ABC sacks radio host over anti-Israel social media posts

THE ABC OF FREE SPEECH

ABC Sydney’s mornings program summer season host Antoinette Lattouf is contemplating her authorized choices after she alleges she was unlawfully sacked for her views on the Israel-Palestine battle. The Australian ($) says ABC chair Ita Buttrose acquired a slew of complaints about Lattouf’s TikTok movies and tweets, together with a publish of footage purporting to indicate folks chanting “gasoline the Jews” was not verified, as she wrote for Crikey alongside Cam Wilson. Lattouf additionally alleged sexual violence was a device of struggle utilized by each Hamas and Israel, and that Israeli youngsters appeared to matter greater than Arab ones (some 8,000 Palestinian children have been killed since October 7, the BBC says, in response to Hamas’ authorities). The paper claims Lattouf was sacked for allegedly not upholding the “ABC’s status, independence, impartiality and integrity” and was faraway from her publish yesterday (she was employed on a short-term contract, The Age ($) provides). As Crikey’s Bernard Keane tweeted, we’re positive the free speech crusaders at Information Corp will hearth up about Lattouf’s sacking. Any minute now.

This comes as SBS apologised to distinguished Indigenous No advocate Nyunggai Warren Mundine after the “taxpayer-funded” ombudsman discovered a moderator had favoured the Sure campaigner Professor Marcia Langton on the night time of the referendum vote, The Australian ($) studies. It discovered Indigenous host Narelda Jacobs calling her a “nationwide treasure” was not neutral. Mundine has slammed politicians for his or her “inaction” on Indigenous points within the two months because the Voice to Parliament referendum failed, Sky Information Australia studies. It’s nearly as if politicians assume Australians aren’t fussed about them appearing on Indigenous drawback as a result of a lot of the nation voted No, as Mundine and others had advocated for. Effectively, that’s flawed, Mundine says — the general public desires politicians to “do your job”. The answer is “quite simple”, he says: if you happen to’re in schooling, get children into college; if you happen to’re in financial improvement, get folks jobs. And don’t even take into consideration legislating committees and regional voices, he says. Politicians know finest, or one thing.

TO CATCH A CHIEF

Eva Lawler would be the NT’s subsequent chief minister after the Labor caucus unanimously voted her in, the NT Information ($) studies. Chansey Paech might be her deputy, relegating Nicole Manison to the backbench. Manison had meant to run however “determined to assist Eva”, she says. So who’s Lawler? She’s the treasurer and schooling minister, territory improvement minister and in addition held the infrastructure portfolio till October, however earlier than her profession in politics in 2016 she was a instructor and principal in Darwin and rural areas. Her appointment comes after former chief minister Natasha Fyles resigned amid allegations she hadn’t declared a battle of curiosity (shares in a mining firm whereas she rejected an investigation into manganese results on native Indigenous people).

Talking of pollie {dollars}… Liberal MP Jason Wooden spent greater than $160,000 of taxpayer {dollars} on printing between July and September final 12 months, The Courier-Mail ($) studies. It’s a dismal determine, Regeneration Media founder Natalie McKenna says, contemplating organisations are continually urged to not print or waste paper. It’s simply one among some $31 million in bills claimed by politicians in three months. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spent $684,000, although most of it ($512,000) was spent on his workers’s journey prices. The paper notes Albanese spent simply $30,000 on his workplace administration in 2022 — evaluate that with predecessor Scott Morrison, who spent practically 4 occasions that at $113,000 in 2022. Opposition Chief Peter Dutton spent $363,000 (together with $195,000 on worker journey), the ABC studies. Science Minister Ed Husic and teal impartial Kylea Tink in all probability have swish workplaces — they each spent round $155,000 on workplace furnishings, in addition to lease and utilities.

COLD AS ICE

WA Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds desires to freeze former staffer Brittany Higgins’ belongings after she and associate David Sharaz moved to the south of France to start out over, The Age ($) studies. Reynolds, who as soon as known as Higgins a “mendacity cow”, is suing them for defamation over 5 social media posts, Guardian Australia explains, together with two from Higgins that stated Reynolds had used the press to harass her. The previous defence minister desires damages and aggravated damages, in addition to two injunctions to cease Higgins from posting defamatory stuff about her. Anyway… Reynolds’ lawyer wrote to Higgins’ lawyer after she heard of studies Higgins had purchased a property in France to say they’d be searching for a freezing order if it was true. In the meantime the defamation case Bruce Lehrmann introduced in opposition to journalist Lisa Wilkinson and Community 10 has entered its closing stage, with closing submissions to happen at present and end on Friday, the Braidwood Instances studies.

To Reynolds’ dwelling state now, and WA’s rat infestation continues, WA Right now ($) studies. That’s RAT — greater than 11.7 million expired speedy antigen exams that the state will spend $4 million to get rid of utilizing “sustainable recycling choices”, the mid-year evaluate has revealed. It had purchased 25 million, or about 41 exams for each individual, coming in at an eyewatering $580 million — however 9.7 million have been returned to producers. This comes as the federal government has forked out a $490 million mortgage for Australia’s first salt operation in many years, the BCI Minerals mission. The West ($) studies it’ll create 5.3 million tonnes of salt a 12 months, making us a top-three producer worldwide. It’ll be used to create “aluminium, glass, photo voltaic panels, ceramics, paints and plastics”, the paper says.

ON A LIGHTER NOTE

An aged man named Nicolas Puech strolled by the huge gardens of his dwelling in Martigny. One can go some ways within the Swiss metropolis — one highway leads south-east to Italy, one other goes west into France. It’s from that manner from whence Puech got here — he was born in a small French commune fairly near Paris to father Francis and mom Yvonne. Her surname was Hermès — of one of many world’s most well-known high-fashion empires. It has been a good distance up for a model that started in 1837 as a producer of horse harnesses. However the luxurious enterprise was constructed on the energy of a sew that could possibly be managed solely by hand. Peering throughout the plush landscaping, Puech contemplated on the numerous types of magnificence that useful work can create on this life.

