A breach of faith

A GUT REACTION

One of NSW’s most powerful lobbyists has been sacked for blaming NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet’s pokies stance on his “conservative Catholic gut”, Guardian Australia reports. Josh Landis, the boss of ClubsNSW, was removed with “immediate effect” by the board for making the comment in an interview with the SMH. Perrottet called it “an attack on every single person of faith in our state” and “incredibly inappropriate and offensive”. Landis apologised. It comes as Perrottet is making gambling reform his top priority ahead of the March election — NSW gamblers lost a record $2.1 billion (!) in just 92 days (!!) last year on 86,568 poker machines. Across the whole year, as the SMH reports, gambling losses increased by a whopping 11%, which is made worse considering prices for basics such as food, fuel and energy are surging.

Meanwhile Perrottet has called for an investigation and federal Education Minister Jason Clare has written to the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) about the “serious” allegations in an ABC Four Corners episode about the small-but-powerful Catholic organisation Opus Dei. Former students said they were taught “watching pornography caused holes in the brain” and were discouraged from getting a life-saving cancer vaccine, while also describing textbooks from the curriculum that had pages ripped out or redacted, as the ABC reports. They claimed they were also taught masturbation is mentally disordered behaviour. Perrottet was school captain in 2000 at one of the Opus Dei-linked schools, Redfield College, as SBS reports. But he did not respond to any questions put to him by Four Corners, The Monthly notes, and continues that Landis’ “sloppy” attack is “unfortunate timing” as the Opus Dei story cracks open.

[free_worm]

SMOKE AND MIRRORS

It may not surprise you to read that big tobacco is funding research that says vapes and e-cigarettes are good. The Australian ($) reports Philip Morris — which makes Marlboro and Peter Jackson cigarettes — is the only funder of the Foundation for a Smoke-Free World. The paper says the foundation has produced more than 70 academic papers, and several do not mention the tobacco company’s funding. The papers have been picked up in academic journals and publishing companies such as the ­Oxford University Press and at least six commissioned projects were at Yale University. But a bunch of bodies have sworn not to work with the foundation — including the Public Health Association of Australia — as well as a group of Australian researchers. A spokeswoman for the foundation said Philip Morris had no influence over its funds or decisions.

Vaping and e-cigarettes have hooked a new generation on nicotine, the former boss of the Australian Council on Smoking and Health told the Daily Mail, a blow after all the anti-smoking progress made in the past 40 years. So what is a vape exactly? It’s a little electronic device that warms up a liquid (often nicotine mixed with a flavour), and then you inhale the vapour. A far cry from a burnt-out ciggie, a vape can be alluringly colourful, while flavours like bubblegum are on offer — a distraction from how extremely addictive they can be. Last month Health Minister Mark Butler indicated the government was cracking down on vapes, Guardian Australia reports, a little over a year since the TGA made it illegal to buy e-cigarettes without a doctor’s prescription.

A FOOTBALL IN THE DOOR

Saudi Arabia’s tourism body will sponsor football’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this year, according to The Guardian. Punters expect FIFA to announce Visit Saudi is among other sponsors such as Adidas, Coca-Cola and Visa — but one of these is not like the others. Saudi Arabia is famed for squashing women’s rights — women still need a man’s permission to get married and get access to healthcare, and men can bring legal action over women being absent from the home. Tiny strides are being made, however. The first nationwide league for women in Saudi Arabia was established in 2020, the paper says, and the ban on women driving was reversed.

Speaking of reversing bans — the Victorian government banned and then unbanned TikTok on work phones in one day, The Age reports. The cyber security team at the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action sent an email telling staff to delete the Chinese-owned video app from devices because it “contains code which could be used for monitoring and intelligence gathering”, but the paper reckons it reversed the decision after reporters put questions to the department. Meanwhile China has reversed a decision to ban online learning at foreign universities after as many as 40,000 Chinese students were plunged into panic about a return onshore to Oz for face-to-face classes just weeks before classes start, the ABC reports. The Chinese government said students can get an exemption if they cannot get a flight or a visa in time, which comes as the Department of Education is working with unis to solve “short-term logistical issues” like visas, accommodation and flights. The government told the broadcaster it was super pleased to welcome students back.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

Forget “living well”. The ultimate revenge is naming a cockroach after your ex for $14. The San Antonio Zoo is offering a special Valentine’s Day fundraiser in which people can pay to christen a cockroach, rodent or vegetable after someone they have a grudge against. Then it is promptly fed to the animals. Ice cold! It’s actually an annual thing — dubbed “Cry Me a Cockroach” — that raises much-needed funds for the zoo to protect wildlife in Texas and around the world. In return, you’ll receive a fetching digital Valentine’s Day card with details about your christened cockroach, rodent or veggie that was fed to an animal. Hell, put your archenemy’s email in, the zoo says, and it’ll send a card straight to them!

And people love it. Last year director of public relations Cyle Perez told CNN the zoo received more than 8000 donations from more than 30 countries. So far, 2023 is turning out to be even pettier — the zoo says it’s already exceeded that figure and it’s barely February. So are there any names that pop up more than others? All blokes — “Zach, Ray and Adam [are] the most submitted ex-names so far,” Perez said. People who want to really twist the knife can pay $150 to get a personalised video message that shows the cockroach, rodent or vegetable being devoured. My stars. Could it be the perfect antidote to the sickly sweet over-commercialisation of V-Day? It’ll certainly bug your ex.

And a correction: yesterday’s introduction to the Worm incorrectly said Australia and New Zealand would supply ammunition to Ukraine. It should have said Australia and France. This was a production error.

Hoping you can forgive and forget today.

SAY WHAT?

