Wherein we finally wrap up the Call of the Board series, a slowly unfolding state-by-state round-up every seat result from last year’s federal election. Here we tie up the loose ends of the territories, where Labor achieved a clean sweep of five seats – an essentially foregone conclusion for the Australian Capital Territory (which went from two to three seats at this election), but a strong result for them in the Northern Territory (which may be set to lose its second at the next). Previous episodes of the series dealt with Sydney (here and here), regional New South Wales, Melbourne, regional Victoria, south-east Queensland, regional Queensland, Western Australia and South Australia and Tasmania.
Solomon (Labor 3.1%; 3.0% swing to CLP): The always marginal seat that covers Darwin has only gone the way of the winning party once out of the last four elections (in 2013), this time returning Luke Gosling after he gained it for Labor in 2016. Gosling’s 6.0% winning margin off a 7.4% swing in 2016 was the clearest win in the history of a highly marginal seat, the previous record having been Dave Tollner’s 2.8% win for the Country Liberal Party in 2004. This meant he had enough change to record the seat’s second-biggest margin even after a 3.0% swing back to the Country Liberals. As the map to the right illustrates, the pattern of swings in the seat reflected broader themes from the election: the affluent area around the city centre swung to Labor, but the lower-income suburbs of the north went the other way, and the more conservative new suburbia of Palmerston went further still.
Lingiari (Labor 5.5%; 2.7% swing to CLP): Warren Snowdon retained the remainder-of-NT seat of Lingiari, which he has held without interruption since 2001, his closest shave in that time being a 0.9% margin in 2013. The swings in the two Northern Territory seats have been closely matched at the last election, with a 7.5% blowout in Lingiari in 2016 followed by a 2.7% correction this time. There have been occasions in the past where swings varied widely between Alice Springs and Katherine on the one hand and the remote communities in the other, but not this time.
Bean (Labor 7.5%; 1.3% swing to Liberal): The ACT’s new third seat was created entirely from territory that was formerly in the Canberra electorate, whose member Gai Brodtmann did not seek re-election. David Smith, who had previously filled Katy Gallagher’s Senate vacancy when she fell foul of section 44 in May 2018, had no trouble holding Bean for Labor in the face of a slight swing. Left-wing independent Jamie Christie scored a creditable 8.3%, contributing to solid drops on the primary vote for both major parties.
Canberra (Labor 17.1%; 4.1% swing to Labor): The Canberra electorate covers the central third of the capital, and might be regarded as the true “new” seat since it drew territory from both of the previous electorates. Like Darwin, Canberra offered a miniature reflection of national trend in that the city’s inner area moved solidly further to the left, while the suburbs swung to the Liberals. This was reflected in a 4.6% primary vote increase for the Greens, reducing the gap with the Liberals to 27.8% to 23.3%. This is the lowest yet recorded in an ACT seat, but with the Liberal how-to-vote directing preferences to Labor ahead of the Greens, they would probably have remained out of contention if they had made up the difference. With the departure of Gai Brodtmann, its new Labor member is Alicia Payne, who dropped 2.0% on the primary vote to 40.5%.
Fenner (Labor 10.6%; 1.3% swing to Liberal): Labor’s Andrew Leigh suffered a slight swing from similar primary vote numbers to 2016, the main disturbance being the appearance of the United Australia Party with 4.1%.
The vengeance of the morrison Government writ large.
https://twitter.com/KieraGorden/status/1228955779329249282/photo/1
BB
‘Confirmed cases rose to more than 60,000 on Thursday, nearly a 50 percent jump relative to the prior day, and the tally has risen by another 7,200 since then…’
As WHO’s latest situation report (from the 15 February) still has the number of confirmed cases at just over 50,000, around 1500 of these new, I’m not sure where SA gets its figures.
https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200215-sitrep-26-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=a4cc6787_2
BK
When the NBN was originally designed my small corner at the edge of town was going to get fixed wireless. Whilst not ideal, it would have been a step up from a failed ADSL service (Once upon a time I had ADSL, but the phone line rotted to the point where ADSL wouldn’t work).
It just so happened that this corner of town was scheduled for further development. I talked with NBNco back in 2009 regarding their greenfields fibre and they assured me that they’d consider running greenfields fibre to this area on account of there being nearly 100 houses being built.
Then disaster struck. Turnbull’s goons not only ignored the new development in this area, but took one look at the fixed wireless and decided that they could turn that into satellite.
