Michael is joined by Dr Jamal Rifi, Medical practitioner & prominent member of the Lebanese Muslim community, who wrote in yesterday’s The Australian Newspaper that ‘Lebanon’s descent into madness was almost complete before massive explosions at the Port of Beirut ripped the heart out of the country.’

 

‘For many Lebanese, it was the last straw. In October last year, mass protests swept across Lebanon. Tens of thousands of peaceful protesters from across the religious and class divide took to the streets, accusing the political elite of corruption and calling for social and economic reforms.’

 

‘If there is to be a new dawn for Lebanon, it will need governments such as ours to demand change. Foremost is a decision to declare and ban Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation, in line with the US, Canada, Germany, Britain, The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Kuwait.’

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Michael is joined by Adrian Lyons, NSW Farmers’ Chair Inland Rail Taskforce & Drought Taskforce, regarding the looming problem facing rural communities over the lack of workers available to pick fruit and harvest the grains during COVID-19 restrictions.

 

If the government does not come up with a solution soon to allow potential workers to cross state borders or to fill the void from lack of backpackers that normally make up about 80% of the fruit picking community… it could lead to produce either rotting on the ground or not getting to market.  

 

This could in turn lead to food shortages and exorbitant prices on the market shelf.      

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Michael is joined by Matthew Denholm, The Australian Newspaper Tasmania Correspondent, who reports the ‘tears of joy’ to the surviving members of Teddy Sheean’s family upon him finally being awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross after years of being stuck in bureaucratic limbo.

 

Mr Denholm writes, ‘The awarding of a posthumous Victoria Cross to Teddy Sheean has been hailed by his family as righting a 78-year injustice and by others as providing inspiration for a nation battling adversity.’

 

‘Scott Morrison on Monday overturned his previous refusal to grant a VC to Sheean, who aboard a sinking MHAS Armidale in 1942 shunned the relative safety of a lifeboat, returning to his gun to save comrades being strafed in the water by Japanese fighters.’

 

‘The VC decision — based on an expert report confirming almost 80 years of Defence bungling and bloody-mindedness – brought Sheean’s surviving family and supporters to tears.’

 

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Helen Dalton MP, the Shooters, Fishers & Farmers Party Member for Murray, joins Michael to discuss her attempt to launch a bill to create an online register outlining the water holdings of all individuals and corporations (foreign and domestic).

 

Having been revealed that big foreign owned water speculators like Websters and Duxton Waters were using Environment Minister Matt Kean’s environmental water account to store water, save money and maximise their profits, Ms Dalton says this is why we need a water register, to expose these dodgy deals. 

 

Her bill was passed recently by the Upper House with the support of One Nation, Labor, Independents, The Greens & Animal Justice… though later voted down 47 - 44 in the Lower House with the Liberals & Nationals voting against it.

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Listen to the full show podcast with Luke Grant filling in for Michael McLaren

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Luke Grants is joined by Naomi Kemp, Chair Australian Institute of Health & Safety, Australia’s peak workplace health and safety body which is calling for immediate government action to stop the spread of COVID-19 among healthcare workers.

 

Ms Kemp says the failure to provide adequate workplace health and safety standards in hospitals and aged care centres has contributed to the state’s devastating second wave.

 

“The current infection rate is unacceptable,” she said.  “But more tragically, it is preventable.”

 

Ms Kemp says that current health and safety practice rebuked the assumption that hospitals were some of Australia’s safest workplaces.

 

“Workers on many building sites currently have better protection than our healthcare workers when it comes to personal protective equipment, protocols around common work and recreation areas and transmission management,” she said.

 

“Despite months of preparation, hospitals and aged care centres don’t have the health and safety practices to prevent the spread of COVID-19 amongst their frontline workers.”

 

“The rate of infection of frontline workers is putting additional pressure on the sector to be able to deliver services.”

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Robert Borsak, NSW Upper House Member & Leader of the Shooters Fishers & Farmers party, who plans to work together with the crossbench to enforce a short term suspension for Mr Harwin from the upper house over his failure to provide documents relating to a road project and grilled him over the trip to his Pearl Beach home during COVID-19 lockdown.

 

Premier Gladys Berejiklian reinstated Mr Hawin after his fine was dropped due to insufficient evidence which has enraged members of her own team, even though police commissioner Mick Fuller stood by the infringement notice.

They also intended to refer the Pearl Beach matter to a parliamentary committee allowing witnesses to be called to fully examine Mr Harwin’s activities at the height of the pandemic.

 

“The motions reflect the dissatisfaction the SFF have with the way the Premier handled the potentially harmful actions of one of her ministers,” says Mr Borsak.

“Along with the irresponsible behaviour of Mr Harwin which could have resulted in catastrophic circumstances for the community of Pearl Beach, his government and cabinet colleagues.

 

 

“Mr Harwin was selfish and inconsiderate of others and acted as if the laws simply didn’t apply to him.”

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