News update for Fri 12 July 2024
Your trusted guide to the top independent news and views of the day...
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‘Real time’ donation disclosure and spending limits in Labor electoral reforms - The Conversation
Political donations would need to be disclosed in “real time” during elections under reform legislation that also would restrict spending on individual seat campaigns to an amount that will be less than $1 million per candidate.
The package, which Special Minister of State Don Farrell aims to introduce in the next parliamentary sitting fortnight beginning August 12, also includes a truth-in-advertising provision, and is expected to boost public funding for elections. Total election funding paid by the Australian Electoral Commission for the 2022 election was nearly $76 million.
Read more from Michelle Grattan for The Conversation
The importance of a robust media ecosystem in the Pacific - Pearls and Irritations
A robust, well-functioning media ecosystem across the Pacific is an essential pillar of democracy and vital to good governance. If Australia is genuine about partnering with the region, it must advocate for the role of public interest media and why citizens should demand and support it.
The media plays a crucial role in the Pacific region. Strong, independent media is a source of reliable, trusted information and can act as a ‘town square’ for public debate, a ‘watchdog’ for government accountability and transparency and a ‘bridge’ between policy makers and communities.
Read more in Pearls and Irritations
Artist and refugee Mostafa Azimitabar on painting from a hostile country - 7am Podcast
When Mostafa Azimitabar was imprisoned on Manus Island, he was overcome with a desire to paint. With no art supplies, he used a toothbrush – a technique he continues with to this day. Mostafa survived the brutality of Australia’s asylum seeker detention system for more than eight years. Freed in 2021, he now lives in Sydney. His art has been shortlisted for the Archibald prize twice. But he paints from the edges of a country whose systems remain hostile towards him, as he navigates temporary visas with no stability, at constant risk of deportation. Today, artist and refugee Mostafa Azimitabar on how his work is a testimony to his suffering and the one thing authorities can never take from him.
Australian CEOs made less in 2023-24 but still earned on average 50 times a typical worker’s wage - The Guardian
Chief executives in Australia’s largest companies are making slightly less money but are still taking home on average 50 times the pay package of a typical worker.
In its annual audit of CEO pay, the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors found chief executives at the 100 largest listed businesses averaged $5m in the 2023 financial year, down from $5.2m the previous year.
Ross Gittens: Forget smaller government, let’s shoot for better government - The SMH/Age
We pay our taxes, then governments spend them. But where does all that money go? And how much of it is wasted? Well, where it goes is no secret, but how much of it does little to benefit us is something we don’t really know. Why not? Because we put so little effort into finding out.
In 2022-23, the federal and state governments spent almost $890 billion. Nearly 33 per cent of that went on social security payments; 21 per cent on healthcare (hospitals, doctors, medicines); 15 per cent on education (from pre-primary to university); 5 per cent each on defence and law and order; plus transport, the environment, housing, recreation and culture, and much else.
Read more from Ross Gittens for The SMH/Age (paywall)
Today’s cartoon by Cathy Wilcox
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
The young leftie Rupert Murdoch - ABC’s Late Night Live Podcast
The young Rupert Murdoch was a radical who espoused socialism, kept a bust of Lenin in his uni accommodation and then went on to build his empire from 1950s Adelaide. Walter Marsh is a journalist and author of Young Rupert - the making of the Murdoch empire.
Listen to Phillip Adams for ABC’s Late Night Live
Early election fantasy - Capital Brief
With Parliament rising for the mid-winter break, speculation around a cabinet reshuffle and an early election has gone into overdrive.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s decision not to attend this week’s NATO summit in Washington sparked Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to warn Coalition MPs to prepare for an election as early as September. Dutton made the claim as he faces increasing disquiet in his ranks over policies such as the nuclear push and supermarket divestiture powers.
With underlying inflation remaining stubbornly high for longer than expected and the prospect of a Muslim Vote rebellion over Gaza, Dutton has some ammunition to claim that Albanese is planning to go early.
But there are a number of reasons why the prime minister wouldn’t want to make the dash to Yarralumla and ask newly installed Governor-General Sam Mostyn to call an election any time soon.
Read more from Capital Brief (paywall)
The uproar over the NDIS and sex work shows society still struggles to see disabled people as sexual beings - The Guardian
Disabled people are once again being kicked around in a game of ideological football. This week the minister for the NDIS, Bill Shorten, ruled out the use of sex work services under the scheme as part of his efforts to impose austerity on a program that provides life-changing supports for more than half a million disabled Australians.
