Crikey Worm: Bishop’s ‘shirtfront’ moment?

BISHOP TAKES ON TRUMP

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will tomorrow urge members of the Trump administration not to turn a blind eye to Russia’s global behaviour, including its alleged role in killing 38 Australians in the MH17 tragedy.

The Australian ($) reports that Bishop will ask the US not to “reward Russia for their bad ­behaviour”, including the annexation of Crimea, at a meeting with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in San Francisco during the July 23-24 Aus­tralia-US Ministerial Consul­tations (AUSMIN).

Bishop has said the meeting, where Defence Minister Marise Payne will also talk with US counterpart James Mattis, would also form an opportunity for Australia to better gauge Trump’s “unorthodox approach to foreign policy”.

SUPER SATURDAY STATS

New polling has Labor set for a rough week ahead of the five Super Saturday byelections, with Longman (Queensland) and Braddon (Tasmania) both looking like nail-biters.

The national Fairfax/Ipsos poll has the Coalition at 49-51 against Labor, a relative-jump compared to a 47-53 loss last month, while Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has brought his preferred-PM lead against Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to a two-year high with 57-30.

And while the Coalition is not running in Perth or Fremantle, The Courier-Mail ($) has the LNP at a 51-49 lead in Longman, thanks in part to a primary vote jump to One Nation, while The Mercury ($) has each major party at an equal 50-50 in Braddon. Finally, The Advertiser ($) has Centre Alliance’s Rebekha Sharkie at an easy 18-point lead over Liberal candidate Georgina Downer for the seat of Mayo.

FIVE YEARS OF MANUS AND NAURU

Thousands of Australians have marched over the weekend to protest the fifth anniversary of the Manus Island and Nauru detention centres. Demonstrations started outside electorate offices early last week, rallies continued in most major cities on Saturday, and protests ended in Newcastle and Kerang yesterday.

The New York Times reports that Iranian journalist and refugee Behrouz Boochani, who has been detained on Manus since 2013, wrote a message of thanks to be read at the events.

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THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

BREAKING NEWS: Airport Rail is finally happening. We’ve spent the last few years removing level crossings, and building the Metro Tunnel. Now we’ll get this done.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews

Daniel Andrews utters those magic words Victorians (and anyone who has visited the state) have been waiting to hear. In entirely unrelated news: there’s an election coming up in November. 

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

Poll Bludger: so many right wing fringe groups, so few seatsWilliam Bowe

“If all publicity is to be deemed good publicity, the right-wing fringe of Australian party politics has clearly been on a roll in the past month. In that time, Clive Palmer has moved his political comeback from the billboards to the Senate, through his recruitment of One Nation castaway Brian Burston; Liberal Democratic Party Senator David Leyonhjelm has made a pitch for the alt-right troll vote through his profile-raising offensive against Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young; and Mark Latham has made common cause with Pauline Hanson in the campaign for next Saturday’s Longman byelection.”

Could potential ABC review head have a conflict of interest?Glenn Dyer and Bernard Keane

“Does a key figure in the government’s ongoing war on the ABC have an emerging conflict of interest? A few weeks back, former Foxtel head Peter Tonagh was flagged as the likely head of the government’s latest attack on the national broadcaster, yet another ‘efficiency review’, to be conducted with former senior ACMA executive Richard Bean.”

The rise of the fully sponsored TV showEmily Watkins

“Once relegated to graveyard slots and the daytime deadzone, paid-for television content is now moving into more prominent timeslots. Last week, a show entirely produced by holiday deal website Luxury Escapes debuted at its new primetime-ish timeslot of 6pm on Ten.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Mistaken belief in sexual consent should not be a crime: barristers

Melbourne teen remembered as ‘bright, positive’ after death during CBD apartment dispute

Health authorities call on state government to release meningococcal strain information ($)

WA cops in middle as rival groups face-off at event by alt-right commentator Lauren Southern

The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph readers rush to donate to help farmer Les Jones ($)

Turnbull heckled as he becomes first PM to visit Tennant Creek in decades

Coles Bay residents voice concerns as Freycinet Peninsula is inundated with visitors

Watchdog failed to act on warning over super fees ($)

Elders seek power to expel troublemakers ($)

Iranian president warns Donald Trump of ‘mother of all wars’ over anti-Iran policy

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Sydney

• The Royal Australian Mint will launch Australia’s newest circulating coin, an Invictus Games Sydney 2018 $2 coin.

• Day one of the four-day Agribusiness & Primary Industry Leadership Summit 2018.

• Globalisation experts will discuss “The past and future of international thinking” at a University of Sydney public forum.

• NSW Young Farmers will hold their annual dinner and forum.

Brisbane

• A range of government, non-profit and private sectors representatives will speak at “The Reality of a Net-Zero Emissions Queensland”, organised by The Climate Reality Project.

• Brisbane Marketing will host the 2018 Food Buyer & Investment Forum.

• The Office of the Queensland Chief Entrepreneur will host a Brisbane Emerging Company Investor Evening.

Melbourne

• The Australia-Indonesia Centre and Australian Foreign Affairs will host a number of experts to help launch AFA’s latest edition, “Australia & Indonesia: Can We Be Friends?”.

• A range of international experts will speak at the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct Office’s event “Translating biomedical research: Lessons from Boston, Tel-Aviv and our own backyard”.

• The founder of the Palestinian Women’s Humanitarian Organisation, Dr Olfat Mahmoud, will speak at an “In Conversation” event.

Perth

• Triple murder accused Teancum Vernon Petersen-Crofts, 19, will face court from a psychiatric facility.

Hobart

• A video message from Iranian journalist and Manus Island prisoner Behrouz Boochani will be played as part of the eighth annual Hobart Oration event, hosted by the Bob Brown Foundation.

Adelaide

• The Polaris Centre will hold a Digital Growth Roadshow.

Tennant Creek, Northern Territory

• Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is expected to continue his two-day visit of Tennant Creek to meet local leaders over child protection concerns.

Ulverstone, Tasmania

• Braddon byelection candidates Labor’s Justine Keay and Liberal Brett Whiteley will hold a public forum hosted by the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is expected to visit areas across Braddon ahead of the Super Saturday byelection.

Tweed, NSW

• The Nature Conservation Council of NSW will begin a “Towards Zero Deforestation Roadshow” across the state.

Australia

• Today marks the start of National Pain Week, an annual initiative from Chronic Pain Australia.

San Francisco, USA

• Australian foreign and defence ministers Julie Bishop and Marise Payne will meet US counterparts Mike Pompeo and Jim Mattis as part of the two-day AUSMIN talks.

THE COMMENTARIAT

Budget office fills gap left by politicised Treasury — Ross Gittins (The Age): “I see the federal Auditor-General has been less than complimentary about the Turnbull government’s cashless welfare card. The cheek! I say the man should be removed and replaced by a Liberal Party staffer forthwith. Always provided the staffer has done at least a year or two of accounting at uni, of course. Wouldn’t do for voters to gain the impression his chief qualifications were his years of loyal service as a ministerial flunky.”

There is no social licence for My Health Record. Australians should reject it — Julia Powles (The Guardian): “The ADHA’s bullish approach jeopardises the legitimacy of the entire scheme, and it also accentuates the staggering disconnect between the move to commit all Australians to a system that will hold their data for their lives plus 30 years, and the degree of uncertainty about how that data will be used, by whom, and for what.”

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