The Christian thing to do

PORTER KNOW BETTER

Four Corners has revealed that Attorney-General Christian Porter was warned by then-prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in 2017 after being spotted “kissing and cuddling” a young staffer at Canberra’s Public Bar, due to Turnbull’s concern the then-married minister could be at risk of compromise or blackmail.

The report notes that acting Immigration Minister Alan Tudge angrily pressured a journalist to delete a photo of Porter and the woman and was, separately, engaged in an affair of his own. Barrister Katherine Foley has also made allegations of sexist and inappropriate behaviour against Porter dating back to his time studying and lecturing in Perth.

Tudge has since issued an apology while the attorney-general has rejected reports of the bar incident — including alleging that the “other party” rejected the story but was not quoted in the program — and accused ABC journalist Louise Milligan of not contacting his office for comment. The story, however, includes a response from Porter alleging he never had a complaint from Turnbull over his work as attorney-general “until the last week of his prime ministership when we had a significant disagreement over the Peter Dutton citizenship issue”.

Porter also argues that “given the defamatory nature of many of the claims made in tonight’s program, [he] will be considering legal options”.

In response, executive producer Sally Neighbour said the bar incident had not been rejected by anyone and was witnessed by at least five people speaking to the program, while Milligan said she gave the attorney-general two weeks to reply but “he provided nothing [and] his staffer kept telling us he couldn’t possibly put” the story to Porter.

PS: Just to remind everyone of the political pressure the ABC faces, The Sydney Morning Herald reports that ABC managing director David Anderson yesterday told Senate estimates that he had received about “half a dozen” emails from ministerial staffers questioning whether the story “was in the public interest”. Chair Ita Buttrose also told Anderson a staffer contacted a member of the ABC board over the story.

NOT A SHOT IN THE DARK

Drug company Pfizer has announced that early trials of its vaccine candidate suggest it may be 90% effective at preventing COVID-19, although this is based on 94 confirmed cases in a study that has enrolled 43,538 participants across the US and five other countries.

AP explains that Pfizer, which developed the drug with German partner BioNTech, has cautioned that the initial protection rate might change by the time the study ends.

While the US Food and Drug Administration has warned it is unlikely any vaccine will arrive before the end of the year, and that limited initial supplies will be rationed, Pfizer is nonetheless on track to submit an emergency use authorisation application later this month.

PS: While the Trump administration has already tried to take credit for the development, Pfizer head of vaccine development Dr Kathrin Jansen has told The New York Times the company did not take part in the public-private “Operation Warp Speed” or take money from the US government.

POOR PLANNING

According to The Australian ($), the Morrison government will extend the JobSeeker coronavirus supplement up March 28 — the same date as the expected end to JobKeeper — and again slash the payment, this time from $250 per week to $150 subject to cabinet approval.

The news comes after the Coalition ignored the unemployment rate in the 2020-21 budget, and weeks after Social Services Minister Anne Ruston told Senate Estimates the government sees no need for a “narrow definition of poverty”.

PS: The Grattan Institute found in June that the permanent JobSeeker rate of $287.25 a week — which has not changed in real terms for over 25 years — is still $179 below the relative poverty rate, and $255 below the “Henderson line”. So uh, good luck for March, 1.5 million Australians!

MOMENT OF TRUTH: CONCESSION PRIZE

Finally, The New York Times reports that Joe Biden has named a 13-person COVID-19 taskforce — which includes Dr Rick Bright, a former top vaccine official in the Trump administration who submitted a whistleblower complaint to Congress — as America surpassed 10 million cases and continues to hit record daily highs.

While Donald Trump is apparently no closer to conceding the election, CNN reports there is plenty he can do in his final two months as a “lame duck” president, including: firing enemies in government; executive orders; and pardons for allies, family members and — potentially, its a legal weird spot because no one has ever done it — himself for federal crimes.

According to Jacobin, the Trump administration has also issued a final screw you to foreign farmworkers by freezing their wages until 2023.