Australian Politics
Deformed pets, three-eyed fish and even Lara Bingle in a bikini: Anthony Albanese's anti-nuclear power campaign is an insult to Aussie voters
It's taken less than 24 hours for the childish scare campaign around Peter Dutton's nuclear energy policy to flood social media.
I'm not talking about posts by the average user. Federal and state Labor leaders and the union movement quickly began posting improbable and downright ridiculous ways to try and undermine nuclear power.
Deformed pets, references to The Simpsons, toxic spills causing three-eyed fish and images suggesting the sites might be located near iconic natural wonders such as Victoria's Twelve Apostles were just some of the immature games being played by parliamentarians.
I did say yesterday that the mother of all scare campaigns would soon start but I didn't think it would be quite this pathetic.
It isn't as though there aren't serious problems with Dutton's announcement - I'll come to those shortly.
Victoria's new premier Jacinta Allan, no less, posted mocked up images of three-eyed cartoon fish leaping out of the water in Gippsland, writing: 'The Liberal Party want a toxic and expensive nuclear reactor in Gippsland.'
Anthony Albanese's contribution wasn't much better: 'Instead of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, this is Peter Dutton and the seven nuclear reactors'.
I wonder how long it took the PM's taxpayer funded team of 11 media advisers to come up with that one. Or did Albo proudly think it up all on his own?
Seizing upon The Simpsons theme, Victorian federal MP Josh Burns tweeted images of nuclear reactors with the Liberal Party logo on them, writing 'under Peter Dutton Australians will glow green'.
Clever stuff.
At 62 years of age Labor MP for the Victorian seat of Corangamite, Libby Cocker, wasn't too mature to take a similar dig, days before Dutton's announcement.
The federal Victorian MP riffed off the 'where the bloody hell are you' tourism campaign of yesteryear spearheaded by Lara Bingle.
Cocker, who was a school teacher before entering politics, tweeted a mock up of a bikini-clad Bingle standing in front of the 12 Apostles on the Victorian coastline with three nuclear reactors billowing smoke behind her.
The Australian Manufacturing Workers Union shared an image of a Chernobyl-style dystopia
The Australian union movements official X page posted an image of a deformed something or another, it was hard to tell, above the headline 'this will be your family dog'.
Scare campaigns are rarely rooted in accuracy, and that is a bipartisan problem. But they are rarely this childish in nature.
It will be interesting to see if these callow MPs and vested interests continue to act this way, or sharpen up their attacks in the weeks and months ahead.
History tells us that scare campaigns work, especially against big bold policy ideas raised by Oppositions. But do they work when they are this low brow?
As mentioned earlier on, if anyone wants to seriously critique Dutton's policy there is plenty to dig into without having to resort to juvenile antics.
For example, Dutton says he plans to use existing coal fired power sites and the government will pay for and own the operations. But most of the private owners of these sites have already ruled out relinquishing them to a Coalition government, and they weren't consulted before the policy was announced.
Most of the sites Dutton has announced are in states that have legislatively banned nuclear power, and a number of these Premiers have already ruled out changing that.
The policy hasn't been costed, much less modelled to ascertain what taxpayers might be up for if or when construction was to begin.
We don't even know who the Coalition engaged to produce this policy. Is it rooted in any scholarly research beyond a superficial thought bubble announcement?
We're also still in the dark about which types of nuclear reactors the Opposition is proposing to build: the new smaller modules or the more established larger varieties used in other parts of the world? It is a pretty basic choice not to be included in a major policy announcement.
So yes, there are serious questions for serious people to raise requiring serious answers before Team Dutton can expect Australians to get behind his proposal.
Unfortunately the Labor government and its union mates seem largely incapable of reaching high and properly challenging the policy announcement.
Instead they choose to play in the sandpit on social media.
No wonder the public has such a dim view of the political class.
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Why these Victorian Country Fire Authority volunteer firefighters have vowed to let blazes burn around new renewable power plants and transmission lines
People don't like being ignored by the elites. The "Voice" referendum showed the gap between the elites and most others
Volunteer firefighters in Victoria's central north are so opposed to renewable power plants and transmission lines in their area they will let fires burn around them rather than tackle the blazes.
Captains from five brigades wrote to the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and the state government to say they are not prepared to fight fires near or involving infrastructure such as the Victoria to New South Wales Interconnector (VNI West).
VNI West is a planned transmission line that would run for hundreds of kilometres through Victorian farmland, leading to angry protests from farmers who say they do not want it on their land.
The line is planned for 'over the top of dry land farming area, where we have a six month fire danger period,' Gre Gre Village CFA Brigade captain Peter Knights told Daily Mail Australia.
'It gets very dry and hot and we have fairly significant fire events, and it places a barrier to us being able to attack or fight any running grass fires because we can't move under the transmission lines because of the smoke being conductive.
