Latest news with #JobKeeper
The Age
4 days ago
- Business
- The Age
Corporate insights and Irish charm: Alan Joyce readies for speaking circuit take-off
Since quitting the airline in the harsh glare of public opprobrium, public appearances by former Qantas boss Alan Joyce have been rarer than an all-points bookings to London during the Euro summer. Despite possessing a corporate ego sturdier than the fuselage of a 787 Dreamliner, Joyce eventually buckled and resigned, effective immediately, in September 2023. He went under the weight of a succession of scandals, including regulatory legal action over allegations of selling cancelled flight tickets, a scandal over expiry dates on millions of COVID-19 flight credits, another over $2.7 billion JobKeeper handouts, and yet another over the sacking of nearly 2000 baggage handlers during the pandemic, now ruled illegal. But the signs are now unmistakable that the Ireland-born executive, 59, who calls Sydney home, is preparing to return from his self-imposed 15-month holiday on Elba. He has, you see, a lot to give. Joyce has big plans to … hit the celebrity corporate speaking circuit. And he has already scored gigs. 'Yes, he has bookings,' his ebullient manager, Robert Joske, told CBD. Loading Joyce, never to do anything by halves, has signed up with three speaker agencies. Keynote Entertainment said that Joyce was an engaging and dynamic speaker. 'Alan combines sharp business insights with Irish storytelling charm,' it said. Saxtons said Joyce had an 'unwavering commitment to diversity', and included him on its roster of Pride Month speakers including Khanh Ong, Tim Campbell, Ian Thorpe and Gina Chick.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Business
- Sydney Morning Herald
Alan Joyce comes in to land on the corporate speaking circuit
Appearances by former boss Alan Joyce have been rarer than an all-points bookings to London during the European summer since he quit Qantas in the full glare of public opprobrium. Despite possessing a corporate ego more robust than the fuselage of a 787 Dreamliner, Joyce eventually buckled in September 2023 under the weight of a succession of scandals, including regulatory legal action over allegations of selling tickets for cancelled flights, a backlash over expiry dates on millions of COVID-19 flight credits, bad form over $2.7 billion JobKeeper handouts, and the sacking of nearly 2000 baggage handlers during the pandemic, subsequently ruled illegal. But the signs are unmistakable the Irish-born executive, 59, who calls Sydney home, is preparing to return from his self-imposed 15-month holiday on Elba. He has, you see, a lot to give. Joyce has big plans to … hit the celebrity corporate speaking circuit. And he has already scored a gig. 'Yes, he has bookings,' his ebullient manager Robert Joske told CBD. Joyce, never to do anything by halves, has signed up with three speakers agencies. Keynote Entertainment said Joyce is an 'engaging and dynamic speaker … Alan combines sharp business insights with Irish storytelling charm'. Loading Saxtons Speakers Australia said he had an 'unwavering commitment to diversity' and included him on its roster of Pride Month speakers including Khanh Ong, Tim Campbell, Ian Thorpe and Gina Chick.
