Mike Hosking

latest cab off the rank in things australia are doing that we suggested we might is some sort of deal with tech around local news australia led off the batting with a social media ban of course that's been picked up and run with all over the world it doesn't work necessarily but people in various jurisdictions feel good enough about it and it may well be that enough people are affected for it to be judged some sort of success we of course are yet to do anything

almost as though we don't want to.

Not that it's called a tax, it's a charge, and the charge will be spread about local media to help offset all the money big tech is hoovering up from taking their work and monetising it through advertising.

This won't work either, of course.

In fact, it will work even less than the social media ban has worked, but you clearly can't tell Albanese there.

He also runs the risk of infuriating Trump, who is pro-American tech, and companies in the firing line like Meta are, of course, American.

Meantime, in Canada, who tried to do something similar, they've gone without Meta, or at least gone without local news on Meta for a while now, because that's the standard playbook.

Tax us and we're off.

Why now, Sean?

Eh?

Why now, Sean?

I had COVID vibes yesterday when I read Sean Sweeney's thinking about the CRL.

COVID vibes, because during that period, I cannot tell you how many people I know and regularly dealt with, people in the media, people from business, who said one thing about the government and their handling of lockdowns and the economy, and they did that in private and something completely different in public.

So, Sean, having left the CRL to head to Ireland, now having left Ireland, but has stopped by long enough to tell us we don't scope or price major projects that well.

Huh!

Well, who knew?

The CRL at well over $5 billion is a gargantuan waste of money.

I mean, yes, it will improve things, and on paper it makes sense because it joins up some rail lines so you can go round and round and round.

But like most things in life, convenience or improvement or efficiency comes at a cost.

what's a terrific idea at 50 bucks is a waste 200 and for something that started out at about two and will come in at about six as in billion the crl has reached the stage where no one really wants to accept responsibility anymore for the price and delays because it got so embarrassing a long time ago and tipped over into that well let's just make the most of it and hope it works it won't of course not to the extent they dreamed because what they dream of is new york or london and we've never been that never will be anyway part of where sean is right