Australia is scheduled to play three one-day internationals in Zimbabwe in September. They should not go. Furthermore, they should not pay the $US 2 million break fee for not going.

It doesn't take rocket science to understand why. Playing international cricket in a country which has been governed into an absolutely ruinous state would be a sign of ceremonial largesse of the most unspeakable obscenity. Inflation is running at more than 2000 per cent per annum, 38 per cent of the population are malnourished (source: World Food Programme), 85 per cent are unemployed, about a quarter have HIV/AIDS, and President Robert Mugabe rules dictatorially, violently suppressing opposition and silencing contrary opinion in the media.

We've accepted by now that the Federal Budget gave little more than lip service to handling climate change. One of the more kindly suggested reasons could be that the Government might be saving up its pork barrelling... er, expenditure announcements till the Prime Ministerial Task Force on Emissions Trading presents its report on May 31.

The Task Force's sub-website can be found here. Worth noting is the composition of the PMTFET:

Peter Costello got some feedback from God this morning. Here is the transcript of their conversation.