The best seats in the house

MAJORITY RULES

Labor will form a majority government, ABC projects, as the count in Macnamara shows incumbent Labor MP Josh Burns as the likely winner. It means Labor has won 76 seats out of 151 in the House of Representatives, and it could win one more: Gilmore on the NSW south coast, The Australian ($) adds, as Labor’s Fiona Phillips has pushed ahead of former NSW transport minister turned federal hopeful Andrew Constance. It would be Labor’s first majority in the House of Reps since #Kevin07, the SMH adds. In the Senate, however, it’s a different kettle of fish: Labor will need the Greens and possibly one other (like Tasmanian Jacqui Lambie or ­incoming ACT senator David ­Pocock) to pass legislation.

If you’re wondering how Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was sworn in last week without a majority — good question. He basically had to convince the governor-general Labor was the only party who could form a stable government — the Coalition may end up with just 58 seats and couldn’t loop in all 16 crossbenchers (which blew out to 10 independents, four Greens, Katter Party’s Bob Katter and Centre Alliance’s Rebekha Sharkie) to form a minority government. Two-thirds of Australians think the expanded crossbench is a really good thing, according to a poll in Guardian Australia this morning. Some 64% of 1089 respondents say they reckon a wider range of views would be represented in the 47th parliament. So who’ll be speaker? Tasmanian independent MP Andrew Wilkie is throwing his hat in the ring (even though Labor has the majority now), telling The Guardian a crossbencher speaker would send a “powerful message”. Queensland MP Milton Dick and Victorian MP Rob Mitchell are also reportedly interested.

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A LITTLEPROUD TO BE LEADER

The new Liberal leader Peter Dutton has promised “sensible” action on climate change (which frankly could mean anything) in his first press conference, The Age reports. Facing the daunting task of winning back voters who defected to the independents, Dutton also promised to ditch big business and instead be a voice for small business in the ‘burbs, calling them the “forgotten people”, as AFR reports. The former defence minister continued that he was willing to talk to the Albanese government on a Voice to Parliament, which is somewhat at odds with his damning “third chamber” comments in 2019, as SBS reports. Interestingly, Dutton also admitted he screwed up when he boycotted the apology to the Stolen Generations in 2008. It’s not the first time he’s appeared regretful, however — in 2017 he aired similar regret in a SMH interview that also kind of oddly described him as “bald but quite youthful-looking”. Oh.

Meanwhile, new Nationals leader David Littleproud is wasting no time distancing himself from his predecessor either, The Australian ($) reports. Littleproud vowed to pursue the “sensible centre” and not chase “extremities down rabbit holes”, no doubt a thinly veiled swipe at Matt “coal mines are romantic” Canavan’s brazen statements about net zero being dead, as Guardian Australia reports. Littleproud went on to flag he supports the net zero by 2050 target (but not Labor’s 2030 target of a 43% reduction), The Courier-Mail ($) reports. A defeated, yet not dejected (?), Barnaby Joyce released a statement in the wake of his loss that rather humorously began, “I suppose you think I am sad. Not really”. Go well, Joyce.

FAR FROM OVER

Some 6000 Australians have died from COVID this year, making it the number one cause of death in Australia, Crikey reports. It’s an astounding figure when you consider that 8400 people in total have died since the pandemic kicked off a little over two years ago. Migrants in Australia (who are typically more healthy than the Australian population as a whole, according to pre-screening data) experienced 2.5 more deaths per 100,000 people compared to those born in Australia. About a third of all people who died from COVID-19 had dementia, while nearly one in five had chronic respiratory conditions like asthma. As reporter Amber Schultz asks, is Australia living with the virus — or dying with it?