'And it runs the risk of what we call a flash over, where the electricity at a high voltage will arch to the ground, and if you're underneath it, it will kill you.'
Mr Knights and his fellow firefighters also object to the VNI West due to the economic value of the land it is planned to run across.
'They're placing this transmission line and also placing a renewable energy zone over the top of some of the best grain growing and livestock producing country,' he said.
'That renewable energy zone shouldn't be over productive farmland.'
As well as volunteers from CFA Brigades in Gre Gre Village, Traynors Lagoon, Gooroc, Callawadda and Wallaloo East, the group claimed it had also 'received commitments from a further 19 impacted brigades'.
In a statement, the group said it is also 'looking to add the support of many more either in joining our proposed action or taking their own variation of action'.
'We see the imposition of all this infrastructure and our requirement to then protect that asset that's been imposed on us, (that it) will divide our communities,' Mr Knights said.
He denied that the group is driven by an anti-renewables agenda, saying VNI West is being put 'through the wrong area and it's imposing extra risk'.
'There's no political alignment with this group, but there will be political persuasions or thoughts within the individual members.
'We're not saying that we're pro-nuclear or pro-coal, but we're certainly saying renewables in the wrong spot is a bad idea and it's really been imposed on us without proper consultation.'
Mr Knights said, however, that using renewable energy is 'only a short term solution. We're putting wind turbines up which have a 25 year life ... what's after that?'
He denied that the group is funded by any fossil fuel backers.
'We're five very small fire brigades of locals and our budget is all self-funded, because it's not costing us much to put a hand up and say we're not turning out.'
The aim of the group is to get 'at least a genuine discussion around what's expected of volunteers and the impact on communities where these things are placed'.
Mr Knights said their campaign is also about ensuring the areas where the VNI West is proposed to go through are protected and can attract people to live there in future.
'You're looking to perpetuate your area as a good place to be and it's pretty hard if no one wants to live there because there's a tick, tick, tick of a wind tower over your head, or it's just a totally different place to be than what it's been,' he said.
CFA's deputy chief officer Brett Boatman said they are working with 'members on issues around fighting fires near transmission lines and renewable energy resources such as solar farms and battery energy storage solutions'.
'The concerns from our CFA members has been heard and we are working with them to ensure the right information is out there,' Mr Boatman told Daily Mail Australia.
'CFA acknowledges the concerns of the community and respects our members' rights to engage in matters relevant to their local communities.'
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Labor steps in to break up 'dysfunctional' CFMEU
One of Australia's largest unions could soon split after the federal government waded into a stoush between the AFL and the union's leaders.
A proposed demerger bill would allow the manufacturing division of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) to split from the broader organisation if supported by a vote.
This comes as the union's Victorian secretary John Setka piles pressure on the AFL to fire its chief umpire.
The 59-year-old has criticised the AFL for hiring Stephen McBurney, the former head of the now-defunct industrial watchdog the Australian Building and Construction Commission.
Mr Setka, who stands down later this year, threatened to delay work on AFL construction sites if the sport failed to give in to his demands and sack Mr McBurney.
"The status quo is dysfunctional and cannot continue," he said.
"We will provide the opportunity for members of the manufacturing division to vote on their future.
"The members in the manufacturing division include workers in largely feminised industries like textiles - and it's not hard to see why those members might want to leave," Mr Burke said.
Independent Senator Jacqui Lambie has previously called for textile, footwear and clothing workers to be able to hold a secret ballot to vote to leave the CFMEU, saying they deserved "freedom" from Mr Setka.
The CFMEU Manufacturing Division national secretary Michael O'Connor welcomed the opportunity.
"The government is doing the right thing, they have listened to us and are respecting the good judgment of our members," he said.
"We thank Senator Lambie and Minister Burke who are backing us in to give our members an opportunity for a brighter future outside of the CFMEU and a more respected and active role in the labour movement, free from the shackles of the dysfunctional CFMEU."
But the union's national body said the federal government should not be intervening in determining union coverage, "which poses a huge risk of leaving workers worse off".
"Using legislation to decide on union coverage would set an incredibly dangerous precedent a future anti-worker government could use to trample on workers' rights," said CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith.
"The government needs to scrap this plan and show it respects the very clear rules around union amalgamations that have been backed in by the Federal Court."
Mr Setka has been involved in a string of workplace controversies and a public breakdown of his marriage to Emma Walters in his decade at the helm of the Victoria and Tasmania CFMEU.
The union boss was expelled from the Labor Party in 2019 over accusations he told colleagues that anti-family violence campaigner Rosie Batty's advocacy had led to men having fewer rights.
He has rejected the allegations.
Mr Smith said Mr Setka would leave the CFMEU with an "enormous legacy" of making members' lives better and had recently delivered a 21 per cent pay rise for construction workers in Victoria.
