Crikey Worm

October 02, 2019

Good morning, early birds. Protests in Hong Kong have escalated dramatically as police shoot a protester, and Scott Morrison fields some difficult questions about recent requests from Donald Trump. It’s the news you need to know, with Rachel Withers.

HONG KONG VIOLENCE

Violence has continued to escalate in Hong Kong’s protests after a student was shot by police, the ABC reports. Thousands have taken to the streets to protest Beijing’s influence in Hong Kong as China celebrates 70 years of communist rule.

The 18-year-old man is being treated in hospital after being shot at close range, with police claiming the officer who shot him was acting in self-defence. The Hong Kong Free Press has released footage of the incident. It is the first time a protester is known to have been shot during recent protests.

A security clampdown failed to thwart protesters, with one organiser saying 100,000 people had taken to the streets to mark China’s National Day.

SERIOUS QUESTIONS

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is facing serious questions over reports Donald Trump asked for his assistance in investigating the origins of the Mueller probe, the Nine papers report.

Morrison — who told the president his government was “ready to assist” — is being asked to provide “clear answers” about his offer, fending off calls to release details of the undertaking. Opposition leader Anthony Albanese has called on Morrison to “explain to the Australian people exactly what happened here”. Meanwhile, former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos has told The New Daily that Morrison is “doing the right thing” in putting the US-Australia relationship above the personal interests of “Clinton ally” Alexander Downer, who helped prompt the FBI investigation which sent Papadopoulos to prison.

MORE CUTS TO COME

Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe has suggested that further interest rate cuts are inevitable after the board yesterday cut rates to a new record low of 0.75%, its third cut in four months, the ABC reports. Lowe told last night’s Reserve Bank board dinner that central banks were being forced to respond to slowing growth, calling on the government and businesses to act and again prodding the government to increase spending and introduce structural measures to lift the nation’s productivity.

CBA and NAB have failed to pass on the full rate cut to customers, while Westpac and ANZ have yet to announce their response, the Nine papers report.

THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

“	Good on you there Joel Fitzgibbon, the shadow minister, but talking to anyone in the government is a waste of space. — Alan Jones

The 2GB host has a surprisingly warm moment ($) with the shadow minister for agriculture, after suggesting the government isn’t doing enough for rural Australians.

READ ALL ABOUT IT

	Molan wins backing of NSW Liberals’ conservatives for Canberra return
	Female student dead, nine people hurt after sword attack in Finnish college
	Iran sentences one man to death, jails two others for spying for US
	Gillard’s British lashing for Morrison over foreign aid ($)
	Britain rules out Brexit barrier on Irish border as Boris promises ‘very good offer … soon’
	Essential poll: 70% of Australians think Morrison was wrong to snub UN climate summit
	NSW considers laws to stop blocking of coalmines on climate grounds
	Western Australia rolls out lifesaving hotline to address Indigenous deaths in custody
	Beyond ATAR: Calls for ‘learner profile’ to replace uni entrance rank
	Surgeries delayed and patient security fears after cyber attack on Victorian hospitals
	Guns and poses: China’s military front and centre for 70th anniversary parade

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

ScoMo, Trump and the dangerous banality of bromance
Patrick Marlborough

“What Howard and now ScoMo both instinctively understand is that Australia’s relationship with America, and thus the prime minister’s to the president, is one of subservience. It is a pantomime of bowing and scraping that reflects both our self-assuredness as to where we stand in the world, and our indecisiveness. Trump, like Bush, enjoys the company of lesser men, and ScoMo, like Howard, is all too willing to oblige him.”

The unfortunate legacy of Alexander Downer
Amber Schultz

“But our American allies are confused; it just doesn’t seem likely that Downer would deliberately orchestrate the downfall of a foreign president, less-so one whose policies largely align with his own conservative views. This is the man who, while contending to be prime minister and talking about the Liberal slogan ”The Things That Matter”, joked that his party’s domestic violence policy would be labelled ”Things That Batter”. This is the man so anti-republic that he was appointed as chair of the Royal Over-Seas League, a London-based private membership organisation full of wealthy individuals who love the Queen and Commonwealth just a little bit too much. This is a man who is really, really bad at Twitter. And yet his legacy, nonsensically, will be that of a small-l liberal stooge. That’s got to sting.”

We're from Tigerland: when Richmond's Tiger Army takes to the streets
Meg Watson

“Sport is often talked about as the great equalizer, but it’s always surreal to actually see it in action. This probably wasn’t the scene in the MCG on Saturday — where the majority of grand final tickets still go to corporate types who go for the free Crownies — but it was true for Swan Street. There are young families, old die-hards, men in suits and others in guernseys christened by black Sharpies. They’re spilling out of the dive bars and reno’d gastropubs and cheap sushi joints and Instagrammable restaurants that charge $4 for still water — most with a beer in hand despite cops’ orders. The Herald Sun asked a dad with kids, aged 13 and 15, what he was doing after Richmond’s historic 89-point win over the league’s youngest club, the GWS Giants. ‘I’m not entirely sure where we will end up,’ he said, ‘but I just want to sing’.”

THE COMMENTARIAT

China relations are now at a dangerously low ebb – Tony Walker (The Age/Sydney Morning Herald): “The view promulgated by former Prime Minister John Howard that Australia did not need to choose between its historical alignment with America and its geographical proximity to China is no longer sustainable. The question now is how Australia positions itself between the elephants in the jungle to avoid getting crushed. Conspicuously siding with one of the elephants, unless necessary, would not seem to be the wisest course.”

It’s a sideshow — we both must focus on Indo-Pacific ($) – Simon Jackman (The Australian): “It is all an unwelcome distraction. As Australia digested this news, China showed off new weaponry in celebrations of the 70th anniversary of its communist revolution. Behind the state visit to Washington, Australia and the US remain focused and working together on strategic challenges in the Indo-Pacific and a raft of issues. These are the more important matters facing both countries.”

Someone blew the whistle on Trump – if it happened in Australia we might never hear about it – Ben Oquist (The Guardian): “In the US, the process for whistleblowing is straightforward: an intelligence official makes a report to the intelligence community inspector general. Credible “urgent concerns” are reported to the Senate and House intelligence committees within 21 days. In Australia the hypothetical whistleblower falls at the first hurdle. Australia’s federal whistleblowing legislation, the Public Interest Disclosure Act, applies only to conduct by public officials, agencies and commonwealth contractors. Ministers and parliamentarians are “public officials” under the commonwealth criminal code but, conveniently, not under whistleblowing legislation.”

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HOLD THE FRONT PAGE

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Perth

Professor Mindy Blaise will give a public lecture, discussing how multispecies stories can generate new climate change pedagogies with young children.
The Grain Industry Association of Western Australia (GIWA) will host its 2019 GIWA Forum, with Minister for Agriculture and Food Alannah MacTiernan to give the opening address.

Joondalup, WA

The WA State NRM and Coastal Conference will take place, with this year’s conference highlighting the changes needed to meet the urgent climate threats to our land, sea and coast.

Melbourne

WorkSafe Victoria will hold a business leaders’ breakfast, with Arts Centre CEO Claire Spencer discussing the Arts Wellbeing Collective.
The Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship will host “Supply Chain Innovation in an Era of Automation and Digitalisation”.
The International Association of Music Libraries, Archives and Documentation Centres (Australian Chapter) will host its 2019 Conference with the theme “Beyond the Beat: Taking music libraries to our users”.

Sydney

Sydney Ideas will host “Precision medicine: can it live up to the hype?”, with world-renowned thinkers exploring some of the key issues around precision medicine

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