Thread by @iMusing

good morning☀️happy Sunday! It’s an Oz fest at #Insiders today. Rosie Lewis, current corro at the Australian, ABC radio host Pat Karvelas and 9fax (smh/Age) chief corro David Crowe, both formerly of the Australian. The interview is with federal Treasurer Dr Jim Chalmers.

Speers has penned another of his dull nothing-nothing goes-nowhere who-can-say opeds. These are always 800-word cladding on core anti-Labor CPG themes like bR0KeN pR0MiSeS or c0sT BL0w0utS or whatever vested message they land on each week.

opening spiel: bill shock, alarm, the sky is falling and the federal Treasurer has to manage household budgets apparently #Insiders

urgent, soaring “energy” costs - he means fossil fuel costs - the solutions are obvious but fear sells better. Being in government just got harder, says Speers, as tho the sky falling narrative is not a response by media to the change of government. #Insiders

the montage is budget, aggressive journo demands for handouts, and A GAFFE of about the magnitude that was supposed to lose Labor the election, according to the CPG in their own lunchtimes. #Insiders

#MakingNews in the 9 papers: x-bench senators want more time to consider IR laws. Repatriation of women and kids from the camps in Syria. #Insiders

Speers editorialising: lecturing the treasurer and promising to fan “anger” at gas prices, which journalists will attribute - without evidence or with anecdata - to the electorate. #Insiders

comparing the 2022 budget to the crashing disaster that was the first Abbott-Hockey budget in 2014 is an odd flex but that’s where D2 goes. D1 asks what the government has to do to FIX everything and labours THE GAFFE again. #Insiders

scarey column graph. BANG, says Speers. He asks Lewis to bang on about solutions too. Big problem, says Lewis. Handouts are inflationary, says Speers, of journalists constantly demanding handouts and repeating ministers saying no. #Insiders

it is very serious, says Karvelas, of people who can not afford their energy bills. Fixed incomes, low incomes, she says. None of them mention #RaiseTheRate. Speers says Dutton “flipped the Labor” narrative, meaning copied, or plagiarised. #Insiders

now D2 is lecturing Labor on price setting mechanism. They have to go hard now, scolds D2, or they will not be remembered fondly at the next election. Remembered? A current government? What is he talking about? #Insiders

the whole five months says Karvelas. They are dragging their feet. They need to do it really quickly. She is talking about gas prices.

Nobody mentions the utter failure of privatisation, or Andrews’ plans to buy back privatised power supply. #Insiders

interview. More gas prices. What Rod Sims says. Chalmers says there is a lot of work and consultation going on. Labor ministers have to spend so much effort and time politely explaining to CPG that journos do not set policy. #Insiders

Is supply the problem? Part of the problem. A mandatory code of conduct? Yes. The current code goes to price but the pricing is putting a lot of pressure on local industry, says Chalmers. A price cap? He does not want to limit their options - Chalmers. #Insiders

options such as tax and direct support to households exist but they are currently looking at the regulatory side, says Chalmers. People are worried, says Speers, you need to move quickly. How soon? When? As soon as they can, David. #Insiders

Chalmers runs thru his lines. The Russian invasion of Ukraine. The price rises that Angus Taylor hid during the election…
But when will prices come down? interrupts Speers.
When will journalists interrogate the architects of privatisation is my question. #Insiders

WHEN WILL PRICES COME DOWN says Speers another eleventy times. I honestly can not remember him asking any Coalition politician when “prices will come down”. I do remember the press endlessly handwringing over petrol prices last month, for nothing. #insiders

taxes. Gas company tax revenue? He will engage with treasury advice in a meaningful way, says Chalmers. He wants strong revenue streams and well managed spending. What about franking credits or are you still scarred from the “2019 experience” #Insiders

yes who can forget the ABC giving endless airtime to all those poor yacht-owning franking boomers to back in a monster like Morrison to government. #Insiders

anyway this sudden concern with revenue and taxes is wholly a function of the change of government. The gallery never questioned Morrison or Frydenberg about increasing taxes. The one time Coorey did, Morrison started screaming hysterically. #Insiders

