“Looking back, Morrison’s vision for the country was already forming. He knew there were certain people you could blame for their own deaths. He knew the difference between us and them. He knew the usefulness of cruelty.” #Auspol#TheSaturdayPaper#ScottMorrison#WorstPMEver#LNPCrimeFamily
#USPolitics#SociologyOfReligion
I worry a lot about the persistence of Christian Fascism in the US. There's been some coverage of the scholarship on white Christian Nationalism in the mainstream press, but Evangelical support for Trump is rarely framed as a form of American Fascism. That's a problem. /1
@brooklynsoc Yes, yes, yes and yes. And it is having knock-on effects in conservative evangelicalism around the world. Or perhaps better: there is an international ecosystem of (esp white) conservative evangelicalism in which there's an increasingly open embrace of unashamed #authoritarianism. Only in some places has it reached such an advanced stage as in the US (e.g. evangelical support for the fascist #Bolsonaro in #Brazil), but the open embrace of #Trumpism by white evangelicals in the US is not an isolated phenomenon.
For instance, #ScottMorrison, #Australia's PM from 2018–2022, was elected with strong support from white evangelicals (and identifies as such, which has been very unusual in #Auspol). Morrison recently published his memoirs with a foreword by #MikePence. While they were both in office, Morrison never criticised Trump, and displayed a number of similar political leanings (albeit somewhat more constrained by Australia's Westminster parliamentary system). In recent years, many White conservative evangelical leaders in Australia have increasingly focused their public agenda on a similar constellation of #CultureWar issues as their US counterparts. This is more pronounced than it used to be.
It's a mystery why Scotty From Marketing didn't resign from politics on the evening or the morning after he lost the 2022 Federal election. Some have speculated that he hung around like a bad smell to piss-off Peter Dutton (I have to admit, I'd give the idea serious consideration), or that he would attempt a comeback spill. I think the reality is that he wanted to maintain his political profile internationally and keep collecting Parliamentary perks while trying to line-up a new job in corporate life. But, this never eventuated. It's traditional for ex-politicians, especially ex-LNP-politicians to benefit from nepotism and be handed positions on one or more company boards. But, Scotty has no friends.
What is Australia's fair share when it comes to financing the necessary climate transition?
In a headline today, the Australian government has pledged AU$150m in #ClimateFinance for Pacific nations.
Good news, right? Isn't this PM Anthony #Albanese "ending the #ClimateWars" by actually doing what #Australia ought to have done years ago? Let's consider that assumption.
Back in 2009 at the much hyped, but ultimately deeply disappointing international climate negotiations in #Copenhagen known as #COP15, one step forward that was agreed, even as more comprehensive or ambitious agreements slipped away was that the wealthy nations of the world (including #Australia) collectively pledged to be providing US$100b each year to help the poorer nations transition away from #FossilFuels (#ClimateMitigation) and develop in ways that help societies adapt to the warming that cannot be mitigated (#ClimateAdaptation).
1/8
When the #GreenClimateFund was being established, Australia's Prime Minister was #TonyAbbott, a #ClimateDenier, who had won the 2013 federal election promising to dismantle the baby steps towards a #ClimatePolicy the previous #Labor government had made.
So there was little surprise when PM Abbott announced in Nov 2013 that #Australia would be contributing a massive sum of $0 to the Green Climate Fund.
At the time, he claimed Australia would chip in AU$200m (then =USD$187m) over four years, but since this was merely a rebranding of existing #ForeignAid, it clearly didn't count as "new and additional funding", a fact that most journalists blithely ignored, falling for the bait-and-switch. Or we might say instead that the Australian government was overstating its foreign aid commitments by $200m over those years.
Nonetheless, the four years were soon gone, as was Tony Abbott, as well as his successor #MalcolmTurnbull, who in turn had been replaced as PM by #ScottMorrison. When it came time to pledge again in 2018, Morrison announced Australia would be pulling out of the Green Climate Fund entirely, a path also taken by the #Trump administration at the time, whom Morrison was often cribbing notes from when it came to what kinds of #cruelty and #selfishness he could get away with.
5/8
Australia has a dose of ‘long Morrison’, and it’s nothing to sneeze at https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/australia-has-a-dose-of-long-morrison-and-it-s-nothing-to-sneeze-at-20230802-p5dtbz.html
COVID-19 may be receding in the memory but Australia can’t seem to shake off “long Morrison”, the lingering effects of a prime ministership widely deemed to have had a pestilential effect on the country’s body politic. Since his departure from office 14 months ago, we have witnessed the emergence of a number of variants.
I have provided to you an additional chapter which has not been included in the bound report and is sealed. It recommends the referrals of individuals for civil action or criminal prosecution. I recommend this additional Chapter remain sealed and not be tabled with the rest of the report so as to not prejudice the conduct of any future civil action or criminal prosecution.
Bill Shorten is rightfully furious at Scott Morrison and the public servants who orchestrated RoboDebt, and he's not in a mood to pull his punches:
The previous government and senior public servants gaslighted the nation and its citizens for 4.5 years. They betrayed the trust of the nation and its citizens for 4.5 years with an unlawful scheme which the Federal Court has called the worst chapter of public administration.
It has broken the sacred trust, that when citizens give some of their power to the Government, that the Government will make sure that it helps, not hurt, citizens. This is a report that shows how the previous government and senior public servants hurt, not helped, citizens.
Lidia Thorpe in the Senate accuses Liberal David Van of sexual assault, but later withdraws comments https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-06-14/lidia-thorpe-senate-accuses-david-van-sexual-assault/102480086
Senator Lidia Thorpe has used parliamentary privilege to accuse a Liberal senator of sexual assault, but later withdrew the remarks.
Lidia Thorpe said then Prime Minister Scott Morrison relocated Liberal David Van’s office after he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
We should listen to women if they make a claim of sexual assault, and we should believe them.
I'm not going to speculate on why Lidia Thorpe withdrew her comment from parliament, but think it's safe to say there will be more news to come.
I think Amanda Stoker's allegations are consistent with Lidia Thorpe's allegations. It sounds awfully like David Van is a serial sexual abuser.
It makes you wonder who else in the Liberal Party knew what happened and did little to disclose it. Who was the "senior female colleague" Stoker reported the alleged behaviour to? Did some people high-up in the Liberal Party "close ranks" to protect David Van? And, since Lidia Thorpe and Amanda Stoker have spoken-up, will any more victims come forward?