Linda Reynolds and Scott Morrison (Image: AAP/Mick Tsikas)
Scott Morrison claims the rape of Brittany Higgins was 'weaponised' against him. It seems even when he was the most powerful man in the country, Morrison was a victim.
Scott Morrison’s evidence yesterday to the defamation action brought by Liberal senator Linda Reynolds against rape victim Brittany Higgins stands as one of the more offensive moments in a career that, while he was in politics, was marked by mendacity and deception. It represents nothing less than an attempt to rewrite the history of his government’s utterly inept and malignant response to Higgins’ revelation that she was sexually assaulted by fellow Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann.
According to Morrison’s testimony, he and Reynolds were the victims of “the weaponising of this issue for political purposes to discredit both Senator Reynolds … and the government, and by extension myself”; the idea that there was a cover-up of the issue “was completely and utterly false, without any foundation” and Reynolds and her office “had done everything they possibly could within the processes they had to support Ms Higgins”.
This is a man who was prime minister, the most powerful man in the country at the time, portraying himself as the victim of a woman who was sexually assaulted inside his own ministerial wing, and of the media scrutiny of the standards of conduct within his government.
It pays to recount what is on the public record about Linda Reynolds’ conduct. Higgins was made to attend Reynolds’ office — Reynolds was minister for defence, one of the most powerful positions of public office in the country — where the rape occurred, to discuss the attack. Reynolds called Higgins a “lying cow” in front of her staff when Higgins publicly revealed her ordeal. Reynolds misled the Senate over her meetings with the Australian Federal Police on the matter. Reynolds unreservedly apologised to Higgins in February 2021 for “the fact that she felt unsupported in her time working here”. Reynolds now also admits she deleted text messages between herself and Lehrmann’s barrister and leaked confidential documents from the current government to the media.
And what of the conduct of Morrison, who claims he was the victim of the “weaponising”, and his office? We know Morrison’s office backgrounded journalists in an attempt to discredit Higgins’ partner. We know Morrison used a flurry of reviews to try to evade the political fallout from Higgins’ revelations and those relating to the conduct of his own staff. Contrary to Morrison’s claim, the fact of there being a cover-up is a matter of public record, with Morrison lying to Parliament about the so-called “Gaetjens review” being suspended indefinitely (allegedly on the basis of Australian Federal Police advice).
If Morrison wants to talk about “weaponising”, he could reflect on what his friends at The Australian have done to Higgins using text messages provided to Lehrmann’s legal team that found their way to right-wing journalists, or the now years-long campaign of vilification run against Higgins by that newspaper and by Sky News. That campaign, which barely paused for a moment when Lehrmann was found on the balance of probabilities by the Federal Court to have raped Higgins, is an ongoing example of exemplary punishment designed to signal to anyone, especially women, who might threaten to embarrass the conservative side of politics that their lives will be destroyed.
Morrison has a history of claiming victimhood when others have paid a far worse price for his actions. Recall that he claimed the robodebt royal commission was a “political lynching” of himself, despite its finding he’d allowed cabinet to be misled and knew perfectly well that income averaging formed part of the whole scheme. That Morrison continues to think what’s been done to Brittany Higgins is really about him, even as the campaign against Higgins continues to wreck her life, is a staggering indictment of the man’s self-obsession.
He seriously claims that when he was the nation’s prime minister, and, in his own eyes, God’s chosen leader, a rape victim and some journalists rode roughshod over his government and brought him low. What terrible luck Morrison seems to have had throughout his public life to so often be the victim of the evil machinations of so many others.
How sick are you of Scott Morrison’s sob stories? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
Bernard Keane is Crikey's political editor. Before that he was Crikey's Canberra press gallery correspondent, covering politics, national security and economics.
Associate Professor Josh Roose after giving evidence during the inquest into the Wieambilla shooting (Image: AAP/Jono Seale)
'If this was a Salafi-Jihadist case, I don't think we'd be having a lot of these questions asked,’ said extremism expert Josh Roose.
“They were waiting. They initiated. It was inherently an offensive act,” stated Associate Professor Josh Roose from the witness box.
The extremism, religion and violence expert’s staccato summary of Gareth, Nathaniel and Stacey Train’s actions came during an at-times heated cross-examination at the Wieambilla coronial inquest over the classification of the attack as an act of terrorism.
Three weeks into the Queensland state coroner’s inquest into the deaths of six people after a stand-off at a remote property on December 12, 2022, the focus has turned to the profiles and motivations of the Train trio.
After considering thousands of documents including emails, text messages, social media posts and more, Roose wrote in a report prepared for the inquiry that the trio’s violence was a terrorist attack motivated by premillennialism, an apocalyptic branch of Christian belief.
The question of whether the Wieambilla attack was a terrorist act, as it was classified by Queensland Police Service and ASIO in February 2023, is an important one. The designation has consequences for who responds to the attack, how an investigation is resourced, and shapes how it is understood afterwards — something that’s particularly important for an inquest investigating how to stop something like this happening ever again. And, judging by the lines of questioning by lawyers representing various parties at the inquest, it appears to be a contentious decision.
Like many other aspects in a case like this, the decision is complicated by overlapping but different understandings and philosophical approaches. The exact definition of terrorism is debated in academia but revolves around the idea that it is a violent act intended to cause a political outcome. Roose used the federal criminal code’s definition of a terrorist act and was satisfied that the Trains’ actions fulfilled that definition.
Coming from the perspective of someone who studies radicalism and extremism but not the underlying psychology or pathology, Roose focused on how Gareth Train, in particular, transitioned from someone with “thin” conspiracy beliefs into a “thick ideological adherence” through his communications with American conspiracy theorist Donald Day Jr in YouTube video comment sections.
