This week's best stories

Saturday Aug 31

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This week Cam Wilson unmasked a Fox Sports executive as the man behind an anonymous, abusive account on X/Twitter. Following the exclusive report, Foxtel has said it is investigating “improper use” of social media accounts.

Anton Nilsson also followed up on his Tourism Australia investigation, revealing that executives tried to hide they were on a trip to Cannes while dialling into a meeting about job cuts. The trip cost more than $66,000 — we're sharing the receipts.

Plus we asked an expert in journalistic ethics about Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's latest gripe with the media: “I don't know why he was so grumpy about it.”

Hope you’re having a great weekend.

Crystal Andrews,
Readers' editor

Foxtel investigating ‘improper use’ of multiple social media accounts linked to executive

CAM WILSON

Following Crikey's inquiries into a new set of social media posts linked to Fox Sports' head of cricket, the News Corp-owned company said it was probing the allegations.

Foxtel’s general manager of Fox Cricket Matthew Weiss (Image: Private Media/Zennie)

‘Shameful’: Fox Sports executive’s secret abusive Twitter account revealed

CAM WILSON

Exclusive: It was an open secret that Foxtel's head of cricket had a pseudonymous Twitter account which was used to attack colleagues, rivals and athletes, and to post sexist and racist content.

Fox Sports executive Matthew Weiss and a tweet from his secret account (Image: Private Media/Zennie)

Nine text messages that reveal how the Bruce Lehrmann saga unfolded in the media

CHARLIE LEWIS

Crikey brings you the story behind the story.

(Image: Private Media/Zennie)

Census debacle shows Labor has made Dutton a de facto member of cabinet

BERNARD KEANE

This week's debacle over census questions on sexuality and gender isn't the only example of Labor giving Dutton an effective veto over its policies.

Peter Dutton speaks to Anthony Albanese (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)

Albo accused a journalist of acting unethically. Did they?

DAANYAL SAEED

Has the PM got a solid grasp on what journalistic ethics actually are? One expert says no.

Anthony Albanese at the Pacific Islands Forum in Tonga (Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)

The AUKUS submarine deal has been exposed as a monumental folly. Is it time to abandon ship?

MARK BEESON

The good news, perhaps, is that it is difficult to imagine the nuclear-powered submarines will ever arrive. The bad news is we will still have to pay the Americans and the British in the meantime.

Scott Morrison and Joe Biden in 2021 (Image: AP/Evan Vucci)

‘Purplepingers’ wants a ‘cheeky revolution’. But does he have a real plan for the Senate?

RACHEL WITHERS

Maybe the revolution will be televised after all (on TikTok).

Jordan van den Lamb, aka Purplepingers (Image: AAP/Private Media/Zennie)

Yes, we should nationalise Qantas — this privatisation experiment has been disastrous!

MARGARET MCKENZIE

With the crises at Qantas and other privatised industries now manifest, we are returning to the reasons we nationalised in the first place.

No, we shouldn’t nationalise Qantas — there’s plenty we can do instead

STEVEN HAMILTON

Let’s reconsider the two crucial factors: competition and information.

Steven Hamilton (Image: Private Media/Zennie)

Tourism Australia execs who ‘tried to hide’ they were in Cannes spent $66k on the trip

ANTON NILSSON

Exclusive: The two Tourism Australia executives who tuned in to a job cuts meeting on Zoom from Cannes flew there in business class and spent more than $66,000 on the trip.

Tourism Australia chief marketing officer Susan Coghill (Image: Tourism Australia/Private Media/Zennie

Locking up 10-year-olds is racist by design and in effect

MICHAEL BRADLEY

If the age of criminal responsibility is lowered, almost all of the extra children arrested, incarcerated and institutionalised will be Indigenous.

NT Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro (Image: AAP/Amanda Parkinson)

Climate action is crucial to Australia’s standing in the Pacific

WESLEY MORGAN

Long a regional laggard on climate action, Australia must convince Pacific leaders it's serious about moving away from fossil fuels.

Penny Wong with Pacific island leaders at the 2023 Pacific Islands Forum (Image: AAP/Ben McKay)

The Oz’s unfortunate pic, Social Services (finally) asks what people think, and an old fashioned Fordham farrago

CHARLIE LEWIS and DAANYAL SAEED

The Department of Social Services calls on an old friend, Grover joins the (inevitable) CPAC circuit, and plenty more in this weeks Tips and Murmurs.

Sall Grover and Ben Fordham (Images: AAP/Private Media)

Take your pick on Bandt’s super-profits tax: Revenue now, or retirement savings later

BERNARD KEANE and GLENN DYER

The Greens' proposal for a super-profits tax will end up costing every Australian via their superannuation balances. Which might be worth it — but let's not pretend it won't happen.

Australian Greens Leader Adam Bandt (Image: AAP/Mick Tsikas)

Telegram founder’s arrest is radical — if it’s a crime to build privacy tools, there will be no privacy

CHRIS BERG

Pavel Durov's arrest suggests that the law enforcement dragnet is being widened from private financial transactions to private speech.

Telegram founder Pavel Durov in 2017 (Image: AP/Tatan Syuflana/Private Media)

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