Uber Xploitation: Uber’s secret settlement presages a wave of lawsuits
The Government’s fetish for deregulation play right into the hands of predatory multinationals Uber and Deliveroo which exploit both Australia’s tax and labour laws to siphon profits overseas. Michael West and Callum Foote report on Uber’s exploitation and the prospective tsunami of lawsuits rolling its way.
Internet’s founder, US officials slap down News and Nine’s crusade on Google
Is Government intervention viable, or just a favour for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Peter Costello’s Nine Entertainment? Opposition is growing both locally and globally to media laws introduced by the Coalition Government requiring tech giants Google and Facebook to pay for displaying news content. Kim Wingerei delves into the numbers.
Hospital Pass: how Scott Morrison foisted quarantine responsibility on the states
Like aged care, quarantine is the responsibility of the federal government. Yet the Morrison government forced that role onto the states and territories, and deployed a submissive media to snipe from the sidelines.
Lobbyland: ten lobbyists for every MP has democracy on life support
The resources industry donated $136.8 million over two decades to Australian political parties. Donations buy a lot of influence, with research showing that for every US$1 spent, the return on investment can be as high as US$220. In return, public policy is moulded to suit the interests of the highest corporate bidders and their lobbyists. Adam Lucas investigates.
Tamed Estate: media kicks off 2021 copying and pasting government “drops”
Spruiking the Coalition’s 2020 tax cuts; Australians’ ‘$200 billion’ war chest; Google’s experiments; free speech; and even a Liberal Party self-congratulatory piece on the NBN. Michael Tanner checks out the past week in the mainstream media.
Australia’s environmental scientists intimidated, silenced by threats of job loss
The silencing of environmental scientists, as revealed in a study late last year, is profoundly damaging to our democracy, wastes taxpayers’ money, takes a huge personal toll, allows fake news to proliferate and short-changes the public. Elizabeth Minter 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.
Investigation: how political donations protect a cosy loophole for Australia’s plutocrats
“Political donations buy access to parliamentarians, they buy policy outcomes, and they buy a post-parliament career with the revolving door between politics and business”. Stephanie Tran and Michael West investigate the dark money which flows from Australia’s old-wealth family empires to the major political parties.
Inside Australia’s Secret Rich List
Have Australia’s wealthiest old families bought off the political process? Despite myriad attempts over the years to repeal the cosy “grandfathering” exemption, the billionaires are still permitted – like no other Australians – to keep their companies “dark”. Today Michael West Media unveils the first in a series of investigations by Luke Stacy and Stephanie Tran involving more than 5,000 corporate searches to find the people and the labyrinthine structures behind the Secret Rich List. Luke Stacey and Michael West report.
Uber Xploitation: Uber’s secret settlement presages a wave of lawsuits
The Government’s fetish for deregulation play right into the hands of predatory multinationals Uber and Deliveroo which exploit both Australia’s tax and labour laws to siphon profits overseas. Michael West and Callum Foote report on Uber’s exploitation and the prospective tsunami of lawsuits rolling its way.
Featured Stories
Internet’s founder, US officials slap down News and Nine’s crusade on Google
Is Government intervention viable, or just a favour for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Peter Costello’s Nine Entertainment? Opposition is growing both locally and globally to media laws introduced by the Coalition Government requiring tech giants Google and Facebook to pay for displaying news content. Kim Wingerei delves into the numbers.
Hospital Pass: how Scott Morrison foisted quarantine responsibility on the states
Like aged care, quarantine is the responsibility of the federal government. Yet the Morrison government forced that role onto the states and territories, and deployed a submissive media to snipe from the sidelines.
Lobbyland: ten lobbyists for every MP has democracy on life support
The resources industry donated $136.8 million over two decades to Australian political parties. Donations buy a lot of influence, with research showing that for every US$1 spent, the return on investment can be as high as US$220. In return, public policy is moulded to suit the interests of the highest corporate bidders and their lobbyists. Adam Lucas investigates.
Tamed Estate: media kicks off 2021 copying and pasting government “drops”
Spruiking the Coalition’s 2020 tax cuts; Australians’ ‘$200 billion’ war chest; Google’s experiments; free speech; and even a Liberal Party self-congratulatory piece on the NBN. Michael Tanner checks out the past week in the mainstream media.
