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get ready for a campaign on freedom and hope

Josh Frydenberg has been busy. Yesterday, the treasurer made nine media appearances, for a total of 24 in the past week. Each time, Frydenberg returned to the same phrase: If he was not vaccinated at 70 or 80%, when? “If we don’t open up to 70, 80%, [insert name of host], when do we open?…

Clive Palmer and Craig Kelly are dangerous – ignore their buffoonery

It may seem that Clive Palmer and Craig Kelly have a lot of money and little common sense, but their anti-vaccine quackery will put the lives of Australians at risk. (Images: AAP) On Monday, two of the fiercest forces in Australian politics combined to contest the upcoming federal elections. Former Liberal MP Craig Kelly announced…

The battle for the pandemic is fraught with false hopes, secrets, and mysteries.

So many people, bodies, and businesses framed as critical to our response to the pandemic have dramatically faded or quietly faded away. (Image: Private Media / Gorkie) Remember the National COVID-19 Commission? Scott Morrison’s handpicked group of business leaders who were supposed to help guide us through the pandemic, but disappeared from sight after talking…

NSW wants a national agenda for living with COVID, but not all states agree

Gladys Berejiklian believes that we should learn to live with the virus, but some states and territories require elimination, not suppression. NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian (Image: AAP / Lukas Coch) A strange dynamic has emerged as Canberra’s power is transferred to state and territorial leaders amid the pandemic. The idea of a national approach to…

Businesses need data on the vaccine mandate, but the PM does not provide it

Business wants clarity, but Scott Morrison just waffles and refuses to give it. Is it because you are afraid of your own back bench? Prime Minister Scott Morrison (Image: AAP / Steve Vitt) One of the most important and potentially divisive issues in the transition to “living with COVID” is the willingness of companies outside…

The COVID model reflects a grim reality for which leaders must prepare

There’s no escaping the math: Australia’s envisioned path out of the pandemic means tens of thousands of COVID cases a day. Is anyone ready for that, including politicians? (Image: AAP / Mick Tsikas) Pandemic modelers offer no plausible scenario that does not imply Australia continues to endure lockdowns and mandatory use of masks and social…

Okay, it’s not a race. Let’s call it a competition for the toughest confinement

Maybe they should just rename the New South Wales Prime Minister’s morning COVID press conference to the 11 o’clock Follies. It would be a historic nod to the daily briefings of the American military war in Saigon during the Vietnam War, which so frustrated the assembled media that they dubbed them the Five Crazy Five.…

Australian diplomats may return to Kabul, but Afghan aides amid the fog of war

Australia is considering reestablishing a diplomatic presence in Kabul, a disturbing indication that its hasty withdrawal was “a complete fiasco”. Foreign Minister Marise Payne (Image: AAP / Lukas Coch) Months after closing its embassy in Afghanistan, Australia is considering reestablishing its diplomatic presence, the latest move in a quiet but confused withdrawal from a country…

John Howard Picks ScoMo Political Awareness On Afghan Aid

The latest voice calling for humanitarian visas for Afghans who assisted the ADF? A former prime minister. Former Prime Minister John Howard (Image: SBS News) Days after the last Australian troops left Afghanistan, the man who first sent them there 20 years ago says the government must grant visas to Afghans who assisted the defense…

Scott Morrison is MIA. Good thing prime ministers are still front and center

There has hardly been a word from the nation’s leader lately, but the void was happily filled by outspoken prime ministers. (Image: Scott Morrison / Facebook) With Australia’s largest city on lockdown, Prime Minister Scott Morrison is missing in action. He has not made a single statement or spoken to the media since a brief…