The Advertiser
4 days ago
- Politics
- The Advertiser
'Practical focus' as algal bloom inquiry calls rejected
The SA government has rejected calls for a royal commission into the algal bloom that has had a devastating impact on the state's marine life, saying it is focused on providing "practical support" to affected industries. The naturally occurring algal bloom has killed tens of thousands of marine animals from almost 400 species and caused widespread disruption to commercial fisheries and aquaculture operations since it was identified off the Fleurieu Peninsula in March. The Liberal Party has called for a royal commission to deliver "independent accountability, transparency and real recommendations" on the algal bloom. Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia said experience of similar incidents around the world showed it could be several years before fishing, aquaculture and tourism industries recovered. Environment Minister Susan Close said the state government's focus was on providing practical support to businesses, "including licence fee relief which was asked for and welcomed by the industry". "The government continues to work with commercial fishers, tourism operators and councils to support them through this difficult time and to look at research and recovery investment options," she said. "The commonwealth government is being kept informed and its assistance will likely be sought to fund some measures." But sixth-generation squid fisherman Nathan Eatts, based on the Fleurieu Peninsula, told AAP the industry needed much more support than fee relief, along the lines of the Farm Household Allowance for drought, or JobKeeper during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I haven't caught a single calamari since April 18, and calamari is 95 per cent of my business," he said. "Fee relief is going to be like a grand. It doesn't do a lot." He said the only thing giving him hope was the fact dead squid were not being found on shore. "So there's a little bit of optimism there that maybe they're out in deep water waiting for this algae to clear. But when is it going to clear? "It's stressing everyone out." The bloom has been breaking up in recent weeks, spreading north into Spencer Gulf, south into the Coorong wetlands and along Adelaide's beaches in Gulf St Vincent. The government revealed last week it had now been detected in Adelaide's Port River. The algal bloom has also forced a temporary halt to mussel harvesting in several areas around Port Lincoln due to the detection of shellfish toxins. Latest statewide observations show sea surface temperatures have continued to decrease in shallow coastal and gulf waters. But deeper continental shelf waters, including around Kangaroo Island and southern Yorke Peninsula, continue to experience moderate to strong marine heatwave conditions of 1C to 2C above average. The state government is offering an initial relief package to affected fishing licence holders to waive fees from April to June. Experts partly attribute the bloom to a marine heatwave that started in September - with sea temperatures about 2.5C warmer than usual - combined with calm conditions, light winds and small swells. The SA government has rejected calls for a royal commission into the algal bloom that has had a devastating impact on the state's marine life, saying it is focused on providing "practical support" to affected industries. The naturally occurring algal bloom has killed tens of thousands of marine animals from almost 400 species and caused widespread disruption to commercial fisheries and aquaculture operations since it was identified off the Fleurieu Peninsula in March. The Liberal Party has called for a royal commission to deliver "independent accountability, transparency and real recommendations" on the algal bloom. Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia said experience of similar incidents around the world showed it could be several years before fishing, aquaculture and tourism industries recovered. Environment Minister Susan Close said the state government's focus was on providing practical support to businesses, "including licence fee relief which was asked for and welcomed by the industry". "The government continues to work with commercial fishers, tourism operators and councils to support them through this difficult time and to look at research and recovery investment options," she said. "The commonwealth government is being kept informed and its assistance will likely be sought to fund some measures." But sixth-generation squid fisherman Nathan Eatts, based on the Fleurieu Peninsula, told AAP the industry needed much more support than fee relief, along the lines of the Farm Household Allowance for drought, or JobKeeper during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I haven't caught a single calamari since April 18, and calamari is 95 per cent of my business," he said. "Fee relief is going to be like a grand. It doesn't do a lot." He said the only thing giving him hope was the fact dead squid were not being found on shore. "So there's a little bit of optimism there that maybe they're out in deep water waiting for this algae to clear. But when is it going to clear? "It's stressing everyone out." The bloom has been breaking up in recent weeks, spreading north into Spencer Gulf, south into the Coorong wetlands and along Adelaide's beaches in Gulf St Vincent. The government revealed last week it had now been detected in Adelaide's Port River. The algal bloom has also forced a temporary halt to mussel harvesting in several areas around Port Lincoln due to the detection of shellfish toxins. Latest statewide observations show sea surface temperatures have continued to decrease in shallow coastal and gulf waters. But deeper continental shelf waters, including around Kangaroo Island and southern Yorke Peninsula, continue to experience moderate to strong marine heatwave conditions of 1C to 2C above average. The state government is offering an initial relief package to affected fishing licence holders to waive fees from April to June. Experts partly attribute the bloom to a marine heatwave that started in September - with sea temperatures about 2.5C warmer than usual - combined with calm conditions, light winds and small swells. The SA government has rejected calls for a royal commission into the algal bloom that has had a devastating impact on the state's marine life, saying it is focused on providing "practical support" to affected industries. The naturally occurring algal bloom has killed tens of thousands of marine animals from almost 400 species and caused widespread disruption to commercial fisheries and aquaculture operations since it was identified off the Fleurieu Peninsula in March. The Liberal Party has called for a royal commission to deliver "independent accountability, transparency and real recommendations" on the algal bloom. Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia said experience of similar incidents around the world showed it could be several years before fishing, aquaculture and tourism industries recovered. Environment Minister Susan Close said the state government's focus was on providing practical support to businesses, "including licence fee relief which was asked for and welcomed by the industry". "The government continues to work with commercial fishers, tourism operators and councils to support them through this difficult time and to look at research and recovery investment options," she said. "The commonwealth government is being kept informed and its assistance will likely be sought to fund some measures." But sixth-generation squid fisherman Nathan Eatts, based on the Fleurieu Peninsula, told AAP the industry needed much more support than fee relief, along the lines of the Farm Household Allowance for drought, or JobKeeper during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I haven't caught a single calamari since April 18, and calamari is 95 per cent of my business," he said. "Fee relief is going to be like a grand. It doesn't do a lot." He said the only thing giving him hope was the fact dead squid were not being found on shore. "So there's a little bit of optimism there that maybe they're out in deep water waiting for this algae to clear. But when is it going to clear? "It's stressing everyone out." The bloom has been breaking up in recent weeks, spreading north into Spencer Gulf, south into the Coorong wetlands and along Adelaide's beaches in Gulf St Vincent. The government revealed last week it had now been detected in Adelaide's Port River. The algal bloom has also forced a temporary halt to mussel harvesting in several areas around Port Lincoln due to the detection of shellfish toxins. Latest statewide observations show sea surface temperatures have continued to decrease in shallow coastal and gulf waters. But deeper continental shelf waters, including around Kangaroo Island and southern Yorke Peninsula, continue to experience moderate to strong marine heatwave conditions of 1C to 2C above average. The state government is offering an initial relief package to affected fishing licence holders to waive fees from April to June. Experts partly attribute the bloom to a marine heatwave that started in September - with sea temperatures about 2.5C warmer than usual - combined with calm conditions, light winds and small swells. The SA government has rejected calls for a royal commission into the algal bloom that has had a devastating impact on the state's marine life, saying it is focused on providing "practical support" to affected industries. The naturally occurring algal bloom has killed tens of thousands of marine animals from almost 400 species and caused widespread disruption to commercial fisheries and aquaculture operations since it was identified off the Fleurieu Peninsula in March. The Liberal Party has called for a royal commission to deliver "independent accountability, transparency and real recommendations" on the algal bloom. Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia said experience of similar incidents around the world showed it could be several years before fishing, aquaculture and tourism industries recovered. Environment Minister Susan Close said the state government's focus was on providing practical support to businesses, "including licence fee relief which was asked for and welcomed by the industry". "The government continues to work with commercial fishers, tourism operators and councils to support them through this difficult time and to look at research and recovery investment options," she said. "The commonwealth government is being kept informed and its assistance will likely be sought to fund some measures." But sixth-generation squid fisherman Nathan Eatts, based on the Fleurieu Peninsula, told AAP the industry needed much more support than fee relief, along the lines of the Farm Household Allowance for drought, or JobKeeper during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I haven't caught a single calamari since April 18, and calamari is 95 per cent of my business," he said. "Fee relief is going to be like a grand. It doesn't do a lot." He said the only thing giving him hope was the fact dead squid were not being found on shore. "So there's a little bit of optimism there that maybe they're out in deep water waiting for this algae to clear. But when is it going to clear? "It's stressing everyone out." The bloom has been breaking up in recent weeks, spreading north into Spencer Gulf, south into the Coorong wetlands and along Adelaide's beaches in Gulf St Vincent. The government revealed last week it had now been detected in Adelaide's Port River. The algal bloom has also forced a temporary halt to mussel harvesting in several areas around Port Lincoln due to the detection of shellfish toxins. Latest statewide observations show sea surface temperatures have continued to decrease in shallow coastal and gulf waters. But deeper continental shelf waters, including around Kangaroo Island and southern Yorke Peninsula, continue to experience moderate to strong marine heatwave conditions of 1C to 2C above average. The state government is offering an initial relief package to affected fishing licence holders to waive fees from April to June. Experts partly attribute the bloom to a marine heatwave that started in September - with sea temperatures about 2.5C warmer than usual - combined with calm conditions, light winds and small swells.
