Porter’s office in privacy breach
Who knew the one thing that could unite multicultural leaders was a privacy breach?
Dim view
The Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, Finance Minister, Cities Minister, Energy Minister, state Jobs Minister and two local members call a press conference to cut a ribbon for a viewing platform, fenced off by scaffolding, next to an airport, which won’t start construction until next year. No, it’s not a scene from the ABC’s political satire Utopia, it’s a real thing that happened on Monday.
Seven years before a plane will ever take off, the new “Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport Experience Centre” is now open! The PM’s media release promises “first-class views”, but if you read past the headline it goes on to say: “Designed in conjunction with the local landscape, the centre will guide visitors through an exhibition space before opening to a viewing area where they will be able to see airport construction under way … in early 2020.” Despite having literally nothing to see,Morrison claimed tourists would come “to press their faces to the glass and watch as the future unfolds”. Antibacterial wipes not included.
Centre of attention
Luckily, the press conference was more entertaining than the view.
Journalist: How much taxpayer money (will the centre cost)?
Morrison: That’s a commercial in-confidence matter.
Journalist: So you can’t tell us?
Morrison: No …
Journalist: Your media release says that you expect tourists will come here. Can you really expect that tourists will want to visit Sydney, go to the Opera House, Bondi Beach, Harbour Bridge, and the Western Sydney airport experience?
Morrison: Why wouldn’t they?
Journalist: Do you really think they will?
Morrison: Yeah, sure, why not?
Journalist: Predominantly it’s just government promotional videos being played over and over again. Is that ... You think it’s a tourist attraction?
His answer was a hearty yes.
strewth@theaustralian.com.
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Who knew the one thing that could unite Australia’s diverse multicultural leaders was a privacy breach by the Attorney-General’s office? Christian Porter gathered religious leaders and journalists at The Great Synagogue in Sydney’s CBD last Thursday to read his draft religious discrimination bill. Not all attended — the Catholic Church and Australian Christian Lobby boycotted the event and other faith groups were told to avoid being used for a photo opp with Porter. As the Attorney-General gave his 11-page speech, an email was sent at 11:31am with a link to the draft bill. But Porter’s office forgot to hide the more than 100 recipients, exposing the private emails of some of the most senior members of Australia’s religious, faith, legal and human rights communities. Including: the Grand Mufti of Australia, Ibrahim Abu Mohammed; Anglican Archbishop of Sydney Glenn Davies; Sydney’s Catholic Archbishop, Anthony Fisher; the executive council of Australian Jewry co-CEOs Peter Wertheim and Alex Ryvchin; Justice Stephen Rothman SC; Australian National Imams Council spokesman Bilal Rauf; NSW Liberal president Philip Ruddock; and Scott Morrison’s legal adviser Daniel Ward. “It just looked really sloppy, and a bit odd, given this was all about protecting religious communities,” one religious leader who received the email tells Strewth. “It took me about five seconds to see everyone on the list there. It’s bizarre because the invitation to the event that was sent beforehand BCC’d everyone. The vibe I got from that email was that it was poorly handled, especially as it was sent out midway through his speech.” After we alerted Porter’s office to the mistake, they issued an apology to those caught up by the “administrative error”.