Good morning, early birds. Eddie McGuire has conceded he should not have labelled the leaking of a secret report into Collingwood’s systemic racism a “proud day” for the club, and more than 55 homes have been lost to a massive bushfire east of Perth. It’s the news you need to know, with Chris Woods.
NOT SUCH A PROUD DAY
Eddie McGuire has conceded he should not have labelled the leaking of a secret report into Collingwood’s systemic racism a “proud day” for the club, with the ABC noting that while the club president “fully intended to make public” the report after it was delivered in December, he blames its leak for a scrambled response.
McGuire’s comments to the club’s annual general meeting come after AFL star Héritier Lumumba labelled Collingwood’s response “offensive, shameful” and shallow, and told The Guardian the report was only commissioned because of his continued advocacy against racist experiences. Lumumba, for his efforts, initially received insinuations of mental illness and lies about meetings from club and AFL figures, as well as some significantly distrustful reporting from The Project.
Now, The Age reports that Gary Murray, the grandson of Indigenous leader and ex-footballer Sir Douglas Nicholls and father of former Bomber Nathan Lovett-Murray, has called on Collingwood to institute a quota system for Indigenous players as it enters the 2020 season without any on the men’s list and just one on the AFLW team.
WA FACES MASSIVE BUSHFIRE
More than 55 homes have been lost to a massive bushfire east of Perth, with the real figure expected to be higher as damage assessments continue, but the ABC reports that there has been no loss of life or major injuries. An emergency warning remains in place for parts of the shires of Mundaring, Chittering and Northam, and the City of Swan.
The news comes after WA recorded its second consecutive day of no new COVID-19 cases, while Health Minister Roger Cook noted that masks are not required for all quarantine personnel at every stage of their job, and it is unclear whether the guard at the centre of the scare wore one while delivering medication to a man with the UK variant.
SMALL BEANS FOR UNIS
The Australian ($) today reports that a $1 billion boost to research funding in last October’s federal budget has almost cancelled out the revenue loss universities expect this year from restrictions on international students.
For context, however, the government deliberately excluding the sector from JobKeeper — save for private universities and New York University Sydney — led to roughly 10% of jobs being slashed.
AUSTRALIA BRINGING UP THE REAR
Finally, and despite some honestly embarrassing fawning from the press gallery yesterday over Scott Morrison’s maybe-possible-if-we-still-care-by-2040 plan for a 2050 net-zero target, RenewEconomy reports that Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s 2021 zero-carbon policy scoreboard puts Australia last in the major developed economies. Maybe some more taxpayer funds for gas donors could help?
THEY REALLY SAID THAT?
I think I would be one of the last people on the list who will need the vaccination in the world given the situation we have here in Australia … When that time comes around I will look at the evidence and make a decision then.
Craig Kelly
The climate denialist Liberal MP who shilled for anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a dangerous, disproven COVID-19 treatment is suddenly extra cautious with ensuring anything injected into him, personally, is evidence-backed.
Why aren’t we outraged by actual criminal outrage?
This article discusses sexual assault.
“Are we now numb to even the most heinous crime? Immune to the tragedy and trauma that envelops a community each time a murder or rape is committed?
“Are evidenced-based trends on juvenile crime, or drug-fuelled crime, or gang-related crime even being considered in policies as politicians respond to crime levels with reckless law-and-order auctions?”
Peta Credlin’s apology to Kevin Rudd on Sky just shows money talks
“If you want to stop Sky News Australia’s stream of misinformation and crackpot conspiracies you need to go hard, go early and above all get a lawyer. Go to the regulator? Forget it.
“That’s the lesson from an on-air apology delivered last night by Sky presenter Peta Credlin, who was forced to retract claims she had made about former prime minister Kevin Rudd.”
The coup-tionary: how the media shills for a leadership change
“Anthony Albanese is, apparently, a dead man walking. Despite a good Newspoll this week, the Labor leader has been written off by some who say the party is desperate to dump him before a potential early election.
“The latest attack piece, from The Australian’s Troy Bramston, is a characteristic mix of assertion, gossip and historical analogy. While Albanese’s leadership has at times seemed confused and anaemic, commentary like this which spells his almost certain demise follows a tried and tested pattern.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
‘Important opportunity’: PM urges MPs to celebrate Lunar New Year with Chinese Australians
One Nation warns Coalition on workplace changes as Labor ramps up attack
‘No specific risk’: TGA approves Pfizer COVID vaccine for elderly Australians
Palaszczuk government to consider using GPS trackers on juvenile delinquents ($)
Push to trade penalty rates for higher wages sparks pay-cut claims
Australia funds tungsten mine to break China’s grip ($)
Victoria extends state of emergency as WA hopes for more zero days amid virus scare
Queensland considers solar-fuelled green hydrogen plant at Kogan Creek coal plant
Alexei Navalny faces court in Moscow, Russian police arrest more than 200 protesters
Dolly Parton turned down presidential medal of freedom twice from Trump
McConnell: Marjorie Taylor Greene’s views are a ‘cancer’ for the GOP
THE COMMENTARIAT
Morrison is offering more of the same: indefinite climate delay as time runs out — Ketan Joshi (RenewEconomy): “For the past two years, much of the coverage of Morrison on climate has featured a wishful approach; over-analysing every gleam in the eyes of federal policymakers, scrabbling to decipher coded references to some hidden desire to act on climate change. It’s problematic because it perpetuates an endless cycle of never-met expectations, but the bigger problem is that it distracts from the fact that nothing is being done today.”
Scott Morrison walking a clever highwire on climate change ($) — Simon Benson (The Australian): “Scott Morrison is tilling the political soil for a climate change pivot that will see him take a 2050 net-zero target to next year’s election. This is the subtext to his subtle rhetorical shift this week, and it will require a highwire act by the prime minister to keep the Coalition show on the road. It also presents a fatal proposition for Labor.”
I’m a prisoner at Guantanamo Bay and I have a message for President Biden — Ahmed Rabbani (Independent): “When I was kidnapped from Karachi in 2002 and sold to the CIA for a bounty with a false story that I was a terrorist called Hassan Ghul, my wife and I had just had the happy news that she was pregnant. She gave birth to my son Jawad a few months later. I have never been allowed to meet my own child. President Biden is a man who speaks of the importance of family. I wonder if he can imagine what it would be like to have never touched his own son. Mine will soon be 18 years old, and I have not been there to help him or to guide him.”
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