Blogotariat

The Liberal Party federal council’s call to sell off the ABC is unlikely to be taken up by the parliamentary party, but the fact that it was made at all represents not only a major challenge to Malcolm Turnbull but also a break with the party’s own history. The prime minister is quite right to insist that policy remains the sole prerogative of the parliamentary party: the perfectly sound reasons why this is so were enunciated repeatedly by the party’s founder, Robert Menzies, during his long period in power.

The denial of popular sovereignty by mainstream leaders allows demagogues like Trump to pose as democratic champions.

By George Monbiot, published in the Guardian 18th June 2018

He gets almost everything wrong. But last weekend Donald Trump got something right. To the horror of the other leaders of the rich world, he defended democracy against its detractors. Perhaps predictably, he has been universally condemned for it.

Latest version of National Energy Guarantee raises concerns it could put a de-facto cap on efforts by states, retailers and even corporate buyers, while the creation of a closed registry raises issues about transparency.

NAB launches $200m Low Carbon Shared Portfolio, backed by senior loans to seven wind and large-scale solar farms, and with a $90m cornerstone investment from the CEFC.

by Chris Becker The Australian dollar opened just below 76 cents against King USD last week, but ended on Friday more than 1.5 cents (or 150 pips) lower to finish closer to the 74 handle. To put that into context, it has lost nearly 6 cents since its high on Australia Day at just over

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Honestly, how does this pass as serious debate: Liberal senator James Paterson has called for universities to face fines for failing to uphold free speech, claiming that financial penalties would go some way to preventing the “administrative cowardice” behind the Australian National University’s decision to scrap plans for a course in Western civilisation. As debate

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More credit crunch porn at the AFR today: Mortgage brokers and buyers agents’ claim million-dollar property sales are collapsing as increasingly risk-averse lenders reassess their exposure and pull out, causing deals to collapse. Sales between $3 million and $5 million and settlements for off-the-plan apartments – where preliminary lender offers were made two-to-four years ago

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Via the AFR: For Australian entrepreneur Andrea Myles, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull dropped what she refers to as his “Mandarin bomb” at exactly the wrong time. It was December last year, around the time Myles was recruiting participants for the third “China Australia Millennial Project”, which puts young Australian and Chinese entrepreneurs in a room

The post Good news: Chinese millennials turn off Australia appeared first on MacroBusiness.

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Among the many dumb things Tony Abbott did to precipitate his downfall as prime minister was to toss reassuring culture war declarations to the feral base of the Liberal Party, via Sky News and the Bolt Report.

On one occasion he assured an on-air personality — Andrew Bolt, I think, perhaps when he was still on Channel 10 — that he shared the worldview of News Corp rather than the ABC. It’s the kind of statement that would be harmless if Bolt’s viewers were its only audience, but naturally it ricocheted around the internet and into mainstream media, where it could be witnessed by the politically disengaged hordes.

AUD is down through the morning: As DXY threatens breakout of an inverse head and shoulders bottom: Bonds are bid: XJO is down a little: But Big Iron is bashed (Dalian is shut): Big Gas is down: And Big Gold: Big Scum has caught a break as yields fall. This could be a tradable rally

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Via Domainfax: Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has warned that the Liberal Party would be “emboldened” by an election victory to sell the ABC, seizing on a Liberal policy vote on the weekend as a key issue at the federal byelections on July 28. The move came after cabinet ministers poured cold water on the idea

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Via the AFR: One Nation has declared it is not going to be a “lapdog” for the Turnbull government, sending an ominous warning as senior ministers concentrate their lobbying on Pauline Hanson to back its income and company tax cut packages during a frantic final fortnight of Parliament before the winter break and super Saturday

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The grey beards are in a near-panicked meltdown. Paul Kelly: The world has changed. Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un have substituted a diplomatic contest for military threats. Immediate signs suggest three winners: Trump, whose standing at home will rise after such narcissistic deal-making; Kim, whose tactical cunning has generated more options for North Korea; and

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