Republicanism cannot be dissociated from decolonisation. And decolonisation depends on education.

That "our ABC" is sending at least 27 staff to the UK to uncritically cover the Royal mourn-fest and King Charles' coronation is the absolute antithesis of this.

Do watch this.

https://twitter.com/DoubleDownNews/status/1569999499065450501

I remember my Australian primary school education in the 60s. The Queen's portrait adorned the classroom walls, next to the world map showing all the pink bits Britain owned. We had to swear allegiance to the Queen every morning at assembly. 2/8

I'm reminded of the piece @timdunlop wrote before the election, about the intentional, ideologically-driven undermining by Morrison & his ilk of democratic trust through apparent incompetence & neglect.

Now we see that Morrison's destruction of process ran even deeper.

1/8

https://twitter.com/RonniSalt/status/1561884914886545413

"We as a society, are being railroaded into a diminished understanding and practice of government by a political class who are ideologically opposed to the very idea of government as a bulwark against the risks inherent in a complex society."

2/8

tdunlop.substack.com/p/the-end-of-g…

Bravo, Crikey!

Its open letter to Lachlan Murdoch, calling his bluff on his threat to sue Crikey over comments about enabling Trump.

"We await your writ so that we can test this important issue of freedom of public interest journalism in a courtroom."

crikey.com.au/2022/08/22/lac… crikey.com.au/2022/08/22/lac…

I am seeing a lot of my Australian pals here laid low by coughs and colds and flu and COVID. So I am going to share something my old GP taught me. She is Sri Lankan, and this is a Sri Lankan remedy she swears by - and so do I, having used it many times.

1/6 It is a concoction which you first use as a steam inhalant, and then afterwards as a tea. I promise it will help you breathe so much better!

2/6

#AusVotes22 🧵
Been thinking about the new right-wing talking point (straight out of the PMO?) that Labor voters should vote against their instincts & for the Liberal candidate in Liberal seats threatened by climate independents endorsed by @climate200 .

I call horseshit.

1/10 The argument goes that if the alleged "moderates" lose their seats, and especially if Frydenberg does, their absence in the parliamentary Liberal Party will skew to the right. Possibly to the extent that Peter Dutton (ugh) will become Leader of the Opposition.

2/10

All of this episode of the Below the Line podcast is worth listening to (they all are), but this is particularly crucial - political scientist @SimonJackman talking about the long road to conservatism that the Liberal Party has been taking.

From 13:31

theconversation.com/below-the-line… The Liberal Party has ignored the warning signs for years as it has shed its moderates. If the Teals demolish them in seats like Goldstein, Kooyong or Wentworth, it's part of a long process.

In the context of compulsory voting, the extremism that leads to will be fatal.

This election will be decided by women. That's what the polling is telling us.

So when .@murpharoo points out the following qualities in .@AlboMP's launch today, it's crucial to see them through that prism.

Blokes feeling it was a bit meh?

It wasn't aimed at you.

1/5 "Albanese presented to voters on Sunday as a political leader who wasn’t born thinking he was owed the prime ministership. He’s not a powerful orator; he lacks the velvety intonation and the X factor..."

2/5

#AusVotes2022 🧵

It's clear that Morrison has, by supporting Deves and having his allies in the party defend her in the media, now given up on the seats held by Liberal "moderates" that are under threat from the teal independents, including that of his own Treasurer. 1/8 Instead he's aiming for disengaged voters in marginal outer suburban seats who will pick up on the key words he's spruiking regarding trans athletes ("sport" "fairness", "common sense") and not delve into the motivation and culture wars underpinning them. 2/8

#ausvotes

Just a reminder about the process of voting in the Senate!

You can vote above the line if you want, marking at least 6 boxes 1, 2, 3, etc. That means you're voting for a party or group of independents.

Or you can vote below the line...

1/ 1 If you vote below the line, you're voting for individual candidates. You must vote for at least 12 candidates (1, 2, 3, etc.) You can vote in any order you like, and don't need to follow the parties' order of their candidates.

2/6

What an odd assertion this is, in the SMH, concerning Perrottet's connection to Opus Dei, downplaying his involvement in the far-right Catholic sect.