So, here I am surrounded by new estates, all of which can’t get ADSL to work are are using regular Optus 4G connections and of course its congested to hell. And absolutely no possibility of this ever being fixed unless we get a new Labor government that’s not afraid to scrap Turnbull’s mess and rebuild with fibre.
BB
And of course this bit you quoted
‘This leap reflects a change in the way Chinese authorities are diagnosing infections instead of a massive shift in the scope of the outbreak. ‘
..makes it clear that this ‘leap’ isn’t really one. It’s not comparing apples with apples, because the criteria has changed.
I still don’t know where SA gets its figures from, however, and there’s no evidence of any ‘leap’ on the WHO site.
speaking of land rights, has anyone here been following what’s going on in canada, with regard to first nations land rights, first nations sovereignty & nonviolent direct action in support of environmental causes ? given the story, i’m not really surprised it hasn’t made it to australian t.v., yet. if it ever does, you can say you heard it here first.
the wetʼsuwetʼen are a first nations people in british columbia who have never ceded their land to canada. they are opposed to a certain gas pipeline, from alberta to a tanker port on the pacific coast (thence to china), crossing their land, until the canadian government negotiates directly with their traditional chiefs. early february saw fraught standoffs between wetʼsuwetʼen & rcmp sent to enforce court orders, leading to first nations people in ontario & other parts of canada taking nonviolent direct action in support of the wetʼsuwetʼen, by blockading rail lines crossing their traditional lands.
consequently, all freight & passenger services over large parts of the canadian rail network, from coast to coast, including the ultra busy toronto-ottawa-montreal commuter corridor, have been suspended for the past 10 days. further blockades set up today will see freight & passenger services to & from the north east united states cut off as well. conservative opposition wants to clear ’em out, liberals are negotiating.
a background article from wikipedia :-
from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_GasLink_Pipeline
a view from the anarcho-syndicalist press :-
https://rabble.ca/blogs/bloggers/brent-patterson/2020/02/rail-blockades-are-proving-be-effective-non-violent-response
a couple of reports from the national broadcaster :-
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cn-rail-shutdown-1.5463266
https://www.cbc.ca/radio/checkup/indigenous-groups-need-guarantees-on-land-rights-before-getting-trains-back-on-track-oka-crisis-veteran-1.5465454
the latest cbc update :-
https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/indigenous-services-minister-mohawk-meeting-1.5465354
-regards, a.v.
zoomster @ #852 Sunday, February 16th, 2020 – 8:34 pm
Johns Hopkins CSSE like most of us. It’s less conservative, and probably more reactive and reflective of the real situation than WHO, but it depends on when the figures are updated by the CCDC. There’s usually a lag until the CCDC figures come in mid-morning our time. Even the CSSE shows a downward inflection in new cases in China. All the data are local and cannot be generalised across jurisdictions. Deaths are a lagging indicator. Cruise ships are the new culture media. Australia is remarkably static, and will probably remain so for at least a few months.
Cud Chewer
Bloody Abbott and Bloody Turnbull!
I think the two things are quite separate. His popularity doesn’t really have anything to do with the master game of bait and switch he plays. And there is every likelihood he will be re-elected.
Ah, thanks for that, wombat!
One wonders if Australia will ever get 21st century broadband.
Confessions @ #860 Sunday, February 16th, 2020 – 8:58 pm
About 2150.
Nath, if you’d ever known a Jack Russell, you’d know they’re crazy brave, fearless and ferocious.
Unlike yourself.
You remind me more of a Shi-Tzu, yapping in the background, joining in the fight only when the rest of the pack is between it and the quarry.
A classic wannabe.
GG:
At this rate, likely later!
Bushfire Bill @ #862 Sunday, February 16th, 2020 – 9:05 pm
BB,
nath’s your classic cry bully!
Confessions @ #863 Sunday, February 16th, 2020 – 9:07 pm
By the time it is implemented it will be obsolete.
Confessions @ #860 Sunday, February 16th, 2020 – 5:58 pm
Not until the 22nd century.
Arcamax compiles many of the US :”funnies” and also has many editorial cartoons
Sample about the rule of Xi Jinping :
https://www.arcamax.com/politics/editorialcartoons/kirkwalters/s-2327294
Thanks! phylactella! 🙂
Bushfire Bill
says:
Sunday, February 16, 2020 at 9:05 pm
Nath, if you’d ever known a Jack Russell, you’d know they’re crazy brave, fearless and ferocious.
