TrueNorth (2024)

29/04/2024

Dutton is now releasing more details on the opposition’s “coal to nuclear” power plans, which he argues can deliver cheaper electricity and new jobs in regions where ageing coal generators will be forced to close. So far, the plans bear a striking resemblance to a policy Trevor St Baker and SMR Nuclear Technology have been advocating for several years, in evidence and submissions to federal and state parliamentary committees, in think tanks and in energy forums.

More in The Monthly > https://loom.ly/naRjxIo

The conservative charity group figures driving the opposition leader’s pivot to nuclear energy

29/04/2024

There was much fanfare in late 2018 when Australia passed world-leading legislation to help law enforcement and spy agencies break encryption.

As communications increasingly moved into platforms that are end-to-end encrypted, including Signal, WhatsApp and Meta’s other apps including Messenger, authorities were losing track of criminals and spies who were “going dark”.

Paul Karp for The Guardian > https://loom.ly/knnrgrU

Nearly six years after law enforcement agencies gained the power to compel social media companies to hand over data, our world-leading legislation appears practically useless

29/04/2024

Strange but true. A reporter from the state-owned broadcaster in Australia was booted out by India, purportedly the biggest democracy in the world, and the Murdoch media in Australia has ignored it in toto.

The fact that the ABC’s Avani Dias had been forced to leave the subcontinent was reported in The Age, a newspaper that belongs to Nine Entertainment, on April 23. Dias is of Sri Lankan origin.

She was denied a visa after her program Sikhs, Spies and Murder: Investigating India’s alleged hit on foreign soil was aired on the ABC ‘s weekly Foreign Correspondent slot on March 21.

More in Pearls & Irritations > https://loom.ly/A3QqssY

A reporter from the state-owned broadcaster in Australia was booted out by India, and the Murdoch media in Australia has ignored it in toto.

29/04/2024

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s ‘Made in Australia’ policy could be bad, good or great for Australia, depending on how it is implemented.

Rex Patrick looks at the great model for Michael West Media > https://loom.ly/rJD5330

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s ‘Made in Australia’ policy could be bad, good or great for Australia, depending on how it is implemented. Rex Patrick looks at the great model.

29/04/2024

A landmark legal settlement has once again focused our attention on the dangers of “forever chemicals”.

This class of chemicals, technically known as per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are widely used to make nonstick or waterproof products. The problem is, the chemicals move easily around the environment, pollute groundwater and rivers, are often carcinogenic – and they don’t degrade.

More in The Conversation > https://loom.ly/cRleef0

In Australia, the taxpayer has footed the bill for the forever chemical clean-up so far. But this will have to change.

29/04/2024

I suppose we should be grateful the Reserve Bank doesn’t pay much attention to the monthly inflation data, only the quarterly, so our emotions don’t get je**ed around every four weeks, just every three months.

But most of all we should be grateful to them for not blindly following other central banks and hard-line economists to a 5 per cent policy rate. Instead, they held back, trying to keep the misery to a minimum while still getting inflation down.

Alan Kohler for The New Daily > https://loom.ly/mNYTkP4

We should be grateful the RBA doesn’t pay attention to monthly inflation data, so our emotions don’t get je**ed around every four weeks.

29/04/2024

Wealthy private schools are receiving a government assistance payment for students with disabilities up to six times higher than that received in the public system.

A Guardian Australia investigation has uncovered a vast disparity in the funding flowing to high-needs students, as mainstream schools struggle to support the one million students in Australia now reporting a disability.

More in The Guardian > https://loom.ly/-qKasTc

Exclusive: New data shows children with disabilities at wealthy fee-paying schools are receiving up to six times the government support funding as those at public schools

28/04/2024

Inspired by anti-fascist organizing in the 1940s, a group of progressive Jewish activists have formed the Jewish Council of Australia. Its goal is to challenge the hegemony of right-wing, Zionist groups that claim to speak for all Jewish Australians.

More in The Jacobin > https://loom.ly/4va7GcE

Inspired by anti-fascist organizing in the 1940s, a group of progressive Jewish activists have formed the Jewish Council of Australia. Its goal is to challenge the hegemony of right-wing, Zionist groups that claim to speak for all Jewish Australians.

