Not Good Enough

16 — Respect the tropes

We acknowledge the sacrifice of our fallen heroes, and discuss former PM Malcom Turnbull's testy responses to criticism of his new book. Then chat about the knock-on effects of tumbling oil prices and how to save the Great Barrier Reef.

News

• Congrats to the staff of Wired magazine for forming a union.
• “Private” Zoom messages can be seen by the creator of a meeting.
• It’s possible for employers to read private slack messages.

Former PM Book Tour News

• Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s book was pirated by a staffer working for current PM Scott Morrison’s.
• Turnbull has responded testily to even light criticism for his policies while in office.
• He was also responsible for the gutting of Australia’s National Broadband Network.

War, huh?

• It’s Anzac Day in Australia. Australians were encouraged to play the last post at dawn from their driveways.
• The reverence of Anzac Day was pushed by Prime Minister John Howard in support of the Iraq War.
• Corporations are known for their awkward tributes to fallen soldiers.

Oil prices are bad

• Oil prices are bad! How bad? So bad oil producers are paying buyers to take oil off their hands.
• Australia’s government is stockpiling oil storing it in the US for “emergencies”.
• The head of Australia’s organisation to post-COVID economic recovery is pushing gas and oil drilling.
• They’re also pushing for reductions in environmental regulations.

Smoking the Reef

• The Great Barrier Reef is dying, and quickly.
• Scientists are trying to use geo-engineering to try to save the reef.
• …funded by the same government that is pushing for increased coal production.

Jobkeeping up with the Jones

• Lawyers and accountants are overrepresented amongst employers applying for the Jobkeeper payments from the government.
• The Victorian Liberal party are applying for Jobkeeper.
• Victorian Trades Hall have started a program called Jobscammer, for employees to dob in bosses who are cheating the Jobkeeper program.
• Conservative politicians are starting to push for the increased Jobseeker rates to be maintained once the Coronavirus disaster is over.
• In Italy and Mexico, organised crime are taking over the holes in the social support systems left by governments.
• The Guardian have published a series mini articles by vulnerable people.

Nationalise it

• Virgin Australia has gone into voluntary administration.
• Perth Airport has put bulldozers in front of Virgin’s planes to try to force payment of debts.
• The Ararat Advertiser has closed, leaving a 16 year-old student as the city’s only source of local news.

Actions

• Listen to Ararat’s Latest — Ararat’s now only remaining souce of local news.
• Give us a review in your podcast app!

Music credits

• “Nationalise It!” — Written and performed by Brendan McPherson
• “Rock Thing” — by Creo

15 — Rentseekers united

The NSW and Victorian state governments have announced massive rent relief packages. Or are they just handouts to landlords? Then we chat COVID tracing apps, and what Angus Taylor has been up to recently.

News

• George Pell is under investigation for new child sexual abuse allegations.
• You can torture yourself by watching a 50 minute interview with Andrew Bolt if you like.
• No justice for Duncan Storrar after being relentlessly hounded by the Murdoch press.

Rentseeker relief

• NSW has announced a combined $440 million subsidy to landlords for missed rent payments.
• Victoria is giving $420m in tax breaks to landlords, and a $80m in payments to tenants. Tenants will need to prove that they earn less than $100,000 and have less than $5000 in savings.
• Large retailers like JB Hi-Fi are being offered lengthy free rent periods.
• Real Estate agents have been found trading tips on getting unemployed tenants to pay.
• The Jobkeeper payments to employers are already being abused. Rebekha Sharkie, MP for Mayo has had a constituent contacting her complaining that an employer would only re-hire them if they got a cut of the payment.

Tired of these apps

• The Australian government is working on an app to trace COVID-19 contacts.
• It might be based on the Singaporian app, TraceTogether, but we really don’t know.
• Stuart Robert, government services minister, friend of the show, has already gotten essential information about the app wrong.
• Some government MPs have already said they won’t be using the app.
• Cryptographer Vanessa Teague has worries that the app could track more than COVID-19 contacts.