Unlike yourself.
You remind me more of a Shi-Tzu, yapping in the background, joining in the fight only when the rest of the pack is between it and the quarry.
______________________________
Your psychological understandings are as profound as your knowledge of virology.
Nath, it doesn’t take much insight to peg you. You’re as obvious as a carbunkle. And about as clever. Mid-range material only.
Although it’s preferable to have a formal will, there are occasions where a court will dispense with the statutory formalities. In Guinness, the shortest will documented is”Vše ženě” (Czech, “everything to wife”, written on a bedroom wall); a similar one, “All to Mum”, written (IIRC) on a piece of toilet paper.* The crucial question a court asks is what was the intention of the testator?** Here are some other examples that haven’t met the formal requirements but have nevertheless passed muster:
https://www.news.com.au/national/courts-law/an-unsent-sms-a-message-on-a-tractor-a-poem-bizarre-ways-people-have-written-their-wills/news-story/06e978d2cdc3dc6922bf29a8c5cbeb35
* Apparently quite a few die on the toilet, including Elvis. There are a number of reasons for this, not the least being that when on the cusp of a heart attack or stroke, one may be nauseous and/or feel the need to evacuate one’s bowel.
** The word “testatrix” is rarely used these days, going the same way as “actress”.
Unfortunately Kathleen Battle behaved like a prima donna before becoming one:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjVn1gl9Ncs
Rex Douglas @ #747 Sunday, February 16th, 2020 – 2:09 pm
I didn’t realise you were a member!
Sir Henry Parkes says:
Sunday, February 16, 2020 at 12:40 pm
No Frednk, the Greens preferencing the Liberals would not be a good thing as it would contribute to Liberals being elected. If the federal Greens’ leadership were crazy enough to make such a decision, their base would melt faster than a glacier at the height of global warming.
I’m not sure about the first point because I think the second would come into play very quickly.
As things stand the Greens make it very difficult for Labor to have a rational climate change and refugee policy. They have to go to far to the right to distance themselves from the Greens, who are electoral poison in the minds of many.
Coal is finished, what should be happening is the development of policies for an orderly exit, but it can’t happen while the greens are stumping al over the miners vegie patch.
Under the current circumstances the Greens preferenceing the Liberal and the destruction of the Greens party that would result is in my view the best possible outcome.
So … a whole day has now passed, and many Labor partisans have spent the day taking potshots at the Greens for daring to preference against NT Labor because of their policy on fracking … but not a single Labor partisan here has been willing to say that they support that policy.
Just think about that for a while.
P1 you posted your comment under my full support. There have been many others in full support also. The Greens once again are in wish-ville.
P1
Unless there is a Labor Territorian here, that’s not surprising.
I have pointed out comments on facebook – indeed, I suggested you go and have a look – which DID support NT Labor’s decision, claiming it was based on the findings of an independent panel of experts.
As I don’t know how this process was run, what the recommendations were, who the experts were, etc etc, I’m not going to say whether NT Labor’s decision was right or wrong.
I am going to repeat, however, that if a panel of genuine experts came up with a series of parametres for fracking, which meant that no project could go ahead unless it genuinely reduced emissions and answered all the possible objections (which might mean that no project ever did go ahead) then there should be no objection to that.
I don’t know if that’s what the NT Labor panel did, however.
You are asking people to make statements out of ignorance. That’s inherently unfair.
Nothing on Newspoll in The Oz.
Player One:
As peg said yesterday, it’s not de rigueur for the Greens to follow its HTV card, and I’m anticipating many won’t. As for fracking in the Beetaloo Basin, Labor should wait until the Pepper Inquiry is completed.
I for one have not been taking potshots at the NT Greens. I welcome their frankness.
zoomster
As the parties they preference support fracking without the checks and balances proposed by the Labor party (my own view is fracking is crazy but that is beside the point).
The NT Greens decision underlines why Labor should distance themselves from the greens as far as possible.
No good will ever come from trying to work with a party that hasn’t got past high school politics.
Lock the Gate Alliance
SLIPPERY BUSINESS: Serious concerns over ‘excluded from scope’ oil fracking plans in NT
https://www.lockthegate.org.au/slippery_business_serious_concerns_over_excluded_from_scope_oil_fracking_plans_in_nt
Lock the Gate Alliance has condemned plans by resource companies, including Origin Energy, to frack for oil in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin, when the risks of shale oil fracking have not been considered.
