Black Ball
Oct 25, 2023 4:26 AM

Rita Panahi on John Pesutto:

Not living in Vic, but a question occurred to me.
Why is Victoria so traditionally left wing of all the states, or has it happened only in the recent decades?

SA I understand, those double barreled names an all.
(+barrels of course)

A day late but I think it’s important how world powers operate, Israel could be the next.

24/Oct/1795 Poland ceased to exist as a nation for the next 123 years, Russia, Prussia and the Hapsburg empire made sure of that as they divided the spoils.

Poland wasn’t even represented on the European map as a nation.

Janet Albrechtsen holding feet to fire:

Bench is the wrong pulpit to spout political views
JANET ALBRECHTSEN
12:00AM OCTOBER 25, 2023
The Australian’s new commentary newsletter. Sign up to get the nation’s sharpest writers, with their bold opinions and incisive analysis in your inbox every Sunday.

Given the outcome of the voice referendum and the statement released on Sunday by a group of Indigenous activists claiming their sovereignty “has never been ceded”, there has never been a more fitting time to turn our focus to our judges. One judge in particular: Lucy McCallum.

The Chief Justice of the ACT Supreme Court surely won’t mind the attention. After all, she told new lawyers during their admission ceremony last year they should undertake their practice of the law “on the assumption that everything you do and say in the course of your profession may end up on the front page of the Canberra Times”. Alas, a local paper won’t do here.

As the nation confronts continuing demands about sovereignty and treaty by some Indigenous people after the failed voice referendum, McCallum’s extrajudicial comments warrant close scrutiny. Not because we care about her personal views. What McCallum says in private is her business. But we should care very much if she, or any other judge for that matter, uses a privileged and powerful judicial position to air personal political views that may come up for decision in their court or that raise questions about potential biases.

Since taking up her senior role at the ACT Supreme Court in March last year, McCallum has begun addresses in her courtroom by saying: “I acknowledge the First Nations people.” Then she goes further, saying: “I acknowledge that the land has never been ceded by them.”

In April last year, a month after she was sworn in as the new ACT Chief Justice, McCallum made similar comments – this time during an admission ceremony for new lawyers. In the ceremonial sitting to open the 2023 legal year McCallum added that she acknowledged “that many wrongs have been done to First Nations peoples in the name of the rule of law”.

The difficulties raised by the Chief Justice’s comments are as much about what she says as what she doesn’t say. When McCallum says she acknowledges “this land has never been ceded” by Indigenous people, does she mean the law ought to recognise their claim over Australia?

Is the Chief Justice offering a tantalisingly different position to the clear and unambiguous legal position, as stated by the High Court in Coe v Commonwealth in 1993, that there is no legal justification for “the notion that sovereignty adverse to the Crown resides in the Aboriginal people of Australia”?

Does McCallum mean, if such a matter came before her, she would prefer a different view to the High Court stated position in that case that “the (Mabo decision) is equally at odds with the notion that there resides in the Aboriginal people a limited kind of sovereignty”? When she says wrongs have been done in the name of the rule of law, does she mean the rule of law in Australia remains a problem for Indigenous people? Is she signalling that there should be a separate, different kind of legal system for Indigenous people?

When McCallum says Indigenous people are “over­represented in the criminal justice system”, does she mean that in pursuit of equitable gross statistics we shouldn’t incarcerate some Indigenous people who are found guilty of serious crimes? The fact previous ACT chief justice Helen Murrell also liked to acknowledge that sovereignty had not been ceded by our Indigenous people is no defence. That such statements are apparently at odds with the law is enough to consign them to politics, not the law.

The Machiavellians among us may wonder if an ersatz legal brief of sorts is being compiled where activists will point to McCallum and other judges recognising that sovereignty has not been ceded.

McCallum went even further in her comments during an admissions ceremony in June this year. She said she confirmed “her commitment to work side-by-side with First Nations people toward a system of shared authority in which we can hope to right the many wrongs done to them in the name of the rule of law”.

