LYN'S DAILY LINKS are to posts of interest to the contemporary political debate. They are updated daily.
For past months of LYN'S DAILY LINKS go to the Page List in the left panel.
25 May 2013
The Numbers! The Numbers!
by @newmatilda
What a disaster budget! Everyone's unhappy, but none more so than old Joe Hockey. Why's he so cross? Take Alan Austin's latest quiz and find out
http://newmatilda.com/2013/05/24/numbers-numbers
Budget 2013 - lunge and riposte
by @OnLineOpinion
And amazingly - in Melbourne's 'Herald Sun' Jessica Irvine was allowed to make the observation that Labor"inherited a structurally flabby Budget from the Howard Government, with too many cash handouts and unsustainable tax cuts." And: "The Budget would be in surplus today if
www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp
Jump in my car. Why Ford was heading south
by @1petermartin
The best thing the government can do now for Ford is to cut off the drip - to use that part of the latest $32 million package it hasn’t handed over to encourage perhaps an Indian or a Chinese car maker to take it over.
www.petermartin.com.au/.../...ord-was-heading.html
Stop the rot on Treasury forecasts
by Jessica Irvine
Enough is enough. Allegations of political interference in the process by which budget forecasts are put together risk undermining public confidence in Treasury and government
www.businessspectator.com.au/.../stop-rot-treasury-forecasts
The polishing of Tony Abbott
by @independentaus
the makeover was taken to a farcical extreme, featuring caked fake-tan make-up, white eyeliner, an enhanced hairline, smart new suit, brilliant white shirt and subdued blue tie. There were even suggestions of botox injections.
www.independentaustralia.net/.../
How Aussie Jack helped send Ford back
by @independentaus
Australia, as far as Dearborn is concerned, is an outlier. Fresh from copping $34 million from the Victorian and Federal Governments in January 2012 with a straight face, current local MD Bob Graziano has decided he’d rather drive a Holden. Or whatever.
www.independentaustralia.net/.../
Julie Bishop says national debt has gone "from zero to heading towards $400 billion"
by @PolitiFactOz
More misleading from Bishop, however, was her apples-and-oranges trick with the jump from zero debt to "heading towards $400 billion".
www.politifact.com.au/.../
Would A Double Dissolution In Early 2014 Be Unconstitutional?
by @mfarnsworth
Tony Abbott has made it clear that the first legislative act of his government after September 14 will be to introduce legislation to repeal the carbon tax. The mining tax is also up for repeal
australianpolitics.com/.../...olution-in-2014.html
Has the Daily Examiner discovered Tony Abbott's beauty secret-
by @no_filter_Yamba
“Topical alternative to Wrinkle Freezing Injections. Improves the look of deep wrinkles& expression lines.
northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/.../...-tony.html
Abbott's billion dollar carbon headache
by Dermot O'Gorman
The reverberations from the Newman government’s bulldozing of Queensland’s vegetation protection laws will be felt well beyond the 2 million hectares of native bush now at risk of clearing.
www.businessspectator.com.au/.../abbotts-billion-dollar-carbon-headache
No wonder the polls have been wrong: The polling industry is in a crisis
by The Globe & Mail
the “horse race.” Many column inches are taken up with the analysis of poll results and insights from pollsters (some of you may include this article in that category as well). While these stories do capture the pulse of an election, they do not take into account the overall election ecosystem and the body politic.
www.theglobeandmail.com/.../
Simplistic Arguments Reign Supreme’
by @sortius
It’s concerning that journalists have not pulled Turnbull up on the obvious differences between Australia & the UK/Germany, nor have they questioned the lack of detail on how many cabinets or how much of the copper network would need to be replaced.
http://sortius-is-a-geek.com/?p=3013
Disclosure in Social Media: How transparent should bloggers be?
by @mumbrella
Disclosure is a grey area for bloggers for a reason. What exactly counts as ‘payment’ for a blog post or a tweet? If someone buys you a coffee and you go on to write a blog post about their brand do you disclose it?
mumbrella.com.au/disclosure-in-social-media-how-transparent-should-bloggers-be-157593
Today’s Front Pages
Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 25 May 2013
www.thepaperboy.com/australia/front-pages.cfm
News headlines
http://www.hotheadlines.com.au/
24 May 2013
Politifact underestimates the power of engagement
by @timdunlop
Politifact Australia may become an important part of public debate, but it will be nothing without public trust and goodwill. In the era of new media, you need to earn both, and you can't do that by simply doing a good job. You also need to engage.
