War with China: zero logic yet the weapons lobby has 42% of Australians believing it
Incredibly, a survey finds 42% of Australians believe China will attack Australia, this despite exports to China surging 36% over in the last six months, and despite there being no logical rationale for war with China, or an attack by China. Marcus Reubenstein analyses the ludicrous position of Australia’s China hawks and the mainstream media pushing their agendas.
Ocean Waste: how plastic recyclers downplay their use of new plastics
Beware recycled plastics. They often contain virgin plastics, the very plastics the recyclers say they are fighting. Luke Stacey investigates green vanguard and their recycling claims and finds, while they do good work in raising public awareness, they could certainly be more transparent.
Money for nothing, debts for free: the RBA, the banks and a negative interest rates warning
As NSW plunges back into lockdown, the banks have been warned to prepare for negative interest rates. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank has quietly conceded the banks have not lent the $188 billion pandemic stimulus, parking it in their $314b war-chest at the central bank earning no interest. Michael West on the looming storm-clouds for the Australian economy.
John Barilaro’s daughter breaches lockdown twice: What’s the scam?
La Fiesta Barilaro: What’s the Scam?
NSW got four times Victoria’s lockdown subsidies: What’s the Scam?
Uber: What’s the Scam?
CitiPower, Powercor: What’s the Scam?
Federal bushfire recovery funds. What’s the scam?
NSW pokies: What’s the Scam?
Medibank Life Insurance: What’s the Scam?
Trivago, Wotif, Expedia, Hotels.com: What’s the Scam?
“Unspecified” political donations: What’s the Scam?
Privatising the ABC: What’s the Scam?
VicForests: What’s the Scam?
PEP11: What’s the scam?
Booking.com: What’s the Scam?
Australia/UK Free Trade Agreement: What’s the Scam?
Paddy Power: What’s the Scam?
Facebook: What’s the Scam?
Angus Taylor’s oil hand-outs: What’s the Scam?
Lendlease: What’s the Scam?
Chevron: What’s the Scam?
Shell: What’s the Scam?
EnergyAustralia: What’s the Scam?
Netflix: What’s the Scam?
Google: What’s the Scam?
Vultures’ Reprise: MacBankers bob up in takeover battle for hapless Sydney Airport
Like the muddy hand from the grave, Macquarie is suddenly circling Sydney Airport again. Michael West reports on the ultimate circus of privatisation, where Macquarie pillaged the most prized asset in Australia, the unregulated monopoly which is this country’s gateway to the world, and is shaping up to do it again.
Power to go to war rests with one man – Scott Morrison – is Parliament okay with that?
Australia is a democracy, yet when it comes to the most critical national decision of sending Australian troops into armed conflict overseas, the power rests with one man, the Prime Minister. This is the curtain-raiser for our #warpowers series as reporter Tasha May calls around Australia’s parliamentarians and its people.
Hayne gets last laugh as “Your Future Your Super” laws deliver for small punters over big bank pals
The new “Your Future, Your Super” legislation avoided the most egregious of changes proposed by the LNP Government. YFYS will simplify and streamline the $3 trillion super system, fix “zombie accounts” and spark fund takeovers, writes Harry Chemay. The changes go some way to addressing a key question posed during the Hayne Royal Commission: “what do trustees do in the dark with our super?”
Power to go to war rests with one man – Scott Morrison – is Parliament okay with that?
Australia is a democracy, yet when it comes to the most critical national decision of sending Australian troops into armed conflict overseas, the power rests with one man, the Prime Minister. This is the curtain-raiser for our #warpowers series as reporter Tasha May calls around Australia’s parliamentarians and its people.
Landforces’ brothers in arms: how a weapons peddler qualified for charitable status
The Coalition is cracking down on charitable organisations. However, the Australian charity promoting arms deals on behalf of weapons makers that profit from humanitarian catastrophes is unlikely to be in the government’s sights. With the weapons expo LandForces wrapping up in Brisbane this week, Michelle Fahy delves into the charity behind LandForces.
