This week’s events demonstrate the savvy of Indonesian fishermen. But they also show the cruel expediency of Australia’s political deals with Indonesia, writes Lionel Elmore.
Australia
David Williamson: Howard, morning walks and the ghosts of 1969
There are many reasons to wish Johnnie bon voyage, the most pressing being the thought of another eighteen months of television footage of his morning walks, writes David Williamson.
Liz Ellis for athlete of the year
I’ve always looked at Liz Ellis’s performances playing netball for Australia with the image of a ruthless, relentless, skilful and passionate winner in my mind. And this is how she played in the final of the World Netball Championship at Auckland against New Zealand on Saturday, writes Spiro Zavos.
Tipping time: Labor heading for a 30-seat majority
I’m predicting Labor will win a 30 seat majority, which would mean Labor holding 90 out of 150 seats. How might those seats fall state by state? Here’s a possible combination, writes Peter Brent.
MacCormack: Nats stick to the script, shameless pork handouts ensue
Unlike the Liberals, the Nationals are honest about their shameless rorting of public policy in favour of a minority interest, writes David MacCormack.
Trail so far: Crikey’s election tracker roundup
With campaign combat finally coming to a head, Crikey’s very own Election Tracker gives us an idea of where key battles are being fought.
How Fred Hilmer threw $341,000 over the hedge
Australia’s $65 billion hedge fund industry is bracing for a headwind after Eureka Report named some of the big investors caught up in the Basis Capital collapse. Former Fairfax CEO Fred Hilmer, venture capitalist Roger Allen and Melbourne’s Myer Family are among those caught up in the mess, writes James Frost
What the RBA said
The bank’s statement in full.
Media freedom hampered by media irresponsibility
An audit of the freedom of information available to the Australian media, released today, makes a powerful argument that free speech in Australia is being subtly whittled away, writes Denis Muller.
State of the planet
Australia is not a climate change leader … Kenya’s new monkey population puts climate change in perspective … The icy road to Bali … US takes first step towards climate change law … One in three freshwater fish under threat
Why is everyone ignoring the nuclear elephant in the room?
The very largest elephant in Australia’s electoral room is the nuclear one — and it is accompanied by an equally large question: why is everyone — the media included – avoiding mentioning it?
Kyoto is about leadership, people
The question for Bali and beyond is: with leadership like the Howard government, what kind of commitments can we realistically expect from developing countries when it comes to Kyoto? I was a little surprised that the Labor Party this week so willingly allowed the government to beat them over the head with Garrett’s Kyoto fumble, given the latter’s track record on the issue, writes Ian McHugh.
Yes, Malcolm, we do lead the world in changing the climate
If admitting you have a problem is the first step in overcoming it, we should be offering Federal Environment Malcolm Turnbull generous praise today for admitting Australia leads the world in climate change, writes Thomas Hunter.
How to fix Australia’s air defence debacle
The big question which 4 Corners didn’t have time to address in last night’s superb feature on Australia’s air defence mess is how to repair the damage. The good news is that this has been studied carefully by a good number of very knowledgable people, writes Dr Carlo Kopp.
Crikey Cabbie Panel: Should Australia ratify a post-2012 Kyoto?
After labor environment spokesman Peter Garrett put himself in a policy pickle yesterday, we asked the Crikey Cabbie Panel if Australia should sign a post-2012 emissions agreement, regardless of what the US and China do?
Media briefs and TV ratings
Another fallacy of the digital world exposed … Nine joins the battle for NBC contract … Last night’s TV ratings.
Nuclear power? Suddenly a marginal issue
“If clean coal turns out to be a cheaper alternative, then we may never build a nuclear power station in Australia,” Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull said yesterday. Who mightn’t be sitting all that comfortably in the seats of (nuclear) power? Christian Kerr investigates.
Media freedom: Where do Liberal and Labor stand?
The Prime Minister has hinted that during the campaign he will release a couple of modest reforms in order to free up restrictions on journalists and increase the public’s access to information. So what would the Coalition need to do to match what the ALP is now touting as policy? Andrew Dodd reports.
Aussie battlers confront racism thanks to Kevin Andrews
On Grand Final day 2004, I found myself amongst a crowd of almost 90,000 people. Most of them were battlers. The place was Kakuma refugee camp, writes Matthew Albert.
Woolcott: ‘Appeals to latent racism … a cancer’
Former UN ambassador Richard Woolcott will tonight launch an attack on the Howard government when his latest book is launched in Melbourne by former premier Steve Bracks, writes Barry Everingham.
Crikey Says: Crikey Says
There’s a wicked whiff of irony in all this sudden talk of reconciliation. You hear it ringing with shadow spokeswoman Jenny Macklin’s endorsement of the Prime Minister’s sudden epiphanous sympathy for black Australia.
Howard’s history 1: OMG, is this a win for the left?
According to reports, the much awaited new history curriculum will be pretty similar to the way we’ve been teaching history before, writes Guy Rundle.
10 new reasons to read that card with the brace position
The volume of persistent and troubling air safety incidents in Australia is without precedent. It cannot be explained by growth alone, writes Ben Sandlilands.
The Fed will fix it? We should be so lucky
Heaven help the world’s markets if the US Federal Reserve doesn’t cut interest rates again at its next meeting in four weeks’ time.
ALP vote at highest level under Rudd: Morgan
Labor’s primary vote has reached its highest level since Kevin Rudd took over the leadership last year – 54%, a rise of 4.5 points – according to the latest poll from Roy Morgan Research. Support for Coalition has dropped 3.5 points to 36%, writes Christian Kerr.
