A SHOCKING ERROR OF JUDGEMENT

Ivor Prickett World Press Photo Mosul

Our specialty is heart attacks. 
They cried for someone they themselves had killed. 
Faux tears. 
They wore their hypocrisy so blatantly it was a clashing purple robe. 
They fussed over extra marital affairs while bombing the ruins of Mosul.
A pale, driven, conscience free zone stood in front of a lectern and lectured the rest of the country on how to behave. 
The Prime Minister. Throwing his Deputy under the bus, he accused him of a shocking error of judgement, and declared that everyone was appalled.
No they weren't.
These were two consenting adults. She in her thirties. He in his fifties. That the PM should start rabbiting on about power imbalances and gender issues showed just how far out of touch Malcolm Turnbull had drifted. And the company he kept. 
Old Alex had a Chief of Staff like that. When he got home: I've struck a blow for the sisterhood against all those awful men. Can I get a bit of nookie now? 
They were wetter than wet, run by their wives and needed to get out more. These fake men. 
The real world beckoned but they were more comfortable being whipped. 
An old cactus patch. A blast of fresh air. A holiday by the sea. A cruel indifference. A blatant attack on civil liberties. 
This government had shown so many shocking errors of judgement; in Iraq, in Syria, in Mosul, in Raqqa, in dropping bombs on innocents and going all the way with the US of A in a string of immoral military adventures. 
In forcing millions of Australians onto an inferior broadband network when the rest of the world was powering ahead.
In engineering a place with not just the worst and most expensive internet in the world, but the highest electricity prices, falling standards of living, a grossly mismanaged immigration program, increasing social division. 
And the constant plundering of a beleaguered population to feed a bloated bureaucracy.
Not to mention its constant assault on freedom of speech. 
They ravaged the poor and handed to the rich. 
They fell over backwards for the big end of town and introduced drug tests for welfare recipients. 
They were the worst government in the nation's history. 
Australia stood at a precipice. 
He was here now. Fate had dealt the hand. He would document the fall.

THE BIGGER STORY:

Australia’s privacy and transparency watchdog was given less than 24 hours to review the government’s proposed secrecy laws while they were being drafted, The New Daily can exclusively reveal.
The Attorney-General’s Department provided the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) with a draft of the legislation – which introduces heavy jail terms for handling sensitive government information – several weeks before its announcement to gather feedback and recommendations.
But emails obtained under freedom of information laws reveal the OAIC was given a deadline of just one day to assess the contentious Espionage and Foreign Interference Bill.
The legislation was unveiled by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in December as part of a crackdown on government leaks and against a backdrop of rising anxiety about Chinese interference in Australian politics. But press freedom advocates have warned that the legislation could criminalise legitimate public interest journalism.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull says he has no regrets about the new sex ban prohibiting Cabinet ministers from having sexual relations with their staffers.
Mr Turnbull announced the ban on Thursday after it was revealed Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce had an extramarital affair with his media adviser, who is now pregnant with his child, with the PM labelling it a "shocking error of judgment".
In returning fire, Mr Joyce likened the Prime Minister's remarks to ripping the scab off a healing wound.
"Comments by the Prime Minister yesterday at his press conference … in many instances, they caused further harm. I believe they were in many instances inept and most definitely in many instances unnecessary," he said.
The personal clash between the two leaders sparked concerns a rift between The Nationals and the Liberals could derail the Coalition Government.

But during an interview on the 60 Minutes program on Sunday, Mr Turnbull stood by his comments.
"I certainly felt that the values I expressed and the action I took would have the overwhelming endorsement of Australians," said.
"I felt it was absolutely the right thing to do."
He said the public wanted to hear his "heartfelt views" about what had happened.Mr Turnbull also revealed he had also consulted with his wife of 38 years, Lucy, about the sex ban.