McCallum’s address that day, unlike the one from the previous April, was not posted online. What does McCallum mean by shared authority? Does she mean dual sovereignty? Something else? Is she unhappy with the High Court authority? That her comments raise many questions makes them problematic coming from a senior judge.

McCallum’s comments came at an interesting time. A divisive and heated debate about the proposed voice referendum was well under way, the voice being the first part of a three-part set of demands along with treaty and truth-telling, with many Indigenous activists and academics claiming joint sovereignty.

The Albanese government, leading the charge for the Yes case, would soon make two new appointments to the High Court.

The timing of McCallum’s comments led some legal insiders to wonder whether she was showcasing her opinions for future use on the highest court in the land. Given her political comments as Chief Justice, it shouldn’t surprise that many lawyers in the ACT and beyond were relieved that she was not appointed to the High Court.

Not all judges behave as McCallum does. NSW Supreme Court Chief Justice Andrew Bell gives low-range acknowledgments about the local people having cared for and been custodians of the land for thousands of years.

The NSW Chief Justice does not acknowledge that land has not been ceded. Nor does he say that wrongs have been done by the rule of law.

While Bell’s acknowledgments wade into the shallows of politics, at least they don’t amount to chiding the High Court. That McCallum’s gratuitous commentary about sovereignty and other matters is not standard practice among judges raises the question as to what is best practice for a judge – especially a chief justice who is a standard setter for junior judges.

The independence of the judiciary is a precious thing for judges and citizens alike. In a democracy, judges must be free from political interference to uphold the rule of law. Political interference can come from different places. It might come from a politician, or a government, trying to interfere with a judge and the rule of law. Or it might involve a judge who allows their personal political views to interfere with the law.

So let’s be as plain as day: the independence of the judiciary depends, first and foremost, on judges remaining independent from current political contests. In a democracy, we must hold on to the principle that we are ruled by law, not by philosopher kings and queens on the bench.

When the Chief Justice talks about sovereignty, she is not speaking as Lucy McCallum, private citizen. She is speaking publicly as Chief Justice. And if McCallum cannot spot the problem, she may be in the wrong job.

McCallum’s decision to comment, as Chief Justice, about sovereignty is even more curious given that she chose not to utter a word publicly about a report this year by Walter Sofronoff KC that found former ACT chief prosecutor Shane Drumgold had made false claims in her courtroom, matters that go to the heart of the administration of justice.

There will be different views in the community as to claims by some indigenous people that they have not ceded sovereignty over Australia. High Court authority rejects even limited sovereignty for Indigenous people. Once McCallum started making overtly political comments about sovereignty, sooner or later someone was going to report them and point out that in a democracy an advocate for a cause is better off standing for a seat in parliament or joining an activist organisation.

JANET ALBRECHTSEN COLUMNIST
Janet Albrechtsen is an opinion columnist with The Australian. She has worked as a solicitor in commercial law, and attained a Doctorate of Juridical Studies from the University of Sydney. She has written for numer… Read more

Macron is quite right.
An international peacekeeping force has to be part of the way forward for Gaza.
Not to hunt down Hamas, that’s for the Israelis.
But to act as a trip wire.
Between Hamas and the less Hamas parts/population of Gaza.

What decades of indoctrination can do:

Majority Aged 18-24 Say Hamas Massacre of Israeli Civilians ‘Justifed’ (24 Oct)

The poll asked, “Do you think the Hamas killing of 1200 Israeli civilians [in] Israel can be justified by the grievances of Palestinians or is it not justified?” And…

A slim majority of those aged 18-24 said it was “justified.” Only 49 percent said the massacre was “not justified.”

The news is not much better among those aged 25-34. Only a slim majority of 52 percent said the massacre of innocent civilians was unjustified, while 48 percent said it was.

There you go, half of the young people you see support terrorists. Of course they overwhelmingly get their news from the MSM, which has been playing up Israel and playing down Hamas, like on the hospital story.

Here’s an illustration of what the MSM is doing.

