clancy withdrew his motion when it became apparent that time was running out as Councillors discussed technical issues regarding how the motion should be put.

 

Andrew Laming, Liberal National Party of Queensland MP for Bowman, created dozens of Facebook pages to promote his party and attack opponents

 

It would appear that Andrew Laming is vying with Scott Morrison for the title of Political Liar of the Year........

The Guardian. 6 April 2021:

The besieged Liberal National MP Andrew Laming operates more than 30 Facebook pages and profiles under the guise of community groups, including at least three masquerading as news pages, and another posing as an educational institute.

The Bowman MP, who is on leave from parliament to undertake empathy counselling following complaints about his behaviour towards women, uses the sites to promote political material and attack his Labor opponents through pages classified with Facebook as “community” and “news” groups. None of the pages include political authorisation disclosures.

Laming has announced he will quit politics at the next election, but the Morrison government has insisted he is a fit and proper person to sit on the government benches, where the Coalition holds a one-seat majority.

As further revelations about his “extraordinary” behaviour emerge, Guardian Australia has confirmed that the Facebook page operating as the Redland Bay Bulletin – which uses a similar name to the local news site the Redland City Bulletin – was set up by Laming in October 2015 claiming to be a “community group”.

The page claims to “update the issues and keep a close eye on politicians and their promises” in the Redlands;

area, but posts frequent links to Liberal National party advertising and attacks on the Labor party, including state member Kim Richards.

“This page was created to provide an opportunity for you to communicate your likes and dislikes, advertise an event or your business. So share this page to fellow residents. Let’s see if we are noticed so that positive changes can be made,” the “about” page reads.

After one community resident complained about the page’s apparent LNP “propaganda”, one of the page’s administrators responded: “Yes this page was created by Andrew, but is now administered by several locals from the Redland Bay and Mount Cotton area.”

Another Facebook page used by Laming claims to be the fictitious Redlands Institute, a “forum for balanced discussion of major issues” which has been registered with Facebook as an “education” group.

The Redlands Institute promotes stories casting doubt on climate science, calling it “apocalyptic environmentalism” and spreads anti-Labor and anti-Greens propaganda while linking to Laming’s official material.

Laming revealed his identity in comments on the page posted under the institute’s name, including by posting links to Facebook live events on his now deleted official page and asking page followers to ask him questions.

Laming has also revealed himself in comments on the Victoria Point News page and the Thornlands 4164 page, both of which have been set up as “community” pages.

Guardian Australia understands that Laming has set up a community page for each suburb in his electorate without disclosing his political links to the sites, and operates about 35 from his Facebook account, which have garnered thousands of followers. His official Facebook page was shut down in the wake of allegations that he stalked two Brisbane women online.

Another page called “Redland Hospital: Let’s fight for fair funding”, was set up by Laming ahead of the last federal election to campaign against Labor, and while this is revealed in the page’s “About” information, it does not include any party branding or authorisation.

According to the Australian Electoral Commission, political authorisation is required for “information that is a matter communicated, or intended to be communicated, for the dominant purpose of influencing the way electors vote in a federal election”.

“This includes, but is not limited to, a communication that expressly promotes or opposes a candidate, political party, member or senator.”

The disclosure laws, which were updated following the 2016 election, also explicitly include social media posts, requiring authorisation details either in the message or through the page’s biography details….

Read the full article here.

Bad news continues for Morrison Government with publication of latest Newspoll analysis in April 2021

 

The last Newspoll of 2020 published on 29 November had Federal Labor trailing the Coalition by 2 points at 49 to 51 on a two-party preferred basis, after starting that year ahead by the same two points.

Come January and February 2021 the polling showed the Federal Coalition and Labor neck and neck on a two-party preferred basis.

On 28 March Labor moved ahead on a two-party preferred basis at 52 to the Coalition’s 48. At that point Scott Morrison’s approval rating as prime minister has fallen 9 points in a month.

Now despite the first published Newspoll analysis of voter intentions in April 2021 revealing that primary voting intentions have Labor at 38 per cent and the Coalition at 40 per cent, according to the Northern Daily Leader the Coalition is losing even more ground on a two-party preferred basis, with a result of 53 to 47 in Labor’s favour if a federal election had been held on 5 April.

The Coalition's two-party preferred polling in relation to Labor’s polling now stands at exactly the same level as it was on 2 February 2020 after that 4 point downwards slide it took once Morrison was discovered secretly holidaying in Hawaii while Australia's east coast burned.

According to AAP General Newswire on 6 April 2021, the polling figures for Western Australia and Queensland has the Coalition trailing by 12 points in WA and dropping 3 points in Qld. Indicating that at the next federal election the Morrison Government could lose 3 seats in Western Australian and 4 seats in Queensland.

In two other states the Coalition is trailing in the two-party preferred polling - by 10 points in South Australia and 6 points in Victoria. The vote is split 50-50 in New South Wales.

