"The Week on Wednesday" with Van Badham & Ben Davison

Episode 69: Morrison surrenders to the virus, what Omicron means for you and the good news about beavers!

Van Badham and Ben Davison return in 2022 to breakdown the Morrison government's latest announcements about COVID, including the attacks on workplace health and safety, and examine how Morrison has gone from ham fisted and half hearted neo-Keynesian to full blown free market Friedmanite.

With COVID being let rip by boy Prince of NSW, Dom Perrottet, Morrison has taken the opportunity to make an ideological shift that will see 20 million Australian's left to "thunderdome" for RATs, bread and fuel while being told to go back to work when exposed to COVID.  Because "critical workers" exposing our most vulnerable to COVID is apparently no longer a problem....

They look at the overseas experiences and what we can do to protect ourselves and our communities.  Here's a hint: Join your union, get vaccinated, don't expose others when you're ill.

Plus there is good news about problematic beavers in Utah.

Welcome back to the Week on Wednesday!

Episode 68: Omicron COVID strikes back, What we learned about Morrison‘s government in 2021 and will 2022 be any better?

Van Badham and Ben Davison dive into what is happening with the Omicron variant and contrast the UK experience to the let it rip attitude of Morrison and Dom Perrottet.  The northern hemisphere is our early warning system so why are these two Liberal leaders choosing to ignore the UK bringing back protections?

Is it just a cowardly political calculation?

Morrison's government is crooked, corrupt, incompetent, ideologically vacuous and failing to deliver.  Van and Ben look at some of the best (and worst) elements of Morrison's government from 2021.  From buying votes in wealthy seats using working people's money to ignoring ways to make workplaces safer for women and care homes safer for our elders Morrison isn't just failing to deliver more religious discrimination and an independent anti-corruption commission.  He's failing full stop. 

2021 was enough to make you cry, and in this episode Van and Germanicus both shed a tear, so we look at the hope on the horizon for 2022.  There are elections to be won, striking workers to be supported (check out the CSR Gyprock fundraising page, links on our socials), cooperative power companies you can shift too and cool political actions like #AbscondmentDay to participate in that will all make 2022 an even better year. 

Weekend Wrap 12th December 2021: Qld to reopen, Omicron brings boosters forward, tornado exposes the brutality of US workplaces, inequality gets worse

Ben Davison looks at Queensland reopening to other states in Australia with up to 50,000 cars predicted to make the journey into the sunshine state tomorrow.  The Omicron variant of COVID has inspired regulators to bring forward booster shots from six months to five.

A tornado has devastated Kentucky and in the process exposed some major fault-lines in US workplaces.  With 70 killed in a candle factory, six killed in an Amazon facility and many more still to be located the callous indifference of Jeff Bezos, who owns much of Amazon, has enraged many observers.

This has happened as Kellogg has attempted to replace its 1,400 striking workers in what US President Joe Biden has called an attack on workers and said he would support laws to make replacement workers illegal.  Redditors, from social media platform Reddit, effectively overwhelmed the Kellogg online application system stopping the companies attack, for now.

Ben contrasts the US political leadership on worker conditions with Australian reactions to workers asking for decent wages, secure jobs and safe conditions.

Back home print workers at the West Australian took a four hour stoppage action and the billion dollar company responded by locking the workers out of their jobs.  The NSW government has attacked teachers and transport workers looking for fairer pay and more secure work and Scott Morrison has attempted to blame dock workers for the failure of globalisation to provide during the pandemic and his own government's lack of domestic industry policy.

Unsurprisingly this is all culminating in higher inequality, lower wages and richer billionaires in Australia.  

Episode 67: Special focus on the impacts of insecure work

Van Badham and Ben Davison take a deep dive into the problem of insecure work. 

Featuring interviews with:

ACTU President Michele O'Neil about the macro economic issues and economy wide impacts, particularly on women and carers, of insecure work,

National Assistant Secretary of the SDA, Julia Fox, on their groundbreaking "who cares?" campaign looking at the destructive impact of insecure work on retail workers who have caring responsibilities, often of both young children and ageing parents, and

Tim Petersen from the United Workers Union, which helps power HospoVoice, on how insecure work is smashing the mental and physical health of hospitality workers.

