15 — Rentseekers united

The NSW and Victorian state governments have announced massive rent relief packages. Or are they just handouts to landlords? Then we chat COVID tracing apps, and what Angus Taylor has been up to recently.

News
George Pell is under investigation for new child sexual abuse allegations.

You can torture yourself by watching a 50 minute interview with Andrew Bolt if you like.

No justice for Duncan Storrar after being relentlessly hounded by the Murdoch press.

Rentseeker relief
NSW has announced a combined $440 million subsidy to landlords for missed rent payments.

Victoria is giving $420m in tax breaks to landlords, and a $80m in payments to tenants. Tenants will need to prove that they earn less than $100,000 and have less than $5000 in savings.

Large retailers like JB Hi-Fi are being offered lengthy free rent periods.

Real Estate agents have been found trading tips on getting unemployed tenants to pay.

The Jobkeeper payments to employers are already being abused. Rebekha Sharkie, MP for Mayo has had a constituent contacting her complaining that an employer would only re-hire them if they got a cut of the payment.

Tired of these apps
The Australian government is working on an app to trace COVID-19 contacts.

It might be based on the Singaporian app, TraceTogether, but we really don’t know.

Stuart Robert, government services minister, friend of the show, has already gotten essential information about the app wrong.

Some government MPs have already said they won’t be using the app.

Cryptographer Vanessa Teague has worries that the app could track more than COVID-19 contacts.

Plague ships, again
Bookings for cruises are now more popular than before the outbreak??

The Ruby Princess debacle is now the subject of a homicide police investigation. Police have started interviewing all passengers

The NSW government has created a special commission to look into the matter, headed by Brett Walker (previous hits include George Pell’s appeal, and fighting tobacco plain packaging laws on behalf of Philip Morris).

Tasmania’s recent spike in COVID-19 cases is also linked to the Ruby Princess.

Ovation of the Seas was also let in to Australia by Border Force without any isolation requirements for passengers, despite 98 infections on board.

Vomiting money emoji
Enemy of the show Chris Uhlman asks the deep questions like: “Should you kill your grandma”.

Uhlman ran for election in 1998 on an anti-euthanasia platform.

AFR Contributor Sam Lovik says that the virus must spread.

Climate rorts, baby!
Energy minister Angus Taylor is handing out money to fossil fuels and liberal party donors under the guise of the Underwriting New Generation Investment program.

An independent report by the Parliamentary Budget Office has concluded that ending logging in Victoria now (rather than phasing it out over the next decade) would save taxpayers $192 million dollars.

Victorian agriculture minister Jaclyn Symes’ claims that gas drilling would not harm the environment… did not account for burning the gas.

Actions
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