Jesse Hancock, part of the Lock the Gate network in Alice Springs, said the scope of the Pepper Inquiry, used by the NT Government to justify removing the fracking moratorium last year, did not specifically include what’s being described by companies as “liquids rich gas”.*
“Fracking companies can call it by any name they want but it’s shale oil, and oil presents a much greater risk to communities, especially in terms of transportation,” Mr Hancock said.
“This is a case of resource companies and the NT Gunner Government pulling the wool over the eyes of NT residents.
“Communities at the frontline of this activity in the Beetaloo Basin – in the heart of the NT – are rightfully anxious about what this latest development means for them.
“Ultimately, the Pepper Inquiry found that people in the NT are overwhelming opposed to fracking for gas, but now companies want to pursue the even riskier practice of fracking for oil.
“We can’t trust the gas and oil-loving Gunner Government – it has behaved in total contradiction to what it has said about transparency. This latest development is yet another betrayal.”
There has been strong community action opposed to fracking in the NT since the moratorium was removed last year, including a territory wide day of action, and the Frack Finding Tour, which transported a busload of Traditional Owners, farmers, and tourism operators to Canberra to lobby federal politicians last year.
“Even Labor Party members do not want fracking in the Territory,” Mr Hancock said.
“Last year at the Labor Party conference Labor members pushed back against the approval of fracking in the NT, and in Victoria, that state’s Labor Government has enshrined its fracking moratorium into its constitution.
“Why are Territorians being treated like second class citizens, with a government allowing fracking companies to run roughshod over communities?”
See page 10 of the NT Pepper Inquiry final report, stating: Excluded from its scope is coal seam gas (CSG), sandstone (or ‘tight’) gas and shale oil.
https://frackinginquiry.nt.gov.au/inquiry-reports?a=494286
“cruise ships are the new culture media”
lol! 🙂
ok……the Indonesians reporting bugger all cases of Coronavirus is strange..but…..
With the way it has spread in China, IF it was in Indonesia (say the less salubrious parts of Jakarta) then there is no way it wouldn’t be known that they had some kind of communicable disease running rampant. Indonesia is not China. They don’t have a “Great Firewall” that would block people (locals and tourists) posting online if people were dropping with this.
Situation is odd, but maybe the Indonesians who get it are just staying home and getting better rather than swamping hospitals looking for treatment they wont get anyway as its a virus??
I’d be pretty sure it is in Indonesia somewhere just on probabilities but i’d not be going all conspiracy theory on the non-reporting for now.
imacca
I’m off to Bali in July. Very good chance it won’t happen. They have to have cases there not being detected with all the tourists. I can just see lots of Aussies coming back from there with coronavirus in the next few months.
One million Australians visit there a year but 1.3 M visit from China a year. It’s an obvious disaster waiting to happen.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/feb/16/first-group-of-australian-evacuees-set-to-leave-christmas-island-with-no-reported-cases-of-coronavirus
So, interesting and positive news that it looks like none of the Australians, who were right in the epicenter when this was breaking out, seem to have got it. Looking to me that Cov19 just isn’t shaping up as a species culling event .
“I can just see lots of Aussies coming back from there with coronavirus in the next few months.”
Dio, overall i can see Cov19 now that its in the human population simply becoming a widespread endemic virus /disease that we just have to learn to live with and treat as a bad version of the flu.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/we-want-to-see-balance-right-wing-activists-target-primary-school-children-on-climate-20200214-p540ti.html
Sick and sad.
The following to be read with “The Colonel Bogey March” playing loudly in the background.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/inquirer/top-journos-give-themselves-an-a-for-failure-in-election/news-story/747fc3afcc5a6c837900144c32ef70c7
Change music now to “The Impossible Dream”
I look forward with extreme interest Mr. Henderson’s “table leg support” detailing journalist holding the current Gummint to account. Prolly should start with the old one “A funny thing happened on the way to check my Bahamas Bank Account”.
For the “Who Knew” section of PB.
The media believes its principal role is to inform citizens about what is going on.
From The Sydney Morning Herald page 6
Well that seems to be working well.
Fresh coffee – I must have fresh coffee. ☕
> Situation is odd, but maybe the Indonesians who get it are just staying home and getting better rather than swamping hospitals looking for treatment they wont get anyway as its a virus??
