Thread by @iMusing

good morning from unceded Darug lands☀️today on #Insiders are Guardian Aust executive zeditor Lenore Taylor, ABC politics editor Andrew Probyn and murdoch politics editor James Campbell. The interview is with shadow minister for government services and NDIS Bill Shorten.

opening spiel is irresponsible conflict journalism. NSW asks for Pfizer supplies, other states refuse. This is not the story, David. #Insiders

the montage is politicians saying get vaccinated spliced with - wait for it - Kyle starfish Sandilands singing get vaccinated. #Insiders

the non-sorry non-story. There is exactly no material value to anyone anywhere in Scott Morrison saying sorry. #Insiders

a second clip featuring Sandilands. A clip of Morrison quoting Sandilands. If we think this misogynist pig is the answer god help us. #Insiders

#MakingNews is ACTU calls to reinstate the rort-riddled wages subsidy; and arrests at the rally of violent fuckwits in Sydney yesterday. #Insiders

clip of Chant talking about “support” for people in SW Sydney. Briggs asks what the government needs to do about people staying home. An odd diversion into rhetoric from a stats segment. #Insiders

is there an argument for bumping essential workers up the vaccination priority list? asks Briggs. #Insiders

“claims” Berejiklian has not gone far enough. She who refused support to other states. Are we Australians or should each state look after their own? asks Speers, who is in his conflict-fanning happy place. #Insiders

goes to Campbell first. He says yes other states should help BSW because it is the engine room of the economy. Taylor says you can’t contain delta behind a ring of steel. #Insiders

goes further. Taylor says there is an argument for a short term prioritising of vaccinating young people who are doing the work that keeps the economy running. #Insiders

it is not a popular idea but other states should help NSW? Probyn says you can vaccinate your way out of pandemic and vaccinate your way out of an outbreak. Clip of Berejiklian saying NSW has “been doing the heavy lifting to keep the economy going”. #Insiders

wow. Everyone here is deeply concerned about the NSW *economy*. #Insiders

we have very little to be proud of in this space, says Campbell. This can turn on a dime. Six weeks ago everybody* thought NSW was the gold standard, now it’s in the toilet, he says. #Insiders

clip of Morrison saying “we are not going to disrupt the vaccshinashon program around the rest of the country”. Taylor says he could find a way to quietly get more doses for NSW while trying to deflect the political problem of being labelled PM for NSW. #Insiders

the prime minister is under pressure. Drink. #Insiders

lmao a “sorry would be a show of humility… that would help” opines Probyn. No it wouldn’t. Help what? His standing in the polls? #insiders

clip of Morrison saying he is sorry that his government has not “achieved the marks” that he hoped for. Campbell says Morrison is verbally stubborn but not policy stubborn. He is “data driven” says Campbell, by which he means poll driven. #Insiders

think back to last year, says Taylor, when Labor was asking for Albanese to sit at the National cabinet table. She says Morrison did not want to give Albanese equal billing and now Morrison is out there trying to find a formula to say sorry. #Insiders

Speers has chosen a clip of an extremely somber Hazzard on unity during bushfires etc to segue to Shorten, who says he is sad we are here due to the failure of ego politics in NSW. #Insiders

this tedious bullshit. Should Victoria give up Pfizer doses to rescue NSW? asks Speers. Fanning fanning the flames of division at every opportunity is our conflict journalist host of #Insiders

have proper quarantine facilities, says Shorten. Get the vaccine. Christmas next year sounds nice but current concerns are businesses throwing out food, families using up their life savings. #Insiders

the Premiers are filling a vacuum caused by the prime minister, says Shorten. He never thought he would see the states play such a major role. Andrews smashed the curve last outbreak. NSW is getting there on lockdown restrictions. #Insiders

asked about what amounts to herd immunity, Shorten says Doherty is working on that. He says the Johnson Freedom Day is a false dawn.
Speers: so *you* say 80%?
A: That’s what *experts say*, David. #Insiders

quarantine is another matter, says Speers. No it is all the same issue, on confidence, says Shorten. We need jobkeeper without the rorts, he says. The federal government are always last to the table, fingernail marks on the walls of the parliament. #Insiders

