The Fair Work Commission must reject calls for “wage restraint” from the business lobby at a time when many are banking record profits – with some even pocketing Jobkeeper allowances – at the expense of struggling workers. Emma Dawson reports.
Source: Suppressing wages is economic vandalism in the current climate
Companies linked to tax havens and one of China’s wealthiest property developers have been handed federal government grants to employ remote Aboriginal work-for-the-dole participants under the 1,000 jobs program – a scheme that was supposed to primarily benefit Indigenous business. The $50m, 1,000 jobs program, which aims to generate employment for Aboriginal jobseekers and businesses in remote Australia, has created just 400 jobs in the two years it has been running. The program offers a wage subsidy to support businesses to take on Community Development Program (CDP) participants as new, ongoing employees for a minimum of 15 hours per week, making payments once an employer provides evidence of employment outcomes. Coalition scraps remote work-for-the-dole program for Indigenous Australians Read more When the former Indigenous affairs minister Nigel Scullion launched the scheme in 2019, he said it would have “focus on supporting Indigenous businesses” and would help “businesses operating in remote Australia to expand”. Advertisement But the Guardian can reveal that among the companies approved to receive the payment are Shiying Yougawalla No.2 Pty Ltd and Argyle Cattle Company
Rates of homelessness are rising alarmingly, particularly among Australians aged 65 to 74. The government offered them nothing in the budget, in defiance of the Aged Care Royal Commission recommendations. Jeff Fiedler reports.
Source: More will be Given: home owners rewarded in budget as homelessness continues to surge – Michael West
Real Concern “Believe me” Morrison’s Plea
Liberal and Nationals MPs are being urged to raise money for a federal election to be held next year out of concern at the power of activist groups and the union movement to threaten the government’s hold on power. Prime Minister Scott Morrison told government MPs to “turn up and shake hands” at events so they could gain the friends and finances they will need to fend off groups such as GetUp.
Source: Scott Morrison tells MPs to raise war chest for election next year
This makes the release today of Crikey’s A Dossier of Lies and Falsehoods – covering 16 documented lies and 11 falsehoods from Prime Minister Scott Morrison, all backed with referenced source – surprising only because it is overdue. Crikey has been careful, only picking those matters they can back with documented facts and evidence.
Source: Dennis Atkins: Scott Morrison’s four favourite ways to bend the truth
Today on Sorry Day, 13 years since the Apology, our Elders, families and communities still grieve these losses. And many families are being repeatedly traumatised by contemporary child removal practices. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are nearly 10 times more likely than non-Indigenous children to be in out-of-home care.
Maybe it’s wishful thinking to declare the pandemic over in the US, and presumptuous to conclude what lessons we’ve learned from it. So consider this list a first draft.
Source: Workers Matter and Government Works: Eight Lessons from the Pandemic | The Smirking Chimp
(Disclaimer: This blog is written without monetary compensation. It is usually written in haste, and though I proofread, that too is often done in haste. Typos get overlooked. There is no editor to see what I sometimes don’t see until after I press “send.” Bear with me. Or don’t. I don’t have to write these things, and you surely don’t have to read them. We’re all volunteers here. Why any of us does what we do can be a mystery even to ourselves, but it’s just weird that those of you keep returning to read my stuff though it’s clear you don’t like my opinions or the way I express them. But we’re all pilgrims on this path. If, however, you are among those who actually agree or like something or other I write, please share it with people you might know who might be interested, or maybe even need to hear an opinion that differs from their own. I ask this because I was just released from Facebook jail after doing 30 days of hard time, ratted out by sneaky people in the sneakiest of way, accusing me of “hate” and “bullying” until our Facebook overseers decided I needed to be punished. Again. Given the snitches, and the apparent inability of Facebook cops to understand either hatred or b
No wonder there are shortages of workers at the wages and working conditions employers are willing to offer. If you believe in its omniscience, the market is signaling corporations and businesses that employers must offer more.