This special episode looks at the problems of insecure work, the impact on how we care for one another and the things that workers are doing, in workplaces, the community and parliaments, to try and restore the balance between work, life and care.

Weekend Wrap 5th December 2021: Morrison ends 2021 in a shambles, Albo launches Powering Australia and skills training while transport workers win and teachers prepare for strike

Ben Davison looks at the shambles that is the Morrison government as it failed to create a federal ICAC, failed to increase people's super, failed to pass its Trumpian voter ID laws, failed to pass its religious discrimination laws and saw its member's cross the floor to vote for Qanon motions, hold up the senate and possibly mislead Morrison (and Australian's) about their vaccination status.

And that's all before the "retirement" of Christian Porter and Greg, I don't take calls from Pfizer, Hunt.  To pile further shambles into the cess pit of the Morrison government Alan Tudge was forced to stand aside following allegations of physical and mental abuse by his former staffer/lover.  Having promoted the hypocritical Tudge to education Minister, where he spent his time lecturing educators on Australian Values, Morrison was finally forced to investigate his behaviour following the public revelation of the abuse complaint.

Ben look at how in a desperate attempt to distract Morrison made a university funding announcement, but the devil is in the "must be insecure work" details

All of which stands in stark contrast to the Albo Labor Party which this week announced a new Powering Australia policy which delivers 600,000 new jobs, 84% renewable energy, $275 a year power bill savings, cheaper electric vehicles and a 43% cut in emissions. And today announced 20,000 new university places and 465,000 free TAFE places to skill up Australian's for in demand industries.

Plus Ben looks at the fact SA won't make Christmas day a public holiday, transport workers winning improved job security by standing together in union and previews the reasons for Tuesday's NSW Teachers strike #MoreThanThanks.

Episode 66: Morrison‘s parliament and workplaces unsafe for women, living standards drop to 2018 levels, Albo tells a boofhead to sit down and jaguars!

Van Badham and Ben Davison look at the Morrison government's failure to make workplaces in Australia safer for women with the latest report showing even the parliament is plagued by bullying and harassment.  Morrison's failure to deliver on the last report into these issues across the economy doesn't bode well for his so called promise to implement these new 28 recommendations. 

Australian living standards have declined to 2018 levels with the latest economic figures showing Australia has just had our 3rd worst economic report EVER.  With wages going backwards, petrol prices climbing and fewer secure jobs under the Morrison government it is no wonder the once impenetrable "better economic managers" title is shifting away from the Morrison Liberals.

Albo got fired in parliament this week with his call out of Peter Dutton to "sit down boofhead" capturing a national mood.  Morrison's government voted against itself numerous times as some thought cuddling up to anti-vaxers and QAnon conspiracists was more important than good governance, for which they received no punishment while others were given Prime Ministerial "counselling" when they crossed the floor to vote for a federal ICAC.

The good news is that the Mexican Jaguar being saved by local communities working together with government and conservation groups.

Weekend Wrap 28 November 2021: Morrison‘s attempt to censor the internet and other intrusions into people‘s lives to distract from economic failure plus a new COVID variant

Ben Davison looks at the Morrison government's latest announcement on Insiders that they will try to police comments on the internet and how it fits into Morrison's strategy of government "stepping back"  on economic issues while simultaneously starting culture wars and stepping in to protect corporations.

Ben looks at Morrison's attempts to stop class action lawsuits, like the one that ended robodebt, his attempt to protect aged care companies from prosecution while delaying the implementation of the Aged Care Royal Commission recommendations, Morrison's NDIS Minister calling the scheme welfare that people need to "get off" and Morrison's attempt to make it easier to sack people for who they are and who they love at a time when Australian's are already facing the greatest period of job insecurity in our history.

Ben examines why Morrison is doing all this while running away from the interventionist economic policies of the pandemic that worked.  Like raising Jobseeker, creating a job security program (as flawed as their roll out was) and providing free childcare.

A new COVID variant is out in the world and two years into the pandemic Morrison hasn't built any quarantine facilities, is still allowing international flights next week and will be relying on hotel quarantine.  Buckle up, vax up and get ready for wild ride!

