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

Weekend Wrap 14 November 2021: QAnon march in Melbourne, CoP26 ends, COVID surging in Europe, Morrison jobs policy failing

The QAnon march in Melbourne this weekend showed off a disturbing willingness to use violent imagery and threats to intimidate democratically elected leaders, our institutions and our community.  While Nearly 93% of Victorian's have had at least one dose of vaccine the rally, which featured US based QAnon symbols, flags and language, roped in a who's who of political fringe dwellers.  From Peta Credlin to the Victorian upper house Liberal Democrat MP (bet you didn't even know we had one) to the bloated face of foreign propaganda in Australia, Craig Kelly, we were subjected to every wannabe opportunist's attempts to find a political base.

The serious side was on show too as a gallows was marched through the threats, "kill" chants were conducted and this week saw threats levelled against the animal justice upper house MP, Andy Meddick, as well as Labor MPs, Premier Andrews, Chief Health Officer, Brett Sutton and the Australian Labor Party Vice President.

It is no coincidence that Steve Bannon was indicted this week, the Trump strategist and podcaster (Morrison government MPs have appeared on his show), was charged with contempt of Congress as the US mid-term election season enters the final 12 months.

For more on how QAnon is infiltrating our politics check out Van Badham's new book "QAnon and On; A short and shocking history of internet conspiracy cults"

Cop26 has ended with a commitment to "Phase down", not "phase out" coal power, 130 governments increasing commitments on emissions reductions (Not Morrison's) and agreement to end "inefficient", not all, fossil fuel subsidies.

COVID is exploding again in Europe.  The Netherlands is going into a three week lockdown, Austria is locking down the unvaccinated, the UK has 500 cases per million people and Germany has the worst outbreak since the start of the pandemic.  Portugal and Spain, above 80% vaccinated, are doing much better.  Get vaccinated and get a booster.

The Morrison government has announced a new uncapped seasonal worker program expansion despite unemployment spiking this month and hundreds of thousands of people who want to work unable to do so due to caring responsibilities.   

Episode 63: Morrison lies about his electric vehicle lies, ‘can do capitalism‘ leaving Australia in last place on climate plus good news on forests and Qanon and On

Van Badham and Ben Davison dive into Morrison's day out in Melbourne where in between pinching other people's food and getting a haircut he announced an electric vehicles policy.  The man we pay $1,500 a day, who once claimed electric vehicles would kill the weekend, flew to Melbourne to announce a policy that would see 30% of vehicles on Australian roads be electric or hydrogen by 2030 and only reduce emissions by 2% over 14 years.  The Automotive Association of Australia has said it doesn't go far enough, Bill Shorten has said Morrison is staying up at night reading his old policy books and the Liberal NSW Treasurer has said Morrison could be "doing more".  And the NSW government promptly has done more by announcing a policy four times the size of Morrison's and that has been welcomed by stakeholders.

Morrison's claim that "Climate change will ultimately be solved by can do capitalism" has sent a shiver up the spine of anyone who has ever known the sharp end of a "profit maximising decision".  Despite coalitions of unions, business groups, environment groups and civil society calling for government intervention, policy certainty and even providing a plan written by consulting firm Accenture to create 395,000 new jobs and $89 billion in export revenue from a clean economy Morrison is giving the "can do capitalists" of carbon capture ANOTHER $500Million for a technology which even mining baron Twiggy Forrest called "an unproven failure" when it comes to emissions reduction.

So now that Morrison has put "can do capitalism" in charge of his "technology led" solution to climate change how are we doing? 

Well, according to the Climate Change Performance Index we are 59th out of 64 countries overall in progress to meeting our targets and LAST on climate with a zero point score.  Possibly most damming of all, the index says we are "failing to promote new technologies".

There is good news in Cameroon where refugees are reforesting and good news in Australia where the Victorian Trades Hall has released a children's book "Sticking Together" and Van is releasing the much anticipated "Qanon and On: A short and shocking history of internet conspiracy cults" 

Weekend Wrap 7 November 2021: Farm workers win minimum wage, hospitality demands more migrant workers while 200,000 can‘t get work due to caring responsibilities plus Sticking Together launches

Ben looks at the big win for farm workers this week as up to 130,000 workers will see their wages rise from as low as $3/hr to a minimum of $25.14 an hour.  Despite a second record harvest year in a row and as many as 16,000 jobs needing to be filled the usual corporate agri-business lobbyists are condemning the outcome and suggesting they will appeal.  The Australian Workers Union has said "If you work on a farm and aren't being paid at least $25 an hour someone is stealing your wages."

The hospitality sector is claiming it needs 100,000 temporary migrant workers to meet demand even as it claims a $44Million program from the Victorian government designed to boost demand in hospitality.  The sector is rife with wage theft, super theft, rostering abuses, sexual harassment and awful working conditions.  None of which the Hotels Association is suggesting they will fix before the importation of more easily exploitable temporary migrant workers.

