Australia’s carbon-belching future is surely being sealed by the Coalition with the acquiescence of Labor. As the world turns from coal, gas is almost as toxic for the climate. Callum Foote reports on Labor’s capture by the gas lobby capture while Angus Taylor appoints Macquarie’s Shemara Wikramanayake and former Origin chief Grant King to advise on his Energy Roadmap even though they are smack-bang in the middle of a billion-dollar gas deal.
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Elite private schools join charities for children and the disabled in donating to Gladys Berejiklian
Several charities and Sydney’s elite private schools have been donating thousands of dollars to the NSW Liberal party over the past three years in the form of buying tickets to expensive dinners to gain access to Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Callum Foote reports.
Feeding the Chooks: Scott Morrison’s marketing triumph over mainstream media
Scott Morrison has perfected the art of media manipulation by briefing a select club of Canberra correspondents on the same day, rather than leaking to individual media outlets. Callum Foote and Michael West report on the marketing genius of the Prime Minister and the increasingly meek mainstream media.
Snow Job: why the cover-up over Snowy Hydro 2.0?
The National Parks Association of NSW and ex-Energy Australia chair Ted Woodley are considering a legal challenge to the $10 billion Snowy 2.0, which they say will push back the transition to renewable energy and destroy thousands of hectares of national park, in light of the fact that the whole project hinges on a 30-year-old report. which is being kept secret writes Callum Foote.
Closing the Gap: how a captive media failed to question Scott Morrison on defunding
Only one member of the Australian media questioned Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s narrative about the “innocent” failure of Kevin Rudd’s Closing the Gap scheme. This failure of accountability from all major Australian media outlets skirts over the $1 billion in funding cut from Indigenous services. Callum Foote lays down the real numbers in this investigation of yet another instance of media succumbing to Government public relations narratives.
Pandemic ‘a smokescreen’ to ram through controversial mining projects like Santos gas in Narrabri
The independent hearings into one of the most controversial projects in NSW history, Santos’ coal seam gas dream for Narrabri, are wrapping up. Meanwhile, new NSW guidelines to fast-track developments look set to turn into a nightmare for community groups, writes Callum Foote.
Australia’s super funds pay up to 33% less tax than advertised
The tax paid by superannuation funds on their earnings is often less than 10%, much lower than the headline rate of 15%, according to research by the University of Technology Sydney. And in an industry worth $2.7 trillion, this means a huge difference in the tax take for government. Callum Foote reports.
Big Eight university vice-chancellors, overpaid and under-prepped, cut jobs
Australia’s university vice-chancellors last year spent many hundreds of millions of dollars on “professional services”. Now that the over-reliance on overseas student has exposed the university sector and put thousands of academic jobs at risk
Environment Minister approves Whitehaven’s tenth coal mine
The state’s 52nd coal mine, and the first since Covid, has been approved by the Minister for the Environment in NSW amid plunging coal prices and huge local opposition. The fate of Whitehaven’s Vickery mine, and its impact on farmers around Narrabri, now lies in the hands of the NSW’s independent planning commissioners
University of Wollongong ‘six weeks away’ from disaster unless staff accept large pay cuts, job losses
University of Wollongong scademics are arguing they shouldn’t have to bear the brunt of poor decisions by executives whose pay has risen by 50% in 10 years.
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Tamed estate: Scott Morrison, the master magician
Prime Minister Scott Morrison swung the spotlight away from the mounting evidence of the misuse of taxpayer funds and on to AusPost’s CEO Christine Holgate. The media was only too happy to oblige. Michael Tanner reports.
Yes, Minister: aged care, it’s not my fault
Ministerial responsibility is dead. With the refusal of Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck to accept responsibility for the deaths of 683 residents in aged care homes who died from Covid-19, so too dies accountable government in Australia. Dr Sarah Russell reports.
Coal Deal in Distress: desperate Dalrymple’s dodgy debt dump
Brookfield’s make-up artists are hard at work. They’ve taken “coal” out of the title, hired every broker in town to flog the thing and, in the most telling move, are rushing to get the deal done before the end of the year. Michael West reports on the ASX float of Dalrymple Bay Infrastructure, which looks set to siphon off Aussie cash to an offshore haven, with yield-hungry retirees paying the price.
The Coonan Conundrum: PR role puts Crown chairwoman in a morass of conflicts
Crown chair Helen Coonan is chair of a PR firm whose clients have been involved in questionable financial transactions including money-laundering and stumping for shady sharemarket promoters and mortgage brokers fighting commission bans. Her PR role is in conflict with her position as chair of financial complaints ombudsman AFCA
Another Australian miner sues another poor country, this time Barrick’s Porgera in PNG
Investor State Dispute Settlement processes in trade agreements hit the headlines when US multinational Philip Morris tried to sue Australia over its tobacco plain packaging laws. Australian mining companies are increasingly using ISDS processes and are being awarded billions based on dubious calculations of potential lost profits by unaccountable international tribunals. Patricia Ranald reports.