It does not take an actuary to recognise that, given there were just 228 requests in 12 months, the material impact upon the scheme of disallowing sex work services will be minimal. The discourse surrounding this issue, however, betrays a deeper undercurrent of social attitudes toward disabled people. Namely, that they do not have sexual needs, are not interested in sex and shouldn’t be having it anyway.
Also read > How and why did sex work get approved for NDIS funding? - Women’s Agenda
Dutton doesn’t realise importing US politics means the death of the Liberal Party - Crikey
As the Liberal Party has moved to the right, compulsory preferential voting has enabled the moderate centre it once represented to find new candidates.
Contemplating the future of the Liberal Party, institutions matter, especially the electoral system that stands between the voters and parties of government. Since the 2022 election, it has become clear that two distinctive features of Australia’s electoral system — compulsory and preferential voting — are not working in the Liberal Party’s favour.
On July 17 it will be one hundred years since legislation was passed to make voting compulsory in Australia’s federal elections. It was a private members’ bill supported by all parties and it went through both houses in less than a day.
Read more in Crikey (paywall)
Noely Neate and Cheryl Kernot join SpinProof
After yet another busy #auspol week, Denise is joined by SpinProof regulars - Noely Neate and Cheryl Kernot. They start off discussing the morning's breaking news where ASIO and the AFP announced Russian spies in the ADF - and Joe Biden's post NATO press conference which the eyes of the world were anxiously watching. Coming back home, they reflect on that election night in May 2022 and the relief and hope felt Australia wide - and how that hope has faded with a Labor Government which is putting Party over people on a range of issues. Noely then finishes with a very strong message for all Labor Party members and supporters. Yet another worthwhile listen to wrap our #auspol week.
Listen to the SpinProof podcast replay
David Hardaker: The end of Hollywood: Nine’s fall jangles nerves - The Politics
The Nine Network’s newfound commitment to stamping out sexual harassment in the wake of allegations against its former news head is a wondrous thing to behold. It is a moral tale which, as it unfolds, tells us much about the failings of commercial television and its capacity for hypocrisy and pompous self-delusion.
It also marks the end of an era for Australia’s little Hollywood: a star factory where swaggering execs could make and break careers.
Channel Nine has always been a place of magic and illusions.
Read more from David Hardaker for The Politics
Also read > Star rating: Channel Seven panned for including astrology on nightly news - The Guardian
The real threat to ‘social cohesion’ is the ongoing genocide of Palestine - The Shot
Even when the so-called ‘misinformation’ is true (like Australia being involved in the weapons trade with Israel), the media is happily repeating Labor’s gaslighting like dogs doing tricks for their owners hoping to get a little pat on the head at the Midwinter Ball.
‘Social cohesion’ is just another term for the status quo used by people who know the status quo is broken.
Asking the government to not be beholden to the American military industrial complex? That breaks the status quo. Asking them to actually sanction their ‘good friend’ Israel for the war crimes they are committing? That breaks ‘social cohesion’.
Also read >
This week’s Democracy Quiz question…
Q. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese this week announced the appointment of a special envoy to combat what??
1. Antisemitism
2. Homelessness
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Quick Links…
Surprise: American voters actually largely agree on many issues, including topics like abortion, immigration and wealth inequality - The Conversation
Bleeding knees, burning abs: I spent a week living like David Pocock. It nearly killed me - The SMH/Age
‘We’ll continue to engage with the government’: Meta open to keeping news on Facebook - Mumbrella
Why anti-protest laws won’t stop climate activists – The Guardian’s Full Story podcast
The predicament of climate scientists on the road to a supertropical earth - Pearls and Irritations
Could NSW ban greyhound racing… again? - The Daily Aus Podcast
Documents reveal why Australia voted yes in key UN motion on Palestinian membership - The Guardian
South Australia locks in federal funds to become first grid in world to reach 100 per cent net wind and solar - Renew Economy
Renewables v nuclear: the facts point to one clear winner - Rod Simms for SMH/Age (paywall)
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here
Share your views on Australia’s media landscape through TrueNorth’s short survey
You’re up to date for Friday the 12th July. See you on Monday!
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here - and through 6 News here