These "labour shortage" claims come as RBA and ABC reports show that 2.2M Australians who want to work do not have the work they need.  More than 200,000 people who want to work can't due to caring responsibilities and a lack of access to appropriate alternative care for their child, elders or family member with a disability.  

The systemic problems are low wages, poor working conditions, lack of support to enter the workforce through the provision of care facilities and services and a quick fix mentality among many in these sectors that have become hooked on easily exploitable temporary migrant workers.

There's also info on the launch of the new children's book by the Victorian Trades Hall Council "Sticking Together", a new track by mr?e & the 4.I.S crew, an update on FriendlyJordies' effective win over Barilaro and Van's in studio appearance on Marcus Paul to talk Alan Jones, Morrison's disgrace and Qanon and On.

Episode 62: Liberal lies, cover ups and side hustles, Morrison selling gas at climate conference and ‘my name is Cleo‘ a little girl saved

Van Badham and Ben Davison dive into the Liberal lies, cover ups and side hustles that have come to typify the Morrison government.

With Morrison himself called a liar, not just by President Macron but also, by Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull the credibility of Morrison's leadership is being called into question.  If other leaders can't trust Morrison what does that mean for our national security?  If we can't trust him here at home what does that mean for our economy, jobs, health and education systems?

Dom Perrottet is holding a review of grant decisions following Glady's ICAC hearing testimony.  In a piece of pure political theatre the man who was treasurer and a member of the expenditure committee is pretending to not have been in government when his government was "throwing" money to win seats.  

Did you know that Liberal Senator Hollie Hughes is also a consultant?  It has been revealed that the Senator for NSW has a side hustle as a consultant for a bio-fuels company that she has pay into a trust where she is the only shareholder and only beneficiary.  She's taken something meant to make our democracy stronger and perverted it to add to her $249,000 salary. 

No wonder the Morrison government won't regulate the gig economy!

The Cop26 Climate Conference has started in Glasgow and Morrison has wasted no time in rejecting the Global Methane Pledge and giving pride of place to massive gas exporter Santos.  In a move described as "a joke" by Malcolm Turnbull Santos' "Blue Hydrogen" process, where you burn and "carbon capture" gas to make renewable hydrogen instead of using solar, wind or hydro to make renewable hydrogen, has been promoted by the Australian stall and Morrison minister Angus Taylor. 

On the plus side we have signed up to end deforestation and will participate in the protection of large parts of the worlds rainforests.

The heart-warming news that every Australian awoke to this morning was the rescue of four year old Cleo Smith.  WA Police found the little girl alone in a locked house, her first words to them were "My name is Cleo". 

The impact of the rescue, coming 18 days after her disappearance, is serving as a beacon of hope for many people after a trying period for the nation.

Plus news on pay rises for hairstylists and a pay dispute at Country Road with gender equity undertones.

Weekend Wrap 31 October 2021: Gladys explains her love circle at ICAC, Morrison to sell more gas at Glasgow, Tim Smith gets drunk and crashes his car

Gladys Berejiklian's end of week appearance at ICAC have raised some serious questions about how politicians conduct themselves, the meaning of terms like "family" and "love circle" and helped explain why Morrison and his government are so opposed to a federal ICAC.  It would expose not only what they are doing wrong but also the things that they could reasonable suspect are wrong and do nothing to stop.

Tim Smith got drunk at a dinner party and drove his car into another vehicle and through a fence.  He's resigned from shadow cabinet and lost his licence.  But will we have to pay his taxi bills?

Morrison is going to promote more Australian Gas in Glasgow despite work from Australian Unions, the Business Council of Australia, The Australian Conservation Foundation, the World Wildlife Fund and Accenture showing that clean energy could create 395,000 new jobs.

Angus Taylor, who is joining Morrison's gas sales trip, has gone on Insiders to say that governments don't plan more than four years out and the $20Billion commitment, half what was wasted on profitable companies with misallocated Jobkeeper, is as far into the future as they can plan.  Despite the multi decade nuclear submarine deal and other countries adopting long term bi-partisan approaches.

Episode 61: Morrison ”the weakest link” on climate action, Morrison gives Telstra billions to block China and the good news is solar powered steel

Van Badham and Ben Davison celebrate being reunited after four months separated by COVID lockdowns by exploring Morrison's New Plan using current policies to tackle climate change in "The Australian Way" with a pamphlet written by a global consulting company.

We need real cuts to emissions to avoid temperatures increasing by 2.7 degrees. but there is no roadmap for tech led change just a do nothing government hoping Australia will simply get swept along as capitalists, investors and corporations invest in future profits. 

Van and Ben ask the question; If the Morrison plan is to just let profiteers find the profits in a low emission future what will happen to the worker's and communities they leave behind?

Van and Ben look at the Morrison government tipping $2.1Billion into Telstra to fund the purchase of a South Pacific telco that was owned by an Irish billionaire and who, having received our money to build a cable to Australia, was courting Chinese investment. 

Proving once again that the Morrison government is prepared to spend our money but it isn't prepared to buy us anything.