Prior to this, Gareth had sought out Australian conspiracy theorists Riccardo Bosi and Mike Holt but ultimately found the “connection he was looking for” in Day Jr, Roose said, who has pleaded guilty to charges including threatening an FBI agent and illegal possession of firearms. Day Jr’s encouragement and recognition of Train marked a transition into a more violent conception of their Christian end-times beliefs, Roose said.
Roose said that the Trains’ preparation for the ambush, including ordering Ghillie suits and bulk coffee, along with videos posted in the lead-up to the attack that appeared to show Stacey Train trying to recruit others to their belief system, meant that the shooting fulfilled the definition of an act of terrorism.
After his initial testimony, two parties’ barristers questioned Roose about whether the Trains’ state of mind and actions disqualified the terrorism classification. They raised the previous day’s testimony by forensic clinical psychiatrist Dr Andrew Aboud, who said he believed the trio suffered delusions, and asked whether their mistaken belief that they were under attack by “demons” and “devils” suggested that the motivation wasn’t political but instead defensive. Aboud had previously declined to answer whether he considered it terrorism but questioned whether there was a political motive.
Roose, who had read Aboud’s report and watched his testimony, stated that his own testimony was mostly “complimentary” to the forensic psychiatrist’s. One important area of disagreement was over a video posted by Gareth taunting police in the lead-up to the attack. Aboud argued that the video was Gareth’s flawed attempt to scare off police, whereas Roose argued that this was part of his anti-government rhetoric.
“They were motivated by a religious ideology in which the police — the public state actors — were devils and demons and they were in a war,” he said.
The cross-examination was at times terse. At one point, a barrister asked Roose to answer the questions strictly. Roose seemed to anticipate lines of questioning and provided additional context in response to questions.
“If this was a Salafi Jihadist case, I don’t think we’d be having a lot of these questions asked,” Roose said.
Cam Wilson is Crikey’s associate editor. He previously worked as a reporter at the ABC, BuzzFeed, Business Insider and Gizmodo. He primarily covers internet culture and tech in Australia.
The Paul Keating Sledge-O-Meter™ (Image: Private Media/Zennie)
Is it just warm lettuce, or are they being done slowly? Enjoy Crikey's definitive ranking of Paul Keating's slams.
It must have felt like Christmas for Australia’s media this week, when circumstances gave journalists two of their favourite content generators: a high-profile American politician talking about Australia and Paul Keating sounding off on the issues of the day.
After the razor-tongued former PM said Taiwan was “Chinese real estate” and “not a vital Australian interest”, former US speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi appeared on ABC’s 7.30, largely to go all Mark Wahlberg about what would have happened if she’d seen Donald Trump during the January 6 riots on Capitol Hill (“I would have to beat him up, and I would probably have to go to jail for beating him up, and that would be okay with me”).
But she also took the opportunity to say Keating had made “a stupid statement”, which in turn prompted a statement from Keating, condemning Pelosi’s “recklessly indulgent visit to Taiwan in 2022”.
Of course, headlines that start with “Paul Keating slams… ” are so frequent it can be hard to know how big a deal this really is. Crikey, as ever, is here to help with our new “Paul Keating Sledge-O-Meter™”, a definitive and ongoing ranking of Keating slams both in and out of office.
Tier 1: Flogging with Warm Lettuce
This is the lower end of the Keating sledge. Its name is taken from his description of then opposition leader John Hewson’s debate performance in 1989. This tier is for the slams that just don’t quite achieve (eg. the Pelosi quips).
[The Greens are] a bunch of opportunists and Trots … Ratting on Rudd with the ETS scheme and walking away from the Malaysia solution, things that required a bit of courage … they could’ve been the yellows
I’ve never seen any public figure as mean or mean-spirited as Peter Dutton. At this election, those electors in Dickson have a chance to drive a political stake through his dark political heart.
Coming in the lead-up to Labor’s disastrous 2019 federal election loss, it might have been remembered more fondly by Keating aficionados if it hadn’t allowed Dutton to repeat his own words back to him when, on election night, electors in Dickson declined to take Keating’s advice.
You were heard in silence, so some of you scumbags on the frontbench should just wait a minute until you hear the responses from me.
In 1984 in response to Andrew Peacock, then Liberal leader. Feels fairly weak, but it must have touched a nerve, because the Liberals kept bringing it up for a decade.
Tier 2: Trimming the eyebrows
Solid, or otherwise noteworthy, but we know he has better in the locker.
[Adam] Bandt is a bounder and a distorter of political truth.
In 2022 about the Greens leader. Only just sneaks in because we’re suckers for old-timey insults like bounder, blaggard, cad, scoundrel, etc.
When you say to people, ‘you can’t get together at work, you can’t organise your conditions’, you’re back to the earlier part of the industrial revolution, and that’s where [John] Howard belongs. He’s a pre-Copernican obscurantist.
You boxhead, you wouldn’t know. You are flat out counting past 10. You stupid, foul-mouthed grub.
In 1985, on Wilson Tuckey.
We heard from the leader of the opposition about me, about my travelling allowance, about the suntanned windows and about the white car. These are the snide remarks thrown around by the leader of the opposition. But I will never get to the stage of wanting to lead the nation standing in front of the mirror every morning clipping the eyebrows here and clipping the eyebrows there with Janette and the kids: It is like ‘Spot the eyebrow’.
You should hang your head in shame. I’m surprised you even have the gall to stand up in public and ask such a question, frankly. You ought to do the right thing and drum yourself out of Australian journalism.
In 2023 on a Nine journalist. Hard to know where to put this one. It had a big impact because it was aimed at an individual journalist, and there’s nothing the media likes more than to use a personal attack to remind everyone how important we really are. It prompted reams of coverage and commentary. But it has none of the wit or musicality of Keating’s best work.
