Conservative MP Robert Largan on the need to extinguish ... dumpster fires.

"Without action, dumpster fires can rage on for long periods of time, spreading quickly and causing major structural damage." "For some, watching these fires rage elicits a grim fascination and the chance to speculate about just how long it will continue to burn.

Extinguishing a dumpster fire is risky business and likely to be messy."

" We don't want to repeat the mistakes that have had such a devastating impact in the United Kingdom here in Australia."

Wowza. Pretty strong criticism of Liz Truss from Australia's Financial Services Minister @stephenjones (who was not asked anything about the UK specifically). "We can't be writing billion-dollar cheques and expect that that's not going to have an immediate impact on every household in the country, it will. Saw in the UK what happens when you have loose fiscal policy and governments don't get spending under control." @StephenJonesMP

The 3-day old UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says the govt has made further changes to Kwarteng's budget.
These include:
* Almost ALL tax measures announced to be REVERSED - no cuts to dividend tax rates
- no VAT-free shopping
AND
- booze duties go ahead
19p cut DELAYED INDEFINITELY Hunt says this will raise £32 billion.

The energy price guarantee will be offered until April.

Beyond that, Treasury-led review to advise on a lower-cost model.

Just spoke with Bob, the brave Hong Kong protestor who was filmed being dragged into the grounds of the Chinese consulate in Manchester yesterday and beaten.

He says hair was ripped from his scalp and he was bleeding from his face and heavily bruised.

latika.me/ChinaManchester There are growing calls for Home Secretary @SuellaBraverman and Foreign Secretary @JamesCleverly to address the incident.

Shadow Foreign Secretary @DavidLammy says the reported conduct is "totally unacceptable."

latika.me/ChinaManchester

Russia's Vladimir Putin in a televised address to the Russian people:

(Quotes per RT English translation)

"Situation in Donbas is becoming critical."

"Ukraine is not just a neighbouring country to us, it is an inherent part of our history ... also our family." Putin: "Modern Ukraine was completely created by Russia."

PM Boris Johnson announces England’s strategy for living with Covid.

He says the Queen’s current infection is a reminder that the virus has not gone away.

But with Vax, we can respond differently. @smh @theage Johnson: While the pandemic is not over, we have now passed the peak of the omicron wave.

The link between infection and severe disease 'substantially weakened.'

NATO’s Jens Stoltenberg: "We are concerned that Russia is trying to stage a pretext for armed attack in Ukraine." Stoltenberg: Russia has amassed the biggest force in Europe for decades in and around in Ukraine.
Russian intelligence officers are operating in Ukraine - Donbas.

Australia is designating Hamas as a terrorist organisation (per consultation with the states and territories.) Last night Qatar's Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani spoke to @ChathamHouse and said:

"We are not supporting Hamas, let us make that clear from the very beginning."

#CHEvents

Totally bizarre that neither PM sought to make more mileage out of this but the British company Octopus Group just announced a $50 billion partnership with Indigenous communities in northern Australia to create a massive renewable energy greenfield. Desert Springs Group's eventual goal is to export green hydrogen to landlocked Asia (hello reducing energy reliance on hostile/unfriendly partners).

But first it will transform the NT's energy grid (by building a clean-powered one).

latika.me/DesertSpringsG…

John Major's speech to @ifgevents already off to a cracking start.

'Democrats were so confident that their way of government was the way of the future that they stopped arguing for it.'

#IFGEvents Major: 'Trust in politics is at a low ebb, eroded by foolish behaviour...too often ministers have been evasive and the truth has seemed optional.'

Boris Johnson's mini-reshuffle begins:

Jacob Rees-Mogg moved (demoted) from Commons Leader to Minister of State for "Brexit Opportunities and Government efficiency." Mark Spencer moved from Whip to Commons Leader...not sure that will be greeted well by rebellious MPs.

