Not Today, Pauline

PAULINE HANSON DOUBLES DOWN

Pauline Hanson reportedly has no regrets about her tirade against housing commission residents and refugees, insisting calling residents “drug addicts” and “alcoholics” during a panel discussion on Nine’s The Today Show yesterday wasn’t divisive.

Hours after the segment aired, Nine announced they would no longer have Hanson appear as a regular guest on the show. Today entertainment reporter Brooke Boney — who grew up in public housing — said on ABC’s Q+A it was time for Hanson to go. “I’m so happy to see her gone,” she said.

Hanson, appearing on Sky News’ The Bolt Report wearing a lumpy sweater emblazoned with an Australian flag, said: “I’m up for reelection in two years’ time. If they don’t want me, good, don’t vote for me.”

We’ll hold you to that, Hanson.

RESULTS OF INVESTIGATION INTO ROBERT DOYLE RELEASED

An investigation by the City of Melbourne has found that former Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle acted in a “sexually inappropriate way”, at a 2016 black-tie dinner.

The supplementary report investigating allegations of harassment against Kharla Williams by was compiled by Ian Freckelton QC in 2018, though was only released yesterday after Victoria Police dropped their criminal investigation into allegations of sexual harassment by three women.

Williams alleged Doyle touched her leg and made suggestive comments at the Melbourne Health awards ceremony. An independent report previously upheld four other misconduct claims.

Doyle was not interviewed by police about the allegations due to ill health but has previously denied wrongdoing as The Guardian reports.

VICTORIAN COVID-19 CONCERNS CONTINUE

Concerns about Melbourne’s nine locked down public housing towers continue to grow, with The Age reporting that “boxes of donated food had been left in communal corridors”, and that many residents are still waiting on deliveries.

The Australian Financial Review($) writes that experts are pushing for those infected with COVID-19 to be removed from the towers.

Hospital admissions for COVID-19 have more than tripled in a week in Victoria as cases hit record highs.

The Northern Territory and ACT have joined NSW in banning Victorians from entering, with the Australian Defence Force called in to help limit the country’s worst transmission outbreak.

Two suspected COVID-19 cases had been identified near NSW border town, Albury. One person had recently travelled to Melbourne.

World Health Organisation adviser Mary-Louise McLaws is calling for a Melbourne-wide lockdown, The Age reports.

CHINA KEEPS CRACKING DOWN

It didn’t take long: A Hong Kong protestor has already been charged under the city’s new national security law for “inciting separatism and terrorism” after he carried a “Liberate Hong Kong” sign and drove his motorbike into police, the ABC reports.

Beijing police have also arrested former University of Melbourne academic Xu Zhangrun after he published an essay criticising the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) handling of the pandemic.

Meanwhile, Facebook and WhatsApp have stopped cooperating with Hong Kong law enforcement, pausing government data requests as the tech goliaths assess the impact of the new law.

Speaking of social media giants, Liberal Senator Jim Molan has called for a ban of video messaging app TikTok due to concerns around data surveillance by the CCP’s The Guardian reports.

Tik Tok has blocked posts about the detention of Uyghur people in China and has extended its censorship to Australia, removing posts about racism and the Black Lives Matter protests by prominent users.