Associated Press Reporters Can Only Describe Hamas Terrorists as Militants, ‘Fighters, Attackers, or Combatants’ (24 Oct)

With the hollowing out of news rooms Associated Press is even more important to MSM outlets for stories to publish. Recall how AP in Gaza was working in the same building as Hamas.

Young people who get news from the MSM have had this propaganda flooded into them their whole lives.

For Cassie and Calli et al. Stay strong and know that you have unwavering support from many quiet Australians. In today’s Oz.

No safe space on campus for support of Israel

Salvatore Babones

Last week a group calling itself Sydney University Staff for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions held an on-campus forum to discuss the conflict in the Middle East.

The event, Gaza in Context: The Duty of Solidarity in the West, warned of “Palestinians being made the objects of genocidal violence”. Our duty as scholars – if we’re to believe this organisation – is to stand with Hamas against a genocide perpetrated by Israel. BDS is a global campaign to isolate Israel. At least 90 present and former University of Sydney academics have signed the BDS pledge. Many more support it less publicly.

My colleagues say they are not anti-Semitic and I take them at their word. While not vilifying Jewish people or the Jewish faith, they do claim “Israel is a brutal, colonising power” that has “laid the ground for a second Nakba”.

Anti-Semitism has become ‘increasingly intolerable’ in American universities
Newsweek Senior Editor-At-Large Josh Hammer says anti-Semitism has become “increasingly totally intolerable” in American universities. “Jew hatred on the American university campus is not exactly a new phenomenon,” he said. “What is new is just how bad it has gotten.” “Look at the response to the Hamas war on Israel More
That’s an interesting choice of words. The Arabic word Nakba (catastrophe) gained prominence in the 1990s as a Palestinian counterpart to the Hebrew shoah, which carries the same connotation. In the Shoah (more widely known as the Holocaust) roughly six million Jews were systematically murdered between 1941 and 1945. By contrast, during the Palestinian Nakba of 1948, roughly 750,000 Palestinians fled their homes or were driven into exile. Their departure was prompted by a UN resolution to divide Palestine into independent (and roughly equal) Jewish and Arab states. But they didn’t leave peacefully.

They left after attacking their Jewish neighbours, with no thought for negotiation, on the declaration of the State of Israel. At the same time, the armies of Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Syria all invaded Israel in support of the Palestinian cause. In short, Palestinian Arabs and their allies attempted to expel the Jews from the Holy Land but failed. That was their catastrophe.

My colleagues are aware of this history. They’re also aware that Jewish minority communities since have been driven out of every Arab country. Yet they continue to seek “peace, equality and justice … in solidarity with Palestine”, blaming the current “tragedy” on Israeli “apartheid and ethnic cleansing”.

My colleagues may not be anti-Semitic but such strongly professed condemnations of Israel in defiance of history and logic make our universities safe spaces in which anti-Semitism can flourish. No one on campus is brazen enough to call for a second Holocaust. But anyone with a first-class honours in the liberal arts can parse the obvious implications of calling for a Palestine that runs “from the river to the sea”.

And it is in the liberal arts – and in staff unions led mainly by arts academics – that tacit support and tepid contextualisation of the horrific October 7 terror attacks is concentrated. In those disciplines that should know better, “justice for Palestine” is, if not the absolute majority view, at least the majority view among those who have a view. For our arts faculties are divided between those who condemn Israel, and those who don’t view the Arab-Israeli conflict as a topic of particular interest.

Those who might support Israel publicly, condemn Palestinian terrorism or present a straightforward factual history of the Arab-Israeli conflict are strikingly absent because they were never hired in the first place. Academic supporters of Palestine strenuously object to the hiring of Zionists (supporters of a Jewish homeland in Israel). But the reverse is not true: those few who support Israel generally object only to outright anti-Semitism, not to candidates who merely express support for Palestine.