Senate misled: Watergate deal negotiated directly with Swiss-based Cayman Islands director
New documents show the government negotiated the controversial $80m Watergate deal directly with the Cayman Islands company founded by Energy Minister Angus Taylor. The Department failed to notify the Senate. Jommy Tee investigates the email trail between the Department, then overseen by Barnaby Joyce, and secretive Switzerland director and Taylor associate Connor Maloney.
War with China: zero logic yet the weapons lobby has 42% of Australians believing it
Incredibly, a survey finds 42% of Australians believe China will attack Australia, this despite exports to China surging 36% over in the last six months, and despite there being no logical rationale for war with China, or an attack by China. Marcus Reubenstein analyses the ludicrous position of Australia’s China hawks and the mainstream media pushing their agendas.
John Barilaro’s daughter breaches lockdown twice: What’s the scam?
La Fiesta Barilaro: What’s the Scam?
NSW got four times Victoria’s lockdown subsidies: What’s the Scam?
Uber: What’s the Scam?
CitiPower, Powercor: What’s the Scam?
Federal bushfire recovery funds. What’s the scam?
NSW pokies: What’s the Scam?
Medibank Life Insurance: What’s the Scam?
Trivago, Wotif, Expedia, Hotels.com: What’s the Scam?
“Unspecified” political donations: What’s the Scam?
Privatising the ABC: What’s the Scam?
VicForests: What’s the Scam?
PEP11: What’s the scam?
Booking.com: What’s the Scam?
Australia/UK Free Trade Agreement: What’s the Scam?
Paddy Power: What’s the Scam?
Facebook: What’s the Scam?
Angus Taylor’s oil hand-outs: What’s the Scam?
Lendlease: What’s the Scam?
Chevron: What’s the Scam?
Shell: What’s the Scam?
EnergyAustralia: What’s the Scam?
Netflix: What’s the Scam?
Google: What’s the Scam?
Featured Stories
Ocean Waste: how plastic recyclers downplay their use of new plastics
Beware recycled plastics. They often contain virgin plastics, the very plastics the recyclers say they are fighting. Luke Stacey investigates green vanguard and their recycling claims and finds, while they do good work in raising public awareness, they could certainly be more transparent.
Money for nothing, debts for free: the RBA, the banks and a negative interest rates warning
As NSW plunges back into lockdown, the banks have been warned to prepare for negative interest rates. Meanwhile, the Reserve Bank has quietly conceded the banks have not lent the $188 billion pandemic stimulus, parking it in their $314b war-chest at the central bank earning no interest. Michael West on the looming storm-clouds for the Australian economy.
Vultures’ Reprise: MacBankers bob up in takeover battle for hapless Sydney Airport
Like the muddy hand from the grave, Macquarie is suddenly circling Sydney Airport again. Michael West reports on the ultimate circus of privatisation, where Macquarie pillaged the most prized asset in Australia, the unregulated monopoly which is this country’s gateway to the world, and is shaping up to do it again.
Power to go to war rests with one man – Scott Morrison – is Parliament okay with that?
Australia is a democracy, yet when it comes to the most critical national decision of sending Australian troops into armed conflict overseas, the power rests with one man, the Prime Minister. This is the curtain-raiser for our #warpowers series as reporter Tasha May calls around Australia’s parliamentarians and its people.
Hayne gets last laugh as “Your Future Your Super” laws deliver for small punters over big bank pals
The new “Your Future, Your Super” legislation avoided the most egregious of changes proposed by the LNP Government. YFYS will simplify and streamline the $3 trillion super system, fix “zombie accounts” and spark fund takeovers, writes Harry Chemay. The changes go some way to addressing a key question posed during the Hayne Royal Commission: “what do trustees do in the dark with our super?”
Morrison Offers Condolences To Aussies In Lockdown: ‘I Know What It’s Like To Do Absolutely Fucking Nothing’
<!– by The Shovel –> Scott Morrison has offered words of support to those dealing with lockdown, saying he knows what it’s like to do absolutely nothing at all. In a Facebook video this afternoon, Mr Morrison said he stood with everyone in New South...
Sydney Man Has Tips For Melbourne Friends On Getting Through Lockdown
<!– by The Shovel –> Having done the hard yards himself, Sydney man Jeremy Richards says he’s more than happy to pass on a few tips to his mates in Melbourne on getting through the slog of a COVID-19 lockdown. In a Facebook post, the Bondi man said...