Australia’s environmental scientists intimidated, silenced by threats of job loss
The silencing of environmental scientists, as revealed in a study late last year, is profoundly damaging to our democracy, wastes taxpayers’ money, takes a huge personal toll, allows fake news to proliferate and short-changes the public. Elizabeth Minter reports.
Republicans Discover Dangerous New ‘Covid-19’ Virus Sweeping America
Republican Party leaders say they have become aware of a deadly new virus called ‘COVID-19’ which has been devastating America since Wednesday. Outraged GOP lawmakers said the virus was getting out of control, and blamed the Biden administration for doing nothing to...
Rambling, Deranged Florida Man Claiming To Be President Of United States
A Florida man, believed to be in his 70s, has been telling passers by that he is the leader of the free world. As authorities were called to the scene, witnesses say the man was erratic and anxious, at one point claiming he had been robbed. “He kept saying ‘They stole...
‘Let’s Not Politicise Cricket’ Says Man Who Literally Fucking Politicises Cricket
“Cricket and politics don’t mix,” says a politician who ‘filled in’ as an overweight water boy during a limited overs match in order to increase his everyman appeal amongst 35-65 year-old male voters living in suburban Sydney and Brisbane. Responding to Cricket...
Stuff made up by The Shovel
Tax Haven Weather
Pearls & Irritations
Let the JobKeeper rorts roll
Where do we start when considering the $100 billion JobKeeper scheme? Should we focus on the opaque nature of the scheme in which less than 3% of JobKeeper payments have been disclosed in public...
CIA, the USA and a poor night’s sleep for the world
Joe Biden’s appointment of William Burns as CIA director shows how the US, of whatever stripe, views the world. It sees things in absolute black and white. Peace and security can only be...
Australia’s political talent pool more like a puddle
Once upon a time in Australia, the best and the brightest presented themselves for election. Now, it seems, Cabinet ministers are chosen on the basis of loyalty to whoever is sitting in the prime...
Pandemic deaths have numbed our humanity and perception of risk
On one terrible day in December, Covid-19 deaths in the US for the first time exceeded the death toll from the World Trade Centre terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. To make people care we need...
Chocolate: still tainted by child labour
What is your New Year resolution? To get fitter and eat less sugar, including chocolate? There’s plenty of other reasons to re-think our love affair with chocolate. It will come as a surprise...
Courtesy of John Menadue.
Tax Haven Weather
Internet’s founder, US officials slap down News and Nine’s crusade on Google
Is Government intervention viable, or just a favour for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Peter Costello’s Nine Entertainment? Opposition is growing both locally and globally to media laws introduced by the Coalition Government requiring tech giants Google and Facebook to pay for displaying news content. Kim Wingerei delves into the numbers.
Grand Prix, Supercars 500: public pain, private gain
While governments continue to spruik the supposed economic benefits of urban car racing events such as the Grand Prix and Supercars 500, the lack of transparency simply highlights an endemic culture of cronyism. Christine Everingham and Patricia Johnson investigate.
Lobbyland: ten lobbyists for every MP has democracy on life support
The resources industry donated $136.8 million over two decades to Australian political parties. Donations buy a lot of influence, with research showing that for every US$1 spent, the return on investment can be as high as US$220. In return, public policy is moulded to suit the interests of the highest corporate bidders and their lobbyists. Adam Lucas investigates.
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.
Confession time for Lendlease as Tax Office bears down on humungous tax rort
Nine Entertainment chief Hugh Marks dumped for having sex, Christine Holgate chopped at Australia Post over $20,000 in bonuses. Meanwhile, the top brass at Lendlease, having presided over a $500 million tax scam, nonchalantly say they are “continuing to engage with the ATO and await the finalisation of its draft determination”. Michael West reports.
Responsible Lending? Coalition’s left hand not sure what its right hand is doing
The government is pushing hard to get rid of responsible lending obligations, but it doesn’t seem to realise that removing these obligations will pull the rug out from one of its signature pieces of legislation that Scott Morrison championed when he was treasurer – mandatory comprehensive credit reporting. Elizabeth Minter reports.
