RACE TO THE BOTTOM
A visa that allowed foreigners to stay in Australia in the event that they spent $5 million right here has been axed, The Australian ($) studies, principally affecting Chinese language migrants who made up 90% of the cohort. Underneath the visa subclass, individuals may get Australian citizenship in the event that they spent 40 days a 12 months in Australia, The Australian ($) says, and weren’t required to be taught or converse English. It comes after the paper reported international criminals have used it to get citizenship. Certainly your complete Enterprise Innovation and Funding Program has been quietly shut down as the federal government focuses as a substitute on expert employees. It’s a good suggestion, the Grattan Institute discovered — about $125 billion over the following 30 years value of fine as a result of it discovered expert employees retire 20 years after migrants within the enterprise program.
In the meantime The Australian ($) is digging by broadcaster Antoinette Lattouf’s social media, unearthing a joke the Lebanese-Australian made about Asian moms: “As Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan’s Academy Awards win is being celebrated by Asians across the globe, simply as many Asian mums’ reactions’ be like: ‘only one award every? Why not 3? Subsequent 12 months get three. Don’t be lazy’.” Most individuals discovered it humorous, contemplating Lebanon is in West Asia. The paper notes one individual commented that the Tiger mum trope will be damaging, with it pointedly including that Lattouf is alleging ABC discriminates based mostly on race. Lattouf informed the Oz’s media reporters they should learn her e-book Find out how to Lose Buddies and Affect White Individuals — “significantly the chapter outlining how tabloid newspapers lean on racism as a part of their enterprise mannequin”. Ouch.
BLACKING OUT
The Victorian opposition has withdrawn its help for a Treaty within the state due to “secrecy”, the Nationwide Indigenous Occasions studies. Nationals chief Peter Walsh — who can also be the Coalition’s Indigenous affairs spokesman — stated “points across the Conventional Proprietor Settlement Act” wanted resolving (it permits for out-of-court settlement of Native Title). Sky Information Australia continues that Walsh additionally needed a evaluation into the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act however Labor ignored him — , the act Walsh was accused of spreading misinformation about final September? Abandoning Treaty is kind of the 180 from 2022, when Walsh stated the Coalition needed to advance the Treaty course of in Victoria to help “self-determination and reconciliation”. Walsh stated “issues have modified” — yeah, the failed Voice to Parliament emboldening conservative oppositions such because the one in Queensland to ditch Indigenous progress.
In the meantime federal Coalition Indigenous Affairs spokeswoman Jacinta Nampijinpa Value says proud Australians are “sick of being shamed”, The Day by day Mail studies, after Woolworths stopped promoting Australia Day merch… as a result of no-one buys it. Fellow No campaigner Nyunggai Warren Mundine went on to name Australia “in all probability probably the most profitable multi-everything nation on the earth”… regardless that two in 5 non-white Australians informed a 2022 survey they frequently cop racism at work. In the meantime The Australian ($) is coming for preschools, with a narrative headlined “‘Indoctrination’: Childcare youngsters informed land stolen from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals” reporting that greater than 7,000 do an Acknowledgement of Nation that claims the land belonged to Indigenous peoples. Yawn. Subsequent.
HOT TO TROT
Woodside and Esso will provide fuel to Australia’s south-east coast till 2033 below a deal introduced final evening, Guardian Australia studies, which can plug “reliability gaps” from 2025 that the Australian Vitality Market Operator had warned about. It additionally excuses each fossil-fuel giants from the $12-a-gigajoule worth cap when promoting in Australia, per our fuel code. Woodside and Esso will ship a complete of 260 petajoules, with the Australian Competitors and Shopper Fee watching carefully to make sure they do. It appears the prime minister’s workplace framed this filthy fossil-fuel information within the heat embrace of a cost-of-living media launch as a result of Guardian Australia and 9 newspapers each wrote it up that approach.
