News update for Thurs 15 Feb 2024
Your trusted guide to the top independent news and views of the day...
Welcome to your TrueNorth news update where every weekday afternoon we share selected articles from Australia’s independent news media sector.
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Scroll down for today’s news and views…
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here
The Daily Aus podcast: Is the 'Closing the Gap' initiative actually working?‘
This month we've heard two updates on the 'Closing the Gap' initiative, aimed at improving the lives of First Nations people to be more in line with other Australians. But it's not good news – the Government is at risk of not meeting their goals, and actually going backwards in some areas.
Listen to The Daily Aus podcast here
Michael West Media: Doxing hypocrisy: pro-peace doctors doxed en masse
‘Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is moving to criminalise doxing after the ‘Z600 breach’, which saw the names of 600 Zionist creatives leaked, along with transcripts of coordinated attacks on Palestine supporters,’ writes Farah Abdurahman.
Read more in Michael West Media here
The Guardian: The awful truth at the heart of Australian housing policy
‘Australian policy is dominated by interest groups and politicians pretending they are trying to do one thing, while actually doing the opposite, and by those same groups pretending that the policies in place are working while they actually fail. This is most obvious when we talk about negative gearing and housing,’ reports Greg Jericho.
Read more from Greg Jericho for The Guardian here
The Conversation: ‘A blood sport feigning as government’: what the ABC’s Nemesis taught us about a decade of Coalition rule
‘The most striking takeaway from Nemesis is that the Coalition’s decade in office from 2013 to 2022 was a time of abject irresponsibility. Rather than dedicated to delivering effective public policy, the Coalition spent a large part of that time consumed by infighting and ravaged by a cycle of treachery and retribution. It was blood sport feigning as government. And even when the leadership stabilised under Scott Morrison from August 2018, there was little guiding purpose,’ comments Paul Strangio, Emeritus professor of politics, Monash University.
Read more in The Conversation here
SMH: Dutton not only should win the Dunkley byelection, he needs to win it
“If Peter Dutton is to have any hope of realising his ambition to resurrect the Liberal Party at the next federal election, he needs to win seats like Dunkley. The coastal electorate in Melbourne’s south-east is, after all, the sort of territory marked out as future Liberal heartland to replace the inner-urban seats lost to independents and the Greens.
‘Ignore the spin and the dampening of expectations in the lead-up to the March 2 byelection. Dutton not only should win it, he has to win it.’ writes Niki Savva.
Read more from Niki Savva for the SMH here (paywalled)
Cartoon by Matt Golding for The Age/SMH
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here
The New Daily: Can we get the politicians out of climate change policy too?‘
As I listened to Ross Garnaut and Rod Sims tell the National Press Club how Australia can become a renewable energy superpower, and in fact how to sensibly manage the energy transition in the first place, I thought longingly about Jim Chalmers’ plan to repeal Section 11 of the Reserve Bank Act.‘That’s the part that allows the government to overrule the RBA (via the Governor-General),’ writes Alan Kohler.
Read more in The New Daily here
Also watch: Professor Rod Sims AO & Professor Ross Garnaut AC's Address to the National Press Club
Independent Australia: Working holiday makers continue strong contribution to net migration
‘A surge in working holidaymakers has increased challenges for the Albanese Government to curb net migration numbers.
‘AFTER HITTING a low of 19,324 at end December 2021, the number of working holidaymakers in Australia has steadily climbed to 170,437 at end December 2023.
‘At end December 2023, there were 136,502 WHM visa holders in Australia of whom 31,018 were UK nationals and another 33,935 were W&H visa holders, of whom 2,960 were from the U.S. and 2,974 from China,’ reports Abul Rizvi.
Read more from Dr Abul Rizvi for Independent Australia here
Crikey: ‘The Defence Force is too woke in 2024’: Military recruitment and the new culture war
‘Australia has a military recruitment problem, top brass in the Australian Defence Force acknowledge. The ADF is 7% under strength and its workforce is continuing to shrink, Defence chief Angus Campbell admitted at Senate estimates yesterday. Defence Personnel Minister Matt Keogh has long identified recruitment as a major problem, with a new recruitment partner selected by the Defence Department last October. Back in 2022, Defence launched a six-pronged initiative to improve recruitment and retention in the ranks,’ says Bernard Keane.
Read more from Bernard Keane for Crikey here
The Guardian: 'Do not go down this path,' Penny Wong warns Israel ahead of planned assault on Rafah – video
Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong says Australia has 'grave concerns' about an 'impending major Israeli ground offensive in Rafah' that would bring 'further devastation' to Palestinians seeking shelter. 'I don't believe the international community has yet seen a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the million people sheltering in Rafah,' Wong says. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said civilians would be allowed to leave ‘battle zones’ but did not specify where they could go, as ceasefire talks continued.
Also read: Australia, Canada and NZ warn Israel against ‘catastrophic’ Rafah ground offensive
The Politics: Taxing Times
This week, not one, not two, but three of Australia’s most highly respected former public servants are calling on the government to do something about our tax system.
So when is the government going to take on the kind of systemic tax reform that literally everyone knows is needed?
Read more from Rachel Withers for The Politics here
Inspired by a local group of people in Sydney's north who were looking for t-shirts to wear on their regular walks, Democracy Walks champions, supports and actively engages in our democracy.
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Quick Links…
The Guardian: Victoria’s blackout had nothing to do with renewables. Claiming that it did won’t fix the system
Renew Economy: AGL and AEMO search for answers on Loy Yang outage, but “woke” energy not to blame
The Rest is Politics Podcast: Could the Democrats replace Joe Biden? What’s next for Imran Khan? Why are young people deserting British conservatism?
The 7am Podcast: The Taylor Swift conspiracy: The world’s biggest popstar and the US election
The Conversation: Prabowo Subianto is poised to succeed in lifelong quest to become Indonesia’s president. This is why it’s so worrying
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here
Share your views on Australia’s media landscape through TrueNorth’s short survey
You’re up to date for Thursday 15th February. See you tomorrow!
TODAY’S BREAKING NEWS: See all the breaking news of the day through The Guardian here