CORRECTION

Yesterday we (kind of) laughed at a loss at Gillette (OK, we did), which we attributed, through The Washington Times, to the woke campaign Gillette launched in January.

The Washington Times has since issued an apology, brought to our attention by the ever-alert listener Waz.

In fact, Gillette took a non-cash writedown of $8 billion.

We too apologise for the error.

Their razors are still too expensive. And their ad sucked.

Who is Ricci?

The Q&A wraps were chockers with reference to Ricci Bartels and her Newstart story:

On Monday night’s Q&A, audience member Ricci Bartels threw political slogans into the shredder.

In the words of Scott Morrison: Have a go to get a go? Hand up, not handout?

Ms Bartels had a question – and a heartbreaking, powerful story – and no one on the panel really knew how to answer it. It was a question about welfare reform, but it might as well have been about climate change: an effective way to send our politicians into an incoherent muddle about what they might do and when they might do it.

But listen to the start of the answer from Cassandra Goldie, the long-time boss of ACOSS from 4’20”:

There’s a reason they’re familiar.

They used to work together:

Neither Ms Bartels nor panellist Cassandra Goldie (ACOSS CEO) told us that until recently, Ms Bartels was a director of ACOSS, that she features in ACOSS press release material for its campaign to raise NewStart – and perhaps most importantly, that since early 2018 Ms Bartels has been an Age Pension recipient.

Q&A questioners are screened. The producers would have known who she was. And if not, Goldie should have told them.

Surely this is a case for Media Watch. We’ll see.

Michael Smith, great work.

PNG wants China to buy it

This is a scary story and a slap to Scott Morrison:

Papua New Guinea has asked China to refinance its entire government debt of $11.8 billion in an unprecedented move that could give Beijing huge leverage over Australia’s nearest neighbour.

PNG Prime Minister James Marape announced the request after a meeting yesterday with Chinese ambassador Xue Bing in Port Moresby — less than a fortnight after an official visit to Australi­a at the invitation of Scott Morrison, who has sought to counter rising Chinese influence across the region.

Ever wondered why we have robodebt?

This is why

Wonder why we have so many forms to fill in? Each longer than War and Peace?

This is why.

Wonder why no one cares about breaking the law (because the courts are limp lettuces)?

This is why:

An Adelaide man who falsified income statements to unlawfully obtain almost $72,000 in welfare payments has narrowly avoided prison for his crime.

But Hina Kollie, 35, of Athol Park, has been ordered to repay almost the entire amount he wrongly took.

Pathetic.