Peter of Perth Hills

Labor’s CDC lacks budget and vision Never before has Australia more needed a full-service, independent Centre for Disease Control, able to address the rising challenges of disease, both infectious and non-communicable. Medical experts f...

The proposal for Australia's Centre for Disease Control isn't sufficiently funded, nor broad enough in scope. Chronic disease is ignored:
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/share/21677/...

The battle to defend the PBS against Donald Trump In his visit to the White House next month, Anthony Albanese is expected to come under pressure to weaken the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme that Donald Trump considers unfair to American drug compani...

The danger to the Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme from Trumpist policy isn't more expensive medicines, as much as slower or limited access to new pharmaceuticals. (My question: is this necessarily a bad thing? If it keeps the PBS sustainable?)
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/share/21685/...

‘Ruthlessly effective’: The Morrison lieutenant behind Ley’s leadership Liberal powerbroker Alex Hawke – a key figure in Scott Morrison’s inner circle – has emerged as the factional leader and numbers man on whom Sussan Ley depends for her control of the party.

I can't describe a fellow as focused on the pursuit of power as Alex Hawke using nice words. But if he can keep the Sky After Dark crowd like Angus Taylor, Andrew Hastie and Jacinta Price away from the Opposition Leadership, maybe he's at least useful:
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/share/21689/...

I was Hillsong’s babysitter A decade after the Hillsong Church was founded, Carly worked as a babysitter for Bobbie and Brian Houston. She recalls a culture of sycophancy, sexualisation and shunning.

“Bobbie [Houston] was all about … you've got to be sexually attractive to your husband. You don't want to let yourself go, because it's sad for him. You were able to get up and preach and lead – but women’s leadership in terms of being feminine, not feminist." http://satpa.pe/MVMQNCd

International IT graduates struggle to secure Australian employment Australia has little trouble attracting international IT students, but employment is proving difficult for graduates, despite the need to fill a quarter of a million jobs in the next five years.

The inability of IT graduates to get work in Australia has been a problem for decades, nothing to do with the rise of AI or working visas. It's always appeared to be employers confecting a skills shortage to obtain skilled migrants at below-market rates:
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/share/21181/...

Sack the NACC After years of unfulfilled promises by both sides of politics, the Albanese government passed legislation in its first term to establish the National Anti-Corruption Commission. The NACC began operati...

Australia's National Anti-Corruption Commission is toothless without the accountability of public hearings. The public can have no confidence that the NACC are effectively performing their role, or are even behaving ethically, until this is done.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/share/21090/...

The importance of China mates The cockney rhyming slang, traditionally beloved of Australians, would have it that our old china plates in America are causing us more anxiety than our newer ones in North Asia. The prime minister is...

Australia's Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is not a monopoly. American drug companies can sell stuff to Australians at whatever inflated prices they choose. But if they want to get subsidised by the Australian government, they must follow the rules.
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/share/21091/...

After the 3rd guess I knew I was in trouble. I thought of 3 words to fit that involved a maximum 6 different possibilities for the grey letters. So I went for an exploratory 4th guess that was helpful enough to solve in 5 - not one of the 3 words!
Wordle 1,477 5/6

⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
🟨🟩⬜🟩⬜
⬜🟩⬜🟩🟩
⬜🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Alex Antic’s position on the margins gives him power, writes Jason Koutsoukis. Unencumbered by responsibility, he has turned provocation into strategy, building a national profile through cultural grievance and factional muscle. https://trib.al/JgITIHZ

That's why I like The Saturday Paper. You read and think, "wow, that reminds me of something good from the past - what's it called? Ah, journalism."

Exclusive: PBS listings frozen over Trump’s executive order Industry sources reveal drug companies have stopped negotiating listings on the PBS and in some cases are considering not listing in Australia as they seek to lift profits under Trump.

So in fact Trump can interfere with the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and there is precious little the Australian government can do about it: www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/share/20937/...

An after-the-event word finder check showed that in fact, yes, there was nothing else the 4th guess could be. Do I get a prize for finding it myself?
Wordle 1,448 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟨⬜🟨⬜
🟨🟨🟨⬜🟨
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

After seeing my result after 2, it looked like a certain 3. Except it wasn't.
Wordle 1,446 4/6

⬜⬜🟩🟨🟩
🟨🟨🟩⬜🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

It's a public holiday here in WA (WA Day), so we all get to leave the office really early.

