Thread by @iMusing

good morning from unceded Darug lands🥶today on #Insiders are 9fax cultural editor Osman Faruqi, 9fax (AFR) columnist Jennifer Hewett and embattled ch10/murdoch politics Professor Peter van Onselen.
The interview is with Greens leader Adam Bandt.

this thread is not fact checked. It is not neutral nor unbiased. IANAJ. All tweets hashtagged for your muting convenience✌🏼

opening spiel: the first prime ministerial policy reversal - as the latest omicron wave hits. #Insiders

government minister ma spent the week digging in, says Speers, and reviews the arguments put and the “pressure” from unions, states, other groups - never media, of course, just all the *other* pressure points. The reversal followed a “snap national cabinet meeting” #Insiders

the montage is clips of politicians, journalists, doctors, and vox pops talking about the need to continue covid iso payments and the reasons offered for not continuing covid iso payments. Nothing on reinstating RATs for concession holders too? #Insiders

#MakingNews covid is back on the front page, says Speers. Hospital capacity and the cost to states of splitting the covid iso payments budget. #Insiders

Speers editorialises that budget repair is important but governments must be flexible. Hewett says the honeymoon is over. She says “another example of governments” a few times, conflating the previous and current governments. #Insiders

it was all a waste of time in hindsight says Faruqi, and this has highlighted the fact that covid did not really feature in the campaign (aged care, child care, cost of living and wages featured tho) #Insiders

clip of Albanese explaining why he decided to reinstate iso payments. Let’s hear from politics Professor van Onselen. He says it was a political decision that the politician made for political reasons and it was the wrong issue. Thanks, Peter. #Insiders

there is a disconnect from a practical perspective says van Onselen. People will hide the fact they have failed a RAT test. It was dumb, says the Prof, twice, but he likes the fact they are showing fiscal restraint and are willing to backflip based on health advice. #Insiders

clip of Vic official - CHO? I think - saying the health advice is to wear a mask. Faruqi runs through lockdown measures like not playing on swings and says the politics have shifted and the public do not want to go back to the military in parks. #Insiders

we got used to politicians, elected officials, in a democracy, hiding behind health advice says van Onselen. He says the job of politicians to take the advice and make a decision. Fact check: they do. All politicians insist they “accept the health advice” #Insiders

clip of NSW CHO Kerry Chant on masks, which she says must be worn at scale. What does at scale mean? Speers asks van Onselen, who thinks it is interesting that politicians make political decisions and that mask mandates will have to return. #Insiders

half the people on public transport are not wearing masks, says Hewett. A mandate takes away that awkwardness of asking people to mask up, says Speers. Not as awkward as massive fines causing and exacerbating poverty in targeted communities, David. #Insiders

most health care professionals want mask mandates, says van Onselen. They are at the vanguard, he says. They are getting smashed, says Speers, they are the ones “copping it”. #Insiders

has anyone asked health professionals if using our words and asking people in rooms to wear masks is easier, preferable, and more effective than police issuing huge fines to poor people in racialised communities? #Insiders

interview. Targets. It may not be a genuine floor, says Bandt. Pauline Hanson could hold the government to ransom. If you want to legislate you’ve got to Dutton proof it, he says. Floor or ceiling? The 43% remains stuck in law, says Bandt. #Insiders

is there room for a change in wording to make 43% a floor and not a ceiling? Bandt says yes, essentially. He says the Greens want to negotiate with no preconditions. He asks if legislating the target is mere symbolism. #Insiders

what if the legislation is passed and then the government announces it will approve the Scarborough gas project? That it will open up the Beetaloo basin? But the wording says Speers. No, this IS the issue says Bandt. The idea is to CUT EMISSIONS. #Insiders

yes yes you campaigned on no new coal and gas and had a good election result, says Speers. But what about the negotiations on legislating 43%? Bandt tries to explain that cutting emissions by 43% by 2030 is contingent on not expanding fossil fuel extraction. #Insiders

you don’t put out a fire by pouring fuel on it, says Bandt. We don’t make the problem worse while legislating to cut emissions. There has to be an end to myway or highway says Bandt. #Insiders