If you replace the word Catholic with Islamic, Jewish or Hindu, you’d be resigning before you got to work this morning. It’s not about faith and people shouldn’t attack people’s faith in relation to decision making.

Dominic Perrottet

The NSW Premier said linking a person’s faith and decision-making is below the belt. He made the comment after ClubsNSW boss Josh Landis was sacked for saying the premier was making decisions on gaming policy from his “conservative Catholic gut”.

CRIKEY RECAP

Teal Monique Ryan sued by high-profile staffer Sally Rugg

Anton Nilsson

Jan 31, 2023

48

“Teal MP Monique Ryan has been accused of trying to sack her chief of staff for refusing to work ‘unreasonable’ hours. The staffer, Sally Rugg, known as a leading advocate for marriage equality, is suing her boss and the commonwealth for an alleged breach of the Fair Work Act’s ‘general protections’ provisions. Documents lodged with the Federal Court show Rugg is seeking to prevent Ryan from sacking her after a dispute about working hours.

“Rugg, who has been in the role for only about six months, claims the commonwealth denied her right to refuse to work ‘additional hours that were unreasonable’ and engaged in ‘hostile conduct in the workplace’. The sacking would have taken effect today, but Rugg is calling for an injunction to prevent her employment from being terminated. In the court documents, Rugg alleges Ryan was the ‘principal actor’ in the allegations.”

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Peter Dutton will surely vote No on the Voice — he has nothing to lose

Dennis Atkins

Jan 31, 2023

37

“There’s also an instinctive side to Dutton that has no time for the progressive forces in Labor and beyond. He taunts ‘lefties’ on social media, he famously walked out on the apology to the Stolen Generations (later saying he ‘regretted’ it) and he kicked off a campaign against ‘wokeness’ in the military during his stint as defence minister.

“After Malcolm Turnbull appointed him immigration and border protection minister in 2014 — following the ousting of Tony Abbott as prime minister — the Queenslander went to Sydney and spent a few days with his new boss. He had one overarching piece of advice: follow the hardest of hard lines on asylum seekers.”

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Lachlan Murdoch wins bid to expand defamation case against Crikey

Maeve McGregor

Jan 31, 2023

2

“To this end, Chrysanthou told the Federal Court that new information had since disclosed a ‘dishonest, hypocritical, cynical and contrived’ publicity scheme on the part of Crikey and its management under Private Media chairman Eric Beecher and chief executive Will Hayward to further ‘defame and harass’ her client …

“But Crikey’s barrister Michael Hodge KC disputed this, arguing Murdoch was always aware of management’s role and that the bid to widen his statement of claim to enable him to additionally and separately sue on the article’s reposting owed entirely to his failure to comprehend the consequences of his ‘forensic decision’ to sue on the original publication alone.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Russia claims village on outskirts of Bakhmut in big push in east (Reuters)

Hungary says Sweden should ‘act differently’ if it wants to join NATO (EuroNews)

North-west Pakistan in grip of deadly Taliban resurgence (The Guardian)

UK gov’t facing High Court battle over arms sales to Saudi Arabia (Al Jazeera)

[Republican George] Santos temporarily steps aside from house committees amid calls to resign (The New York Times)

French protests intensify against pension age rise (BBC)

Exxon posts record annual profit of $55.7 billion (The Wall Street Journal) ($)

US home prices continued to lose momentum in November (CNN)

THE COMMENTARIAT

Alternative investments: should you add some ‘blue chip’ vinyl to your portfolio? —   Stefan Von Imhof (The Age) ($): “Vinyl, on the other hand, remains both incredibly nuanced and riddled with imperfections. Pops, scratches and a discernible white noise are all part of the listening experience. Listening to vinyl feels organic, warmer and closer to attending a live show than anything else. On top of this, vinyl is more physically appealing. A record’s artwork is a big part of what makes it so cool. There is so much fun stuff artists can do with the packaging. Including lyrics and posters is standard practice, and colouring the record itself is becoming more common.

“If you haven’t been to a record store lately, you might think vinyl is cheap. Well, think again. The days of inexpensive records are long gone. New records routinely retail for $50 to $70 each. Even second-hand vintage vinyl costs far more than you think. Take any Beatles LP, for example. Getting your hands on a pressing from the ’60s usually costs more than $100. And you can forget about original pressings: they’re hundreds or even thousands of dollars. Our fund owns a copy of the White Album worth US$50,000 ($70,000). This is a serious collectible and a legitimate alternative asset class — especially if you buy blue-chip records. So what makes a vinyl record blue-chip?”

There’s a powerful role for business in the new economy — Jim Chalmers (AFR) ($): “The respectful engagement I maintain with the business community, even as we grapple with difficult policy choices, is a reflection of my faith in the private sector and its leaders, working with government where that’s appropriate and of mutual benefit. The October budget was a product of countless discussions with the business community about the bigger and better-trained workforce they need to address the skills and labour shortages which are holding employers and our economy back.

“Banking 99% of the upward revision to revenue over the next two years was recognition of the point made repeatedly and convincingly on these pages that the profligacy of the last decade has not delivered value for money, just as that period failed to deliver the productivity we needed to grow the right way. From the opposition, we expect little more than the irrelevant and incoherent drivel we saw from the shadow treasurer on these pages this week. After all, his only memorable contribution to public policy is the energy chaos that’s made us more vulnerable to international shocks. But from the Financial Review — we expect more.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Online

• Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong will deliver a speech at King’s College, London, which you can watch online.

Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)

• New and emerging scientists will chat about: pollution-free cooking; organic solar cells; what we can learn from how animals find their sexual partners; brain cells and schizophrenia; citizen science in the garden; and the latest in psychedelic therapy research, at Future Science Talks Sydney at East Village Sydney.