Kim Wingerei blog posts
“Without idealists, the pragmatists would have nothing to do…”
A king for his crown, but what do his remote subjects really think?
The coronation is underway in London with pomp and pageantry, ostentatious headgear and stolen jewels on marvellous display, and guests from dominions far away ready to genuflect. But while many look in dismay at this costly and archaic spectacle, support for the...
Fox News pays off Dominion: who will put Rupert Murdoch in the witness box?
Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News has settled the defamation claim by Dominion Voting Systems. What are the implications for Lachlan Murdoch’s claim against independent Australian publisher Crikey? Kim Wingerei explores. “We have no comment on the Dominion matter. We look...
Tricky Territory: ACT fails to act on Mr Fluffy asbestos victims
It’s almost twenty years since all asbestos use was finally banned in Australia, followed by buy-back schemes and class lawsuits to compensate victims. But in Canberra, some owners of ‘Mr Fluffy’ homes are still waiting to be compensated. Kim Wingerei reports. For 10...
Small shareholders abandoned as private equity muscles in on Nitro. What’s the scam?
Private equity funds taking listed companies private is never an act of benevolence. They spot an undervalued company, buy it, strip assets where possible, take out the cash, borrow to the hilt and sack as many of the staff as they can get away with; and then presto,...
Latitude Financial shows us how not to do it. What’s the scam?
The recent hacker attacks on Optus and Medibank have been well publicised and both companies roundly criticised for their handling of it. But over at Ahmed Fahour’s Latitude Financial they either didn’t read about that, or decided to copy their mistakes in handling...
What’s the scam with Nine’s “Panel of Experts”? Red alert, it’s ASPI
The backlash over Nine Entertainment’s “Reds Under the Beds” campaign continues as they defend their stories by pointing to “panel of experts”. Who are these experts? Most of them are connected to the pro-war think tank ASPI (Australian Strategic Policy Institute)...
Carbon credits and offsets – What’s the scam?
As the Labor Government seeks to get the “Safeguard Mechanism” through Parliament, the opposition to it is getting louder both inside and outside of Parliament. It’s complicated, they say. Or is it? What is the scam behind carbon offsets and credits? When wanting to...
Warmongers vs appeasers – the China media frenzy is the threat
Echoing the “reds under the beds” scare campaigns of the fifties, Nine Media mastheads want us to believe that war with China is imminent. Elsewhere, we are led to believe that China is a model citizen of the world and means no harm to anyone. Both positions belie the...
Stuart Robert – loyal Robodebt slayer
In his appearance at the Robodebt Royal Commission yesterday, Stuart Robert wants us to believe that not only was he the one that finally put a stop to the illegalities of income averaging, but that he knew it was wrong all along. However, the pesky Westminster system...
Ambulance chasers Slater & Gordon win a shiny takeover bid. What’s the scam?
Long-suffering shareholders of law firm Slater & Gordon may soon be out of their misery, with private equity vultures honing in for a buy-out. What’s the scam? The scam is private equity ain’t there for the justice Your Honour; there is profit to be had exploiting...
$1.6b handout to Telstra’s Andy Penn to head off the Chinese
Why was Telstra slotted $1.6b by the Morrison government to buy Digicel, and how is it Telstra shares slumped by one-third during the bull market? It’s corporate welfare on steroids. Another bizarre intervention in what Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg like to...
Crossword clues and bullying: the almighty power of the Australian pro-Israel lobby
The influence of Colin Rubenstein and his lobby group does not just limit what mainstream media outlets dare publish, it forces self-censorship on editors and journalists alike, writes John Lyons in his latest book. In 2019, Fairfax’s Sydney and Melbourne...