It comes as experts warn Omicron is good at getting through pre-existing immunity, leading to reinfections, as the ABC reports. COVID-19 cases in Australia remain at around 45,000 per day, the broadcaster adds. Meanwhile, a Queensland court has heard the vaccine mandates for police staff and paramedics breached the emergency service workers’ human rights, The Brisbane Times reports. There are 61 police employees, 12 ambulance workers, and a nurse involved in the legal challenge, which yesterday coincided with a new easing of rules in the Sunshine state — unvaccinated people can visit hospitals again, the Queensland government says.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

A man disguised as an elderly woman has thrown cake at the Mona Lisa (it’s fine). He entered the bustling room in The Louvre in a wheelchair and a wig, promptly stood up and then smeared white cake on the Mona Lisa’s glass case. Speaking French, he told the astounded crowd that there are people who are destroying the planet — “that’s why I did it,” he declared to onlookers, and then he proceeded to toss rose petals around the place. He was tackled by security guards. Of course, the priceless Renaissance-era painting is extremely well protected behind protective glass and wasn’t affected — though it wasn’t always so. In 1956, a man threw a stone at the painting, hitting Mona Lisa’s funny bone and chipping some paint. He told police he just felt like it. “I had a stone in my pocket and suddenly the idea to throw it came to my mind”. Then a man who was “in love” with the painting tried to steal it using a razor blade. In 2009, a woman even threw a teacup at it.

But perhaps the most curious incident was the 1911 theft of the painting — three Italian handymen hid in a Louvre closet, made off with the painting in the night, and caught an express train out of the city. It was actually 28 hours until anyone even noticed, because the Mona Lisa wasn’t so well-known at the time. But overnight the theft became an international sensation, and 60 Parisian detectives scrambled to find the culprit. Even Pablo Picasso was questioned. Some 28 months later, one of the culprits tried to sell the da Vinci masterpiece in Florence, and was arrested. He got eight months in jail and the Mona Lisa returned to Paris. If anyone was offended by his light sentence, they soon forgot — World War I broke out days later.

Hoping you take a stand about something today too.

SAY WHAT?

While men speak on a variety of topics, they also speak for women so I’m very comfortable with the leadership of our party.

Sussan Ley

Satirists must be left empty-handed after press conferences like yesterday’s, where the new deputy Liberal leader said she was quite comfortable with the low number of women in her party. As Crikey notes, there are more men named Andrew than female Liberals in the Senate, and just seven female Liberals in the House of Reps.

CRIKEY RECAP

Dogecoin co-creator says Elon Musk is a grifter who doesn’t know how to run basic code

Cam Wilson

May 30, 2022

1

“Jackson Palmer is an Australian-born software developer who created Dogecoin, a meme-based cryptocurrency that soon became one of the world’s most valuable digital currencies. He stopped working on the cryptocurrency in 2015 and has since denounced the technology.

“In a rare, wide-ranging interview with Crikey coinciding with the launch of his new podcasts about grifts, he spoke about Elon Musk, the cryptocurrency “winter” and the mainstreaming of rentier capitalism. Palmer says he spoke with Musk over Twitter direct messages after he developed a script to automatically report cryptocurrency scams in a user’s replies …”

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‘Men also speak for women’: with one press conference the Liberals show nothing has changed

Amber Schultz

May 30, 2022

8

“But apparently Dutton isn’t one of those men who were appointed to mansplain — sorry, speak — for women. The opposition leader didn’t address a single question on gender, only mentioning women in relation to refugee victim-survivors given asylum in Australia. When asked about the party’s loss and gender, he focused on his support for those living in the suburbs — and when asked about gender representation and the rise of the Greens, he focused on Labor’s losses.

“Lucky for him he had Ley to field those questions, jumping in to assure Australians that the Coalition had no idea why so many women had abandoned the party (hint: it was the underwhelming response to an alleged rape in Parliament, among many other failures).”

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Senator, premier — or the leader the Libs never had? The road back for Josh Frydenberg

Stephen Mayne

May 30, 2022

47

“If Frydenberg really wants to get back into federal Parliament before 2025, it shouldn’t be hard to find a senator to retire, creating a casual vacancy that can be quickly, cheaply and safely filled without the risk of losing a byelection, as occurred when both Bob Hawke and Malcolm Turnbull quit Parliament after being ousted in leadership challenges.