First Time Ever That Something That Started In Sydney Has Taken Off In Melbourne
<!– by The Shovel –> A niche movement that began life in Bondi is starting to go big in Melbourne, marking the very first time anything that’s originated in Sydney has actually taken hold in the Victorian capital. “Usually we wait to see what...
Stuff made up by The Shovel
Tax Haven Weather
Pearls & Irritations
After many years the Great Barrier Reef ‘in danger’ listing shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Environment Minister Susan Ley says she was “blindsided” by UNESCO’s recommendation to declare the Great Barrier Reef ‘in danger’. Prime Minister Morrison was “appalled”....
Respect for the APS did not last long
Praise of the Australian Public Service for its COVID 19 efforts last year, and appearances of respecting its policy contribution, seem now to have disappeared. The PM’s disdain of the public...
South Australia’s impressive renewable energy transition
South Australia underwent a significant renewables transition under successive ALP governments from 2002 until 2018. In 2002 SA generated its electricity locally from brown coal and gas and imported...
Why is Australia still investing in a balanced defence force?
When the Prime Minister recently compared Australia’s strategic situation to that in 1939, he was right in two respects. Both in 1939 and in 2021, we have put too much trust in a ‘great and powerful...
The world is in a crisis of our own making – is it sowing the seeds of change?
The world is in a crisis. And many of our leaders are failing us. People are despondent, angry and sad, many unable to see their loved ones, many more not knowing how to cope. There is no end in...
Courtesy of John Menadue.
Tax Haven Weather
Bungled Roll-out: Greg Hunt dissembles, confusion reigns over Pfizer vaccine deal
The vaccine rollout remains mired in confusion. Health Minister Greg Hunt is making contradictory claims about how many doses of the Pfizer vaccine the government could have bought in the middle last year. Callum Foote reports.
Flight Risk: pressure to bring back travel agent trust accounts, save travellers from insolvency
In 2014 intensive lobbying by travel agents got rid of protections for the travelling public when companies went bust. When Covid hit, many thousands of people lost huge amounts of money. Pressure is now growing for travel agents to set up mandatory trust accounts. Tasha May reports.
TV networks join Netflix crusade against Australian arts and screen content
The TV networks have joined Netflix to oppose local TV content quotas. It’s too expensive, they say. Yet the local arts and screen sector says the industry which employs 200,000 Australians would be devastated. Elizabeth Minter reports on a crucial decision for Communications Minister Paul Fletcher.
Teachers and nurses fund Aware Super now exposed to Lendlease retirement village rorts as Tax Office dawdles
Lendlease’s tax scam rivals the biggest heists of the century – alongside Rupert Murdoch, Chevron and Macquarie Bank. Yet its effects are spreading from a mere rip on the ATO to the nurses and teachers fund Aware Super which just acquired a chunk of retirement village assets. If Lendlease can ‘double dip’ on tax deductions, then anybody can. It opens up the Tax Office to millions of amended assessments. Michael West reports.
Revealed: Australia’s Top 40 Tax Dodgers for 2021
Drumroll … trumpets, red carpet: we are rolling out Australia’s Top 40 Tax Dodgers for 2021. Michael West unveils the villains and the heroes of the tax scene, including new gongs this year for Lifetime Achievement Award and UnAustralian of the Year.
The Usual Suspects: oil and gas majors star in Australian tax heist
Angus Taylor’s rescue package for the oil industry is a testament to governments getting gamed by large corporations. The latest Tax Office transparency data shows oil and gas juggernauts are Australia’s biggest tax cheats, again, yet now they are crying for public subsidies – and getting them – to prop up their oil refineries. Michael West reports on the good and the bad in multinational tax dodging land.
The Business of Covid: Gladys Berejiklian hides “the health advice” as pandemic threatens Sydney
Despite continual claims she acted on health advice, despite continual pleas to the NSW public to follow the health advice, Premier Gladys Berejiklian let slip that advice from business played a part in her handling of the pandemic and the Sydney lockdown. What is the health advice? Callum Foote and Michael West investigate.
Power to go to war rests with one man – Scott Morrison – is Parliament okay with that?
