| Good morning, early birds. Labor’s long-awaited election review blames strategy, agenda and leadership to boot, and a government report says the drought will only worsen. It’s the news you need to know, with Rachel Withers. | | | | | | BILLY THE LABOR SCAPEGOAT Labor’s election review has blamed the loss on “a weak strategy … a cluttered policy agenda … and an unpopular leader”, warning of a lasting threat to its fortunes if it does not start to turn things around, Nine reports. The report, led by former SA premier Jay Weatherill and former federal cabinet minister Craig Emerson, did not blame any single policy for the loss, but recommended scaling back the agenda, and urged the party to reconnect with blue-collar workers. Former leader Bill Shorten, whose unpopularity was found to be a major factor, issued a statement, conceding his mistakes while committing to remain in politics for the next 20 years. Former prime minister Paul Keating has urged the party to remain ambitious, while current leader Anthony Albanese is due to respond to the report later today. | DROUGHT TO WORSEN A government report has found drought is set to become more frequent and severe due to climate change, with some parts of the country to become “more marginal and unproductive” as a result, The Guardian reports. Put together by drought coordinator Major General Stephen Day, the report says that drought must be accepted as an enduring feature of the Australian landscape. The federal government released the report while announcing its latest drought measures, with the South Australian government to release 100GL of Murray water to other states at a discounted rate in exchange for $10 million in drought resilience funding and help with its desalination plant. | LOGGING HORNS The Victorian government’s decision to ban native timber harvesting has set up a battle with the federal government, while also infuriating timber workers, Nine reports. Federal Agriculture Minister Bridget McKenzie condemned the decision, saying it was “casting aside an entire industry and workforce”. Premier Daniel Andrews has promised “appropriate support” for logging workers, including helping with redundancy payments, telling 3AW, “we have taken the time to make sure that this is a transition that is managed; it is not a matter of flicking a switch”. Under the decision, old-growth forest logging will cease immediately, with the harvesting of younger native trees to be phased out completely by 2030. | THEY REALLY SAID THAT? | “ | He said “show me your badge”. I said “I pay for the badges, I don’t get one”. — David Elliott |
The NSW police minister has been accused of road rage following a clash with a P-plater ($). | READ ALL ABOUT IT | CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY | | | | “That concessional loans are a counterproductive form of assistance has been known for years. So has the fact that drought assistance punishes those who have invested in resilience and rewards the lazy and profligate. These facts have been on the public record for at least a decade, since the Productivity Commission examined drought relief and found it fundamentally flawed in 2009. Even the National Farmers Federation has criticised handouts ‘that can undermine drought preparation and resilience’. Yet you’ll look long and hard through the media’s coverage of successive drought packages to ever see that reflected.” |
| | | | | | “After months of on-site protest, demanding a say in the matter, we were granted a mediation with Major Roads on October 3. We sat in three separate rooms, as lawyers darted between the parties and hashed out a long-awaited deal. We agreed to allow 2.5 kilometres of the 12 kilometre expansion to continue, stopping short at the point where the alternate route would divert — with the caveat that no heavy machinery would be used. Documents seen by Inq state that only a hand shovel may be used for excavation works. The government agreed and arranged to meet for part two of negotiations on December 1. However a week later, the truce was broken when it was alleged Major Roads moved in with heavy machinery. Major Roads has provided Inq with a statement saying that ‘MRPV is conducting works on the Project in accordance with the agreement’.” |
| | | | | | THE COMMENTARIAT We need sporting heroes to unite us, not divide us – Jenna Price (The Age/Sydney Morning Herald): “These responses are from an Australia of the past. Court rejected Australians when she said she did not accept equal marriage, and now she wants to be feted and fanned in a country where one in seven Australians is gay or lesbian. She was the one who said “tennis is full of lesbians”, that transgender children are influenced by the devil and are part of a mind control plot as seen in Nazi Germany, that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Now she wants our acclaim and respect and a celebration of her anniversary while continuing to spread horrifying conspiracy theories. Any respect she has earned through her sporting accomplishments has been lost through her own irrelevant actions but she now claims her comments should have no bearing on her tennis legacy which includes a court named after her. I recognise her great tennis achievements but she needs to recognise the achievements of Australia as it seeks to be a better country.” When it comes to economics, how is Anthony Albanese like Shane Warne? ($) – John Rolfe (The Daily Telegraph): “But as Marles pointed out, Warnie did not deploy those deliveries often. Rather, his strategy was built around perfectly executing his stock leg-break over and over. The Opposition needed to be just as monotonous on the economy, he said. Being so was a precondition to earning the right to have voters consider Labor as an alternative government. As the PM said in his retort to Albo’s question, Labor will need to work out what its economic policies are, too. While cricket fans were content to wait for a flipper, zooter or wrong ’un, how long will the public and those within the party be prepared to wait to see the Opposition Leader’s new signature deliveries?” Taxpayer beware of ‘trust me’ projects ($) –Maurice Newman (The Australian): “When will Australians understand that most often it’s not market failure or timidity in the private sector that drives governments to accept unknown returns from risky ‘nation-building’ projects but a popular, patronising perception that voters are beguiled by ministerial grandstanding? That political advantage lies in the announcement of projects, not in their delivery? Just as well. As Malcolm Turnbull once explained: ‘The history of mega projects is such that, no matter how sophisticated the technology or how great our advances in accounting practices, we have essentially not gotten any better at avoiding serious cost overruns.’ What the former prime minister really meant to say was: ‘We learn nothing from our mistakes. So let’s be philosophical. Once the project is under way, someone else can worry about the inevitable cost overruns.’” | | Know an early bird who doesn’t get the worm?
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| | | HOLD THE FRONT PAGE | WHAT’S ON TODAY National Workers at airports across the country will protest unsafe and unfair working conditions. Canberra Labor leader Anthony Albanese will speak at the National Press Club. The bosses of the big four banks will face a further grilling from politicians, who will ask how they are reestablishing trust with their customers. The Productivity Commission will release a report on spending on children in the Northern Territory, following a NT royal commission into the protection and detention of children. Adelaide Federal and state environment ministers are expected to sign off on a national plan to address the spiralling number of native Australian species facing extinction. Oakden nursing home whistleblower Stewart Johnston will meet with SA Premier Steven Marshall over ongoing concerns. Hughenden, Queensland Nationals leader Michael McCormack will hold a press conference to talk about the drought package. Sydney Coroner Harriet Grahame will release her recommendations following a NSW inquest into six drug-related music festival deaths. Modern dance artist Eileen Kramer will be celebrating her 105th birthday at the Arts Gallery of NSW. The RBA will release its quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy, containing updated economic forecasts and commentary. Melbourne Open Spaces Festival, Abbotsford Convent’s annual all-ages arts and music festival, will begin, with DJs, roving performances, art, kids programs, markets, and more. Brisbane At a CEDA event, Defence Department deputy Steve Grzeskowiak will discuss how record investment in defence, diplomacy and our existing capability will meet emerging challenges. Launceston, Tasmania The Senate Standing Committees on Community Affairs will hold a public hearing into Centrelink’s compliance program. |
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