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21 Sep, 5 tweets, 2 min read
Far-right riots a shocking moment in pandemic. Majority of Australians support public health, vax & govts that protect lives. They need clear information alongside violent footage on their TVs. It's clear we're FAR past describing riots as "ordinary" elements of society. 1/5
Unions have stated far-right targeting them all pandemic. There's a reason leaders like @sallymcmanus speak with authority. It's not new. Fascist groups world-over target unions as collectivist wrking class orgs. 1 planned to bomb VTHC last yr. 2/5
abc.net.au/news/2021-03-2…
Importantly, the brains behind riots aren't wackjob conspiracists (their explanatory models aren't coherent enough). They're fascists. They believe in great replacement theory. Social darwinism. They’ve planned terror attacks. They’re organised. 3/5
Uniting behind far-right hateful ideologies means inflicting pain on another section of the community. Unsurprisingly they hate govt COVID measures protecting lives. THIS is the far-right/public health nexus of pandemic. Its a global phenomenon. 4/5
Media must understand & report on seriousness of established threats posed by far-right to safety & democracy. I'm no expert on far-right orgs but know @knausc @mmcgowan @Jeff_Sparrow cover. Enjoyed this from young grassroots journo. END
instagram.com/tv/CR7vQY8gYzo…

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More from @ak_pennington

Alison Pennington Profile picture
21 Aug
6 years ago this day my life changed. I sat at the doilyed dining table of an old Greek woman's home I didn't know in Hurstville, Sydney. Floor-to-ceiling white. I was housesitting, looking after two yappy dogs while she travelled to Greece. 1/8
I'd landed here through a housesitting website after years of insecure share-housing & crisis accommodation. It was a 1mo stay & I thought I'd hit the jackpot! No stable home in an unforgiving dog-eat-dog-cultured city like Sydney was rough. 2/8
I'd just got the call. I landed a permanent full-time job in the public service in Canberra. I called my family teary & ecstatic. Secure permanent work was about the ceiling of our expectations in this broken economy. 3/8
Read 8 tweets
Alison Pennington Profile picture
12 Aug
Low vax targets cannot substitute for continued public health restrictions to control disease spread. We need both. Why? We dont have vaccines for children yet. Vulnerable ppl incl many disabled cannot be vaccinated & are at high risk of dying if we allow unmitigated spread. 1/6
Long-COVID among youth rising elsewhere in world like UK. LT impacts on kids not yet known nor costs & capacity of healthcare systm to cope. New variants are emerging, of which current vaccines may not provide full protection in LT (better than no protection tho, get vaxd!). 2/6
Like NZ Aus can recommit to elimination & protect ppl against death & serious illness. NSW hasn't reproduced successful VIC strategy but it still can! Wrkplce plans in essential industries, cut output, test & isolate payments. Feds can reinstate JK & CS to support standdowns. 3/6
Read 6 tweets
Alison Pennington Profile picture
25 Jul
Excluding welfare recipients from Cwth disaster payments is a failure on both public health & income security grounds. It will deepen inequality. Take scenario: Two 21yo uni students, both live w parents, & both worked 8 hrs/wk. Earnt $216 p/wk before lockdowns. 1/5 #COVID19nsw
The poorer student receives Youth Allowance at $156/wk + PT job income= $372/wk. Pays board to rents to help w bills. The wealthier student never got YA due to high parent income & assets. Both cant work. The wealthier qualifies for Cwth disaster payment- receives $375/wk. 2/5
The low-income student does NOT qualify for disaster payment - receives just $156/wk in YA. Nearly $220 LESS/wk than wealthier student. Govt has fostered 2 classes thru re-design of COVID payments. People w highest need excluded, deepening inequality. 3/5
Read 6 tweets
Alison Pennington Profile picture
23 Jul
The mission? Stop people moving & stop transmission. Keep bare minimum economic activity functioning to support most staying home (food, healthcare, utilities). To do this NSW govt need industry & workplace-level plans. It's what VIC did to stop 2nd wave. 1/3 #COVID19nsw
Govt coded essential/non-essential sectors. Assigned transmission risk rating. Shutdown non-essential biz. Calculated outputs needed from essential high-risk settings (ie abattoirs). Intervened to reduce output, reduce staffing. +200k workers stood down w income supports. 2/3
Employee coordination mechanisms were critical. Unionised workers in cleaning, logistics & meat shut sites w COVID cases. VIC 2020 was feat of war-time logistics & planning. Immense sacrifice. Competing interests but strong govt leadership pulled all to reach zero-COVID outcome.
Read 4 tweets
Alison Pennington Profile picture
1 Jun
There’s a clear reason Morrison lifted multiple-site working rules in aged care. It’s for same reason he introduced IR omnibus bill in March – protecting labour hire companies. Allow me to explain: 1/7 #auspol
Labour hire or “agencies” are entrenched in aged care. Facilities pay a fee to labour-hire biz for recruitment & admin costs. Staff perform services at facility but agency schedules & pays them -an efficiency & cost-reduction measure to cream fat off short-term govt contracts 2/7
Govt allocated $17.7bn to aged care in Budget (min $10bn/yr needed to meet RCs reccos). Critically, funds to providers came w no stipulations of organisation & pay of jobs. Its why @anmf_federal @unionsaustralia & others have been pointing to insecure wrk & contagion risks. 3/7
Read 7 tweets
Alison Pennington Profile picture
1 Jun
I’ve undertaken genomic testing on key COVID policy failures: vaccination rollout, insecure labour, hotel quarantining, private aged care. Common strand? Cwth govt policy. What's driving the "outbreak" of govt failure? 1/6 #VicLockdown
Uncoordinated, unregulated, private delivery has been underwritten by LNP at every turn (using $bn's of public $). Expanding "markets" like those in insecure work or new private contracts in hotels, GPs, social srvcs is 1 focus. The other? Preventing public sector expansion. 2/6
If quality & trust in public services increases (say, off back of global pandemic crisis), it takes yrs for conservative govts to unwind - thru politically-orchestrated public sctr failure (underfunding). When ppl are pissed funds then redirected to "efficient" private hands. 3/6
Read 6 tweets

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