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4708750.html
Just Who Is Playing Politics With Treasury?
by @beneltham
Hockey claimed that the budget figures were not really the Treasury figures, but were fudged by Labor. “Well I don't believe they're Treasury's numbers,” he said last Wednesday. “I think they're Wayne Swan's numbers and that's a starting point because his name is on the front of the document."
newmatilda.com/.../just-who-playing-politics-treasury
Sloppy Joe Hockey’s 15 biggest Press Club furphies
by @independentaus
we might have expected Australia’s press gallery to show some diligence in scrutinising the nonsense Joe Hockey spouts if – as they seem unanimously agreed – he will soon run the economy.Again, more than 20 misleading assertions, hypocritical claims and blatant lies.
www.independentaustralia.net/.../
Joe Hockey ignores budget truths
by @macro_business
The contrasting fortunes are also illustrated by the below Treasury chart, which shows tax revenues to GDP booming under the Howard Government and then collapsing after the Labor Government took office just prior to the onset of the GFC:
www.macrobusiness.com.au/.../
Australia invaded Iraq by deceiving Australian people: 43 Australian elders
by @margokingston1
And Joe Hockey, don’t talk about bringing back honest government, please. Your last government’s record does not allow it.
australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com/.../
Come on News Ltd, first kill, maim, censor and delete the bloggers ...
by Dorothy Parker
Meanwhile jolly Joe Hockey - please do not propose the pond should buy a used economy from this man - has set the cat amongst the pigeon by getting outraged and going gunning for Treasury, as you an read in a story about his valiant defence of Howard government tax cuts.
loonpond.blogspot.com.au/.../...l-maim-censor.html
Ford goes – and how much does it matter-
by @LarvatusProdeo
the magnitude of the job losses is miniscule in the context of the broader Australian economy, and nothing like Campbell Newman’s decimation of the Queensland public service. Indeed, across Australia there were 390,000 retrenchments in the 12-month period starting February 2011, which makes the 1600-odd job losses from Ford’s manufacturing shutdown look like a piddle in the ocean.
larvatusprodeo.net/.../
Why my money is still on another hung parliament
by @AusVotes2013
I do not believe, as some do (looking at you Mr Abbott) that the hung parliament result was some kind of anomaly, or a mistake. I think the Australian people fairly comprehensively and deliberately, after taking a long look at what was on offer,
ausvotes2013.com/.../
Murdocracy: This is why you will never hear the truth from Australian media
by rossleighbrisbane , @MigloMT
Anyone in Australia who consumes media from more than one source, especially if that second opinion is not mainstream media, will know there is something very wrong with what we are being told is The News.
theaimn.com/.../
The Other Side
by @madwixxy
In fact, given that the evidence that these charges were based on has been in police hands for so long it would appear as if the charges are being drip fed to a hungry media with each court appearance. I wonder how many new charges will be laid next time?
http://wixxyleaks.com/2013/05/23/the-other-side-3/
Newman takes axe to Abbott’s Direct Action, and Qld bush
by Giles Parkinson
The conservative government of Queensland Premier Campbell Newman has stunned stunned scientists, environmental groups, climate change policy experts by going against a campaign promise and opening up millions of hectares of bushland to be clear-felled for farming purposes.
reneweconomy.com.au/.../newman-takes-axe-to-abbotts-direct-action-and-qld-bush-34644
Newman lets land-clearing cowboys loose
by Tristan Edis
One has to wonder how these changes to Queensland law might be treated under the Coalition’s Direct Action policy. Does this now mean that landholders who previously weren’t allowed to clear land, can now ask for taxpayers’ money to not clear it?
www.businessspectator.com.au/.../newman-lets-land-clearing-cowboys-loose
Ford’s exit foreshadows a looming reality check for Australian manufacturing
by @ConversationEDU
Despite $34 million worth of federal government financial assistance announced last year, the losses, a bleak future caused by a “fragmented marketplace”, “low model volumes”, and the “high cost of manufacturing”, has caused Ford to finally decide that “manufacturing is not viable for Ford in Australia in the long-term”.
theconversation.com/fords-exit-foreshadows-a-looming-reality-check-for-australian-manufacturing-14595
Vale Ford
by @NGruen1
Well, as Ned Kelly may have said on the scaffold, “I suppose it had to come to this”. Ford has been prosecuting a strategy of risk minimisation which has principally been about investment minimisation in Australia for at least a decade and
http://clubtroppo.com.au/2013/05/23/vale-ford/
Can You Trust The Facts?
By @Jeff_Sparrow
Fact checking allows big media organisations to restore a measure of the gravitas that they once possessed and to reassert their status against the blogosphere that displaced them. The digital environment might have destroyed the old perception of a newspaper as innately authoritative
newmatilda.com/2013/05/23/can-you-trust-facts
Europe, Australia and the slow death of Carbon Trading
by Fergus Green
Europe’s carbon pricing woes cast further doubt on the credibility of Australia’s scheme and on Treasury’s forecasts of the revenue it will reap for the budget
inside.org.au/.../
“SPY THE LIE” - Former CIA Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception
by rossleighbrisbane
it’s an interesting read, and should be compulsory for every political interviewer. In fact, it would make an interesting TV program where one played the interview, while the respective behaviour was identified and flashed across the screen. Must contact Rupert to see if I can sell the concept to his News Channel.