Tier 3: Going Troppo
The A-grade material.
He’s wound up like a thousand-day clock! One more half turn and there’ll be springs and sprockets all over the building … Mr Speaker, give him a valium.
It was the limpest performance I have ever seen … it was like being flogged with a warm lettuce. It was like being mauled by a dead sheep.
In 1989, on John Hewson.
Well, the thing about poor old Costello, he’s all tip and no iceberg.
In 2007 on Peter Costello.
He is simply a shiver looking for a spine to run up.
In 1991, on John Hewson again.
[Anthony Albanese is reliant on] two seriously unwise ministers, Penny Wong and Richard Marles.
In 2023. Far from his greatest moment of wit, Keating’s ongoing savaging of AUKUS is in the top tier for that very reason: it was a bald statement, impossible to misinterpret or take back, aimed at two currently serving senior ministers representing his own party.
What Paul Keating slams have we missed? Let us know in the comments or by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
Charlie Lewis pens Crikey's Tips and Murmurs column and also writes on industrial relations, politics and culture. He previously worked across government and unions and was a researcher on RN's Daily Planet. He currently co-hosts Spin Cycle on Triple R radio.
Seven Network signage in Sydney (Image: AAP/Joel Carrett)
The Seven Network — home of bullies, harassers, rapists and war criminals — has reported another big fall in profits. But it's happy with its cost-cutting.
Seven might be able to keep victims of its toxic workplace culture silent but there’s no keeping quiet about its rotten finances: this morning it reported a 69% fall in statutory net profit after tax to just $45 million, with underlying net profit after tax excluding significant items falling 46% to $78 million.
The discredited broadcaster, now associated more with rapists, war criminals, newsroom disasters, and sexual harassment and bullying than with journalism or family entertainment, blamed a weak economic environment for a 33% decline in EBITDA. Seven’s board cancelled its share buyback and announced — surprise surprise — that no dividend would be paid.
Seven hasn’t paid a dividend since 2017.
Seven’s television revenue declined 6%. Revenue from the company’s right-wing Perth titles The West Australian and online-only fossil fuel-funded site The Nightlywas flat, for an EBITDA decline for the company’s West division of 13%. However, the company was happy with its cost-cutting and flagged to the market it would be sacking more staff: “following delivery of $25 million of cost out initiatives in 2H, we have taken decisive action to materially increase the program into FY25 to give SWM a platform to drive improved performance.” Even so, Seven admitted that advertising bookings for September and October were down 5% from 2023.
In the accompanying annual company report, company chair Kerry Stokes failed to mention the long list of scandals that have plagued the network in recent times, saying only about the company’s cost-cutting “with this exercise underway, we have had to farewell many staff and senior executives, and we thank them for their dedicated service over many years.”
In his letter to shareholders, CEO Jeff Howard only touched generally on scandals like the platforming of the rapist Lehrmann, the behaviour of Spotlight producers, the employment of war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith or the toxic culture of Seven’s workplaces revealed by 4 Corners:
Seven West Media takes very seriously any allegations in relation to sexual harassment, bullying and other behaviours deemed to be inappropriate within the workplace. We take complaints seriously, manage them confidentially and deal with any breaches decisively. We have very clear policies in place and any behaviour that is found to be in breach of these policies will not be tolerated.
But if investors feel entitled to know how much it is costing the network to protect the reputations of bullies and harassers and silence their victims, the company has other ideas entirely: there is no reference to the non-disclosure agreements that Seven has used to gag victims of sexual predators and harassers in its workplaces, or their cost to shareholders. Spotlight only receives passing mention, and there’s no mention of Lehrmann — beneficiary of large amounts of the network’s largesse — or Roberts-Smith.
Nonetheless, Howard assures shareholders:
We are committed to fostering a culture of inclusivity, collaboration and continuous learning. This year, we have launched several initiatives aimed at professional development and employee wellbeing. Our training programs, leadership development courses, and wellness initiatives are designed to support our employees’ growth and ensure they have the tools they need to succeed.
A host of former Seven staff, many deeply damaged by their treatment at the network, might beg to differ.
On news of further cost cuts, this morning the company’s share price surged 1.5 cents to 16.5 cents.
Bernard Keane is Crikey's political editor. Before that he was Crikey's Canberra press gallery correspondent, covering politics, national security and economics.
Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean (Image: AAP/Steven Markham)
When did the Albanese government know this appointment was on the cards? Why isn’t it concerned?
Just over a month after Matt Kean was appointed chair of the Climate Change Authority (CCA), he has taken up a role that raises serious perceived conflict of interest concerns. The former NSW Liberal treasurer and energy minister is now also the director of strategic partnerships and regulatory affairs at Wollemi Capital, a private climate and environmental investment fund.
In other words, Kean will advise the government on climate policy while also representing a company whose profits rely on these policy settings.
So, when did the Albanese government know this appointment was on the cards? And why isn’t it concerned?
‘Access to information’
Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen defended the appointment yesterday, saying, “Under the relevant legislation, CCA members are required to have expertise in areas relevant to the authority’s important work.” Bowen neglected to mention the other part of the Climate Change Authority Act, which states board members “must not engage in paid employment that conflicts or may conflict with the proper performance of their duties”.
Kean’s appointment appears to be in direct conflict with his CCA duties. Wollemi Capital’s investments include a carbon credit platform, agtech startups that sequester carbon, and a portfolio of native forest regeneration projects that attract carbon credits.
The CCA advises the government on emissions targets, how to manage them, and the role of carbon abatement in this schema: all policy matters that feed Wollemi Capital investment decisions. This means that while director of “regulatory affairs” at Wollemi, Kean will both influence government policy and inform it about potential regulatory changes. And as CCA chair, Kean will be overseeing policy advice from which Wollemi will seek to profit.
