www.theguardian.com
Pro-Palestine protest outside Myer Christmas window in Melbourne cancelled
Benita Kolovos
A pro-Palestine protest outside the Bourke Street Myer Christmas window display has been cancelled, an organiser has told 3AW Melbourne.
Amy, who is part of Disrupt Wars, had planned a “Crash the Christmas Windows” action outside the launch of the display on Sunday. But she told 3AW in light of Myer’s decision to cancel their window reveal event their disruption would not go ahead.
She said children were never the target of the event. Instead, the intention was to raise awareness of the number of children killed in Gaza during the ongoing conflict.
Key events
Oxfam welcomes Australian backing of UN resolution recognising Palestinian sovereignty
Oxfam Australia has welcomed the government’s backing of a UN resolution to recognise the “permanent sovereignty” of Palestinians in the occupied Palestinian territory.
In a statement, Oxfam said that by supporting this resolution, Australia has made a significant statement in support of Palestinians’ fundamental rights. CEO Lyn Morgain said:
We welcome news that the Australian government backs the UN resolution on Palestinian sovereignty, after abstaining on the vote for 13 years. Civilians continue to pay the price for the failure of their leaders to resolve a conflict that has led to the longest occupation in modern history.
Morgain said that Australia must go further and “use its influence to advocate for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the siege of Gaza”.
Conditions on the ground are deteriorating rapidly, and it is nearly impossible for humanitarian operations to resume amidst relentless bombings and blockades.
Benita Kolovos
Amy got into a bit of a back and forth with host Tom Elliott on 3AW, saying:
We’ve managed to cancel an act of greed by Myer and your concern for the children was unfounded because they were never the target.
Elliot said “it was not unfounded” and “the police didn’t think it was unfounded.” Amy replied:
The police never spoke to me, Tom. If the police were so concerned they would have contacted the actual organiser but they didn’t.
Benita Kolovos
Circling back to Amy from Disrupt Wars, who has been speaking with 3AW about the now-cancelled “Crash the Christmas Windows” action that had been planned outside the launch of Myer’s Christmas window display on Sunday.
You can read more on this earlier in the blog, here. Amy has told the program:
We’re very pleased with the outcome that Myer has decided to cancel their consumerist party and we are more than happy for the children to enjoy the windows, they were never the target in the first place.
She said the “big lavish spectacle” and “push for consumerism and capitalism in a time of genocide” was not appropriate:
It has nothing to do with Christianity. It’s capitalism.
Pocock questions rush on electoral reform legislation
Independent senator David Pocock has been speaking with ABC TV about the government’s proposed electoral reform legislation. He said:
It’s pretty revealing that the major parties want to ram through electoral reform – which is really important, it is important we go through the detail – in two weeks when we have had has housing legislation, cost of living measures, scams legislation held up in the Senate. Why are they so quick to move when it’s in their interest? When they are going to get an extra $20m per party at election time and entrench incumbency, which is a real concern for me as a community independent.
He argued that while there are spending caps per electorate, there is “also what seems to be up to $19m that the major parties can spend on advertising across the country.”
My concern is that elections should be a contest of ideas. We should have a range of candidates actually fighting on the issues for their community and, from what I’ve seen, and I think from the tone and sort of the timing of this, this is really about entrenching the major parties, entrenching the duopoly at a time when Australia is wanting more competition.
Pocock said that, as he understands, the changes wouldn’t come into play until after the next election – “So what is the rush?”
If there is so much detail in it, let’s take the time, it is not coming in the next election. What we’re seeing is the major parties terrified of a minority government.
Pro-Palestine protest outside Myer Christmas window in Melbourne cancelled
Benita Kolovos
A pro-Palestine protest outside the Bourke Street Myer Christmas window display has been cancelled, an organiser has told 3AW Melbourne.
Amy, who is part of Disrupt Wars, had planned a “Crash the Christmas Windows” action outside the launch of the display on Sunday. But she told 3AW in light of Myer’s decision to cancel their window reveal event their disruption would not go ahead.
She said children were never the target of the event. Instead, the intention was to raise awareness of the number of children killed in Gaza during the ongoing conflict.
Don Farrell says Australia must not ‘panic or overreact’ to Trump trade talk
Moving to the US, Don Farrell – who is also the minister for trade – was asked how confident he is Australia can make a deal with the new Trump administration to avoid blanket terms on imports into America. He responded:
When I came into this job 2.5 years ago we had $20bn worth of trade tariffs imposed on us from China. Over that 2.5 years we have worked patiently and carefully to get all those tariffs removed.
I think the Albanese government has got a track record of working with our trading partners to ensure that fair and free trade continues … The first thing here is to not panic or overreact. The American people made a decision about who their new president will be and who the administration is going to be.
We need to be, just like we were with China, to sit down patiently and carefully and work through any issues which the American government might have.
Farrell said that Kevin Rudd was the right person to do this, saying he is “an experienced diplomat” who has “made great progress with the American congress”.
Q: Why should it be up to major parties to decide who can get into parliament?
Don Farrell responded that the Australian people make that decision, and that “this is all about making sure that ordinary Australians can participate”.
The Australian electoral system should not work on the basis that the only people who can be elected into parliament are people who are sponsored by billionaires. That should not be the way that the Australian system works and, with these changes, it will not be the way the system works.
Don Farrell said he has had “good consultation” with the Coalition on this and, while he “cannot say at this stage that we have agreement”, he hopes that by the time the legislation is voted on that “we can get maximum support as we possibly can”.
Already some of the independents have indicated that they are onside with changes.