Plague ships, again

• Bookings for cruises are now more popular than before the outbreak??
• The Ruby Princess debacle is now the subject of a homicide police investigation. Police have started interviewing all passengers
• The NSW government has created a special commission to look into the matter, headed by Brett Walker (previous hits include George Pell’s appeal, and fighting tobacco plain packaging laws on behalf of Philip Morris).
• Tasmania’s recent spike in COVID-19 cases is also linked to the Ruby Princess.
• Ovation of the Seas was also let in to Australia by Border Force without any isolation requirements for passengers, despite 98 infections on board.

Vomiting money emoji

• Enemy of the show Chris Uhlman asks the deep questions like: “Should you kill your grandma”.
• Uhlman ran for election in 1998 on an anti-euthanasia platform.
• AFR Contributor Sam Lovik says that the virus must spread.

Climate rorts, baby!

• Energy minister Angus Taylor is handing out money to fossil fuels and liberal party donors under the guise of the Underwriting New Generation Investment program.
• An independent report by the Parliamentary Budget Office has concluded that ending logging in Victoria now (rather than phasing it out over the next decade) would save taxpayers $192 million dollars.
• Victorian agriculture minister Jaclyn Symes’ claims that gas drilling would not harm the environment… did not account for burning the gas.

Actions

• Listen to UK politics and tech podcast Trashfuture for more on the betrayal of Jeremy Corbyn from with the UK Labour party.
• Tell your friends to listen to Not Good Enough! We’re on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Youtube. Anywhere you can think of, we’ll be there for you.

14 — Corollavirus

We officially announce our endorsement for the US presidential election and discuss Pell walking free. Then we get all dreamy talking about what cities could look like without car commuting.

News

• Not Good Enough has formally endorsed Bernie Sanders for president.
• Cardinal George Pell has had his conviction reversed by the Australian supreme court. He’s currently on a road trip to Sydney, after being “cheered by inmates”.
• Spain is moving to a Universal Basic Income — and planning to keep it once the pandemic is over.
• QLD Greens MP Michael Berkman has called for state ownership of hospitals, instead of the government leasing beds whenever they are needed.
• "Nationalise It!" — Written and performed by Brendan McPherson

Economic management

• Scott Morrison has asked for renters and landlords to “talk to each other”, to sort out rent reductions if tenants cannot pay.
• More than two million Australians will be left out of the government’s Job Keeper package, including migrant workers and people on the disability support pension.
• Minister for Families and Social Services Anne Ruston could could raise the benefits for disabled people without any legislation changes, but is choosing not to.
• Tresurer Josh Frydenberg tells migrant workers to draw down on their super, or leave the country.

Coronavirus charges

• Victora police have used the coronavirus social gathering and movement laws to fine a drive-by protest advocating for coronavirus safety measures for refugees.
• Australian coronavirus patients are going to be treated with unproven drug hydroxychloroquine, with billionaire troublemaker Clive Palmer given a contract to produce it.
• Tough guys Border Force has been shown to be responsible for allowing plague ship Ruby Princess to dock.

Riding into blue skies

• Big cities like New Dheli are experiencing clear air for the first time in a lifetime.
• Long-term exposure to air pollution is linked to worse outcomes for coronavirus patients.
• Cities are starting to turn over more space to to cyclists and pedestrians instead of cars.
• Four-day work weeks have been linked to increases in productivity.
• Amsterdam used to be packed with cars. They changed it.

Actions

• Check out donoteat’s Youtube series on city planning, especially the episode on how highways kill cities.
• If you’re organising rent action, or have been harassed by your landlord, get in touch with us!
• Check out the Heated podcast for a great source of climate news. Solidaritus et podcastus ✊

13 — Money police

We remind you all that the climate still exists, then discuss the government's 'Jobkeeper' stimulus plans, cruise ship crimes and landlord crimes.

The climate is still here

• The airline industry’s push for using 2019-20 as a baseline for emissions targets has backfired.
• NSW has opened up coal mining underneath one of Sydney’s major drinking water reservoirs.
• Despite catastrophic bushfires and a coronavirus crisis the Victorian government has renewed native forest logging agreements.
• Nearly one-in-five of Australia’s big polluters are breaching Australia’s already sub-standard emissions reductions laws.
• In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency has totally stopped enforcement of environmental regulations because of Coranavirus.
• Don’t forget that Flint, Michigan has been without clean drinking water for six years.
• New Orleans has no public school system, and the bodies of killed construction workers on display.