Former senator Rex Patrick on Monday drew attention to the obvious problems, telling the Australian Financial Review, “Kean will have access to information in his government role that outside entities will not be aware of … Whilst no-one would suggest he would reveal confidential government information, he can’t unknow what he knows. It will be almost impossible not to integrate what he knows into the advice he gives.”
Bowen also defended the CCA’s record by saying that “the authority is well-versed in handling conflicts in a transparent and appropriate way”. This is laughable, though it’s certainly experienced in trying to handle them.
Pattern of appointments
Kean’s new role follows a pattern of appointments that have undermined the integrity of the Climate Change Authority in recent years.
The previous chair, Grant King, was a former gas executive who was also — concurrent with his CCA role — the chair of the largest carbon-credits aggregator in Australia, GreenCollar. The current deputy chair of the CCA, Susie Smith, was a long-time manager at gas company Santos and is now chief executive of the Australian Industry Greenhouse Network, a lobby group for the fossil-fuel industry.
Another recent appointee by Labor to the CCA board is Patty Akopiantz. The former AMP and current KPMG non-executive director doesn’t just have a stellar governance record, she is also a co-founder of Assembly Climate Capital, another environmental investment fund whose interests align strongly with the growth of carbon markets. For example, through Assembly Climate Capital, Akopiantz is a director and investor in SeaForest, an agricultural seaweed startup that has been pushing for carbon credit accreditation.
In themselves, each of these appointments might seem relatively harmless (and Crikey is not alleging any wrongdoing). The net effect, however, is obvious if we look at them structurally.
Carbon credits
Under the safeguard mechanism — the federal government’s only emissions reduction legislation — the nation’s largest polluters are required to gradually reduce their emissions or buy carbon credits representing the equivalent amount of emissions reduction.
Setting aside the fact that experts believe the whole carbon market is “largely a sham” and that most approved carbon credits do not represent real or new cuts — and also setting aside that Australia’s booming fossil fuel exports don’t need to be offset — the local demand for carbon credits is projected to boom in coming years as a result of the safeguard mechanism.
Why? Because it’s cheaper for companies to buy credits than to actually reduce their emissions. Indeed, companies like Woodside have already purchased all the credits they need — out to 2030 — to avoid having to reduce real emissions.
Many of Australia’s biggest polluting companies will need millions more credits to meet their safeguard obligations, so the big push in both the fossil fuel industry and the carbon trading industry is to find new ways to generate carbon credits. This is partly because current methods of producing them (such as “avoided deforestation” or “human-induced regeneration”) are either reaching capacity or have been found to be completely fraudulent. Either way, more of them will keep the price down.
Enter the environmental impact investment funds. The big money (from Macquarie to Commonwealth Bank, each with links to Wollemi Capital) is now casting around for these new methods to invest in — and the government and Climate Change Authority are fully supportive.
This new investor class often comprises the very same people who sit on the boards of the government authorities, regulators and funding agencies that shape the investment terrain, as well as on the big environmental NGO boards. If this investor class has its way, the carbon markets will be flooded with mangrove, seaweed, soil, reef and even plastic credits. All of these are to mitigate the ongoing operations of the fossil fuel industry, something Labor is openly committed to.
Mitigate? Let’s call it what it is: enable.
Various entities, from Wollemi Capital to LEAN (Labor Environment Action Network), are also currently exploring new ways to generate carbon credits from forestry or by protecting old-growth forests. Obviously there’s nothing wrong with growing or protecting trees, but generating new credits from industries that already exist, or from forests that have existed for centuries, to sell to the fossil fuel industry, is the opposite of environmentally responsible.
New ‘opportunities’
So, if the Albanese government is trying to support this drive to open up carbon “opportunities” in the name of carbon “abatement” and the energy “transition”, it has appointed the perfect person in the form of Matt Kean.
Perhaps this is too cynical, and Bowen and Albanese will be shocked — shocked! — that their new chair would take up an appointment that appears so flagrantly in conflict with his CCA role. But if they continue to deny it’s a problem, it will only confirm that the Albanese government’s climate credentials are in tatters.
After promising real climate action to the electorate, Labor’s main achievements have been to subsidise the expansion of the gas industry, continue to approve new fields and coal mine extensions, introduce a broken safeguard mechanism, fail to introduce climate triggers or any significant new environmental protection legislation, and maintain fossil fuel industry subsidies to the tune of $10 billion per year.
Hiding behind the inspirational social media posts touting renewable energy or showing #naturepositive ministers hugging marsupials, the Albanese government has made Australia the second-largest exporter globally of fossil fuel emissions (up one spot), and the world’s best gaslighter.
What do you think of Matt Kean’s appointments? Let us know your thoughts by writing to letters@crikey.com.au. Please include your full name to be considered for publication. We reserve the right to edit for length and clarity.
To any keen observers of the political rivalry between the United States and China, the symbolism of their tied Olympic gold medal tally cannot be overstated.
The hero’s welcome planned for returning Australian Olympic athletes testifies to the close relationship between sport, nationalism and national identity. A euphoric Anthony Albanese, in praising our high-achieving athletes, knows that a country’s gold medal tally is a crude but effective way of showcasing a nation’s strength.
The Lowy Institute’s 2023 Comprehensive Power Index lists the US, China, Japan, India, Russia and Australia in descending order of their perceived overall power. Against this backdrop, the final medal tally of the Paris Games presents interesting reading.
The US and China each finished with 40 gold medals. Although China still trailed behind the US in the total medal tally, everyone knows it’s the gold that matters.
Team China has come a long way compared with four years ago in Tokyo. As the Chinese media observed, Paris represents a significant historical moment, marking the end of US dominance in world sport. To observers of the geopolitical rivalry between the two superpowers, the symbolism of this 40-40 draw cannot be overstated.