Australia is a democracy, yet when it comes to the most critical national decision of sending Australian troops into armed conflict overseas, the power rests with one man, the Prime Minister. This is the curtain-raiser for our #warpowers series as reporter Tasha May calls around Australia’s parliamentarians and its people.
Jobactive fails jobless while privatised job agencies revel in a record pandemic profit boom
Large job agencies who dominate Australia’s privatised employment system are enjoying a boom of record profits, and even a takeover spree, while their disillusioned job seekers complain of churning and profiteering. Meanwhile, those in government on both sides of the political aisle are calling for reform. In this special investigation, Stephanie Tran reports on the failure of Jobactive.
Carbon Bomb Beetaloo: world goes net zero, yet Coalition steps on the gas, Labor nods
Tracts the size of Bulgaria open for oil and gas exploration, along with generous government subsidies for foreign oil companies. Just as the world is tackling climate change, Australia is accelerating its fossil fuel production, and in almost every state and territory. Callum Foote investigates the bizarre hand-outs for a foreign hedge fund drilling for gas and the carve up of the NT’s Beetaloo Basin.
“Worse than burning coal”: Hunter Energy powers on bid to burn wood
Burning wood for biomass energy is on the rise as an alternative to coal. But it is even dirtier than coal and is leading to alarming levels of deforestation. Elizabeth Minter, Tom Ferrier and Jane McIntyre report.
Kalbar’s exotic minerals mine a huge risk to Victoria’s food bowl
A hearing into the Environment Effects Statement for Kalbar’s mineral sands project on rich Victorian farmland has been told about competition for billions of litres of water, high levels of uranium, untested technologies and a strange backflip by the project’s “independent experts”. Elizabeth Minter investigates.
Vultures’ Reprise: MacBankers bob up in takeover battle for hapless Sydney Airport
Like the muddy hand from the grave, Macquarie is suddenly circling Sydney Airport again. Michael West reports on the ultimate circus of privatisation, where Macquarie pillaged the most prized asset in Australia, the unregulated monopoly which is this country’s gateway to the world, and is shaping up to do it again.
Hayne gets last laugh as “Your Future Your Super” laws deliver for small punters over big bank pals
The new “Your Future, Your Super” legislation avoided the most egregious of changes proposed by the LNP Government. YFYS will simplify and streamline the $3 trillion super system, fix “zombie accounts” and spark fund takeovers, writes Harry Chemay. The changes go some way to addressing a key question posed during the Hayne Royal Commission: “what do trustees do in the dark with our super?”
Coalition protects wealthy retirees’ investments under cover of Covid-19 pandemic
The Coalition moved to protect the superannuation of Australia’s wealthiest retirees at the same time it was encouraging the nation’s poorest to raid their retirement accounts. And they continue to protect the wealthiest even though the Australian share market is back at record highs. Elizabeth Minter reports.
Bungled Roll-out: Greg Hunt dissembles, confusion reigns over Pfizer vaccine deal
The vaccine rollout remains mired in confusion. Health Minister Greg Hunt is making contradictory claims about how many doses of the Pfizer vaccine the government could have bought in the middle last year. Callum Foote reports.
Flight Risk: pressure to bring back travel agent trust accounts, save travellers from insolvency
In 2014 intensive lobbying by travel agents got rid of protections for the travelling public when companies went bust. When Covid hit, many thousands of people lost huge amounts of money. Pressure is now growing for travel agents to set up mandatory trust accounts. Tasha May reports.
TV networks join Netflix crusade against Australian arts and screen content
The TV networks have joined Netflix to oppose local TV content quotas. It’s too expensive, they say. Yet the local arts and screen sector says the industry which employs 200,000 Australians would be devastated. Elizabeth Minter reports on a crucial decision for Communications Minister Paul Fletcher.
Teachers and nurses fund Aware Super now exposed to Lendlease retirement village rorts as Tax Office dawdles
Lendlease’s tax scam rivals the biggest heists of the century – alongside Rupert Murdoch, Chevron and Macquarie Bank. Yet its effects are spreading from a mere rip on the ATO to the nurses and teachers fund Aware Super which just acquired a chunk of retirement village assets. If Lendlease can ‘double dip’ on tax deductions, then anybody can. It opens up the Tax Office to millions of amended assessments. Michael West reports.
