Am listening to the podcast now. — StreetlightX

A verdict?

It was very good. But I was dissatisfied in that they did not attempt - and this was in truth likely beyond the scope of the report which they were discussing - to diagnose why this institutional timidity has set in. They discuss that it has set in - significant and important in itself, and the major conclusion of the study - and propose policy changes to reign in some of the most egregious aspects of what's going on - ICAC, donation transparency, more independence to the bureaucracy and so on. I really liked the bit where they talk about where possibilities of change might come from: independent parties forcing the hands of the majors (although our selection of independents is not particularly inspiring...).

But I feel like there's a changed media and communication environment that actually accounts for the timidity of governments insofar as they are alot more reactive (in a short term, polls-driven way) to next-day press releases and 24 hour news cycles in a way that they weren't before. I don't know that this is the only reason, but isolating reasons why governments have become so leadership averse would be the next important step in examining this phenomenon. Old mate Kevin is definitely on to something, I think, when he blames Murdoch for absolutely ruining the feedback process of governments and their constituents. dk, maybe the actual report does have more on that and they just didn't have time to get into it in the podcast.

PDF of the report:
https://grattan.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Gridlock-Grattan-Report.pdf

Still reading it.

...Murdoch... — StreetlightX

Popular opinion ranked highest, then shibboleths, then vested interests. Presumably the influence of Murdoch is the capacity to form popular opinion. It would be an interesting study. See box 1, p. 28. And 4.32

Presumably the influence of Murdoch is the capacity to form popular opinion. — Banno

Yeah, exactly. 'Popular opinion' ought not to be treated as a given: it is itself formed, the result of a process. The report talks of the need for sustained efforts to forge consensus, but I think a good, hard look at our primary means of that consensus making - corporate owned media with vested interests! - is needed.

Scott Morrison is stuck

Opening sentence is a zinger.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/shocking-and-disturbing-explosive-report-claims-corruption-and-branch-bombing-has-left-the-wa-liberals-a-political-wasteland-20210827-p58mlk.html

"Unethical, underhanded and corrupt practices have left the Western Australian Liberal Party a penniless ‘political wasteland’ on the verge of ‘extinction’ with disaffected members considering starting a new conservative party, according to a report released on Saturday by the WA Liberal Party.

These are just some findings of the explosive review released at the party’s state council meeting which looks into its inner workings in the lead up to the WA Liberal’s humiliating 2021 election loss."

Just the WA libs?

Barnaby Joyce declares he won’t be ‘bullied’ on climate science

Scotty must be so pleased to have such a free thinker as his deputy.

Joyce, who was reinstated as leader of the Nationals in June, likened basic questions about climate science to a baptism where parents were required to “denounce Satan and all his works and deeds”.

The group Farmers for climate action represents approximately 6000 farmers from across Australia, and has 22, 000 members.

More than the National Party.

A quick trip home to see the kids in Sydney. Then back to Canberra for work.

The rules do not apply to him. They are for other people.

Why not bring your kids to Canberra? Other folk move their family because of their work.

Dutton hasn't moved past the developmental stage when you recognize social cues instead of mimicry:

Dutton hasn't moved past the developmental stage when you recognize social cues instead of mimicry: — StreetlightX

:up:

Nuclear submarines.

This is going to be embarrassing.

A dear friend was an engineer on the Collins class. At table he would regale us with tales of incompetence. Very soon before the launch of HMAS Collins, it was found that the main hatch would not seal. It was removed and replaced with a piece of plywood, suitable painted, for the ceremony.

Laura Tingle wasn't so cynical, once. She's learned a lot.

So many long-standing shibboleths have been demolished in the past few days: starting with the arguments we have heard for years about why we "couldn't" have nuclear submarines. This was based on the "given" that it would require onshore nuclear expertise and nuclear power — and that we didn't want to ever go as far as having US missiles based in Australia.

And so:

Based on the current stated policy, we will be utterly reliant on the Americans and British to keep our boats afloat.

Which works for a government that has striped the pubic service to a point of such ineptitude that they could not manage the purchase of a few vials of vaccine without bringing in a solder with not expertise in health.

It's not going to end well.

But on the bright side, they've really pissed off the French.

Grattan on Friday: Porter’s funding from a ‘blind trust’ is an integrity test for Morrison

How this plays out is an integrity test for Morrison. Porter needs to leave the ministry or (taking the most lenient view of the situation) immediately have the trust repay all the money to those anonymous benefactors.

Indeed, Porter shouldn’t have to wait to be told by the PM – he should recognise this himself.

Regardless of the departmental advice to Morrison, acceptance of anonymous donations fails the standards of propriety that we should expect from MPs, and certainly from ministers.

Here's what will happen: A few weeks from now someone will ask what the advice to the PM was; there will be a bit of shuffling of feet, and then on the next Friday afternoon a quite acknowledgement that Porter's actions have been ignored.

Happy to be proved wrong.

Hartcher pointed out that as a consequence of all this faffing about, Australia will have exactly the same submarine capacity in 2030 as it had in 1990.

My fav article yet on the whole thing:

China Panics After Learning They’ve Only Got 25 Years Until Australia Gets 8 New Submarines

According to Scotty From Marketing’s newest announcement aimed at drowning out the news that Christian Porter MP is paying his legal fees through a blind trust that has been topped up with millions of dollars by a faceless stranger who he has never met, Australia is getting eight cool new submarines!

Yesterday it was announced that several cabinet Ministers were given special border exemptions to meet in Canberra and begin nutting out this new deal that not one voter asked for or cares about.

According to these new announcement, Australia, the UK and US have formed a new security partnership named AUKUS – a new acronym that President Joe Biden doesn’t seem to know too much about considering the fact that he couldn’t even remember the Australian Prime Minister’s name in a press conference earlier today.

As a first initiative, AUKUS will build nuclear submarines for Australia’s fleet. There will be eight of them. They will not have nuclear weapons, they will just be nuclear-powered, which in itself is a pretty scary responsibility for a government that can’t manage to run a services website that doesn’t crash under the mildest web traffic.

In the 'post-American world', has Australia backed the right global superpower?

Stan Grant disappointed at another lost opportunity.

yeah right.

America does not drive the global economy, China does. China will usurp the US outright as the world's biggest economy by the end of the decade.

And, fuck dissenters - all those twerps in Hong Kong, all those anonymous Uighers who should know better. Get on board, but be ready to shut up.

I don't think he is sugesting this is a good thing....

Christian Porter has resigned from Scott Morrison's ministry.

Happy to be proved wrong. — Banno

Happy now.

Expect him back in a subsequent reshuffle.

Ambassadorship to France. The Liberal punishment.

Perfect fit. He can go punce about and have no one pay him any attention at all.

Yes, reading further into it, Stan Grant does make those points.

Someone on the ABC was saying that by about mid-century all submarines will be constantly tracked by thermal-imaging satellites, so the advantage provided by being underwater....well, evaporates......

...but with global warming, the sea will be deeper...?

Coal fired submarines.

Barnaby Joyce defends Christian Porter's decision to remain in Parliament after resigning from Cabinet

I can not say how much it gladdens my heart to have out nation in the hands of people of such extraordinary moral recited.

I really cannot.

Especially with Porter’s guilt having been presumed beyond all reasonable argument.

Well, yes, I do tend to a prejudice against entitled prats.

Important that the law only works for those deemed worthy.