Source: On How there is no Restaurant Worker Shortage, only a Shortage of Safe Jobs with Adequate Pay
Rowan Dean gets attention from Head Office America for his ability to micro-criticize the shit out of the slightest thing. Fox plays it up in Slow-Mo
Source: Fox News Horrified Over Kamala Harris Handshake | Crooks and Liars
Australia should embrace the opportunity to become a renewable energy power. If we don’t act now, with the global energy transition gathering pace, Australia could be exposed to a hostile international energy environment with profound economic, security and diplomatic consequences.
Source: We could be a superpower: 3 ways Australia can take advantage of the changing geopolitics of energy
Rudd’s latest contribution to the debate is The Case for Courage, part of a series curated by Australian publishing doyen Louise Adler and published by Monash University Publishing. This little red book, easily read in one sitting, is a call to arms to the Australian Labor party and its supporters. But it is a wake-up call for all of us. Rudd asks Labor to be brave and act with courage to hold the conservatives to account and guarantee media diversity by breaking Murdoch’s media domination, in order to protect and strengthen Australian social democracy. The book starts with a critique of the Murdoch oligarchy and ends with a vision for a “big Australia”, a fourth way, as Rudd describes it:
Source: Kevin Rudd wants to see more courage in Australian politics
What do you think? Those of you who believe they have a fix on Morrison’s nature and intentions may be living in fantasy land. While there is bound to be a diversity of opinion, who can avoid the conclusion that his unbridled arrogance is obvious? And that it is dangerous?
Source: The price of arrogance – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Yesterday, Canberra again promised that we’ll be vaccinated by Christmas. Yet, three months into the rollout and only 1.9% of NSW has had both doses.
President Alexander Lukashenko is being blasted for forcing the passenger plane to make an emergency landing so authorities could arrest a journalist who has been critical of his authoritarian leadership. The presidential press service said a bomb threat was received while the Ryanair plane was over the Belarusian territory. Ryanair said in a statement that the plane’s crew was notified by Belarus of a potential security threat on board and were instructed to divert to the nearest airport, Minsk. Police then proceeded to detain journalist Roman Protasevich, a prominent opponent of Mr Lukashenko.
Source: Belarus condemned for ‘hijacking’ after fake bomb diverts Ryanair flight
Boteach is a huge supporter of the odious Trump and is as dedicated to the Israeli colonial enterprise in the Palestinian Occupied Territories as Cecil Rhodes was dedicated to colonizing southern Africa with superior white people. He flings the charge of anti-Semitism around the way former Grand Wizard of the KKK David Duke throws around accusations that white people are disadvantaged. Boteach actually thinks it is wrong for Palestinians in al-Khalil, which he calls Hebron, to protest having their property stolen. Supporting human rights for Palestinians is not anti-Semitic. In fact, opposing anti-Semitism as a form of bigotry is incumbent on anyone who cares about Palestinian human rights.
Alarm bells rang internationally last week when Taiwan announced it was moving to its second highest COVID alert level after a recent surge of cases. The country last year recorded zero cases of community transmission for eight straight months. The recent increase in cases has led many people to wonder: what happened to Taiwan’s COVID success story? One part of the answer is a very slow vaccine rollout. Australia should take heed.
Source: COVID is surging in unvaccinated Taiwan. Australia should take heed
A referendum on the Voice offers another national opportunity for Australia to continue its journey of coming to terms with its past. A yes vote offers the opportunity to renovate the constitution from a document that is silent about the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history of this continent and which permits discrimination on the basis of race. As the Uluru statement from the heart says: In 1967, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people “were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard”.