How important is legislating? It depends what is in the legislation, says Bandt. He says the Greens will negotiate in good faith. I think he is saying that legislating the target is symbolic without a provision on no new coal and gas. #Insiders

does he accept that Labor has a mandate? Bandt says Labor has a mandate to pass bills thru the lower house. He says the Labor vote went backwards and the Greens vote increased. That the message of the 2022 election is action on climate. #Insiders

so are you willing to sit with Barnaby Joyce and Peter Dutton and vote down Labor emissions reduction target legislation. Bandt says myway or highway approach has to stop (Speers can smell a CPRS rerun). #Insiders

Beetaloo. Do you believe the NT government? Bandt says the Labor NT government has asked the federal Labor government for federal money to open up Beetaloo. He says Labor is hellbent on opening up new coal and gas fields and the Greens job is to hold that back. #Insiders

the politics Prof says good faith goes both ways. And that Albanese has stated down left flank Greens attacks in his own seat for a long time. What about legislating? And what tho? “It is not as is Chris Bowen goes to jail” - who said that😂😂#Insiders

the Greens are willing to negotiate, says Faruqi. Even if they knock back this bill what does a legislated target really do. He is trying to de-escalate the conflict journalism framing going on here so Hewett cuts in with more horse race stuff. #Insiders

“it is interesting to hear Labor say we don’t have to pass this” says Speers, affecting a weird infantilising voice, and we rake over seats in the Hunter etc and Labor losing seats in the future but not to the Greens because preferences and not to Peter Dutton wait what #Insiders

clip of Dutton spouting some fanciful nonsense. More politics prof, on opposition internals, the so-called moderates and the conservatives, is he staking his leadership on this asks van Onselen. He says they are a united party up in Queensland (meaning amalgamated) #Insiders

climate hanger has become an important geostrategic tool says Speers. Some want Australia to go further (they all go, a point Bandt made earlier too). Clip of Barnimarama saying Fiji, and the Pacific Island Forum, want Aust to go further. #Insiders

to keep warming to 1.5 degrees requires a cut closer to 75% than 43% says Faruqi. He says the Pacific Island nations are watching Aust and will turn on us for inadequate action. Hewett disagrees, based on security uncertainty in the Pacific (abbr). #Insiders

does Australia really believe that there will be no Chinese base in the Solomon Islands? They are not a democracy so [the announcement] could mean anything says van Onselen. Incredible implied premises there😳 #Insiders

clip of VPOTUS on “changing” the lack of attention on Pacific Island nations. Hewett speculates about a potential future new Republican President “let’s hope it’s not Trump”. God. #Insiders

China is a power in the region says van Onselen and they want to be the dominant power in the region says Speers. Faruqi tries to intervene and is dismissed by Hewett saying “it’s not the only thing they want tho” because geopolitics is serious white people talk #Insiders

you will see a sharp flowing in the economy over the next six months says Hewett - which we may or may not, what she says today will never be fact checked - and there will be pressure on the government to increase migration.
(Ed) the point. Pressure from who? Bosses? #Insiders

jobs and skills summit. Faruqi says wages should be going up but low unemployment has seen low wages as well. Partly due to less union power, says Faruqi. There is some pressure in the direction of wages says Hewett, and offers anecdata.
Tell us when it happens, thanks. #Insiders

#TalkingPictures is up, with Jack the Insider, a back to you Speersy man.

https://twitter.com/insidersabc/status/1548456193911410688

#FinalObservations 1 is Faruqi on an 18th NRL team and state of origin being played in Fiji. #Insiders

#FinalObservations 2 is Hewett on the “success” of Matthias Cormann lmao and saying he will be flying in to give some speeches in time for some Liberal Party kneesup. She says Malcolm Turnbull is not the only one who will be choking on his wheeties #Insiders

#FinalObservations 3 is van Onselen back on Coalition road internals. He says Coalition politicians “are very at dissembling”. #Insiders

the outtake is acting prime minister Jim Chalmers asked about being acting prime minister where he appears to blush charmingly and tell a little dad anecdote. Bless. #Insiders

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

tip jar here.

paypal.me/IngridMM

so many typos today😩this should read the Coalition *room* and Coalition politicians (he actually said “the Coalition”) are very *good* at dissembling (which means lying).

https://twitter.com/imusing/status/1548458155020980226