Or possibly he didn’t. We all know little or no concerning the French inheritor to the billion-dollar enterprise, who by no means married or had youngsters. He’d all the time vowed to go away his mammoth 5.7% stake in Hermès to the charitable basis he based. However Puech has just lately outlined his philanthropic intention to donate half of his $19.4 billion fortune to his gardener and handyman. A Swiss newspaper describes the fortunate man as a “servant from a modest Moroccan household”, however Puech reportedly refers to him as his son, and has already begun the method of adopting him. He’s not precisely a child — he reportedly has two youngsters, who Puech additionally reportedly thinks of as his personal. It turned out to be one other bond that started by hand, as Thierry Hermès stated — or extra exactly, a inexperienced thumb.

Hoping your coronary heart is in bloom at this cheery time of 12 months.

SAY WHAT?

My father has been lifeless for 5 years so we have been understandably shocked and upset. They’re clearly utilizing these letters as a catch-all to essentially frighten some folks and many individuals would simply go and pay it. However the letter doesn’t even make clear the place the debt comes from.

Canberra retiree

The lady, who requested Guardian Australia to stay nameless, has been chased by the ATO to pay an excellent debt from her father’s property as a part of the tax workplace chasing hundreds of historic money owed, dubbed robotax.

CRIKEY RECAP

A person’s information to the Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial

“For Lehrmann’s crew, the large problem is identification. It’s a on condition that what Community 10 broadcast was defamatory (the rape allegation), however Lehrmann wasn’t named. He has to show that he was identifiable to the viewers from a mix of clues that Ten gave and different info they in all probability already knew.

“If he will get previous that, it’s all about Ten’s defences. The massive one, which I anticipate will decide the case, is justification: fact. If Ten can fulfill the decide on the steadiness of chances that the rape allegation is considerably true, it wins. Essentially this activates the testimonies of Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins, and the decide’s evaluation of their credit score might be essential.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Hamas head in Cairo as momentum builds in direction of new Israel-Hamas truce talks (Al Jazeera)

JN.1 COVID variant: WHO charts its speedy international unfold (BBC)

Malaysia bans Israeli-owned and -linked transport citing ‘cruelty in opposition to the Palestinian folks’ (CNN)

Poland’s new authorities sacks state TV, radio and information bosses (The Guardian)

Trudeau says he’s sensed a ‘tonal shift’ from India since US reported alleged homicide plot (CBC)

The ‘sausages, messes and holes’ of [NZ] Nationwide’s mini-budget (Stuff)

Tesla blamed drivers for failures of elements it lengthy knew have been faulty (Reuters)

Pornhub, Stripchat and XVideos to be policed underneath EU’s stringent digital guidelines (euronews)

THE COMMENTARIAT

A terrorist risk? Probably, however Benbrika was rightly freed — Rodger Shanahan (The SMH) ($): “Benbrika has been awarded a one-year prolonged supervision order with 30 circumstances connected to it, together with digital monitoring, limits on journey and affiliation with explicit folks, and publicly talking on sure topics. It’s lower than the three-year ESO sought by the federal government, which has stated it’s going to evaluate the choice earlier than taking any additional steps. Whereas being seen to be robust on terrorism might play effectively to a home viewers, it’s important in a sophisticated liberal democracy equivalent to Australia to not lose sight of the rules on which we function as a mature society, and a part of that’s an acceptance that it’s the job of the authorized system to find out guilt and to use the punishment acceptable to the crime dedicated. This is applicable to terrorism offences as a lot because it does to regular prison offences.

“Persevering with detention orders not solely threaten that precept, they merely kick the issue down the highway and do nothing to help within the rehabilitation of allegedly dedicated ideologues. Certainly, one may argue that within the jihadist milieu, persevering with detention enhances offenders’ reputations and makes them probably extra influential. Supervision after launch offers strict security ensures for the inhabitants whereas denying terrorists the chance to burnish their credentials because the ‘oppressed’. Benbrika might have rejected Australia’s liberal democratic society, but when governments need to assure the general public’s security from him and his ilk, they need to accomplish that with out compromising the rules of justice which might be basic to liberal democracies. At stake is our higher liberty, not solely Benbrika’s.”

‘I’m your retribution.’ Trump is aware of what he desires to do with a second time period — Thomas B. Edsall (The New York Instances) ($): “Considered one of Trump’s most startling proposals is to create a brand new class of federal worker often known as Schedule F. It could get rid of civil service protections in opposition to arbitrary firing and different punishments for an estimated 50,000 or extra elite federal staff. Their jobs would, in impact, turn into political patronage appointments. (Trump signed an government order establishing Schedule F close to the top of his presidency, however President Biden rescinded it.) The Workplace of Personnel Administration described Schedule F as directing federal companies ‘to maneuver probably massive swaths of profession workers into a brand new “at will” standing that will purportedly strip them of civil service safety’,

“Specialists in federal employment regulation disagree over whether or not, in a second time period, Trump would have the facility to provoke a radical change like Schedule F with out congressional approval. Anne Joseph O’Connell, a regulation professor at Stanford whose analysis focuses on administrative regulation and the federal forms, wrote by e-mail that Trump might have the authority to create a brand new Schedule F. However she added that the scope of the change in conventional practices known as for by the proposal might make it topic to judicial evaluate … The important thing subject within the case of Schedule F is how the Supreme Courtroom would view such an excessive alteration of federal employment practices ensuing from a unilateral presidential choice.”

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