Liberal MPs flood zone with videos as election strategy emerges
IN THE NEWS
Homes, structures ‘in the thousands’ are burned in Palisades, Eaton, officials say; more fire weather ahead (Los Angeles Times) — Officials have said the death toll from the California fires is likely to rise with more then 2,000 structures destroyed and at least 130,000 residents under evacuation orders. The fires are set to be one of the most costly natural disasters in US history with the economic toll into the billions of dollars, the LA Times reports. Elsewhere the paper highlights how outgoing US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump (both of whom were at former president Jimmy Carter’s funeral on Thursday) have differed in their response to the fires.
Russia keeping close eye on Trump’s claim to Greenland (BBC) — The fallout from Donald Trump’s comments this week about Greenland, Panama and Canada continue to dominate headlines. The BBC reports Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said Moscow is closely monitoring the Greenland situation and that the Arctic is in Russia’s “sphere of national and strategic interests and it is interested in peace and stability there”. The Kremlin reportedly also ridiculed Europe’s response to Trump refusing to rule out military action to take Greenland from Denmark, suggesting it was reacting “very timidly… almost in a whisper”.
Elon Musk is trying to break Germany’s quarantine on the far-right AfD (The New York Times): Billionaire Elon Musk’s efforts to insert himself into the politics of other nations has also been one of the main stories this week and on Thursday he hosted a live interview on X with Alice Weidel, the chancellor candidate for the far-right party, the Alternative for Germany (AfD). The New York Times says Musk “is offering the AfD a level of publicity and legitimacy that it has long been denied in German public life”. The country is set for a snap election on February 23. This week Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said of Musk’s high profile posting: “I’ll stand up for Australia’s national interest and won’t be intimidated by anyone, particularly not in the area of foreign interference.”
‘Modern-day talkback radio’: the Liberals’ video deluge is part of a plan (The Age): Talking of politics and social media posting, the Nine papers says Liberal MPs are posting a “deluge of videos” on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook as part of a deliberate video strategy ahead of the federal election. With much made of Coalition leader Peter Dutton’s videos over the festive break, the papers say the creative agency Topham Guerin, which was previously used by Scott Morrison and Boris Johnson, is playing a role in the battle for online views as politicians attempt to be as authentic as possible. However, as the recent US and UK elections have shown us, follower and view counts do not necessarily translate into votes.
Reeves mulls deeper cuts to public services as borrowing costs soar (The Guardian): In the UK, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is considering imposing steeper cuts to public services to repair the government’s finances, The Guardian reports. It comes after investors drove up the cost of UK borrowing with the pound pushed to a 14-month low. The paper says the opposition Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are calling for Reeves to cancel her planned trip to China this week as economists warn the £10 billion buffer the chancellor had kept in reserve to meet her primary fiscal rule could be wiped out by the rising borrowing costs.
SEASON’S GREETINGS FROM QANTAS!
Australian air passengers are facing years of turmoil, with delays in the delivery of new aircraft set to cause further disruptions and fare hikes. But with an election looming, the federal government appears to have finally woken up to the level of consumer frustration and anger, writes Michael Sainsbury.
WHAT IS HAPPENING AT WAPO?
This week, The Washington Post fired around 4% of its work force, including the majority of its communications teams. It follows billionaire owner Jeff Bezos reportedly overruling a decision from the paper’s editorial board in October to endorse a candidate in the then-upcoming US presidential election. Daanyal Saeed explains just what is going on at the once-proud American masthead.
WHAT I’M READING
It took me a while to finish it, but today I’ve been absolutely engrossed by Derek Thompson’s piece in The Atlantic on how Americans are spending more time alone than ever. The piece, which could relate to most populations to be fair, is fascinating and terrifying in equal measure. “The Anti-Social Century” looks at how this preference for solitude is changing people’s personalities, their politics and even their relationship to reality.
