Labor resources spokesman pushes for Coalition emissions targets

‘SENSIBLE’ SETTLEMENT

Opposition resources spokesman Joel Fitzgibbon is calling on his party ($) to adopt the government’s 2030 emissions reduction target of 26-28% on 2005 levels, as Labor struggles to decide what to do with the 45% target it took to the election.

Fitzgibbon will speak at a Sydney Institute event tonight, arguing the “sensible settlement” on climate change would lift the party’s support in working-class and regional areas, invoking Gough Whitlam’s “the impotent are pure” line. He will also criticise former leader Bill Shorten’s strategists for underestimating Scott Morrison, and urge his colleagues to “check our progressive instincts” so as not to drive away blue-collar workers and people of faith.

HOMES DESTROYED

Up to 20 homes and structures have been destroyed in Rappville, and another in Laidley, as bushfires rage through northern NSW and south-east Queensland, the ABC reports.

Emergency warnings were issued for several bushfires yesterday, with nearly 1000 firefighters working throughout the night. About 50 people sheltered in a Rappville public school,while one man survived thanks to a tweet from his daughter alerting the Rural Fire Service to his hideout in a shed, which was destroyed. The unseasonably warm, windy and dry conditions are not tipped to ease until later this week.

CASH FOR TEACHERS

The Victorian government will offer incentive payments of up to $50,000 to teachers willing to work in Melbourne’s toughest schools, Nine reports.

The payments will encourage high-performing teachers to move to schools struggling with staff shortages, as well as into subjects that are chronically under-staffed, such as maths and science. Teachers who remain in the hardest-to-fill roles will be rewarded with retention payments of up to $9000 per year. Education Minister James Merlino announced the payments as part of a $244.6 million quality improvement initiative that will also incentivise high-performing university graduates and experienced workers to move into teaching.

[free_worm]

THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

Even in the workplace, the way men and women used to talk to one another, which was quite fun, I think, doesn’t exist today. When I think of some of the conversations I used to have with Sir Frank Packer for instance, they simply wouldn’t happen today.

Ita Buttrose

The ABC chair thinks Australia has become too politically correct.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Scott Morrison: ANZUS is Liberals greatest move ($)

Three scientists win Nobel Prize in Physics for work on evolution of universe

Christopher Pyne’s firm lobbies for company that won $2.7m in defence contracts

Migration: Coalition woos Jacqui Lambie to back character test crackdown

‘Used as pawns’: Australian feared among growing number of foreign nationals held in Iran

Ex-NSW Labor boss hired as a $200,000 consultant by controversial Chinese billionaire, ICAC told

Syria retreat reverberates as Turkish troops mass

‘Unworkable and unfair’: Big business opposes religious freedom bill

‘Stupid blame game’: Donald Tusk berates Boris Johnson as hopes of a deal fade

Transgender activist lashes Scott Morrison over ‘gender whisperers’ comment

End the NAPLAN breakaway review, Dan Tehan urges

High Court urged to refuse Pell’s bid to appeal child sex conviction

Trump administration blocks testimony of central figure in impeachment inquiry

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

Chinese spying on dissidents in Australia reaches new levels

Suzanne Smith

Oct 08, 2019

“Being watched is nothing new for Chinese Australians who speak out against the Communist Party regime. Two high-profile Australian-Chinese dissidents have been detained while visiting China in the last 3 years; Professor Feng Chongyi, was held and interviewed by the secret police before being released and his former student Dr Yang Hengjun remains in China charged with espionage.  Authorities are increasingly concerned about his welfare. What’s new is that their non-Chinese associates are now also in the frame.”

---

The violent protests that aren’t making the front page

Charlie Lewis

Oct 08, 2019

11

“Why the relative lack of interest? Is Australia not as invested in Iraqi democracy that it is in Hong Kong? If not, it will be news to the thousands of troops we have sent to Iraq since 2003, and the hundreds still there. It may also surprise the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, which administers the $100 million dollar “Humanitarian and Stabilisation Package” in Iraq, which is partly aimed at paying for the basic services the protesters are demanding.”

---

Is it time to kill the comments section?

Wendy Syfret

Oct 08, 2019

23

“‘Resources’ is the key term there. Keeping the comments open and under control is expensive. Not only does it require additional trained staff (or technology) to curate and screen feeds, but even hosting a comment section on site is a looming expense for publishers who are finding their budgets stretched thinner each year. And that’s without even mentioning the legal liabilities. For many publications it’s not about opinion v abuse, it’s about costs. Because while the comment section does offer valuable space to question and feedback on reporting, most of us probably talk about it more than we use it.”

THE COMMENTARIAT

Key lesson for Australia in Trump’s move to abandon Kurds – Chris Uhlmann (The Age/Sydney Morning Herald): “The US President’s decision to forsake the Syrian Kurds must surely give his allies the last compelling piece of evidence to prove that they should not vest any faith in Donald Trump. When Trump boasted ‘I defeated the Caliphate’ at an impromptu Oval Office press conference on September 20 he omitted the fact that it was the Kurds who did much of the fighting and most of the dying in that war. If an alliance that is measured in a sea of blood has no value to Trump, then what price does he put on defence relationships built on pledges of burden-sharing made by nations such as Australia?”

Shareholder citizens are in need of a new champion ($) – Janet Albrechtsen (The Australian): “From the rise of industry superannuation funds and the flood of money into private equity and unlisted investments, and the rigid rules killing entrepreneurship on the stock exchange, to laws that turn directors into insurers of last resort, our tradition of having a thriving shareholder community is under threat. We are witnessing the emergence of a powerful new shareholder class, among them a bolshie subclass with motives more often social and political rather than in the best interests of the company. These forces should concern government, regulators and stock exchange leaders. Instead, there is only silence while the shifting tectonic plates of wealth creation and savings opportunities create a chasm between small shareholders in listed companies and this booming new class.”

Malka Leifer’s case is shaking the Australian Jewish community’s faith in Israel – Michael Visontay (The Guardian): “Over the years the community leadership has been unwavering in its support of Israel, regardless of its government’s actions. While the Palestinian occupation has increasingly stirred feelings of doubt, there has been an implicit acceptance by the heartland of Australian Jewry that the conflict is intractable, everyone’s hands are dirty and that Israeli governments should not be judged any more harshly than others around the world. But Leifer’s case is different. It’s personal, we know the alleged victims, she ran away. The Israeli government, or at least the health minister, has demonstrated its contempt for the most basic of human injustices – the alleged assault of young children.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Melbourne

• The Australian Volunteers Program will host its an information session for Australians interested in sharing their skills overseas.

• Low Carb Down Under will host Low Carb Melbourne 2019, an evening of presentations on low carbohydrate nutrition.

Sydney

• The University of Sydney will host a joint info session on Data Science, Intelligent Information Engineering and Cyber Security.

• Professor Jennifer Byrne will present the 2019 Diana Temple Memorial Lecture, an annual lecture honouring the memory of Dr Temple, an advocate for the role of women in science.

Brisbane

• Brisbane Marketing will host Brisbane Innovate 2019, bringing together businesses and residents to collaboratively solve city-wide challenges.

Adelaide

• The South Australia International Business Network, a new open and inclusive network for South Australian business professionals, will host a celebratory launch event.

Perth

• TechTalks will presents “The Future of Health Tech is Now”, with experts from Curve Tomorrow, Alerte Digital Health and Noisy Guts.