The good news is BP, that's "British Petroleum" is making steel in Colorado using solar power. 

See what we mean about companies investing in future profits?

Weekend Wrap 24 October 21: Obied, Gladys, and Porter make the case for a federal ICAC, Tudge and Dutton distract from Morrison climate woes and strawberry hunger games vs truckie solidarity

Ben looks at how the events of the week at NSW ICAC and in the Federal Parliament involving the the sentencing of the Obieds, the investigation into Gladys and the protection racket for Porter have made the case for a proper federal ICAC.

Alan Tudge and Peter Dutton express the worst of Australian political values with hypocrisy, greed, entitlement and attacks on democratic debate in an attempt to distract from Morrison's failure to make any progress on climate action as the Nationals make empty threats to quit the government.

Reopening is speeding up as more Australian's get vaccinated against COVID

And Ben looks at two models of attracting workers into an industry with the Strawberry Hunger Games vs Truckie Solidarity.

Episode 60: Pru and Sally expose the divide in Australian politics, Morrison wants praise for doing half what others are doing on climate and the good news is travel between Sydney and Melbourne

Van Badham and Ben Davison contrast the former Liberal Minister Pru Goward's opinion piece in the AFR where she calls unemployed workers "the underclass", "proles", "weasels", "damaged", a "deficit" and "lacking in trust and discipline." who need to be "harnessed" to the news today that 1.2M children in Australia went hungry in the last 12 months, the facts laid out in ACTU Secretary Sally McManus's New Daily article that more Australians than ever before are working multiple jobs and the piece by Australian Workers Union leader Dan Walton that exposes the rank hypocrisy of business and Liberal interests trying to import hundred of thousands of temporary migrant workers while hundreds of thousands of people are without secure work and are being denied training opportunities.

The starkness of the political contrast is almost blinding, as is Van's rage!

Morrison's attempts to claim victory on emissions reductions by virtue of state action lowering emissions by 30-35% instead of the Abbott target of 26-28% has been met with scorn by our international allies and has failed to solve his National Party problem.  The Nats continue to ignore the national farmer federation, science, the public opinion and the capital markets to insist on even more pork for them to barrel in exchange for any movement towards net zero emissions. 

The shamelessness of their position has been further highlighted by more revelations of misused tax payer money, "regional" grants going to cities, and BILLIONS handed out without any true assessment of value for the taxpayer. 

Van and Ben both join the calls for a federal ICAC as the NSW ICAC hears damaging revelations about how money is handed out in Liberal/National governments. 

And to think they call us "weasels"!

The good news is people are starting to be reunited, including Van and Ben, and Australian's are getting vaccinated!

Weekend Wrap 17 Oct 21: COVID updates as Vic and NSW head out of lockdown, Whats Josh Frydenberg‘s problem? And Morrison is finally off to Glasgow

Ben Davison wraps up the changes to COVID protections around the country as NSW schools are set to reopen, Victoria announces end of lockdown and Hobart seems set to survive a scare unscathed.

What's Josh Frydenberg's problem.  The Morrison government Treasurer keeps attacking Victoria, that state he's from, on everything to do with COVID.  Why?  Ben Looks at how Frydenberg's failures on Jobkeeper, Jobmaker, Wages and secure jobs might be driving him to create a distraction.

And Morrison has finally decided to go to CoP26 in Glasgow in November after pressure from the opposition, Prince Charles, The Queen (who was attacked in the Herald Sun over it, so much for "mission zero") and comedian Dan Ilic who's billboard campaign has gone from Kooyong and Armadale to Glasgow and Times Square.  WIth emissions targets somewhere around half of the rest of the developed world and the Nationals still demanding an unknown price for policy to get to net zero what will Morrison say when he gets to Glasgow?  Maybe the next two sitting weeks will shed some light.

Episode 59 Murdoch‘s greenwash and the fallacy of the Coalition, Insecure work and the pandemic, has Morrison learnt nothing? Good news about plastics!

Van Badham and Ben Davison dive into the miraculous conversion of the Murdoch empire from climate skeptics to "Mission Zero" warriors. They explore how all it has taken is decades of campaigning, billionaires identifying the money making and subsidy extracting opportunities and enough space to allow the likes of Bolt, Gleeson and Panahi to hedge his bets for the man who destroyed Turnbull, Rudd and Turnbull again, over climate policy to start helping save the planet on which he lives.

Meanwhile the National Party, "led" by a very "tired" sounding Barnaby Joyce, is trying to reposition itself as the party of "battlers" after having spent the last twenty years being the party of Gina and Twiggy in a last ditch effort to play  "outsiders on the inside who can get wins for you!"*

*You must be one of a small handful of national party preselectors

Van and Ben also examine a recent report on the impacts of job insecurity in the retail sector on Australians trying to care for their kids and/or their parents.  Van and Ben link the insecure work crisis to how the COVID pandemic has spread through Australia and examine ways in which people can resist casualisation and the under valuing their humanity so we can have a functioning society.

Plus there is good news from France on new ways to recycle plastics using leaves!