Source: Politicians must trust the people on Indigenous Voice to Parliament
Despite official accounts showing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are falling, its contribution to the climate crisis has increased over the past 15 years once areas beyond the federal government’s control – the drought and emissions from land and forests – are excluded. Scott Morrison told a climate leaders summit hosted by the US president, Joe Biden, last month that Australia had cut its emissions by 19% since 2005. The prime minister said it was “more than most other similar economies” had done and the country was “on the pathway to net zero”. An analysis by the Australia Institute found the reduction in emissions over the past 15 years was largely due to two major shocks beyond government control – the drought and the pandemic – and mostly historical changes in the amount of CO2 released from the land and forests. Fossil fuel and other emissions not linked to the land or agriculture sectors – those from electricity, industry, mining, transport and landfill – actually increased by 7% prior to Covid-19. The institute found on this basis Australia had done much less to reduce emissions than several comparable countries, including the US, UK and members of the European Un
Maybe it’s wishful thinking to declare the pandemic over in the US, and presumptuous to conclude what lessons we’ve learned. So consider this a first draft.
Epidemics are known for laying bare the hidden fault lines of societies. For many of us it may not come as much of a surprise that British colonial officers chose to let the Kumbh mela go ahead even at great cost to public health because it was politically convenient and sidestepped the possibility of having a rebellion on their hands. After three-quarters of a century of political independence, we see the democratically elected government of India, a country that prides itself on technological and financial progress, make a similarly crass political calculus, choosing to curry favor with Hindu nationalists at the expense of lives. Whether subjects or citizens, the public health of Indian people has too often been sacrificed for political gain.
Source: In India’s Covid Crisis, Echoes of a Colonial Past | Washington Monthly
Podcast and Video
Israeli police raided the Al-Aqsa mosque in East Jerusalem during evening prayers. Hamas responded a few days later by launching rockets from Gaza into Israel. Israel retaliated with its own strikes, and the violence escalated. Mariam Barghouti is a Palestinian American journalist based in the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. She joins Ryan Grim to discuss this latest flareup in the Israel-Palestine conflict and what U.S. media is missing. The video referenced at the end of the show is Mehdi Hasan’s “Blowback: How Israel Helped Create Hamas.”
On Nakba Day, 15 May, amid the outbreak of war in Israel/Palestine, I attended a rally in Bay Ridge in Brooklyn, to commemorate the expulsion of more than 700,000 Palestinians from the new Israeli state in 1948, and to protest against the oppression of the Palestinian people in the land between the river and the sea. From the signs I saw as part of that crowd – “This Jew will not stand by” or “Another Jew for a Free Palestine” – and from monitoring my social media feeds, it was clear that there were thousands of Jews taking part in these protests in cities all over the country.
Source: Jewish Americans are at a turning point with Israel | Arielle Angel | The Guardian
Nearly 200,000 Gather in London for History-Making Demonstration of Solidarity With Palestinians “This movement is growing every single day,” said the Muslim Association of Britain. by Julia Conley, staff writer 9 Comments People march through Central London during a pro-Palestinian rally and a protest against Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip in United Kingdom on May 22, 2021. A cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas reached with Egypt mediation took effect at 2 a.m. Friday. (Photo: David Cliff/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) Nearly 200,000 people gathered in London Saturday for what organizers said was one of the largest demonstrations of solidarity with Palestinians in the United Kingdom’s history. Organizers with the Stop The War Coalition, Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Palestinian Forum in Britain, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and the Muslim Association of Britain had planned the protest before Hamas and Israel reached a ceasefire that began early Friday after an 11-day bombing campaign targeting the Gaza Strip. The attacks killed more than 230 Palestinians including dozens of chil
Did you know you’re counted as “employed” if you work 1 hour a week? When you first hear that, it can sound shocking. It can make you suspect the government’s manipulating the unemployment data to make the labour market appear in better health than it is. But let me explain why it’s not a problem. It’s a perfectly logical definition for “employed”. Then, after I’m done with that, let me show you some ways in which you can be led astray by the government. It regards the unemployment rate itself.
Source: You’re counted as ’employed’ if you work one hour a week, but why is that a problem? – ABC News
My thought for the day The common good should be at the centre of any political philosophy. However, it is more likely to be found on the left than the right. ( John Lord )
The world’s powerhouse economies have turned their backs on coal, with economists warning Australia is setting itself up for misery if the federal government keeps investing in fossil fuels.