That is why when Harvard professor of politics Graham T. Allison was watching the Games, his mind was clearly also on politics. He called the Paris Games the “geopolitical Olympics“:
China’s rise from essentially nowhere to become the leading rival of the United States in the Olympics mirrors its rise in virtually every other dimension to become the defining geopolitical rival in the twenty-first century.
As is also the case in geopolitics, Team China was banking not only on its athletes topping the medal tally but also on its rival losing.
That is why the women’s basketball match between France and the US was equally nail-biting for many Chinese spectators. More than just a success for an underdog, a win for France would effectively be a win for China, given the US would thereby lose one gold medal, enabling Team China to come out on top. The French put up an impressive fight, but stopped short of pulling off a miracle, meaning China and the US shared top spot.
The Olympics not only mirrors geopolitics; it is part of geopolitics. Parallel with the adrenalin-pumping race for gold in Paris, an equally intense and much more intricate drama between Team US and Team China has been unfolding outside Stade de France, with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) awkwardly caught in the middle. Australia also played a substantial role in the drama.
News of the spectacular win by Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle in the 100-metre freestyle, breaking his own record and beating Australian swimmer Kyle Chalmers, was met with mixed reactions.
A breathless and triumphant Pan told Chinese media Chalmers had previously ignored him, and that American swimmer Jack Alexy had also treated the Chinese team with disrespect since he arrived in Paris. Pan felt unfairly treated because, even though he had been tested for drugs 21 times in the two months before coming to Paris, he was still not considered “clean”.
Pan told Chinese media he attributed his phenomenal performance to his ability to channel his pent-up anger and resentment. “I felt they looked down upon me … And I felt the weight of the entire Chinese nation at that moment.”
Chalmers thought Pan’s remark was “a bit weird“, and said he had not at all ignored Pan. The two rivals finally cleared the air towards the end, but suspicion about Pan’s performance continued to do the rounds in the commercial media, many of which included a video clip of Australia’s coach Brett Hawke angrily insinuating that Pan’s victory was an outcome of taking drugs.
Chinese swimmers were the most tested athletes in Paris, having been tested nearly 200 times in the first 10 days after arriving in France. The International Testing Agency’s data from 2023 shows that Chinese swimmers were tested three to four times more than their Australian counterparts.
Despite his win, Pan was a victim of the ongoing stoush between the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA), the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) and WADA. He was a formidable force in the pool, but he must have felt powerless in the murky waters of hostile public opinion surrounding the controversy of some Chinese athletes testing positive four years ago.
Rivalry between swimmers goes hand in hand with narrative contests in the media. Just before the Paris games, TheNew York Times published an article accusing WADA of continuing to clear doping Chinese athletes, claiming that two more Chinese swimmers had tested positive due to food contamination in 2022. In response, CHINADA issued a statement calling the article “misleading” and a “distortion”, saying the paper was engaged in the politicisation of doping issues. The statement also outlined similar cases where US athletes had tested positive due to food contamination and medication.
The Chinese media outlet Global Times also accused the US of double standards, saying that it was a case of “thief crying ‘catch thief'”. This was following a Reuters report detailing WADA claims that USADA had let several athletes who had breached drug rules between 2011 and 2014 continue competing on the condition they agreed to go undercover to supply information on other athletes. The Chinese media are now also calling for a continuous investigation into the alleged doping of US athletes, including sprinting star Erriyon Knighton.
USADA and WADA have been in a public war of words over the past few years, with USADA repeatedly challenging the legitimacy of WADA. But late last month the US went further: a bipartisan group of US lawmakers introduced the “Restoring Confidence in the World Anti-Doping Agency Act of 2024”, which would give the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) permanent authority to reduce or revoke US funding for WADA. Some predict that if Donald Trump wins the US presidency in November, US funding for WADA will become even more precarious.
The next Olympic Games will be in Los Angeles. Given that the US will be the host, it may have a fair chance of wresting its top-dog status back. But China will not stand still. The 2028 Games will be even more riveting to watch than Paris.
Harvard professor Graham T. Allison — who’ll be watching the Games will interest — is recognised for identifying a historical pattern he named Thucydides’s Trap: the idea that when a rising power threatens to displace a ruling one, “the most likely outcome is war”. Let us hope that he is wrong.
Wanning Sun is a professor of media and cultural studies at the University of Technology, Sydney. She also serves as the deputy director of the UTS Australia-China Relations Institute. She is a fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities and a member of the Australian Research Council's College of Experts (2020-23). She is best known in the field of China studies for her ethnography of rural-to-urban migration and social inequality in contemporary China. She writes about Chinese diaspora, diasporic Chinese media, and Australia-China relations.
US Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate Tim Walz (Image: EPA/Bizuayehu Tesfaye)
'According to Ms Pang, Walz was the first foreign teacher assigned by the local government to teach English at our school.'
Last Wednesday, I woke up to find out that Minnesota Governor Tim Walz had been announced as US Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate for the coming election. As the world proceeded to collectively google who Walz is, I checked my notes: the same Tim Walz once taught in my high school in China back in 1989.
As I scrolled through my phone and tried to find out more information about Tim Walz’s China past, my mind was flooded with old memories of my high school, a selective school for Year 10-12 students founded by a British missionary 111 years ago in Foshan, a southern city where Ip Man, the teacher of famous Kung Fu star Bruce Lee, was born.
I knew exactly one thing to do: go to the alumni group chats and gossip.
Since leaving my school in 2014, I have been added to four alumni group chats (which I’d all muted). In one group chat, an alum now living in Melbourne said Walz was his English teacher when he was in Year 12. However, as it’s been over 30 years since then, all he could remember was Walz gave every student an English name, yet he couldn’t recall the name he was given.