THREAD

Some very interesting data just out from NSW, one of the few jurisdictions around the world to keep/publish records of Covid infections/illness/death v vax/unvaxxed.

Of 61.8k cases (16/6 - 07/10):

* 63% NO vax
* 6.1% fully vax Of 8.6k hospitalised in NSW with Covid:

* 5.7% fully vax

* 1015 ICU <-- 3% or 30 were fully vax <-- 26 of these people had significant underlying health conditions.

NSW Premier @Dom_Perrottet has DROPPED QUARANTINE FROM NOVEMBER 1 for fully vaccinated Australians.

i.e NO HOME or HOTEL quarantine for citizens returning to their country.

#FortressAustralia is finally actually crumbling!

"We are opening Sydney, NSW to the world." NSW Premier @Dom_Perrottet says returning Australians will need to show Vax proof and a neg PCR.

"Sydney, NSW is open for business, we want people back, we are leading the nation out of this pandemic and hotel quarantine is a thing of the past."

PM Scott Morrison speaking after national cabinet.

He says no state should increase restrictions beyond where they are now according to new plan agreed with Premiers today. Morrison says learning of Delta strain is that quick lockdowns are required while the goal remains to suppress circulation of the virus.

PM @ScottMorrisonMP speaking from The Lodge on 2GB:

'Like everyone who comes back [from overseas] you do your 2 weeks quarantine.'

(PM and Cabinet members do their quarantine at home, regular Australians do theirs in mandatory hotel detention under guard at a cost of $3k). Morrison asked about secret side visits to family sites in Cornwall while telling Austns cases in UK are too high for them to travel abroad.

'I wouldn't describe it like that at all' (double standards)... 'pretty innocent'.

Doesn't deny PMO organised it weeks in advance.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison claims Australia's goal was always to rollout 80k vaccines per week.

But this can in no way square with his earlier stated goal of delivering 4 million jabs by April given the very first jab would only given in March. Then the PM said the delay was because 3.1 million doses didn't arrive in Australia.

Italy/EU blocked 250k doses.

At the time @ScottMorrisonMP + @GregHuntMP said this would have NO effect on the rollout b/c they hadn't even factored in that shipment

npr.org/sections/coron…

PM Boris Johnson says British public's patience is 'paying off' and that the time bought to vaccinate means the next stage of relaxing the lockdown is confirmed to go ahead next Monday. Johnson: we set out our roadmap and we're sticking to it. We see nothing in the present data that makes us think we will have to deviate from it. (That's full unlocking/back to normal by July, international travel pending).

[thread]

WHO joint expert team investigating the origins of coronavirus is holding a news conference in Wuhan. WHO and Chinese govt established a joint team to investigate origins of COVID-19 and it's route to humans.

THREAD.

Former Australian Prime Minister @MrKRudd interviewing China's Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi for @AsiaSociety.

Rudd is making opening remarks in Mandarin.

youtube.com/c/asiasociety/… Rudd (returning to English): It gives me no pleasure that the current state of the US-China relationship is 'probably the worst that we've seen in the nearly half a century.'

There are 30,000 Australians who wanted to make it home (10,000 in India alone) by the end of the year but are effectively locked out by Govt caps and bans...and how many more families who are separated this Christmas by the ban on leaving the country?

#strandedAussies Does the PM not realise that many of those people having the Christmas he gloats Australians won't have to have are also Australian?

God forbid if they get seriously ill from Covid and have been trying to get home for some time...

#StrandedAussies

[EXC]

Britain's independent Climate Change Committee urges Australia to adopt its Climate Change Act which legislates carbon reduction targets saying the law is the reason for bringing down UK's emissions since it's introduction in 2008.

latika.me/38nSIj1 The Committee made a submission to Independent MP @zalisteggall's inquiry.

The committee said the legislation provides "clear signals to investors," helps build political consensus and encourages "an evidence-based approach to climate policy."

latika.me/38nSIj1