Source: Australia isolated on climate change as G7 ditches coal
It’s not over, because it’s never over. But there is at least the hope of a pause. After less than a fortnight in which nearly 250 people have been killed, both Hamas and Israel agreed late on Thursday to hold their fire, each crafting a victory story to tell the world and themselves.
Mr Netanyahu said the Israeli military had attacked and destroyed Hamas’s extensive tunnel network in Gaza, its rocket factories, weapons laboratories and storage facilities and killed more than 200 militants, including 25 senior operatives.
Source: Test of Israel-Palestinian ceasefire as clashes erupt at mosque
Two mainstream Israeli radio journalists last week incited violence targeting Palestinian citizens of Israel in Lydd – Lydda in English – a city renamed in Hebrew as Lod after its ethnic cleansing in 1948. Readers should be aware that this article will report on profane and violent language, including references to sexual violence. Asked by a Palestinian guest phoning in to their radio show on 13 May if Israeli Jews were “allowed to slaughter us,” host Yinon Magal replied, “Yes, that’s how it will end, correct.” The guest was Sheikh Yusef al-Bazz, the city’s imam, who was explaining why Palestinian youths had come out onto the streets to protest in solidarity with their people in Jerusalem and Gaza. He argued that the responsibility for any rioting lay with the Israeli government. “You forgot the power the Jews hold” in Israel, Magal shouted into the microphone. Magal’s co-host Ben Caspit made similar threats. He told al-Bazz that “you are making a mistake you made in 1947-48.”
Source: Israeli radio incites killing, expulsion of Palestinian citizens | The Electronic Intifada
The mining industry has exaggerated its contribution in taxes and royalties to Australian governments by an estimated $45 billion over the past 10 years. Callum Foote reports on the findings of an independent research project by Michael West Media.
Source: Mining lobby exaggerates taxes and royalties paid by $45 billion – Michael West
Dr Evan Jones continues his examination of white-collar crime from the corporate banking sector. Part 1 can be read here.
Source: Banking sector’s pursuit of profit equates to white-collar corporate crime
The ABC reported this week the Senate inquiry found “government agencies should have to prove ‘real and serious’ harm caused by the publication of classified intelligence and information before a criminal investigation can be launched”. Donate today and support non-profit news. The Senate inquiry’s report said: Without such a requirement, the provisions would be susceptible to overuse, misuse or even abuse. In particular, the absence of an express harm requirement can lead to circumstances where a journalist is prosecuted for a very minor or trivial ‘dealing’ with classified information. When giving evidence to the inquiry, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) was asked to provide any examples of when a publication had demonstrably harmed Australian national security. ASIO could not produce a single example.
Source: It’s time for the government to walk the talk on media freedom in Australia
Every human being has certain basic needs, and it should be the task of the government to do as much as possible to ensure those needs are met.
Source: Now for some constructive criticism – » The Australian Independent Media Network
The new draft curriculum for Australian history, says Education Minister Alan Tudge, is not getting “the balance right”. Andrew Bolt took up the cause, telling his Sky viewers: “Race propaganda — coming to a classroom near you.”
Along with Tony Abbott, John Howard and others, Mr Tudge is a gatekeeper of Western culture. The gatekeepers take criticism of their hallowed ground as a personal insult — “Disparage my culture and you disparage me”. And they strike back like cut snakes.
Like all imperialists, Western colonisers have dispossessed, dislocated, enslaved, sickened and murdered the people whose lands they invaded. But history is written by the victors and the privileged descendants are the gatekeepers.
What’s my point?
The gatekeepers prefer to keep their privileges. As men born to rule, they believe they deserve them. They’re in Australia’s richest top 10%, which owns half the nation’s wealth. The bottom 60% owns 16% of the wealth.
Source: Alan Tudge advocates for Westernised Australian history curriculum
In Morrison’s case, this frames his opportunism – he gauges opportunity and grabs it when it appears. The other national leader who is labelled a Benthamite utilitarian is Britain’s Boris Johnson, someone also capable of stepping in every cow pat in the paddock but emerging with shiny shoes. It is wrong to label Morrison a pragmatist. In fact, he uses pragmatism to give his consequentialism a cloak of respectability. He is many things, as we learn week in, week out. Add this to what’s a mainly grim list: he’s the most cynical politician anyone has seen in the prime minister’s office.