28/04/2024

Almost every first-term government gets a second chance, but could the current Labor government be an exception? With so many voters feeling the cost-of-living crisis, and the government facing a slump in the polls, evidence is starting to pile up that Labor will struggle to retain majority government.

Listen to the 7am Podcast > https://loom.ly/8r6y6kA

Almost every first-term government gets a second chance, but could the current Labor government be an exception? With so many voters feeling the cost-of-living crisis, and the government facing a slump in the polls, evidence is starting to pile up that Labor will struggle to retain majority governme...

26/04/2024

Australia’s immigration patterns and demographics have undergone a huge change across the previous decades, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Australia had an estimated population of just over 26.6 million people as of June 30, 2023, with 8.2 million of those born overseas.

Parker McKenzie for The New Daily > https://loom.ly/BrO_ZKI

Australia's immigration patterns and population have undergone a huge change across the previous decades, new data has revealed.

26/04/2024

Australia’s inflation rate has fallen for the fifth successive quarter, and it’s now less than half of what it was back in late 2022.

The annual rate peaked at 7.8% in the December quarter of 2022 and is now just 3.6%, in the March quarter figures released on Wednesday, leaving it within spitting distance of the Reserve Bank’s 2–3% target.

More in The Conversation > https://loom.ly/jHXrEhU

Australia’s inflation rate has halved, but it’s falling more slowly than it was, and previous high inflation is set to push up student debt.

26/04/2024

An internal report that Defence tried to keep secret highlights the high risks involved in growing a civilian workforce to maintain naval nuclear reactors for AUKUS submarines.

Defence has surrounded the AUKUS submarine project with a blanket of secrecy – everything’s Top Secret so far as they are concerned.

Rex Patrick reports for Michael West Media > https://loom.ly/MWjVSpw

A no longer secret Defence report highlights the high risks involved for civilian workforce to maintain nuclear reactors for AUKUS submarines

26/04/2024

The United Nations’ human rights chief on Tuesday called for an international investigation into mass graves discovered at two Gaza hospitals that Israeli forces recently assailed and destroyed, further imperilling the enclave’s barely functioning healthcare system.

“Hospitals are entitled to very special protection under international humanitarian law,” said Volker Türk, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights.

More in Pearls & Irritations > https://loom.ly/hpoFLKQ

The UNs' human rights chief on Tuesday called for an international investigation into mass graves discovered at two Gaza hospitals.

26/04/2024

Renewable energy developers are following tracks laid by the gas industry in the Western Downs – but they’re also making the same mistakes.

The renewable energy industry lacks regulation and transparency, independent oversight and relies on the goodwill of project developers to build social licence in communities.

Larger companies may invest in a community to help build social licence to operate, but not all developers take that time.

Aston Brown for The Guardian > https://loom.ly/6dM4Y7o

Renewable energy developers are following tracks laid by the gas industry in the Western Downs – but they’re also making the same mistakes

25/04/2024

When Australia’s eSafety commissioner issued takedown orders to some of the world’s biggest tech companies at the beginning of this week, the commissioner probably didn’t realise it would put us on the frontline of a global battle over the internet. The orders were aimed at removing the kind of footage social media companies have agreed to remove in the past – but today things are very different, in large part because of Elon Musk.

Paul Bongiorno for the 7am Podcast > https://loom.ly/GKRPKCw

When Australia’s eSafety commissioner issued takedown orders to some of the world’s biggest tech companies at the beginning of this week, the commissioner probably didn’t realise it would put us on the frontline of a global battle over the internet. The orders were aimed at removing the kind o...

25/04/2024

Another Anzac Day.

Just as it has been for the last 11 decades, many emotions will resonate – reverence, respect and remembrance.

Rage.

I submit that, all these years on, one emotion is painfully missing, and it is time it was aired, at least once.

Rage, at so many of our Diggers so needlessly slaughtered on insane battle plans that never had any chance of succeeding.

Rage, at the complete lack of remorse from those who sent them to their deaths.

Rage, at the generals’ refusal to learn from previous catastrophes to prevent the next one.

