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Aunty has jumped the shark. You could understand the wall-to-wall rolling coverage of Queen Elizabeth's death on the first day. It was entirely appropriate to mark the monarch's death by celebrating her life. But 36, 48 hours later, with much of the material on high rotation, it had begun to wear thin. So thin, The Echidna launched a motorcycle boot at the TV (it missed). News of a big, successful counter-offensive in Ukraine was nowhere to be seen until Sunday night and then relegated to the back of the bulletin just before the sport: "And in other news..." Never mind Russia was being pushed back its own border in a spectacular military operation after being gulled by a sneaky misinformation campaign. Nothing to see here, apparently. Nothing to see in PNG either, where a magnitude 7.6 earthquake had shaken the country and taken an unknown number of lives. To be fair, the ABC did carry these stories on its website but the TV audience was largely left in the dark. It was as if its main platform had turned into a televised version of The Australian Women's Weekly.
The national broadcaster has been marking its 90-year milestone with lavish and stirring renditions of I Am Australian, a song some think should be our national anthem because its words reflect the multicultural country we have become: "We are one, but we are many. And from all the lands on earth we come." Yet all Friday, through Saturday and into Sunday, ABC TV seemed like a branch office of the British Broadcasting Corporation. It sent the punters on Twitter nuts, as you'd expect. "ENOUGH ALREADY," screamed one in caps lock just before the boot was launched. The mawkish saturation also embarrassed a few of its own employees. One warned me on Friday not to expect any other news until Sunday. "It will be relentless," he said. "There are hundreds of packages ready to roll." He was right. Another, who obviously missed the internal memo, asked on social media on Saturday: "Does anyone know what happened to the 7pm ABCTV news tonight?"
Mercifully, things have begun to return to normal. The Queen's death is still the lead item but other important stories are finally being told as well. It will, however, be a slow righting of the news ship, which canny politicians will love. As one NSW pollie told me: "This is a nuclear bomb in the news cycle. If you have trash to put out, now is the time to do it because no one will cover it."
Just as we should discuss the protocol which triggered the suspension of Parliament, not to mention the public holiday which has thrown long-booked surgery and numerous year 12 graduation ceremonies and formals under the imperial bus, the ABC needs to think carefully about how it covers the next passing of a monarch. Blunt arithmetic tells us the reign of King Charles won't last for seven decades. Will its end be worthy of the same saturation coverage? That also depends on blunt arithmetic: the ratings this last effort attracted.
HAVE YOUR SAY: Have you enjoyed the saturation coverage of the Queen's death? Or was it overkill? Did you feel other important news was swamped? How much is too much? Before she died, did you pay much attention to the Queen and the Royal family? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- The Australian Defence Force is on the precipice of a workforce crisis as the military organisation struggles to attract and retain skilled personnel amid rising regional tensions. The defence force has warned it's struggling to recruit people amid a nationwide skills shortage while also dealing with a higher rate of staff quitting in the last year. It comes as Defence's total permanent workforce is planned to grow by approximately 18,500 to around 100,000 by 2040.
- Ukraine's ambassador has called for more artillery and ammunition from Australia after a counter-offensive in the nation's east saw Kyiv retake a key town from Russian control. Vasyl Myroshnychenko says artillery is needed to hold onto the reclaimed Kharkiv, as he praised the Australian government for the Bushmaster armoured personnel vehicles that helped "liberate" the region.
- The market watchdog has urged Australians to understand investing in crypto assets is a form of extreme risk-taking. "We want to be very clear and unambiguous in our messages to consumers entering the market," ASIC commissioner Sean Hughes told a Governance Institute conference on Monday. "We think that crypto assets are highly volatile, inherently risky and complex." The Australian Taxation Office estimates more than one million taxpayers have dabbled in crypto assets since 2018.
THEY SAID IT: "A great empire, like a great cake, is most easily diminished at the edges." - Benjamin Franklin
YOU SAID IT: The suspension of Parliament, talk of a republic and The Echidna's own Question Time.
Veronica defends the pause: "The Prime Minister has already told us how they will cover the lost sitting days. As a paid-up member of the Australian Republic Movement, let's get cracking on a republic so we don't have to follow these archaic rules. But until we are, then we do - that is the system. I don't like it any more than a lot of people, but I obey the rules and work to change them."
Darrell asks: "Do we really need to have a one-off public holiday to think about the Queen (without disrespect) and not think about those doing it tough sleeping underneath the bridges of Australia? The Queen is at rest ... let her rest in peace. Mourn if you must (if it makes you feel better) but let us think about those who have no bed, and do something that we can do something about."
Lee says: "You ask 'Why are we beholden to a protocol set down 17,000km away by a foreign power, a protocol that suspends the business of our Parliament?' Don't ask Albanese, ask Howard and the rest of the Australian monarchists. Everyone likes to pretend our system of constitutional monarchy, headed by a foreign monarch, is just a 'convention' or a pleasant tradition that brings with it a bit of pageantry. It is not, and now we see the result. If we seriously thought that constitutional monarchy was the best political system, we should breed our own, or perhaps ask the half Australian-Danish heirs to volunteer for the position. The Danish crown is older than the English one. Thanks for the emails." Glad you're enjoying The Echidna, Lee.
