PM says ‘Turn down the temperature’ It’s poverty, manufactured unemployment, lack of trust in government and institutions and powerful leaders committing war crimes are what’s pushing the temperature up PM @MichaelWestBiz @KellieTranter

[Puts the half a trill #AUKUS spend in perspective.] The research by Foodbank, to be released on Monday, shows 3.6 million households are suffering “food insecurity”. Renters, the disabled, young people and people on low incomes are among the most affected. The situation has become so dire that many Australians are being forced to cut their use of shampoo, toothpaste and soap.’ #auspol smh.com.au/politics/federal/…

U.S. Congressional Report Raises Doubts Over Sale of Nuclear Submarines to Australia Under AUKUS australiatimes.com/u-s-congr…

'In an address this week, Mr Kirby argued that poverty wasn’t simply an economic issue but a fundamental human rights matter that was holding people back from participating in democracy and having their voices heard. “When institutions become more responsive to the powerful than to the vulnerable, public policies inevitably reflect that imbalance,” he said. “The result is a vicious cycle. Poverty weakens democracy. Weakened democracy allows poverty to persist and even to get worse.”' [bang on] #auspol thepoint.com.au/new/261023-f…

Australians deserve the truth about AUKUS c.org/dcV7RRyCfm via @ChangeAUS @bbcworldservice @ABCPacific @AJEnglish @afpfr @nytimesworld

Australians deserve the truth about AUKUS c.org/dcV7RRyCfm via @ChangeAUS @bbcworldservice @ABCPacific @AJEnglish @afpfr @nytimesworld

[The welcome wisdom and informed perspective of @PatMcGorry] “…In general terms this is an extremely widespread problem in Australian society, whether it is in regional Australia or in the metro areas. Large numbers of people with serious mental illnesses are just languishing in the community. Thirty years ago we closed all the mental hospitals. We failed to build a fit for purpose system to replace them and so only about half of its people – even at the most extreme and severe forms of mental illness – can access care at all and the quality of that care is really much below par and that was exposed in the Victorian Royal Commission. Mark Butler, at the time of the Bondi Junction tragedy, described it as a stain on our nation, and it certainly is. IT’S A MASSIVE FAIL OF PUBLIC POLICY which is putting the community at risk… It is well known that there’s an inverse relationship between the number of prison beds in a society and the number of psychiatric beds and that has been reversed over the last few decades so that we’ve got a fraction of the psychiatric beds and a very substantial increase in the number of prison beds. The result is large numbers of mentally ill people, especially men, are ending up in prison…. It’s like crossing the Berlin Wall in the 1960s trying to get people into psychiatric care in the regions but I think that’s also true of the metropolitan areas, especially the outer metro areas. WE’VE GOT A MASSIVE PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM HERE AND IT HASN’T REALLY BEEN SERIOUSLY TACKLED, ESPECIALLY AT THE STATE GOVERNMENT LEVEL. The State governments are responsible for the seriously mentally ill. They always have been – and they were responsible for the old mental hospitals – and they have abandoned these patients now and the community, and the patients themselves, are much less safe as a result. [question re: community mental health services going to seriously mentally ill people whether they are accepting of treatment or not] “It happened briefly in the late 1990s when these teams were first set up, these mobile assessment and community treatment teams, but they are a shadow of their former selves. They’re not properly resourced. The work practices and the mindset has changed dramatically and they’re several steps back behind the police. The police are not really trained or equipped for this role of engaging and reaching out to seriously mentally ill people. They may have to be involved in some cases but it is a health first response, which is what the Victorian Royal Commission recommended…” #nswpol #auspol #vicpol abc.net.au/listen/programs/p… via @ABCaustralia

This is an incredibly dangerous precedent and confirms all the dangers of AUKUS - wargaming Australia as the base for a US war with China - and us even paying for it. We need to end AUKUS before this becomes real.

This is an incredibly dangerous precedent and confirms all the dangers of AUKUS - wargaming Australia as the base for a US war with China - and us even paying for it. We need to end AUKUS before this becomes real.