Peter Fitzsimons for The SMH > https://loom.ly/cETXjqw

Eleven decades on from the horrors of Gallipoli, I am yet to see a thunderous piece of writing saying what needs to be said.

24/04/2024

Do Australian courts have the right to decide what foreign citizens, located overseas, view online on a foreign-owned platform?

Anyone inclined to answer “yes” to this question should perhaps also ask themselves whether they are equally happy for courts in China, Russia and Iran to determine what Australians can see and post online in Australia.

More in The Conversation > https://loom.ly/pKF5WbQ

Using Australian laws to force a foreign-owned platform to take down content globally sets a risky precedent – should we allow all countries to impose their laws on the internet?

24/04/2024

Tragic. Harrowing. Unforgivable. These are some of the strongest words to describe the devastating su***de of a 10-year-old Aboriginal boy in Western Australia last week. But despite their potency, they still fall short.

The parents of this little boy have spoken of a grief that cannot be described. They have spoken about the eight-month wait to hold their miracle. How his Christmas presents patiently await his return. They have reflected on his intelligence and infectious presence. And how, despite their best efforts, their reunification was at a morgue.

More in Crikey > https://loom.ly/71fzUzY

No words can express the devastating su***de of a 10-year-old Aboriginal boy held in the custody of the state and denied the care of his family.

24/04/2024

Women are not safe in their own homes, whether that home is an apartment, house or farm. And regardless of whether that home is in Forbes in regional NSW, or Bribbaree in rural NSW, or Glenorchy in Tasmania, or in or just outside of Ballarat in Victoria, or suburban Perth, or Morayfield near Brisbane or Kununurra near Darwin, or in any major city. Women are unsafe in their own homes even after a former violent partner has been charged with violent crimes against them.

But then women are not safe outside of their home either.

Women are not safe going for a Sunday morning run, or while visiting shopping mall on a Saturday afternoon, or when taking a child to their regular martial arts studio, or in the car park of their local shopping village after picking up groceries.

Angela Priestley for Women's Agenda > https://loom.ly/gm0wqzQ

Women are not safe in Australia. Not in our homes, or while out for a run or picking up groceries. And not after taking out an ADVO on an alleged offender.

24/04/2024

National leader David Littleproud has reportedly threatened to tear up contracts for wind and solar farm developments, in the latest broadside against large scale renewable energy from the federal Coalition.

The remarks – reported by the Newcastle Herald – were made in a press conference last week in Newcastle, when Littleproud was campaigning against offshore wind projects and outlining the Coalition’s hope that it could build a nuclear power plant in the upper Hunter Valley.

More in Renew Economy > https://loom.ly/AmQG_5s

Updated: Nationals threaten to tear up wind and solar contracts as the push against renewables and for nuclear power gains traction in polls.

24/04/2024

An important principle was invoked by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last week in defence of the government’s Future Made in Australia industry policy announcement.

“There is a role for government sometimes in just providing […] support to get over the hump”, Albanese said, for otherwise sustainable companies facing rough patches in the quest to diversify Australia’s manufacturing base.

That same principle underpins the HomeKeeper program I proposed in The Conversation last year. The idea is to help mortgage-stressed owner-occupiers avoid losing their home.

Professor Chris Wallace for The Conversation > https://loom.ly/nTfK5-g

Next month’s budget is an opportunity for the government to move beyond its ‘I feel your pain’ rhetoric to a HomeKeeper-style policy for this particular group of temporarily squeezed Australians.

24/04/2024

Peter Dutton, Coalition media and the security apparatus ramp up efforts to censor the internet.

Self-described as “Australia’s top security research institute” ASPI has managed to eke out one report on Gaza since the Hamas attacks of October 7 while churning out 50 reports on China. On that metric alone, ASPI’s raison d’etre is clear but that has not stopped the think tank from parading itself as “Australia’s top security research institute”.

Michael West checks in on anti-China think tank, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute > https://loom.ly/Vi8rttc

As Peter Dutton, Coalition media and the security apparatus ramp up efforts to censor the internet, Michael West checks in on anti-China think tank, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute.