why is it so hard to say [a proportion of vaxed population that will see off lockdowns; a number that is acceptable deaths]?
Shorten explains how risk analysis works.
#Insiders

we need to future proof Australia, says Shorten. We need to be ambitious again. Why are we last on the OECD. Asked about compulsory vaccination, Shorten says we need to tell Australia we can end lockdowns and we should move past clickbait. #Insiders

there is an article saying you want the Labor leadership. Do you still want to be PM?
A: No. I think Anthony can win. Labor is competitive. It is an unsourced article, nobody on the record.
#Insiders

Speers has another two or three goes putting an unsourced proposition to the shadow minister for government services and NDIS on ALP leadership speculation instead of government services and NDIS. #Insiders

oh ffs. On ending lockdowns, Speers puts his opinion to the panel, calls it Shorten, and Probyn indulges press gallery leadership speculation instead of answering the actual question. He is beyond help. #Insiders

kids. Campbell says kids are as likely to catch the delta strain and we are learning more about long covid in children. If Australia was not prepared to run the gauntlet of grandmothers dying, says Campbell oddly, there is no way we run the gauntlet of children dying. #Insiders

yet another clip of Morrison, on his strong arming of ATAGI. Taylor says she is concerned that the ATAGI role of recommendations and Morrison government communication on implementation of recommendations has sent a really confusing message to the public. #Insider

part of the reason we are in this mess is Morrison government politicisation of ATAGI advice which is contributing to hesitation [abridged] - Taylor. #Insiders

changing advice, unclear advice, politicians relying on ATAGI, Probyn bothsides the many Morrison government failures by spreading blame across to health officials being bullied by Morrison. He attributes “lack of confidence” in AZ to ATAGI. #Insiders

heh. Speers likes this bothsidesing from Probyn, that deflects responsibility away from Morrison, but Campbell does not. He says ATAGI advice does not happen in a vacuum and the trust deficit is with government. Speers contradicts this, citing last year. #Insiders

almost as tho the murdoch and ABC politics editors have swapped chairs here. #Insiders

wages subsidies vs disaster payments. The obvious answer is to pay $600 a week to everyone staying home without paid work. #Insiders

it was not just charity giving people extra cash, says Probyn, it was to ensure they do not go hunting for work. He does not mention the critical factor of “suspending mutual obligations” - the punitive policy that should be abolished altogether. #Insiders

if this goes on another month watch this space, says Speers, of the Sydney lockdown fuckup.
Btw most experts are conceding that Berejiklian went too little too late and her delay has contributed to extending the lockdown - Ed.
#Insiders

#TalkingPictures is up. Boom Benny helpfully role models how to say sorry for the prime minister lmao #Insiders

https://twitter.com/insidersabc/status/1419083725866893312

#FinalObservations 1 is Probyn saying Home Affairs sec Pelluzzo is trying to ban sleeveless tops in zoom meetings. #Insiders

#FinalObservations 2 is Taylor saying she does not want the show to end without mention of the mass fuckwittery in Sydney yesterday. Speers respinds by reading a text about outgoing QLD extremist LNP politician George Christensen.

#FinalObservations 3 is Campbell riffing off the fucking muppets in Sydney CBD yesterday by saying Melbournians obediently locked down like methodists and the convicts in NSW are out there punching horses. #Insiders

to Campbell saying NSW “convicts” are losing it after 4 weeks, Speers adds “can’t handle lockdown” about Sydney. This is after devoting large parts of the last hour to fanning inter-state hostility at every opportunity. #Insiders

I missed the exit clip. Whatever the “joke” was, I’m going to assume it was not constructive enough to nullify all that unhelpful and irresponsible conflict journalism from Speers. #Insiders

this has been another edition of watching #Insiders so you don’t have to👋🏼👋🏼👋🏼

tip jar here🙏🏼🙏🏼

paypal.me/IngridMM

post script: thank you for the tips and comments, I usually try to get to all replies but today I have a heap of papers to mark👋🏼🙏🏼