The ABC noting attacks on civilian Gazan targets as "Israel and Hamas blame each other" sounds like Trump proclaiming an attack by white supremicists as "there are fine people on both sides".

A typical dilemma confronting me on the second guess - do I go with a less common consonant and let me use an untried vowel, or a more common consonant and double up the existing vowel?
Wordle 1,444 4/6

⬜🟩⬜⬜🟨
⬜🟩⬜🟩⬜
⬜🟩🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

A typical not-quite-3, pretty easy 4:

Wordle 1,443 4/6

⬜🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟨🟨🟨
🟩🟩🟩⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Inside story: Advance ‘siphoned’ Liberal resources Despite claiming successes against the Greens, right-wing lobby group Advance shifted very few votes and contributed to the Liberal Party’s massive loss.

Despite claiming successes against the Greens, right-wing lobby group Advance shifted very few votes and contributed to the failures of the Liberal Party.

Jason Koutsoukis on how Australia's richest non-party lobby group missed the mark:

Finally. Tried all the vowels and locked in a consonant, it just wasn't going to take any longer.
Wordle 1,442 5/6

🟨⬜🟨⬜⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩
⬜🟩⬜⬜🟩
⬜🟩🟨⬜🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

There weren't too many genuine options by the time I got to the 4th guess, but I chose the wrong one 😔
Wordle 1,440 5/6

⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩⬜⬜
🟨🟨🟩⬜⬜
⬜⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I broke my rule on the 2nd guess of not doubling up a letter unless I already know it's there - which turned out okay, giving me more information about a yellow letter. The true stuff ups came later on:
Wordle 1,438 6/6

🟨🟨⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨⬜🟨
🟩🟨🟩🟩⬜
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩⬜🟩🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Whilst the Liberals and NewsCorp will continue to work together to aim to get the Libs to implement Murdoch's agenda from government, they don't actually exert any power if they are unelectable. It's an open question whether Sky News and Murdoch rags have enough penetration to swing enough voters.

There was I, selecting the 3rd guess to give me the best information to solve it - and I got lucky:
Wordle 1,435 3/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜🟩
⬜⬜⬜🟨🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

Exclusive: KPMG’s secret university restructure A leaked report of the KPMG-led restructure plan for UTS is based on a performance metric not permitted by labour contracts.

An elite sporting club would never cut costs by ignoring the best talent and recruit from amateur leagues instead. So why does a university's cost-cutting ignore its academic talent - the core of a university's identity, and ultimate source of its profit?
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/share/20805/...

If the shell of Australia's Liberal party has a whiff of former PM Tony Abbott about it, there's a reason for that. Along with confidant Peta Credlin and the Murdoch media, Abbott appears to prioritise revenge and conservativism over the party's future:
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/share/20806/...

‘Tail’s wagged the dog’: The Coalition’s implosion The Nationals staked their political future on four policy positions, in what looks increasingly like a messy and misguided coup.

It looks increasingly like the Nationals walking away from the Australian Coalition opposition was the last step in a misguided attempt to overplay their hand and attempt to prevent the Liberals from reviewing unpopular policy positions:
www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/share/20804/...

What's even more galling is that someone who appears to massively overconsume alcohol and occasionally sleeps in street planters, is now the most sensible person in the room. How could the Nationals be so stupid and arrogant?

Just a standard slow-and-steady-in-4:
Wordle 1,434 4/6

⬜⬜⬜🟩⬜
⬜⬜⬜🟩🟩
⬜🟨⬜🟩🟩
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I was totally stumped after 3 guesses. The word finder offered 3 choices, 2 of those ridiculously obscure.
Wordle 1,433 4/6

⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜
⬜🟨🟨⬜⬜
⬜🟩🟨⬜⬜
🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩

I'm thinking with the Coalition's messy divorce this week, courtesy of David Littleproud packing The Nationals' suitcase and moving out, Insiders will spend exactly 100% of next week's show discussing the various Oppositions.