NDIS. More cost blowout narrative. Do the economic benefits outweigh the cost? Are disabled people investments or spending or human beings, David? Chalmers says the NDIA is measuring value to families and the economy. #insiders

childcare. Where do the workers come from? They do not earn much more than someone at McDonalds or Bunnings, says Speers. The care economy has been neglected and requires public investment, we supported increasing the minimum wage, free uni and TAFE places - Chalmers. #Insiders

back to panel, back to gas prices. What did you make of that Crowey? D1 asks D2. God. So unprofessional. They will have to address supply, says Crowe. And he can’t give a date on lower prices says Lewis helpfully. #Insiders

Speers and Karvelas revert to their broken promises claims, which is being spun out of gossamer. They have to stop promising lower energy bills, says Karvelas. We used to get promises on interest rates, says Speers. And who held Abbott and Howard to account, says me. #Insiders

at some stage renewables will be majority supply and we will not be hostage to international gas prices, says Speers. Crowe makes a case for trashing the Pilliga for gas wells. You know, cracking bedrock above the GAB. #Insiders

NDIS. Lewis says there is a lot of pressure on overservicing a a billion dollars has been defrauded from the scheme. This is so-called providers. If they can weed out the fraud? It will not get to $100 billion in ten years? #Insiders

Karvelas says the NDIS is Labor’s constituency. She must mean disabled people. The fraudulent “providers” ripping off disabled people are likely to be “small business” Liberal Party voters. #Insiders

now Karvelas is advising the federal government on how to pay for the NDIS. She suggests a levy - creating a tax comms strategy for the Coalition - and Speers repeats his deep if very sudden concern for the structural and worsening budget deficits. #Insiders

clip of Dutton on coalition tax policy. Crowe also has advice for the federal government on tax and revenue. No wonder Chalmers has a set of ready phrases to politely decline CPG efforts to set government policy. #Insiders

murdoch journo praises coalition politician speech. Drink. #Insiders

he is trying to neutralise the woman problem, says Karvelas, of Dutton on childcare. She then puts negative gearing and franking handouts back on the Treasurer. Crowe says “they” are restricting themselves because of “that 2019 experience”. #Insiders

clip of wealthy business lobbyist lying about workers and wages. Regular reminder that the way bosses can raise wages is by paying more money to workers. #Insiders

the usual scare campaign about strikes and bargaining. Lewis gives some examples of multi-sector bargaining. Nobody suggests moving some cash out of the profit column and into the wages column. #Insiders

Crowe lectures the federal government again, this time on real wages and living standards, and again asserts that media will campaign hard against Labor at the next federal election with YOU FAILED TO FIX EVERYTHING framing [paraphrased]. #Insiders

#TalkingPictures is with Fiona Katauskas, who has used her platform to amplify the killing of Cassius Turvey. She is a back to you David laydee.

https://twitter.com/InsidersABC/status/1586491820388892672

#FinalObservations 1 is Lewis on IR legislation which is too fast (remember everything else has been too slow and when WHEN WHEN) #Insiders

#FinalObservations 2 is Crowe saying the coalition Womens stunt and their version of #QT “blew up”. Who blew it up remains a mystery. He has a second go but I missed it #Insiders

#FinalObservations 3 is Karvelas saying that Dutton still has no clear position on the Coalition and a referendum on First Nations Voice to parliament. She recommends the 2022 Boyer Lectures by Noel Pearson. #Insiders

Speers added to what Fi K said about the killing of Cassius Turvey mentioned that there will be rallies around the country this week. #JusticeForCassius #Insiders

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

tip jar here paypal.me/IngridMM

full list of rallies #JusticeForCassius

https://twitter.com/anitaheiss/status/1586078465165791232

and the fundraiser #JusticeForCassius

gofundme.com/f/justiceforca…