Stimulating news

• The Australian government has introduced a “Jobkeeper” payment to keep workers employed by businesses.
• Casual workers who have been employed for less than 12 months cannot receive the payment. These rules will disproportionally affect women and vulnerable people.
• The requirements to be elegible for Centerlink/Jobseeker payments have changed.
• See Episode 6 — Eat the Rich for tales of restaurant industry collapse and wage underpayment.
• The Morrison government is proposing a workplace relations shakeup which will dramatically shift power in the favor of employers at the cost to workers.
• The government’s promises of free childcare may not be as generous as initially promised.

Big business begging

• Michael West and FriendlyJordies have been doing some great investigative journalism and defamatory YouTube videos on the subject, banks hungry for coronavirus bailouts.
• Airlines Virgin and Qantas are begging for a handout, no strings though please.
• Nemesis of the show Energy Minister Angus Taylor failed to disclose free memberships he was given by both airlines.

Plague ships are princesses

• The Ruby Princess cruise accounting for 10% of Australia’s conronavirus infections is now under police investigation.
• The Diamond Princess ship in Japan should have scared people off cruises forever.
• The Coral Princess has arrived in Miami with two people dead of coronavirus. Maybe stear clear of cruises?

Landlord crimes

• Real estate agents and landlords worried about rental income drying up are demanding to know how much tenants spend on food and advising them to dip into their superannuation.
• Australia’s Securities and Investments Commission have reminded landlords that this is super illegal.
• Don’t forget to write to your MP to demand rent and mortgage freezes. We’ve got an email template you can use.

State crimes

• Refugees held in immigration detention are being kept in unsanitary conditions — especially dangerous under a pandemic.
• The government has simply ignored a tribunal’s decision to free an unlawfully imprisoned refugee.
• An Aboriginal man held in police custody was “condition deteriorated”.

Actions

• Check out Michael West media — Australia doesn’t have much independent media left so help keep them running.
• Support the Australian Unemployed Workers Union.
• Send us the funny dirt! Not serious actual dirt thanks.
• Write to your MP to demand rent and mortgage freezes.

12 — Cruise control

Private schools and hospitals are getting massive bailouts and there's day-long lines at Centerlink. We talk coronavirus shutdowns, the government's confusing messaging and why cruise ships are spreading the plague.

News

• Australia is still on fire.
• The federal government has given private schools a huge $3.4 billion handout — this funds scholarships for poor students but basically as a huge handout for private schools.
• Australia’s private hospitals are threatening to close - after being given notice that elective surgeries must be reallocated to provide more capacity for coronavirus.
• Queensland is building a massive new windfarm, bigger than the current three largest wind farms in Australia combined, and creating 400 new jobs.

It’s the economy, stupid

• Scott Morrison’s late-night press-conferences have been confusing, especially since he refuses to give a straight answer on anything.
• Despite receiving massive government bailouts, businesses are standing down thousands of workers. @rosieanice has been maintaining an excellent list on twitter.
• The government’s refusal to close businesses are putting both workers and businesses in danger. Hairdressers have called for the government to mandate a shut down, so they have clarity on where their business stands.
• Almost 150,000 Australians tried to apply for unemployment benefits in a single day.
• Stewart Robert, the government minister responsible, claimed the MyGov website crashed because it was attacked by hackers (it was not).
• Centerlink has admitted they will be on the hook for more that $550 million in refunds after the robodebt debacle.
• The government has suspended punitive “mutual obligations”, so job seekers don’t need to attend job. However they are due to return in a month, and this was not communicated to unemployed people.

Plague ships

• As of recording, 293 people from the Ruby Princess cruise ship have come down with COVID-19.
• Cruise ships were banned from docking in Australia, but the Ruby Princess was given a special exemption.
• Former Immigration department media chief Sandi Logan, claims that favours for friends were the cause of this disastrous decision.
• Border Force and NSW Health have been throwing blame back and forth over who is to blame. The truth is: It’s both of them.