In another group chat, a classmate of mine, whose mother also attended the same school and was in Year 11 when Walz was there, shared a photo of Walz chatting with the school principals in front of an old teaching building. The photo was taken in 1994, after Walz founded a company that organised summer school camps for American students to visit China. That year, he took 50 American students to my school.
Tim Walz speaking to some colleagues when visiting our school in 1994 (Image: Foshan No.1 High School)
There were also screenshots of testimonies from retired teachers and alumni — now in their late 50s — on their memories of Walz, who they said was “a very friendly person”. In one screenshot, Walz was remembered to get scared by the firecrackers during the Lunar New Year celebrations in 1990. I spotted a name from that screenshot — it was Ms Pang, my Chinese literature teacher in Year 11 who has recently retired.
According to Ms Pang, Walz was the first foreign teacher assigned by the local government to teach English at our school. “Everyone treated him like a superstar,” Ms Pang told me. “When he joined us [in 1989], he was very young with a bright smile.” Ms Pang had viewed Walz’s latest campaign photo. Despite the ageing face and grey hair, Ms Pang said Walz’s smile remained “infectious” like in the old days.
She also remembered Walz loved having ice cream from the convenience store near the school. He also seemed to be a fan of lychee, a fruit grown in south China. Once, he asked a colleague in Mandarin if he would like to have some.
At my school, Walz was popular among staff and students. He was a member of the school teachers’ basketball team. He greeted everyone when walking on campus, regardless if he worked closely with them. Before he headed back to the US, Walz received many gifts, including a fan with calligraphy prints on it from Ms Pang.
As I wrote up the interview with Ms Pang and sent it to a Chinese-language news outlet, my mind also travelled back to 10 years ago, when Ms Pang praised my essay in her class. I was in the same campus where Walz once created a window for hundreds of young Chinese students to learn about America.
Now, writing from my home in Sydney, I was also documenting a lovely and genuine interaction between the peoples of China and the US that was a world away from tensions and geopolitical conflicts.
The waltz down memory lane was also a reminder of the positive side of international education. This week I will be celebrating 10 years in Australia. The reason why I came to Australia is because in 2013, I went on a school trip (organised by my high school) to Townsville.
There have been so many talks about international student caps recently, from how international students are deteriorating university degree quality, to the accusation that they’re intensifying the housing crisis. The Waltz side note is a nice reminder about the importance and value of cultural exchange and creating more opportunities for young people themselves.
And of course, after reading what I wrote, Ms Pang gave me a big thumbs up, just like a decade ago.
Correction: a previous version of this article said Bruce Lee was born in Foshan. It has been updated to reflect that his teacher, Ip Man, was born there.
Wing Kuang is a Sydney-based journalist, audio producer and certified translator. She previously worked for ABC News covering national and international affairs, specialising in China and Australia-China relations. Her works also appear on SBS News, Guardian Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age and The Saturday Paper.
A Foxtel billboard at an A-League match (Image: AAP/David Gray)
Foxtel's potential new owners might be forced to change the company's name to avoid allowing the Murdochs some continued control.
News Corp may be putting its 65% of Foxtel on the market but does News actually control the pay-TV group, or does another part of the empire, Fox Corp, really have a substantial interest in Foxtel?
News Corp appoints the CEO and board of the company and has bailed out Foxtel over the years with loans totalling hundreds of millions of dollars. But unless Foxtel changes its name completely once in new hands, the Murdochs will retain a major interest. The family’s other media company, Fox Corp, controls the Fox name and licences it to Foxtel.
Fox has four namesake trademark agreements with Foxtel (linked to on page 126 of this filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission). This one, for example, is between Fox Media LLC and Fox Sports Australia Pty Ltd, and is one of the two agreements covering Fox Sports. The other two cover Fox and Foxtel management. Each of the agreements list all the marks — the domain names or trademarks — covered by the agreement, their cost (which is hard to work out — there is a figure of $10 mentioned in one of the agreements), as well as the rules under which the marks are licensed.
The agreements each say “The licensor (Fox Media) is the owner and registered proprietor of the Fox marks.” Fox Media is based in Delaware, like Fox Corp and News Corp.
The deals also cover “content services” — those that make available, on a subscription basis only, TV programmes (this does not include free-to-air television).
The agreements were first entered into in 2013 when the old News Corp was split into News Corp and 21st Century Fox, which in turn became Fox Corp after the Disney deal was done to hive off the company’s movie studios in 2019. All the agreements were amended in February 2022.
The deals give substantial control to Fox Media and Fox Corp, and the licensor will retain “all goodwill associated therewith and all rights relating thereto” the Fox marks. The deals also provide that “the licensor may terminate this agreement on giving six months’ notice in writing to the licensee in the event that:
(a) the equity share held by the News Corporation Limited (now called News Australia Pty Limited) or its affiliates in the licensee falls below 25%; or (b) The News Corporation Limited (now called News Australia Pty Limited) ceases to have the right to nominate the Chief Executive Officer of the licensee, except by reason of a listing of the licensee on the Australian Stock Exchange.”
A new owner of Foxtel will thus have to give up the name and whatever value is left in it, or continue to allow the Murdochs a say in key aspects of the business — or pay them to give up that control.
Linda Reynolds and Scott Morrison in 2020 (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)
Former prime minister Scott Morrison has appeared as a witness in the defamation suit brought by Linda Reynolds against Brittany Higgins.
Scott Morrison has appeared in a defamation trial to testify about what he knew, and when, of the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins in a ministerial office in Canberra in 2019.
Senator Linda Reynolds is suing Higgins over a series of social media posts containing alleged mistruths that Reynolds believes damaged her reputation.