David doesn't think Parliament should be suspended: "No - a day of condolence motions - then back to work. As I understand it, even the UK parliament continues to work. I am a bit concerned about the holiday too. As I understand it, even in the UK, there is no national holiday. If these decisions are established protocol, then they should be reviewed and changed ASAP."
Elaine is not contemplating a republic. If anything, quite the opposite: "Looking at how the Republic of America is and has performed over the decades does not inspire confidence. Greed and graft forever spirals as poverty continues to grow. The recent antics of our recent government 'aping' Trump's America further increase my anti-republican stance."
Daniel knocks at the door in his role as the grammar police: "You describe the Member for Cook as 'disinterested'. No he ain't - the word is 'uninterested'. Common mistake, you're far from alone. But there's a marked distinction between the two. Disinterested means unbiased. Explained to me in year 10 as 'When you're up before the court you want a disinterested judge, not an uninterested one.' So the Member for Cook is far from disinterested. We know he has lots of interests - fossil fuel industry donors being but one. And big thanks for the daily column. As a former community radio volunteer news journo, I know how hard it is to come up with a piece every day." Thanks, Daniel. My misdemeanour is noted. All these years and I'm still mastering English.
Patricia says: "I was thinking about this yesterday. My thoughts were how can we afford for Parliament to not sit for two weeks? John Hanscombe says it all. Absolutely spot on." Thanks, Patricia. The PM has said an extra four days will be scheduled before the October session to make up for lost time.
Geoff chimes in with a bouquet and a brickbat: "John you've just penned another outstanding editorial. I thought about commenting but it would take up far too many lines to do justice to your important questions. Suffice to say Adam Bandt is an insensitive boofhead and Katy Gallagher just offended a large mature, intelligent audience. My kids and grandkids want to explore the alternative to the Crown now the Queen's reign has ended, and I agree. Charles is not a good fit for Australia. My warning to my family is simple, don't dismiss that the current system has served us well, ignore the mutterings of a previous PM and bandana man and ensure that any president or prime minister is elected by the people."
Jan has a question for the Education Minister: "Have you considered giving every student in Australia a voucher or credit of the same amount for the same age group? The parent could choose and use the voucher at the school of choice. If some choose a non-government system, then those parents pay the extra fees, if any. Note that any school not a government one, is non-government. There should be no differentiation between types of schools other than the choice to use the government or non-government systems."
Wombat is all for a republic: "It should have been a no contest under Hawke and Keating but it wasn't to be. Now is the time. We have previously been aided by the leader of the Commonwealth but now we get more aid from the democratic republic of the United States of America. Especially where our nearest neighbour and trading partner (sort of) is concerned. The Queen was just a figurehead as is the new King. They have/had no true say in governance of their own country, therefore why should we allow them and archaic rulings to control our own government processes?"
Peter has an idea for the Queen's Birthday holiday: "My spiky mate, let's leave the Republic debate aside, but consider something more important, which, but for the will to so do, could be implemented much sooner. Like within the next 12 months. That about which I speak is the dropping of the King's/Queen's Birthday - and replacing it with a National Australian Indigenous Day. A day to be celebrated nationally on the same day, for example, the first Monday in October. Let's face it, for the greater part of the last half century, Queen's Birthday has been nothing more than a day off work/school. Not like it was earlier when we waved around the Union flag and sang God Save the Queen. A National Australian Indigenous Day could help bring us all together, and stop the calls to drop Australia Day."
Gregory says: "Greetings John and Fiona, excellent edition this morning! Wow, 15 days of parliamentary suspension. This is, in effect, a suspension of our democracy. Outrageous. Put simply, this whole former Queen's death thing epitomises the elitist and entitled classes hoodwinking of the masses who buy into the exclusionary and oppressive narrative of that class, and for no sensible reason. Supporting the heads of the institutions that have oppressed and ravaged those same masses for centuries by extracting the wealth of their countries and giving precious little back enrages me. I will have no truck with this theatre."
Tony would like to talk about the republic: "No, it's not too soon to discuss a republic, although as many people had a fondness for the Queen, perhaps it is. So there is still some quandary around the question. I would like to have a republican Australia. I just hope that the initial referendum is clear and honest, unlike the last one we had. Keep up the good work John. I love your questions for Parliament. A good idea maybe to allow a percentage of the questions to come from ordinary people." Thanks, Tony, if only the politicians would agree to give up their 15 seconds of fame.
Paul has no problem with the parliamentary suspension: "Perhaps it should be more than 15 days to spare us from more self-promoting questions. Most of the work on the issues you raised is done outside formal parliamentary sittings in any case. More seriously, after a 70-year reign as Queen of Australia, I think respect for tradition and for the person is very appropriate. And, yes, it is too soon to talk of a republic. Let's at least wait until the poor lady is laid in her final resting place and her close and worldwide family given a chance to grieve."