Perth Now
5 days ago
- Politics
- Perth Now
'Practical focus' as algal bloom inquiry calls rejected
The SA government has rejected calls for a royal commission into the algal bloom that has had a devastating impact on the state's marine life, saying it is focused on providing "practical support" to affected industries. The naturally occurring algal bloom has killed tens of thousands of marine animals from almost 400 species and caused widespread disruption to commercial fisheries and aquaculture operations since it was identified off the Fleurieu Peninsula in March. The Liberal Party has called for a royal commission to deliver "independent accountability, transparency and real recommendations" on the algal bloom. Opposition Leader Vincent Tarzia said experience of similar incidents around the world showed it could be several years before fishing, aquaculture and tourism industries recovered. Environment Minister Susan Close said the state government's focus was on providing practical support to businesses, "including licence fee relief which was asked for and welcomed by the industry". "The government continues to work with commercial fishers, tourism operators and councils to support them through this difficult time and to look at research and recovery investment options," she said. "The commonwealth government is being kept informed and its assistance will likely be sought to fund some measures." But sixth-generation squid fisherman Nathan Eatts, based on the Fleurieu Peninsula, told AAP the industry needed much more support than fee relief, along the lines of the Farm Household Allowance for drought, or JobKeeper during the COVID-19 pandemic. "I haven't caught a single calamari since April 18, and calamari is 95 per cent of my business," he said. "Fee relief is going to be like a grand. It doesn't do a lot." He said the only thing giving him hope was the fact dead squid were not being found on shore. "So there's a little bit of optimism there that maybe they're out in deep water waiting for this algae to clear. But when is it going to clear? "It's stressing everyone out." The bloom has been breaking up in recent weeks, spreading north into Spencer Gulf, south into the Coorong wetlands and along Adelaide's beaches in Gulf St Vincent. The government revealed last week it had now been detected in Adelaide's Port River. The algal bloom has also forced a temporary halt to mussel harvesting in several areas around Port Lincoln due to the detection of shellfish toxins. Latest statewide observations show sea surface temperatures have continued to decrease in shallow coastal and gulf waters. But deeper continental shelf waters, including around Kangaroo Island and southern Yorke Peninsula, continue to experience moderate to strong marine heatwave conditions of 1C to 2C above average. The state government is offering an initial relief package to affected fishing licence holders to waive fees from April to June. Experts partly attribute the bloom to a marine heatwave that started in September - with sea temperatures about 2.5C warmer than usual - combined with calm conditions, light winds and small swells.
The Advertiser
10-06-2025
- Politics
- The Advertiser
Why Scott Morrison's King's Birthday honour boils my blood
For eminent service to the people and Parliament of Australia, particularly as prime minister, to notable contributions to global engagement to leadership of the national COVID-19 response, to economic initiatives, and to national security enhancements, especially through leadership of Australia's contribution to AUKUS. These are the reasons why the Governor-General of Australia bestowed upon former PM, Scott Morrison, highest honour in the land - the Companion of the Order of Australia on the King's Birthday weekend. I don't know about you, but when I heard this, I had to go to the official website to confirm because frankly, I just couldn't believe it. Neither could my 16-year-old son. When I mentioned the award at dinner, his first response was "isn't he the idiot who crapped his pants outside McDonald's that time?" Not, "oh wasn't he the PM before Albo?" or even "was he the one you were writing so much about during COVID?" This is what the kids these days remember him for. Says it all, really. During the pandemic, he deceived the nation by secretly appointing himself to five - FIVE - ministries. The secrecy of these acts undermined democratic accountability and violated principles of responsible government. The Ministers of State Amendment Act 2023 was passed to prevent this from happening again. Does this smack of "eminent service to the people and Parliament"? On the topic of COVID, let's acknowledge his total failure to secure sufficient vaccine supplies early on which led to delays in distribution. Then, when he finally started to get his act together, his over-reliance on AstraZeneca despite the concerns about rare blood clot risks, led to hesitancy and confusion about the safety of vaccines. Unlike the other world leaders who personally lobbied Pfizer executives to secure Pfizer, Morrison chose