Persevering with thusly, and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is planning a cost-of-living bundle earlier than the Could finances, the AFR ($) studies, which may embody power invoice reduction, lease help and/or childcare subsidies (because the Australian Bureau of Statistics steered final 12 months). The Age ($) continues that MPs will meet on Wednesday to brainstorm concepts that gained’t ship inflation climbing — that’s as a result of we sometimes spend cost-of-living reduction dosh, which causes costs to climb. On Friday the Worldwide Financial Fund suggested that the federal government ought to cease spending to discourage the Reserve Financial institution from elevating rates of interest once more. In any case, nothing can occur till Parliament resumes on February 6.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
This month some 10,000 Austrians walked to their entrance door, collected their mail and tore open an envelope to disclose a plea from an heiress to assist her spend exactly $41.6 million. Marlene Engelhorn is searching for a Guter Rat — that’s a moderately humorous translation of the phrases “good council” — of fifty lay individuals from the ten,000 cohort to mirror Austria’s gender, age and earnings demographics. She’s fairly well-known within the nation — a descendant of the person who based one of many world’s largest chemical corporations BASF, Engelhorn has been working onerous to reform tax insurance policies so cash will be extra evenly unfold round. She’s already vowed to donate 90% of her wealth earlier than she dies, however this newest transfer is placing her cash the place her mouth is.
So how did she select the ten,000? Randomly from a database whether or not they had been a citizen or not — although they needed to be over 16, presumably to cease skate parks and cat cafés popping up on each nook. The 50 Guter Rats (I’m selecting this as their nickname) will likely be paid almost $2,000 every week for 4 months to work out how you can spend the dosh, The New York Occasions ($) says, whereas their resorts, meals and journey will likely be paid for too. Cripes. There are only a few guidelines: Engelhorn stated they will’t give it to individuals or teams deemed “unconstitutional, hostile or inhumane” (waxing salons and scorching wings outlets are out then) and it will possibly’t be given to anybody within the group or their mates (Australian pollies may by no means).
Hoping you possibly can spare a few {dollars} for these much less lucky, in the present day and at all times.
SAY WHAT?
I’ll let once I go dangerous. I actually suppose I’ll be capable to let you know. I really feel my thoughts is stronger now than it was 25 years in the past. Is that doable?
Donald Trump
The previous US president appeared to confuse his Republican fellow hopeful nominee Nikki Haley with the previous Democrat speaker Nancy Pelosi, inflicting Haley to query whether or not Trump was “mentally match”. He retorted that he’d “aced” a cognitive check.
CRIKEY RECAP
AI is producing ‘faux’ Indigenous artwork skilled on actual artists’ work with out permission
“Each Adobe and Shutterstock run in style inventory picture web sites the place individuals should purchase AI-generated pictures for quite a lot of industrial functions. On every of them, there are dozens of pretend Indigenous art-style pictures on the market (which were marked on the platform as AI-generated) …
“Adobe permits individuals to add AI pictures on the market and earn cash each time they’re bought. The corporate requires sellers to solely submit pictures for which they personal the mental property, however it’s not clear how that is policed. Shutterstock sells pictures generated by customers utilizing the corporate’s on-site AI mannequin skilled on their pictures and because of this doesn’t have this downside.”
Malcolm Roberts edits tweet after sharing satirical WEF video
“An Australian senator has retweeted a video of a World Financial Discussion board delegate supposedly telling the worldwide physique’s founder to ‘go fuck himself’. Nonetheless, the video is a prank made by a self-described satirist and content material creator. One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts retweeted the prank clip (archived right here) on X, previously Twitter, on Wednesday, January 17, at 4.06pm.
“The video incorporates a tattooed man supposedly talking on the WEF’s annual convention in Davos, Switzerland. After thanking the organisers for giving him a platform, the person’s manner shifts … Simply over half-hour after posting, Roberts amended his submit. However not earlier than it had been seen greater than 11,000 instances, in accordance with X statistics.”
