Issue 33 – 25 February – 3 March 2021

March 3, 2021March 26, 2021 editor

Right-wing culture warriors and rape
Louise O’Shea | Red Flag
Brittany Higgins’ account of being raped in Parliament House by a fellow Liberal Party staffer will come as no surprise to anyone unlucky enough to have encountered a pack of drunk young Liberals on a night out.

Gendered violence ‘a disease in our workplaces’
Sarah Hathaway | Green Left Weekly
The amount of buck-passing by senior ministers and staff is a reminder of just how widespread this workplace crime is and, yet, how insignificant those in power perceive this crime to be.

The first law officer of the land must be beyond reproach
Elizabeth Minter | Pearls and Irritations
A theme that symbolises Porter’s time as Attorney General, writes Crikey, is that “there’s one rule for Porter and his colleagues, and another for everyone else”.

Whatever it takes: media management and optics rule this government
Bernard Keane | Crikey
There is literally nothing, however serious, however demanding of a non-political response, that will not be subordinated to the Morrison government imperative of spin and presentation.

Aged care royal commission: Meal budget of $6 a day causing ‘staggering’ aged care malnutrition
Aisha Dow | Nine Newspapers
One proposal, estimated to cost less than a billion dollars a year, would force providers to report the number of instances of unplanned weight loss or dehydration.

Only one thing will end the squalor of aged care
Ross Gittins | Nine Newspapers
If you look from the top-down, it’s deceptively easy. All the specific problems stem from a single cause: we’ve gone for decades – under federal governments of both colours – trying to do aged care on the cheap, and it’s been a disaster.

‘We are disposable’: Casual work, low pay and low power
Orlando Forbes, Andrew Jones | Arena
At the height of the 2020 COVID-19 outbreaks we came to better understand insecure work as a disease vector and an immediate danger. However, these employment conditions constitute an enduring threat to our well-being that the federal government seeks to entrench and expand via the Fair Work Act (Support Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill. Its objective is not economic recovery but the further destabilisation of worker power.

Nurses and midwives union opposes gas, demands real climate action
Sarah Ellyard | Green Left Weekly
Nurses and midwives are already seeing the health impacts of the climate crisis and it will continue to test all aspects of health systems as the crisis worsens.

Will the right fall for Jordan Peterson once again? History says yes
Guy Rundle | Crikey
The root cause of Peterson’s addiction is no joke — trauma brought on by his wife’s cancer diagnosis. But, erm, yeah, the preaching stoicism and self-reliance round the world while popping bennies to deal with a life event (among other matters) is a hell of a thing. How can he show his face again, with this level of implicit deceit and absurdity?

The new jobseeker ‘dobber’ hotline will empower bad employers
Van Badham | The Guardian
For a few heady months between April and September 2020, doubling the rate to $550 a week enabled dole recipients to live out their wildest economic fantasies. Would you believe that one woman on the dole could finally afford to see a dentist?! A dentist!

The Deal Between Facebook and Australian News Media Won’t Help Journalists
Tai Nelson | Jacobin
The standoff between Facebook and the Australian government has ended with Facebook agreeing to pay off news companies. But the deal won’t help journalists whose wages and conditions have been under constant attack, unless they start organizing to defend their rights.

There’s no excuse, we need full employment now
Ross Gittins | Nine Newspapers
We haven’t achieved full employment consistently since the early 1970s – a failure that few economists seem to lose sleep over. It’s like St Augustine’s prayer: Lord make me pure – but not yet.

JobSlayer: gas giants grab $300m subsidy then axe 3000 workers
Elizabeth Minter | Michael West Media

Glib response to Aged Care Royal Commission portends another failed roadmap
Dr Sarah Russell | Michael West Media

Queensland: racist one day, police state the next
Kaye Broadbent | Red Flag

Spotlight on private boys schools cabinet minister rape allegation
Amber Schulz | Crikey

Vaccinating the world: sharing vaccines is essential to controlling COVID
Lesley Russell | Inside Story

After eight years in immigration detention, I cannot believe I am free in Australia
Mardin Arvin | The Guardian

Raising anti-fascism awareness is the key to ending White supremacy
Tom Tanuki | Independent Australia

Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Should Stand for Solidarity With the Oppressed — Not With Cops and Corporations
Jonno Revanche | Jacobin

Inviting six directors to lunch would give you access to almost half the ASX 200
Donald Hellyer | Crikey

Gosnells attacker arrested amid rising instances of far-right extremism
Aaron Bloch | National Indigenous Times

The New Daily reveals companies that kept JobKeeper – despite huge profits
Matthew Elmas | The New Daily

Australia’s solar tsunami to trigger coal collapse
Alan Kohler | The New Daily