This is what President Biden said:
“We are here to send a message to the country and, quite frankly, to the world: The free press is a pillar, maybe the pillar, of a free society, not the enemy.”
And it's well past time to give Julian Assange that freedom.
#FreeAssange #FreeAssangeNOW #FreeSpeech #OzPol

Meet the crowd who will be the first climate refugees to arrive

*An Australian living in New Zealand is automatically classed as a resident, and can become a citizen if they have mostly lived in the country for five years and pass a character test and basic English language test.*

#nzpol #climateCrisis #migration #ClimateRefugee #auspol #ozPol

https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/131834539/australia-to-let-kiwis-become-citizens-after-four-years-in-major-policy-shift

The global failure of inflation targeting to reach its stated goals, or to make the global financial system work properly, has been ignored

@johnquiggin
#inflation #monetaryPolicy
#ozpol #auspol #nzpol

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/apr/20/we-need-to-abandon-the-idea-of-an-all-wise-central-bank-keeping-spendthrift-governments-in-check

Obscene #inequality of cosy tax rorts for the rich. Do something Albo!

#ozpol

@hypolite
Ontario is 10% larger than Alaska in area; about 20 times larger in population. Canadian provinces are arguably more politically powerful than US states. Federation in Canada has not led to political inertia, nor entrenchment of single political parties (except for Alberta). Australia is similar, AIUI.

Like FPTP, I think the empirical case is weak that federation is a root cause of the ailments of #uspol .

@Angle

#canpol #ozpol

#NovakDjokovic "is feeling the hot wrath of an Australian populace confided to quarters, having been subject to police demanding papers on the streets to monitor whether citizens have wandered more than a few kilometres from home. Living with the trappings of a police state has engendered a fierce desire for Joker to feel the smack of arbitrary detention and expulsion."

Raymond J. de Souza: When it comes to justice, they play dirty Down Under
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/raymond-j-de-souza-when-it-comes-to-justice-they-play-dirty-down-under

#ozpol
#NationalPost

I've read elsewhere that #NovakDjokovic 's application for a vaccine exemption to enter #Australia had his name blanked out to remove the possibility of special treatment. Evenso, maybe that the reviewers knew it was someone coming for the tennis tournament...

It seems to me that a recent infection is as good as a vaccination; not sure who decides in #ozpol .

Michael Taube: Djokovic’s legal victory makes a joke of Australia’s COVID-19 policy
https://nationalpost.com/opinion/michael-taube-djokovics-legal-victory-makes-a-joke-out-of-australias-covid-19-policy

#covid19
#NationalPost

@NBS @coldacid On the contrary, Australia has been one of the countries taking the firmest line against Beijing.

https://www.newsweek.com/why-australia-china-war-talk-rising-between-two-nations-1589138

#CCP #Australia #ozpol

There are "two Australias. The first, which includes the two most populous states, New South Wales and Victoria, has suffered major outbreaks and long lockdowns. Consequently, they have abandoned “Zero Covid” strategies and accepted that reopening will involve some risk of the virus’ spread and mortalities. The second group, however, led by Queensland and WA, has so far managed to avoid major outbreaks thanks to border closures and snap lockdowns"

https://unherd.com/2021/09/whats-the-point-of-australia/

#covid19 #ozpol

@KolokokoBird Yes, much stricter than here in Québec, in fact strict far beyond reason in some ways, like requiring masks when outside and distanced.

I tend to think of Australians as being quite attached to their freedoms — but I'll bet these laws are popular. Have you seen any polling?

#ozpol #covid19

@jayeless Do you have any idea what the number was last year? One presumes that things have deteriorated due to the #covid19 pandemic, but maybe Chinese-Australians have long been mistreated.

(I've never been there, and I really don't know.)

#ozpol

David Frum on Twitter: "I've often wondered whether a reason Canadian politics has been more moderate in the 21st c than UK, US, or Australian politics is that there are no Murdoch-owned media properties in Canada." / Twitter
https://twitter.com/davidfrum/status/1354422456170246146

#DavidFrum
#RupertMurdoch
#canpol #ukpol #uspol #ozpol