A member of Palestine Action Group Sydney holds a Palestinian flag during a rally against Israeli occupation of Palestine in Sydney.
A member of Palestine Action Group Sydney holds a Palestinian flag during a rally against Israeli occupation of Palestine in Sydney.
What’s true of hiring is also true at the beginning of the pipeline. Pro-Palestinian activist professors often will not give a fair reading to class papers that oppose their view. They won’t take on honours students who support Israel, or supervise PhD projects that expose Palestinian crimes. It is near-impossible for a committed Zionist to get on the academic ladder, never mind get an academic job.

As a result, there are two camps in arts academe: committed activists who condemn Israel for supposedly calling down on itself terrorist atrocities such as the October 7 attacks, and people who steer clear of the entire region. Academic freedom protects the first group. The second just keeps their heads down and let the BDS crowd run the asylum.

Salvatore Babones is a University of Sydney associate professor.

I have mentioned before that I met Guterres on two occasions late 90’s, early 2000’s.

He is a caricature.

Extreme case of little man complex.
Castllian level haughty.
Perhaps more than any one I have encountered, he oozes contempt.

I recall the French Defence Minister at the time of East Timor saying that Portugese’ pride makes them impossible to deal with. Thst certainly desctibes our boy.

When he was rotating president of the EU, he announced that any nation not adopting EU environmental policies would be banned from trade and intercourse with the EU.
He was a nobody, but he used that arrogance to climb the extreme left international grifter ladder.

Sharan Burrow is a great fan.

Cassie – of course they get their news from the MSM because that’s where the news on Facebook and TikTok comes from. Even worse: the demotion of right wing media articles by those platforms, and by Google, means they only get left-wing MSM news.

Some black humour.

Leftwing Cancel Culture Devours Its Own, and the Cries for Help Are Pathetic (24 Oct, via Lucianne)

Amidst a rash of antisemitism emanating from the left following the deadly terrorist attack by Hamas on October 7th, those who championed cancel culture are now being devoured by it. Somewhat surprisingly, corporations have decided that championing the largest slaughter of Jews since the Holocaust is a bridge too far. Most would consider that a justified standard.

Yet, the same people who once lauded cancel culture as a necessary consequence are now demanding that conservatives come to their aid. Claims of hypocrisy are ringing out, claiming that because the right broadly opposed cancel culture, they should now go to bat for those who created it.
…
So let me get this straight. The far-left has spent the last decade creating a system whereby political wrong-think is swiftly punished, including using advertiser boycotts as a chief weapon to take down conservative outlets, but the moment the alligator starts eating the one feeding it, I’m supposed to care? And not doing so makes me a “hypocrite?”
…
Regardless, even if people being fired for their pro-Hamas views was a legitimate example of cancel culture, I still wouldn’t care. I’ll wear the title of hypocrite if I must because it’s far more important that the far left be made to play by their own rules. The worst-case scenario for everyone would be to have a society that cancels people on the right for ten-year-old tweets they’ve apologized for but doesn’t cancel people on the left for cheering on terrorists in the present day.

I don’t think this will red pill many lefties, but it’s schadenfreudian that they are getting cancelled because of their support for bloodthirsty Hamas jihadists.

it’s mostly snapchat and instagram, about half use tiktok. In my family the next generation seem to be mostly instagram users.

Thanks – Rosie. All the news feeds those platforms provide would be the same: from curated leftist MSM sources. Instagram is owned by Facebook, which is well known for censoring righty news. Snapchat partners with lefty MSM outlets CNN and NBC for news.

How Israel plans to avoid a Russia-style tank massacre in Gaza

Israel commanders say they have learned lessons after seeing Moscow lose thousands of vehicles in the war in Ukraine

Israel’s formidable Merkava main battle tanks will be prized targets for Hamas as they advance through the streets of Gaza.

The metal cages resemble the roof-mounted armour used by Russian and Ukrainian forces to prevent bombs being dropped often by small shop-bought drones through open hatches or onto weak points.

It’s time for Parliament to re-examine our terror laws

We must respond to the menace of Islamist extremism as a matter of urgency

TELEGRAPH VIEW

For many years, and certainly since the terror attacks in London in July 2005, there have been attempts to frame laws that balance the right to free expression against the threat that such latitude poses to the security of the nation or individuals within it.

