xi jinping

XI TAKES THE HIGH ROAD

Chinese President Xi Jinping has moved to neutralise a growing China-US trade war by pledging to allow foreign companies greater access to his country’s financial and manufacturing markets, signalling lower tariffs on cars, and openly advocating for globalisation.

The Australian ($) reports that US President Donald Trump has welcomed Xi’s intention to create a new wave of “openness” following the trade dispute, kicked off by Trump’s economically disastrous tariff measures. In more local diplomatic news, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has expressed “great concern” over China’s reported interest in building a military base in Vanuatu, a proposition Fairfax papers are currently investigating from the island nation itself.

GONNA BE A HOT ONE

A record heatwave will today move towards Australia’s eastern seaboard, with Sydney expected to experience at least three consecutive days above 30 degrees from tomorrow.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a warm air mass will edge eastward today after breaking records across eastern South Australia, western New South Wales and north-west Victoria yesterday. South Australia is currently recovering from three major bushfires breaking out over the weekend, with the South Australian Country Fire Service expecting today to be a “potentially catastrophic bushfire day“.

In completely unrelated news, Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg will speak at the National Press Club today and is expected to slap down calls ($) from Coalition hard-right members to invest government money in new coal-fired power plants.

TURNBULL IS NOT THE VOICE, APPARENTLY

In one of his least popular moves to date, Malcolm Turnbull has either forgotten or refused to sing along to John Farnham’s “You’re The Voice”.

As The Courier-Mail ($) reports, Turnbull kept mum during a rendition of our unofficial anthem at the Commonwealth Games’ final night of swimming. Whether he actually does not know the words or is simply not a confident singer, we cannot say for certain, but, as Twitter was sure to point out, this all but locks in Newspoll #31.

THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

Enough is enough with these ships of shame. Saying other countries would be worse is a lazy non argument. Time for these monsters to face prosecution. Time to pick a date by which all live sheep exports must end. We can work with industry and farmers to make this happen.

Liberal MP and former health minister Sussan Ley

Outrage over footage of tortured and dying sheep aboard an Emanuel Exports ship hits a turning point, with fallen minister — but still prominent Liberal MP — Ley now calling not merely for added regulations but an outright ban on live sheep exports. 

READ ALL ABOUT IT

SA’s rare and endangered native wildlife culled by 86,250 in 2016-2017 ($)

Facebook and Cambridge Analytica face class action lawsuit

Victorian Greens’ leader hit by sexual discrimination, bullying claims

Turnbull at odds with three ministers over cuts to migration ($)

Three Sydney properties raided over alleged multimillion-dollar corporate fraud

Ice will be allowed in Melbourne safe injecting room

Mark Zuckerberg testifies before US Congress over data scandal ($)

Manus refugees forced to phone Australia for medical advice after stabbing

Syrian forces brace for US airstrikes over gas attack on civilians ($)

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Canberra

  • Senate estimates hearing into content on broadcast services, including appearances from ABC Managing Director Michelle Guthrie and SBS and Screen Australia officials.

  • Canberra Raiders player Jack Wighton will appear before the ACT Magistrates Court, facing nine charges after an alleged brawl outside a Civic nightclub.

  • Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg will discuss the National Energy Guarantee and other issues at the National Press Club.

  • The High Court is expected to deliver judgment in WET044 v The Republic of Nauru, a case investigating an appellant’s unsuccessful application to Nauru for refugee status.

Sydney

  • Race Discrimination Commissioner Tim Soutphommasane will launch a report on cultural diversity among Australian corporations, universities and government departments and agencies, demonstrating that 95% of leadership positions at CEO and senior management level are held by people with Anglo-Celtic or European background.

  • Deputy Leader of the Opposition Tanya Plibersek to visit Sydney Medical School Nepean with the Member for Lindsay Emma Husar, and the Member for Macquarie Susan Templeman.

  • Two-day Smart Energy Expo will demonstrate potential household savings of solar battery storage.

