Dutton plans US data access swap

Good morning, early birds. Peter Dutton has announced a plan that would allow Australian authorities access to personal data held in US tech platforms, and the first day of Extinction Rebellion’s global week of action sees dozens of protesters arrested. It’s the news you need to know, with Rachel Withers.

Today Inq is publishing the first installment of a series on Chinese surveillance. The Chinese government has dramatically increased its surveillance of resident Australians — of Chinese descent and from other backgrounds — on our own shores. Inq talks to artists, academics and professionals who believe they are under surveillance by China’s operatives after speaking out. The two-part series looks at how, why and where it is happening, and calls on the government to do more to protect our citizens within our own borders.

If you have a tip or would like to get in touch with Inq confidentially to share your story, you can send us encrypted messages here.

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THE COMMENTARIAT

Untie those white ribbons and get men on board for equality – Jenna Price (The Age/Sydney Morning Herald): “The vast – vast – majority of men in Australia are decent human beings but appear unsure of how to take action on equality. That is true of both the ordinary bloke in the street but more seriously true of the average Australian employer for whom the white ribbon route was infinitely preferable to taking a long hard look at its gender equality record. White Ribbon morning teas and attendant workplace accreditation give an impression of activity. Where employers could genuinely make a difference is with the gender pay gap (still 14 per cent across full-time wages), male parental leave and women equally represented at all levels of work. We can check those outcomes but not those of anti-violence campaigns such as White Ribbon.”

Governments created this Murray-Darling crisis ($) – Alan Moran (The Australian): “Blaming twin bogeymen of speculators and climate change is no solution to the problems ­governments have created. The Murray-Darling water policy has been a disaster for the region and the nation. The solution is to ­accept the reality that the river system, before recent years’ ­reallocation of irrigation water, was in good condition. The more regular flows that the dams have allowed contributed to this as well as creating a thriving agricultural province. The only way of repairing the damage must start with the government selling back to irrigators the stocks of water that it now owns.”

Our political donations and lobbying systems are out of control – Anthony Whealy (The Guardian): “At the federal level, our political donations and lobbying systems are out of control, with donation campaign and reporting laws considerably lagging behind the state laws. Importantly, we do not have an effective federal integrity agency with wide powers to uncover serious wrongdoing in relation to donations and improper lobbying – nor, it seems, is a truly effective body in contemplation. Unsurprisingly, the public are somewhat cynical about the integrity of the planning process, especially where big money is involved. The erosion of public confidence in the planning system will only increase if the undue influence of money is allowed to proliferate unchecked.”

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