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| Good morning, early birds. Last week, we said goodbye until next year, but Boris Johnson’ UK election landslide will have a ripple effect far and wide, and Australia is burning on both sides, so we are back for one more | |||||||||||||
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AUSTRALIA BURNS FOR MORRISONAuthorities have issued an emergency warning in the Hawkesbury area north-west of Sydney where a “mega blaze” is believed to have destroyed several homes. Properties are reported to have been lost around Mount Tomah and Mount Wilson, but there are no reports of deaths or injuries so far. According to The Australian ($), the 375,000-hectare fire is likely to wreath Sydney in smoke once again. Meanwhile, 22 health organisations have issued a joint statement calling Sydney’s air quality a “public health emergency”. Things are likely to get worse as the week progresses, with the Bureau of Meteorology warning Sydney is likely to experience “widespread, severe heatwave conditions”. At the other edge of the continent, fires are raging around Perth — most seriously threatening lives and homes in Mogumber and Yanchep, north of the city. Some buildings in the area have already been lost. | |||||||||||||
A MARKETPLACE OF (RIGHT-WING) IDEASAustralia is looking to benefit from the Conservative Party’s landslide win in the British election and the UK resolving its long-running Brexit process, The Australian reports ($). British Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he will make a post-Brexit free-trade deal between Australia and Britain “a top priority” ($). “Australia stands ready to shift into formal negotiations towards an Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement and we would look to conclude a deal as quickly as possible,” Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told the AFR ($). | |||||||||||||
HONG KONG UNRESTAfter a three-week lull, violence has once again broken out in Hong Kong. Agence France Presse reports that police made arrests and used pepper spray on groups of pro-democracy protestors targeting shopping malls around the city. Masked activists also trashed restaurants run by Maxim’s, a catering firm whose founder’s daughter has criticised the pro-democracy movement. Hong Kong has been rocked by six months of unrest, with violent battles between police and pro-democracy protests. Hong Kong’s chief executive Carrie Lam is currently in Beijing. | |||||||||||||
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THEY REALLY SAID THAT?
KAK shows a certain want of respect ($) to her colleague, 10 daily senior reporter Antoinette Lattouf. | |||||||||||||
READ ALL ABOUT IT | |||||||||||||
CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY | |||||||||||||
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THE COMMENTARIATWe need politicians to have the guts to admit it’s going to hurt to fight climate change – Greg Jericho (The Guardian): “After weeks like the one we’ve just had, I sometimes wonder how long it will be before our major political parties shift from talking about reducing emissions and instead arguing over how to best deal with the impact of climate change. You know the sort of thing – “Should we means-test free access to P2 masks?” or “Should there be a mutual obligation regime for climate-change relief?” – and before you know it the Australian and the other climate change-denying News Corp media outlets will be running editorials about how “we need to get more people off climate change welfare”. Sudanese mothers wonder if they were better off in a war zone – Biong Deng Biong (The Sydney Morning Herald): “The youth crisis is compounded by increasing suicides and stress-related deaths among the South Sudanese, with mental illness, unemployment, family breakdown and threats of homelessness devastating the community. Mothers, often single, carry these burdens. Their silent sufferings have been overshadowed by the youth and this stoic but exhausted army of women contend with hopelessness, regret, discontent with the legal system and the crushing sense of not belonging. Many express sorrow about resettlement, lamenting that ‘we were better off in a war zone or refugee camp than in Australia’.” MYEFO: Outlook heralds slow-and-steady hand on economy ($) – Judith Sloan (The Australian): “No doubt we will hear the calls for additional stimulus spending, notwithstanding the contribution that public final demand is making to GDP growth. The government will withstand these calls while noting additional spending has already commenced or has been foreshadowed — in relation to drought relief, some brought-forward infrastructure spending and spending on aged care.” | |||||||||||||
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