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The Advertiser
a day ago
- General
- The Advertiser
Deli counter chat speaks of the joy we're missing
This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to It was a simple wish. A panini from my favourite deli in Sydney. I'd been looking forward to it for weeks. When the day came, I picked the one with salami, mozzarella, arugula and tomato. As it was wrapped, I told the man behind the counter: "I dream of your panini. I make a special trip up from the South Coast to get one." His face beamed and an instant connection was made. "What is it about Italian bread?" I asked. "It's always so good." In Italy, he said, no meal is complete without bread. He'd moved to Australia as a child and one of the things he missed most was the smell of freshly baked bread. "Here, you walk past a bakery and you wouldn't know it," he said. "There's hardly any smell at all. It Italy you can smell the bakery from a block away." We went deeper into the conversation. I wanted to know about pecorino, the salty sheep cheese from Sardinia. I'd recently read that Sardinia was a blue zone, famed for the longevity of its people. "Ah, yes, everyone lives for a long time in Sardegna," he told me as he explained the difference between pecorino for grating and pecorino for slicing. "This one is from Sardegna, perfect for eating on its own." We then talked about Italy and how I was desperate to get there. "You must go to Sicily," he said. "That's where I'm from. It's cheaper than the rest of Italy, warmer and the food is better. Here, you might drive all the way to Wollongong to see a beautiful beach. There, you drive 10 minutes to a great beach and 10 minutes the other way to see ancient Greek ruins." As he spoke, there was a wistfulness about him, the hint of a tear in his eye. I assured him Sicilia would be a top priority. He put a hand on my shoulder and we exchanged names. I know the next time I'm in Sydney, I'll drop in to say hello to Giuseppe and make off with one of his crusty, delicious paninis and another hunk of pecorino. But it's not just the food I'll be after. The spontaneous human connection over a simple transaction which is so often lost in our hurried lives will sate another form of hunger: for good, old-fashioned service. How different from the supermarket deli counter, where you take a ticket and are served hurriedly so the line behind you keeps moving. It's convenient but joyless. "Anything else?" is about all the conversation you can expect. Over lunch the next day, we talked about the encounter with Giuseppe and the demise of the delicatessen. My mother-in-law recalled how as a child she'd be taken to Kings Cross before it was sleazy to be enthralled by the offerings of the delicatessens, the smell of freshly baked bread and coffee - still an exotic novelty in Menzian Australia. I remembered the little Italian corner store in Annandale, where Michael would proudly offer his homemade cacciatore and sprigs of dried oregano grown in his backyard. Just as tasty as the food was the conversation we'd have. About politics, sport, family, the latest cars. The store closed years ago, replaced by yet another soulless cafe, its customers wrapped in headphones, focused on the screen in one hand and the flat white in the other. The corner store and the delicatessen have been in decline for years, swallowed up by the big supermarket chains and it's unlikely that will change. But one deli, attached to inner Sydney's most famous greengrocer, appears to be resisting that tide. Which means I'll be back every time I'm in Sydney. For the panini, for a chat with Giuseppe, for a taste of how life should be when you shop for food. HAVE YOUR SAY: Has shopping for food become a soulless undertaking? Did you grow up with a corner store or delicatessen nearby? Is there still a deli or a greengrocer in your neighbourhood? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Home prices have hit new highs and will likely continue to grow as lower interest rates send buyers piling back into the property market amid a lack of new housing supply. - Migrant workers who have lost limbs or been blinded in Australian workplaces fear they will be deported if they seek medical treatment, an inquiry into modern slavery has been told. - Pinks, purples, oranges and greens danced across the skies on Sunday night, with the Aurora Australis visible from many parts of southern Australia. THEY SAID IT: "You have to enjoy life. Always be surrounded by people that you like, people who have a nice conversation. There are so many positive things to think about." - Sophia Loren YOU SAID IT: Tony Abbott's like turmeric. Impossible to get out of the fabric of the Liberal Party. "I have the utmost respect for former PMs who ride off into the sunset," writes Helen. "Julia Gillard is the best example so far, followed by Malcolm Fraser and Gough Whitlam. I have been voting since 1967, so I have seen a few PMs come and go. Some go with dignity and grace, some you can see the drag marks as they are pulled kicking and screaming out of the way, and some (Malcolm Fraser is one I particularly remember) who admitted that losing hurts. The former PMs who must give advice should at least do it privately, not in front of journalists so their name is in the paper again. Or should that be still?" Mark writes: "He is entitled to an opinion, whether you listen to it or not. Paul Keating and John Howard say their piece on regular occasions. It just so happens as former PMs the media still listen to them and report what they say. Often they are far funnier than the latest crop of pollies." Sue writes: "Political parties seem to be like those big family gatherings where that weird uncle or aunt you haven't seen for ages tries to organise your life for you. We can't choose our relatives, but we can choose the politicians we want to be relevant to our lives. And we don't choose Tony Abbott! Let's hope the Liberal Party can find the Exit Mould and get rid of him!" Murray writes: "Old prime ministers never die, they just do 'elder statesman' impersonations, with varying degrees of success. So the correct response to ol' Tony is to totally ignore him, then the impact on your life is zero. People keep describing Sussan Ley as a 'moderate'. That sends shivers down my spine. Moderate in this sense can mean wet, woke, certainly not a confirmed conservative. It was that sort of approach to leading the Liberal Party that has caused it to become a cheap imitation of the Labor Party. What this country does not need is two major leftist political parties. I have doubts Ms Ley has the cojones to turn the Liberals back into an opposition, a party that opposes. However she deserves a chance." "Tony Abbott has become the Liberal Party's humourless version of Corporal Jones from Dad's Army," writes Grant. "He's behind the times, wallows in past glories and advocates extreme-right policies as the antidote to all the country's woes." "Julia Gillard is the standard that all former PMs (and ex-pollies generally) should look to about quietly and graciously stepping away from the political scene with her credibility intact," writes Alan. "That's how it is done, folks." Anita writes: "Andrew Hastie and James Paterson at least present a viable alternative as they don't come across as 'unhinged' like many of their political brethren. I still would not vote for them because conservative policies are the antithesis of my progressive mindset, but to many they'd pass muster. Let's face it; Abbott is a political pariah! He should desist; bow out; remove himself from the commentariat for the benefit of his party." Arthur writes: "I agree, former prime ministers, especially those who have lost an election like Tony, should ride off into the sunset." "My letter published in The Canberra Times some years back still resonates, it said simply. 'Why does Tony Abbott go all the way to Tasmania to munch on onions when he can stay here in Canberra and suck eggs?'" writes Linus. Rosemary writes: "Monday's Echidna is so correct - thanks, John. A dose of Polliegone! If only but I suspect it will take so much we'll all be washed away!" "The biggest failure of the LNP was shafting Malcolm Turnbull," writes Geoff. "Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin are a perpetual gift to the ALP." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to It was a simple wish. A panini from my favourite deli in Sydney. I'd been looking forward to it for weeks. When the day came, I picked the one with salami, mozzarella, arugula and tomato. As it was wrapped, I told the man behind the counter: "I dream of your panini. I make a special trip up from the South Coast to get one." His face beamed and an instant connection was made. "What is it about Italian bread?" I asked. "It's always so good." In Italy, he said, no meal is complete without bread. He'd moved to Australia as a child and one of the things he missed most was the smell of freshly baked bread. "Here, you walk past a bakery and you wouldn't know it," he said. "There's hardly any smell at all. It Italy you can smell the bakery from a block away." We went deeper into the conversation. I wanted to know about pecorino, the salty sheep cheese from Sardinia. I'd recently read that Sardinia was a blue zone, famed for the longevity of its people. "Ah, yes, everyone lives for a long time in Sardegna," he told me as he explained the difference between pecorino for grating and pecorino for slicing. "This one is from Sardegna, perfect for eating on its own." We then talked about Italy and how I was desperate to get there. "You must go to Sicily," he said. "That's where I'm from. It's cheaper than the rest of Italy, warmer and the food is better. Here, you might drive all the way to Wollongong to see a beautiful beach. There, you drive 10 minutes to a great beach and 10 minutes the other way to see ancient Greek ruins." As he spoke, there was a wistfulness about him, the hint of a tear in his eye. I assured him Sicilia would be a top priority. He put a hand on my shoulder and we exchanged names. I know the next time I'm in Sydney, I'll drop in to say hello to Giuseppe and make off with one of his crusty, delicious paninis and another hunk of pecorino. But it's not just the food I'll be after. The spontaneous human connection over a simple transaction which is so often lost in our hurried lives will sate another form of hunger: for good, old-fashioned service. How different from the supermarket deli counter, where you take a ticket and are served hurriedly so the line behind you keeps moving. It's convenient but joyless. "Anything else?" is about all the conversation you can expect. Over lunch the next day, we talked about the encounter with Giuseppe and the demise of the delicatessen. My mother-in-law recalled how as a child she'd be taken to Kings Cross before it was sleazy to be enthralled by the offerings of the delicatessens, the smell of freshly baked bread and coffee - still an exotic novelty in Menzian Australia. I remembered the little Italian corner store in Annandale, where Michael would proudly offer his homemade cacciatore and sprigs of dried oregano grown in his backyard. Just as tasty as the food was the conversation we'd have. About politics, sport, family, the latest cars. The store closed years ago, replaced by yet another soulless cafe, its customers wrapped in headphones, focused on the screen in one hand and the flat white in the other. The corner store and the delicatessen have been in decline for years, swallowed up by the big supermarket chains and it's unlikely that will change. But one deli, attached to inner Sydney's most famous greengrocer, appears to be resisting that tide. Which means I'll be back every time I'm in Sydney. For the panini, for a chat with Giuseppe, for a taste of how life should be when you shop for food. HAVE YOUR SAY: Has shopping for food become a soulless undertaking? Did you grow up with a corner store or delicatessen nearby? Is there still a deli or a greengrocer in your neighbourhood? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Home prices have hit new highs and will likely continue to grow as lower interest rates send buyers piling back into the property market amid a lack of new housing supply. - Migrant workers who have lost limbs or been blinded in Australian workplaces fear they will be deported if they seek medical treatment, an inquiry into modern slavery has been told. - Pinks, purples, oranges and greens danced across the skies on Sunday night, with the Aurora Australis visible from many parts of southern Australia. THEY SAID IT: "You have to enjoy life. Always be surrounded by people that you like, people who have a nice conversation. There are so many positive things to think about." - Sophia Loren YOU SAID IT: Tony Abbott's like turmeric. Impossible to get out of the fabric of the Liberal Party. "I have the utmost respect for former PMs who ride off into the sunset," writes Helen. "Julia Gillard is the best example so far, followed by Malcolm Fraser and Gough Whitlam. I have been voting since 1967, so I have seen a few PMs come and go. Some go with dignity and grace, some you can see the drag marks as they are pulled kicking and screaming out of the way, and some (Malcolm Fraser is one I particularly remember) who admitted that losing hurts. The former PMs who must give advice should at least do it privately, not in front of journalists so their name is in the paper again. Or should that be still?" Mark writes: "He is entitled to an opinion, whether you listen to it or not. Paul Keating and John Howard say their piece on regular occasions. It just so happens as former PMs the media still listen to them and report what they say. Often they are far funnier than the latest crop of pollies." Sue writes: "Political parties seem to be like those big family gatherings where that weird uncle or aunt you haven't seen for ages tries to organise your life for you. We can't choose our relatives, but we can choose the politicians we want to be relevant to our lives. And we don't choose Tony Abbott! Let's hope the Liberal Party can find the Exit Mould and get rid of him!" Murray writes: "Old prime ministers never die, they just do 'elder statesman' impersonations, with varying degrees of success. So the correct response to ol' Tony is to totally ignore him, then the impact on your life is zero. People keep describing Sussan Ley as a 'moderate'. That sends shivers down my spine. Moderate in this sense can mean wet, woke, certainly not a confirmed conservative. It was that sort of approach to leading the Liberal Party that has caused it to become a cheap imitation of the Labor Party. What this country does not need is two major leftist political parties. I have doubts Ms Ley has the cojones to turn the Liberals back into an opposition, a party that opposes. However she deserves a chance." "Tony Abbott has become the Liberal Party's humourless version of Corporal Jones from Dad's Army," writes Grant. "He's behind the times, wallows in past glories and advocates extreme-right policies as the antidote to all the country's woes." "Julia Gillard is the standard that all former PMs (and ex-pollies generally) should look to about quietly and graciously stepping away from the political scene with her credibility intact," writes Alan. "That's how it is done, folks." Anita writes: "Andrew Hastie and James Paterson at least present a viable alternative as they don't come across as 'unhinged' like many of their political brethren. I still would not vote for them because conservative policies are the antithesis of my progressive mindset, but to many they'd pass muster. Let's face it; Abbott is a political pariah! He should desist; bow out; remove himself from the commentariat for the benefit of his party." Arthur writes: "I agree, former prime ministers, especially those who have lost an election like Tony, should ride off into the sunset." "My letter published in The Canberra Times some years back still resonates, it said simply. 'Why does Tony Abbott go all the way to Tasmania to munch on onions when he can stay here in Canberra and suck eggs?'" writes Linus. Rosemary writes: "Monday's Echidna is so correct - thanks, John. A dose of Polliegone! If only but I suspect it will take so much we'll all be washed away!" "The biggest failure of the LNP was shafting Malcolm Turnbull," writes Geoff. "Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin are a perpetual gift to the ALP." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to It was a simple wish. A panini from my favourite deli in Sydney. I'd been looking forward to it for weeks. When the day came, I picked the one with salami, mozzarella, arugula and tomato. As it was wrapped, I told the man behind the counter: "I dream of your panini. I make a special trip up from the South Coast to get one." His face beamed and an instant connection was made. "What is it about Italian bread?" I asked. "It's always so good." In Italy, he said, no meal is complete without bread. He'd moved to Australia as a child and one of the things he missed most was the smell of freshly baked bread. "Here, you walk past a bakery and you wouldn't know it," he said. "There's hardly any smell at all. It Italy you can smell the bakery from a block away." We went deeper into the conversation. I wanted to know about pecorino, the salty sheep cheese from Sardinia. I'd recently read that Sardinia was a blue zone, famed for the longevity of its people. "Ah, yes, everyone lives for a long time in Sardegna," he told me as he explained the difference between pecorino for grating and pecorino for slicing. "This one is from Sardegna, perfect for eating on its own." We then talked about Italy and how I was desperate to get there. "You must go to Sicily," he said. "That's where I'm from. It's cheaper than the rest of Italy, warmer and the food is better. Here, you might drive all the way to Wollongong to see a beautiful beach. There, you drive 10 minutes to a great beach and 10 minutes the other way to see ancient Greek ruins." As he spoke, there was a wistfulness about him, the hint of a tear in his eye. I assured him Sicilia would be a top priority. He put a hand on my shoulder and we exchanged names. I know the next time I'm in Sydney, I'll drop in to say hello to Giuseppe and make off with one of his crusty, delicious paninis and another hunk of pecorino. But it's not just the food I'll be after. The spontaneous human connection over a simple transaction which is so often lost in our hurried lives will sate another form of hunger: for good, old-fashioned service. How different from the supermarket deli counter, where you take a ticket and are served hurriedly so the line behind you keeps moving. It's convenient but joyless. "Anything else?" is about all the conversation you can expect. Over lunch the next day, we talked about the encounter with Giuseppe and the demise of the delicatessen. My mother-in-law recalled how as a child she'd be taken to Kings Cross before it was sleazy to be enthralled by the offerings of the delicatessens, the smell of freshly baked bread and coffee - still an exotic novelty in Menzian Australia. I remembered the little Italian corner store in Annandale, where Michael would proudly offer his homemade cacciatore and sprigs of dried oregano grown in his backyard. Just as tasty as the food was the conversation we'd have. About politics, sport, family, the latest cars. The store closed years ago, replaced by yet another soulless cafe, its customers wrapped in headphones, focused on the screen in one hand and the flat white in the other. The corner store and the delicatessen have been in decline for years, swallowed up by the big supermarket chains and it's unlikely that will change. But one deli, attached to inner Sydney's most famous greengrocer, appears to be resisting that tide. Which means I'll be back every time I'm in Sydney. For the panini, for a chat with Giuseppe, for a taste of how life should be when you shop for food. HAVE YOUR SAY: Has shopping for food become a soulless undertaking? Did you grow up with a corner store or delicatessen nearby? Is there still a deli or a greengrocer in your neighbourhood? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Home prices have hit new highs and will likely continue to grow as lower interest rates send buyers piling back into the property market amid a lack of new housing supply. - Migrant workers who have lost limbs or been blinded in Australian workplaces fear they will be deported if they seek medical treatment, an inquiry into modern slavery has been told. - Pinks, purples, oranges and greens danced across the skies on Sunday night, with the Aurora Australis visible from many parts of southern Australia. THEY SAID IT: "You have to enjoy life. Always be surrounded by people that you like, people who have a nice conversation. There are so many positive things to think about." - Sophia Loren YOU SAID IT: Tony Abbott's like turmeric. Impossible to get out of the fabric of the Liberal Party. "I have the utmost respect for former PMs who ride off into the sunset," writes Helen. "Julia Gillard is the best example so far, followed by Malcolm Fraser and Gough Whitlam. I have been voting since 1967, so I have seen a few PMs come and go. Some go with dignity and grace, some you can see the drag marks as they are pulled kicking and screaming out of the way, and some (Malcolm Fraser is one I particularly remember) who admitted that losing hurts. The former PMs who must give advice should at least do it privately, not in front of journalists so their name is in the paper again. Or should that be still?" Mark writes: "He is entitled to an opinion, whether you listen to it or not. Paul Keating and John Howard say their piece on regular occasions. It just so happens as former PMs the media still listen to them and report what they say. Often they are far funnier than the latest crop of pollies." Sue writes: "Political parties seem to be like those big family gatherings where that weird uncle or aunt you haven't seen for ages tries to organise your life for you. We can't choose our relatives, but we can choose the politicians we want to be relevant to our lives. And we don't choose Tony Abbott! Let's hope the Liberal Party can find the Exit Mould and get rid of him!" Murray writes: "Old prime ministers never die, they just do 'elder statesman' impersonations, with varying degrees of success. So the correct response to ol' Tony is to totally ignore him, then the impact on your life is zero. People keep describing Sussan Ley as a 'moderate'. That sends shivers down my spine. Moderate in this sense can mean wet, woke, certainly not a confirmed conservative. It was that sort of approach to leading the Liberal Party that has caused it to become a cheap imitation of the Labor Party. What this country does not need is two major leftist political parties. I have doubts Ms Ley has the cojones to turn the Liberals back into an opposition, a party that opposes. However she deserves a chance." "Tony Abbott has become the Liberal Party's humourless version of Corporal Jones from Dad's Army," writes Grant. "He's behind the times, wallows in past glories and advocates extreme-right policies as the antidote to all the country's woes." "Julia Gillard is the standard that all former PMs (and ex-pollies generally) should look to about quietly and graciously stepping away from the political scene with her credibility intact," writes Alan. "That's how it is done, folks." Anita writes: "Andrew Hastie and James Paterson at least present a viable alternative as they don't come across as 'unhinged' like many of their political brethren. I still would not vote for them because conservative policies are the antithesis of my progressive mindset, but to many they'd pass muster. Let's face it; Abbott is a political pariah! He should desist; bow out; remove himself from the commentariat for the benefit of his party." Arthur writes: "I agree, former prime ministers, especially those who have lost an election like Tony, should ride off into the sunset." "My letter published in The Canberra Times some years back still resonates, it said simply. 