Episode 78: Morrison’s flood disaster and the crisis of small government, Putin’s War and energy in the West plus solar panel flowers

"The Week on Wednesday" with Van Badham & Ben Davison

Van Badham and Ben Davison look at how the Morrison government's current failures around the floods are deeply rooted in their obsessive small government ideology. From defence readiness to aged care, from the NDIS to flood relief the ideological obsession of Morrison, Dutton and the Liberals has seen billions collected in taxes then doled out in rorts and dodgy deals while the sovereign capacity Australians need to keep us safe, employed and prosperous has been eroded.

Morrison has flown to Lismore to declare a national emergency in a photo-op but refuses to acknowledge that the undermining of the public sector, the sell offs, favours for mates and dodgy grant schemes, coupled with a refusal to acknowledge the science of climate change, is the root cause of the problem.

With people hiring helicopters, setting up their own field hospitals and Chris Hemsworth donating tonnes of food people are rightly asking "isn't this the role of government?"

Putin's War in Ukraine hasn't gone to plan with high casualties, equipment failures and stubborn Ukrainian resistance throwing his "special operation" into a chaotic second week.

The West has responded by imposing sanctions, the latest of which strikes at the rivers of black gold that Russia has been selling to Europe, the UK and USA. Bans and rapid transitions away from Russian oil, coal and gas by the Western nations will cripple the Russian economy and speed up the global transition to renewable energy.

The good news is that South Korea has floated giant flower shaped solar farms that not only provide renewable energy but are also beautiful tourist attractions.

As always we thank our Cadre and Extending the Reach supporters, check out https://www.buymeacoffee.com/WeekOnWednesday, for how you can help us keep making The Week on Wednesday.