Tanya Plibersek’s effective last-minute banning of the McPhillamys gold mine in regional NSW occupies much of the news. Apparently, secret Aboriginal business says no. To be clear, Ms Plibersek, in her practised supercilious manner, tells us that she has not banned the mine at all, just the tailings dam. This is echoed by Albanese and his disingenuous crew.

Reports earlier this year had suggested that cost blowouts might scupper the mine. But apparently it was due to go ahead. The rising price of gold no doubt helps.

It is hard to imagine that spending money and time choosing an alternative tailings site – if that is at all feasible – and the years trying to navigate regulatory hurdles will not finally deal a death blow to the project. It is also hard to imagine any large resource project attracting capital under Plibersek’s rules of the game. This of course has all been said. What is passed over to a large extent is the preparedness of government ministers to lie with a straight face.

Plibersek could have said that she appreciated, having discussed the matter with the company, that her decision on the tailings dam puts the project in jeopardy. She could have said that the likely loss of jobs, of shareholder returns and of state and federal government revenue was worth it when set against the protection of an Aboriginal heritage area.

Her decision would still have been mystifying and monumentally careless of Australia’s wellbeing, but she would not have hid behind a tall tale. What this episode shows is that she is unwilling to take accountability for her decision and is prepared to deceive the Australian people in order to save face. What could Albanese and his conga line of ministers do? No problem for them. Just repeat the deception. Spinning for a living is their recipe for winning. And that is all that counts.

Albanese spoke directly into the camera and said that the Gazan refugees were on temporary visas, knowing, as though we didn’t, that they could never be booted out. They were actually on tourist visas, which he hid also.

How do you engage with liars? Well, you can’t and retain your equilibrium; or even your sanity. Unbound by the truth, there are a legion of deceptive and capricious twists and turns they can take. It is the lingua franca of the father of lies. (John 8:44) To switch continents, imagine trying to pin down Kamala Harris? She is the personification of lies. A shape shifter, as Andrew Bolt put it.

You might say that politicians, particularly those on the left, have always lied. To a limited extent maybe, but not to this current level. I put it down to the corporate media. Taken over by callow left leaners (and by women who by nature are less inclined to simply stick to the facts), they have long since given away holding authority to account. Now they only hold conservatives to account while buddying up to their left-leaning political mates. A plug: a forthcoming new book of essays Against the Corporate Media. I am in it. Still worth a read.