Third Wave: Australia close to world’s best as Covid-19 numbers soar globally
Donald Trump aside, deaths in the US continue to soar from Covid-19, with a reported 383,000, and 23 million infections. Europe has also reported huge rises in the final month of 2020, while the numbers in African countries rose sharply too. Alan Austin takes a look at the latest pandemic wave.
In too deep: when Gladys’ and John’s rorts go wrong
Gladys Berejiklian’s defence of pork barrelling will hardly enthuse ratepayers in Batemans Bay, or taxpayers for that matter. The local government debacle over a Leisure Centre, which got the tick from Deputy Premier John Barilaro in dubious circumstances is the quintessential object lesson in why governments should do their homework before they start throwing money around for political reasons. Elizabeth Minter reports.
Not Just Careless: Australian weapons part turns up on Armenian battlefield
How did an Australian-made transponder, a key part of drone technology, end up in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan where human rights abuses are prolific? Michelle Fahy investigates the murky trail of the drone bit and the cagey response of the Defence establishment from DFAT to DoD to Minister Marise Payne.
Zero Attribution: Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology keeps silent on climate science
Meteorological services around the world have embraced climate attribution science, which ascertains the effect of climate change on extreme weather events. Not so Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, which is remarkably coy about its work in this field. Sandi Keane and Tasha May report.
Fracking Madness: “hottest play on the planet” or giant sinkhole for public money?
“The hottest play on the planet,” Keith Pitt calls it. Resources Minister Pitt and his government are keen to open up the Northern Territory to gas fracking but, if the NT’s Beetaloo Basin is so “hot” for investors, then why do they need public money to drill it? Even more bizarrely, the industry has made it clear that it does not want public subsidies but Pitt and Co appear determined to throw public money at the gas companies anyway. Callum Foote and Michael West report on another extraordinary case of corporate welfare, environmental destruction and the political donors and large US hedge funds who we are all subsidising.
The Pitts: Government gifts Woodside $130 million Christmas present
While most Australians were settling into holiday mode last week, the Government gifted another $130 million Christmas present to Woodside to help the oil and gas titan clean up its own mess. Callum Foote and Michael West report on the latest instalment of the Northern Endeavour debacle – a sneaky slug to taxpayers.
Labor backflip puts Coles and Woolies profits before indigenous health
The Northern Territory government has caved in to liquor lobby pressure and imperilled the health of First Nations People by approving a Dan Murphy’s Darwin mega-store for Woolworths and lifting the licence cap for Coles. The community will pay the price with their health, write Professor Lesley Russell and Dr Jeff McMullen. Will this be Woolworths’ Juukan Gorge moment?
Covid-19: sacrificing lives does not mean saving the economy
A study of 45 countries shows those who have contained the virus also tend to have less severe economic impacts than those which haven’t. Saving the economy does not mean sacrificing lives, writes Michael Smithson. Containing Covid versus saving the economy is a false dichotomy.
Balancing Act: Qantas reaps $1bn from taxpayers, but jobs, flights, fares all up in the air
Charging exorbitant prices for travellers stranded overseas while raking in record government subsidies. Qantas and Virgin are the quintessential cases of “privatise the profits, socialise the losses”. Tasha May.looks at the airlines’ fine balancing act in corporate socialism during the pandemic.
Internet’s founder, US officials slap down News and Nine’s crusade on Google
Is Government intervention viable, or just a favour for Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp and Peter Costello’s Nine Entertainment? Opposition is growing both locally and globally to media laws introduced by the Coalition Government requiring tech giants Google and Facebook to pay for displaying news content. Kim Wingerei delves into the numbers.
Grand Prix, Supercars 500: public pain, private gain
While governments continue to spruik the supposed economic benefits of urban car racing events such as the Grand Prix and Supercars 500, the lack of transparency simply highlights an endemic culture of cronyism. Christine Everingham and Patricia Johnson investigate.
Lobbyland: ten lobbyists for every MP has democracy on life support
The resources industry donated $136.8 million over two decades to Australian political parties. Donations buy a lot of influence, with research showing that for every US$1 spent, the return on investment can be as high as US$220. In return, public policy is moulded to suit the interests of the highest corporate bidders and their lobbyists. Adam Lucas investigates.