'Why does Tony Abbott go all the way to Tasmania to munch on onions when he can stay here in Canberra and suck eggs?'" writes Linus. Rosemary writes: "Monday's Echidna is so correct - thanks, John. A dose of Polliegone! If only but I suspect it will take so much we'll all be washed away!" "The biggest failure of the LNP was shafting Malcolm Turnbull," writes Geoff. "Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin are a perpetual gift to the ALP." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to It was a simple wish. A panini from my favourite deli in Sydney. I'd been looking forward to it for weeks. When the day came, I picked the one with salami, mozzarella, arugula and tomato. As it was wrapped, I told the man behind the counter: "I dream of your panini. I make a special trip up from the South Coast to get one." His face beamed and an instant connection was made. "What is it about Italian bread?" I asked. "It's always so good." In Italy, he said, no meal is complete without bread. He'd moved to Australia as a child and one of the things he missed most was the smell of freshly baked bread. "Here, you walk past a bakery and you wouldn't know it," he said. "There's hardly any smell at all. It Italy you can smell the bakery from a block away." We went deeper into the conversation. I wanted to know about pecorino, the salty sheep cheese from Sardinia. I'd recently read that Sardinia was a blue zone, famed for the longevity of its people. "Ah, yes, everyone lives for a long time in Sardegna," he told me as he explained the difference between pecorino for grating and pecorino for slicing. "This one is from Sardegna, perfect for eating on its own." We then talked about Italy and how I was desperate to get there. "You must go to Sicily," he said. "That's where I'm from. It's cheaper than the rest of Italy, warmer and the food is better. Here, you might drive all the way to Wollongong to see a beautiful beach. There, you drive 10 minutes to a great beach and 10 minutes the other way to see ancient Greek ruins." As he spoke, there was a wistfulness about him, the hint of a tear in his eye. I assured him Sicilia would be a top priority. He put a hand on my shoulder and we exchanged names. I know the next time I'm in Sydney, I'll drop in to say hello to Giuseppe and make off with one of his crusty, delicious paninis and another hunk of pecorino. But it's not just the food I'll be after. The spontaneous human connection over a simple transaction which is so often lost in our hurried lives will sate another form of hunger: for good, old-fashioned service. How different from the supermarket deli counter, where you take a ticket and are served hurriedly so the line behind you keeps moving. It's convenient but joyless. "Anything else?" is about all the conversation you can expect. Over lunch the next day, we talked about the encounter with Giuseppe and the demise of the delicatessen. My mother-in-law recalled how as a child she'd be taken to Kings Cross before it was sleazy to be enthralled by the offerings of the delicatessens, the smell of freshly baked bread and coffee - still an exotic novelty in Menzian Australia. I remembered the little Italian corner store in Annandale, where Michael would proudly offer his homemade cacciatore and sprigs of dried oregano grown in his backyard. Just as tasty as the food was the conversation we'd have. About politics, sport, family, the latest cars. The store closed years ago, replaced by yet another soulless cafe, its customers wrapped in headphones, focused on the screen in one hand and the flat white in the other. The corner store and the delicatessen have been in decline for years, swallowed up by the big supermarket chains and it's unlikely that will change. But one deli, attached to inner Sydney's most famous greengrocer, appears to be resisting that tide. Which means I'll be back every time I'm in Sydney. For the panini, for a chat with Giuseppe, for a taste of how life should be when you shop for food. HAVE YOUR SAY: Has shopping for food become a soulless undertaking? Did you grow up with a corner store or delicatessen nearby? Is there still a deli or a greengrocer in your neighbourhood? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Home prices have hit new highs and will likely continue to grow as lower interest rates send buyers piling back into the property market amid a lack of new housing supply. - Migrant workers who have lost limbs or been blinded in Australian workplaces fear they will be deported if they seek medical treatment, an inquiry into modern slavery has been told. - Pinks, purples, oranges and greens danced across the skies on Sunday night, with the Aurora Australis visible from many parts of southern Australia. THEY SAID IT: "You have to enjoy life. Always be surrounded by people that you like, people who have a nice conversation. There are so many positive things to think about." - Sophia Loren YOU SAID IT: Tony Abbott's like turmeric. Impossible to get out of the fabric of the Liberal Party. "I have the utmost respect for former PMs who ride off into the sunset," writes Helen. "Julia Gillard is the best example so far, followed by Malcolm Fraser and Gough Whitlam. I have been voting since 1967, so I have seen a few PMs come and go. Some go with dignity and grace, some you can see the drag marks as they are pulled kicking and screaming out of the way, and some (Malcolm Fraser is one I particularly remember) who admitted that losing hurts. The former PMs who must give advice should at least do it privately, not in front of journalists so their name is in the paper again. Or should that be still?" Mark writes: "He is entitled to an opinion, whether you listen to it or not. Paul Keating and John Howard say their piece on regular occasions. It just so happens as former PMs the media still listen to them and report what they say. Often they are far funnier than the latest crop of pollies." Sue writes: "Political parties seem to be like those big family gatherings where that weird uncle or aunt you haven't seen for ages tries to organise your life for you. We can't choose our relatives, but we can choose the politicians we want to be relevant to our lives. And we don't choose Tony Abbott! Let's hope the Liberal Party can find the Exit Mould and get rid of him!" Murray writes: "Old prime ministers never die, they just do 'elder statesman' impersonations, with varying degrees of success. So the correct response to ol' Tony is to totally ignore him, then the impact on your life is zero. People keep describing Sussan Ley as a 'moderate'. That sends shivers down my spine. Moderate in this sense can mean wet, woke, certainly not a confirmed conservative. It was that sort of approach to leading the Liberal Party that has caused it to become a cheap imitation of the Labor Party. What this country does not need is two major leftist political parties. I have doubts Ms Ley has the cojones to turn the Liberals back into an opposition, a party that opposes. However she deserves a chance." "Tony Abbott has become the Liberal Party's humourless version of Corporal Jones from Dad's Army," writes Grant. "He's behind the times, wallows in past glories and advocates extreme-right policies as the antidote to all the country's woes." "Julia Gillard is the standard that all former PMs (and ex-pollies generally) should look to about quietly and graciously stepping away from the political scene with her credibility intact," writes Alan. "That's how it is done, folks." Anita writes: "Andrew Hastie and James Paterson at least present a viable alternative as they don't come across as 'unhinged' like many of their political brethren. I still would not vote for them because conservative policies are the antithesis of my progressive mindset, but to many they'd pass muster. Let's face it; Abbott is a political pariah! He should desist; bow out; remove himself from the commentariat for the benefit of his party." Arthur writes: "I agree, former prime ministers, especially those who have lost an election like Tony, should ride off into the sunset." "My letter published in The Canberra Times some years back still resonates, it said simply. 'Why does Tony Abbott go all the way to Tasmania to munch on onions when he can stay here in Canberra and suck eggs?'" writes Linus. Rosemary writes: "Monday's Echidna is so correct - thanks, John. A dose of Polliegone! If only but I suspect it will take so much we'll all be washed away!" "The biggest failure of the LNP was shafting Malcolm Turnbull," writes Geoff. "Tony Abbott and Peta Credlin are a perpetual gift to the ALP."
The Advertiser
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Out, damned spot! Take meddling Tony with you
This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to "Stubborn stains on your shirtfront? Gravy on your favourite blue tie? Spots that shouldn't be there on your leopard print? You want to look fresh and new but everything comes out of the wash the same old grey? "Try Polliegone, our new wonder product. Its active ingredients, Reality and Self-Awareness, work to clean up and brighten the dirtiest laundry. It removes the grime you never thought you'd shift. Add a cup and a half to your next load and we promise you won't believe the difference!" If only it were that simple. As the Liberal Party learns once again, some stains persist no matter what you throw at them. Tony Abbott is one of them, along with his sidekick Peta Credlin. No amount of scrubbing seems to get rid of them. Not being turfed out of the prime ministership by his own party after only two years in the top job. Not losing his own seat. And for both of them, not a decade of being largely ignored as a pair of fringe right-wing commentators. Since the May 3 election loss, Abbott and Credlin have been back in the trenches, waging war. Not against Labor, as you'd expect, but against their own party and its new leader Sussan Ley and the moderate faction that prevailed in narrowly electing her to the top job. Abbott is demanding Ley proceed with her predecessor Peter Dutton's federal takeover of the NSW division of the party, prompted by the latter's egregious failure to nominate candidates for last year's local government elections. The takeover has always been opposed by the moderate faction, seen as a naked power grab by their rivals on the right. The last thing Ley needs as she firms up her leadership is Abbott shouting from the sidelines about a factional brawl irrelevant to most Australians. And the last thing the Liberal Party on the whole needs is a failed former leader exerting influence over its inner workings. There's nothing new about former PMs making unwanted intrusions into their parties' affairs. Howard and Keating you can understand; love or loathe them, they made names for themselves in office and earned their place as historical artefacts. But Abbott? As PM, he was such a disaster, even his own faction helped turf him out. There was his calamitous first budget, which broke a slew of election promises. His captain's calls, including reinstating knighthoods and bestowing one on Prince Philip. His climate denial. He wasn't helped by his gaffes, from eating unpeeled onions to winking while talking to a sex worker on radio or the 30 opinion polls which showed he and his government were on the nose. In two short years, he'd turned a landslide into a mudslide. It's been downhill for the Coalition ever since. So his lingering sway over the party is inexplicable. And his meddling - including his role in the defection from the Nationals of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price - will do nothing but destabilise the Liberals, already at rock bottom. Ley would do well to learn some lessons from Labor, which fends off deftly Keating's occasional explosive barbs. It still shows great fondness to its former PM but his influence over how the party functions is negligible. If the Liberal leader can demonstrate she's immune to Abbott's sidelines hectoring, she can only go up in the public's estimation. Right faction Liberals would also benefit from distancing themselves from Abbott. They don't need his intrusion when they have much more contemporary talent in their ranks, Andrew Hastie and James Paterson included. You know, people with some understanding of the 21st century. As for Abbott, a full cycle of Polliegone might help him realise that winning factions is less important than winning government. And that continuing to exert influence over the Liberal Party will do nothing for its credibility or his own. Reality and self-awareness can cure tone deafness. HAVE YOUR SAY: Should Tony Abbott stop meddling in Liberal Party affairs? Is his lingering influence over the party surprising given his failure as a PM? Do you have more respect for former prime ministers who ride off into the sunset, keeping their opinions to themselves, than those who keep themselves in the public eye? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Spooked consumers slashed retail spending after Donald Trump's tariffs sent a shudder through markets. Turnover fell 0.1 per cent in April after rising 0.3 per cent the month prior, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported. - The chemical conglomerate behind Post-it notes and Scotch-Brite has been handed a yellow card over "significant contamination" from historic toxic chemicals found in a Blue Mountains quarry it leased. - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is being urged by the opposition to visit Israel as Australia strengthens its language against the Middle Eastern nation for blocking aid into Gaza. THEY SAID IT: "Justice means minding one's own business and not meddling with other men's concerns." - Plato YOU SAID IT: Billionaires' money would be better spent fixing problems on Earth, wrote Garry, rather than indulging fantasies about colonising Mars. "Thank you, Garry, for giving voice to my internal dialogue," writes Margaret. "Humans evolved on Earth, with Earth, along with the other life forms. Why in the heck would we want to be transplanted into an alien environment with no animals, no vegetation, no breathable air, where existence is a perpetual struggle? We have to cling onto the last chances we have here and try to salvage what we can or else we go under as a species and take a bunch of other species with us. Making and/or possessing large amounts of money and the power that comes along with it, seems to come at a price - debit on the common sense, rationality and humanity side of the ledger. "We can learn an enormous amount from exploring space, but we don't need to live in impossible conditions to do it," writes Sue. "I would have put Musk's fantasy in the mid-life crisis category but I think I prefer your Peter Pan syndrome diagnosis. What is it with billionaires? With all that money, why can't they do constructive things like create jobs, fund health and wellbeing programs in areas of need - that would probably give them tax breaks as well - lead the way by developing renewable energy technology, buying land and creating programs to revitalise the populations of endangered species? Those would give them the fame they seem to need and do everyone some good as well." Chris writes: "I reckon that it's a great idea about Musk, Bezos and the whole gang heading off to Mars. The sooner the better. It would be even better if they also took along Donald Trump and his entire wrecking gang plus all the members of the US Congress and Senate as well. That way, we could clean out the whole shebang and start again. What about including Benjamin Netanyahu as well? Also, shove in Putin and maybe Xi Jinping, the North Korean El Supremo and their government leadership and all the Hamas gang. It'll have to be a pretty big rocket to take all these jokers but, boy, wouldn't it be worth it to see them all blast off and never come back?" "Garry, you leave little for me to say; you have covered the subject well," writes Maggie. "So I'll just add that moving a few (dozen? hundred?) people to Mars does nothing for the billions left behind. I hope that Musk gets to Mars soon. And stays there." Anita writes: "A wonderful argument against Mars' colonisation, Garry. Because we've been wrong before in underestimating the potential of exploration, most assume we're wrong again. They think Mars is another 'New World' like the Americas or Australasia. This is not so. Human beings are adaptable omnivores, but we still have a limited number of options regarding habitat. It has to be 'Earth-like', so they think terraforming will solve it, but it won't. The radiation could kill us en route! We have to spend the funds available on viable projects to remediate our environment. Aiming for human settlement of Mars is pie-in-the-sky, wishful folly." "It is everyone's responsibility to get one's priorities right," writes Arthur. "Wisdom is required to get priorities right. Unfortunately being wealthy does not equate to being wise. Musk, Bezos and Trump demonstrate that to be true. The poorest people have to decide between eating or spending their sparse resources on luxuries. They make a wise choice to eat. The wisdom of their choice is immediately obvious. The wealthy can decide to buy half a dozen motorcars which are of no use to them but the stupidity of their decision is not obvious, nor is the morality or lack of it clear. Some billionaires, the wiser ones, spend large sums on charity but they are in a minority." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to "Stubborn stains on your shirtfront? Gravy on your favourite blue tie? Spots that shouldn't be there on your leopard print? You want to look fresh and new but everything comes out of the wash the same old grey? "Try Polliegone, our new wonder product. Its active ingredients, Reality and Self-Awareness, work to clean up and brighten the dirtiest laundry. It removes the grime you never thought you'd shift. Add a cup and a half to your next load and we promise you won't believe the difference!" If only it were that simple. As the Liberal Party learns once again, some stains persist no matter what you throw at them. Tony Abbott is one of them, along with his sidekick Peta Credlin. No amount of scrubbing seems to get rid of them. Not being turfed out of the prime ministership by his own party after only two years in the top job. Not losing his own seat. And for both of them, not a decade of being largely ignored as a pair of fringe right-wing commentators. Since the May 3 election loss, Abbott and Credlin have been back in the trenches, waging war. Not against Labor, as you'd expect, but against their own party and its new leader Sussan Ley and the moderate faction that prevailed in narrowly electing her to the top job. Abbott is demanding Ley proceed with her predecessor Peter Dutton's federal takeover of the NSW division of the party, prompted by the latter's egregious failure to nominate candidates for last year's local government elections. The takeover has always been opposed by the moderate faction, seen as a naked power grab by their rivals on the right. The last thing Ley needs as she firms up her leadership is Abbott shouting from the sidelines about a factional brawl irrelevant to most Australians. And the last thing the Liberal Party on the whole needs is a failed former leader exerting influence over its inner workings. There's nothing new about former PMs making unwanted intrusions into their parties' affairs. Howard and Keating you can understand; love or loathe them, they made names for themselves in office and earned their place as historical artefacts. But Abbott? As PM, he was such a disaster, even his own faction helped turf him out. There was his calamitous first budget, which broke a slew of election promises. His captain's calls, including reinstating knighthoods and bestowing one on Prince Philip. His climate denial. He wasn't helped by his gaffes, from eating unpeeled onions to winking while talking to a sex worker on radio or the 30 opinion polls which showed he and his government were on the nose. In two short years, he'd turned a landslide into a mudslide. It's been downhill for the Coalition ever since. So his lingering sway over the party is inexplicable. And his meddling - including his role in the defection from the Nationals of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price - will do nothing but destabilise the Liberals, already at rock bottom. Ley would do well to learn some lessons from Labor, which fends off deftly Keating's occasional explosive barbs. It still shows great fondness to its former PM but his influence over how the party functions is negligible. If the Liberal leader can demonstrate she's immune to Abbott's sidelines hectoring, she can only go up in the public's estimation. Right faction Liberals would also benefit from distancing themselves from Abbott. They don't need his intrusion when they have much more contemporary talent in their ranks, Andrew Hastie and James Paterson included. You know, people with some understanding of the 21st century. As for Abbott, a full cycle of Polliegone might help him realise that winning factions is less important than winning government. And that continuing to exert influence over the Liberal Party will do nothing for its credibility or his own. Reality and self-awareness can cure tone deafness. HAVE YOUR SAY: Should Tony Abbott stop meddling in Liberal Party affairs? Is his lingering influence over the party surprising given his failure as a PM? Do you have more respect for former prime ministers who ride off into the sunset, keeping their opinions to themselves, than those who keep themselves in the public eye? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Spooked consumers slashed retail spending after Donald Trump's tariffs sent a shudder through markets. Turnover fell 0.1 per cent in April after rising 0.3 per cent the month prior, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported. - The chemical conglomerate behind Post-it notes and Scotch-Brite has been handed a yellow card over "significant contamination" from historic toxic chemicals found in a Blue Mountains quarry it leased. - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is being urged by the opposition to visit Israel as Australia strengthens its language against the Middle Eastern nation for blocking aid into Gaza. THEY SAID IT: "Justice means minding one's own business and not meddling with other men's concerns." - Plato YOU SAID IT: Billionaires' money would be better spent fixing problems on Earth, wrote Garry, rather than indulging fantasies about colonising Mars. "Thank you, Garry, for giving voice to my internal dialogue," writes Margaret. "Humans evolved on Earth, with Earth, along with the other life forms. Why in the heck would we want to be transplanted into an alien environment with no animals, no vegetation, no breathable air, where existence is a perpetual struggle? We have to cling onto the last chances we have here and try to salvage what we can or else we go under as a species and take a bunch of other species with us. Making and/or possessing large amounts of money and the power that comes along with it, seems to come at a price - debit on the common sense, rationality and humanity side of the ledger. "We can learn an enormous amount from exploring space, but we don't need to live in impossible conditions to do it," writes Sue. "I would have put Musk's fantasy in the mid-life crisis category but I think I prefer your Peter Pan syndrome diagnosis. What is it with billionaires? With all that money, why can't they do constructive things like create jobs, fund health and wellbeing programs in areas of need - that would probably give them tax breaks as well - lead the way by developing renewable energy technology, buying land and creating programs to revitalise the populations of endangered species? Those would give them the fame they seem to need and do everyone some good as well." Chris writes: "I reckon that it's a great idea about Musk, Bezos and the whole gang heading off to Mars. The sooner the better. It would be even better if they also took along Donald Trump and his entire wrecking gang plus all the members of the US Congress and Senate as well. That way, we could clean out the whole shebang and start again. What about including Benjamin Netanyahu as well? Also, shove in Putin and maybe Xi Jinping, the North Korean El Supremo and their government leadership and all the Hamas gang. It'll have to be a pretty big rocket to take all these jokers but, boy, wouldn't it be worth it to see them all blast off and never come back?" "Garry, you leave little for me to say; you have covered the subject well," writes Maggie. "So I'll just add that moving a few (dozen? hundred?) people to Mars does nothing for the billions left behind. I hope that Musk gets to Mars soon. And stays there." Anita writes: "A wonderful argument against Mars' colonisation, Garry. Because we've been wrong before in underestimating the potential of exploration, most assume we're wrong again. They think Mars is another 'New World' like the Americas or Australasia. This is not so. Human beings are adaptable omnivores, but we still have a limited number of options regarding habitat. It has to be 'Earth-like', so they think terraforming will solve it, but it won't. The radiation could kill us en route! We have to spend the funds available on viable projects to remediate our environment. Aiming for human settlement of Mars is pie-in-the-sky, wishful folly." "It is everyone's responsibility to get one's priorities right," writes Arthur. "Wisdom is required to get priorities right. Unfortunately being wealthy does not equate to being wise. Musk, Bezos and Trump demonstrate that to be true. The poorest people have to decide between eating or spending their sparse resources on luxuries. They make a wise choice to eat. The wisdom of their choice is immediately obvious. The wealthy can decide to buy half a dozen motorcars which are of no use to them but the stupidity of their decision is not obvious, nor is the morality or lack of it clear. Some billionaires, the wiser ones, spend large sums on charity but they are in a minority." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to "Stubborn stains on your shirtfront? Gravy on your favourite blue tie? Spots that shouldn't be there on your leopard print? You want to look fresh and new but everything comes out of the wash the same old grey? "Try Polliegone, our new wonder product. Its active ingredients, Reality and Self-Awareness, work to clean up and brighten the dirtiest laundry. It removes the grime you never thought you'd shift. Add a cup and a half to your next load and we promise you won't believe the difference!" If only it were that simple. As the Liberal Party learns once again, some stains persist no matter what you throw at them. Tony Abbott is one of them, along with his sidekick Peta Credlin. No amount of scrubbing seems to get rid of them. Not being turfed out of the prime ministership by his own party after only two years in the top job. Not losing his own seat. And for both of them, not a decade of being largely ignored as a pair of fringe right-wing commentators. Since the May 3 election loss, Abbott and Credlin have been back in the trenches, waging war. Not against Labor, as you'd expect, but against their own party and its new leader Sussan Ley and the moderate faction that prevailed in narrowly electing her to the top job. Abbott is demanding Ley proceed with her predecessor Peter Dutton's federal takeover of the NSW division of the party, prompted by the latter's egregious failure to nominate candidates for last year's local government elections. The takeover has always been opposed by the moderate faction, seen as a naked power grab by their rivals on the right. The last thing Ley needs as she firms up her leadership is Abbott shouting from the sidelines about a factional brawl irrelevant to most Australians. And the last thing the Liberal Party on the whole needs is a failed former leader exerting influence over its inner workings. There's nothing new about former PMs making unwanted intrusions into their parties' affairs. Howard and Keating you can understand; love or loathe them, they made names for themselves in office and earned their place as historical artefacts. But Abbott? As PM, he was such a disaster, even his own faction helped turf him out. There was his calamitous first budget, which broke a slew of election promises. His captain's calls, including reinstating knighthoods and bestowing one on Prince Philip. His climate denial. He wasn't helped by his gaffes, from eating unpeeled onions to winking while talking to a sex worker on radio or the 30 opinion polls which showed he and his government were on the nose. In two short years, he'd turned a landslide into a mudslide. It's been downhill for the Coalition ever since. So his lingering sway over the party is inexplicable. And his meddling - including his role in the defection from the Nationals of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price - will do nothing but destabilise the Liberals, already at rock bottom. Ley would do well to learn some lessons from Labor, which fends off deftly Keating's occasional explosive barbs. It still shows great fondness to its former PM but his influence over how the party functions is negligible. If the Liberal leader can demonstrate she's immune to Abbott's sidelines hectoring, she can only go up in the public's estimation. Right faction Liberals would also benefit from distancing themselves from Abbott. They don't need his intrusion when they have much more contemporary talent in their ranks, Andrew Hastie and James Paterson included. You know, people with some understanding of the 21st century. As for Abbott, a full cycle of Polliegone might help him realise that winning factions is less important than winning government. And that continuing to exert influence over the Liberal Party will do nothing for its credibility or his own. Reality and self-awareness can cure tone deafness. HAVE YOUR SAY: Should Tony Abbott stop meddling in Liberal Party affairs? Is his lingering influence over the party surprising given his failure as a PM? Do you have more respect for former prime ministers who ride off into the sunset, keeping their opinions to themselves, than those who keep themselves in the public eye? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Spooked consumers slashed retail spending after Donald Trump's tariffs sent a shudder through markets. Turnover fell 0.1 per cent in April after rising 0.3 per cent the month prior, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported. - The chemical conglomerate behind Post-it notes and Scotch-Brite has been handed a yellow card over "significant contamination" from historic toxic chemicals found in a Blue Mountains quarry it leased. - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is being urged by the opposition to visit Israel as Australia strengthens its language against the Middle Eastern nation for blocking aid into Gaza. THEY SAID IT: "Justice means minding one's own business and not meddling with other men's concerns." - Plato YOU SAID IT: Billionaires' money would be better spent fixing problems on Earth, wrote Garry, rather than indulging fantasies about colonising Mars. "Thank you, Garry, for giving voice to my internal dialogue," writes Margaret. "Humans evolved on Earth, with Earth, along with the other life forms. Why in the heck would we want to be transplanted into an alien environment with no animals, no vegetation, no breathable air, where existence is a perpetual struggle? We have to cling onto the last chances we have here and try to salvage what we can or else we go under as a species and take a bunch of other species with us. Making and/or possessing large amounts of money and the power that comes along with it, seems to come at a price - debit on the common sense, rationality and humanity side of the ledger. "We can learn an enormous amount from exploring space, but we don't need to live in impossible conditions to do it," writes Sue. "I would have put Musk's fantasy in the mid-life crisis category but I think I prefer your Peter Pan syndrome diagnosis. What is it with billionaires? With all that money, why can't they do constructive things like create jobs, fund health and wellbeing programs in areas of need - that would probably give them tax breaks as well - lead the way by developing renewable energy technology, buying land and creating programs to revitalise the populations of endangered species? Those would give them the fame they seem to need and do everyone some good as well." Chris writes: "I reckon that it's a great idea about Musk, Bezos and the whole gang heading off to Mars. The sooner the better. It would be even better if they also took along Donald Trump and his entire wrecking gang plus all the members of the US Congress and Senate as well. That way, we could clean out the whole shebang and start again. What about including Benjamin Netanyahu as well? Also, shove in Putin and maybe Xi Jinping, the North Korean El Supremo and their government leadership and all the Hamas gang. It'll have to be a pretty big rocket to take all these jokers but, boy, wouldn't it be worth it to see them all blast off and never come back?" "Garry, you leave little for me to say; you have covered the subject well," writes Maggie. "So I'll just add that moving a few (dozen? hundred?) people to Mars does nothing for the billions left behind. I hope that Musk gets to Mars soon. And stays there." Anita writes: "A wonderful argument against Mars' colonisation, Garry. Because we've been wrong before in underestimating the potential of exploration, most assume we're wrong again. They think Mars is another 'New World' like the Americas or Australasia. This is not so. Human beings are adaptable omnivores, but we still have a limited number of options regarding habitat. It has to be 'Earth-like', so they think terraforming will solve it, but it won't. The radiation could kill us en route! We have to spend the funds available on viable projects to remediate our environment. Aiming for human settlement of Mars is pie-in-the-sky, wishful folly." "It is everyone's responsibility to get one's priorities right," writes Arthur. "Wisdom is required to get priorities right. Unfortunately being wealthy does not equate to being wise. Musk, Bezos and Trump demonstrate that to be true. The poorest people have to decide between eating or spending their sparse resources on luxuries. They make a wise choice to eat. The wisdom of their choice is immediately obvious. The wealthy can decide to buy half a dozen motorcars which are of no use to them but the stupidity of their decision is not obvious, nor is the morality or lack of it clear. Some billionaires, the wiser ones, spend large sums on charity but they are in a minority." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to "Stubborn stains on your shirtfront? Gravy on your favourite blue tie? Spots that shouldn't be there on your leopard print? You want to look fresh and new but everything comes out of the wash the same old grey? "Try Polliegone, our new wonder product. Its active ingredients, Reality and Self-Awareness, work to clean up and brighten the dirtiest laundry. It removes the grime you never thought you'd shift. Add a cup and a half to your next load and we promise you won't believe the difference!" If only it were that simple. As the Liberal Party learns once again, some stains persist no matter what you throw at them. Tony Abbott is one of them, along with his sidekick Peta Credlin. No amount of scrubbing seems to get rid of them. Not being turfed out of the prime ministership by his own party after only two years in the top job. Not losing his own seat. And for both of them, not a decade of being largely ignored as a pair of fringe right-wing commentators. Since the May 3 election loss, Abbott and Credlin have been back in the trenches, waging war. Not against Labor, as you'd expect, but against their own party and its new leader Sussan Ley and the moderate faction that prevailed in narrowly electing her to the top job. Abbott is demanding Ley proceed with her predecessor Peter Dutton's federal takeover of the NSW division of the party, prompted by the latter's egregious failure to nominate candidates for last year's local government elections. The takeover has always been opposed by the moderate faction, seen as a naked power grab by their rivals on the right. The last thing Ley needs as she firms up her leadership is Abbott shouting from the sidelines about a factional brawl irrelevant to most Australians. And the last thing the Liberal Party on the whole needs is a failed former leader exerting influence over its inner workings. There's nothing new about former PMs making unwanted intrusions into their parties' affairs. Howard and Keating you can understand; love or loathe them, they made names for themselves in office and earned their place as historical artefacts. But Abbott? As PM, he was such a disaster, even his own faction helped turf him out. There was his calamitous first budget, which broke a slew of election promises. His captain's calls, including reinstating knighthoods and bestowing one on Prince Philip. His climate denial. He wasn't helped by his gaffes, from eating unpeeled onions to winking while talking to a sex worker on radio or the 30 opinion polls which showed he and his government were on the nose. In two short years, he'd turned a landslide into a mudslide. It's been downhill for the Coalition ever since. So his lingering sway over the party is inexplicable. And his meddling - including his role in the defection from the Nationals of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price - will do nothing but destabilise the Liberals, already at rock bottom. Ley would do well to learn some lessons from Labor, which fends off deftly Keating's occasional explosive barbs. It still shows great fondness to its former PM but his influence over how the party functions is negligible. If the Liberal leader can demonstrate she's immune to Abbott's sidelines hectoring, she can only go up in the public's estimation. Right faction Liberals would also benefit from distancing themselves from Abbott. They don't need his intrusion when they have much more contemporary talent in their ranks, Andrew Hastie and James Paterson included. You know, people with some understanding of the 21st century. As for Abbott, a full cycle of Polliegone might help him realise that winning factions is less important than winning government. And that continuing to exert influence over the Liberal Party will do nothing for its credibility or his own. Reality and self-awareness can cure tone deafness. HAVE YOUR SAY: Should Tony Abbott stop meddling in Liberal Party affairs? Is his lingering influence over the party surprising given his failure as a PM? Do you have more respect for former prime ministers who ride off into the sunset, keeping their opinions to themselves, than those who keep themselves in the public eye? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Spooked consumers slashed retail spending after Donald Trump's tariffs sent a shudder through markets. Turnover fell 0.1 per cent in April after rising 0.3 per cent the month prior, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported. - The chemical conglomerate behind Post-it notes and Scotch-Brite has been handed a yellow card over "significant contamination" from historic toxic chemicals found in a Blue Mountains quarry it leased. - Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is being urged by the opposition to visit Israel as Australia strengthens its language against the Middle Eastern nation for blocking aid into Gaza. THEY SAID IT: "Justice means minding one's own business and not meddling with other men's concerns." - Plato YOU SAID IT: Billionaires' money would be better spent fixing problems on Earth, wrote Garry, rather than indulging fantasies about colonising Mars. "Thank you, Garry, for giving voice to my internal dialogue," writes Margaret. "Humans evolved on Earth, with Earth, along with the other life forms. Why in the heck would we want to be transplanted into an alien environment with no animals, no vegetation, no breathable air, where existence is a perpetual struggle? We have to cling onto the last chances we have here and try to salvage what we can or else we go under as a species and take a bunch of other species with us. Making and/or possessing large amounts of money and the power that comes along with it, seems to come at a price - debit on the common sense, rationality and humanity side of the ledger. "We can learn an enormous amount from exploring space, but we don't need to live in impossible conditions to do it," writes Sue. "I would have put Musk's fantasy in the mid-life crisis category but I think I prefer your Peter Pan syndrome diagnosis. What is it with billionaires? With all that money, why can't they do constructive things like create jobs, fund health and wellbeing programs in areas of need - that would probably give them tax breaks as well - lead the way by developing renewable energy technology, buying land and creating programs to revitalise the populations of endangered species? Those would give them the fame they seem to need and do everyone some good as well." Chris writes: "I reckon that it's a great idea about Musk, Bezos and the whole gang heading off to Mars. The sooner the better. It would be even better if they also took along Donald Trump and his entire wrecking gang plus all the members of the US Congress and Senate as well. That way, we could clean out the whole shebang and start again. What about including Benjamin Netanyahu as well? Also, shove in Putin and maybe Xi Jinping, the North Korean El Supremo and their government leadership and all the Hamas gang. It'll have to be a pretty big rocket to take all these jokers but, boy, wouldn't it be worth it to see them all blast off and never come back?" "Garry, you leave little for me to say; you have covered the subject well," writes Maggie. "So I'll just add that moving a few (dozen? hundred?) people to Mars does nothing for the billions left behind. I hope that Musk gets to Mars soon. And stays there." Anita writes: "A wonderful argument against Mars' colonisation, Garry. Because we've been wrong before in underestimating the potential of exploration, most assume we're wrong again. They think Mars is another 'New World' like the Americas or Australasia. This is not so. Human beings are adaptable omnivores, but we still have a limited number of options regarding habitat. It has to be 'Earth-like', so they think terraforming will solve it, but it won't. The radiation could kill us en route! We have to spend the funds available on viable projects to remediate our environment. Aiming for human settlement of Mars is pie-in-the-sky, wishful folly." "It is everyone's responsibility to get one's priorities right," writes Arthur. "Wisdom is required to get priorities right. Unfortunately being wealthy does not equate to being wise. Musk, Bezos and Trump demonstrate that to be true. The poorest people have to decide between eating or spending their sparse resources on luxuries. They make a wise choice to eat. The wisdom of their choice is immediately obvious. The wealthy can decide to buy half a dozen motorcars which are of no use to them but the stupidity of their decision is not obvious, nor is the morality or lack of it clear. Some billionaires, the wiser ones, spend large sums on charity but they are in a minority."
