SWIFT REBUKE
The Saturday Paper ($) printed an op-ed that accused Taylor Swift of being the “sound of whiteness” and permitting individuals to embrace their white privilege, elevating some eyebrows on-line. Zambian-born Australian journalist Santilla Chingaipe stated Swift “refuses” to have interaction with social and political points, and must be writing about “the local weather emergency, being repeatedly failed by our political leaders, racial injustice, the raging conflicts”. Sky Information Australia famous Swift inspired individuals to vote within the 2018 mid-terms and spoke to Rolling Stone about racism and “repulsive” white supremacy. Social media responses to the op-ed ranged from “cringe” to accusations of “sexism”. In the meantime, the ABC reviews Airbnb hosts in Sydney are cancelling on Swift concertgoers forward of her four-show sold-out extravaganza this weekend. Some 75,000 individuals can be there every evening, and the Australian Resorts Affiliation says the harbour metropolis’s lodges can be 100% booked.
The SMH’s Waleed Aly is the most recent to put in writing about Swift-mania, saying her followers have an identical zeal to former US president Donald Trump’s supporters, although there’s “no enemy at a Taylor Swift live performance” besides possibly her exes and ex-manager. Each billionaires get you, Aly says, and is there actually such a factor as an moral billionaire, as SBS wonders? In the meantime, Swiftie dads are taking Australia by storm, The New Each day reviews, with one survey from Spotify suggesting the proportion is 29% of all fathers. Collingwood star Jack Crisp is considered one of them, and says dads ought to embrace it as a result of Swift is an effective position mannequin. Talking of the footy (and to complete on one thing rather less sugary) WWE wrestler Grayson Waller says he desires to wrestle “dumb Aussie journos” after his tag workforce accomplice Austin Idea threatened to “smack the shit” out of The West ($) editor Anthony De Ceglie for calling wrestling “faux” and never as “exhausting” as AFL or NRL.
WAR AND PEACE
Division of International Affairs and Commerce (DFAT) officers instructed International Affairs Minister Penny Wong that “it could be open to us to vote sure this time” earlier than we first voted for a direct ceasefire in Gaza on the UN normal meeting in December, Guardian Australia reviews. A doc the paper noticed confirmed two causes: the “unprecedented disaster on the bottom” and the “shifting positions” of allies (it stated the sure voters would improve from the prior movement’s 120 complete they usually did — to 153). It wasn’t an excellent movement as a result of it didn’t condemn Hamas’ October 7 assault, so DFAT stated we might help an modification doing so, although we knew it’d in all probability fail. It did. It comes as Sky Information Australia’s Sharri Markson went by way of the Twitter likes of a Palestinian granted an Australian visa to attempt to discover a story.
In the meantime, some Jewish creatives doxxed by pro-Palestine activists instructed The Australian ($) they’ve obtained dying threats and swastikas, had their households harassed, and been referred to as a “most cancers” in on-line hate mail. One instructed the paper she might see how the Holocaust occurred now, whereas a number of others stated most within the group have been “progressive”, “needed peace”, and “empathised” with Palestinians. Based on the purported group chat log, some within the group petitioned ABC administration about Antoinette Lattouf who was later sacked (she alleges unlawfully) as SMH reported, whereas The Dialog says some focused pro-Palestinian literary journal Overland and its co-editors Jonathan Dunk and Evelyn Araluen by encouraging complaints to Deakin Uni the place they work. Guardian Australia added that some inspired others to contact author Clementine Ford’s e-book writer too. There have been 600 members within the group.
VOICING CONCERN
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers please notice that this text mentions a deceased particular person.
The organisation behind a Voice to Parliament’s “No” marketing campaign is spending extra on political adverts in Dunkley than the Liberals, Guardian Australia reviews ($25,000 vs $20,600). The dying of Labor MP Peta Murphy sparked the by-election, and the federal government is fairly certain it received’t flip blue. However Advance has rolling billboards within the citizens urging voters to place Labor final, has plans to hammer letterboxes with anti-Labor flyers, ran full-page adverts in Victorian newspapers about asylum seekers, and is focusing on Dunkley with social media adverts. Earlier this month, Crikey reported that Advance’s Fb web page in the course of the referendum, Referendum Information, rebranded to Election Information and is posting Dunkley content material.