“Phones mean that solitude is more crowded than it used to be, and crowds are more solitary. ‘Bright lines once separated being alone and being in a crowd,’ Nicholas Carr, the author of the new book Superbloom: How Technologies of Connection Tear Us Apart, told me. ‘Boundaries helped us. You could be present with your friends and reflective in your downtime.’ Now our social time is haunted by the possibility that something more interesting is happening somewhere else, and our downtime is contaminated by the streams and posts and texts of dozens of friends, colleagues, frenemies, strangers.
“If Carr is right, modern technology’s always-open window to the outside world makes recharging much harder, leaving many people chronically depleted, a walking battery that is always stuck in the red zone. In a healthy world, people who spend lots of time alone would feel that ancient biological cue: I’m alone and sad; I should make some plans. But we live in a sideways world, where easy home entertainment, oversharing online, and stunted social skills spark a strangely popular response: I’m alone, anxious, and exhausted; thank God my plans were canceled.”
Thompson’s piece covers all elements of modern life including, inevitably, AI. This piece in The Athletic (my dyslexic brain had to seriously focus not to mix those two publications up) looks at how artificial intelligence could transform football in the near future. If you’re a fan of the game and its traditions, you might want to buckle up from some serious changes coming for your favourite sport soon.
“Although there are still some steps to be made, the advancement in player tracking data means [former head of data at City Football Group Lee] Mooney believes football could reach the point where clubs have trained AI to simulate matches against their upcoming opponents, modelling individual players based on their technical qualities and mechanics and producing 3D animations of how the real-life games might play out.
“‘You could set up to play Manchester City, train the AI agent to understand how they play and what their individual strengths and weaknesses are, and then play the game millions of times to find the most efficient strategies to beat them with the players you have,’ says Mooney.”
This is not a piece I’ve read but a piece I’ve written about my daughter. We recently found out our beautiful baby Holly has an extremely rare genetic disorder called GRIN2B. In it I talk about the journey my family went on through a brutal 2024 as Holly endured endless medical appointments as she missed every milestone going. I speak of our grief and fears but also the steely determination my wife and I have to give our gorgeous giggly Holly and her older sister Florence the best lives possible and to focus on the joy along the way.
Finally, as we gear up for the election year and all the madness along the way, I’d love to hear from people about what they would potentially like more of in the Worm each morning, what topics or publications they’d like to read more about/from etc. I’m very keen to discover what I could add to this newsletter each day. Email me at [email protected]. Cheers!
MEDIA REPORTER’S SUMMER MEDIA DIET
In my tabs: I don’t have intellectual long reads that will make you a better person — that’s why we did the third instalment of Crikey’s Movers and Shakers late last year.
On my bedside table: I’m currently reading (as is just about everyone in Australian media, it seems) Lech Blaine’s Australian Gospel, and it’s been a long time since I’ve been captivated by a work like this. I just finished reading Glenn Maxwell’s biography by Adam Collins, The Showman. Maxwell is erudite, meticulous and articulate in ways you would simply never see through a television. I also recently finished String Theory, a collection of essays by David Foster Wallace on tennis. It demolishes the premise so often seen in our comment section when I report or write about sport; that it is a lesser medium of cultural expression than others like the performing arts, populated by dimwits whose only talent is running fast, jumping high or kicking balls.
In my ears: Cricket is the sound of summer, and that’s exactly what’s been in my ears. My go-to podcast has been The Grade Cricketer, by Sam Perry and Ian Higgins. It has been supplemented by the ABC Sport Daily podcast — Patrick Stack and Poppy Penny do a fabulous job of making stories from all over the sporting world digestible and accessible. I’ve also been listening to SEN, where Gerard Whateley is reason enough to tune in. After Australia lost the first Test of the men’s summer in Perth, Whateley’s emergency segment was a masterclass in radio broadcasting.
On my screen: I have thoroughly enjoyed rewatching Marc Fennell’s Stuff the British Stole. Having recently visited the British Museum myself and understanding in a visceral, physical sense the scale of theft and dispossession of the former empire, it took on an entirely new meaning for me. Fennell, as most are already very familiar with, is charming, humble and witty throughout. I also enjoyed the latest Wallace and Gromit film, Vengeance Most Fowl.