Mining union members of the CFMEU voted to split from the union in 2023.
https://au.news.yahoo.com/dysfunctional-cfmeu-faces-split-afl-224941004.html
******************************************************Victoria Police gives job of hunting down anti-Semitic vandals to local cops
Victoria Police is still treating a spate of anti-Semitic attacks on electorate offices throughout Melbourne as individual investigations led by local cops, as raids escalate, with vandals setting fire to the inner seaside St Kilda shopfront of Jewish MP Josh Burns.
Six vandals attacked the Labor MP’s electorate office around 3.20am on Wednesday, lighting two fires, smashing windows, spraying red paint and daubing the slogan “Zionism is fascism” on Mr Burns’s photo.
Despite pro-Palestinian vandals attacking up to a dozen federal and state electorate offices in the wake of the October 7 terror attacks on Israel, Victoria Police confirmed it was yet to call in or establish a dedicated taskforce to lead the investigation.
Asked by The Australian whether it could confirm how many attacks on electorate offices were being investigated, how many arrests and charges had been laid and whether calling in a specialist taskforce was being considered, Victoria Police said: “These incidents are investigated by local crime investigation units; we do not have overall stats.”
Asked specifically about May’s vandalism of former opposition leader Bill Shorten’s office in Moonee Ponds, Victoria Police said: “There’s no update on this incident; the investigation remains ongoing.”
Mr Burns, the Labor MP for the heavily Jewish electorate of Macnamara, has described the attack as dangerous. Police have confirmed the vandals set fire to two telecommunications pits and the facade of the electorate office.
“It was clearly politically motivated by having the graffiti on the outside of the office. This was really ugly behaviour. It was dangerous and it put residents’ lives and livelihoods at risk,” Mr Burns said.
“I want to remind people what the office actually is and what it is there to do. My staff are there to look after their community; to provide access to government and government services, whether it be the NDIS, whether it be immigration, visa issues, Centrelink, whatever it is, my team are here to help.
“And at the moment … they can’t be in the office, it’s not safe in the office, it’s still a crime scene. And it’s a reflection of eight months of my team turning up to work and being abused and being screamed at, and I’ve got really good people working for me … who have no role in a conflict on the other side of the world.
“And their place of work has been smashed in by really dangerous idiots. It’s a reflection of the sort of conduct of political debate right now. We’re in Australia … We’re in multicultural Melbourne. This isn’t respectful right now.
“This is a dangerous escalation of people trying to bring a conflict on the other side of the world to our streets, and it needs … to stop, because it’s dangerous.”
Since October 7, there has been a string of anti-Semitic attacks on electorate offices with windows smashed and shopfronts sprayed with red paint, leaving taxpayers facing a repair bill of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Labor MPs Peter Khalil and Daniel Mulino and the offices of Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles and Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus have also been damaged by vandals.
Anthony Albanese has been locked out of his Sydney electorate office for most of this year because of pro-Palestinian protests.
Australian Federal Police told a Senate estimates committee hearing this month that 725 threats against MPs had been reported so far this financial year, compared with 279 in 2020-21.
Jewish former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg has called on the nation’s political leaders and law enforcement to do more to protect the community
“The attack on Josh Burns’s office was despicable and dangerous and one that requires more than words of condemnation,” he told The Australian.
“We need more action from our political leaders and law enforcement to protect the community. Our leaders must step up and wrest control back from the mob, a mob that has had free rein since October 7 to act in a violent, hateful, un-Australian manner.
“It is after all not just the Jewish community that is under attack, it’s Australia’s social cohesion that is under attack and the very values that underpin it.
“This is Australia’s fight and it’s a fight we must win.”
The Prime Minister called the attack on Mr Burns’s office an “escalation” of previous acts.
“We’ve got to dial this down,” he told the ABC. “The people who were responsible for this attack should face the full force of the law; it is very distressing for Josh and for his staff.”
Jewish community leader Dvir Abramovich described the attack on Mr Burns’s office as “another sickening and evil act of anti-Semitic vandalism”.
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Also see my other blogs. Main ones below:
http://dissectleft.blogspot.com (DISSECTING LEFTISM -- daily)
http://antigreen.blogspot.com (GREENIE WATCH)
http://pcwatch.blogspot.com (POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH)
http://edwatch.blogspot.com (EDUCATION WATCH)
http://snorphty.blogspot.com/ (TONGUE-TIED)
https://immigwatch.blogspot.com (IMMIGRATION WATCH)
https://awesternheart.blogspot.com (THE PSYCHOLOGIST)
http://jonjayray.com/blogall.html More blogs
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Evelyn Rae, a conservative Australian political commentator
Margo Robbie -- a beautiful australian
My son Joe at ANU
One of the happiest pictures ever -- Cleo Smith, aged 4
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