Don Farrell denies electoral reform bill ‘rushed’
Q: Why do these changes need to be rushed through before Christmas and would you be happy to push them into the next term of parliament?
Don Farrell responded that “these are not rushed” and “we have been talking about this for the last two years”.
None of what is in this bill comes as any surprise, I don’t think, to anybody who has been paying attention to this issue. We have not rushed it, in fact we have done the opposite. We took our time to carefully consider and carefully consult with all political parties about these changes.
Farrell said he wants the changes to be passed this year so that “the AEC and the political parties and the independents can start the process so that by the time the next election comes everybody is in the position they ought to be to implement these changes”.
Labor says electoral changes must be able to survive high court challenge
Don Farrell was asked about backlash from crossbenchers this morning to the proposed reforms, with some labelling it a major party stitch-up.
He responded that “by taking big money out of politics it is the best way we can improve our politics and our democracy in Australia”.
How open is the government to negotiations with the Coalition and crossbench, and would it consider lifting the donations disclosure cap? Farrell said no, and “this is the donation cap that we have set”.
We think this balances all of the interests of all the parties and independents. We’ve set it at a rate which I think is fair and reasonable but, more importantly, we have to consider that some players already have indicated they will take this matter to the high court … So we’re trying to ensure that the caps that we have set are fair, but also would survive a challenge in the high court.
Farrell denies that electoral reform designed to target any individual
Asked if these rules are designed to target Clive Palmer and Simon Holmes à Court, Don Farrell said “the short answer is no”.
This is designed to take big money out of Australian politics. We are not targeting individuals, we’re targeting the system that allows an uncapped amount of money to be spent on elections.
Don Farrell speaks to media about proposed electoral reform
The special minister of state, Don Farrell, is addressing the media in Adelaide about the government’s proposed electoral reform legislation it is set to introduce next week.
He told reporters:
Big donors will be restricted on how much they can donate. All participants in the elections will be limited on how much they can spend on advertising and campaigning. We are increasing transparency with accelerated reporting of donations, real-time reporting during elections and a lower donation disclosure threshold to shine a spotlight on more of the money in politics.
The Australian Electoral Commission will be given strengthened powers to apply compliance audits and penalties. We know that this reform will face some challenges but of course if it was easy somebody else would have done it already. We are not shying away from the chance to protect our democracy and I ask all my colleagues across the parliament to support this passage in the coming weeks.
BoM warns of severe storms near Queensland-NSW border
The wet weather is continuing across parts of New South Wales and Queensland today.
Severe thunderstorms possible near the Queensland border in NSW, the Bureau of Meteorology has warned:
🌩️ Today’s thunderstorm FORECAST (15/11): Storms possible in the north-east and northern inland. SEVERE storms possible near the Qld border, with the risk of locally heavy rainfall, damaging winds, and/or large hail.
Warnings if required: https://t.co/jJWt2wlxel pic.twitter.com/UKynHvSMAz
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) November 14, 2024
And, in Queensland, severe storms are possible around the south-east and central interior:
🌩️ Today’s thunderstorm FORECAST (15/11): Severe storms possible about the south-east and central interior. Risk of heavy rainfall, damaging winds, and/or large hail.
Non-severe storms possible across north-west, central, and south-east #Qld.
Warnings: https://t.co/CinugnxqkN pic.twitter.com/UygbT5N1Ph
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) November 14, 2024
Wong warns people to brace for political debate about migrants in lead-up to election
Mostafa Rachwani
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, was awarded a lifetime achievement award at the Asian-Australian Leadership awards last night, where she said she expected more political debate about migrants in the “next few months”.
Wong was quizzed about diversity and the challenges she faces as an Asian-Australian politician. She also told attendees that they should brace for a difficult political debate in the lead-up to the next election:
I know that there’s a narrative, and you’ll see a fair bit of it in the political debate over the next few months, is a narrative that we’re all familiar with, of immigration as burden or of the migrant as peril.
But the different cultures, the diversity of our communities, is one of our great strengths. I think it’s a great strength in our foreign policy, like I always talk about the national power, the national asset that is the diversity of the Australian community, because it means we have an understanding of so many countries and so many cultures in the world.
Asked about the challenging geopolitical environment she has had to work in, Wong took swipes at the “politicisation” of foreign policy:
One thing that won’t make it easier is politicising some foreign policy here at home. We saw that, frankly, in the last few years and I don’t think it makes it easier to get into an aggressive political debate. These are hard, hard circumstances and difficult choices, and we have to navigate them wisely.
Undervalued and lonely: older Australians struggling
Six in 10 older people say they’re experiencing loneliness, with many feeling undervalued by society and struggling to reconnect.
As AAP reports, the Council on the Ageing (Cota) NSW research found half of those older than 50 in the state felt socially isolated, with the organisation urging targeted intervention to curb the “deeply concerning” trend.
Six in 10 respondents experiencing loneliness felt undervalued by society, which the council said exacerbated their loneliness, undermined their sense of identity and could make it harder for them to seek help and connect with people.
The study was released before a parliamentary inquiry into the prevalence, causes and impacts of loneliness in NSW begins today. The council’s chief executive, Gohar Yazdabadi, said the findings presented a “devastating picture”.
Loneliness has profound impacts on the lives of older adults. It prevents one in four adults from completing every day tasks such as shopping and cooking, and one in five from seeking medical care.
The feelings of being undervalued and without a support network are a terrible reflection of ageism and the way we value older people in our society, the impacts of which are keenly felt.
Researchers and psychologists will give evidence to the inquiry today.
