We know that social distancing, avoiding gatherings, spending months in dismal hibernation is probably the most effective way to keep the virus under control.”, “Australia’s history of slavery is — as Prime Minister Scott Morrison made apparent yesterday — poorly understood and often denied. “By closely monitoring these population-wide experiments, we’ve learned an awful lot. Get Crikey FREE to your inbox every weekday morning with the Crikey Worm. The Victorian Labor Party remains in crisis over allegations of branch stacking and the misuse of taxpayer-funded government staff. Calls for Adem Somyurek to step down and potentially face criminal investigation over branch stacking allegations, and Atlanta's police chief has resigned following another police shooting. Even without all the alleged branch stacking, those recordings from the Victorian Local Government and Small Business Minister are a great reminder that homophobia and misogyny know no political affiliation. Every day, Crikey aims to bring new and challenging insights into politics, business, national affairs, media and society. “It’s becoming very hard to understand the tangled logic of the Morrison government, its media cheerleaders, and business, over remaining lockdown restrictions. In other updates from the now-global movement, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo pleaded with protesters to stop after announcing a new reform package, and far-right protesters have clashed with both police and BLM demonstrations in London — in part, the BBC reports, to “protect” a boarded-up statue of Winston Churchill. Adem Somyurek, a former Labor minister for small business and local government, now sits on the crossbenches in the Victorian Legislative Council. Marlene Kairouz (pictured above) a factional ally of Adem Somyurek, has become the third Labor minister to leave her job after she was recorded on tapes obtained by The Age and 60 Minutes.. “For the last three months, Australians have been lab rats. Chris is a political, immigration and science journalist, who currently writes for Crikey, The Mandarin, and our morning newsletter, the Crikey Worm. Credit: Eddie Jim "Whether at home, in the street, at work or in the halls of Parliament, this … Yes, slaves. It blew it. Fortunately, our support base is growing. PS: In a strong flashback to the 2018 Victorian election, The Age has also named a NSW Greens staffer who helped deface Hyde Park’s Captain Cook statue. The event will feature storytellers from Australia’s refugee communities including Lujayn Hourani, Hani Abdile, Flora Chol, Awale Ahmed and Marziya Mohammadi. 11 talking about this. As part of Refugee Week 2020, South Australia-based Eritrean storyteller Manal Younus will host virtual Wheeler Centre event Words Without Borders: An Evening of Poetry and Spoken Word. The expansion of police state powers in Victoria does require serious interrogation. Calls for Victorian cabinet minister Adem Somyurek to step down and potentially face criminal investigation over branch stacking allegations, and in the US Atlanta's police chief has resigned following another police shooting. The projects are set to include metro rail, dams and mines, and will likely — ahead of a new report into the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act — act as prelude for more cuts to environmental regulation (“green tape”).