A Solomon decision

BASE LINE

Trade Minister Dan Tehan and Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews are worried China could set up a military base in the Solomon Islands, ABC reports, and undermine the Pacific nation’s sovereignty. It comes as a draft official document published online by an adviser to the Malaita Provincial Government Premier Daniel Suidani showed China would be permitted to send police, armed police, and military personnel to the country, and can stop over there on shipping routes, The Australian ($) reports. The Australian government’s “pointed” response was announcing $20 million in extra aid, along with the creation of a new radio network and putting more troops on the eastern border.

The Solomon Islands is still recovering from last year’s deadly anti-government riots, as The Guardian reports. The violence kicked off in part because the Pacific nation switched diplomatic ties from Taiwan to Beijing in 2019, The New Daily explains. So we sent in 200 AFP, ADF and other personnel to help restore law and order — about 50 remain today, the Oz ($) says. But China also sent in police officers — they were to train local police officers to avoid a repeat of the violence, but the Chinese cops brought in “replica rifles” which worried some onlookers, as Taiwan News reported.

Speaking of superpowers, the ANZUS treaty could be invoked if Russia is preparing a major cyberattack on the US’s power, water, finance, hospitals, and/or transport, SMH’s Peter Hartcher writes this morning. The treaty, which links us with New Zealand and the US, would likely draw us into a confrontation with Vladimir Putin’s regime.

[free_worm]

AGED CARES

Some 97% of aged care workers have not received the Morrison government’s $800 bonus, promised in January to 265,000 aged care workers to help address underpayment and staff turnover, Guardian Australia reports. Staff became eligible on March 1, but the government asked providers to fast-track the payments, though the union spoke to 1000 people who mostly hadn’t seen a dime. It comes as a staffing crisis continues to grip NSW hospitals, SMH reports, with Bourke hospital declaring an “internal emergency” amid severe staff shortages, according to leaked emails.

It’s not going to do much for the PM’s popularity, which The Australian ($) reports is falling sharply among Australian families feeling the rising cost of living and financial security woes. The paper looked at Newspoll results and realised the “miracle victory” voters of 2019 that ushered in Morrison’s shock win have mostly abandoned him and his government — namely a seven-point fall among 35- to 49-year-olds. The paper says the Coalition usually “consistently dominates” this demographic. It came home last night when ABC’s Q&A audience member Brigid Anderson told host David Speers the Disability Support Pension left her with $10 a week amid the soaring cost of living. She told the show she fears one day she’ll have to move into her car.

NOT KIDDING AROUND

Kids are striking in 36 places across the country today as part of the School Strike 4 Climate protest — including outside Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s residence, the SMH reports. There are actually more than 600 protests going on today across the world as students urge governments to do more for their future amid the growing climate crisis. Education Minister Sarah Mitchell told kids to get to school today, saying being informed is the best way to advocate for an issue, but considering the climate crisis is now the biggest threat to Australia’s future and security — according to a group of defence leaders, as Guardian Australia reports — their frustration is understandable. No doubt it’s a tough time to be a young Australian at the moment — a national survey has found one in six students have been sexually harassed, with gender diverse students copping it the worst, Guardian Australia reports. Universities Australia spoke to 43,000 students.

On the topic of education, a Perth school has told parents it’ll charge by the minute if they leave their kids waiting at the gate, WA Today reports. Divine Mercy College in Yangebup sent a letter home saying it’ll cost $1 a minute, and even threatened it would refer parents to the Department for Child Protection if they did it a bunch of times. Yikes. Don’t forget the kids!

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

Ah Venice, the city of love — and tourists. The aquatic Italian destination is sinking under the weight of some 120,000 people holding their iPhones aloft to capture sunsets, narrow canals, spindly architecture, gondola men, glasses of red wine, plates of red spaghetti, stained glass treasures, the list goes on. But with so many people comes a lot of food, and the power had gone to the Venetian seagulls’ heads. One even casually pinched a woman’s ice cream straight out of her grasp as she walked in St Mark’s Square recently. And it’s causing cafes and restaurants grief.

So the Venice hoteliers’ association has taken matters into their own hands. They’re arming customers with guns — water guns, that is — to fend off the marauding birds. Other avian warfare ideas included hiring a bird hitman to hunt the gulls, blasting them with music, and even stinking them out with unpleasant odours (that humans couldn’t detect). But so far the orange water pistols are working, and staff are relieved. To be frank, the birds are scared out of their tiny brains. In what truly sounds like a line out of an Italian mobster flick, one restaurateur said: “You don’t even need to use them. You just need to keep them on the table”. As Don Lucchesi says, “Finance is a gun. Politics is knowing when to pull the trigger.”

Wishing you a bright idea today, and a restful weekend ahead.

SAY WHAT?

Yeah … well if I had just come out and spoken about it, I may have ended up in jail, basically … That was made to me over the table from the PM.

Jacqui Lambie

The independent senator, who has for years refused to speak about her secret deal with Scott Morrison to get 400 asylum seekers off Nauru and Manus Island, is finally free to speak about it now we’ve agreed to let New Zealand take the refugees (nine years after it offered). Lambie revealed she was told in no uncertain terms what could happen if she broke her silence earlier — and aside from a possible conviction, she tweeted she was “told that talking about the deal would kill the deal”.

