Bill Shorten’s change of heart is ridiculed but not rejected
Plus Labor on Israel — now and then — and more proof California is different.
Free trade now. Bill Shorten, press conference, yesterday:
We understand there are great benefits in a China free-trade agreement for many people. We’re also very committed to making sure that there are no unintended consequences.
And free trade then. AAP report, September 13, 2000:
(AWU) state secretary Bill Shorten told trade unionists at yesterday’s World Economic Forum rally … “Free trade is bullshit.”
And while the government still sounds stubborn on the subject … Malcolm Turnbull, question time, yesterday:
While every other Australian was looking forward to the opportunities it gives us to opening up the single market, his only contribution was to bob like a cork in the slipstream of the CFMEU.
It’s not rejecting the change of heart out of hand. Andrew Robb, also from question time:
For the first time we’ve seen something written down as to what seeks to explain in some way the agitation and the abuse and the accusations and the sound bytes, the sound bytes that are characteristic of the debate on the other side of the parliament.
Labor and Israel then. The Sydney Morning Herald, January 29, 1949:
The Prime Minister, Mr Chifley, announced last night that the federal government had decided to give full recognition to the Jewish state of Israel. Mr Chifley said in Canberra, “The Australian government believes that the new nation of Israel will be a force of special value in the world community.”
Labor and Israel now. Tweet for NSW ALP Legislative Councillor Shaoquett Moselmane, Monday:
With Bob Carr addressing #Revesby Branch of the ALP on #Israel’s unconscionable treatment of the #Palestinian people.
Escaping deprivation and disease. From The Great Escape: Health, Wealth, and the Origins of Inequality (2013), by this year’s Nobel laureate for economics Angus Deaton :
Life is better now than at almost any time in history. More people are richer and fewer people live in dire poverty. Lives are longer and parents no longer routinely watch a quarter of their children die.
In Mad Max,society breaks down because they’re fighting over petrol. In California … The New York Times, Sunday:
Of all the states, California has set the most ambitious targets for cutting emissions in coming decades, and an important pillar of its plan to reach those goals is encouraging the spread of electric vehicles. But the push to make the state greener is creating an unintended side effect: It is making some people meaner. The bad moods stem from the challenges drivers face finding recharging spots for their battery-powered cars … Electric-vehicle owners are unplugging one another’s cars, trading insults, and creating black markets and side deals … and manners often go out the window … Such incidents are not uncommon, according to interviews with drivers and electric vehicle advocates, as well as posts from people sharing frustrations on social media.
Very reassuring — not. Tony Jones, Q&A, ABC television, Monday night:
Now, remember, if you hear any doubtful claims on Q&A, send a tweet using the hashtags #factcheck and #qanda and keep an eye on our Twitter account for fact checks by The Conversation or the ABC fact checking unit.