Revealed: Australia’s Top 40 Tax Dodgers for 2021
Drumroll … trumpets, red carpet: we are rolling out Australia’s Top 40 Tax Dodgers for 2021. Michael West unveils the villains and the heroes of the tax scene, including new gongs this year for Lifetime Achievement Award and UnAustralian of the Year.
The Usual Suspects: oil and gas majors star in Australian tax heist
Angus Taylor’s rescue package for the oil industry is a testament to governments getting gamed by large corporations. The latest Tax Office transparency data shows oil and gas juggernauts are Australia’s biggest tax cheats, again, yet now they are crying for public subsidies – and getting them – to prop up their oil refineries. Michael West reports on the good and the bad in multinational tax dodging land.
The Business of Covid: Gladys Berejiklian hides “the health advice” as pandemic threatens Sydney
Despite continual claims she acted on health advice, despite continual pleas to the NSW public to follow the health advice, Premier Gladys Berejiklian let slip that advice from business played a part in her handling of the pandemic and the Sydney lockdown. What is the health advice? Callum Foote and Michael West investigate.
Power to go to war rests with one man – Scott Morrison – is Parliament okay with that?
Australia is a democracy, yet when it comes to the most critical national decision of sending Australian troops into armed conflict overseas, the power rests with one man, the Prime Minister. This is the curtain-raiser for our #warpowers series as reporter Tasha May calls around Australia’s parliamentarians and its people.
Jobactive fails jobless while privatised job agencies revel in a record pandemic profit boom
Large job agencies who dominate Australia’s privatised employment system are enjoying a boom of record profits, and even a takeover spree, while their disillusioned job seekers complain of churning and profiteering. Meanwhile, those in government on both sides of the political aisle are calling for reform. In this special investigation, Stephanie Tran reports on the failure of Jobactive.
Carbon Bomb Beetaloo: world goes net zero, yet Coalition steps on the gas, Labor nods
Tracts the size of Bulgaria open for oil and gas exploration, along with generous government subsidies for foreign oil companies. Just as the world is tackling climate change, Australia is accelerating its fossil fuel production, and in almost every state and territory. Callum Foote investigates the bizarre hand-outs for a foreign hedge fund drilling for gas and the carve up of the NT’s Beetaloo Basin.
“Worse than burning coal”: Hunter Energy powers on bid to burn wood
Burning wood for biomass energy is on the rise as an alternative to coal. But it is even dirtier than coal and is leading to alarming levels of deforestation. Elizabeth Minter, Tom Ferrier and Jane McIntyre report.
Kalbar’s exotic minerals mine a huge risk to Victoria’s food bowl
A hearing into the Environment Effects Statement for Kalbar’s mineral sands project on rich Victorian farmland has been told about competition for billions of litres of water, high levels of uranium, untested technologies and a strange backflip by the project’s “independent experts”. Elizabeth Minter investigates.
Vultures’ Reprise: MacBankers bob up in takeover battle for hapless Sydney Airport
Like the muddy hand from the grave, Macquarie is suddenly circling Sydney Airport again. Michael West reports on the ultimate circus of privatisation, where Macquarie pillaged the most prized asset in Australia, the unregulated monopoly which is this country’s gateway to the world, and is shaping up to do it again.
Hayne gets last laugh as “Your Future Your Super” laws deliver for small punters over big bank pals
The new “Your Future, Your Super” legislation avoided the most egregious of changes proposed by the LNP Government. YFYS will simplify and streamline the $3 trillion super system, fix “zombie accounts” and spark fund takeovers, writes Harry Chemay. The changes go some way to addressing a key question posed during the Hayne Royal Commission: “what do trustees do in the dark with our super?”
Coalition protects wealthy retirees’ investments under cover of Covid-19 pandemic
The Coalition moved to protect the superannuation of Australia’s wealthiest retirees at the same time it was encouraging the nation’s poorest to raid their retirement accounts. And they continue to protect the wealthiest even though the Australian share market is back at record highs. Elizabeth Minter reports.
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