‘Difficult decisions’ ahead of budget

DIFFICULT DECISIONS AHEAD

It’s looking more likely we’ll ditch the stage three tax cuts. Some quick numbers: Treasury has downsized its forecasts for global growth by 0.75% this year, 1% next year, and 0.5% in 2024 as the global economy hurtles towards a probable recession, as the SMH reports. Interest on government debt will climb 14% a year at the same time as defence spending goes up 4.4%, NDIS spending by 12.1%, hospitals by 6.1%, and aged care by 5%. What does this all mean? Our budget is in ruins. It’s all according to Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who’ll give a speech today about our tricky fiscal position — he’s still not admitting to axing the stage three tax cuts, but they’re the heaviest item in the budget ($243 billion!), as AFR reports, and Chalmers does say “difficult decisions” will need to be made in this budget. It seems at the very least the policy will be amended — and it’s not necessarily going to be unpopular, according to The Australian ($). The paper says Senate powerbrokers the Greens and crossbenchers David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie would back changes to the 2018-era cuts, though they’d prefer they go in the bin.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says we should keep the cuts, arguing “a lot” of us have taken out home loans or made investment decisions knowing the cuts are coming, which feels a bit overegged. The paper points out that the end of the low- and middle-income tax offset is going to change things this financial year, too. If you make $90,000, your take-home pay of $69,983 will fall to $68,383, or 2%. Spare a thought for those at the coalface of our tax affairs, however. A whistleblowing former debt collector named Richard Boyle has told a SA court he suffers from PTSD from working at the ATO, ABC reports. Boyle, who worked there for 14 years, says it was distressing receiving managerial instructions to rebuff vulnerable people asking for help. The case marks the first major test case of protections available under the Public Interest Disclosure Act.

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HIGGINS FELT JOB WAS ‘ON THE LINE’

Former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins has told the ACT Supreme Court she got the impression her “job was on the line” if she reported an alleged rape from a colleague, Guardian Australia reports, following a meeting with then defence industry minister Linda Reynolds in the very same office where the alleged rape took place. Higgins also secretly recorded a conversation with former minister Michaelia Cash (who Higgins worked for after Reynolds) and sent the recording to journalist Samantha Maiden for safe-keeping (who’s expected to be called as a witness), the SMH reports. Higgins feared she wouldn’t be believed about the alleged attack, The Australian ($) reports, and told the court she wanted as “many people as possible” to have knowledge of it. Reynolds has also been named as a witness, along with Cash, former Liberal MP Steven Ciobo and the former chief of staff to Scott Morrison, John Kunkel.

The trial of former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann continues today after a week of damning accounts and intense scrutiny for both parties. Higgins, who has since become a vocal advocate for survivors of sexual assault, is making international news for the long-awaited case, as the BBC reports. Lehrmann’s side denies all charges and says we’ve been “sold a pup”. The case will go on for six weeks.

If you or someone you know is affected by sexual assault or violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit 1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000.

SOGGY SYDNEY

It’s official: this is Sydney’s wettest year on record, as the SMH reports, and climate change is the reason, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. At 1pm the city officially passed the 1950 record, and by 6pm yesterday had recorded 2.2 metres of rain for the year. It’s even more dismal when you consider 2022 still has nearly three months to go. And it’s not just the Harbour City — swathes of NSW are facing a “very significant and elevated flood risk” at the moment. Bathurst is a big worry for authorities, while Forbes, Gunnedah and Warren in the state’s central west could also get major flooding. The Hunter, about three hours north of Sydney, and the Central Coast between the pair, are also facing big risk. It comes as NSW councils are threatening to “start closing roads” if they don’t get more funding from state and federal governments. Take the Blue Mountains — extreme weather has caused $400 million worth of damage, the mayor told Guardian Australia, which is about 10 years’ worth of roadworks in 12 months. The council’s income is just $90 million a year.

Just to finish on some positive climate action news: Melbourne is bringing back bees, butterflies and birds to the CBD by planting streetscapes of cut-leaf daisies, tufted bluebells, wattles, correas, ringed wallaby grass and more. The Age reports horticulturalists have a list of more than 100 mostly native species that can help if you feel like being a green thumb this weekend — check the rest out here. And in the Sunshine State the WWF has welcomed better protection for whales and dugongs in Queensland’s Great Sandy Marine Park, The Advocate reports. It’ll see commercial gill net-free zones extended in the area that will provide better safety and freedom for our sea life.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

Here’s something you may not know about me, my dear Worm reader: I live in Vancouver. I moved to Canada last April, though I definitely haven’t lost my accent — just ask my Canuck partner Ryan, who often accuses me of asking for a glass of “worda”. There are certain realities of living in North America, and one is bears. As an Australian, I feel rather misled by Playschool’s Big Ted. They are not friendly. They are not cuddly. But once a year, they have their time to shine, and that time is now. It’s Fat Bear Week — an annual contest that celebrates the bulking bears at Katmai National Park, Alaska, who are presently gorging themselves on salmon in preparation for winter hibernation (Australia’s summer). More than 600,000 people voted in the contest last year, The New York Times reports, and this year it’s expected to be even bigger, with a king or queen to be crowned on Fat Bear Tuesday (October 11).

So how does one decide which chunky bear to vote for? First, the bears in the park must use the river to be part of the competition, and millions have been watching this live stream eagerly to see how many — and who — do. This year, a dozen qualified, including four-time winner 480 Otis. Rangers have been meticulously building each of the 12 bears’ profiles for the contest — for instance, do they fancy fresh salmon or dried salmon? Are they playful or snobbish? And of course, the before- and after-bulking photos, a sort of panacea to the weight loss comparisons we usually see. The founder of the contest, Mike Fitz, tries to stay neutral, but he can’t. “We all have bears that we like to watch,” he says. This year, it’s bear 747 “whose girth is comparable to that of the airplane model” at 645 kilograms, making him one of the largest teddies on earth. Fitz is blown away by how popular the contest has become, but the bears don’t care. Millions of people watch the bears all year, “and they’re just munching on salmon and barely even notice”, one ranger said. Nice life.