Actions

• Shout out to 80 Coles workers went on strike for safer conditions
• Shout out to the Australian Unemployed Workers Union, who have been doing incredible work pushing for protections for unemployed people. If you can, donate or join.
• Delete the Twitter app, but follow us!
• The 7AM Podcast has had a great series of episodes on the coronavirus over the last week.
• Check out Nina Oyama’s instagram. It’s funny and informative!

Demand action on rent

• Contact your federal and state representatives and demand action to freeze rent and mortgage payments. Our email template as a good place to start.

11 — This episode is up so I guess podcasts are an essential service

It's the biggest news week of our lifetime, and we podcast through it. We discuss the government's (mis)handling of the corona situation, then get hopeful about what might come out the other side of this mess.

Pandemicageddon

• Newstart is being doubled, and work for the dole requirements are suspended!
• The U.K. government’s plan to pursue “herd imunity” at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives has been dropped.
• COVID-19’s incubation period is usually about 5 days, though can be up to 14.

People spouting bullshit

• Venice’s canals may be clean, but don’t forget it’s because thousands of people are dying.
• Former National Party leader Barnaby Joyce said snakes are more of a threat than coronavirus.
• Radio goblin Alan Jones has called Coroanvirus the “health version of global warming” (which means he thinks it’s a hoax, not that we need dramatic action, right now).
• Right-wing commentator Andrew Bolt went from denial to freaking out within a week.
• AFL team president and TV star Eddie McGuire has called for dangerous herd immunity tactics similar to the UK’s abandoned plan.
• Howard-era ghoul Bronwyn Bishop thinks that Coronavirus is a Chinese bioweapon.

People doing good things

• British ex-footballer Gary Neville is making his hotels available for free to health workers.
• Shane Warne is switching his gin distillery (!?) into making pure alcohol for hand sanitiser.

Big money, big problems

• Crown Casino holds a lot of politcal sway in Victoria, which explains the government’s unwillingness to close it until Sunday evening.
• Van Badham defended the regressive tax that are pokie machines as a “working-class habit”.
• The if the government is throwing billions of dollars taxpayer to private industry, we should get something out of that.
• Cartoon villan and vape merchant Simon Breheny says that price gouging is good, actually.
• A lot of economic modeling is based on a spherical cow view of the world.

Bushfires and gas

• The smoke from Australian bushfires killed 400 people, and put 4000 people in hospital, in addition to the 33 people who died in the fires.
• Victoria has banned fracking, but lifted the ban of onshore gas exploration and drilling. Gas is bad, folks.
• Victoria’s Agriculture Minister Jaclyn Symes has declared that gas drilling “will not harm our environment”.
• Drag superstar RuPaul is heavily invested in fracking.

Action items

• Moisturise your hands. We’re going to be in this for long run, don’t let your skin fall off!
• Don’t go out! Protect the people around you who need protecting, by not being around them.
• Join a union, and if you feel like your boss isn’t taking your concerns seriously, talk to your co-workers. Chances are they’ve got the same concerns as you.
• Check out Sean Bedlam’s new podcast They’re Gunna Kill Us. Solidaritus et podcastus ✊
• Respect your supermarket workers.

10 — The gang self isolates

There's a looming pandemic and the energy is weird. We talk about police violence, the closure of the AAP, and how to survive coronavirus.

Policing

• New South Wales Police Minister David Elliot is under investigation after the release of photos showing him firing and illegal submachine gun.
• The Police Minister has previously said he would want his own underage sons strip-searched by police if they were suspected of possessing drugs.
• New South Wales Police are complicit in a regime of strip searches of underage children and teens, without appropriate support or presence of legal guardians.
• Constable Zachary Rolfe, charged with the murder of Yuendumu teenager Kumanjayi Walker, has not spent a single night in jail.
• For an example of how community policing can work in practice, see the 1960s Black Panther Party.

Coronavirus

• The Australian Grand Prix was canceled, at the last minute, via megaphone.
• Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton has coronavirus.
• Airlines are running empty flights to maintain their flight slots.
• Traveling in a long-distance, fully loaded flight is more efficient than driving.
• Guardian columnist Brigid Delaney enjoyed Bankok under lockdown, then was surprised to find herself under self-isolation on return.
• The ABC has a dedicated portal for Coronavirus news and information.