24/04/2024

The Coalition leader, Peter Dutton, has been trying to paint a picture of what life in Australia will be like if it tries to power itself mostly with renewable energy and without his technology of choice: nuclear.

Dutton’s dystopian image, with more brushstrokes added in an interview on the ABC’s flagship Insiders program, is a picture of inconsistencies, partial truths and misinformation.

Graham Readfearn for The Guardian > https://loom.ly/E4YuOto

The dystopian picture of renewables painted by the opposition leader is full of inconsistencies, partial truths and misinformation

24/04/2024

One wonders how the Australian mainstream media will react to the news that India, the so-called biggest democracy in the world, has thrown out ABC correspondent Avani Dias from the country.

Dias was denied a visa after her program Sikhs, Spies and Murder: Investigating India’s alleged hit on foreign soil was aired on the ABC ‘s weekly Foreign Correspondent slot.

More in Pearls & Irritations > https://loom.ly/N-ihpWU

One wonders what MSM will now call Narendra Modi, the Hindu fundamentalist leader of India, often lauded as a great champion of democracy.

23/04/2024

The tide – or maybe call it “the vibe” – is running in the direction of the Albanese government being pushed into changing its timid stance on negative gearing.

Just as the eventual change to the stage-three tax cuts arrived on a rising tide of advice/calls/recommendations/studies that helped push the government to make the no-brainer adjustments to the cuts’ targeting, there is a similar surge under way to alter our treatment of negative gearing.

Michael Pascoe for The New Daily > https://loom.ly/POcTarQ

The tide – or call it “the vibe” – is running in the direction of the Albanese government changing its timid stance on negative gearing.

23/04/2024

Mainstream media’s role in influencing public perception and justice can sometimes cross ethical boundaries, as evidenced by actions such as Seven West Media’s payment for sensational stories—in the case of Lehrmann, this also involved supply of drugs and s*x workers. Such practices not only compromise journalistic integrity but also raise questions about the accountability mechanisms currently in place to govern media conduct.

More in New Politics > https://loom.ly/SzK5HCU

There is an urgent need to reform media practices and defamation law in Australia but is there a political will to achieve this?

23/04/2024

Multiple sources have told Capital Brief that legal advice provided to the government has raised concerns about the constitutionality of the sports program. This puts the legality of a number of current programs — such as Investing in Our Communities and Priority Community Infrastructure — into question. Existing programs are one headache. But it’s a big challenge, too, for any additional grants Labor wants to give out heading into the election.

More in Capital Brief > https://loom.ly/ibjEdKU

The Albanese government is sitting on legal advice that raises concerns about the constitutionality of Commonwealth grant programs following the ‘sports rorts’ affair — and it refuses to talk about it.

23/04/2024

Record output of renewable energy, and solar in particular, pushed prices down across Australia in the first quarter, with the exception of the country’s most coal dependent grid.

The only state to buck the trend was Queensland, which remains the most heavily dependent on coal generation and with the smallest share of renewables

More in Renew Economy > https://loom.ly/Qyk4AXo

Record output of renewable energy pushed prices down across the main grid in the first quarter, with the exception of the most coal dependent state grid.

23/04/2024

The Australian public has bought a big-long gas pipeline from foreign tax cheats – but there’s no gas. It’s a white elephant! Jemena and sleepy regulators AEMC are the culprits. Energy consumers and taxpayers the victims.

Michael West reports > https://loom.ly/2uFtE7Q

The Australian public has bought a gas pipeline from foreign tax cheats - but there's no gas. Jemena and sleepy regulators AEMC are the culprits. Energy consumers and taxpayers the victims.

TrueNorth

29/04/2024

29/04/2024

29/04/2024

29/04/2024

29/04/2024

29/04/2024

29/04/2024

28/04/2024

28/04/2024

26/04/2024

26/04/2024

26/04/2024

26/04/2024

26/04/2024

25/04/2024

25/04/2024

24/04/2024

24/04/2024

24/04/2024

24/04/2024

24/04/2024

24/04/2024

24/04/2024

24/04/2024

23/04/2024

23/04/2024

23/04/2024

23/04/2024

23/04/2024

Address

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share