“You don’t need to live in the state you represent in the Senate, so Frydenberg could easily become one of four Liberal senators representing Tasmania. However, his leadership ambitions would need to be put on hold until a return to the lower house was engineered.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Palestine PM says Israeli flag march ‘crossed all red lines’ (Al Jazeera)

Champions League final: France blames ‘massive’ ticket fraud as policing row rages (BBC)

7 takeaways from the 2022 primary season so far (CNN)

[Canadian] Indigenous communities ‘expecting more’ from Pope’s visit, says Gov. Gen. Mary Simon (CBC)

At least 26 people killed in shootings across the US over Memorial Day weekend (news.com.au)

G7 countries to stop funding fossil fuel development overseas (The Guardian)

French journalist killed during Russian bombardment in Ukraine (Al Jazeera)

Auckland hospital ‘imploding’: Patient with typhoid fever slept in car due to lack of beds (Stuff)

Impact of Israeli strike in Gaza akin to chemical weapons, NGO report finds (The Guardian)

THE COMMENTARIAT

New House, new rules: Government should expedite parliamentary reform — Zali Steggall (The SMH): “The incoming Albanese-led government has a glorious opportunity to reform processes in the House of Representatives to restore balance, relevance and integrity to the Parliament. Over the past three years, I have been quite shocked at the lack of genuine debate in the House. The procedures around passing legislation and consideration of any proposed amendments have been mostly tokenistic. Coalition members often repeated speeches and notes provided by the prime minister’s team. On one occasion, a Coalition member even delivered a seven-minute speech on legislation that had actually been passed a week earlier.

“On another occasion, on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act amendment, the government just pushed the legislation through using its numbers to gag debate and prevent the opposition and crossbench from putting on the record shortcomings of the proposed legislation. The Morrison government even used its numbers to suspend standing orders to prevent me moving a consideration in detail amendment, which would then require a short debate and vote. The Coalition didn’t want to debate the amendments, it didn’t want them on the record as having been moved. This is a long way from democratic debate.”

Australia’s biggest carbon emitter buckles before Mike Cannon-Brookes – so what now for AGL’s other shareholders? — Mark Humphery-Jenner (The Conversation): “Billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes has won a major battle against Australia’s biggest energy company, AGL Energy, thwarting its plan to split up the company’s coal-heavy generation and power distribution assets. AGL’s board announced it was dumping its demerger proposal this morning. Heads have rolled too. Chief executive Graeme Hunt, chairman Peter Botten and non-executive director Jacqueline Hey have resigned. Another director, Diane Smith-Gander, will go in August.

“But it remains to be seen if Cannon-Brookes and his allies can achieve their ultimate goal — to force AGL, Australia’s biggest carbon emitter, to accelerate the closure of its coal and gas-fired power stations. The plan to split AGL was due to go to a shareholders vote in mid-June, at which it required 75% support. Earlier this year, Cannon Brookes — Australia’s third-richest person — led two unsuccessful takeover bids for AGL, with the goal of taking the company private and retiring its fossil fuel generators. He has campaigned hard against the demerger on the basis it would hinder his plan for AGL to lead Australia’s energy transition to renewables.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Online

• Guardian Australia’s Katharine Murphy and Essential Media’s Pete Lewis will discuss the fortnight’s political news in a webinar for The Australia Institute.

Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)

• NAB CEO Ross McEwan, Commbank CEO Matt Comyn, ING Australia CEO Melanie Evans, and Australian Banking Association CEO Anna Bligh are among several speakers at the AFR banking summit.

• Greater Sydney Commission’s Environment Commissioner Meg McDonald will discuss the plans for a more sustainable and liveable Western Sydney in an event held by CEDA at the CommBank Stadium.

• NSW Department of Education’s Sandie Matthews will speak about the importance of resilience at this year’s Navigating Digital Government event at IBM.

Kulin Nation Country (also known as Melbourne)

• Writer John Harvey, co-director Jason Tamiru, and senior curator Kimberley Moulton will speak on a panel about repatriation in relation to the Malthouse Theatre’s production of The Return.