The Advertiser
5 days ago
- General
- The Advertiser
Forget manifest destiny, Musk's Mars fantasy is manifest vanity
This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Man turns 50. Buys red sports car. Leaves wife for girlfriend half his age. Mid-30s man-child. Lives with parents. Refuses to move out. Plays video games all night. Relies on mother for laundry and meals. Chances are you know someone who has Peter Pan syndrome, a condition that afflicts men more than women. Symptoms include stubbornly clinging to adolescent fantasies, avoidance of responsibility and a refusal to act emotionally or be socially mature. There's also another striking example of this sad syndrome: billionaires with booster rockets. The world's wealthiest individual, Elon Musk, regularly preaches about humanity's urgent need to colonise Mars. By becoming an interplanetary species, he insists, we can escape an Earth doomed by climate change, the prospect of nuclear armageddon, rogue artificial intelligence and the eventual death of the sun that will reduce our world to a cinder in, oh, a few billion years' time. We hear much the same from Amazon czar Jeff Bezos, who envisions trillions of us living in self-contained space stations, a form of insurance against mankind's childlike destructive impulses on Earth. Stirring stuff these dreams, rich with Hollywood romance and bravado. They're also fallacies, rooted not in science but escapism; seductive visions allowing the ultra-wealthy to portray themselves as saviours while diverting attention and funding from the crises facing us on Earth. Climate change. Biodiversity collapse. Water scarcity. Inequality and wealth disparity. We know the threats. We know what causes them. We have the tools to address them. We only lack the leadership, investment and collective will. If Musk and Bezos are so desperate for their place in history, their fortunes and influence could revolutionise energy consumption and mitigate poverty, illness and environmental destruction, transitioning the world to a more sustainable path. Instead, they pursue vanity projects, burning through emissions with every launch while promising eventual salvation from a world destined to burn light years into the future. It's the ultimate abdication of responsibility, encouraging a mindset that Earth is disposable and that we can continue trashing our planet because there's another waiting for us. A test flight of Musk's much-mooted Starship failed again this week, underlining the extreme engineering challenges now making his prediction of landing people on Mars before the end of this decade more unlikely. But another more brutal reality undermines Musk's claims. Mars is not a backup Earth. Its surface is an airless, freezing, irradiated desert more hostile to life than Mt Everest's summit or the depths of the Mariana Trench. It is blasted by radiation thousands of times more lethal than what we experience on Earth. Its soil is contaminated by perchlorates - toxic, cancer-causing chemical compounds highly dangerous to the human thyroid. Its gravity is only 38 per cent of Earth's, guaranteeing long-term health impacts on the human body. Every drop of water, every mouthful of food, every breath of air would have to be manufactured or imported. Colonists would be forced underground or live in domes still vulnerable to radiation. Cost estimates for such a project begin in the trillions. This is not starting over again. It's about grim survival; tenuous, laborious and entirely dependent on supply ships always six to nine months away carrying cargo costing astronomical amounts to lift into orbit. The zealots sharing Musk's comic book Martian fantasies include his one-time paramour, Donald Trump, who absurdly announced this year that putting humans on Mars was America's "manifest destiny" - a popular 19th century phrase that invoked the divine right of the US to seize all territory in its expansion into the western frontier. But humanity has already been to Mars, courtesy of low-cost orbiters and robotic vehicles. Given the limitations of our vulnerable bodies, surely that is the reality of future space exploration. While the bromance between Musk and Trump might be over, the President's recent slashing of NASA's budget is likely to award the South African-born billionaire's company SpaceX billions in new contracts, further fuelling his adolescent ambitions. Manifest destiny? Refusing to confront our current crises feels more like moral cowardice. Being bold, curious and willing to explore the unknown made us who we are today. Dreaming of going to Mars might be human. But isn't investing in our own planet at this critical time more humane? Surely the future should not be about who gets to escape our burning world, but who is prepared to stay behind to put out the flames. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is it imperative that the human race colonises space? Should we devote our resources to fixing Earth's problems? Do the ultra-wealthy like Musk and Bezos have a moral obligation to use their fortunes to help others, or the right to pursue their own interests? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Entertainer Magda Szubanski is battling stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma, a rare and fast-moving blood cancer. Szubanski said the cancer was picked up during a routine breast screening, but admitted she had been feeling "rats---" for some time. - Elon Musk is leaving his US government role as a top adviser to President Donald Trump after spearheading efforts to reduce and overhaul the federal bureaucracy. - A recruitment firm has found that most Australians in its survey believe employers rarely or never hire people near or past the age of retirement and those over 65 years of age are generally excluded from employment. THEY SAID IT: "I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact." - Elon Musk YOU SAID IT: Lamenting the effects of climate change one day, approving the extension of a giant fossil fuel project the next, the government's hypocrisy hides in plain sight, John wrote. (Apologies for the wrong questions being included. A gremlin snuck into the burrow.) Bob writes: "We just saved two billion tonnes of Co2 by not going nuclear with the Coalition only to be saddled with four billion tonnes with the North West Shelf by Labor. Let's hope economics will change this idiocy, we can't rely on any government." "It is an unbelievably criminal decision," writes Christopher. "Why, oh why do we have to put a number against every candidate on the ballot paper for the House of Reps. We should only need to number those candidates we could tolerate, and then neither of the grosser parties would get a number from me. A true preferential system." Murray writes: "I'm the man on the corner with the sign bearing bad news. The sign says, 'You cannot change the climate with taxation.' There is a theory that if we pay lots more tax it will somehow halt the current trend of climate change. Not being an elite and in on the secret I have no idea how that's supposed to work. Maybe there's an altar at Davos where they burn money as a sacrifice to the climate gods. Who knows? On Tuesday I had to hose the mud off my car after the dust storm and a shower of rain. Maybe the climate gods were telling me something. I don't think so, I just enjoy the warm weather before we start heading back to the next ice age, heathen that I am." "I wholeheartedly agree, John," writes Sue. "I can see some point to extending leases for another five years so that alternatives can be put in place for Australian power needs, but only just. That should have already been done, or at least be under way, but this is a form of hypocrisy that is more typical of the Conglomerate Party (I am thinking of the 'Let's get rid of public servants to save on salaries but secretly hire lots of consultants at greater cost to do the same job') style of policy making. Albo may be a quiet achiever, but there are times when he really needs to make a stand and perhaps to make a noise about it as well. Saying one thing and doing another is not acceptable." Wayne writes: "I say 'right on, John'. Keep up the pointy stuff." "I was shocked when the new Albanese government approved the extension of the gas fields off WA coast," writes Sue K. "It must have been a political trade-off to do with the recent election. WA is dependent on its fossil fuel and mining revenue and Albanese needed WA's support in the election." Peter writes: "The Prime Minister's justifiable lamentation over the impact of the climate crisis, only to be followed immediately by approving a massive polluting, climate-destroying project, represents breathtaking hypocrisy and stupidity. That shortsightedness is why I didn't vote Labor on May 3, for the first time in 50 years. And yet Albanese was returned. With governments this dumb and dishonest, we are doomed." "Thank you, Echidna, for drawing attention to the problems farmers face all the time," writes Arthur. "There is hypocrisy all round. Country people do not want wind farms, solar farms and high voltage electricity lines in their backyard but it seems OK to have a gas producing farm in the north west shelf which is not in the backyard of the people living in Perth. Just imagine the furore if wind turbines were erected in Sydney Harbour or Lake Burley Griffin. Likewise, if South Head in Sydney was covered with solar panels. The Nationals are right to support nuclear energy. Lift the moratorium on nuclear energy in Australia so our scientists can develop modern technology to replace outdated technology currently in use in nuclear power stations. Small modular nuclear stations which are the size of a shipping container may be the way to go. If mass-produced, the cost would be low. Hypocrisy is not confined to just politicians but to all of us. We have to wean ourselves off all fossil fuels. The sooner the better. A few blackouts might be necessary before the message gets through to city people just the way drought and floods are getting the message to farmers." Mark writes: "You have to wonder how much money was left on the table for Labor to have done an about-face on the climate and approved the extension to gas exports from WA. Oh well, those who voted for the Labor Party on their (supposed) commitment on climate have got what they deserved. You mention floods. My question is why was there so much development on the floodplains in Lismore? If I am not mistaken, the local council would have got all the money from development approvals, and allowed this to happen, yet cried poor when it did happen; and then asked us to pay. Another example of hypocrisy. Just to be clear - I am not against governments stumping up with our money to support the SES, rural firies and the like, or paying to support farmers for natural disasters, but I am against short-sighted decisions." "I used to work in WA and was always impressed with their gas reservation policy for local requirements, and their gas royalties," writes Mike. "Their turnaround on these (actually the federal government decision) is deplorable. One of the WA universities has researched and developed a process called HAZAR, using raw natural gas and iron ore (both in abundance in WA) which are converted to pure hydrogen and pure carbon. These are both non-polluting and are in demand, and have a lot of overseas interest. Why aren't the relevant governments backing this?" Ken writes: "Your newsletter highlights once again the absolute perfidy of our politicians. Giving the North West Shelf project extension a gold card is treachery. The sanctimonious claptrap about climate and environment that came from Albanese and co during and following the election is immediately shown to be utterly untrue. Once again we the Australian people have been duped by the mendacity of this government who are firmly in the thrall of their fossil fuel masters." "What happens to the countries that buy the gas if they can't buy it anywhere?" asks Phil. "It will lead to almost certain death to parts of their population. These countries currently rely on gas to power electricity generation. They do not have, nor can they currently afford, nor is it materially possible to transition to greener energy. So, refrigeration, domestic fans, hospitals, lighting, etc will cease in developing countries and people will die as a result. In philosophy, it is known as the trolley dilemma. I don't have an answer to this ethical question other than perhaps we need to fund the transition in the developing world. But this will take 30-50 years. In the meantime, gas production will be necessary." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Man turns 50. Buys red sports car. Leaves wife for girlfriend half his age. Mid-30s man-child. Lives with parents. Refuses to move out. Plays video games all night. Relies on mother for laundry and meals. Chances are you know someone who has Peter Pan syndrome, a condition that afflicts men more than women. Symptoms include stubbornly clinging to adolescent fantasies, avoidance of responsibility and a refusal to act emotionally or be socially mature. There's also another striking example of this sad syndrome: billionaires with booster rockets. The world's wealthiest individual, Elon Musk, regularly preaches about humanity's urgent need to colonise Mars. By becoming an interplanetary species, he insists, we can escape an Earth doomed by climate change, the prospect of nuclear armageddon, rogue artificial intelligence and the eventual death of the sun that will reduce our world to a cinder in, oh, a few billion years' time. We hear much the same from Amazon czar Jeff Bezos, who envisions trillions of us living in self-contained space stations, a form of insurance against mankind's childlike destructive impulses on Earth. Stirring stuff these dreams, rich with Hollywood romance and bravado. They're also fallacies, rooted not in science but escapism; seductive visions allowing the ultra-wealthy to portray themselves as saviours while diverting attention and funding from the crises facing us on Earth. Climate change. Biodiversity collapse. Water scarcity. Inequality and wealth disparity. We know the threats. We know what causes them. We have the tools to address them. We only lack the leadership, investment and collective will. If Musk and Bezos are so desperate for their place in history, their fortunes and influence could revolutionise energy consumption and mitigate poverty, illness and environmental destruction, transitioning the world to a more sustainable path. Instead, they pursue vanity projects, burning through emissions with every launch while promising eventual salvation from a world destined to burn light years into the future. It's the ultimate abdication of responsibility, encouraging a mindset that Earth is disposable and that we can continue trashing our planet because there's another waiting for us. A test flight of Musk's much-mooted Starship failed again this week, underlining the extreme engineering challenges now making his prediction of landing people on Mars before the end of this decade more unlikely. But another more brutal reality undermines Musk's claims. Mars is not a backup Earth. Its surface is an airless, freezing, irradiated desert more hostile to life than Mt Everest's summit or the depths of the Mariana Trench. It is blasted by radiation thousands of times more lethal than what we experience on Earth. Its soil is contaminated by perchlorates - toxic, cancer-causing chemical compounds highly dangerous to the human thyroid. Its gravity is only 38 per cent of Earth's, guaranteeing long-term health impacts on the human body. Every drop of water, every mouthful of food, every breath of air would have to be manufactured or imported. Colonists would be forced underground or live in domes still vulnerable to radiation. Cost estimates for such a project begin in the trillions. This is not starting over again. It's about grim survival; tenuous, laborious and entirely dependent on supply ships always six to nine months away carrying cargo costing astronomical amounts to lift into orbit. The zealots sharing Musk's comic book Martian fantasies include his one-time paramour, Donald Trump, who absurdly announced this year that putting humans on Mars was America's "manifest destiny" - a popular 19th century phrase that invoked the divine right of the US to seize all territory in its expansion into the western frontier. But humanity has already been to Mars, courtesy of low-cost orbiters and robotic vehicles. Given the limitations of our vulnerable bodies, surely that is the reality of future space exploration. While the bromance between Musk and Trump might be over, the President's recent slashing of NASA's budget is likely to award the South African-born billionaire's company SpaceX billions in new contracts, further fuelling his adolescent ambitions. Manifest destiny? Refusing to confront our current crises feels more like moral cowardice. Being bold, curious and willing to explore the unknown made us who we are today. Dreaming of going to Mars might be human. But isn't investing in our own planet at this critical time more humane? Surely the future should not be about who gets to escape our burning world, but who is prepared to stay behind to put out the flames. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is it imperative that the human race colonises space? Should we devote our resources to fixing Earth's problems? Do the ultra-wealthy like Musk and Bezos have a moral obligation to use their fortunes to help others, or the right to pursue their own interests? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Entertainer Magda Szubanski is battling stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma, a rare and fast-moving blood cancer. Szubanski said the cancer was picked up during a routine breast screening, but admitted she had been feeling "rats---" for some time. - Elon Musk is leaving his US government role as a top adviser to President Donald Trump after spearheading efforts to reduce and overhaul the federal bureaucracy. - A recruitment firm has found that most Australians in its survey believe employers rarely or never hire people near or past the age of retirement and those over 65 years of age are generally excluded from employment. THEY SAID IT: "I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact." - Elon Musk YOU SAID IT: Lamenting the effects of climate change one day, approving the extension of a giant fossil fuel project the next, the government's hypocrisy hides in plain sight, John wrote. (Apologies for the wrong questions being included. A gremlin snuck into the burrow.) Bob writes: "We just saved two billion tonnes of Co2 by not going nuclear with the Coalition only to be saddled with four billion tonnes with the North West Shelf by Labor. Let's hope economics will change this idiocy, we can't rely on any government." "It is an unbelievably criminal decision," writes Christopher. "Why, oh why do we have to put a number against every candidate on the ballot paper for the House of Reps. We should only need to number those candidates we could tolerate, and then neither of the grosser parties would get a number from me. A true preferential system." Murray writes: "I'm the man on the corner with the sign bearing bad news. The sign says, 'You cannot change the climate with taxation.' There is a theory that if we pay lots more tax it will somehow halt the current trend of climate change. Not being an elite and in on the secret I have no idea how that's supposed to work. Maybe there's an altar at Davos where they burn money as a sacrifice to the climate gods. Who knows? On Tuesday I had to hose the mud off my car after the dust storm and a shower of rain. Maybe the climate gods were telling me something. I don't think so, I just enjoy the warm weather before we start heading back to the next ice age, heathen that I am." "I wholeheartedly agree, John," writes Sue. "I can see some point to extending leases for another five years so that alternatives can be put in place for Australian power needs, but only just. That should have already been done, or at least be under way, but this is a form of hypocrisy that is more typical of the Conglomerate Party (I am thinking of the 'Let's get rid of public servants to save on salaries but secretly hire lots of consultants at greater cost to do the same job') style of policy making. Albo may be a quiet achiever, but there are times when he really needs to make a stand and perhaps to make a noise about it as well. Saying one thing and doing another is not acceptable." Wayne writes: "I say 'right on, John'. Keep up the pointy stuff." "I was shocked when the new Albanese government approved the extension of the gas fields off WA coast," writes Sue K. "It must have been a political trade-off to do with the recent election. WA is dependent on its fossil fuel and mining revenue and Albanese needed WA's support in the election." Peter writes: "The Prime Minister's justifiable lamentation over the impact of the climate crisis, only to be followed immediately by approving a massive polluting, climate-destroying project, represents breathtaking hypocrisy and stupidity. That shortsightedness is why I didn't vote Labor on May 3, for the first time in 50 years. And yet Albanese was returned. With governments this dumb and dishonest, we are doomed." "Thank you, Echidna, for drawing attention to the problems farmers face all the time," writes Arthur. "There is hypocrisy all round. Country people do not want wind farms, solar farms and high voltage electricity lines in their backyard but it seems OK to have a gas producing farm in the north west shelf which is not in the backyard of the people living in Perth. Just imagine the furore if wind turbines were erected in Sydney Harbour or Lake Burley Griffin. Likewise, if South Head in Sydney was covered with solar panels. The Nationals are right to support nuclear energy. Lift the moratorium on nuclear energy in Australia so our scientists can develop modern technology to replace outdated technology currently in use in nuclear power stations. Small modular nuclear stations which are the size of a shipping container may be the way to go. If mass-produced, the cost would be low. Hypocrisy is not confined to just politicians but to all of us. We have to wean ourselves off all fossil fuels. The sooner the better. A few blackouts might be necessary before the message gets through to city people just the way drought and floods are getting the message to farmers." Mark writes: "You have to wonder how much money was left on the table for Labor to have done an about-face on the climate and approved the extension to gas exports from WA. Oh well, those who voted for the Labor Party on their (supposed) commitment on climate have got what they deserved. You mention floods. My question is why was there so much development on the floodplains in Lismore? If I am not mistaken, the local council would have got all the money from development approvals, and allowed this to happen, yet cried poor when it did happen; and then asked us to pay. Another example of hypocrisy. Just to be clear - I am not against governments stumping up with our money to support the SES, rural firies and the like, or paying to support farmers for natural disasters, but I am against short-sighted decisions." "I used to work in WA and was always impressed with their gas reservation policy for local requirements, and their gas royalties," writes Mike. "Their turnaround on these (actually the federal government decision) is deplorable. One of the WA universities has researched and developed a process called HAZAR, using raw natural gas and iron ore (both in abundance in WA) which are converted to pure hydrogen and pure carbon. These are both non-polluting and are in demand, and have a lot of overseas interest. Why aren't the relevant governments backing this?" Ken writes: "Your newsletter highlights once again the absolute perfidy of our politicians. Giving the North West Shelf project extension a gold card is treachery. The sanctimonious claptrap about climate and environment that came from Albanese and co during and following the election is immediately shown to be utterly untrue. Once again we the Australian people have been duped by the mendacity of this government who are firmly in the thrall of their fossil fuel masters." "What happens to the countries that buy the gas if they can't buy it anywhere?" asks Phil. "It will lead to almost certain death to parts of their population. These countries currently rely on gas to power electricity generation. They do not have, nor can they currently afford, nor is it materially possible to transition to greener energy. So, refrigeration, domestic fans, hospitals, lighting, etc will cease in developing countries and people will die as a result. In philosophy, it is known as the trolley dilemma. I don't have an answer to this ethical question other than perhaps we need to fund the transition in the developing world. But this will take 30-50 years. In the meantime, gas production will be necessary." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Man turns 50. Buys red sports car. Leaves wife for girlfriend half his age. Mid-30s man-child. Lives with parents. Refuses to move out. Plays video games all night. Relies on mother for laundry and meals. Chances are you know someone who has Peter Pan syndrome, a condition that afflicts men more than women. Symptoms include stubbornly clinging to adolescent fantasies, avoidance of responsibility and a refusal to act emotionally or be socially mature. There's also another striking example of this sad syndrome: billionaires with booster rockets. The world's wealthiest individual, Elon Musk, regularly preaches about humanity's urgent need to colonise Mars. By becoming an interplanetary species, he insists, we can escape an Earth doomed by climate change, the prospect of nuclear armageddon, rogue artificial intelligence and the eventual death of the sun that will reduce our world to a cinder in, oh, a few billion years' time. We hear much the same from Amazon czar Jeff Bezos, who envisions trillions of us living in self-contained space stations, a form of insurance against mankind's childlike destructive impulses on Earth. Stirring stuff these dreams, rich with Hollywood romance and bravado. They're also fallacies, rooted not in science but escapism; seductive visions allowing the ultra-wealthy to portray themselves as saviours while diverting attention and funding from the crises facing us on Earth. Climate change. Biodiversity collapse. Water scarcity. Inequality and wealth disparity. We know the threats. We know what causes them. We have the tools to address them. We only lack the leadership, investment and collective will. If Musk and Bezos are so desperate for their place in history, their fortunes and influence could revolutionise energy consumption and mitigate poverty, illness and environmental destruction, transitioning the world to a more sustainable path. Instead, they pursue vanity projects, burning through emissions with every launch while promising eventual salvation from a world destined to burn light years into the future. It's the ultimate abdication of responsibility, encouraging a mindset that Earth is disposable and that we can continue trashing our planet because there's another waiting for us. A test flight of Musk's much-mooted Starship failed again this week, underlining the extreme engineering challenges now making his prediction of landing people on Mars before the end of this decade more unlikely. But another more brutal reality undermines Musk's claims. Mars is not a backup Earth. Its surface is an airless, freezing, irradiated desert more hostile to life than Mt Everest's summit or the depths of the Mariana Trench. It is blasted by radiation thousands of times more lethal than what we experience on Earth. Its soil is contaminated by perchlorates - toxic, cancer-causing chemical compounds highly dangerous to the human thyroid. Its gravity is only 38 per cent of Earth's, guaranteeing long-term health impacts on the human body. Every drop of water, every mouthful of food, every breath of air would have to be manufactured or imported. Colonists would be forced underground or live in domes still vulnerable to radiation. Cost estimates for such a project begin in the trillions. This is not starting over again. It's about grim survival; tenuous, laborious and entirely dependent on supply ships always six to nine months away carrying cargo costing astronomical amounts to lift into orbit. The zealots sharing Musk's comic book Martian fantasies include his one-time paramour, Donald Trump, who absurdly announced this year that putting humans on Mars was America's "manifest destiny" - a popular 19th century phrase that invoked the divine right of the US to seize all territory in its expansion into the western frontier. But humanity has already been to Mars, courtesy of low-cost orbiters and robotic vehicles. Given the limitations of our vulnerable bodies, surely that is the reality of future space exploration. While the bromance between Musk and Trump might be over, the President's recent slashing of NASA's budget is likely to award the South African-born billionaire's company SpaceX billions in new contracts, further fuelling his adolescent ambitions. Manifest destiny? Refusing to confront our current crises feels more like moral cowardice. Being bold, curious and willing to explore the unknown made us who we are today. Dreaming of going to Mars might be human. But isn't investing in our own planet at this critical time more humane? Surely the future should not be about who gets to escape our burning world, but who is prepared to stay behind to put out the flames. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is it imperative that the human race colonises space? Should we devote our resources to fixing Earth's problems? Do the ultra-wealthy like Musk and Bezos have a moral obligation to use their fortunes to help others, or the right to pursue their own interests? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Entertainer Magda Szubanski is battling stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma, a rare and fast-moving blood cancer. Szubanski said the cancer was picked up during a routine breast screening, but admitted she had been feeling "rats---" for some time. - Elon Musk is leaving his US government role as a top adviser to President Donald Trump after spearheading efforts to reduce and overhaul the federal bureaucracy. - A recruitment firm has found that most Australians in its survey believe employers rarely or never hire people near or past the age of retirement and those over 65 years of age are generally excluded from employment. THEY SAID IT: "I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact." - Elon Musk YOU SAID IT: Lamenting the effects of climate change one day, approving the extension of a giant fossil fuel project the next, the government's hypocrisy hides in plain sight, John wrote. (Apologies for the wrong questions being included. A gremlin snuck into the burrow.) Bob writes: "We just saved two billion tonnes of Co2 by not going nuclear with the Coalition only to be saddled with four billion tonnes with the North West Shelf by Labor. Let's hope economics will change this idiocy, we can't rely on any government." "It is an unbelievably criminal decision," writes Christopher. "Why, oh why do we have to put a number against every candidate on the ballot paper for the House of Reps. We should only need to number those candidates we could tolerate, and then neither of the grosser parties would get a number from me. A true preferential system." Murray writes: "I'm the man on the corner with the sign bearing bad news. The sign says, 'You cannot change the climate with taxation.' There is a theory that if we pay lots more tax it will somehow halt the current trend of climate change. Not being an elite and in on the secret I have no idea how that's supposed to work. Maybe there's an altar at Davos where they burn money as a sacrifice to the climate gods. Who knows? On Tuesday I had to hose the mud off my car after the dust storm and a shower of rain. Maybe the climate gods were telling me something. I don't think so, I just enjoy the warm weather before we start heading back to the next ice age, heathen that I am." "I wholeheartedly agree, John," writes Sue. "I can see some point to extending leases for another five years so that alternatives can be put in place for Australian power needs, but only just. That should have already been done, or at least be under way, but this is a form of hypocrisy that is more typical of the Conglomerate Party (I am thinking of the 'Let's get rid of public servants to save on salaries but secretly hire lots of consultants at greater cost to do the same job') style of policy making. Albo may be a quiet achiever, but there are times when he really needs to make a stand and perhaps to make a noise about it as well. Saying one thing and doing another is not acceptable." Wayne writes: "I say 'right on, John'. Keep up the pointy stuff." "I was shocked when the new Albanese government approved the extension of the gas fields off WA coast," writes Sue K. "It must have been a political trade-off to do with the recent election. WA is dependent on its fossil fuel and mining revenue and Albanese needed WA's support in the election." Peter writes: "The Prime Minister's justifiable lamentation over the impact of the climate crisis, only to be followed immediately by approving a massive polluting, climate-destroying project, represents breathtaking hypocrisy and stupidity. That shortsightedness is why I didn't vote Labor on May 3, for the first time in 50 years. And yet Albanese was returned. With governments this dumb and dishonest, we are doomed." "Thank you, Echidna, for drawing attention to the problems farmers face all the time," writes Arthur. "There is hypocrisy all round. Country people do not want wind farms, solar farms and high voltage electricity lines in their backyard but it seems OK to have a gas producing farm in the north west shelf which is not in the backyard of the people living in Perth. Just imagine the furore if wind turbines were erected in Sydney Harbour or Lake Burley Griffin. Likewise, if South Head in Sydney was covered with solar panels. The Nationals are right to support nuclear energy. Lift the moratorium on nuclear energy in Australia so our scientists can develop modern technology to replace outdated technology currently in use in nuclear power stations. Small modular nuclear stations which are the size of a shipping container may be the way to go. If mass-produced, the cost would be low. Hypocrisy is not confined to just politicians but to all of us. We have to wean ourselves off all fossil fuels. The sooner the better. A few blackouts might be necessary before the message gets through to city people just the way drought and floods are getting the message to farmers." Mark writes: "You have to wonder how much money was left on the table for Labor to have done an about-face on the climate and approved the extension to gas exports from WA. Oh well, those who voted for the Labor Party on their (supposed) commitment on climate have got what they deserved. You mention floods. My question is why was there so much development on the floodplains in Lismore? If I am not mistaken, the local council would have got all the money from development approvals, and allowed this to happen, yet cried poor when it did happen; and then asked us to pay. Another example of hypocrisy. Just to be clear - I am not against governments stumping up with our money to support the SES, rural firies and the like, or paying to support farmers for natural disasters, but I am against short-sighted decisions." "I used to work in WA and was always impressed with their gas reservation policy for local requirements, and their gas royalties," writes Mike. "Their turnaround on these (actually the federal government decision) is deplorable. One of the WA universities has researched and developed a process called HAZAR, using raw natural gas and iron ore (both in abundance in WA) which are converted to pure hydrogen and pure carbon. These are both non-polluting and are in demand, and have a lot of overseas interest. Why aren't the relevant governments backing this?" Ken writes: "Your newsletter highlights once again the absolute perfidy of our politicians. Giving the North West Shelf project extension a gold card is treachery. The sanctimonious claptrap about climate and environment that came from Albanese and co during and following the election is immediately shown to be utterly untrue. Once again we the Australian people have been duped by the mendacity of this government who are firmly in the thrall of their fossil fuel masters." "What happens to the countries that buy the gas if they can't buy it anywhere?" asks Phil. "It will lead to almost certain death to parts of their population. These countries currently rely on gas to power electricity generation. They do not have, nor can they currently afford, nor is it materially possible to transition to greener energy. So, refrigeration, domestic fans, hospitals, lighting, etc will cease in developing countries and people will die as a result. In philosophy, it is known as the trolley dilemma. I don't have an answer to this ethical question other than perhaps we need to fund the transition in the developing world. But this will take 30-50 years. In the meantime, gas production will be necessary." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Man turns 50. Buys red sports car. Leaves wife for girlfriend half his age. Mid-30s man-child. Lives with parents. Refuses to move out. Plays video games all night. Relies on mother for laundry and meals. Chances are you know someone who has Peter Pan syndrome, a condition that afflicts men more than women. Symptoms include stubbornly clinging to adolescent fantasies, avoidance of responsibility and a refusal to act emotionally or be socially mature. There's also another striking example of this sad syndrome: billionaires with booster rockets. The world's wealthiest individual, Elon Musk, regularly preaches about humanity's urgent need to colonise Mars. By becoming an interplanetary species, he insists, we can escape an Earth doomed by climate change, the prospect of nuclear armageddon, rogue artificial intelligence and the eventual death of the sun that will reduce our world to a cinder in, oh, a few billion years' time. We hear much the same from Amazon czar Jeff Bezos, who envisions trillions of us living in self-contained space stations, a form of insurance against mankind's childlike destructive impulses on Earth. Stirring stuff these dreams, rich with Hollywood romance and bravado. They're also fallacies, rooted not in science but escapism; seductive visions allowing the ultra-wealthy to portray themselves as saviours while diverting attention and funding from the crises facing us on Earth. Climate change. Biodiversity collapse. Water scarcity. Inequality and wealth disparity. We know the threats. We know what causes them. We have the tools to address them. We only lack the leadership, investment and collective will. If Musk and Bezos are so desperate for their place in history, their fortunes and influence could revolutionise energy consumption and mitigate poverty, illness and environmental destruction, transitioning the world to a more sustainable path. Instead, they pursue vanity projects, burning through emissions with every launch while promising eventual salvation from a world destined to burn light years into the future. It's the ultimate abdication of responsibility, encouraging a mindset that Earth is disposable and that we can continue trashing our planet because there's another waiting for us. A test flight of Musk's much-mooted Starship failed again this week, underlining the extreme engineering challenges now making his prediction of landing people on Mars before the end of this decade more unlikely. But another more brutal reality undermines Musk's claims. Mars is not a backup Earth. Its surface is an airless, freezing, irradiated desert more hostile to life than Mt Everest's summit or the depths of the Mariana Trench. It is blasted by radiation thousands of times more lethal than what we experience on Earth. Its soil is contaminated by perchlorates - toxic, cancer-causing chemical compounds highly dangerous to the human thyroid. Its gravity is only 38 per cent of Earth's, guaranteeing long-term health impacts on the human body. Every drop of water, every mouthful of food, every breath of air would have to be manufactured or imported. Colonists would be forced underground or live in domes still vulnerable to radiation. Cost estimates for such a project begin in the trillions. This is not starting over again. It's about grim survival; tenuous, laborious and entirely dependent on supply ships always six to nine months away carrying cargo costing astronomical amounts to lift into orbit. The zealots sharing Musk's comic book Martian fantasies include his one-time paramour, Donald Trump, who absurdly announced this year that putting humans on Mars was America's "manifest destiny" - a popular 19th century phrase that invoked the divine right of the US to seize all territory in its expansion into the western frontier. But humanity has already been to Mars, courtesy of low-cost orbiters and robotic vehicles. Given the limitations of our vulnerable bodies, surely that is the reality of future space exploration. While the bromance between Musk and Trump might be over, the President's recent slashing of NASA's budget is likely to award the South African-born billionaire's company SpaceX billions in new contracts, further fuelling his adolescent ambitions. Manifest destiny? Refusing to confront our current crises feels more like moral cowardice. Being bold, curious and willing to explore the unknown made us who we are today. Dreaming of going to Mars might be human. But isn't investing in our own planet at this critical time more humane? Surely the future should not be about who gets to escape our burning world, but who is prepared to stay behind to put out the flames. HAVE YOUR SAY: Is it imperative that the human race colonises space? Should we devote our resources to fixing Earth's problems? Do the ultra-wealthy like Musk and Bezos have a moral obligation to use their fortunes to help others, or the right to pursue their own interests? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Entertainer Magda Szubanski is battling stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma, a rare and fast-moving blood cancer. Szubanski said the cancer was picked up during a routine breast screening, but admitted she had been feeling "rats---" for some time. - Elon Musk is leaving his US government role as a top adviser to President Donald Trump after spearheading efforts to reduce and overhaul the federal bureaucracy. - A recruitment firm has found that most Australians in its survey believe employers rarely or never hire people near or past the age of retirement and those over 65 years of age are generally excluded from employment. THEY SAID IT: "I would like to die on Mars. Just not on impact." - Elon Musk YOU SAID IT: Lamenting the effects of climate change one day, approving the extension of a giant fossil fuel project the next, the government's hypocrisy hides in plain sight, John wrote. (Apologies for the wrong questions being included. A gremlin snuck into the burrow.) Bob writes: "We just saved two billion tonnes of Co2 by not going nuclear with the Coalition only to be saddled with four billion tonnes with the North West Shelf by Labor. Let's hope economics will change this idiocy, we can't rely on any government." "It is an unbelievably criminal decision," writes Christopher. "Why, oh why do we have to put a number against every candidate on the ballot paper for the House of Reps. We should only need to number those candidates we could tolerate, and then neither of the grosser parties would get a number from me. A true preferential system." Murray writes: "I'm the man on the corner with the sign bearing bad news. The sign says, 'You cannot change the climate with taxation.' There is a theory that if we pay lots more tax it will somehow halt the current trend of climate change. Not being an elite and in on the secret I have no idea how that's supposed to work. Maybe there's an altar at Davos where they burn money as a sacrifice to the climate gods. Who knows? On Tuesday I had to hose the mud off my car after the dust storm and a shower of rain. Maybe the climate gods were telling me something. I don't think so, I just enjoy the warm weather before we start heading back to the next ice age, heathen that I am." "I wholeheartedly agree, John," writes Sue. "I can see some point to extending leases for another five years so that alternatives can be put in place for Australian power needs, but only just. That should have already been done, or at least be under way, but this is a form of hypocrisy that is more typical of the Conglomerate Party (I am thinking of the 'Let's get rid of public servants to save on salaries but secretly hire lots of consultants at greater cost to do the same job') style of policy making. Albo may be a quiet achiever, but there are times when he really needs to make a stand and perhaps to make a noise about it as well. Saying one thing and doing another is not acceptable." Wayne writes: "I say 'right on, John'. Keep up the pointy stuff." "I was shocked when the new Albanese government approved the extension of the gas fields off WA coast," writes Sue K. "It must have been a political trade-off to do with the recent election. WA is dependent on its fossil fuel and mining revenue and Albanese needed WA's support in the election." Peter writes: "The Prime Minister's justifiable lamentation over the impact of the climate crisis, only to be followed immediately by approving a massive polluting, climate-destroying project, represents breathtaking hypocrisy and stupidity. That shortsightedness is why I didn't vote Labor on May 3, for the first time in 50 years. And yet Albanese was returned. With governments this dumb and dishonest, we are doomed." "Thank you, Echidna, for drawing attention to the problems farmers face all the time," writes Arthur. "There is hypocrisy all round. Country people do not want wind farms, solar farms and high voltage electricity lines in their backyard but it seems OK to have a gas producing farm in the north west shelf which is not in the backyard of the people living in Perth. Just imagine the furore if wind turbines were erected in Sydney Harbour or Lake Burley Griffin. Likewise, if South Head in Sydney was covered with solar panels. The Nationals are right to support nuclear energy. Lift the moratorium on nuclear energy in Australia so our scientists can develop modern technology to replace outdated technology currently in use in nuclear power stations. Small modular nuclear stations which are the size of a shipping container may be the way to go. If mass-produced, the cost would be low. Hypocrisy is not confined to just politicians but to all of us. We have to wean ourselves off all fossil fuels. The sooner the better. A few blackouts might be necessary before the message gets through to city people just the way drought and floods are getting the message to farmers." Mark writes: "You have to wonder how much money was left on the table for Labor to have done an about-face on the climate and approved the extension to gas exports from WA. Oh well, those who voted for the Labor Party on their (supposed) commitment on climate have got what they deserved. You mention floods. My question is why was there so much development on the floodplains in Lismore? If I am not mistaken, the local council would have got all the money from development approvals, and allowed this to happen, yet cried poor when it did happen; and then asked us to pay. Another example of hypocrisy. Just to be clear - I am not against governments stumping up with our money to support the SES, rural firies and the like, or paying to support farmers for natural disasters, but I am against short-sighted decisions." "I used to work in WA and was always impressed with their gas reservation policy for local requirements, and their gas royalties," writes Mike. "Their turnaround on these (actually the federal government decision) is deplorable. One of the WA universities has researched and developed a process called HAZAR, using raw natural gas and iron ore (both in abundance in WA) which are converted to pure hydrogen and pure carbon. These are both non-polluting and are in demand, and have a lot of overseas interest. Why aren't the relevant governments backing this?" Ken writes: "Your newsletter highlights once again the absolute perfidy of our politicians. Giving the North West Shelf project extension a gold card is treachery. The sanctimonious claptrap about climate and environment that came from Albanese and co during and following the election is immediately shown to be utterly untrue. Once again we the Australian people have been duped by the mendacity of this government who are firmly in the thrall of their fossil fuel masters." "What happens to the countries that buy the gas if they can't buy it anywhere?" asks Phil. "It will lead to almost certain death to parts of their population. These countries currently rely on gas to power electricity generation. They do not have, nor can they currently afford, nor is it materially possible to transition to greener energy. So, refrigeration, domestic fans, hospitals, lighting, etc will cease in developing countries and people will die as a result. In philosophy, it is known as the trolley dilemma. I don't have an answer to this ethical question other than perhaps we need to fund the transition in the developing world. But this will take 30-50 years. In the meantime, gas production will be necessary."
