Statements from ALP MPs “speaking out” over the Federal Government’s gas policy are strikingly similar, suggesting a behind-the-scenes government strategy to limit the fall out in urban seats. #AusPol https://theklaxon.com.au/blindsided-by-pm-its-a-gas/
Vincent Namatjira is in the news again because Gina Rinehart is a truly awful person.
I think his painting is a pretty good likeness. It's recognisable to the point of being iconic. It captures her disdain for Black people perfectly, just as his painting of Tony Abbott captured the fake smile and witless eyes of our former Prime Minister.
I want to congratulate the ABC journalist who appears to have found the reference photo used by the artist, Vincent Namatjira, and put the photo side-by-side with the painting.
Compare them.
Before you say "This painting is not a good likeness" or "The artist is trying to make her look ugly", look at both images.
Now, look at the shit Gina Rinehart has done to the land with her resource extraction while making herself one of the richest people in the world with an estimated wealth of $30 billion.
And, look at Gina Rinehart's refusal to separate herself from her father's appallingly racist words.
Here's a sample:
"Nothing should be sacred from mining whether it’s your ground, my ground, the Blackfella's ground or anybody else’s. So the question of Aboriginal land rights and things of this nature shouldn’t exist."
And:
"[Aboriginal people] that have been assimilated into, you know, earning good living or earning wages amongst the civilised areas, those that have been accepted into society and they have accepted society and can handle society, I’d leave them well alone.
The ones that are no good to themselves and can’t accept things, the half-castes - and this is where most of the trouble comes - I would dope the water up so that they were sterile and would breed themselves out in future and that would solve the problem."
On housing, Peter Dutton is attempting to divert us into a conversation about immigration so that we turn on each other. Let's not do that. What we need to do is get all the state & territory housing waiting lists down. Let's get people out of cars/tents & into a place. #auspol
“We will not be intimidated, especially when we are trying to stop a genocide,” he told the house.
“Any time police officers resort to the use of force against non-violent protesters, they violate these principles and undermine the consent and respect necessary for the police to do their job.”
Right-wing Australian billionaire and money-bag climate change denier Gina Reinhart apparently doesn't want people to see her portrait by the Indigenous artist Vincent Namatjira in the National Gallery.
Crossbenchers and Bridget Archer call for David McBride to be pardoned.
A group of 29 federal crossbenchers and Tasmanian Liberal MP Bridget Archer have written a letter to the Albanese government calling for it to request a full #pardon for jailed military lawyer #DavidMcBride.
On Tuesday, McBride was sentenced to prison for five years and eight months for taking classified defence documents about the war in Afghanistan from his former employer, the Australian defence force, and leaking them to ABC journalists.
The documents formed the basis for the ABC investigative series, The Afghan Files, which revealed #warcrimes committed by Australian soldiers. McBride will serve at least two years and three months in a Canberra jail as part of his non-parole period.
The letter, sent on Thursday, urges the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, to advise the governor-general to grant McBride a full pardon to “end this injustice”.
“In 2020, prime minister, you told media outlet Crikey, in relation to the Collaery prosecution, ‘the idea that there should be a prosecution of a whistleblower, for what’s a shameful part of Australia’s history, is simply wrong’. It is equally shameful that the first person imprisoned in relation to Australia’s war crimes in Afghanistan is not a war criminal but the source of the Afghan Files reporting, journalism that was undeniably in the public interest.”
The letter also calls for the prosecution of former tax employee, #RichardBoyle, to end. Boyle spoke out internally, then to an independent watchdog and then to the media in 2018 about the Australian Taxation Office’s aggressive pursuit of tax debts from small businesses, which he said was destroying lives and causing unnecessary trauma to help the agency meet revenue goals.
Boyle is awaiting an appeal decision about whether he can use federal #whistleblower protection laws to gain immunity from his charges.
The group is also calling for Labor to commit to overhauling #whistleblowing laws this term, including work to establish a whistleblower #protection commission by next year. #auspol
"But I am entitled to make decisions in my personal life including selling a property that I own because I wish to move on in my personal life in a different direction. The property was bought when my personal circumstances were different."
Let's remember that part of that change in his 'personal circumstances' is his move into publicly-funded supported accommodation, and that he has already sold, at a massive profit, another property in Canberra which was paid for with his parliamentary travel allowance
Sydney council reverses ban on same-sex parenting books after fiery meeting
Good.
"Hate is not a family value." Hmmm… I like that. Neither is bigotry.
Also note that the Maritime Union of Australia came out and supported rescinding the book ban. And thanks go to them. Perhaps a reminder for everyone to join a union.
"Former military lawyer David McBride sentenced to almost six years in jail for sharing classified information with journalists.
"The material released by McBride was used in the Australian ABC's The Afghan Files story, which revealed allegations that Australian soldiers were involved in illegal killings."