Indonesians don’t self quarantine when they’re sick. Although those who work in formal employment are entitled to a significant amount of sick leave (that would make you jealous), significant portions of people are self employed or otherwise not in formal employment, and those who are in formal employment are not necessarily able to exercise their leave rights.
It is also significantly denser in population than Australia and health is significantly worse. Air pollution, for instance, is significant, and many people work in traffic.
Indonesia does have an effective health service which as far as I know people use — surely when I was in a local medical centre accompanying a local, there were many people there. I think if Wuhan corona virus is spreading in Indonesia, people are getting pneumonia and going to their local medical centres.
As you say, there is no effective censorship in Indonesia. If it’s in Indonesia and people are dying from it, people are talking about it.
We do not see what we expect.
Muslims do regularly wash five times a day, which may have some limited capacity to reduce the spread of the disease. But Indonesia is not a Muslim country; it’s a country with a Muslim majority. Balinese Hindus aren’t going to be performing wudhu.
The most likely explanation is that this disease just really doesn’t like the tropical weather. I have no idea why it’s spreading in Singapore and not in Indonesia — some Indonesians even commute to work in Singapore. Perhaps it’s got to do with differences in air conditioning availability and working environments.
The volunteer RFS member Paul Parker who abused the PM has been “sacked” from the RFS.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1228957595920039936
lizzie @ #890 Monday, February 17th, 2020 – 5:46 am
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/national/they-were-about-to-send-the-police-to-look-for-me-rfs-firefighter-claims-he-was-sacked-following-heated-rant-against-pm/news-story/1c8b406c3f14abd7d389d63cd210d094
Where the facts lie in this story is beyond me.
Just heard an economics expert, who was one of Tony Abbott’s advisers and has written a book about Australian economy. When asked about new coal-fired power stations, said that he wouldn’t take “one hot summer” as meaning that anything needs to change. (He also had a voice very similar to Peter Dutton, which did not make for easy listening!)
KayJay
Twitter discussion: Did Morrison complain, or is the Bateman’s Bay RFS Captain a Liberal? No doubt all will be revealed soon. The hounds are following the scent!
Look at clenched fists and jutting chin. This is your PM.
From The Sydney Morning Herald Page 23
.Interesting ❓ Maybe not although I first glanced at the page and read it as
“Harbouring The Trouser Jewels” and went from there.
I like the little bit at the end about “Cutting Greg’s Grass”. 😵
An incorrect outcome
https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/help/for-the-record/press-council-adjudication/news-story/a182fec22ad3ff3ebba3ca95c09d968c
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/17/unprecedented-400k-grant-given-to-aged-care-home-operator-in-nationals-electorate?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
Good morning Dawn Patrollers. It’s great to be (sort of) back. Thanks go to the Patrol reservists during the hiatus.
A strident Sean Kelly writes that Morrison, like Turnbull, has squandered his political strength and delivered policy cowardice.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/morrison-like-turnbull-has-squandered-his-political-strength-and-delivered-policy-cowardice-20200216-p5417q.html
In The Canberra Times Peter Brent describes Morrison as “walking wounded”.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6632817/scott-morrison-is-walking-wounded/?cs=14264&utm_source=website&utm_medium=home&utm_campaign=latestnews
Mark Buckley says that Morrison hasn’t changed since bushfire crisis.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/no-scott-morrison-hasnt-changed-since-bushfire-crisis,13596
According to Michael Pascoe the government is betting it all on rising house prices as debt continues to soar.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/finance/finance-news/2020/02/16/michael-pascoe-low-rates-house-prices/
Never mind the boats – look at this! The number of asylum seekers who arrive by plane has reached a new peak in a flashpoint over border control, leaving Australia with almost 50,000 people who are yet to be deported after having their claims rejected.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/airplane-asylum-seekers-hit-new-peak-50-000-waiting-to-be-deported-20200216-p541b1.html
Now we have an aged care grant rort! Sarah Martin reports.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/17/unprecedented-400k-grant-given-to-aged-care-home-operator-in-nationals-electorate
And she writes about Labor accusing the government of short changing rural areas through a $150m sports fund that was overwhelmingly spent in marginal seats during the election campaign.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/feb/16/sports-grants-scandal-rural-areas-received-less-than-10m-of-150m-funds-allocated
Michael Koziol reports on Barnaby Joyce saying that Facebook, Google and other online platforms should be required to have reporters in the federal parliamentary press gallery and in regional areas, and produce their own content. If they didn’t, they should face a significant levy which would be used to fund public interest journalism.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/i-m-not-in-the-albanian-mafia-barnaby-joyce-s-crusade-against-fake-news-20200213-p540lk.html
Kevin Rudd writes that Morrison must use fires to pivot on climate change. And he stands by is statement that climate change is the greatest economic, environmental and moral challenge of our generation.
