Our investigative series Prying Eyes finished up last week and you can now read the collection of work in full. As Crikey readers attest, it may cause a bit of anxiety. Elsewhere, it looks like Eric Abetz’s plan against GetUp donors hasn’t had the desired effect.
On our digital privacy mess
Dog’s Breakfast writes: “Could 2018 finally be the watershed year, when the narrative shifts against the surveillance economy?” Gawd I hope so, but I’m not holding my breath. Thanks for the series Stilgherrian, it’s been great.
My thoughts are that at the exact time when the government should be regulating to remove and deny companies from holding personal information, or keeping it for any time longer than absolutely necessary for immediate business purposes (billing!) we had a government that was demanding that they keep all the information and make it readily available to myriad organisations that had no rights to it whatsoever.
As has so often been the case in the last 15 years of public policy, we will look back at this era and wonder what the hell we were thinking. We have taken the wrong step almost every time, and perhaps every time.
On Eric Abetz’s cheeky emails to GetUp donors
Marcus Hicks writes: So no doubt Erica is going to demand that the LNP preference Labor ahead of One Nation given that One Nation is preferencing a former neo-Nazi ahead of Labor. Or does Erica’s faux outrage only apply to those he deems to be “of the Left”? Also have to laugh at the irony of Erica bemoaning “white supremacists” when his own party is engaged in flat-out race baiting down in Victoria.
AR writes: It was the ominous undertone of knowing the addressee was a contributor. Nothing creepy at all.
Howard writes: Wow! I’ve been a financial supporter of GetUp for several years now and am very disappointed I didn’t get an email from Eric so I could respond. Then again, perhaps I did get one and it went straight to my junk mail!
On the super wars
Greg Walsh writes: I shifted my money out of the bank into my super years ago. Banks don’t pay interest worth a damn anymore. Bank offered me 2% interest (posting record profits) and acted like they were doing me a favour. I called the super people and they pointed out I’d got between 10 and 13% from them. If you’re on a fixed income/pension super is a better way to go.
Bill Hilliger writes: And the industry funds continue to perform so well despite the shameful efforts of Kelly “I’m not a dolt” O’Dwyer trying so hard to nobble them.
Michael Ross writes: Amazing that people-focused organisations were better for people than profit-focused organisations were…
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Yclept writes: Well if Erica is so upset, I think it’s time that I sent another donation to GetUp!