Talking of the Voice — former human rights commissioner Mick Gooda says he’s “indignant with the Sure facet” over the outcome, The Australian ($) reviews, as a result of nothing’s modified 4 months on. Or nothing good — emboldened Victorian and Queensland state oppositions deserted their help for Treaty, as SBS reported. Gooda acknowledged the Shut The Hole assertion from PM Anthony Albanese however stated he couldn’t see a “narrative” or “imaginative and prescient” of the place to go from right here. Gooda additionally wished Labor pursued a bipartisan method by legislating the advisory physique, however Albanese stated nobody within the referendum working group (21 Indigenous leaders) instructed him to. It comes because the inquest into the deadly police taking pictures of Indigenous teenager Kumanjayi Walker started once more yesterday, The Nationwide Indigenous Instances reviews. The previous officer in cost was proven a textual content message to Zachary Rolfe, who shot Walker thrice, that referred to a “racist time period”.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE
The thieves crept in the direction of the publish workplace in San Giovanni at nighttime, coming to a sudden halt when their ring chief did. Do you will have the important thing, Italo “The German” De Witt requested considered one of his guys, who nodded again apprehensively. He’d had a few them drill holes into partitions in the course of the gang’s prior heists, however this was higher. Cleaner, De Witt thought to himself approvingly. Silently sliding it into the door, the gang stormed as much as a workers member loading an ATM with thick wads of euros. The staffer froze, then put their fingers up, little question considering “I’m undoubtedly not paid sufficient to attempt to cease this”. The group packed €200,000 into backpacks and fled in minutes. It was so profitable that they began planning one other theft — nevertheless it was scrapped when one of many guys had incontinence and wanted a prostate examination.
In spite of everything, they have been a bunch of grandparent-aged Italians starting from 66 to 75 years of age. They’d been having fun with a dream run of heists in publish workplaces throughout Italy, which got here to a fairly spectacular finish when a botched housebreaking within the Don Bosco area was caught on digicam. Six individuals have been arrested, together with De Witt, who was already notorious for a fairly subtle heist of a financial institution close to Rome’s Spanish Steps within the mid-90s, as The Guardian tells it. He walked away with a cool 210 million lira, or about $10 million, a fortune now however much more so then. When the group of alleged ageing thieves have been introduced into Rome’s police station in cuffs, there have been quite a lot of smiles and nods exchanged with the cops. In spite of everything, the group have been “outdated acquaintances” of Rome’s police, La Repubblica stated.
Hoping you by no means really feel too outdated for something, and have a restful weekend.
SAY WHAT?
First off, for fellas, no flossing in mattress, toenail clipping, belching or passing wind. Ever. I believe we gals must also chorus from asking a accomplice to pluck our chin hairs.
Kathy Lette
The SMH columnist says the one issues worse than celibacy are hepatitis and dying, however for too many {couples} “‘speaking soiled in mattress’ entails a complain in regards to the mud build up on the skirting boards”.
CRIKEY RECAP
“Swift is basically the final pop star of a sure sort, the omega level of wall-of-sound, lady teams, doo-wop, country-pop, power-pop, alt-pop, pop-punk and each different variant. Does her totalising success reinscribe a white mythology in a approach that leaves black music nothing else to be however the ‘darkish different’, extra thrilling and harmful, but additionally supplemental and secondary?
“The traditional moon goddesses would ultimately turn out to be Artemis/Artemisia within the Greek/Roman pantheon, the white gentle of everlasting girlhood, chaste and chased, however by no means caught (in contrast to the mighty Aphrodite who was, let’s face it, a bit simple).”
“Competitors has all the time been the poor cousin of financial policymaking within the neoliberal period. Competitors is the deadly flaw within the in any other case excellent idea of neoliberal financial reform. Neoliberalism espouses competitors for all — staff, firms, nations.
“However firms, meant to be on the forefront of competitors, reflexively sought, efficiently, to cut back competitors for themselves — turning market reform into what I’ve referred to as the pressured switch of certainty from staff to firms.”
