The Imperial Warship Has Landed
Fortune favours the brave. He could see them clambering down to the planet surface from above. They didn't look human to him. Above the surface, above that suburb, those suburbs, the air was already transformed. We whisper quietly, or not at all. The gods were angry that they were called at all.
The lone sentinel no longer appeared on the valley opposite.
This was not the same urgent messaging, for the time was lost when that tragedy of staggering proportions could have been stopped. All the warnings had been ignored. Derided. Dismissed.
They were so damn smart.
So damn smart they ignored the gods, when Blind Freddy could have heard them singing out a caution.
So it was then, that we reached this grievous time.
The scale of it, that was what staggered him. The psychopathic lack of empathy by the perpetrators. The dismal state of the nation.
The Prime Minister Scott Morrison was now twirling in the wind, forced to publicly deny he was a hypocrite and a liar, a "horrible, horrible" person.
You only had to look to know you had been contained, conned.
Parliament begins today; not just all the texts of his "Cabinet" members calling him out as a disgusting piece of work, but with Parliament surrounded by thousands of mandate and lockdown protestors, as Australian democracy collapsed before our eyes.
It appeared to be happening quicker than he would have predicted; perhaps it would stabilise and recalibrate but it was hard to see.
People just wanted their lives back.
Ruled over by insane and protected bureaucrats, by politicians who had wasted everybody's time, in the process destroying the country; and from afar we reach, here at the end of empire, in this most beautiful place, a jewel in the firmament.
We watched. We listened. We heard. And above that giant settling; into a place, into a time.
The warlords were here.
The song was sung.
The dance had begun; this savagely strange dance macabre, this terrible tragedy for the species.
Ruled by psychopaths; they should have listened. But they did not.
Power comes to those who grasp it.
Here, here. It was no wonder there was so much sadness.
Spend time with nature and the gods, as Marcus Aurelius had written.
And so it was. And so it came to be. Those are the facts.
MAINSTREAM MEDIA
SKY
Vikki Campion says the private text messages of her fiancé Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce calling Prime Minister Scott Morrison a "hypocrite and a liar" is a "betrayal" of a woman.
The Deputy Prime Minister's fiancé revealed the text messages addressing former Liberal party staffer Brittany Higgins were in fact leaked through a third party member - a woman who was "just trying to help".
The Nationals leader has issued a public apology to the Prime Minister for calling him a "hypocrite and a liar" in a text message from March 2021.
GUARDIAN AUSTRALIA
Nation records at least 45 Covid deaths with 28 in NSW, nine in Queensland, six in Victoria and one each in South Australia and Tasmania; Scott Morrison addresses relationship with Barnaby Joyce ahead of deputy PM facing colleagues in Canberra this week. This blog is now closed
‘Very close’: Morrison government eyes border reopening as Australia records 45 Covid deaths
‘Politics is a brutal business’: Morrison says he forgives Joyce for leaked text message
‘Threat to lives and homes’: WA residents flee as bushfires bear down on towns
ABC
After two years of lockdowns and restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, some of us might be ready to put the 2020s behind us and focus on the future.
But can looking back at the past actually help us deal with the present?
Medieval historian and Senior Research Fellow Miles Pattenden, from the Australian Catholic University, suggested that looking back through history and what humanity has survived helps us rationalise present-day challenges.
"Sadly, plague has been a common recurrence throughout history," Mr Pattenden told ABC Radio Canberra.
"[COVID] has been pretty bad for a lot of us who have been locked up at home for long periods in Australia and elsewhere.
SMH
A shortage of house cleaners caused by two years of border closures and lockdowns is disrupting the work-life juggle for busy families and causing genuine hardship for people who are elderly or have disabilities.
Domestic cleaning companies report turning away thousands of dollars worth of business leads generated through their websites every day, including for vulnerable people who have funding for cleaning services through the National Disability Insurance Scheme, aged care or workers compensation packages.
Meanwhile, community Facebook groups are flooded with frustrated consumers – mostly working parents – asking for local recommendations for cleaners. Searching for cleaners online often results in an automated quote and provisional booking, then a phone call or email later advising that no teams are available.
CRIKEY
Scott Morrison tried to kick off his National Press Club (NPC) address on a note of contrition.
“I haven’t got everything right, and I’ll take my fair share of the criticism and the blame,” the prime minister said.
Throughout the address, which marks the start of the political year, and which was Morrison’s first opportunity to really claw back momentum after a summer of incompetence, the prime minister remained on the defensive.
Through a typically long (and frankly rather dull) preamble, stressing the challenges of COVID and national security, and tossing in plenty of buzzwords about the Coalition’s “strong economic management”, Morrison’s message was clear: yes, things might be kinda bad right now, and we kinda messed up, but we think they’ll probably get a bit better soon. We hope. Also, don’t vote for the other guys.
It wasn’t until questions kicked in that the prime minister really looked rattled, forced onto the back foot by a hostile barrage. First up, 7.30 political editor and NPC President Laura Tingle asked Morrison whether he’d take the opportunity to say sorry for his mistakes as PM – from COVID to that Hawaii trip, from rapid test shortages to the NDIS.
Give ’em nothing, take ’em nowhere: bereft Morrison cannot lead
“We’re all terrible sorry for what this pandemic has done to the world and this country” was the start of Morrison’s rambling non-answer. He also admitted that, maybe, the messaging from government was a little too optimistic about the hot vax summer.
“So you don’t have to say sorry about any of those things?” Tingle asked.
“I think I’ve explained my answer fairly fully,” said Morrison.
Things got more awkward. A question about whether he knew the price of bread, petrol and RATs was met with an admission that Morrison’s minders hadn’t even briefed him in case of a gotcha.
“I’m not going to pretend to you that I go out each day and I buy a loaf of bread and I buy a litre of milk. I’m not going to pretend to you that I do that,” he said.
“And I’ll leave those sort of things to you, mate.”
Sure, a gimmicky question, but an admission that chips away at the regular, suburban dad schtick Morrison tries so hard to cultivate.
Later, Ten’s political editor Peter van Onselen raised some bombshell text messages between Gladys Berejiklian and a current Liberal minister, allegedly referring to Morrison as “a horrible, horrible person”, a “fraud” and “a complete psycho”.
Morrison said he didn’t know what van Onselen was referring to, and denied the characterisation. The tone had truly soured by then.