On my plate: My signature dish is (as is true of many other Pakistanis) my biryani. It’s definitely better than the one you had in Harris Park that one time. You can’t have the recipe. Well, not unless you give me a good scoop. My email is [email protected]. Our editor-in-chief Sophie Black put me onto this salted choc chip tahini cookie recipe, and my word they are gorgeous. Meanwhile our former editor Gina Rushton recommended this caramelised shallot pasta that is now a staple of my weekdays. Joseph Abboud is the chef at Rumi in Brunswick in Melbourne’s inner north. His roast tahini chicken is incredibly simple and pays off hugely (it pairs delightfully with his broccoli tabouli). Speaking of Melbourne (despite the fact I’ve lived in godless Sydney for seven years), I was delighted to discover Warung Agus, a Balinese gem on Victoria St in West Melbourne.
CRIKEY’S RECIPE PUT TO THE TEST
Recipes aren’t Crikey’s usual fare, but we were glad to see our little content experiment this week went down well with at least one of you. Thanks to subscriber Anne Maria Nicholson for the following note and photo!
“I read Crikey for its insights into our politics, media and institutions… not our food! Finding a recipe in the editor’s letter was unexpected and came on a lazy day when I needed to make a posh pudding. This pavlova is a giant leap forward from my default supermarket pav slathered with cream and mixed fruits. I regard cardamom as the queen of spices and it proved to be the killer ingredient of this recipe. I ground some fresh and starting with a pile of fresh eggs, dedicated an afternoon to creating this sensational dessert.”
Say What?
The only person who has raised in a discussion four-year terms is Peter Dutton, with me. I never raised it with him.
Anthony Albanese
The prime minister told The Australian the opposition leader had raised his potential backing for four-year terms during a private conversation. This week Dutton has condemned Albanese for voicing his support for longer electoral cycles.
THE COMMENTARIAT
Under Trump’s thumb, Mark Zuckerberg has no f—s left to give. The f-word here is facts — David Rothkopf (Daily Beast): It is time, in fact, that the public at large acknowledge that Trump has not changed American politics or society. Rather, he has revealed them for what they are. As inequality has grown, democracy has been decaying for years as the power of the richest among us has been compounded by captive courts and legislators in much the same way as their holdings have benefited from the compounding of market returns.
In fact, engineering that decay is no accident. It is part of a sustained, organised power grab by the world’s most power-hungry people.
These billionaires who are now enlisting as MAGA foot-soldiers are not schmucks. They are not just kissing up to Trump because he will be the big man on campus for the next few years, or because it will help them further feather their nests — although, as noted above, when you are as pathologically greedy as you must be to become a billionaire, that kind of thing is never far from your thinking.
They are doing it because they have seen that democracy is often costly for them, with its periodic elevation of people whose policies nag at them — raising their taxes, increasing regulations, diminishing their influence, promoting the competition they say they love but that in actuality they hate and seek to destroy at all costs.
Albanese is running at the election ‘kicking against the wind’ — and there’s less room for error than usual — Jake Evans (ABC): In the lead up to 2022, a confident Albanese said Labor was “kicking with the wind” heading into that campaign. This time, it will be kicking against it. A global wave of anti-incumbency sentiment has toppled governments of all stripes, or eroded their margins.
A loss of just three seats will force Labor into minority government — though the path to a majority government is not easy for the Coalition, which would need to pick up 21 seats.
Analysis by pollsters RedBridge after an end-of-year redrawing of electorate boundaries suggests the chance that Labor can maintain a majority is near nil. It now predicts the Coalition will be the largest bloc in Parliament after this election, with somewhere between 64 to 78 seats to Labor’s 59 to 71 seats, based on end of year polling.
Even the prospect of that must be uncomfortable for a government that only recently won back power after nearly a decade of Coalition government.