Parliament needs to deal with the menace of Islamist extremism once and for all.

How mass migration could spread the Israel-Hamas war to Europe – Paywalled

A failure to integrate migrant communities from the Middle East has led to parallel societies.

James Crisp

Germany made a “grave mistake” in throwing open its borders to so many foreigners, Henry Kissinger said, after people celebrated Hamas’ terror attack on Israel in “painful” scenes on the streets of Berlin.

The former US Secretary of State, who fled Nazi Germany when he was a 15-year-old, said the scenes were “painful” to watch.

Kissinger’s intervention evoked long-standing European anxieties about “parallel societies” – a term for immigrant groups insulating themselves from their host country.

Now there are fears the Israeli-Hamas war will be fought out in the streets of Europe’s capitals, as well as in the Middle East.

“When I hear Muslim religious authorities speaking the language of interreligious conflict and explicitly stating that Europe is a party to this conflict, I feel that the storm clouds are looming,” said Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign policy chief last week.

“Europe doesn’t want to import the Middle East conflict more than it already has,” said Claude Moniquet, president of the European Strategic Intelligence and Security Centre think tank in Brussels. “And it is crystal clear that if we take more than a few hundred people, we will import the conflict.”

So what are the risks?

Germany

No other European country has taken in as many migrants as Germany, which once prided itself on its Willkommenskultur, or welcoming culture.

In June, there were scenes of jubilation in German streets after Erdogan’s election, which reawakened concern about Berlin’s long-running failure to integrate the guest workers.

France

“We’re all Frenchmen and Frenchwomen, we mustn’t import this conflict,” warned Macron after hostilities broke out in the Middle East.

He has vowed not to accept a single migrant landing on the Italian island of Lampedusa in France. Darmanin lamented a “jihadist atmosphere” in France after the latest terrorist outrage.

Britain

The UK’s head of the Commission for Countering Extremism last week warned that pro-Palestinian demonstrations in London were stirred up by a “sophisticated” Iranian and Hamas network operating within Britain.

“I don’t want to be too dramatic. But I’m not sure in the circumstances the Jewish people could continue to live in Europe securely if governments do not wake up.”

Any recommendations for non-woke subscription news? I’m leaning towards the spectator…All the lame streams are dead to me.

Nice detail in the Knight cartoon- all the fashionistas are trout-mouthed clones.

Re https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2023/10/21/israel-gaza-tank-massacre-russia/ above

Interesting to watch the 7 Min 31 Sec Video below this comment

@lost_armour guys made great job identifying and geolocating all armoured losses for september/october in Rabotino-Verbove area. You can see how Ukrainian assault progressed, and ended. @lost_armour

on https://askeptic.substack.com/p/russia-ukraine-reports-2023-10-24

I would assume Militaries of all Countries are watching these videos on Telegram & Substack sites

shit-holestan

Things will improve when the administrators are appointed. The place is near broke. I hear the sounds of a fiddle wafting out from our parliament.

Albrechtsen is the best commentator on legal issues writing in Australia today.

The fact she has so much to write about is sad.

Emmer Drops Out Of House Speaker Race After Trump Calls ‘RINO’, Supporters Bail

Bennett skewered that BBC chick.

She thought that talking about “hostages” (read…bargaining chips) was going to cut it as far as covering both sides. This is what the media snakes imagine is “balance” when doing a clearly hostile interview.

She avoided the atrocities of Oct 7 like the plague – it would never further her poor little Gaza narrative, in fact it would make what Israel is doing appear fair and reasonable. And restrained, because they are allowing the civilian population to leave before going through the place like a dose of salts.

And she would never touch the idea that Hamas was using those civilians on both sides as human shields and blackmail. Oh no.