On 5 April Morrison’s approval rating as prime minister had actually risen by 6 points compared with the March result. However, the Newspoll analysis shows that he has lost support amongst male voters which now stands at only 41 per cent of all males surveyed – leaving male support on par with female support.

At the end of March 2021 at least one mainstream media masthead was predicting that Labor would need to gain a net 8 seats on a uniform swing of 3.2 per cent to win government at the next federal election. Thus far it is silent on what this latest polling analysis indicates.

Criticism of Morrison Government's "overhyped and underdelivered" national COVID-19 vaccination program continues

 

news.com.au, 5 April 2021:

Yesterday, four million Americans received a dose of the COVID-19 vaccine as the country continues to rapidly accelerate its rollout.

By comparison, that’s the same number of Australians who were meant to have gotten a jab by the end of March … a target that the Government fell short of by 3.4 million people.

Just two per cent of Australians have received a jab so far, compared to 30 per cent of the US population and 46 per cent of people in the UK.

A number of frontline health workers, hotel quarantine workers and vulnerable aged care residents remain unvaccinated, despite the significant risks.

Supply from overseas has dwindled, distribution of what the country does hold has been marred by issues, communication between authorities and the GPs tasked with administering jabs is chaotic, and fury is growing, experts say.

Instead of seeking solutions, critics accuse Prime Minister Scott Morrison of being distracted by politics and a petty blame game while still insisting that all is going well despite mounting evidence to the contrary.

By the time the US, UK and major European Union nations were six weeks into their respective schemes, those countries had vaccinated several times more people.

When pressed on why the program began so late and has been plagued by so many issues, the Prime Minister has repeated his mantra: “It’s not a race.”

But this overly casual attitude is one of four major mistakes the Government has made, argues Stephen Duckett, director of the Grattan Institute’s health program, who describes the vaccine rollout as “overhyped and underdelivered”.....

Instead of four million Aussies getting a jab by last week as promised, the figure was just 600,000 and Health Minister Greg Hunt won’t say when everyone in the first groups will be vaccinated. 

That’s not to mention the second major group of intended recipients, covering some six million Australians, who were “encouraged to call their GP to organise a vaccination”, Mr Duckett said. 

“(Greg Hunt) made this announcement knowing Australia didn’t have enough vaccines to meet demand. 

“GPs hadn’t been warned of the impending tsunami of calls, nor did they know how many doses they would get and when. The Federal Government didn’t have a robust logistics system to ensure the right doses got to the right places at the right times. GPs were, rightly, extremely angry. 

“The logistics nightmares continue, with the Federal Government persistently failing to provide clarity about dose distribution to either states or GPs.” 

At a media conference yesterday, Mr Hunt couldn’t say when everyone in the first two groups – health workers, hotel quarantine staff and aged care residents – would get their first jabs. 

He also seemingly backed away from another of the Government’s major commitments – that every Aussie who wants a COVID-19 jab will have it by October. 

“As to the rate … that will depend simply on the supply,” Mr Hunt said when pressed on the timeline. 

“The supply at this stage is looking strong. We are in a very fortunate position given the global circumstances (and) with our (locally made AstraZeneca) production.” 

Those firm commitments are now a thing of the past, it seems....

For his part, Mr Duckett blames the Morrison administration’s tendency to prioritise political messaging for much of the confusion and unpreparedness. 

“The Federal Government has seen the vaccine rollout not as a public health program but as a political issue, complete with the Liberal Party logo on a vaccine announcement,” Mr Duckett wrote. 

“The focus has been on announcables and good news stories, with the glory to shine back on the Government in the lead-up to an election. 

“This focus has meant the Government’s initial priority was a rollout through GPs and, later, pharmacies. 

“Involvement of GPs was the right call – it’s good for doctors to provide a comprehensive range of services to their patients. But reliance on GPs was the mistake. 

“GP clinics rarely have the space for significant numbers of people waiting to be vaccinated and to be observed after being vaccinated. 

“Mass vaccination requires large centres such as sports venues and town halls.” 

While maintaining everything is fine, Mr Hunt and the PM have attempted to shift the blame to the states, who in turn have revealed staggering shortcomings on the part of federal authorities. 

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard reacted with fury to criticism from the Federal Government, detailing instances when vaccine stock had not arrived when it was meant to, or arrived suddenly and without warning, akin to “dumping”. 

The Prime Minister’s office points out that it reset it’s end-of-March goal when the European Union blocked the export of millions of doses of vaccines. 

But even on its revised target, it still fell short by more than 1.2 million vaccinations....

Read the full article here. 

It is unfortunate that so few have been vaccinated to date, given that outbreaks of community-transmitted COVID-19 infection are still occurring. 

On 30 March 2021 Queensland Health announced that it had recorded 10 new cases of COVID-19 that day, including six locally acquired cases. 

All six locally acquired cases were linked to a Brisbane nurse, who in turn could be linked back to the unvaccinated Princess Alexandra doctor who tested positive on 12 March 2021.

Three new cases linked to this cluster were announced on 3 April 2021.