“However each should bow to the true grasp of political invisibility — Richard Marles. That is the deputy prime minister, as properly defence minister, overseeing among the largest spending within the historical past of the nation within the type of the AUKUS program.
“And in a ballot that — I can’t this stress sufficient — ‘canvasses the approval of key figures in federal politics’, the pollsters both didn’t suppose to ask, or the Fin didn’t suppose to say, how anybody thought he was doing.”
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Houthis order ‘ban’ on Israel, US and UK-linked ships within the Pink Sea (Al Jazeera)
Alexei Navalny: Putin critic’s mom says she has been proven his physique (BBC)
Google pauses AI-generated photos of individuals after ethnicity criticism (The Guardian)
Biden calls Putin a ‘loopy SOB’ and criticizes Trump’s Navalny feedback throughout fundraiser (CNN)
Nvidia races to $2 trillion mark as AI mania sparks Wall St tech rally (Reuters)
Albanian parliament approves controversial deal to carry migrants for Italy (euronews)
US examined allegations of cartel ties to allies of Mexico’s president (The New York Instances) ($)
THE COMMENTARIAT
Make no mistake, PM’s resolve is on the road over return of boat arrivals — Peta Credlin (The Australian) ($): “The final time Australia confronted a resurgence of unlawful boat arrivals I had a seat on the desk, and two issues have all the time caught in my thoughts from that point. The primary was the overall concern from officers that if the Abbott authorities didn’t cease the boats, because the Coalition had efficiently achieved within the Howard period, we might by no means be capable to cease them. The second reminiscence was strolling out of a gathering of the nationwide safety committee of cupboard — after those self same officers had congratulated themselves for a sustained interval of no boat arrivals — and considering to myself: you’re all the identical individuals who sat in there underneath Rudd and Gillard and couldn’t cease the boats.
“The one distinction between then and now was the change of politicians within the room and a primary minister with resolute dedication that he would cease at nothing to defeat the people-smugglers and restore Australia’s sovereignty. It was a profound lesson within the energy of resolve. We had it then, and underneath this present authorities it has gone lacking; that and fundamental ministerial competence. Unlawful migration is a scourge few nations appear ready or prepared to unravel. In 2013, after 50,000 individuals arrived by boat underneath Labor, the concern was the people-smuggling commerce was extra subtle than ever, the provision chain of susceptible individuals ever growing, and the usage of know-how made issues more difficult for regulation enforcement. As those that there on the time will attest, simply rolling out the outdated Howard-era measures, reminiscent of turnbacks, momentary safety visas and offshore processing weren’t sufficient.”
Unshackle immigration from Dwelling Affairs and provides it its personal division — Michelle Grattan (The Dialog): “However a ship (and even two — there was one other touchdown late final 12 months) doesn’t an armada make. Australian authorities would possibly have to raise their detection sport — little question they’re getting that message — however to this point there may be not proof of a brand new wave of individuals smuggling. Additional arrivals would change the dynamics however, within the absence of that, the opposition must be cautious of overreach, for a few causes. One is that it’s irresponsible, considering of Australia’s nationwide curiosity, to be in impact telling the individuals smugglers there are recent alternatives for them. Indicators are essential: for instance, there’s a suggestion final 12 months’s launch of the immigration detainees (within the wake of the Excessive Courtroom choice) fed into the individuals smugglers’ pitch.
“Secondly, the border challenge is unlikely to play as strongly with voters as of late. Kos Samaras of the RedBridge Group, a political consultancy that does common analysis, says: ‘The political warmth that was related to the politics of boat individuals within the early 2000s is all gone. I believe that we’re coping with a unique technology of politics now, and Australians usually simply don’t get all that nervous or involved about what kind of individuals will stumble onto our shores and stroll right into a city searching for meals’. With eyes firmly on their pockets, persons are prone to see extreme rhetoric about boats for what it’s, a scare tactic. The difficulty of boat arrivals must be distinguished from immigration, which is present in many individuals’s minds and associated to debates round housing and price of dwelling.”
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WHAT’S ON TODAY
Yuggera and Turrbal Nation (also referred to as Brisbane)
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The Planning Institute of Australia’s Phil Heywood will speak about his new e-book, Planning for Group, at Avid Reader bookshop,