In perhaps a masterful or highly depressing bit of trolling, NBN Co has started promoting an idea of what the internet - in Australia! - might be like.

It's a simple pitch: the internet will be so fast and capable that you'll be able to draw on a screen and have that beamed to a classroom (somewhere). And screens Of The Future will apparently be curved and about 40", despite the fact that curved screens are on the way out.

Also not pictured: the months of annoyance and confusion of actually getting connected. But let's see what people who aren't on the NBN are missing out on, shall we?

The majority of Australia is scheduled to be connected to the NBN by 2020. 

It will not be this much fun.

Read more:

https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/01/the-internet-will-not-be-this-good-by-...

Not to mention that you may not get 100 bps even if you pay for it...

The chance of a devastating category four cyclone hitting Brisbane, the Gold Coast and northern NSW, causing tens of billions of dollars in damage, is higher than ever, according to Australia's largest general insurer.

• The Natural Perils Team, which correctly predicted Australia's devastating fire season, is a team of experts assessing the impact of natural disasters
• They have found a 20 per cent increase in the number of the most intense tropical cyclones off the Australian coast since 1960
• Houses in south-east Queensland and north-eastern NSW are not built to withstand cyclones

These severe cyclones, with wind speeds of up to 225-279 kilometres per hour, are more powerful than most houses in these areas can withstand.

The modelling, conducted by Insurance Australia Group (IAG) and the National Centre for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) in Boulder, Colorado, has found climate change has dramatically increased the risk of a devastating impact.

They predict there will be a 10 per cent increase in the number of the most intense tropical cyclones off the Australian coast during the next decade.

Alarmingly, that is the same increase there has been since the 1960s.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-06/cyclones-spreading-south-could-cause-tens-of-billions-in-damage/12020218

from Michael Pascoe

I almost feel sorry for Josh Frydenberg. A second-rate Treasurer before the COVID-19 crisis, he is now facing a challenge that could beat the very best.

But you can’t feel sorry for someone who has already given up, who represents a government that has signalled it won’t try to stop Australia suffering a recession, that is prepared to watch unemployment rise, people lose their savings, and businesses go broke because of an ideological/political obsession.

Or maybe it’s because this government’s leaders are not very bright.

Based on everything the government has said, indicated and leaked so far, maybe they just can’t grasp the extent of the challenge and are being overwhelmed by the unfolding problem.

Maybe their vision can’t extend beyond rorting government grants programs for their own political advantage.

Some quick key points:

• We are starting this crisis with an underutilisation rate (unemployment + underemployment) of 13.7 per cent – which is what the GFC underutilisation rate peaked at in August 2009
• We avoided a GFC recession, but the unemployment rate still rose 1.6 percentage points, hours worked dropped 2 per cent, the underutilisation rate jumped by 3.6 points and the employment-to-population ratio fell by 1.3 percentage points
• Applying those non-recessionary percentages to our current workforce of 13.7 million would mean an extra couple of hundred thousand people out of work and an underutilisation rate of 18.9 per cent – 2.6 million people with either no or not enough work
• Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy’s statement to the Senate estimates this week indicates he’s expecting a recession – two quarters of negative growth – although he couldn’t quite say it
• The Reserve Bank entered the GFC in 2008 with lots of monetary policy ammunition, used plenty of it and still came out of the GFC with spare ammo in the locker. In 2020, the RBA is facing a crisis with the cupboard almost bare
• Government policy is not to try to prevent a recession, but to lessen its impact
• Australia faced the GFC with a great deal of confidence in the federal government. Kevin Rudd’s approval rating was 71 per cent – the highest ever recorded for an Australian prime minister. Scott Morrison’s approval rating is 38 per cent – a point lower than Anthony Albanese, who, as an opposition leader, makes Kim Beazley look like a rock star
• We have the example of the government’s bushfire relief program – a rather nebulous sum of $2 billion that nobody can quite find and extremely little of which is getting spent.

When the government is promising to do as little as possible economically and a large majority of the population has little faith in the government’s promises, there’s no chance of building confidence in the government’s management of the crisis’ fallout.

No confidence means greater public caution, less willingness to spend, and more to save.

What the government and much of the commentary so far doesn’t get is that our economy is facing both a supply shock and a demand shock.

Read more:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/03/08/michael-pascoe-morrison-reces...

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Increasing the Newstart rate will not form part of the coronavirus stimulus package, but help for pensioners is on the table to help protect Australia from a recession.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is finalising the economic package this week, after flying to Brisbane on Monday for the funeral of mother of three Hannah Clarke, who was murdered by her estranged husband.

The budget razor gang will meet to sign off on the measures, which are believed to be worth up to $10 billion.

But an announcement could be delayed until later in that week.

It will likely wipe out the projected surplus, unless revenue predictions increase or further savings measures are found.

It could include wage subsidies for industries hit hard by the virus and casual workers.

But Social Services Minister Anne Ruston warned any permanent increase to Newstart or dole payments was a “separate conversation” to the coronavirus economic response.

“As the Prime Minister has clearly said, the stimulus package he is looking to deliver to the Australian people is around a short-term, measured and proportionate response,” Senator Ruston said.

“Any long-term structural changes to anything we’re doing will be subject to a separate conversation.”

Read more:

https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2020/03/08/coronavirus-stimulus-newstart...

Meanwhile:

Women’s safety advocates have accused the Morrison government of ignoring the advice of experts when it comes to protecting women and children from domestic and family violence, instead “re-announcing” an already controversial scheme.

The social services minister, Anne Ruston, used International Women’s Day to announce the government would put $20m into a no-interest loan scheme, which provides loans of up to $2,000 to people fleeing violent situations.

The microloans were part of a package announced by the then families minister Paul Fletcher and former minister for women Kelly O’Dwyer in 2018, but faced criticism from advocates concerned about the ongoing costs for vulnerable women as they attempt to rebuild their life already behind financially.

Hayley Foster, the chief executive officer of Women’s Safety NSW, said the government had failed to commit to “any serious action in addressing domestic violence across the nation”.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/mar/09/domestic-violence-womens...

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