The BBC is a bigger, superficially more sophisticated ABC. And there it ends. Like most “sophisticates” of an evil bent, their cruelty is more exquisite and refined but the result is the same. Promotion and protection of the killers and dismissal of the injured and innocent. And they get to cloak it in edumacated, modulated tones of self righteousness.

Bushfire defenses for homes.

Perhaps something worthwhile, based on something I heard on the radio. They’ve created an app to help you assess your home for bushfire risk.

Probably teaching you how to suck eggs for the most part, but may be worthwhile for some.

https://resiliencerating.org/

Won’t do the whole article. I predict a suspension AFTER the final. Which isn’t suspension at all. Just carte blanche to do it again.

To be fair New Zealand has had 16 players on the field recently.

“It was a grave mistake to let in so many people of totally different cultures and religions and concepts because it creates a pressure group inside each country,” the 100-year-old said.

Correct, it should be perfectly clear by now that whilst multi-racial societies *can* work, they can only do so if they are mono *cultural*. I dont care if you look different to me, I do care if you have a different set of beliefs that cause conflict with me.

Erm…I’ve read Putin’s Valdai speech; Klaus doesn’t get a mention, nor does the topic of assassinating globalists more generally.

Right. So the Zero Hedge weirdo has wet dreams about murdering people who disagree with him.

“I can murder people who disagree with me”

Dude is a psychopath.

Yes he is. In all likelihood so is Schwab, as for his Israeli sidekick that wants to depopulate the planet. If not psychopaths then definitely something else from the cluster B menu.

Dan may have gone, but Danistan remains:

A rock climber was threatened with a $346,000 fine under cultural heritage laws after visiting one of Australia’s most iconic destinations.

Investigator Adam Green, who works within the Department of Premier and Cabinet, left a letter at the climber’s property after visiting twice.

Daily Mail

Duk

Mensies leave
Repro loss leave
Transitioning leave
Unpaid maternity leave
Repro loss PTSD leave
Family medical leave
Bereavement leave
Paid maternity leave
Annual leave
Personal leave
Public holidays

Considering we have gender quotas, this means we are already paying a Bachelor Tax. Smart women can absolutely game this.

I predict a gender based subsidy in superannuation. The issue continues to be pushed; despite generous state supplemental income for retirees (largely paid for by men) and spousal inheritance, although these important factors are conveniently ignored.

Leave arrangements are more of a threat to successful HRM than WFH could ever be.

Australian Labor Weasel AlboSleezy Strikes Again – Backbone of Jelly

Albanese cool on French call for international coalition to fight Hamas

His comments came after French President Emmanuel Macron raised the idea of extending an international coalition that is fighting Islamic State in Iraq and Syria and turning it against the Palestinian terrorist group in Gaza.

Macron made the remarks while standing alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem but gave no details of the way the coalition might work.

While Australia is a member of the international coalition against IS, Albanese responded with caution when asked about the French proposal at a press conference in front of the White House during his four-day visit to the US capital.

“It is important, and certainly we agree with the United States,(As AnalAlbo bends over) that it’s important that we avoid spillover on this issue, which would be bad for Israel, bad for the region,” Albanese said.

“We want to see the people of Gaza have access to water and essentials. It’s really important that innocent civilians be provided with that support. And our priority as well is providing support for Australians who are wanting to leave.”

Victoria’s First Peoples-State Relations unit

Wonder if they get issued with warrants before they do a house visit.

Good luck proving that in a court of law.

In the alternative, good luck proving your innocence. Those songlines can be anywhere, even 250 nm offshore, from a headland you live 1000 km away from.

Canberra just get rid of it.Jumped up local council with officials who think they are first rate.

Roger
Oct 25, 2023 9:37 AM

Putin’s Valdai Speech: Multipolar Future Has Arrived and Russia is Here to Stay

According to Putin, globalists including Schwab and his close advisors are “legitimate military targets” because they have been actively attempting to seize power illegally via a globalist coup d’etat.”

Erm…I’ve read Putin’s Valdai speech; Klaus doesn’t get a mention, nor does the topic of assassinating globalists more generally.