CRIKEY RECAP

‘Haven’t been at Hillsong’ — Morrison tells his biggest lie of all to avoid Houston fallout

Bernard Keane

Mar 24, 2022

92

Unlocked

“Desperate to avoid the toxic fallout from the resignation of his friend and mentor Brian Houston from Hillsong, Scott Morrison has told an astonishing lie today, claiming he hasn’t been to Hillsong for ’15 years’ when pressed on the scandal by journalists.

“Morrison’s most recent and high-profile visit to Hillsong was in July 2019 when the prime minister — triumphant from his surprise election win — and his wife joined tens of thousands of Hillsong worshippers onstage for the corporation’s annual conference (an event Morrison regularly attends) to discuss his faith and religious freedom. Morrison ‘prayed for Australia’ at the conference.”

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Hillsong’s US operations threaten to unravel in the face of scandal as the organisation clamps down on dissent

David Hardaker

Mar 24, 2022

25

“Hillsong’s US operations have come under heavy media scrutiny since the beginning of last year when its senior New York pastor resigned after it was revealed he had been involved in an extra-marital affair. Prestigious US magazine Vanity Fair investigated and revealed a seedy picture of a degraded church culture.

“At the same time, Hillsong had secretly commissioned an investigation into rape allegations made against another high-ranking pastor, as Crikey revealed yesterday.”

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Scott Morrison and Brian Houston: paying the wages of sin

Bernard Keane

Mar 24, 2022

39

Unlocked

“This is not a consequence of Scott Morrison’s faith, to which he is entitled like anyone else. It’s a consequence of Morrison’s own deliberate political strategy — far beyond that of any previous politician — of aligning himself with a particular evangelical sect that has become a global corporation, and of linking himself publicly to key figures in that corporation.

“He wanted to share their glory. Now he must share their shame.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Ethiopia declares immediate truce, to allow aid into Tigray (Al Jazeera)

EU takes aim at big tech’s power with landmark digital act (The New York Times)

UFC star Conor McGregor arrested for alleged dangerous driving (CNN)

North Korea tests banned intercontinental missile (BBC)

[NZ] households spending extra $3000 a year on essentials, research shows (Stuff)

Alibaba’s Russia venture puts Chinese e-commerce giant in awkward spot (The Wall Street Journal) ($)

Spain tries again to end lorry strike as food shortages bite (The Guardian)

What role is Chechnya’s Ramzan Kadyrov playing in Ukraine war? (Al Jazeera)

Lapsus$: Oxford teen accused of being multi-millionaire cyber-criminal (BBC)

THE COMMENTARIAT

Queer blak women deserve to take up space — Nioka Lowe-Brennan (IndigenousX): “It was this time last year that I started working at Boomalli. We were setting up the ‘Heart’ Exhibition in celebration of Mardi Gras and it was my first time seeing an entire gallery filled with queer blak art. It was so exciting, and it was incredible to be in the presence of such a strong and proud community during our opening night, but I wasn’t yet ready to be a part of that.

“A year passed and Uncle Steven Ross, the curator of this year’s Mardi Gras exhibition ‘Deadly/ Solid/ Staunch’ came into the gallery to get an idea of the space and scan some old photos of mob for the memory wall. We yarned and looked through all the photos of black faces filled with joy and pride, and that’s when I realized, I had no reason to hide who I am when I’m fortunate enough to belong to such an inclusive and openly LGBTQIA+ community.”

Patrick Carlyon: What Ash Barty’s choice can teach us about life — Patrick Carlyon (The Herald Sun): “Yet even she copped the glare of the morality police. After winning the Australian Open this year, when she good naturedly swigged a beer in a post-match interview, some were moved to criticise this example. She ought to have known better, went the line. The so-called ‘Barty beer debate’ even prompted a (failed) complaint to the Alcohol Beverages Advertising Code. Our heroes serve to please us, certainly. But they also fall prey to a misplaced sense of ownership that their deeds bring about.

“They are scrutinised because of their elite talents. If they drive too fast or let loved ones down, they should not be condemned for also letting us down. They are people, like the rest of us, who do both good things and bad. If Warne was a role model, it was as a cricketer. In this, he stands alongside Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan, who has so far racked up zero sex scandals. Warne’s legacy lies in his talent, and his dedication to its craft, as well as a zest which occasionally seemed misplaced. Do what makes you happy — until it doesn’t. Then do something else. Barty says it. Warne lived it.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Yugambeh Country (also known as Kalbar)

• The annual Sunflower Festival features sunrise yoga among the sunflowers, wanders through the sunflower fields, children’s sunflower art classes, cooking classes, and a sunset dinner among the sunflowers.

Yuggera Country (also known as Brisbane)

• Author Darryl Dymock will chat about his new biography, A Great and Restless Spirit: The incredible true story of Harry Hawker at Avid Reader bookshop.

Kulin Nation Country (also known as Melbourne)

• Artist Manisha Anjali, author Michelle de Kretser and soundscaper Great Earthquake will speak and perform at The Wheeler Centre’s latest Salon Series.