| Good morning, early birds. Scott Morrison‘s plan to evacuate 600 Australians from China and then quarantine them on Christmas Island has sparked criticism, and Huawei Australia has gained a second wind. | | It's the news you need to know.
Chris Woods
Reporter | |
| | | | | | IT'S NOT EXACTLY HAWAII THOUGH... Australia’s de-facto solution to most of our problems — island camps — has not gone down well among some of the 600-plus Australians trapped at the epicentre of the coronavirus. Ahead of Qantas’ emergency flight into Wuhan, at least one Sydney family has expressed concern about Scott Morrison‘s plan to enforce a 14-day quarantine on Christmas Island, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The report comes as Japan and the US begin evacuations, and Queensland, according to The New Daily, confirms Australia’s seventh case. The hesitancy is perhaps unsurprising, considering not just Christmas Island’s limited medical facilities but, according to AAP, that one of the island’s four current detainees — four-year-old former Biloela resident Kopika — will attend her first day of school next week, escorted by armed guards. | MY WAY OR THE HUAWEI Yesterday, Britain announced that Huawei would have partial involvement in the country’s 5G mobile network — today, the Chinese tech giant is pushing to undo Malcolm Turnbull’s 2018 blanket ban and enter the Australian market to boot. According to The Australian ($), Huawei Australia senior executive Jeremy Mitchell claims local security agencies never allowed for a discussion of “boundaries” or “requirements”, holding out hope that the Morrison government has a “different approach” than Turnbull, who Huawei now accuses of being given “incorrect advice”, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. Boris Johnson’s decision — which, defying both the US and Australia ahead of a decision by Canada, splits the Five Eyes intelligence-sharing alliance — has been rebuked by Australian Strategic Policy Institute executive director Peter Jennings and, at CNBC, Trump officials. | HASTA NADAL VISTA Rafael Nadal has been knocked out of the Australian Open in a four-set, four-hour quarter-final by Austrian fifth seed Dominic Thiem. The ABC reports that the world number one had been aiming to equal Roger Federer’s record of winning 20 men’s majors, but has instead cleared the way for some much-needed young blood, going down 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/4), 4-6, 7-6 (8/6). The shock defeat comes as Ash Barty prepares to face off with American Sofia Kenin in the women’s semi-finals today at 2pm. Barty is the first Australian woman since 1984 to enter an Australian Open semis, according to FoxSports — a historic event that, for whatever reason, organisers have deemed fit for business hours. | THEY REALLY SAID THAT? | “ | Well, I just reject the premise of the question… That is not what the government has done… I will put your editorial to one side, and your commentary on it. — Scott Morrison |
No matter how many questions or colour-coded grant schemes journos threw at him during yesterday’s Press Club address, Morrison could not publicly accept that maybe, just maybe, systematically enriching clubs in marginal electorates — at the expense of safer, often more-deserving seats — constitutes some type of political opportunism. | CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY | | | | “Decarbonising Australia is going to take decades. It should raise Australian living standards, compared to doing nothing. But unlike many prior policies that lifted living standards, it will not show up directly in GDP. And that’s a problem.” |
| | | | “Labor is scrambling to find a position on climate change that will satisfy voters who are more worried about global warming in the wake of this summer’s devastating bushfires. Its current position is one that supports the Paris Agreement’s target of net-zero emissions by 2050, while still backing Australia’s coal industry.” |
| | | | “Another day, another spreadsheet. Hot off the heels of the ABC’s detailing (in technicolor) the sports clubs who clearly deserved a sports grant from Bridget McKenzie but didn’t get one, Crikey has unearthed a new list. This one would be funny if it weren’t so, well, sad. We think it might be the smoking gun.” |
| | | | | | READ ALL ABOUT IT | THE COMMENTARIAT Scorched Scott Morrison has no one to blame but himself ($) — Niki Savva (The Australian): “Elections are not tests of prime ministers. They are tests of politicians and their campaign skills. Scott Morrison passed that with honours last May. National crises are the true tests of prime ministers and leadership. The sad truth is that Morrison faltered and stumbled, miserably, sometimes seemingly wilfully, at almost every critical point during this rotten summer beginning with his ill-advised holiday to Hawaii.” Not fast or cheap, but the West Gate Tunnel project is out of control — Clay Lucas (The Age): “Treasurer Tim Pallas billed it as the multi-billion-dollar road deal that was too good to refuse: a massive new motorway through Melbourne’s west, to be delivered by Transurban at virtually no cost to taxpayers.” Andrew Bolt’s disappointment — Bruce Pascoe (Griffith Review): “My friends take a breath, lean across the table and assume the tone of Richard Dawkins explaining dinosaurs to intelligently designed Christians. They believe that in my promotion of Aboriginal achievement I’m simply being loyal to family or wanting to take a belligerent stance on our country’s identity and history.” | | Know an early bird who doesn’t get the worm?
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| | | HOLD THE FRONT PAGE | WHAT’S ON TODAY Sydney Premier Gladys Berejiklian will announce that former NSW Police deputy commissioner Dave Owens and former NSW chief scientist Mary O’Kane will lead a six-month inquiry in the state’s bushfire crisis, to begin within days. Labor MP Tim Watts will speak about his new book The Golden Country: in conversation on the changing identity of Australia with Australia’s first ambassador to China Dr Stephen FitzGerald, media adviser Sally Sitou, and Chairman of investment group Vantage Asia Jason Yat-sen Li at a Whitlam Institute event. Lake Macquarie City Council will host “Womens’ Safety”, a domestic violence forum for local services in the Hunter Region, with NSW Minister for Domestic Violence Mark Speakman, Shadow Minister for Domestic Violence Trish Doyle, Womens’ Safety NSW CEO Hayley Foster. The Italian Cultural Institute and the Great Synagogue of Sydney will present the English translation of a collection of poems by Primo Levi, The Occasional Demon, to mark International Holocaust Remembrance Day (January 27). Melbourne The Royal Society of Victoria will host its first QueersInScience lecture for 2020, “The Biology of Sexuality and Gender”, with biological scientist Professor Andrew Barron and GP Dr Riki Lane. Canberra Professor of international law at Thammasat University Thitirat Thipsamritkul will present “Observations from Thailand’s Personal Data Protection Act: the Influences of Transnational Standards on Local Legislations” at ANU. Queensland The Senate inquiry into management of the Inland Rail project will hold Brisbane hearings. Logan City Council will hold a fire management information night for local residents and landholders. A court mention will be held for Zhenjie Zhang over the alleged extortion and kidnapping of 12-year-old Gold Coast boy. Darwin NT Human Services Industry members will launch a 10-year plan at Development House. |
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