Description

Lockdown horn has infected Australia's pundit class, Albo reckons mines are cool, and we run through the highlights of recent stupid money bullshit.

 

Bushfires for lease

• In Portland, unidentified federal agents are kidnapping people.
• Because of the response to Corona, less can be done in preparation for this year’s bushfire season.
• Australia doesn’t own its own serious bushfire fighting equipement, barring for a single 373 tanker plane.

Climate news

• Anthony Albonese reckons that a coal mine that has been trying to get environmental approval should just go ahead, because they’ve been trying for 13 years.
• Insurance Australia Group, has said they won’t cover farmers who have fracking on their land.
• Lock the Gate is an alliance of farmers who want to stop fracking on their land.
• With gas prices crashing, fracking companies are leaving gas wells to leak instead of fixing them.

Stupid Money Bullshit

• Clive Palmer was charged with fraud by ASIC.
• The Auditor-General’s report on the water buybacks found that “did not use a value for money approach for procurement”.
• Australian War Memorial director Brendan Nelson wants to spend half a billion on self-care.

War crimes and coverups

• Australian soliders did them.
• This is the kind of reporting that the AFP raided the ABC offices and a News Corp’s journalist’s home last year to cover up.
• The AFP is also making unapproved usage the Clearview AI facial recognition app.

Hot for Premier

• People are getting way too horny for Dan Andrews.
• Masks are mandatory in Melbourne and Mitchell Shire from Wednesday, along with new $200 fines.
• Victoria leads the country in fines, and loves to fine poor people.
• Melbourne law firm HWL Ebsworth was determined to keep working from the office, and not work from home “like lemmings”. They are now a Corana cluster.
• The Australian is still trying to pin the Corona outbreak on Black Lives Matter protests.
• Scott Morrison wants to live with the virus.
• The TikTok influencers who pushed the CovidSAFE were paid $600 app and thought they were being employed by the government.

Actions

• Check out Boiling Cold by Peter Milne, a deep dive on the energy industry and climate.
• Wear a mask, but don’t snitch on your neighbours. Kill the cop in your brain.
• Divest your banking and your Superannuation. Look at the big comparison on Market Forces for a guide.