A complacent Wonder Down Under is heading for a productivity fail
Why hasn't Australia seen a shift towards economic rationalism along the lines of what has recently played out in the United States? One explanation is the absence of a cathartic internal crisis.
In the US, voters have had the ability to evaluate the economic performance of two colliding business models in the form of key Democrat-led states like California, New Jersey and New York vis-à-vis their Republican rivals Texas and Florida. According to the Tax Foundation, a nonpartisan Washington think tank, California (48), New Jersey (49) and New York (50) are the three worst ranked states from a total tax competitiveness perspective.
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The Age
21 minutes ago
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US vetoes UN Security Council demand for Gaza ceasefire
The United States on Wednesday vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution that demanded an 'immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire' between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza and unhindered aid access across the war-torn enclave. The other 14 countries on the council voted in favour of the draft as a humanitarian crisis grips the enclave of more than 2 million people, where famine looms and aid has only trickled in since Israel lifted an 11-week blockade last month. 'The United States has been clear: We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza,' Acting US ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the council before the vote, arguing that it would also undermine US-led efforts to broker a ceasefire. Washington is Israel's biggest ally and arms supplier. The Security Council vote came as Israel pushes ahead with an offensive in Gaza after ending a two-month truce in March. Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed 45 people on Wednesday, while Israel said a soldier died in fighting. Britain's UN ambassador Barbara Woodward criticised the Israeli government's decisions to expand its military operations in Gaza and severely restrict humanitarian aid as 'unjustifiable, disproportionate and counterproductive'. Loading Israel has rejected calls for an unconditional or permanent ceasefire, saying Hamas cannot stay in Gaza. Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon told the council members who voted in favour of the draft: 'You chose appeasement and submission. You chose a road that does not lead to peace. Only to more terror.' Hamas condemned the US veto, describing it as showing 'the US administration's blind bias' towards Israel. The draft Security Council resolution had also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and others.
Sydney Morning Herald
21 minutes ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
US vetoes UN Security Council demand for Gaza ceasefire
The United States on Wednesday vetoed a draft UN Security Council resolution that demanded an 'immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire' between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza and unhindered aid access across the war-torn enclave. The other 14 countries on the council voted in favour of the draft as a humanitarian crisis grips the enclave of more than 2 million people, where famine looms and aid has only trickled in since Israel lifted an 11-week blockade last month. 'The United States has been clear: We would not support any measure that fails to condemn Hamas and does not call for Hamas to disarm and leave Gaza,' Acting US ambassador to the UN Dorothy Shea told the council before the vote, arguing that it would also undermine US-led efforts to broker a ceasefire. Washington is Israel's biggest ally and arms supplier. The Security Council vote came as Israel pushes ahead with an offensive in Gaza after ending a two-month truce in March. Hamas-run health authorities in Gaza said Israeli strikes killed 45 people on Wednesday, while Israel said a soldier died in fighting. Britain's UN ambassador Barbara Woodward criticised the Israeli government's decisions to expand its military operations in Gaza and severely restrict humanitarian aid as 'unjustifiable, disproportionate and counterproductive'. Loading Israel has rejected calls for an unconditional or permanent ceasefire, saying Hamas cannot stay in Gaza. Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon told the council members who voted in favour of the draft: 'You chose appeasement and submission. You chose a road that does not lead to peace. Only to more terror.' Hamas condemned the US veto, describing it as showing 'the US administration's blind bias' towards Israel. The draft Security Council resolution had also demanded the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages held by Hamas and others.
Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
Ex-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claims she's no longer a Democrat while hyping memoir of ‘broken' Biden admin
Joe Biden's longtime White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, announced Wednesday she has left the Democratic Party and is writing a tell-all book about the 'broken' administration she served. Jean-Pierre, 50, worked as Biden's top spokeswoman for two years and eight months and stunned fellow White House alums by announcing her book 'Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines,' due out on Oct. 21. 'Jean-Pierre didn't come to her decision to be an Independent lightly,' Hachette Book Group said in a promotional release, which hints that the former Biden spokesperson may focus her ire on figures aside from the 46th president in her account. 'She has served two American presidents, [Barack] Obama and Biden … She takes us through the three weeks that led to Biden's abandoning his bid for a second term and the betrayal by the Democratic Party that led to his decision,' the tease goes. 'In a hard-hitting yet hopeful critique, Jean-Pierre defines what it means to be part of the growing percentage of our fractured electorate that is Independent, why it can be worthwhile to carve a political space more loyal to personal beliefs than a party affiliation, and what questions you need to ask yourself to determine where you fit politically.' A prominent Democratic source fired back at The Post: 'What her publisher means to tell readers is that she is INCOMPETENT, not independent. Just incompetent. But we don't need to read about it— we watched it.' 'Put this 'bombshell' at the top of the Trump book-burn pile. Right next to Jake Tapper's own toothless tome,' the source added. Another top Democrat exclaimed, 'I can't look away' when asked for their reaction to the forthcoming work. One ex-official who worked with Jean-Pierre said that the press secretary's former colleagues had been 'cackling in chats all day' and that they believe the pivot can be explained by 'money.' 'It's just very confusing for the person who was the face of an entire Democratic administration to then leave the Democrats as a whole,' the source said. 'The book by its cover looks to be negative about Biden. We all assumed they were on good terms. I am frustrated with the Dems but I'm not going to leave them when they're down. That's weak.' Jean-Pierre teased her tome in an Instagram video post Wednesday, saying: 'I think we need to stop thinking in boxes and think outside of our boxes, and not be so partisan … this book 'Independent', it's about looking outside of boxes, not just always being in a partisan stance.' The press secretary's tenure was marked by unflinching defenses of Biden's mental acuity and performance. At one 2022 briefing, she claimed — to the incredulity of the press corps — that the president called out the name of the late Rep. Jackie Walorski (R-Ind.) during an event because the deceased lawmaker was 'top of mind.' In July, she insisted the president was 'sharp as ever,' despite repeated evidence to the contrary. Biden, in turn, stood by Jean-Pierre — the first non-white and openly gay White House press secretary — amid sustained criticism from West Wing detractors and rivals who viewed her as ineloquent and often unprepared to brief reporters. In late 2023, Jean-Pierre survived a push to coax her to leave by then-White House communications chief Antia Dunn, who claimed she had the support of Chief of Staff Jeff Zients to nudge Jean-Pierre out the door. Although Jean-Pierre was known for her friendly demeanor with reporters, fellow Biden aides said she offered a less-than-compelling defense of the aging president by haltingly reading directly from a binder during Q&As. 'She doesn't have a grasp of the issues and doesn't spend the time to learn,' an insider explained at the time of Dunn's attempted coup. Dunn, previously viewed as a strategic genius among Democrats, ended up leaving the White House before Jean-Pierre in the aftermath of Biden's dismal June 27 debate against President Trump, as Democrats mutinied and forced the commander in chief to relinquish the party's nomination for another term. Jean-Pierre ended her tenure as press secretary in January with an emotional farewell briefing that outraged fellow White House aides because she refused to allow National Security Council spokesman John Kirby to share the stage to discuss a just-announced hostage release deal with Hamas. 'She basically said it was her goodbye party,' one source said of the final briefing. 'She kinda marketed it as a celebration of her and her tenure, and unfortunately, that took precedence over huge breaking news — and we haven't had this kind of news in this administration for a long time.' Originally published as Ex-White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre claims she's no longer a Democrat while hyping memoir of 'broken' Biden admin