WATCH AND READ IN FULL: Putin’s Valdai Discussion Club speech

The Russian president addressed a number of key issues including Ukraine, sanctions, Western hegemony, and Russia’s role on the international stage

Always check your primary sources, OO

Roger,

Correct – Mea Culpa, Mea Culpa, Mea Maxima Culpa

I gave up my Speccie subscription, not because it was offensive, but rather because it offers little in the way of actual news and, its always well written commentaries simply massaged my existing biases.

It is very often a case of “yeah, I know that”.

Zulu Kilo Two Alpha
Oct 25, 2023 10:26 AM

https://www.dark-emu-exposed.org/home/the-myth-of-65-thousand-years-the-genetic-dna-of-aboriginals

Interesting reading.

In the lead up to the Voice Referendum of 14 Oct 2023, one would have been hard pressed to have escaped the constant repetition of the statement that the Australian Aborigines have been in Australia for 60 thousand or 65 thousand years.

This would suggest that Aboriginals themselves do not know the year they came to Australia, but instead rely on Western science to answer the question.

Ah Jim, mate, never change.

Economic plan to help Aussies in face of global volatility (Paywallian)
JIM CHALMERS

Our highest priority remains the persistent inflationary pressures that are coming at us from around the globe and putting a strain on people here at home.

Pigs might fly too. Telling porkies like that too much and you won’t be able to show your face anywhere near Canterbury-Bankstown LCA.

‘Some of the audience whispered ”make it stop”. I leaned against a wall and cried’: Journalists who watched Israeli compilation of Hamas terror footage – including a young girl shot dead as she hid under a desk – reveal how it left them horrified

. Journalists told how their colleagues were left weeping – or retching – at footage
. They saw clip after clip of civilians being shot, stabbed, tortured and burned

These people just keep on hanging around like bad smells.

Arab powers must help shape Gaza’s future (Oz, 24 Oct, not paywalled)
By WILLIAM HAGUE

It’s otherworldly. You can read it if you like, but the only shape Gaza will be in is flat. The rubble bulldozed into a salted plain with nothing growing on it except wretched tents.

Starving Gazans ‘are going to start killing each other over food’, desperate residents warn as Israel pounds Hamas and Hezbollah in wave of new airstrikes

. Gaza residents warn of horrendous conditions under siege and bombardment
. But Israel refuses to end incessant bombing campaigns to ‘dismantle’ Hamas

Comments not kind to Gazans

– Well why isn’t Egypt letting more in?

And surrender.

In Chookhouse news:

New laws to enshrine Queensland’s exit from coal-fired power
[unlinkable OZ]

Annastacia Palaszczuk’s plan to dump coal-fired power by 2035 and reach a new renewables target of 80 per cent will be locked-in under laws introduced to state parliament on Tuesday.

Draft laws mandate public ownership of energy assets does not drop below 54 per cent and guarantees jobs for 900 workers at government-owned coal fired power stations during the transition to renewables.

The state’s $62bn energy plan, which Ms Palaszczuk has said is “concrete”, relies heavily on the proposed Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro project, which has not yet been subjected to detailed engineering and environmental investigations.

So, soundly based?

Government modelling of alternate options if Pioneer-Burdekin is not approved, includes battery storage which Energy Minister Mick de Brenni has said “presents a prohibitive cost and technology barrier”.

If the generation pipe dream fails, consider pipe dream storage. Obviously soundly based.

So, is this simply a landmine planted ahead of next year’s election?

“Those opposite are silent when it comes to what they are going to do when it comes to renewable energy, that test is coming,” she said.

“They will have the opportunity to vote on our plan when it is legislated in this Queensland parliament.”

Why, yes. Yes it is.

And will Team Chrisafulli stamp on it?

LNP Energy spokesman Pat Weir said the party had not decided whether it would vote in favour of the draft laws, and would make a decision after it is investigated by a parliamentary committee.

Probably.

For a great country, Australia is in a bad place governance-wise. Like turds in a swimming pool, the very worst and least desirable people bob to the top.