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A survey of gender representation in the news media found that Australian websites are a sausage party: “Women accounted for 34 percent of direct quotes and 24 percent of indirect sources in mainstream digital media sites… [M]en were the majority of direct and indirect sources across all story topics with the exception of those relating to celebrities and the royals. Men constituted 95 percent of direct sources in sports-related stories, 82 percent in business and finance stories and 79 percent in law, crime and justice stories.” And the gender of journalists is a big part of the problem: “Female journalists were more likely to use female sources (40 percent) than male journalists (24 percent), the report said.” The study, conducted by Jenna Price and Anne Maree Payne for the Women’s Leadership Institute Australia, includes transcripts of some very depressing interviews with senior managers who acknowledge the importance of gender diversity but then say things like, “I hire on talent. So, if I like a bloke and I think he’s right for the job, I’ll hire him. I won’t think, ‘Oh the last three people I’ve hired are men’, and I think it works out pretty well. I actually couldn’t tell you what the gender divide is in our newsroom…” These problems are systemic and they won’t be solved by good intentions — it’s well past time to move from principle to practice.

As predicted, the Coalition’s budget surplus is a fairy tale, a projection based on “fancifully optimistic forecasts” that also provide the cash (on paper) for some vote-buying tax cuts. Paddy Manning challenges the idea that middle-income earners are “winners” when they are given a pre-election tax cut: “as anyone who has ever struggled with addiction can attest, there comes a point where the temptation is accompanied by a knowing fear: the empty thrill of another hit comes with full foresight of the difficult battle that will follow to give up all over again. Australia is at exactly that point: the sugar-hit in the polls from a tax cut the country can’t afford will be weak and short-lived, and followed only by more grinding frustration.” And the ABC’s Michael Janda has another budget metaphor — that we are now holding a time bomb that is set to explode in 2024: “That’s when the vast bulk of the Government’s already legislated income tax cuts kick in. Tax cuts that overwhelmingly favour higher income earners and cost the budget tens of billions of dollars.” Labor agreed to pass those laws, but promised to repeal them after the next election — a stupid and short-sighted promise because it can’t predict the makeup of the Senate. We need leaders who make the case for strong revenue to support strong investment in our communities.

As the Morrison Government prepares to spin its early, last ditch, pre-election budget, it’s worth taking a moment to identify the statistical tricks used to skew our perceptions of fairness. The Grattan Institute reminds us: “‘Average’ (or mean) earnings are often used as shorthand for what the typical Australian earns. But the average can be misleading. More than three-quarters of Australian workers earn less than the average full-time wage of $90,300. The typical Australian worker earns just $57,918. Most Australians earn less than the average hourly wage, and many employees only work part-time. … [And] more than a third of Australian adults aren’t in paid work, so the earnings of workers aren’t a good guide to the incomes of all people. The typical adult’s income is only $36,893, according to the ABS.” Meanwhile, references to “taxable” income are used to hide aggressive tax minimisation schemes used by extremely high income earners; Greg Jericho notes, “in 2016-17 a growing number of millionaires were able to avoid paying tax. Sixty-nine people who earned more than $1m in 2016-17 paid $0 in tax – an increase from 62 in 2015-16, and 48 in the year before that.” And the simplest way to make wages seem higher is to just make up the numbers, which has been Treasury’s approach to wage growth projections throughout since the Coalition took office.

The Australian has helpfully identified a list of Australia’s 250 biggest hoarders, who are amassing unfathomable wealth that could be put to far better use: “The List features 96 billionaires… with an average wealth of $1.27 billion for the 250 people featured. Their combined wealth is almost $320bn.” Next time the government claims we can’t afford to invest in health, education or infrastructure, point them to The List — we know exactly who to tax, and exactly where they are stockpiling their cash. There is no reason anyone should have this kind of personal wealth. There is no meritocracy and they certainly didn’t earn it. Luke Savage nails it: “No one earns a billion dollars, but hierarchical economic structures and a skewed political system ensure some nevertheless acquire it because of the property they own. A billion dollars … is not a reward proportionate to someone’s social contribution. It’s institutionalized theft, plain and simple.”