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.
Confession time for Lendlease as Tax Office bears down on humungous tax rort
Nine Entertainment chief Hugh Marks dumped for having sex, Christine Holgate chopped at Australia Post over $20,000 in bonuses. Meanwhile, the top brass at Lendlease, having presided over a $500 million tax scam, nonchalantly say they are “continuing to engage with the ATO and await the finalisation of its draft determination”. Michael West reports.
Responsible Lending? Coalition’s left hand not sure what its right hand is doing
The government is pushing hard to get rid of responsible lending obligations, but it doesn’t seem to realise that removing these obligations will pull the rug out from one of its signature pieces of legislation that Scott Morrison championed when he was treasurer – mandatory comprehensive credit reporting. Elizabeth Minter reports.
Third Wave: Australia close to world’s best as Covid-19 numbers soar globally
Donald Trump aside, deaths in the US continue to soar from Covid-19, with a reported 383,000, and 23 million infections. Europe has also reported huge rises in the final month of 2020, while the numbers in African countries rose sharply too. Alan Austin takes a look at the latest pandemic wave.
In too deep: when Gladys’ and John’s rorts go wrong
Gladys Berejiklian’s defence of pork barrelling will hardly enthuse ratepayers in Batemans Bay, or taxpayers for that matter. The local government debacle over a Leisure Centre, which got the tick from Deputy Premier John Barilaro in dubious circumstances is the quintessential object lesson in why governments should do their homework before they start throwing money around for political reasons. Elizabeth Minter reports.
Not Just Careless: Australian weapons part turns up on Armenian battlefield
How did an Australian-made transponder, a key part of drone technology, end up in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan where human rights abuses are prolific? Michelle Fahy investigates the murky trail of the drone bit and the cagey response of the Defence establishment from DFAT to DoD to Minister Marise Payne.
Zero Attribution: Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology keeps silent on climate science
Meteorological services around the world have embraced climate attribution science, which ascertains the effect of climate change on extreme weather events. Not so Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, which is remarkably coy about its work in this field. Sandi Keane and Tasha May report.
Fracking Madness: “hottest play on the planet” or giant sinkhole for public money?
“The hottest play on the planet,” Keith Pitt calls it. Resources Minister Pitt and his government are keen to open up the Northern Territory to gas fracking but, if the NT’s Beetaloo Basin is so “hot” for investors, then why do they need public money to drill it? Even more bizarrely, the industry has made it clear that it does not want public subsidies but Pitt and Co appear determined to throw public money at the gas companies anyway. Callum Foote and Michael West report on another extraordinary case of corporate welfare, environmental destruction and the political donors and large US hedge funds who we are all subsidising.
The Pitts: Government gifts Woodside $130 million Christmas present
While most Australians were settling into holiday mode last week, the Government gifted another $130 million Christmas present to Woodside to help the oil and gas titan clean up its own mess. Callum Foote and Michael West report on the latest instalment of the Northern Endeavour debacle – a sneaky slug to taxpayers.
Labor backflip puts Coles and Woolies profits before indigenous health
The Northern Territory government has caved in to liquor lobby pressure and imperilled the health of First Nations People by approving a Dan Murphy’s Darwin mega-store for Woolworths and lifting the licence cap for Coles. The community will pay the price with their health, write Professor Lesley Russell and Dr Jeff McMullen. Will this be Woolworths’ Juukan Gorge moment?
Covid-19: sacrificing lives does not mean saving the economy
A study of 45 countries shows those who have contained the virus also tend to have less severe economic impacts than those which haven’t. Saving the economy does not mean sacrificing lives, writes Michael Smithson. Containing Covid versus saving the economy is a false dichotomy.
Balancing Act: Qantas reaps $1bn from taxpayers, but jobs, flights, fares all up in the air
Charging exorbitant prices for travellers stranded overseas while raking in record government subsidies. Qantas and Virgin are the quintessential cases of “privatise the profits, socialise the losses”. Tasha May.looks at the airlines’ fine balancing act in corporate socialism during the pandemic.
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