https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/morrison-must-use-fires-to-pivot-on-climate-change-20200216-p5417k
In quite a confronting manner the AFR’s Aaron Patrick says that in hindsight, the drought was a fake crisis. A sense of doom was created by the media, validated by politicians and encouraged by the weather bureau.
https://www.afr.com/companies/agriculture/the-drought-was-a-false-farming-crisis-20200214-p540tt
Rich Listers face more scrutiny as the Tax Office examines trust distributions to beneficiaries, including adult children. Bring it on!
https://www.afr.com/wealth/tax/fresh-scrutiny-of-trust-payouts-to-family-members-20200213-p540hu
Ross Gittins posits that home ownership in Australia has become a devouring monster. He says that if we want to make home ownership more affordable for more young people seeking security of tenure for their home, the answer is to make home ownership less attractive as a form of investment.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/home-ownership-has-become-a-devouring-monster-20200215-p5414d.html
This is JUST what the country needs! A conservative activist group – which bills itself as the right-wing version of GetUp – will target primary school children with a series of new resources designed to counter the “climate alarmist narrative” it says is being pushed in classrooms and the media.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/we-want-to-see-balance-right-wing-activists-target-primary-school-children-on-climate-20200214-p540ti.html
Economist Angela Jackson writes on how the young are dropping out of private health insurance like flies.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/consumer-affairs/young-are-dropping-out-of-private-health-insurance-like-flies-20200214-p540w3.html
In the midst of an LNG export boom, why are we getting so little for our gas asks Dianne Kraal. She says that Australians have a right to be paid what their resources are worth and to use that money to build government services or a budget surplus.
https://theconversation.com/in-the-midst-of-an-lng-export-boom-why-are-we-getting-so-little-for-our-gas-131461
Dana McCauley tells us that doctors are fighting an application by global tobacco giant Philip Morris International to sell its “heat not burn” products in Australia, warning there is “no evidence” the product is any safer than smoking cigarettes.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/doctors-hit-back-at-big-tobacco-bid-to-sell-vaping-products-in-australia-20200216-p541at.html
Jennifer Duke explains how Australia has been split in two by natural disasters, with confidence dropping in regional towns amid fears residents will take insurance money and move away. It is a bit of a ticking time bomb I fear.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/regional-towns-at-risk-of-losing-residents-in-exodus-after-bushfires-20200213-p540du.html
It is quite apparent that the government is putting a real squeeze om GPs, our health service front line.
https://www.smh.com.au/healthcare/the-tick-a-box-gp-a-bureaucrat-s-dangerous-fantasy-20200216-p5418y.html
Quality childcare has become a necessity for Australian families, and for society. It’s time the government paid up writes Jen Jackson.
https://theconversation.com/quality-childcare-has-become-a-necessity-for-australian-families-and-for-society-its-time-the-government-paid-up-131748
The head of a London-based foreign affairs think tank writes on the damage done by the British High Commissioner to Australia’s diplomatic misstep.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/uk-envoy-s-dressing-down-of-australian-mps-weakens-relationship-20200216-p5418c.html
Robert Reich tells us that in his assault on justice, Trump has out-Nixoned Nixon.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/feb/16/donald-trump-richard-nixon-department-justice-william-barr-roger-stone
Why Bloomberg is the only candidate strong enough to withstand Trump.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/us-news/2020/02/15/michael-bloomberg-democrats-election/
Dana McCauley provides us with today’s nomination for “Arseholes of the Week”.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/face-mask-supplier-referred-to-accc-over-opportunistic-1500-percent-mark-up-20200216-p541a4.html
Cartoon Corner
David Rowe
Matt Golding
Alan Moir (look at Dutton’s face!)
Mark David
Johannes Leak continues the culture wars.
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/abbaac43481cfadeef570a2ec536faa9?width=1024
From the US