After an illegal attempt to bypass the union was this week blocked by the Fair Work Commission, Chemist Warehouse capitulated to the demands of its striking workers. In addition to significant wage rises, outsourced workers will be paid agreement rates, casual employees will have the right to be made permanent after six months — and those casuals who participated in the strike will be given permanent jobs immediately. Professor Anthony Forsyth, who conducted the Victorian Government’s inquiry into the labour hire industry, summarises the significance of the Chemist Warehouse victory: “the NUW has made huge inroads into a major company’s extensive use of labour hire. In many sectors of the economy, including warehousing, logistics and manufacturing, the original intention of labour hire — to provide a supplement to the core workforce in response to business needs — has been usurped by the engagement of large numbers of long-term, labour hire casuals. The Chemist Warehouse agreement is an important clawing back of that misuse of labour hire. The NUW has shown … that the more traditional industrial tools (strikes, protests) are still effective — especially when combined with organising and communication through social media.” Strikes work!

The final episode of breakfast TV satire Get Krack!n aired on ABC last night, with regular hosts Kate McCartney and Kate McLennan joined/replaced by Miranda Tapsell and Nakkiah Lui. This review is spot on: “The tag ‘must-watch TV’ gets bandied about for any second-rate reality TV episode, but on Wednesday night ABC show Get Krack!n gave Australian TV its most searing half-hour in living memory.” It is a confronting, rage-fuelled spectacle — the punch in the face that White Australia needs. Watch it on iView as soon as you can.

John Howard is giving a speech today in which he claims Australia’s economic inequality is a myth. In a publicity interview [$] with “journalist” Simon Benson [$], Howard said: “These figures don’t suggest inequality­ is growing at all. Australia’s wealth per adult is the second-highest in the world.” Great — but averages do not measure inequality. To do that, you need to compare the distribution of wealth on a spectrum. ACOSS reports: “The average wealth of the highest 20% rose by 53% (to $2.9 million) from 2003 to 2016, while that of the middle 20% rose by 32% and for lowest 20% declined by 9%. The wealth of the wealthiest 5% grew even more rapidly, by 60% over this 12-year period.” These facts are important — a recent study shows that “providing respondents with information about inequality and mobility in Australia makes them more likely to desire urgent action from the government to reduce inequality, more supportive of providing free and high-quality health and education, and less supportive of cutting corporate taxes. This effect was largely due to Coalition voters becoming more progressive in their views.” No wonder Howard is being deployed to muddy the waters in advance of the election.

Who wrote this about Gallipoli: “It is said that one huge Queenslander swung his rifle by the muzzle, and, after braining one Turk, caught another and flung him over his shoulder. I do not know if this story is true, but when we landed some hours later, there was said to have been a dead Turk on the beach with his head smashed in.” Was it a biased academic historian using unverified rumour to push a left-wing agenda? No, it was Australia’s official war correspondent, Charles Bean, in his first report from the landing. The latest salvo in the History Wars, a bizarre whinge on the front page of The Australian [$] complaining that history students are taught soldiers kill people, is (to borrow a phrase) political correctness gone mad.

It seems it is still too early to draw any clear conclusions from the disappointing result of the NSW election, although the early conversation between Ben Raue and Osmond Chiu is worth listening to. From a Victorian vantage point, the only real standout moments were when Michael Daley quite rightly told Alan Jones to get stuffed, and then when Michael Daley quite wrongly scapegoated migrants for cost of living pressures in Sydney: “Our young children will flee and who are they being replaced with? They are being replaced by young people from typically Asia with PhDs.” Liam Hogan argues this is a reminder that Labor has a long history of racism, and the party needs to be more careful in its treatment of various issues to avoid slipping into racist tropes. Responding to Daley’s invocation of “our children”, Hogan says: “We might start by being clear about who ‘we’ is. ‘We’ cannot be a proxy, even by accident, for white people, and neither can it be that subtle proxy for white people, ‘existing residents’. Let’s be clear that ‘our’ children includes children who have yet to be born, and are yet to migrate. ‘Our’ jobs includes jobs that are yet to exist, in industries that we can’t imagine yet. Our society and our city is going to change. What’s necessary is a society where the benefits of those changes are shared, and are seen to be shared.”

Unions are calling for a boycott of Chemist Warehouse retail outlets, to support striking warehouse workers who are facing intimidation: “Chemist Warehouse stores appear to be running low on goods as allegations emerged that striking workers have been targeted with violence and threats at the picket line. … [O]ne protester said her car tyres were slashed, while others were hospitalised after being struck by trucks, the National Union of Workers alleged. Police were called over one threat.” The striking workers are demanding pay in line with industry standards, job security, and an end to sexual harassment. You can support the campaign by boycotting Chemist Warehouse, signing the petition, and donating to the strike fund.