Surviving the pandemic

• The median income in Australia is $48,000. Many of the people earning that or less will not be able to afford the costs imposed by other people panic buying staples.
• Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter has suggested that casual workers without paid sick leave are well prepared for coronavirus because “they are paid extra in lieu of entitlements”.
• Italy has suspended mortgage payments during the coronavirus outbreak.
• An effective response to a dangerous oncoming threat will look like an overreaction in hindsight, as the reaction to the Y2K bug has been incorrectly presented (the Headlong podcast has a good history of the response).
• David Walsh’s statement on the cancellation of the Dark Mofo festical is an excellent, clear-eyed assessment of the risks of going forward.

AAP Closing

• The Australian Associated Press has been closed, the majority of journalists laid off.
• Some of the AAP journalists have been re-hired by Nine News and News Corp as freelancers, saving them money and stopping competitors from accessing their work.

Actions

• Look after your friends and family. Make sure the people around you are coping with this new, weird time.
• Check out the show notes. They’re great!
• Join your union, advocate for them to push for the change you want.
• Join your tenants union (VIC, NSW, WA, QLD). They’re great for advice on what your rights are as a renter.
• Read Progress and Poverty by Henry George.

9 — Corona? Barely even knew 'er (International Women's Day)

Shell is posting cringe on International Women's Day, Missy Higgins' dad has Coronavirus, and the Australian government continues their efforts to make corruption a national sport. We try to make sense of the chaos in this blockbuster episode.

News

• All fires are out in New South Wales!
• It’s International Women’s Day. Celebrate with the horror of this Shell ad.
• Never forget that International Women’s Day began as a socialist celebration of working women.

Coronavirus

• Vox has a detailed and readable summary of what we know about COVID-19 so far. Here’s the direct source for what the experts are saying. The Australian government website is good for a just-the-facts summary of symptoms to look out for and best-practice precautions.
• Missy Higgins dad has COVID-19, but didn’t meet the health department’s guidelines for testing.
• Australians are panic-buying toilet paper. As Buzzfeed reports, it started as a media scare, now its becoming a real panic.
• Panic buying and hoarding is bad for everyone else. It prevents people who are living paycheque to paycheque from being able to purchase the things they need.
• The poorest people in our society — people on casual work and without sick leave, are also the people who come into contact with the most people.
• The Liberal government has a history of trying to make it harder for the poorest Australians to the access health care they need.
• Jeremy Poxon of the Unemployed Workers Union has interrogated Centerlink on the requirements they will place on unemployed people under quarantine, with no clear answer. They have a bad record on this, cutting off the payments of bushfire victims.

Government corruption

• Penny Wong has accused Scott Morrison of being “up to his neck” in the corruption of the sports rorts.
• The liberal party attempted to shut down on questions by calling the word “rorts”, “unparlimentary”.
• Angus Taylor, the government’s minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, was not interviewed by the Federal Police, after his office falsified documents for a fight with Clover Moore, mayor of Sydney.
• Taylor’s business interests have also raked in $93 million of state and federal funds during his time in office.
• In extra promoted to guest star news: Glenys Beauchamp, who was in the episode last week destroying documents, has now been found intimidating an academic whistleblowing a data breach of 3 million Australians.
• Anne Rushton, government’s Minister for Families and Social Services refused to say that Australia’s social security system should not cause harm to the people within it.

Bushfires and climate change

• The Morrison government is dropping funding to an international emissions research collaboration.
• … along with the Bushfire & Natural Hazards research centre.
• It appears that the much-hyped $2 billion bushfire relief fund may not exist. Only $400,000 has been distributed so far.
• Angus Taylor (who loves to take $93 million of taxpayer money for his businesses) is trying to keep the Liddel coal power station open to at least 2026, even though it’s not economical.
• The Australian government has not done modeling of the economic impact of climate change until at least 2013.
• The gas power plants in Australia have been running at 30% of capacity for the last 18 months — and yet the government are calling for more to be built.

Actions

• Shout out to the Flood Cast from Flood Media — check their series on capitalism and a socialist future. Solidaritus et podcastus ✊
• Wash your hands, buy a reasonable amount of toilet paper and if you can, take time off from work if you're sick.
• If you have COVID and your boss makes you work, make sure to take them aside during the day to apologise for trying to slack off (enclosed spaces if possible).