Source: Dennis Atkins: Morrison is the most cynical politician to ever become PM
A debunked conspiracy theory linked to former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon and his billionaire benefactor, Guo Wengui, was picked up by Murdoch-owned Australian news media and eventually landed on five Fox News shows — where it even reached the ears of a member of the U.S. Senate.
Days of Israeli strikes on Gaza and Hamas rocket attacks inside Israel have killed at least 232 Palestinians and 12 Israelis,wounded hundreds more leaving thousands injured and no health system to speak of.
Source: Israel And Palestinian Militants Agree To Cease-Fire | HuffPost
The disproportion of the savage Israeli response to the tiny rockets Hamas has sent over the border can be easily seen when we consider that only a handful of Israelis have had their homes damaged and none have been made homeless. The ratio of Palestinian to Israeli deaths in the current conflict is on the order of 16 to 1. Disproportionate response and deliberately harming civilians are war crimes.
While Israel launched strikes against Gaza last week after Palestinians protested planned evictions in Jerusalem, a group chat of journalists in Canada was lighting up with notifications. They were frustrated with Canadian media coverage that painted the strikes without context and with a glaring absence of Palestinian voices. Some in the group, which included several Muslim journalists, shared frustrating experiences of advocating for nuanced coverage of international issues in their newsrooms. Some asked for advice on how to approach their editors about concerns with coverage, or lack thereof, of what was really going on in the region. So they drafted an open letter. “‘The Middle East is complicated. We need to hear both sides. Everyone has a lot of emotions about this.’ [sic] These are just some of the excuses news editors have provided to Canadian journalists trying to cover the escalating violence against Palestinians,” the letter read. “The lack of nuanced Canadian media coverage of forced expulsions and indiscriminate airstrikes over the last three days, which have so far killed at least 137 Palestinians, including 36 children, has been disappointing.” At the time of publ
Source: Canadian Journalists Fear Retaliation After Israel Open Letter
Over the past five decades, the Arctic has warmed three times faster than the world as a whole, leading to rapid and widespread melting of ice and other far-reaching consequences that are important not only to local communities and ecosystems but to the fate of life on planet Earth.
Source: ‘A Real Hotspot’: Study Shows Arctic Warming 3 Times Faster Than Rest of Earth | Common Dreams News
It is 1986. A blood test to screen for non A, non B Hepatitis, costing just 5 cents per test, has been shown to significantly reduce the amount of contaminated blood being collected and given to people needing transfusions. It is not a specific test, so it also rules out a small percentage of healthy donors due to occasional false positive results. Blood banks throughout the US are using the test for medical, ethical and legal reasons. What was Australia to do? Queensland’s Blood Service started using the test but no other Australian blood service did so. Many thousands of people were infected as a result. Elizabeth Minter reports in this third of her series on Australia’s infected blood scandal.
Agriculture has a huge role to play in both the mitigation of, and adaptation to, climate change. It is in their best interests to lead the way to a sustainable future and there is enthusiasm to do so from this generation of farmers. So why do they keep electing Luddites?
If it quacks like a duck, it only quacks on one side of the fence with an LNP smirk and swagger, it only quacks on one side of the Tasman – Once again the Kiwis surely have got this right. Remember this when you vote next time and the mess we find ourselves in (remember Stan scratching his head peering round at Ollie, if you are as old as me, I was just a boy). This was just about a simple vaccine to keep all Australians safe and the Federal Government couldn’t even waddle their way through that like they made a dog’s breakfast of quarantine, not the way Morrison puffs up his tails, boasts and goes on and on about it, I mean dream on. So come next Federal election remember… vote don’t quack and don’t forget to get the right vaccine, if you have a choice and can lay your hands on it.
Source: If It Quacks Like A Duck, It’s A Duck – Quack Quack! – » The Australian Independent Media Network
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