not to and as such, our early access to the Pfizer doses was limited. Hardly a worthy contribution to global leadership. Then there was the public education campaign around the vaccine that failed to effectively communicate its benefits, and his "it's not a race" messaging, which added fuel to the confusion fire, resulting in misinformation and anti-vaccine sentiment. As a result of all this, we were literally left lagging behind other OECD nation's in our COVID response. While he did instigate JobKeeper, I found it incredible how JobKeeper overpayments to corporations went unchecked, giving them a choice to pay back the additional funds, but overpayments for JobSeeker? Phew - send out the debt notices! Talking of debt notices, the scandalous, harmful robodebt scheme was launched under his leadership when he was the social services minister, and he was the PM at the time of its very timely conclusion. He never took responsibility for it. Instead, he complained that he was a victim of "political lynching". In my opinion, this program represents the most shameful episode of Australia's political history. I was ashamed of my government then. I remain so. You know, maybe what won the award for him was the way he kindly and compassionately considered the very real needs of our most vulnerable Australians (note the sarcasm). His "you have to have a go to get a go" response to people struggling below the poverty line on Centrelink, demanding they pull themselves up by their bootstraps - despite them not having the money for said bootstraps - could conceivably be understood by the overprivileged elites as "good leadership". In reality, it's an entirely different story. Personally, it was when he divided the nation into "the taxed" and the "taxed nots" that had my blood truly boiling; like our worth as a person is counted only in what the government gets out of us. And even then, like we don't all pay tax and excise on petrol, registration and GST. Now there's an example of eminent service to the people. READ MORE: Perhaps the award should have read "for eminent service to the wealthy people." Don't even get me started on the Brittany Higgins case and his failure to even recognise the gravity of the situation until his wife talked to him about it. This is the man who Council for the Order of Australia appointed the highest honour in the land. In my opinion, it's the one case where tradition should have been set aside. For eminent service to the people and Parliament of Australia, particularly as prime minister, to notable contributions to global engagement to leadership of the national COVID-19 response, to economic initiatives, and to national security enhancements, especially through leadership of Australia's contribution to AUKUS. These are the reasons why the Governor-General of Australia bestowed upon former PM, Scott Morrison, highest honour in the land - the Companion of the Order of Australia on the King's Birthday weekend. I don't know about you, but when I heard this, I had to go to the official website to confirm because frankly, I just couldn't believe it. Neither could my 16-year-old son. When I mentioned the award at dinner, his first response was "isn't he the idiot who crapped his pants outside McDonald's that time?" Not, "oh wasn't he the PM before Albo?" or even "was he the one you were writing so much about during COVID?" This is what the kids these days remember him for. Says it all, really. During the pandemic, he deceived the nation by secretly appointing himself to five - FIVE - ministries. The secrecy of these acts undermined democratic accountability and violated principles of responsible government. The Ministers of State Amendment Act 2023 was passed to prevent this from happening again. Does this smack of "eminent service to the people and Parliament"? On the topic of COVID, let's acknowledge his total failure to secure sufficient vaccine supplies early on which led to delays in distribution. Then, when he finally started to get his act together, his over-reliance on AstraZeneca despite the concerns about rare blood clot risks, led to hesitancy and confusion about the safety of vaccines. Unlike the other world leaders who personally lobbied Pfizer executives to secure Pfizer, Morrison chose not to and as such, our early access to the Pfizer doses was limited. Hardly a worthy contribution to global leadership. Then there was the public education campaign around the vaccine that failed to effectively communicate its benefits, and his "it's not a race" messaging, which added fuel to the confusion fire, resulting in misinformation and anti-vaccine sentiment. As a result of all this, we were literally left lagging behind other OECD nation's in our COVID response. While he did instigate JobKeeper, I found it incredible how JobKeeper overpayments to corporations went unchecked, giving them a choice to pay back the additional funds, but overpayments for JobSeeker? Phew - send out the debt notices! Talking of debt notices, the scandalous, harmful robodebt scheme was launched under his leadership when