Morrison tuned into the hearing in the Western Australian Supreme Court on Tuesday via a video link from Sydney.
How did we get here?
Morrison was first revealed as a potential witness for Reynolds two months ago, when lawyers for the two sides discussed the timing of the trial and who would be called on to testify.
According to ABC News, Reynolds told reporters after that hearing she had appreciated the support she received from colleagues: “I’ve been particularly grateful in recent times for the support from Scott Morrison and from many other witnesses in this trial in terms of the impact this has had on me and many other people as well.”
What does Morrison have to do with it?
Morrison was prime minister at the time of Higgins’ alleged rape, and remained in that position when news of the allegations broke.
A lawyer for Reynolds, Martin Bennett, said ahead of Tuesday’s hearing that Morrison’s evidence would be “significant”, and that it would address the “degree of confidence” the then prime minister had in Reynolds and how he was “forced to replace her as minister due to her ill health”, according to ABC News.
What did Morrison say?
Morrison told the court on Tuesday he learnt of what had happened in 2021, after Higgins’ allegations about Senator Reynolds’ mishandling of the incident became public.
“I undertook a series of briefings … through my staff … and sought to bring myself up to date as I prepared to face questions in the Parliament,” he told the court.
He agreed Reynolds was “attacked” in the aftermath, and said the reaction to the allegations appeared to be “aggressive” and “coordinated”.
“It was intending to discredit her,” he said. “It was the weaponising of this issue for political purposes to discredit both Senator Reynolds … and the government, and by extension myself.”
Asked what was alleged during the attack, Morrison said: “[That] the government was involved in the cover-up of this issue, which was completely and utterly false, without any foundation.”
How did Reynolds react?
Morrison said he was distressed to see Reynolds experiencing physical and mental symptoms following a question time session after the news broke.
“She was sitting in the whip’s office in a very distressed state … I provided her comfort as a friend but also as her prime minister and leader, and expressed my strong support for her,” Morrison said.
“She was quite visibly, physically stressed and in a highly fragile emotional state at that point.
“I was unaware of her cardiac condition. This was brought to my attention with her permission sometime later and that only deepened my concern.
“I remember for a period there we were very fearful for Senator Reynolds this could be a fatal outcome for her.”
What’s next in the trial?
More evidence will follow, including planned testimony by Higgins, later this month.
Meanwhile, Bruce Lehrmann, Higgins’ alleged rapist and another former employee of Reynolds, is appealing a verdict in a different defamation suit, brought by him in 2023 against Network 10.
In April, a judge in that trial wrote in his verdict that Lehrmann had, on the balance of probablities, raped Higgins.
The rape allegation was previously the subject of a criminal trial, which was derailed by juror misconduct before the charge was dropped. Lehrmann maintains his innocence.
Anton Nilsson is Crikey's federal political reporter. He previously covered NSW Parliament for NCA NewsWire, and before that, worked for Sweden's Expressen newspaper as well as other publications in Sweden, Australia and the United States.
Minister for Education Jason Clare (Image: AAP/Mick Tsikas)
The latest NAPLAN results show Australian students are struggling with literacy and numeracy, and the City of Melbourne has banned e-scooters, saying they 'create havoc'.
NAPLAN RESULTS
NAPLAN results have been leading the majority of coverage overnight, with the ABC reporting one in three students are still not meeting literacy and numeracy benchmarks and The Australian highlighting one in 10 children “need additional support to progress satisfactorily”. The Sydney Morning Herald says the results, released today, are set to escalate the battle between Education Minister Jason Clare and his state counterparts. Clare has given state ministers until September to sign up to an agreement linking an extra $16 billion in funding to a series of education reforms aimed at lifting performance. The ABC quotes him as saying: “These results show why serious reform is needed and why we need to tie additional funding to reforms that will help students catch up, keep up and finish school.”
Looking at the results, the AAP highlights female students outperformed their male counterparts in writing, while male students performed better in numeracy. The newswire said about one in three First Nations children tested in the “needs additional support” proficiency level with regards to reading and numeracy, compared to one in 10 non-Indigenous students. The ABC also points out “stark differences” remain between metropolitan and non-metropolitan students, with 24% of students from very remote schools categorised as “strong” or “exceeding” in terms of literacy, compared to 70.7% of students from major cities.
The ABC and AAP also flagged that there was only one sustained cheating-related incident among the more than 4 million tests sat by almost 1.3 million students. The incident, at a West Australian school, involved 19 students receiving “inappropriate assistance” during a test.
Elsewhere on the national broadcaster is the row between Nancy Pelosi and Paul Keating, with the former US speaker of the house calling the former prime minister’s remarks about Taiwan last week “ridiculous”. In last night’s 7.30, Pelosi was asked about Keating calling Taiwan “Chinese real estate” and responded bluntly: “You don’t want to get my description of him for saying that … that’s ridiculous”, adding it was “a stupid statement to make”. Ahead of the airing of the interview, Keating released a statement accusing the ABC of “being excited by sensationalist comment from a person who shares not a jot of identity with Australian national interests”, the SMH reports, and accused Pelosi of making a “recklessly indulgent visit to Taiwan in 2022”.
Keating made his initial comments about Taiwan while discussing the AUKUS defence pact. My colleague Bernard Keane yesterday wrote about the former PM’s reaction to the alliance and the latest details of the agreement recently tabled in Parliament. You can read it here.
NO MORE SCOOTERS
The City of Melbourne has banned rental e-scooters within its borders, according to today’s Age. The paper says councillors on Tuesday evening voted to withdraw from contracts with scooter companies Lime and Neuron with five days’ notice. The decision reportedly gives the operators 30 days to remove their e-scooters from the city.