Wishing you the body confidence of a bear today, and have a restful weekend ahead.

SAY WHAT?

I hope and pray that they can change government down there because Daniel Andrews is well and truly past his use-by date.

Peter Dutton

Pot, kettle? Dutton, who is two years older than Andrews, has been in politics since he was 30, in which he has launched two failed leadership challenges before winning the third and becoming opposition leader. Since then, Coalition support has fallen to a record low, and just 22% of Australians prefer him as PM. The Andrews government won both the 2014 and 2018 elections, and Andrews has been the preferred premier for eight years.

CRIKEY RECAP

Rupert Murdoch paid more than $33 million from family-controlled companies, figures show

Stephen Mayne

Oct 06, 2022

11

“All up, Murdoch men have now been paid more than $1.5 billion by public companies they control since 2000, although at least the total figure of US$46 million in 2021-22 was a 10-year low and well below the US$65.84 million they pocketed in 2020-21.

“If only the Murdochs were like the Packer family and agreed to work for free as public company directors, instead limiting themselves to enjoying the benefits of dividends and share price appreciation delivered by their excellent management.”

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May the insane Trump revelations never cease

Charlie Lewis

Oct 06, 2022

7

“Whatever dubious claims Donald Trump may have made regarding his impact on the US economy, one industry he inarguably boosted is publishing. Whether it’s high-profile journalists sitting on details of a major outrage until months after the event to shift a few more units of their portentously titled tome, or an endless coterie of former staffers attempting to launder their legacy to history, there’s been no shortage of dross.

“Then you get revelations like the one in New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman’s new book Confidence Man, and you realise you never want it to cease … We have previously noted that if you can briefly tune out the horror of the Trump administration, his was objectively the weirdest and funniest presidency in history.”

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When it comes to commentators, the ABC forgives and forgets

Charlie Lewis

Oct 06, 2022

4

“You’ll find no argument in the Crikey bunker if you want to argue that corporate Australia is subject to fairly toothless regulation. The analysis presented by economist John Adams on the ABC, alleging that less than 1% of complaints received by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) are investigated, is certainly a shocking stat. But this isn’t the first time the ABC went to Adams for comment — and it didn’t go nearly so well the last time. In June 2020, Adams tweeted, in a caps-heavy hyperbolic style typical of his feed…

“BREAKING I just received a phone call from an ABC Sydney based producer seeking a comment about the game of chess! The ABC have taken the view that chess is RACIST given that white always go first!

…Trust the taxpayer funded national broadcaster to apply ideological Marxist frameworks to anything & everything in Australia!”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Thailand ex-policeman kills 35, including 23 children, at nursery (Al Jazeera)

Christian Walker, warrior for the right, now battles his father (The New York Times)

About 82,000 still without power in Puerto Rico two weeks after Fiona (Reuters)

How does New Zealand’s tax bill compare to other countries? (Stuff)

TikTok parent ByteDance sees losses swell in push for growth (The Wall Street Journal) ($)

French author Annie Ernaux wins Nobel Prize in Literature (CBC)

Bank confirms pension funds almost collapsed amid market meltdown (The Guardian)

THE COMMENTARIAT

Australia perhaps isn’t the big deal it thinks it is to Solomon Islands — Waleed Aly (The SMH): “During this year’s federal election campaign, Solomon Islands became a Big Deal. You’ll recall the Solomons had just signed a security deal with China, the air was thick with concern that China would eventually establish a military base there, and Penny Wong accused the Morrison government of ‘the worst foreign policy blunder in the Pacific since the end of World War II’.

“Since then, the Albanese government’s narrative has been one of righting such blunders; touring the world and mending relationships that were damaged mostly by Morrison government incompetence. In some cases, that seems a fair enough explanation — see the handling of AUKUS and French submarines. But in the Solomons case, this always seemed a stretch, more rhetorical than real. And now we’re starting to see this.”

The game is up for conservative Christians — Simon Kennedy (The Australian) ($): “The difference with the Thorburn case is that Thorburn has never once publicly expressed a view on same-sex relationships or anything controversial about social policy issues. His sin was by association. Thorburn is involved with City on a Hill, a Bible-believing church in Melbourne that continues to hold out against the prevailing cultural winds on sexuality. Thorburn’s appointment as chief executive of the club was announced on Monday and he resigned on Tuesday.

“Essendon president David Barham cited two important points. One is that the views that were of concern were ‘not … views that Andrew Thorburn has expressed personally’. His sin was attending a particular church. It was not that Thorburn had posted on Twitter or Instagram that anyone should burn in hell for their sexual preferences. He didn’t do that. It was not that he had acted in a discriminatory manner against any of his employees during his (extremely) short tenure at the Essendon Football Club. He never did that, so far as we know.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Eora Nation Country (also known as Sydney)

• Former Bachelorette Brooke Blurton will speak about her new memoir, Big Love, at Better Read Than Dead bookshop.

• The University of Technology Sydney’s Barbara Doran will speak about her new book, Catalysing Creative Intelligence, at Glee Books.

Yuggera Country (also known as Brisbane)

• Author Fiona McFarlane will chat about her new book, The Sun Walks Down, at Avid Reader bookshop.

Kulin Nation Country (also known as Melbourne)

• Gamers will head to PAX Aus at Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre, with gaming set ups, classic arcades, independent Australian game developers and publishers, tabletop gaming, cosplay competitions, panels, and the country’s largest YouTubers and streamers.