he was the social services minister, and he was the PM at the time of its very timely conclusion. He never took responsibility for it. Instead, he complained that he was a victim of "political lynching". In my opinion, this program represents the most shameful episode of Australia's political history. I was ashamed of my government then. I remain so. You know, maybe what won the award for him was the way he kindly and compassionately considered the very real needs of our most vulnerable Australians (note the sarcasm). His "you have to have a go to get a go" response to people struggling below the poverty line on Centrelink, demanding they pull themselves up by their bootstraps - despite them not having the money for said bootstraps - could conceivably be understood by the overprivileged elites as "good leadership". In reality, it's an entirely different story. Personally, it was when he divided the nation into "the taxed" and the "taxed nots" that had my blood truly boiling; like our worth as a person is counted only in what the government gets out of us. And even then, like we don't all pay tax and excise on petrol, registration and GST. Now there's an example of eminent service to the people. READ MORE: Perhaps the award should have read "for eminent service to the wealthy people." Don't even get me started on the Brittany Higgins case and his failure to even recognise the gravity of the situation until his wife talked to him about it. This is the man who Council for the Order of Australia appointed the highest honour in the land. In my opinion, it's the one case where tradition should have been set aside. For eminent service to the people and Parliament of Australia, particularly as prime minister, to notable contributions to global engagement to leadership of the national COVID-19 response, to economic initiatives, and to national security enhancements, especially through leadership of Australia's contribution to AUKUS. These are the reasons why the Governor-General of Australia bestowed upon former PM, Scott Morrison, highest honour in the land - the Companion of the Order of Australia on the King's Birthday weekend. I don't know about you, but when I heard this, I had to go to the official website to confirm because frankly, I just couldn't believe it. Neither could my 16-year-old son. When I mentioned the award at dinner, his first response was "isn't he the idiot who crapped his pants outside McDonald's that time?" Not, "oh wasn't he the PM before Albo?" or even "was he the one you were writing so much about during COVID?" This is what the kids these days remember him for. Says it all, really. During the pandemic, he deceived the nation by secretly appointing himself to five - FIVE - ministries. The secrecy of these acts undermined democratic accountability and violated principles of responsible government. The Ministers of State Amendment Act 2023 was passed to prevent this from happening again. Does this smack of "eminent service to the people and Parliament"? On the topic of COVID, let's acknowledge his total failure to secure sufficient vaccine supplies early on which led to delays in distribution. Then, when he finally started to get his act together, his over-reliance on AstraZeneca despite the concerns about rare blood clot risks, led to hesitancy and confusion about the safety of vaccines. Unlike the other world leaders who personally lobbied Pfizer executives to secure Pfizer, Morrison chose not to and as such, our early access to the Pfizer doses was limited. Hardly a worthy contribution to global leadership. Then there was the public education campaign around the vaccine that failed to effectively communicate its benefits, and his "it's not a race" messaging, which added fuel to the confusion fire, resulting in misinformation and anti-vaccine sentiment. As a result of all this, we were literally left lagging behind other OECD nation's in our COVID response. While he did instigate JobKeeper, I found it incredible how JobKeeper overpayments to corporations went unchecked, giving them a choice to pay back the additional funds, but overpayments for JobSeeker? Phew - send out the debt notices! Talking of debt notices, the scandalous, harmful robodebt scheme was launched under his leadership when he was the social services minister, and he was the PM at the time of its very timely conclusion. He never took responsibility for it. Instead, he complained that he was a victim of "political lynching". In my opinion, this program represents the most shameful episode of Australia's political history. I was ashamed of my government then. I remain so. You know, maybe what won the award for him was the way he kindly and compassionately considered the very real needs of our most vulnerable Australians (note the sarcasm). His "you have to have a go to get a go" response to people struggling below the poverty line on Centrelink, demanding they pull themselves up by their bootstraps - despite them not having the money for said bootstraps - could conceivably be understood by the overprivileged elites as "good