8 — Stop the floats

The Liberal party's float at the Sydney Mardi Gras was targeted by protestors who were ejected from the parade. We discuss the Liberal party's history of policies that hurt the LGBTQI community, and the Labor party's lack of spine on both gay marriage and climate change.

News

• Australia is still on fire, but all of the fires in Victoria and New South Wales are contained!

• The “sports rorts” scandals roll on, showing more and more evidence of corruption and coverups.

• Channel 10’s report on the sports rorts shows that Scott Morrison was involved in making decisions about grant allocations.

Superannuation and wage theft

• After an “amnesty” on unpaid superannuation, 7000 companies have admitted to underpaying their workers.

• Employers are now calling for an amnesty on wage underpayments.

• CEO Dan Price pays all of his workers workers at least $70,000 a year. Decent, living wages can work!

Mardi Gras, the police and the Liberal Party

• Protestors were removed from the Sydney Mardi Gras by police after targeting the Liberal Party float.

• Correction: In the episode we say that the Liberal Party float depicts Captain Cook and the Endeavour. This was actually part of the protest, which makes it much more cool.

• The Liberal Party has a long history of opposing gay marriage, refusing to apologise for past genocidal policies, and pushing for protection for religious bigots.

• The first Mardi Gras in Sydney, in 1978, faced shocking police violence.

• The NSW Police—known more recently for their strip-searches of unsupervised minors at public events—had cup cakes. So they must be nice right?

Why the Labor and Liberal parties won’t act on climate change

• Joel Fitzgibbon, the Labor party shadow minister for resources is a big fan of coal.

• He is also pushing for the Labor party to move further right and remove Anthony Albanese as the current leader.

• The Labour party takes lots of money from fossil fuel interests.

• On the Liberal party side, Angus Taylor the Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction, is taking subsidies away from proven clean energy sources.

• …while still subsidising fossil fuel industry to the tune of $29 billion.

Action items

• Shout out to refugee advocacy group RISE, who organised a protest in support of refugees being detained in a hotel. Donate to to help out, and follow them to find out when their next actions will be.

• Listen to friend of the show Tom Tanuki’s podcast, The Poor Can Feed the Birds, which has a “gig guide” upcoming protests.

• Listen to the Background Briefing episode “How fracking could threaten Australia’s Paris target”. Solidaritus et podcastus ✊

• Talk to your friends! Start a group chat! Reach out to the people around you who care about the same things you do.

7 — Dirty Solidarity

We take on the Liberal Party's latest line attack on climate action as “uncosted”, then delve into dirty solidarity with Paul Parker, hero firefighter.

News

• Australia still on fire, but mostly just in Queensland now.
• Queensland has historically not been as bushfire prone, but now they have shocking large fires.

Climate Change Costings

• USA won’t leave the Paris Agreement until after next election. Turns out Trump winning is bad!
• Most Australian states are well on track to reduce emissions to zero by 2050.
• The Liberal Party’s new line on renewables is that they’re “uncosted climate policy”.
• Mike Cannon-Brooks, co-founder of Atlassian has challenged Scott Morrison on this. He’s already funding batteries and solar generators that are making money.
• You can view real-time emissions data from electricity generation at electricitymap.org.

Dirty Solidarity

• Paul Parker, the volunteer hero fire fighter is known for telling the Prime Minister “go and get fucked”, before collapsing from exhaustion
• Chris Uhlmann, 9 News Political Editor and bathroom pest, tried to throw Paul Parker under the bus by linking him to far-right politician Pauline Hason.
• Pauline Hanson, leader of One Nation (and convicted election fraudster) is good at speaking to the anger of the country, like other right wing populists.
• Dirty solidarity is about fighting for everyone, not placing the services people need behind barriers.

Action items

• Find a cheaper and cleaner energy provider
• Call your local MP
• Think of your friends who care about this stuff, and start a group chat
• Listen to Mitch on Fuck You Tarot Lady
• Listen to the Citations Needed episode on common sense. Solidaritus et podcastus ✊