Scary burgers and ageist rooster: The adverts Australians are lodging complaints about
“One of many nice pastimes for we Australians, a nation of good-humoured larrikins, is complaining. Vociferously and about absolutely anything, we completely like to complain. Because of this, it results in busy and (one suspects) well-paid careers for ombudsmen.
“It additionally signifies that in the case of public-facing targets of complaints like commercials, the physique accountable for regulating content material, Advert Requirements, makes public its determinations on complaints. Within the spirit of transparency, your correspondent rounded up among the humorous, egregious and infrequently ridiculous complaints from the previous 12 months.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Russia says at the least 25 killed in blast at Donetsk market (Al Jazeera)
Philippines president Ferdinand Marcos Jr takes [government] helicopter to Coldplay live performance
(BBC)
Novak Djokovic drops simply three video games and equals Roger Federer document as he reaches Australian Open quarterfinals (CNN)
Gaza demise toll from Israeli strikes 25,000, well being officers say (Reuters)
Reopening [NZ] oil and fuel exploration ‘might be Treaty breach’ (Stuff)
Why this [Indonesian] presidential frontrunner is stirring fears of the ‘demise of democracy’ (The New York Occasions) ($)
Greater than 100,000 protest throughout Germany over far-right AfD’s mass deportation conferences (The Guardian)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Antoinette Lattouf sacking exhibits how the ABC has been broken by successive Coalition governments — Denis Muller (The Dialog): “[ABC managing director David] Anderson has additionally stated the choice to sack her was not influenced by exterior stress, though he didn’t immediately check with the Legal professionals for Israel marketing campaign. ABC workers should not satisfied and need better transparency across the complaints course of. Nor has there been a proof from the ABC about why the posting by Lattouf of the Human Rights Watch report was considered a sackable offence when the ABC had itself twice run tales about it.
“What does it say in regards to the way of thinking contained in the administration of the ABC that it was thought cheap to difficulty a generalised blanket instruction to a presenter to not submit something “controversial” on social media? It suggests one panicked by the prospect that any person someplace would possibly take offence at one thing any person on the ABC would possibly submit on a controversial matter. It suggests a way of thinking induced by 20 years of cumulative intimidation, hostility, board-stacking and monetary punishment inflicted on the ABC by successive Liberal-Nationwide federal governments. After all, the historical past of the ABC is plagued by rows between itself and governments of all stripes, however these had been usually episodic and targeted on a single trigger. What was seen between 1996 and 2022, apart from the interval 2007-13 when Labor was in workplace, was not episodic. It was systematic, sustained and ideological. The implications at the moment are being laid naked.”
Ignorance the premise for toxic prejudice — Nyunggai Warren Mundine (The Australian) ($): “October 7 wasn’t solely an assault on Israel. It was additionally an assault on the civilised world. All cheap individuals, together with Israel’s authorities and army, are involved in regards to the impression of this battle on Gazan civilians. Historical past signifies it’s inconceivable to keep away from civilian casualties when combating monstrous regimes with no regard for human life. An estimated 600,000 German civilians (together with 76,000 kids) died in Allied bombings throughout World Conflict II. No-one actually is aware of what number of civilians died within the defeat of ISIS.
“As much as 11,000 civilians, 10 instances the official estimate, are believed killed within the battle for Mosul alone, however it’s onerous to know what number of had been buried below the 8 million tonnes of rubble. That’s only one metropolis. We don’t know the true variety of Gazan civilian casualties as a result of the figures are offered by Hamas, prolific liars who don’t distinguish between civilians and combatants. We do know casualties could be massively decreased if Hamas didn’t conduct itself from colleges and hospitals or use Gazans as human shields. We additionally know Israeli army motion might be ended if Hamas returns the hostages and delivers up the October 7 attackers to face justice. However solely Hamas has this inside its energy.”
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WHAT’S ON TODAY
Whadjuk Noongar Nation (also referred to as Perth)