leadership". In reality, it's an entirely different story. Personally, it was when he divided the nation into "the taxed" and the "taxed nots" that had my blood truly boiling; like our worth as a person is counted only in what the government gets out of us. And even then, like we don't all pay tax and excise on petrol, registration and GST. Now there's an example of eminent service to the people. READ MORE: Perhaps the award should have read "for eminent service to the wealthy people." Don't even get me started on the Brittany Higgins case and his failure to even recognise the gravity of the situation until his wife talked to him about it. This is the man who Council for the Order of Australia appointed the highest honour in the land. In my opinion, it's the one case where tradition should have been set aside. For eminent service to the people and Parliament of Australia, particularly as prime minister, to notable contributions to global engagement to leadership of the national COVID-19 response, to economic initiatives, and to national security enhancements, especially through leadership of Australia's contribution to AUKUS. These are the reasons why the Governor-General of Australia bestowed upon former PM, Scott Morrison, highest honour in the land - the Companion of the Order of Australia on the King's Birthday weekend. I don't know about you, but when I heard this, I had to go to the official website to confirm because frankly, I just couldn't believe it. Neither could my 16-year-old son. When I mentioned the award at dinner, his first response was "isn't he the idiot who crapped his pants outside McDonald's that time?" Not, "oh wasn't he the PM before Albo?" or even "was he the one you were writing so much about during COVID?" This is what the kids these days remember him for. Says it all, really. During the pandemic, he deceived the nation by secretly appointing himself to five - FIVE - ministries. The secrecy of these acts undermined democratic accountability and violated principles of responsible government. The Ministers of State Amendment Act 2023 was passed to prevent this from happening again. Does this smack of "eminent service to the people and Parliament"? On the topic of COVID, let's acknowledge his total failure to secure sufficient vaccine supplies early on which led to delays in distribution. Then, when he finally started to get his act together, his over-reliance on AstraZeneca despite the concerns about rare blood clot risks, led to hesitancy and confusion about the safety of vaccines. Unlike the other world leaders who personally lobbied Pfizer executives to secure Pfizer, Morrison chose not to and as such, our early access to the Pfizer doses was limited. Hardly a worthy contribution to global leadership. Then there was the public education campaign around the vaccine that failed to effectively communicate its benefits, and his "it's not a race" messaging, which added fuel to the confusion fire, resulting in misinformation and anti-vaccine sentiment. As a result of all this, we were literally left lagging behind other OECD nation's in our COVID response. While he did instigate JobKeeper, I found it incredible how JobKeeper overpayments to corporations went unchecked, giving them a choice to pay back the additional funds, but overpayments for JobSeeker? Phew - send out the debt notices! Talking of debt notices, the scandalous, harmful robodebt scheme was launched under his leadership when he was the social services minister, and he was the PM at the time of its very timely conclusion. He never took responsibility for it. Instead, he complained that he was a victim of "political lynching". In my opinion, this program represents the most shameful episode of Australia's political history. I was ashamed of my government then. I remain so. You know, maybe what won the award for him was the way he kindly and compassionately considered the very real needs of our most vulnerable Australians (note the sarcasm). His "you have to have a go to get a go" response to people struggling below the poverty line on Centrelink, demanding they pull themselves up by their bootstraps - despite them not having the money for said bootstraps - could conceivably be understood by the overprivileged elites as "good leadership". In reality, it's an entirely different story. Personally, it was when he divided the nation into "the taxed" and the "taxed nots" that had my blood truly boiling; like our worth as a person is counted only in what the government gets out of us. And even then, like we don't all pay tax and excise on petrol, registration and GST. Now there's an example of eminent service to the people. READ MORE: Perhaps the award should have read "for eminent service to the wealthy people." Don't even get me started on the Brittany Higgins case and his failure to even recognise the gravity of the situation until his wife talked to him about it. This is the man who Council for the Order of Australia appointed the highest honour in the land. In my opinion, it's the one case where tradition should have been set aside.
