Now, how do I tackle this? Do I use the information in my “To read” list as source material for another article, or do I use it all as an overview of our politics in its current gloomy state? I select the latter and click into my “To read” box.

1. The first piece I come across makes a rather obvious point. What if the NO vote wins the upcoming referendum? Before I address the issue, I watched Warren Mundine on Insiders on Sunday, 17 September, and I was sometimes confused about who he was supporting.

He wanted a treaty where, as I believe, a Voice is a prerequisite, the first step toward getting there. It has taken 15 years to arrive at where we are today. A treaty or treaties may take as long.

And on this subject, what does a NO vote mean? Given the absence of other propositions, it must mean that it is a vote for the continued domination of Indigenous Australians. This thought arises from a rather excellent piece by Ryan Cox for the ABC on the ethics of the Voice.

2 Stuart Robert and the Synergy 360 procurement controversy rolls onward. Robert has, predictably:

“… emphatically denied allegations that Synergy 360’s co-owner proposed a structure for the former MP to profit from government contracts… In its interim report tabled last Wednesday, Parliament’s audit committee said it had received ‘concerning evidence … raising serious allegations and questions about financial inappropriateness, improper relationships and undisclosed conflicts of interest’ with parties receiving government contracts.

As a consequence, the committee has referred the matter to the NACC.

3 Next up is the latest report from the NACC:

Assessment is a process by which the Commission considers, first, whether the referral is in its jurisdiction and raises a corruption issue (which they call triaging) and, secondly, whether and if so, how to investigate the issue raised by the referral.

Since 1 July 2023, 310 referrals have been excluded at the triage stage because they do not involve a Commonwealth public official or do not raise a corruption issue.

198 referrals are pending triage.

150 referrals are currently in active triage.

145 referrals are currently under the second stage of assessment.

4 For something different:

“A recent poll of Anglican clergy for the Times showed that only a quarter think that today’s Britain is a Christian country. Almost two-thirds believed Britain could be called Christian “only historically, not currently”. The poll showed, too, majority support for priests to be allowed to marry gay couples and for the church to drop its opposition to premarital sex.”

In the same theme, this article about the state of religion in England somewhat mirrors its position in Australia, where its survival is also under threat. People may point to the tremendous past revivals, but they didn’t have to contend with today’s technologies.

Before I move on, you may have noticed that I am a devoted reader of The Guardian. You may not know it, but Malcolm Turnbull did a feasibility study before it entered Australia. I recall Turnbull saying at the time something like. “You may not like its politics but with Lenore Taylor and Katherine Murphy you can be assured that you will read the truth.” But don’t quote me.

5 This article by Paul Bongiorno titled Spectre of Berejiklian hovers over the National Anti-Corruption Commission caught my eye because finding that a person did something “seriously corrupt” and then doing nothing about it is like an egg half-cooked.

6 Last week, in my piece, The ALP is best prepared to take us into the future I briefly mentioned a speech by Gen Angus Campbell at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute Conference. It was one of those words that make you think of speeches that hit me right in that part of the brain that sends a shiver down your spine.

“Democracies face ‘truth decay’ as Artificial Intelligence blurs fact and fiction, warns head of Australia’s military.”

(This statement, and others, really got me thinking about how we are to combat the misuse of A-I in the coming years.)

He accused Russia of “wielding disinformation as a weapon of statecraft” in the United States and the United Kingdom. Such campaigns could increasingly be used to fracture “the trust that binds us”.

He said of the climate crisis:

“… we may all be humbled by a planet made angry by our collective neglect.

“Today, we are more connected and have access to more information than any other time in history – and also more disinformation. conference.

“We rightly pride ourselves on being an open, diverse and liberal society – in other words, exposed.

“Healthy and functioning societies like ours depend upon a well-informed and engaged citizenry.

“Unfortunately, it is often said, we are increasingly living in a post-truth world where perceptions and emotions often trump facts.

“We can sometimes slip out of the reality of these truths, mainly when so many lies are being thrust upon us.”

7 Another piece I highly recommend is by the editor of The AIMN. Michael Taylor systematically rebukes the rants of Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price:

“Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s comment that:

… she did not believe there are any ongoing impacts of colonisation, but in some cases, a “positive impact”.

… begs to be disputed. There is zero positivity in the planned extermination of the world’s oldest culture. But that was the plan…

In a younger Australia there was an agenda in both the colonial and early federal governments; that being the extermination of Aborigines. Not only was it the will of ‘man’ that the Aborigines be exterminated, but also the will of God. Or so they believed.”

8 Another is from the ever-popular and seriously funny Rossleigh titled The Clear Bias Of The Labor Government! It was another of his satirical gems:

“Of course, the people complaining about the bias of Labor on the Voice aren’t the slightest bit concerned that the Liberal Party have adopted a position. Neither are they concerned about the National Party’s decision to oppose it. Or Pauline Hanson’s One Notion. Or…”

Do yourself a favour and read these two truthworthy articles from two of The AIMN’s finest writers.

“Truthworthy.” Did I invent a new word?

9 My last read is from Freedom House, a piece about the growth of the Far Right in Europe, written by April Gordon who chillingly warns that:

“Far-right groups are growing in prominence and sophistication across Eurasia, particularly in countries where notable democratic and liberalising reforms have taken place. These movements have emerged in similar contexts and share certain characteristics, and should be evaluated as a phenomenon in their own right.”

There is much deeper stuff in my “To read file” and plenty more, but this will suffice for now.