Perrottet's Opus Dei involvement is far deeper than this suggests.

A 🧵.

1/6

smh.com.au/politics/nsw/p… Redfield College, where Perrottet studied, is an Opus Dei school. It is modelled "on the Opus Dei school Saint Escriva, set up in Spain in the 1950s".

2/6

abc.net.au/lateline/an-in…

In order to understand Morrison’s theology and goals, it’s essential to delve into the Seven Mountains mandate – to which he, his church and a number of his key political allies subscribe.

A thread. The image above comes from this organisation, which meets annually. Speakers have included Martien Iles (ACL), Senators Matt Canavan, Eric Abetz and Amanda Stoker, and George Christensen.

churchandstate.com.au

🧵

I have been re-reading the transcript of Christian Porter's media conference because at the time two things struck me as wrong. I find it difficult to believe that as a lawyer, A-G & former DPP prosecutor, Porter would not have known they were wrong when he stated them. 1/6 The Dyson Heydon investigation was not contemporaneous. Heydon had retired from the High Court in 2013 (the day before his 70th birthday - the mandatory retirement age of judges) & the behaviour complained of was while he was a High Court judge. As AG, Porter must know that. 2/6

I am seeing murmurings on social media about a possible Greens/ALP coalition.

If the #ALP and the #Greens could overcome their mutual antipathy (and it is indeed on both sides), they could become unassailable.

Thread 👇
#Auspol 1/5 Australia is so used to having a big centre-left/progressive party that can govern in its own right, but that is clearly becoming increasingly unlikely as party membership declines and as the ALP's base shifts and fragments.

2/5

A few points here, @MikeCarlton01, and I hope you'll hear me out. I am not sure that you are the best person to determine whether particular language is misogynistic, just as you and I are not really qualified to decide whether language deemed by non-white people to be racist is actually offensive.

Some thoughts on how we came, in an educated country, to have people demonstrating in the midst of a pandemic against wearing masks that are shown to slow community transition.

A thread... #auspol
1/11 I think that it stems from an unholy alliance between a few historical trends.

The first is the American conception of "liberty" that is infecting the right across the world. It sees freedom as the antithesis of any form of communitarian values. 2/11

Back in 2018 #RioTinto made a big announcement about getting out of coal, with its chairman stating in relation to climate change that the company was “determined to be part of the solution, not part of the problem”?

But all is not what it seems.

Thread. 1/5 When it sold its coal assets, Rio Tinto imposed a royalty on them. Clever move. It means that it still earns money from them, doesn’t take any of the operational risk, and can tell all of those activist shareholders that they are out. 2/5

I am thoroughly at the end of my wick, @AppleSupport, @AppleNewsAU.

A ranty thread. Just before everything closed down due to the pandemic, my relatively new MacBook Pro developed a problem with the screen. I took it in to the local Apple store (in Sydney, Australia) to get them to look at it, and was told to either book an appointment for the next week...

#COVID19Aus Thread. The LNP is congenitally unequipped to deal with crises that require the mass mobilisation of government resources to help people. It is contrary to their ideology of small government. In #Morrison's case, there is another factor... 1/6 Morrison's faith incorporates "prosperity gospel", so proper responses to this crisis crash against his belief that some people deserve help, others don't, according to their "worthiness". 2/6

"I just poured petrol all over the house, and then some bloody *arsonist* came and started a fire. Some people, eh?" - a mate of mine on the fake assertions of an #arsonistemergency

Follow the science, folks. nytimes.com/2020/01/08/wor…

Dear Twitter and its resident journalists,

I have a question. Has anyone asked #ScottMorrison how old he thinks the Earth is? It is relevant in relation to his understanding of ecology, geology and the release of greenhouse gases through the burning of fossil fuels.

1/11 Morrison's church, Horizon, is a member of the Australian Christian Churches, formerly known as Assemblies of God. It therefore believes in #creationism.

2/11

A number of people have apparently complained to the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission over the Australian Christian Lobby’s funding of Folau’s legal case. There is a deeper question here. 1/6 Mightn’t it be time to review the criteria for organisations being registered as charities in Australia? A charitable purpose includes ‘the advancement of religion’ and charitable status ensures a range of tax breaks and other advantages. 2/6