Lord Mayor Nicholas Reece is quoted as telling the meeting last night: “After two years I have run out of patience at what I’m seeing on the streets and footpaths of our city,” calling the situation “shameful”. He added: “There are literally more people disobeying the law on e-scooters than there are actually following the rules; people riding around without helmets, people double-dinking, people in groups, riding on the footpath, creating havoc on the footpaths of our city.”
As a result of last night’s vote, Lime and Neuron scooters will be removed from Melbourne’s CBD and suburbs including Docklands, Carlton, Southbank, South Yarra, Flemington, Kensington, Port Melbourne, Parkville and East Melbourne from mid-September, the paper says. It is not yet clear exactly how the ban will be enforced.
Talking of bans, the AFR has another turn of the wheel on the Albanese government’s much-criticised attempts to enforce some kind of crackdown on gambling advertising (the subject of today’s Commentariat below). The paper reports as part of the current government proposal betting firms will still be able to buy sponsored Google results on some search terms. Responding to the latest news, teal independent Kate Chaney said: “Anything short of a blanket ban will just move ad revenue around, as we saw with tobacco. A carve-out allowing sponsored content on search engines would be the thin edge of the wedge.”
The government has already briefed media companies, betting firms and sporting codes on the proposals (involving eyebrow-raising NDAs), which anti-gambling advocates say don’t go far enough and betting firms and media organisations say go too far, the AFR recalls, adding that government MPs were set to meet with AFL players and executives for the code’s annual event at Parliament House last night.
ON A LIGHTER NOTE…
Nine pieces of art by Banksy have appeared in London over the past nine days.
On Tuesday, a new piece showing a gorilla appearing to lift up a shutter at the entrance to London Zoo, allowing other animals and birds to escape, was confirmed on the artist’s official Instagram page, the Press Association reports.
The work follows the animal theme of the previous eight Banksy pieces which have appeared around the capital. Since August 5 there have been pieces involving rhinos, piranhas, goats, elephants, monkeys, a wolf, pelicans and a cat.
On Monday, the piece involving a rhino mounting a car was defaced by a man wearing a balaclava just hours after it went up, The Guardian reports. The BBC obtained video of the man walking up to the artwork in Charlton’s Westmoor Street and spray painting on it. The crowd gathered around the piece can be heard saying “don’t do that” and after “Why did you do that? Why did you do it?”
Of the other pieces, three men who said they were “hired” by a “contracting company” to take down the billboard in Cricklewood featuring the cat for safety reasons were booed by those there, the Press Association said.
A howling wolf on a satellite dish was also removed from a roof in Peckham less than an hour after it was unveiled. A spokesperson for Banksy told the Press Association the artist was neither connected to nor endorsed the theft of the wolf artwork and had “no knowledge as to the dish’s current whereabouts”.
Say What?
Happy to host Kamala on an X Spaces too.
Elon Musk
After his much-hyped live discussion with Donald Trump on X was hit by technical issues, Musk has tried to invite the Democratic candidate to chat on his social media platform too. Musk blamed “a massive DDOS attack” for the problems with the Trump livestream on Monday, which one expert told the BBC was “unlikely”. Kamala Harris’ campaign released a statement on “whatever that was” after the event and called Musk and Trump “self-obsessed rich guys who will sell out the middle class and who cannot run a livestream in the year 2024”.
Anthony Albanese with Seven West Media chair Kerry Stokes (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)
And that’s a key issue: unlike a newspaper, or an online media company, Seven operates using spectrum that is owned by Australian government and thus taxpayers. It only exists because it is allowed to use a publicly owned asset. Even with such a minimalist requirement as “suitable”, Seven shouldn’t be allowed to use a public asset as part of operations that undermine public interest journalism, immiserate its own staff and reward rapists and war criminals.
Who would be inconvenienced or harmed by Seven being shut down? Its remaining staff, certainly. Investors, to a degree, although Seven West Media’s share price is just 16 cents. But there’d be fewer media industry workplaces for predators and harassers. And there’d be no impact on journalism.
Scott Morrison has appeared in a defamation trial to testify about what he knew, and when, of the alleged rape of Brittany Higgins in a ministerial office in Canberra in 2019.
Senator Linda Reynolds is suing Higgins over a series of social media posts containing alleged mistruths that Reynolds believes damaged her reputation.
Morrison tuned into the hearing in the Western Australian Supreme Court on Tuesday via a video link from Sydney.
Research has consistently found that games with higher event frequencies are attractive to problem gamblers and are more likely to lead to negative gambling outcomes, such as difficulty quitting the game and higher losses.
Livingstone said that online sports betting — allowing multiple bets on multiple games happening at the same time as well as events within single games — means gamblers “can now set up a whole host of events that you can bet on, which you bet on with enormous frequency”.
“So you’ve achieved this high event frequency, which engages people in what we call high immersion,” he said. “People that are highly immersed in the game tend to lose what’s called executive function, that is, they get lost in the product. And once they’re lost in the product, it’s very difficult for them to find their way out of it.”
In her final days she continued to argue that there was no halfway house, insisting partial bans don’t work.
Her final political act was convincing those who sat opposite her in Parliament of the need to tackle online gambling. But it’s a message that looks to have fallen short with those who sat much closer on the government’s frontbench.
The risk from not doing anything is the impression the Albanese government cares more for its own survival than that of individuals lured into life-wrecking addiction.
Add to those the perception that a government dedicated to easing cost of living pressures has dodged a means of discouraging people from keeping their money for essentials and not wasting it on wagering, which delivers few wins and drains wallets.
It is a toss-up for Albanese and without concrete action by him one of those tagline warnings on gambling ads might suit: “Chances are you are about to lose.”
Rich James is Crikey'sWorm editor. He was previously news director at BuzzFeed Australia, executive news editor at the i paper, senior editor of EMEA at Storyful, and deputy news editor at Metro.