  • Retired barrister John Watts will launch his book The Town That Said No to AGL, about the Hunter Valley’s Gloucester community stopping AGL’s coal-seam gas plans.

Perth

  • A Standing Committee Inquiry will investigate the potential for microgrids and related sustainable technology to supply energy to metropolitan and rural WA, with Western Power and Horizon Power set to deliver evidence.

  • Opposition Leader Bill Shorten will hold a doorstop interview in the electorate of Pearce, currently held by Liberal MP and Attorney-General Christian Porter.

Hobart

  • Nearly 190 international scientists will meet for three days to develop the first marine ecosystem assessment for the Southern Ocean.

Gold Coast

  • Queensland Tourism Minister Kate Jones and State Development Minister Cameron Dick will announce a new $500 million Health and Knowledge Precinct at Griffith University’s Gold Coast campus.

Melbourne

  • South Melbourne Market, the city’s oldest permanent market, will launch a campaign banning single-use plastic bags.

  • Terang community meeting with discuss discuss ongoing peat fires emitting toxic gases in southwest Victoria.

Brisbane

  • Jetstar Group Executive Manager for Networks Alan McIntyre will announce new flights from Brisbane.

United States

  • Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg will testify before a US Senate Committee about Facebook users’ data being appropriated by Cambridge Analytica, and the role the network played in the US 2016 election.

  • Internet troll and convicted terrorist Joshua Goldberg will be sentenced in Florida for impersonating an Australian jihadist and attempting to enlist a person to bomb a September 11 memorial event.

Worldwide

  • World Parkinson’s Day will mark the birthday of Dr. James Parkinson, who first described Parkinson’s Disease, and raise awareness for the illness.

THE COMMENTARIAT

Why we should look at targets to get more non-Europeans into top jobs — Tim Soutphommasane (Sydney Morning Herald): “What happens, though, to these high-performing children of multicultural Australia? Do they graduate into success stories in our universities and in our workplaces? What kind of professional future are they likely to enjoy in our business, government and other institutions. Our latest study of cultural diversity and leadership suggests our success as a multicultural nation is far from complete. It’s one thing to see diversity among the ranks of our top students and graduates. It’s another to see such diversity being reflected within the leadership of our organisations.”

What The Apu Controversy Tells Us About Woke White People — Kishor Napier-Raman (Junkee): “Last year, comedian Hari Kondabolu released a documentary called The Problem With Apu. It exposed what many South Asians have long understood — that Apu, the beloved Kwik-E-Mart clerk from The Simpsons, is a harmful and reductionist racial caricature. Voiced by a white man (Hank Azaria) and boasting a comical, exaggerated and inaccurate accent, Apu, Kondabolu argued, is a minstrel show Indian that only a blinkered, predominantly white writing room could see as funny or legitimate. Five months later, The Simpsons responded to this challenge.”

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

On the paradox of American power, and Trump’s next moveGuy Rundle

“The paradox of American power becomes visible: anything that has the appearance of real power, actually lessens the actuality of it. US power in a multi-polar world is a called bluff. What if they were to go real big? They’ve used the MOAB conventional bomb before, as yet another display of powerless power. The right-wing squawkbox is full of fantasy suggestions for escalation, such as ‘taking out the Syrian air force now!’.”

Why having star journalists is risky for the ABCEmily Watkins

“Denis Muller, of Melbourne University’s Centre for Advancing Journalism, told Crikey that with any star at any network or outlet, one particular issue that can arise is that of having ‘unsubbable’ copy — pieces they submit that subs don’t think they have the authority to edit. Scuttlebutt among some senior journalists at the ABC think this may have been one of the contributing issues with the Emma Alberici kerfuffle.”

Kevin Rudd wants you to know he is extremely crankyMeg Watson

“Readers of the The Sydney Morning Herald, Australian Financial Review, and all of the internet were treated to some angry thoughts from a former prime minister this morning — and no, this time it wasn’t Abbott. Kevin Rudd has had two letters to the editor published in today’s major newspapers, and also sent a tweet for good measure”.

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