Episode 65: Morrison wants more migrant workers, Lambie takes on One Nation, Morrison chooses chaos over leadership and Washington turning waste into gold

Van Badham and Ben Davison look at Scott Morrison's plan to import 200,000 temporary migrant workers into Australia over December and January as new polling shows 58% of Australian's want to decrease from our pre-pandemic levels of 160,000.  

Van and Ben discuss how there are 200,000 workers already in Australia who can't get the support for their child, elder or family member with a disability that they need to take up a job and how the Morrison government's "can do capitalism" has failed to deliver for them, the two million other unemployed and underemployed Australians and our suburbs and towns that need proper services.

Anti-Vax foreign propaganda and domestic right wing nut jobs have percolated into the Australian Senate with Pauline Hanson and a gaggle of Liberal Party fringe dwelling senators have help up all other legislation to try and over turn state health orders.  The plot failed and Jacqui Lambie gave a speech which blew them out of the water.  Van and Ben look at how these rogues have now resorted to foreign intimidation tactics by releasing personal information about Lambie.  Lambie's response?  Go even harder.

Morrison meanwhile is choosing to let this chaos play as he loses control of the government and choses to let his members try to find thin slices of extremists whose votes they can try to win over.  Van and Ben discuss how our political system is being played by these people and the dangers of allowing mainstream political parties to engage with extremist cultures.

There is good news in Washington where sewage is being turned into fertiliser and making soil fertile again! 

Weekend Wrap 21 Nov 2021: Tim Paine resignation highlights Morrison‘s lack of leadership on Alan Tudge, Wages going backwards, final sitting fortnight, QAnon rallies coordinated across the globe

Ben Davison looks at how Tim Paine's resignation from the captaincy of the Australian cricket team over sexual misconduct contrasts to the promotion of Alan Tudge by Scott Morrison over sexual misconduct that occurred around the same time in 2017.  Paine has resigned over sexting prior to it becoming public knowledge while Tudge conducted an affair with a member of his staff and was subsequently promoted when news of the affair became public on 4Corners.

Why does Morrison allow someone who has fallen so far below the bar required to be a leader in our nations cricket team to continue to be a cabinet minister in his government and lecture the nation's educators on what is and isn't acceptable values to teach our young people?

The latest wage growth figures have come out and show that the real value of wages continues to drop.  ALP Treasury spokesperson Jim Chalmers has claimed on Insiders that petrol prices have gone up $900 while wages have declined $700 and that Labor welcomes a debate about economic management.

The final sitting fortnight for 2021 is about to kick off and Albo has challenged Morrison to a series of debates.  Given Morrison won't be passing a federal ICAC and may struggle to get his religious discrimination bill passed, with some in his government saying it goes to far and others saying it doesn't go far enough, a series of debates might be the only useful way to fill the allotted time. 

We have seen more death threats against Victorian and Queensland MPs, as well as actual violence committed against a cross-bench MP's daughter, while globally coordinated far right and Qanon aligned protests took place in Australian capital cities and across Europe . 

Episode 64: QAnon protests in Victoria, Morrison‘s 2022 election re-run of 2004, Strollout is the word of the year and good news

Van Badham and Ben Davison examine the Qanon manipulations that are driving the protests in Victoria as more and more Liberal MPs are enticed to support the far right, mock lynching, reporter chasing extremist minority that continues to make threats against the democratic representatives of Victoria and wave Trump flags.

Morrison has tried "who do you trust", "The Australia Way", and pretending that being paid $1,500 a day to have haircuts and hangout cooking BBQs was governing and is now going back to the 2004 Howard era playbook of "Interest Rates and Petrol Prices" in his ongoing attempt to find a winning strategy.  After eight years of Liberal/National government it is a pathetic and sad thing for the Australian people to watch.

The word "Strollout" coined by Australian Unions leader Sally McManus about the failures of the Morrison government vaccine program has been named the Australian word of the year by the Oxford English Dictionary.  Given it seems to apply to the Morrison government approach to economic support, climate action, job security, disaster relief and the NBN, as well as the vaccine roll out, maybe it is the word of the Morrison "era"?

Finally, there is some good news about solar, self propelling caravans and mangroves.