The Advertiser
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Floods, drought, dust and climate hypocrisy
This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to The day arrived sickly yellow. Where the escarpment stood there was now just a faint outline. It was hard to breathe and the eyes stung. South Australia's crippling drought had delivered choking dust to the continent's east coast. With the physical discomfort came a reminder of the unfairness. Large tracts of NSW had just been submerged by floods only to be shrouded in dust from a parched place that hadn't seen meaningful rain in months. Offering what comfort he could, the Prime Minister told the country that we'd been warned extreme weather would become more common and more intense with the changing climate. It certainly seems that way. What we knew as one-in-100-year floods recur every few years. Lismore's turn in 2022 becomes Taree's in 2025. The pattern of cold fronts, which usually bring winter rain to South Australia and western parts of Victoria, has changed, with those fronts held at bay by high-pressure systems we normally associate with summer. Those who suffer the worst of the climate's caprice are typically farmers and regional Australians. In one week, we saw dairy farmers in tears for very different reasons. Those who had lost stock to floods and those who could not feed theirs because their pastures had turned to dust thanks to drought. And in the midst of this double-edged sword of suffering, the very people who claim to represent these Australians - the Nationals - are still quibbling over climate. Barnaby Joyce demands to know the cost of the commitment to net zero by 2050 while his party's constituents count the cost of not acting on climate - a last hurrah as he finds himself relegated to the nosebleed seats up the back of a depleted and demoralised opposition alongside the other other former deputy PM Mickmack McCormack. The same old arguments for not acting to reduce emissions are trotted out in the Murdoch press, oblivious to the fact they sent conservative politics into the wilderness for at least two more terms. Doesn't matter what Australia does, it won't make a difference, the cardigan and cravat crew bleat in the pages of The Australian and to the dwindling audience watching Sky After Dark. Australia is a huge exporter of fossil fuels. The stuff might not be burnt here but it still contributes to global emissions. Arguing that it's beyond our control is a bit like saying a drug dealer can't be held responsible for how the product they sell is used. In other words, poppycock. Which brings us to the Albanese government and its rank hypocrisy in giving preliminary approval for extending the life of the north west gas project off the WA coast for another 45 years. Here's how Greg Bourne described the decision: "They've just approved one of the most polluting fossil fuel projects in a generation, fueling climate chaos for decades to come. This single project will unleash more than four billion tonnes of climate pollution. It undoes the good work they've done on cutting climate pollution and betrays the mandate Australian voters just gave them." Bourne is BP's former north west shelf manager, who now devotes his time to advocating for a transition away from fossil fuels. "It is rubbish to say that Australia needs this gas when the lion's share is marked for export and none of it will be used on the east coast," he says. "It's bad for the climate, bad for Australia's economy, and completely out of step with where the world is heading." The decision to extend the project until 2070 is grotesque for its timing alone. Barnaby Joyce is at least consistent in his climate lunacy. But for the PM to one day say, hand on heart, natural disasters are the price we're paying for climate change and then approve a major contributor to it the next beggars belief. HAVE YOUR SAY: Has the Albanese government betrayed its principles by extending the life of the north west gas project? Should Australia accept responsibility for its contribution to global emissions through its fossil fuel exports? Is there a stench of hypocrisy hanging over this decision? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has revealed her new shadow cabinet after the Coalition reunited following a dramatic split last week. Ms Ley promoted supportive backbenchers and shuffled senior Liberal party members across key portfolios. - Rescues are continuing and more than 1000 buildings have been declared uninhabitable as further help is promised for people devastated by record-breaking floods. - Independent senator Fatima Payman has alleged an older male parliamentary colleague made sexually suggestive and racially insensitive comments to her, and says a complaint has been made to Parliament's workplace support service. THEY SAID IT: "Hypocrisy is not a way of getting back to the moral high ground. Pretending you're moral, saying you're moral is not the same as acting morally." - Alan Dershowitz YOU SAID IT: Confused, hurt and a little angry, Donald Trump realises he's been strung along the entire time by Vladimir Putin, an autocrat he counted as a friend. "Thanks again, Peter, for the cartoon - the Liberal Party's sense of entitlement seems endless," writes Tony. "Tweetrums is a term I'd never heard - but should be the word of the year." Sue writes: "Love Peter's cartoon. I suppose it is always possible that there could be some connection in timing between something that Trump said to someone and a resolution to the war, so that Trump could then claim to have been involved in a positive way, but the idea that anyone could influence Putin is hard to accept. I can believe that Putin genuinely wants peace, but only after he has defeated Ukraine. Any weakening of the US is attributable to Trump but he has made himself into a figure whose strings can easily be pulled and why would Putin not do so if it is in his interests? Please, let's ensure that he doesn't gain any control over the Port of Darwin. We could do with less US influence rather than more." "A very well-written piece, John, but unfortunately the person who needs to read it most is Donald Trump," writes Josef. "Can you send to him somehow? I just feel we can all agree with you but our remonstrations will come to nothing unless the orange man reads it." George writes: "It would be nice to believe that Donald Trump realised that he had made a mistake, but that would require a degree of comprehension which he has so far failed to demonstrate. He would also need a sense of shame which is also apparently missing." "Donald Trump and his gullible supporters have no idea what the tough guys he so admires are really like," writes Deb. "He seems to think they are playing a game, like Donald used to on his TV show. But these people are for real. It's not just a matter of saying 'You're fired!' to bring an end to the war. I suspect Putin thinks he's going to have to make some sort of deal eventually, so he's going to smash Ukraine to smithereens in the meantime. No doubt Donald will take the credit for any sort of deal that is brokered." Mark writes: "Yes, it seems that Putin has scammed Trump. The question now is what to do about it (if anything)? Do we want to rid the world of Putin and the old-school Russian thinking? Have Trump and his allies the guts to do this?" "I do not trust Donald Trump," writes Arthur. "A few weeks ago we were wondering what influence Russia has over him. Now he is acting like a spoilt little boy who has not been able to get his way. Is he just covering his tracks or is he sincere in trying to end the war in Ukraine? I have my doubts." Brad writes: "As with Rome, this is the fall of the US empire. While not 'burning' yet, Donald is definitely fiddling. Unfortunately, the puppets in Congress just think it's his secret plan at work. (I keep seeing the aliens from Toy Story.)" "There is a significant problem with Donald Trump's recognition that Putin has been playing him for a fool," writes Daniel. "Trump has the attention span of a budgerigar, no capacity for more than very short-term memory retention, and his own unique concept of the truth. By the time he has fired off another 20 inane messages on Truth Social, he will be thinking he has Putin eating out of his hand again. It is hard to comprehend how a man with his obvious intellectual, moral and social deficiencies could become president of a kennel club, let alone the USA. But, if his tariff wars result in more equitable international trade and he does manage to end the Gaza war and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he will be the first person to win Nobel prizes for Economics and Peace in the one year. Sadly, not at all likely." Elizabeth writes: "Wonderful piece. I do so wish The Donald would/could read it, and all his supporters in the USA. He is such an embarrassment to them. The thinking Americans must cringe every time he opens his mouth. And as for showing the world he can actually sign his name. What other president has ever shown us that?" "There is a strange, manic obsession with Donald Trump among the left," writes Murray. "Vladimir Putin has dropped the thin disguise that he is a global citizen, and gone full Soviet. Those in Europe, especially the eastern states, will about now be very anxious indeed. And yet, the topic of conversation is that Donald Trump is upset about it. Really?" Davis writes: "Has the US been weakened by Trump, you ask. As I pick myself up off the floor from rolling about laughing, I wonder where we start with which of Trump's gullibilities, excesses of greed, or tantrums of rage and vengeance has weakened the US the most. As we wonder whether it is his love of Putin or any other of his crazy loves and hates that has most weakened the US this year, a great exodus from that country is happening. Capital of every kind is leaving or furiously making plans to leave. Nobody can flourish in a country that has turned fascist, dictatorial and governed by infantile emotions. Smart people are no longer listening to their Wall Street advisers who say 'the market will correct itself, leave your money with me'. They are getting as much of their assets as possible into other parts of the world. Smart people are taking their 'human capital' away and trying to get jobs in Canada, Europe, even Australian companies and universities. I can't think of enough unprintable words in unprintable combinations to describe what Trump and his minions have done to the US, and even to the world, this last five months." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to The day arrived sickly yellow. Where the escarpment stood there was now just a faint outline. It was hard to breathe and the eyes stung. South Australia's crippling drought had delivered choking dust to the continent's east coast. With the physical discomfort came a reminder of the unfairness. Large tracts of NSW had just been submerged by floods only to be shrouded in dust from a parched place that hadn't seen meaningful rain in months. Offering what comfort he could, the Prime Minister told the country that we'd been warned extreme weather would become more common and more intense with the changing climate. It certainly seems that way. What we knew as one-in-100-year floods recur every few years. Lismore's turn in 2022 becomes Taree's in 2025. The pattern of cold fronts, which usually bring winter rain to South Australia and western parts of Victoria, has changed, with those fronts held at bay by high-pressure systems we normally associate with summer. Those who suffer the worst of the climate's caprice are typically farmers and regional Australians. In one week, we saw dairy farmers in tears for very different reasons. Those who had lost stock to floods and those who could not feed theirs because their pastures had turned to dust thanks to drought. And in the midst of this double-edged sword of suffering, the very people who claim to represent these Australians - the Nationals - are still quibbling over climate. Barnaby Joyce demands to know the cost of the commitment to net zero by 2050 while his party's constituents count the cost of not acting on climate - a last hurrah as he finds himself relegated to the nosebleed seats up the back of a depleted and demoralised opposition alongside the other other former deputy PM Mickmack McCormack. The same old arguments for not acting to reduce emissions are trotted out in the Murdoch press, oblivious to the fact they sent conservative politics into the wilderness for at least two more terms. Doesn't matter what Australia does, it won't make a difference, the cardigan and cravat crew bleat in the pages of The Australian and to the dwindling audience watching Sky After Dark. Australia is a huge exporter of fossil fuels. The stuff might not be burnt here but it still contributes to global emissions. Arguing that it's beyond our control is a bit like saying a drug dealer can't be held responsible for how the product they sell is used. In other words, poppycock. Which brings us to the Albanese government and its rank hypocrisy in giving preliminary approval for extending the life of the north west gas project off the WA coast for another 45 years. Here's how Greg Bourne described the decision: "They've just approved one of the most polluting fossil fuel projects in a generation, fueling climate chaos for decades to come. This single project will unleash more than four billion tonnes of climate pollution. It undoes the good work they've done on cutting climate pollution and betrays the mandate Australian voters just gave them." Bourne is BP's former north west shelf manager, who now devotes his time to advocating for a transition away from fossil fuels. "It is rubbish to say that Australia needs this gas when the lion's share is marked for export and none of it will be used on the east coast," he says. "It's bad for the climate, bad for Australia's economy, and completely out of step with where the world is heading." The decision to extend the project until 2070 is grotesque for its timing alone. Barnaby Joyce is at least consistent in his climate lunacy. But for the PM to one day say, hand on heart, natural disasters are the price we're paying for climate change and then approve a major contributor to it the next beggars belief. HAVE YOUR SAY: Has the Albanese government betrayed its principles by extending the life of the north west gas project? Should Australia accept responsibility for its contribution to global emissions through its fossil fuel exports? Is there a stench of hypocrisy hanging over this decision? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has revealed her new shadow cabinet after the Coalition reunited following a dramatic split last week. Ms Ley promoted supportive backbenchers and shuffled senior Liberal party members across key portfolios. - Rescues are continuing and more than 1000 buildings have been declared uninhabitable as further help is promised for people devastated by record-breaking floods. - Independent senator Fatima Payman has alleged an older male parliamentary colleague made sexually suggestive and racially insensitive comments to her, and says a complaint has been made to Parliament's workplace support service. THEY SAID IT: "Hypocrisy is not a way of getting back to the moral high ground. Pretending you're moral, saying you're moral is not the same as acting morally." - Alan Dershowitz YOU SAID IT: Confused, hurt and a little angry, Donald Trump realises he's been strung along the entire time by Vladimir Putin, an autocrat he counted as a friend. "Thanks again, Peter, for the cartoon - the Liberal Party's sense of entitlement seems endless," writes Tony. "Tweetrums is a term I'd never heard - but should be the word of the year." Sue writes: "Love Peter's cartoon. I suppose it is always possible that there could be some connection in timing between something that Trump said to someone and a resolution to the war, so that Trump could then claim to have been involved in a positive way, but the idea that anyone could influence Putin is hard to accept. I can believe that Putin genuinely wants peace, but only after he has defeated Ukraine. Any weakening of the US is attributable to Trump but he has made himself into a figure whose strings can easily be pulled and why would Putin not do so if it is in his interests? Please, let's ensure that he doesn't gain any control over the Port of Darwin. We could do with less US influence rather than more." "A very well-written piece, John, but unfortunately the person who needs to read it most is Donald Trump," writes Josef. "Can you send to him somehow? I just feel we can all agree with you but our remonstrations will come to nothing unless the orange man reads it." George writes: "It would be nice to believe that Donald Trump realised that he had made a mistake, but that would require a degree of comprehension which he has so far failed to demonstrate. He would also need a sense of shame which is also apparently missing." "Donald Trump and his gullible supporters have no idea what the tough guys he so admires are really like," writes Deb. "He seems to think they are playing a game, like Donald used to on his TV show. But these people are for real. It's not just a matter of saying 'You're fired!' to bring an end to the war. I suspect Putin thinks he's going to have to make some sort of deal eventually, so he's going to smash Ukraine to smithereens in the meantime. No doubt Donald will take the credit for any sort of deal that is brokered." Mark writes: "Yes, it seems that Putin has scammed Trump. The question now is what to do about it (if anything)? Do we want to rid the world of Putin and the old-school Russian thinking? Have Trump and his allies the guts to do this?" "I do not trust Donald Trump," writes Arthur. "A few weeks ago we were wondering what influence Russia has over him. Now he is acting like a spoilt little boy who has not been able to get his way. Is he just covering his tracks or is he sincere in trying to end the war in Ukraine? I have my doubts." Brad writes: "As with Rome, this is the fall of the US empire. While not 'burning' yet, Donald is definitely fiddling. Unfortunately, the puppets in Congress just think it's his secret plan at work. (I keep seeing the aliens from Toy Story.)" "There is a significant problem with Donald Trump's recognition that Putin has been playing him for a fool," writes Daniel. "Trump has the attention span of a budgerigar, no capacity for more than very short-term memory retention, and his own unique concept of the truth. By the time he has fired off another 20 inane messages on Truth Social, he will be thinking he has Putin eating out of his hand again. It is hard to comprehend how a man with his obvious intellectual, moral and social deficiencies could become president of a kennel club, let alone the USA. But, if his tariff wars result in more equitable international trade and he does manage to end the Gaza war and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he will be the first person to win Nobel prizes for Economics and Peace in the one year. Sadly, not at all likely." Elizabeth writes: "Wonderful piece. I do so wish The Donald would/could read it, and all his supporters in the USA. He is such an embarrassment to them. The thinking Americans must cringe every time he opens his mouth. And as for showing the world he can actually sign his name. What other president has ever shown us that?" "There is a strange, manic obsession with Donald Trump among the left," writes Murray. "Vladimir Putin has dropped the thin disguise that he is a global citizen, and gone full Soviet. Those in Europe, especially the eastern states, will about now be very anxious indeed. And yet, the topic of conversation is that Donald Trump is upset about it. Really?" Davis writes: "Has the US been weakened by Trump, you ask. As I pick myself up off the floor from rolling about laughing, I wonder where we start with which of Trump's gullibilities, excesses of greed, or tantrums of rage and vengeance has weakened the US the most. As we wonder whether it is his love of Putin or any other of his crazy loves and hates that has most weakened the US this year, a great exodus from that country is happening. Capital of every kind is leaving or furiously making plans to leave. Nobody can flourish in a country that has turned fascist, dictatorial and governed by infantile emotions. Smart people are no longer listening to their Wall Street advisers who say 'the market will correct itself, leave your money with me'. They are getting as much of their assets as possible into other parts of the world. Smart people are taking their 'human capital' away and trying to get jobs in Canada, Europe, even Australian companies and universities. I can't think of enough unprintable words in unprintable combinations to describe what Trump and his minions have done to the US, and even to the world, this last five months." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to The day arrived sickly yellow. Where the escarpment stood there was now just a faint outline. It was hard to breathe and the eyes stung. South Australia's crippling drought had delivered choking dust to the continent's east coast. With the physical discomfort came a reminder of the unfairness. Large tracts of NSW had just been submerged by floods only to be shrouded in dust from a parched place that hadn't seen meaningful rain in months. Offering what comfort he could, the Prime Minister told the country that we'd been warned extreme weather would become more common and more intense with the changing climate. It certainly seems that way. What we knew as one-in-100-year floods recur every few years. Lismore's turn in 2022 becomes Taree's in 2025. The pattern of cold fronts, which usually bring winter rain to South Australia and western parts of Victoria, has changed, with those fronts held at bay by high-pressure systems we normally associate with summer. Those who suffer the worst of the climate's caprice are typically farmers and regional Australians. In one week, we saw dairy farmers in tears for very different reasons. Those who had lost stock to floods and those who could not feed theirs because their pastures had turned to dust thanks to drought. And in the midst of this double-edged sword of suffering, the very people who claim to represent these Australians - the Nationals - are still quibbling over climate. Barnaby Joyce demands to know the cost of the commitment to net zero by 2050 while his party's constituents count the cost of not acting on climate - a last hurrah as he finds himself relegated to the nosebleed seats up the back of a depleted and demoralised opposition alongside the other other former deputy PM Mickmack McCormack. The same old arguments for not acting to reduce emissions are trotted out in the Murdoch press, oblivious to the fact they sent conservative politics into the wilderness for at least two more terms. Doesn't matter what Australia does, it won't make a difference, the cardigan and cravat crew bleat in the pages of The Australian and to the dwindling audience watching Sky After Dark. Australia is a huge exporter of fossil fuels. The stuff might not be burnt here but it still contributes to global emissions. Arguing that it's beyond our control is a bit like saying a drug dealer can't be held responsible for how the product they sell is used. In other words, poppycock. Which brings us to the Albanese government and its rank hypocrisy in giving preliminary approval for extending the life of the north west gas project off the WA coast for another 45 years. Here's how Greg Bourne described the decision: "They've just approved one of the most polluting fossil fuel projects in a generation, fueling climate chaos for decades to come. This single project will unleash more than four billion tonnes of climate pollution. It undoes the good work they've done on cutting climate pollution and betrays the mandate Australian voters just gave them." Bourne is BP's former north west shelf manager, who now devotes his time to advocating for a transition away from fossil fuels. "It is rubbish to say that Australia needs this gas when the lion's share is marked for export and none of it will be used on the east coast," he says. "It's bad for the climate, bad for Australia's economy, and completely out of step with where the world is heading." The decision to extend the project until 2070 is grotesque for its timing alone. Barnaby Joyce is at least consistent in his climate lunacy. But for the PM to one day say, hand on heart, natural disasters are the price we're paying for climate change and then approve a major contributor to it the next beggars belief. HAVE YOUR SAY: Has the Albanese government betrayed its principles by extending the life of the north west gas project? Should Australia accept responsibility for its contribution to global emissions through its fossil fuel exports? Is there a stench of hypocrisy hanging over this decision? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has revealed her new shadow cabinet after the Coalition reunited following a dramatic split last week. Ms Ley promoted supportive backbenchers and shuffled senior Liberal party members across key portfolios. - Rescues are continuing and more than 1000 buildings have been declared uninhabitable as further help is promised for people devastated by record-breaking floods. - Independent senator Fatima Payman has alleged an older male parliamentary colleague made sexually suggestive and racially insensitive comments to her, and says a complaint has been made to Parliament's workplace support service. THEY SAID IT: "Hypocrisy is not a way of getting back to the moral high ground. Pretending you're moral, saying you're moral is not the same as acting morally." - Alan Dershowitz YOU SAID IT: Confused, hurt and a little angry, Donald Trump realises he's been strung along the entire time by Vladimir Putin, an autocrat he counted as a friend. "Thanks again, Peter, for the cartoon - the Liberal Party's sense of entitlement seems endless," writes Tony. "Tweetrums is a term I'd never heard - but should be the word of the year." Sue writes: "Love Peter's cartoon. I suppose it is always possible that there could be some connection in timing between something that Trump said to someone and a resolution to the war, so that Trump could then claim to have been involved in a positive way, but the idea that anyone could influence Putin is hard to accept. I can believe that Putin genuinely wants peace, but only after he has defeated Ukraine. Any weakening of the US is attributable to Trump but he has made himself into a figure whose strings can easily be pulled and why would Putin not do so if it is in his interests? Please, let's ensure that he doesn't gain any control over the Port of Darwin. We could do with less US influence rather than more." "A very well-written piece, John, but unfortunately the person who needs to read it most is Donald Trump," writes Josef. "Can you send to him somehow? I just feel we can all agree with you but our remonstrations will come to nothing unless the orange man reads it." George writes: "It would be nice to believe that Donald Trump realised that he had made a mistake, but that would require a degree of comprehension which he has so far failed to demonstrate. He would also need a sense of shame which is also apparently missing." "Donald Trump and his gullible supporters have no idea what the tough guys he so admires are really like," writes Deb. "He seems to think they are playing a game, like Donald used to on his TV show. But these people are for real. It's not just a matter of saying 'You're fired!' to bring an end to the war. I suspect Putin thinks he's going to have to make some sort of deal eventually, so he's going to smash Ukraine to smithereens in the meantime. No doubt Donald will take the credit for any sort of deal that is brokered." Mark writes: "Yes, it seems that Putin has scammed Trump. The question now is what to do about it (if anything)? Do we want to rid the world of Putin and the old-school Russian thinking? Have Trump and his allies the guts to do this?" "I do not trust Donald Trump," writes Arthur. "A few weeks ago we were wondering what influence Russia has over him. Now he is acting like a spoilt little boy who has not been able to get his way. Is he just covering his tracks or is he sincere in trying to end the war in Ukraine? I have my doubts." Brad writes: "As with Rome, this is the fall of the US empire. While not 'burning' yet, Donald is definitely fiddling. Unfortunately, the puppets in Congress just think it's his secret plan at work. (I keep seeing the aliens from Toy Story.)" "There is a significant problem with Donald Trump's recognition that Putin has been playing him for a fool," writes Daniel. "Trump has the attention span of a budgerigar, no capacity for more than very short-term memory retention, and his own unique concept of the truth. By the time he has fired off another 20 inane messages on Truth Social, he will be thinking he has Putin eating out of his hand again. It is hard to comprehend how a man with his obvious intellectual, moral and social deficiencies could become president of a kennel club, let alone the USA. But, if his tariff wars result in more equitable international trade and he does manage to end the Gaza war and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he will be the first person to win Nobel prizes for Economics and Peace in the one year. Sadly, not at all likely." Elizabeth writes: "Wonderful piece. I do so wish The Donald would/could read it, and all his supporters in the USA. He is such an embarrassment to them. The thinking Americans must cringe every time he opens his mouth. And as for showing the world he can actually sign his name. What other president has ever shown us that?" "There is a strange, manic obsession with Donald Trump among the left," writes Murray. "Vladimir Putin has dropped the thin disguise that he is a global citizen, and gone full Soviet. Those in Europe, especially the eastern states, will about now be very anxious indeed. And yet, the topic of conversation is that Donald Trump is upset about it. Really?" Davis writes: "Has the US been weakened by Trump, you ask. As I pick myself up off the floor from rolling about laughing, I wonder where we start with which of Trump's gullibilities, excesses of greed, or tantrums of rage and vengeance has weakened the US the most. As we wonder whether it is his love of Putin or any other of his crazy loves and hates that has most weakened the US this year, a great exodus from that country is happening. Capital of every kind is leaving or furiously making plans to leave. Nobody can flourish in a country that has turned fascist, dictatorial and governed by infantile emotions. Smart people are no longer listening to their Wall Street advisers who say 'the market will correct itself, leave your money with me'. They are getting as much of their assets as possible into other parts of the world. Smart people are taking their 'human capital' away and trying to get jobs in Canada, Europe, even Australian companies and universities. I can't think of enough unprintable words in unprintable combinations to describe what Trump and his minions have done to the US, and even to the world, this last five months." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to The day arrived sickly yellow. Where the escarpment stood there was now just a faint outline. It was hard to breathe and the eyes stung. South Australia's crippling drought had delivered choking dust to the continent's east coast. With the physical discomfort came a reminder of the unfairness. Large tracts of NSW had just been submerged by floods only to be shrouded in dust from a parched place that hadn't seen meaningful rain in months. Offering what comfort he could, the Prime Minister told the country that we'd been warned extreme weather would become more common and more intense with the changing climate. It certainly seems that way. What we knew as one-in-100-year floods recur every few years. Lismore's turn in 2022 becomes Taree's in 2025. The pattern of cold fronts, which usually bring winter rain to South Australia and western parts of Victoria, has changed, with those fronts held at bay by high-pressure systems we normally associate with summer. Those who suffer the worst of the climate's caprice are typically farmers and regional Australians. In one week, we saw dairy farmers in tears for very different reasons. Those who had lost stock to floods and those who could not feed theirs because their pastures had turned to dust thanks to drought. And in the midst of this double-edged sword of suffering, the very people who claim to represent these Australians - the Nationals - are still quibbling over climate. Barnaby Joyce demands to know the cost of the commitment to net zero by 2050 while his party's constituents count the cost of not acting on climate - a last hurrah as he finds himself relegated to the nosebleed seats up the back of a depleted and demoralised opposition alongside the other other former deputy PM Mickmack McCormack. The same old arguments for not acting to reduce emissions are trotted out in the Murdoch press, oblivious to the fact they sent conservative politics into the wilderness for at least two more terms. Doesn't matter what Australia does, it won't make a difference, the cardigan and cravat crew bleat in the pages of The Australian and to the dwindling audience watching Sky After Dark. Australia is a huge exporter of fossil fuels. The stuff might not be burnt here but it still contributes to global emissions. Arguing that it's beyond our control is a bit like saying a drug dealer can't be held responsible for how the product they sell is used. In other words, poppycock. Which brings us to the Albanese government and its rank hypocrisy in giving preliminary approval for extending the life of the north west gas project off the WA coast for another 45 years. Here's how Greg Bourne described the decision: "They've just approved one of the most polluting fossil fuel projects in a generation, fueling climate chaos for decades to come. This single project will unleash more than four billion tonnes of climate pollution. It undoes the good work they've done on cutting climate pollution and betrays the mandate Australian voters just gave them." Bourne is BP's former north west shelf manager, who now devotes his time to advocating for a transition away from fossil fuels. "It is rubbish to say that Australia needs this gas when the lion's share is marked for export and none of it will be used on the east coast," he says. "It's bad for the climate, bad for Australia's economy, and completely out of step with where the world is heading." The decision to extend the project until 2070 is grotesque for its timing alone. Barnaby Joyce is at least consistent in his climate lunacy. But for the PM to one day say, hand on heart, natural disasters are the price we're paying for climate change and then approve a major contributor to it the next beggars belief. HAVE YOUR SAY: Has the Albanese government betrayed its principles by extending the life of the north west gas project? Should Australia accept responsibility for its contribution to global emissions through its fossil fuel exports? Is there a stench of hypocrisy hanging over this decision? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Opposition Leader Sussan Ley has revealed her new shadow cabinet after the Coalition reunited following a dramatic split last week. Ms Ley promoted supportive backbenchers and shuffled senior Liberal party members across key portfolios. - Rescues are continuing and more than 1000 buildings have been declared uninhabitable as further help is promised for people devastated by record-breaking floods. - Independent senator Fatima Payman has alleged an older male parliamentary colleague made sexually suggestive and racially insensitive comments to her, and says a complaint has been made to Parliament's workplace support service. THEY SAID IT: "Hypocrisy is not a way of getting back to the moral high ground. Pretending you're moral, saying you're moral is not the same as acting morally." - Alan Dershowitz YOU SAID IT: Confused, hurt and a little angry, Donald Trump realises he's been strung along the entire time by Vladimir Putin, an autocrat he counted as a friend. "Thanks again, Peter, for the cartoon - the Liberal Party's sense of entitlement seems endless," writes Tony. "Tweetrums is a term I'd never heard - but should be the word of the year." Sue writes: "Love Peter's cartoon. I suppose it is always possible that there could be some connection in timing between something that Trump said to someone and a resolution to the war, so that Trump could then claim to have been involved in a positive way, but the idea that anyone could influence Putin is hard to accept. I can believe that Putin genuinely wants peace, but only after he has defeated Ukraine. Any weakening of the US is attributable to Trump but he has made himself into a figure whose strings can easily be pulled and why would Putin not do so if it is in his interests? Please, let's ensure that he doesn't gain any control over the Port of Darwin. We could do with less US influence rather than more." "A very well-written piece, John, but unfortunately the person who needs to read it most is Donald Trump," writes Josef. "Can you send to him somehow? I just feel we can all agree with you but our remonstrations will come to nothing unless the orange man reads it." George writes: "It would be nice to believe that Donald Trump realised that he had made a mistake, but that would require a degree of comprehension which he has so far failed to demonstrate. He would also need a sense of shame which is also apparently missing." "Donald Trump and his gullible supporters have no idea what the tough guys he so admires are really like," writes Deb. "He seems to think they are playing a game, like Donald used to on his TV show. But these people are for real. It's not just a matter of saying 'You're fired!' to bring an end to the war. I suspect Putin thinks he's going to have to make some sort of deal eventually, so he's going to smash Ukraine to smithereens in the meantime. No doubt Donald will take the credit for any sort of deal that is brokered." Mark writes: "Yes, it seems that Putin has scammed Trump. The question now is what to do about it (if anything)? Do we want to rid the world of Putin and the old-school Russian thinking? Have Trump and his allies the guts to do this?" "I do not trust Donald Trump," writes Arthur. "A few weeks ago we were wondering what influence Russia has over him. Now he is acting like a spoilt little boy who has not been able to get his way. Is he just covering his tracks or is he sincere in trying to end the war in Ukraine? I have my doubts." Brad writes: "As with Rome, this is the fall of the US empire. While not 'burning' yet, Donald is definitely fiddling. Unfortunately, the puppets in Congress just think it's his secret plan at work. (I keep seeing the aliens from Toy Story.)" "There is a significant problem with Donald Trump's recognition that Putin has been playing him for a fool," writes Daniel. "Trump has the attention span of a budgerigar, no capacity for more than very short-term memory retention, and his own unique concept of the truth. By the time he has fired off another 20 inane messages on Truth Social, he will be thinking he has Putin eating out of his hand again. It is hard to comprehend how a man with his obvious intellectual, moral and social deficiencies could become president of a kennel club, let alone the USA. But, if his tariff wars result in more equitable international trade and he does manage to end the Gaza war and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he will be the first person to win Nobel prizes for Economics and Peace in the one year. Sadly, not at all likely." Elizabeth writes: "Wonderful piece. I do so wish The Donald would/could read it, and all his supporters in the USA. He is such an embarrassment to them. The thinking Americans must cringe every time he opens his mouth. And as for showing the world he can actually sign his name. What other president has ever shown us that?" "There is a strange, manic obsession with Donald Trump among the left," writes Murray. "Vladimir Putin has dropped the thin disguise that he is a global citizen, and gone full Soviet. Those in Europe, especially the eastern states, will about now be very anxious indeed. And yet, the topic of conversation is that Donald Trump is upset about it. Really?" Davis writes: "Has the US been weakened by Trump, you ask. As I pick myself up off the floor from rolling about laughing, I wonder where we start with which of Trump's gullibilities, excesses of greed, or tantrums of rage and vengeance has weakened the US the most. As we wonder whether it is his love of Putin or any other of his crazy loves and hates that has most weakened the US this year, a great exodus from that country is happening. Capital of every kind is leaving or furiously making plans to leave. Nobody can flourish in a country that has turned fascist, dictatorial and governed by infantile emotions. Smart people are no longer listening to their Wall Street advisers who say 'the market will correct itself, leave your money with me'. They are getting as much of their assets as possible into other parts of the world. Smart people are taking their 'human capital' away and trying to get jobs in Canada, Europe, even Australian companies and universities. I can't think of enough unprintable words in unprintable combinations to describe what Trump and his minions have done to the US, and even to the world, this last five months."
The Advertiser
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Dear Don, you've been conned and all the whole world can see it
This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Dear Donald, It's been a while but having seen you on the news the other night, I had to reach out. It must be hard realising the person you thought you knew and trusted has been stringing you along the whole time. We saw the anguish on your face, when returning to Washington from your golfing weekend you spoke to the media on the tarmac before boarding your beat-up, old presidential jet. You looked confused and angry. What the hell happened? you asked. You'd known him for years, you'd liked him, but now he'd gone crazy, firing rockets into cities, killing innocent people. That was something you didn't like. And like anyone who'd been scammed, you revealed something we'd not seen from you before - a hint of embarrassment. How could you have been so naive? Oh, Donald, we tried so hard to warn you. In your first term, when you'd cosied up to Vlad and to Kim Jong Un, we knew you'd fallen in with a bad crowd. We saw you soaking in their reflected strength, seeing a version of yourself in their power, wanting to be like them. At the 2018 Helsinki press conference, as you stood alongside Putin, you told a stunned world that you'd asked the Russian president if his country had interfered in the 2016 election and he denied it and you believed him. Donald, Donald, Donald, we all thought, of course he'd deny it. He's a former KGB officer who made a career of convincing East Germans to do the dirty work of the Kremlin and rat on their compatriots. But you took him at his word, just as you have in your second term when you thought he was serious about settling the Ukraine war in terms acceptable to both sides. That dawning you'd fallen victim to the grift - seen by all on that tarmac the other day - must have been hard for someone like you. And to rub salt into your wound, the Kremlin accused you of being emotional after your outburst. How it must sting to be stung. You're going through what the rest of us experienced very early in childhood. That moment of hard clarity when we realised we weren't the centre of the universe, nor the smartest person in it. You're not alone, Donald. It's well known victims of scams feel acute embarrassment. Falling for a scam can shake the beliefs we hold about ourselves and others. Not that we expect you to change a lifetime of pathological self-belief. You'll probably just blame Joe Biden or Taylor Swift in a blizzard of late night tweetrums. But we all saw it, Donald. That moment of doubt when you realised you'd been outsmarted by the autocrat you'd been warned about. You appeared foolish, jilted and out of your depth. It reminded me of that occasion in the early 1990s when you held up a dinner cruise in Manhattan, arriving late and inappropriately dressed in a velour leisure suit along with your then wife. I stood nearby and watched her curse you for your foolishness and the embarrassment you'd caused her. For being late. For your fashion choices. Tell me, Donald. Somewhere deep down, are you cursing yourself for trusting Putin? For making that bold claim before you were elected that you'd end the war he started in a day? Yours, The Echidna. HAVE YOUR SAY: Was there ever a chance Donald Trump could broker a deal to end the Ukraine war? Is there some poetic justice in Trump being conned by Putin into believing the Kremlin genuinely wanted peace? Has the US been weakened by Trump's gullibility? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Nationals Leader David Littleproud has declared that his party's commitment to Australia's net-zero 2050 target will be reviewed, while saying he is close to reaching agreement with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to re-form the Coalition. - More than three weeks after the federal election, the final Senate results are in for Tasmania. Jacqui Lambie has been re-elected, while Richard Colbeck avoided making the Liberals' horrible election result worse by holding on to his seat. - Whistleblower Richard Boyle has been hailed a "superhero" after striking a plea deal under which he will avoid jail. The 49-year-old has admitted to four criminal charges linked to his exposure of unethical debt recovery practices at the Australian Taxation Office. THEY SAID IT: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." - Randall Terry YOU SAID IT: John's kept awake at night by the ghosts of cruelty - from the Holocaust and from the recent suffering in Gaza. "Thank you for writing this," writes Helen. "You are exactly right to align the horrors of the Nazi atrocities against the Jewish people with the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians in Gaza. Day after day I think, 'How could it get worse?' Then it does. These child killings are inflicted. Yes, these incidents haunt me and I am powerless to help the starving and maimed children." Helen W writes: "Yes John, I certainly believe the Israeli government should face an international court to answer charges of war crimes. Whether they ever will is a different matter. I belong to a post run by members of the Israeli Defence Force and former members thereof. They, having seen and participated in the very genocide that is occurring in Gaza, are endeavouring to tell the world the truth. They are also trying to let the world know that many Israelis, including those in the IDF, abhor with what is happening in Gaza." "All war contains war crimes and this one in Israel-Palestine is no exception," writes Derek. "I wish the UN could somehow become a lot stronger and prevent this sort of misery ever happening again. I detest war and these days we should all be looking towards a united world but that still seems like a dream with so many destructive vested interests in the world. Surely the time has come for the world to unite and finally prevent this destructive madness ever happening again. And yes, I've always been a dreamer." Sue writes: "Right to the point, John. This, like the Holocaust and many other horrific situations through history, is something that we should not forget, but who would, indeed who is in a position to, sit in that court? At the end of a war in which hatred of Jews played a significant role, politicians created the state of Israel in a location which had historical and significant differences with the Jewish people and their religion - surely a recipe for disaster!" Michael writes: "A better solution would be for the Hamas leaders (including their Hezbollah mates) and the Israeli leaders to be in the front of their troops and lead them into battle, like the pharaohs and kings of old. It might solve the issues quickly if they become the first casualties. Trouble is, the Hamas leaders are living it up in Qatar, and Netanyahu is ignoring the home protests about his actions." "The IDF bear responsibility, too," writes Phil. "'Just following orders' is not a defence against war crimes." Phil C writes: "I could not dwell on the tragedy that befell Dr. Alaa al-Najjar. To ward off the black dog, I am compelled to avert my eyes, heart, and mind from such unspeakable tragedy. The common conflation of anti-genocide with anti-semitism is an obscene ruse. Netanyahu is a war criminal, and the civilised world need to stop him now!"" "You said it so well for us all, John," writes Linda. "Words fail me on the idiocy and cruelty of fellow humans. Yes, they should both be subject to an international court for war crimes. Thank you, and Garry, for your ongoing articles in Echidna." Michelle writes: "Thank you for your piece on the horrors of genocide, historically, and today in Gaza. The collective memory of 80 years ago is diminishing as new generations have failed to learn the lessons of the past. I am not a religious Jew, and very proud of my heritage, My mother went to school in Palestine, my grandparents lived and worked alongside Palestinians. Like most Jews my family lost many members to the gas chambers, I never forget." Paul writes: "It's hard to compare the horrors of the Nazi genocide and the Gaza conflict. The Nazis deliberately rounded up people of specific groups and murdered them. Most of the deaths of innocents in the Gaza conflict are not due to their deliberate targeting by the Israelis. We live in a very safe nation - it is hard for most of us to know what it would be like to have a state led by a terrorist group living on our border, that constantly fires missiles into our territory and kidnaps and kills our citizens. We would probably demand military action ,too. And once engaged, and the enemy won't surrender, do you disengage, let the terrorists win and let the terrorism resume? It's hard to know." "Glad to see your newsletter so strong on the Gaza Genocide," writes Marie. "We must not forget what is happening in the West Bank as well. Australia needs to get aligned with Canada, France and the UK to exert pressure on the pariah state of Israel." Irene writes: "The Gaza war should end now. The world should condemn both sides. Both sides should answer and pay for their appalling crimes against humanity. Humanity should take the blame for allowing such mass atrocities." Amanda writes: "Justice needs to be brought to the war criminals on all sides of the Israel/Gaza war. With two friends from Australia we were caught up in a protest in Istanbul calling for the end to the Gaza war- we stood together and we cried with the women, children and men who walked the streets that day, thousands of them. We didn't feel anything other than their solidarity towards us which was made clear through gestures across the language barrier." "The events in Gaza are atrocious," writes Brian. "And so were the actions of Hamas leading up to this war. And I continue to wonder why Hamas simply will not hand back the Israeli hostages and plead for peace. Nor are Hamas's backers in Iran demanding this. Obviously, the welfare of the Palestinian people means less to Hamas and Iran than their ideologies." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Dear Donald, It's been a while but having seen you on the news the other night, I had to reach out. It must be hard realising the person you thought you knew and trusted has been stringing you along the whole time. We saw the anguish on your face, when returning to Washington from your golfing weekend you spoke to the media on the tarmac before boarding your beat-up, old presidential jet. You looked confused and angry. What the hell happened? you asked. You'd known him for years, you'd liked him, but now he'd gone crazy, firing rockets into cities, killing innocent people. That was something you didn't like. And like anyone who'd been scammed, you revealed something we'd not seen from you before - a hint of embarrassment. How could you have been so naive? Oh, Donald, we tried so hard to warn you. In your first term, when you'd cosied up to Vlad and to Kim Jong Un, we knew you'd fallen in with a bad crowd. We saw you soaking in their reflected strength, seeing a version of yourself in their power, wanting to be like them. At the 2018 Helsinki press conference, as you stood alongside Putin, you told a stunned world that you'd asked the Russian president if his country had interfered in the 2016 election and he denied it and you believed him. Donald, Donald, Donald, we all thought, of course he'd deny it. He's a former KGB officer who made a career of convincing East Germans to do the dirty work of the Kremlin and rat on their compatriots. But you took him at his word, just as you have in your second term when you thought he was serious about settling the Ukraine war in terms acceptable to both sides. That dawning you'd fallen victim to the grift - seen by all on that tarmac the other day - must have been hard for someone like you. And to rub salt into your wound, the Kremlin accused you of being emotional after your outburst. How it must sting to be stung. You're going through what the rest of us experienced very early in childhood. That moment of hard clarity when we realised we weren't the centre of the universe, nor the smartest person in it. You're not alone, Donald. It's well known victims of scams feel acute embarrassment. Falling for a scam can shake the beliefs we hold about ourselves and others. Not that we expect you to change a lifetime of pathological self-belief. You'll probably just blame Joe Biden or Taylor Swift in a blizzard of late night tweetrums. But we all saw it, Donald. That moment of doubt when you realised you'd been outsmarted by the autocrat you'd been warned about. You appeared foolish, jilted and out of your depth. It reminded me of that occasion in the early 1990s when you held up a dinner cruise in Manhattan, arriving late and inappropriately dressed in a velour leisure suit along with your then wife. I stood nearby and watched her curse you for your foolishness and the embarrassment you'd caused her. For being late. For your fashion choices. Tell me, Donald. Somewhere deep down, are you cursing yourself for trusting Putin? For making that bold claim before you were elected that you'd end the war he started in a day? Yours, The Echidna. HAVE YOUR SAY: Was there ever a chance Donald Trump could broker a deal to end the Ukraine war? Is there some poetic justice in Trump being conned by Putin into believing the Kremlin genuinely wanted peace? Has the US been weakened by Trump's gullibility? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Nationals Leader David Littleproud has declared that his party's commitment to Australia's net-zero 2050 target will be reviewed, while saying he is close to reaching agreement with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to re-form the Coalition. - More than three weeks after the federal election, the final Senate results are in for Tasmania. Jacqui Lambie has been re-elected, while Richard Colbeck avoided making the Liberals' horrible election result worse by holding on to his seat. - Whistleblower Richard Boyle has been hailed a "superhero" after striking a plea deal under which he will avoid jail. The 49-year-old has admitted to four criminal charges linked to his exposure of unethical debt recovery practices at the Australian Taxation Office. THEY SAID IT: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." - Randall Terry YOU SAID IT: John's kept awake at night by the ghosts of cruelty - from the Holocaust and from the recent suffering in Gaza. "Thank you for writing this," writes Helen. "You are exactly right to align the horrors of the Nazi atrocities against the Jewish people with the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians in Gaza. Day after day I think, 'How could it get worse?' Then it does. These child killings are inflicted. Yes, these incidents haunt me and I am powerless to help the starving and maimed children." Helen W writes: "Yes John, I certainly believe the Israeli government should face an international court to answer charges of war crimes. Whether they ever will is a different matter. I belong to a post run by members of the Israeli Defence Force and former members thereof. They, having seen and participated in the very genocide that is occurring in Gaza, are endeavouring to tell the world the truth. They are also trying to let the world know that many Israelis, including those in the IDF, abhor with what is happening in Gaza." "All war contains war crimes and this one in Israel-Palestine is no exception," writes Derek. "I wish the UN could somehow become a lot stronger and prevent this sort of misery ever happening again. I detest war and these days we should all be looking towards a united world but that still seems like a dream with so many destructive vested interests in the world. Surely the time has come for the world to unite and finally prevent this destructive madness ever happening again. And yes, I've always been a dreamer." Sue writes: "Right to the point, John. This, like the Holocaust and many other horrific situations through history, is something that we should not forget, but who would, indeed who is in a position to, sit in that court? At the end of a war in which hatred of Jews played a significant role, politicians created the state of Israel in a location which had historical and significant differences with the Jewish people and their religion - surely a recipe for disaster!" Michael writes: "A better solution would be for the Hamas leaders (including their Hezbollah mates) and the Israeli leaders to be in the front of their troops and lead them into battle, like the pharaohs and kings of old. It might solve the issues quickly if they become the first casualties. Trouble is, the Hamas leaders are living it up in Qatar, and Netanyahu is ignoring the home protests about his actions." "The IDF bear responsibility, too," writes Phil. "'Just following orders' is not a defence against war crimes." Phil C writes: "I could not dwell on the tragedy that befell Dr. Alaa al-Najjar. To ward off the black dog, I am compelled to avert my eyes, heart, and mind from such unspeakable tragedy. The common conflation of anti-genocide with anti-semitism is an obscene ruse. Netanyahu is a war criminal, and the civilised world need to stop him now!"" "You said it so well for us all, John," writes Linda. "Words fail me on the idiocy and cruelty of fellow humans. Yes, they should both be subject to an international court for war crimes. Thank you, and Garry, for your ongoing articles in Echidna." Michelle writes: "Thank you for your piece on the horrors of genocide, historically, and today in Gaza. The collective memory of 80 years ago is diminishing as new generations have failed to learn the lessons of the past. I am not a religious Jew, and very proud of my heritage, My mother went to school in Palestine, my grandparents lived and worked alongside Palestinians. Like most Jews my family lost many members to the gas chambers, I never forget." Paul writes: "It's hard to compare the horrors of the Nazi genocide and the Gaza conflict. The Nazis deliberately rounded up people of specific groups and murdered them. Most of the deaths of innocents in the Gaza conflict are not due to their deliberate targeting by the Israelis. We live in a very safe nation - it is hard for most of us to know what it would be like to have a state led by a terrorist group living on our border, that constantly fires missiles into our territory and kidnaps and kills our citizens. We would probably demand military action ,too. And once engaged, and the enemy won't surrender, do you disengage, let the terrorists win and let the terrorism resume? It's hard to know." "Glad to see your newsletter so strong on the Gaza Genocide," writes Marie. "We must not forget what is happening in the West Bank as well. Australia needs to get aligned with Canada, France and the UK to exert pressure on the pariah state of Israel." Irene writes: "The Gaza war should end now. The world should condemn both sides. Both sides should answer and pay for their appalling crimes against humanity. Humanity should take the blame for allowing such mass atrocities." Amanda writes: "Justice needs to be brought to the war criminals on all sides of the Israel/Gaza war. With two friends from Australia we were caught up in a protest in Istanbul calling for the end to the Gaza war- we stood together and we cried with the women, children and men who walked the streets that day, thousands of them. We didn't feel anything other than their solidarity towards us which was made clear through gestures across the language barrier." "The events in Gaza are atrocious," writes Brian. "And so were the actions of Hamas leading up to this war. And I continue to wonder why Hamas simply will not hand back the Israeli hostages and plead for peace. Nor are Hamas's backers in Iran demanding this. Obviously, the welfare of the Palestinian people means less to Hamas and Iran than their ideologies." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Dear Donald, It's been a while but having seen you on the news the other night, I had to reach out. It must be hard realising the person you thought you knew and trusted has been stringing you along the whole time. We saw the anguish on your face, when returning to Washington from your golfing weekend you spoke to the media on the tarmac before boarding your beat-up, old presidential jet. You looked confused and angry. What the hell happened? you asked. You'd known him for years, you'd liked him, but now he'd gone crazy, firing rockets into cities, killing innocent people. That was something you didn't like. And like anyone who'd been scammed, you revealed something we'd not seen from you before - a hint of embarrassment. How could you have been so naive? Oh, Donald, we tried so hard to warn you. In your first term, when you'd cosied up to Vlad and to Kim Jong Un, we knew you'd fallen in with a bad crowd. We saw you soaking in their reflected strength, seeing a version of yourself in their power, wanting to be like them. At the 2018 Helsinki press conference, as you stood alongside Putin, you told a stunned world that you'd asked the Russian president if his country had interfered in the 2016 election and he denied it and you believed him. Donald, Donald, Donald, we all thought, of course he'd deny it. He's a former KGB officer who made a career of convincing East Germans to do the dirty work of the Kremlin and rat on their compatriots. But you took him at his word, just as you have in your second term when you thought he was serious about settling the Ukraine war in terms acceptable to both sides. That dawning you'd fallen victim to the grift - seen by all on that tarmac the other day - must have been hard for someone like you. And to rub salt into your wound, the Kremlin accused you of being emotional after your outburst. How it must sting to be stung. You're going through what the rest of us experienced very early in childhood. That moment of hard clarity when we realised we weren't the centre of the universe, nor the smartest person in it. You're not alone, Donald. It's well known victims of scams feel acute embarrassment. Falling for a scam can shake the beliefs we hold about ourselves and others. Not that we expect you to change a lifetime of pathological self-belief. You'll probably just blame Joe Biden or Taylor Swift in a blizzard of late night tweetrums. But we all saw it, Donald. That moment of doubt when you realised you'd been outsmarted by the autocrat you'd been warned about. You appeared foolish, jilted and out of your depth. It reminded me of that occasion in the early 1990s when you held up a dinner cruise in Manhattan, arriving late and inappropriately dressed in a velour leisure suit along with your then wife. I stood nearby and watched her curse you for your foolishness and the embarrassment you'd caused her. For being late. For your fashion choices. Tell me, Donald. Somewhere deep down, are you cursing yourself for trusting Putin? For making that bold claim before you were elected that you'd end the war he started in a day? Yours, The Echidna. HAVE YOUR SAY: Was there ever a chance Donald Trump could broker a deal to end the Ukraine war? Is there some poetic justice in Trump being conned by Putin into believing the Kremlin genuinely wanted peace? Has the US been weakened by Trump's gullibility? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Nationals Leader David Littleproud has declared that his party's commitment to Australia's net-zero 2050 target will be reviewed, while saying he is close to reaching agreement with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to re-form the Coalition. - More than three weeks after the federal election, the final Senate results are in for Tasmania. Jacqui Lambie has been re-elected, while Richard Colbeck avoided making the Liberals' horrible election result worse by holding on to his seat. - Whistleblower Richard Boyle has been hailed a "superhero" after striking a plea deal under which he will avoid jail. The 49-year-old has admitted to four criminal charges linked to his exposure of unethical debt recovery practices at the Australian Taxation Office. THEY SAID IT: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." - Randall Terry YOU SAID IT: John's kept awake at night by the ghosts of cruelty - from the Holocaust and from the recent suffering in Gaza. "Thank you for writing this," writes Helen. "You are exactly right to align the horrors of the Nazi atrocities against the Jewish people with the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians in Gaza. Day after day I think, 'How could it get worse?' Then it does. These child killings are inflicted. Yes, these incidents haunt me and I am powerless to help the starving and maimed children." Helen W writes: "Yes John, I certainly believe the Israeli government should face an international court to answer charges of war crimes. Whether they ever will is a different matter. I belong to a post run by members of the Israeli Defence Force and former members thereof. They, having seen and participated in the very genocide that is occurring in Gaza, are endeavouring to tell the world the truth. They are also trying to let the world know that many Israelis, including those in the IDF, abhor with what is happening in Gaza." "All war contains war crimes and this one in Israel-Palestine is no exception," writes Derek. "I wish the UN could somehow become a lot stronger and prevent this sort of misery ever happening again. I detest war and these days we should all be looking towards a united world but that still seems like a dream with so many destructive vested interests in the world. Surely the time has come for the world to unite and finally prevent this destructive madness ever happening again. And yes, I've always been a dreamer." Sue writes: "Right to the point, John. This, like the Holocaust and many other horrific situations through history, is something that we should not forget, but who would, indeed who is in a position to, sit in that court? At the end of a war in which hatred of Jews played a significant role, politicians created the state of Israel in a location which had historical and significant differences with the Jewish people and their religion - surely a recipe for disaster!" Michael writes: "A better solution would be for the Hamas leaders (including their Hezbollah mates) and the Israeli leaders to be in the front of their troops and lead them into battle, like the pharaohs and kings of old. It might solve the issues quickly if they become the first casualties. Trouble is, the Hamas leaders are living it up in Qatar, and Netanyahu is ignoring the home protests about his actions." "The IDF bear responsibility, too," writes Phil. "'Just following orders' is not a defence against war crimes." Phil C writes: "I could not dwell on the tragedy that befell Dr. Alaa al-Najjar. To ward off the black dog, I am compelled to avert my eyes, heart, and mind from such unspeakable tragedy. The common conflation of anti-genocide with anti-semitism is an obscene ruse. Netanyahu is a war criminal, and the civilised world need to stop him now!"" "You said it so well for us all, John," writes Linda. "Words fail me on the idiocy and cruelty of fellow humans. Yes, they should both be subject to an international court for war crimes. Thank you, and Garry, for your ongoing articles in Echidna." Michelle writes: "Thank you for your piece on the horrors of genocide, historically, and today in Gaza. The collective memory of 80 years ago is diminishing as new generations have failed to learn the lessons of the past. I am not a religious Jew, and very proud of my heritage, My mother went to school in Palestine, my grandparents lived and worked alongside Palestinians. Like most Jews my family lost many members to the gas chambers, I never forget." Paul writes: "It's hard to compare the horrors of the Nazi genocide and the Gaza conflict. The Nazis deliberately rounded up people of specific groups and murdered them. Most of the deaths of innocents in the Gaza conflict are not due to their deliberate targeting by the Israelis. We live in a very safe nation - it is hard for most of us to know what it would be like to have a state led by a terrorist group living on our border, that constantly fires missiles into our territory and kidnaps and kills our citizens. We would probably demand military action ,too. And once engaged, and the enemy won't surrender, do you disengage, let the terrorists win and let the terrorism resume? It's hard to know." "Glad to see your newsletter so strong on the Gaza Genocide," writes Marie. "We must not forget what is happening in the West Bank as well. Australia needs to get aligned with Canada, France and the UK to exert pressure on the pariah state of Israel." Irene writes: "The Gaza war should end now. The world should condemn both sides. Both sides should answer and pay for their appalling crimes against humanity. Humanity should take the blame for allowing such mass atrocities." Amanda writes: "Justice needs to be brought to the war criminals on all sides of the Israel/Gaza war. With two friends from Australia we were caught up in a protest in Istanbul calling for the end to the Gaza war- we stood together and we cried with the women, children and men who walked the streets that day, thousands of them. We didn't feel anything other than their solidarity towards us which was made clear through gestures across the language barrier." "The events in Gaza are atrocious," writes Brian. "And so were the actions of Hamas leading up to this war. And I continue to wonder why Hamas simply will not hand back the Israeli hostages and plead for peace. Nor are Hamas's backers in Iran demanding this. Obviously, the welfare of the Palestinian people means less to Hamas and Iran than their ideologies." This is a sample of The Echidna newsletter sent out each weekday morning. To sign up for FREE, go to Dear Donald, It's been a while but having seen you on the news the other night, I had to reach out. It must be hard realising the person you thought you knew and trusted has been stringing you along the whole time. We saw the anguish on your face, when returning to Washington from your golfing weekend you spoke to the media on the tarmac before boarding your beat-up, old presidential jet. You looked confused and angry. What the hell happened? you asked. You'd known him for years, you'd liked him, but now he'd gone crazy, firing rockets into cities, killing innocent people. That was something you didn't like. And like anyone who'd been scammed, you revealed something we'd not seen from you before - a hint of embarrassment. How could you have been so naive? Oh, Donald, we tried so hard to warn you. In your first term, when you'd cosied up to Vlad and to Kim Jong Un, we knew you'd fallen in with a bad crowd. We saw you soaking in their reflected strength, seeing a version of yourself in their power, wanting to be like them. At the 2018 Helsinki press conference, as you stood alongside Putin, you told a stunned world that you'd asked the Russian president if his country had interfered in the 2016 election and he denied it and you believed him. Donald, Donald, Donald, we all thought, of course he'd deny it. He's a former KGB officer who made a career of convincing East Germans to do the dirty work of the Kremlin and rat on their compatriots. But you took him at his word, just as you have in your second term when you thought he was serious about settling the Ukraine war in terms acceptable to both sides. That dawning you'd fallen victim to the grift - seen by all on that tarmac the other day - must have been hard for someone like you. And to rub salt into your wound, the Kremlin accused you of being emotional after your outburst. How it must sting to be stung. You're going through what the rest of us experienced very early in childhood. That moment of hard clarity when we realised we weren't the centre of the universe, nor the smartest person in it. You're not alone, Donald. It's well known victims of scams feel acute embarrassment. Falling for a scam can shake the beliefs we hold about ourselves and others. Not that we expect you to change a lifetime of pathological self-belief. You'll probably just blame Joe Biden or Taylor Swift in a blizzard of late night tweetrums. But we all saw it, Donald. That moment of doubt when you realised you'd been outsmarted by the autocrat you'd been warned about. You appeared foolish, jilted and out of your depth. It reminded me of that occasion in the early 1990s when you held up a dinner cruise in Manhattan, arriving late and inappropriately dressed in a velour leisure suit along with your then wife. I stood nearby and watched her curse you for your foolishness and the embarrassment you'd caused her. For being late. For your fashion choices. Tell me, Donald. Somewhere deep down, are you cursing yourself for trusting Putin? For making that bold claim before you were elected that you'd end the war he started in a day? Yours, The Echidna. HAVE YOUR SAY: Was there ever a chance Donald Trump could broker a deal to end the Ukraine war? Is there some poetic justice in Trump being conned by Putin into believing the Kremlin genuinely wanted peace? Has the US been weakened by Trump's gullibility? Email us: echidna@ SHARE THE LOVE: If you enjoy The Echidna, forward it to a friend so they can sign up, too. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: - Nationals Leader David Littleproud has declared that his party's commitment to Australia's net-zero 2050 target will be reviewed, while saying he is close to reaching agreement with Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to re-form the Coalition. - More than three weeks after the federal election, the final Senate results are in for Tasmania. Jacqui Lambie has been re-elected, while Richard Colbeck avoided making the Liberals' horrible election result worse by holding on to his seat. - Whistleblower Richard Boyle has been hailed a "superhero" after striking a plea deal under which he will avoid jail. The 49-year-old has admitted to four criminal charges linked to his exposure of unethical debt recovery practices at the Australian Taxation Office. THEY SAID IT: "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." - Randall Terry YOU SAID IT: John's kept awake at night by the ghosts of cruelty - from the Holocaust and from the recent suffering in Gaza. "Thank you for writing this," writes Helen. "You are exactly right to align the horrors of the Nazi atrocities against the Jewish people with the Israeli atrocities against the Palestinians in Gaza. Day after day I think, 'How could it get worse?' Then it does. These child killings are inflicted. Yes, these incidents haunt me and I am powerless to help the starving and maimed children." Helen W writes: "Yes John, I certainly believe the Israeli government should face an international court to answer charges of war crimes. Whether they ever will is a different matter. I belong to a post run by members of the Israeli Defence Force and former members thereof. They, having seen and participated in the very genocide that is occurring in Gaza, are endeavouring to tell the world the truth. They are also trying to let the world know that many Israelis, including those in the IDF, abhor with what is happening in Gaza." "All war contains war crimes and this one in Israel-Palestine is no exception," writes Derek. "I wish the UN could somehow become a lot stronger and prevent this sort of misery ever happening again. I detest war and these days we should all be looking towards a united world but that still seems like a dream with so many destructive vested interests in the world. Surely the time has come for the world to unite and finally prevent this destructive madness ever happening again. And yes, I've always been a dreamer." Sue writes: "Right to the point, John. This, like the Holocaust and many other horrific situations through history, is something that we should not forget, but who would, indeed who is in a position to, sit in that court? At the end of a war in which hatred of Jews played a significant role, politicians created the state of Israel in a location which had historical and significant differences with the Jewish people and their religion - surely a recipe for disaster!" Michael writes: "A better solution would be for the Hamas leaders (including their Hezbollah mates) and the Israeli leaders to be in the front of their troops and lead them into battle, like the pharaohs and kings of old. It might solve the issues quickly if they become the first casualties. Trouble is, the Hamas leaders are living it up in Qatar, and Netanyahu is ignoring the home protests about his actions." "The IDF bear responsibility, too," writes Phil. "'Just following orders' is not a defence against war crimes." Phil C writes: "I could not dwell on the tragedy that befell Dr. Alaa al-Najjar. To ward off the black dog, I am compelled to avert my eyes, heart, and mind from such unspeakable tragedy. The common conflation of anti-genocide with anti-semitism is an obscene ruse. Netanyahu is a war criminal, and the civilised world need to stop him now!"" "You said it so well for us all, John," writes Linda. "Words fail me on the idiocy and cruelty of fellow humans. Yes, they should both be subject to an international court for war crimes. Thank you, and Garry, for your ongoing articles in Echidna." Michelle writes: "Thank you for your piece on the horrors of genocide, historically, and today in Gaza. The collective memory of 80 years ago is diminishing as new generations have failed to learn the lessons of the past. I am not a religious Jew, and very proud of my heritage, My mother went to school in Palestine, my grandparents lived and worked alongside Palestinians. Like most Jews my family lost many members to the gas chambers, I never forget." Paul writes: "It's hard to compare the horrors of the Nazi genocide and the Gaza conflict. The Nazis deliberately rounded up people of specific groups and murdered them. Most of the deaths of innocents in the Gaza conflict are not due to their deliberate targeting by the Israelis. We live in a very safe nation - it is hard for most of us to know what it would be like to have a state led by a terrorist group living on our border, that constantly fires missiles into our territory and kidnaps and kills our citizens. We would probably demand military action ,too. And once engaged, and the enemy won't surrender, do you disengage, let the terrorists win and let the terrorism resume? It's hard to know." "Glad to see your newsletter so strong on the Gaza Genocide," writes Marie. "We must not forget what is happening in the West Bank as well. Australia needs to get aligned with Canada, France and the UK to exert pressure on the pariah state of Israel." Irene writes: "The Gaza war should end now. The world should condemn both sides. Both sides should answer and pay for their appalling crimes against humanity. Humanity should take the blame for allowing such mass atrocities." Amanda writes: "Justice needs to be brought to the war criminals on all sides of the Israel/Gaza war. With two friends from Australia we were caught up in a protest in Istanbul calling for the end to the Gaza war- we stood together and we cried with the women, children and men who walked the streets that day, thousands of them. We didn't feel anything other than their solidarity towards us which was made clear through gestures across the language barrier." "The events in Gaza are atrocious," writes Brian. "And so were the actions of Hamas leading up to this war. And I continue to wonder why Hamas simply will not hand back the Israeli hostages and plead for peace. Nor are Hamas's backers in Iran demanding this. Obviously, the welfare of the Palestinian people means less to Hamas and Iran than their ideologies."
