Crikey

Of all the shocking statistics that formed part of the legacy of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, these stick with me. Of all ordained men of the Christian Brothers order of the Roman Catholic Church from 1950 onwards, 22% had been identified as alleged paedophile predators. And between 1980 and 2015, 1,015 people made child abuse claims against the Christian Brothers, with 483 individual alleged perpetrators named.

It’s almost never good when my home state of Victoria is in the national news. In fact it’s usually very, very bad. This morning alone we have Big Build corruption drama and a Moira Deeming soap opera, both of which bode terribly for the major parties, but very well for One Nation, which is now leading in the polls.

Pauline Hanson herself has ruled out recruiting Victorian Liberal MLC Moira Deeming, amid a looming legal stoush between Deeming and the state party president. Deeming this week refused to apologise to colleague Matthew Guy after alleging he put her in a “headlock” at a community event in Melbourne’s west last month.

America approaches its 250th anniversary this weekend seemingly as divided as it has ever been. But, as Crikey explored yesterday, the entire history of the country, from its inception onwards, can be read as a series of undeclared civil wars; between monarchy and democracy, between equality and slavery, and between “freedom” and elected dictatorships.

You’ll know when News Corp is coming for you. Your phone will light up, and your social media feed will go crazy. If you’re lucky, a reporter at one of Murdoch’s tabloids will ring you for comment to balance whatever story they’ve already written. But you shouldn’t count on it — when you’re in News Corp’s crosshairs, things can move fast.

Job security is fast becoming a thing of the past, a folktale told around campfires and passed down from elder to younger. “Once, a long, long time ago my child, you could have a job and not lose it to cost-cutting measures caused by a gutless CEO replacing you with AI.

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NSW LABOR CONFERENCE Federal parliament may be wrapping up for the winter, but there is no let-up for political parties from the issues that have dogged them for the past few months. The Australian leads this morning on the NSW Labor conference in Sydney this weekend, saying Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Treasurer Jim Chalmers are facing pressure from the state party’s internal economic committee to go even further on their contentious tax reforms.

There was a flurry of activity in Parliament House as politicians tried to make the last sitting fortnight before the winter break really count. So what better time to bring Cut Through? We’re back from our mid-year break — re-energised, re-vamped and ready to call it as we see it.

‘Like a lead balloon’ Last night was Canberra’s annual night of nights: the Midwinter Ball. Traditionally, both major party leaders give a good-humoured speech, which has flitted between on- and off-record over the years. This year, it was strictly off, but that didn’t stop plenty of attendees from telling The Snoop that Angus Taylor’s speech was an absolute flop.