http://rossleighbrisbane.wordpress.com/
NBN under Turnbull
By Louis Nelson
While Mr Turnbull's office has clearly stated it will not abort stages currently under construction, its policy of amending contracts to reflect Coalition policy (rolling out FTTN as opposed to FTTP) within 12 months of coming to power could see the second stage of Traralgon FTTP construction abandoned
www.latrobevalleyexpress.com.au/.../?cs=1462
Today’s Front Pages
Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 24 May 2013
www.thepaperboy.com/australia/front-pages.cfm
News headlines
http://www.hotheadlines.com.au/
23 May 2013
Rupert Murdoch’s journalistic cancer
by @independentaus
Murdoch, or his editors (but I repeat myself), decide on the format for the latest government attack. Doesn’t matter what it is — some fabricated and dishonest attack on the PM’s integrity, or a policy proposal, some poll result, some disagreement between Labor Party
www.independentaustralia.net/.../
Are we left with the right centre?
by @fakeedbutler
bias everywhere among our more conservative brethren, and this makes perfect sense. After all, a defining feature of modern ‘conservative’ thought is an inherent, and deep, mistrust of institutions – primarily government and media
ausvotes2013.com/.../
The liberties of George Brandis
by @awelder
Margo: After the recent George ‘free speech’ Brandis speech I asked (begged) @awelder to write me a piece on the civil liberties credentials of the man who will be AttorneyGeneral under an Abbott Government. This is Andrew’s first piece for @NoFibs.
australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com/.../
So you think Tony Abbott’s going to lead you to the promised land? Think again!
by @minkelCA
Do we want a country where our assets are sold-off at bargain basement prices into private hands and we are forced to pay a premium to gain access to them again, or do we want fundamental services, local employment and control over our own future?
theaimn.com/.../
Tony’s Tactics
by Andy Snelling
Unfortunately for Mr Abbott, he may have made his own life harder in a speech that rested on emotive clichés and blatant generalisations.
http://rtrfm.com.au/story/tonys-tactics/
The Culture Wars: A Second Front
by Mark Latham
Tony Abbott praised The Lucky Culture as a “perceptive book” and “shrewd analysis”. He raised no objection to its policy prescriptions. I have no doubt, if an Abbott Government is elected, its biggest cuts will be to the university sector – fulfilling Abbott’s 40-year obsession with
chifley.org.au/.../
I put my money on O’Farrell
by @gabriellechan
On the weekend, he revealed that Tony Abbott had met him during his Cabinet deliberations to urge his fellow Liberal against a deal with Julia Gillard.“(Abbott) made clear his view that the system wasn’t broken, that the agreement shouldn’t be entered into,
gabriellechan.com/.../
Blame/credit: a natural affliction of all our politicians
by Peter Fray @PolitiFactOz
A case in point is the Half True ruling on Tony Abbott’s claim that during the Howard years, the wealth of Australians doubled.
www.politifact.com.au/.../
Here's to you, Martin Parkinson (lyrics)
by @1petermartin
Joe Hockey hung the Treasury boss Martin Parkinson out to dry today. Offered two opportunities to endorse him in the role he declined.
www.petermartin.com.au/.../...arkinson-lyrics.html
Buckle up for the Aussie dollar rollercoaster ride
by @GrogsGamut
Even when you get the fundamentals right the exchange rate can make a fool of you,
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4703296.html
Both sides' big secret- taxes must go up, not down
by @1RossGittins
ask her, do the letters GST ring a bell? When you measure the burden of federal taxes as a proportion of the nation's income - as you should - Peter Costello was our highest taxing treasurer. Wayne Swan can't hold a candle to him
www.rossgittins.com/.../...t-taxes-must-go-up.html
A politician to whom bald-faced political lying is as natural as breathing in and breathing out
by @no_filter_Yamba
It would appear that the majority of Australian households and workers will lose money if a Coalition Government is elected and, Mr Abbott said more spending cuts would be announced
northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/.../...faced.html
Joe’s Plan For The Present ‘Emergency’, Unremarked By Anyone Else
by Bob Ellis
It is possible that Joe is not very bright. He has redefined the word ‘emergency’ to mean ‘not being in surplus’, but he won’t say when we will be in surplus if he is in charge of the money.He says he can’t possibly predict that without getting the figures. The figures were supplied this morning.
http://www.ellistabletalk.com/2013/05/22/13892/
Australia State Liberals Push for ABC, SBS Privatization
by Precious Silva
Victorian Liberal Party will open the motion on reviewing the conditions of ABC and SBS at the state conference this weekend. The motion will urge the federal coalition to conduct a complete "operational review" of the broadcasting companies. This will establish whether or not a partial or full privatisation is feasible.
au.ibtimes.com/.../...n-sbs-australia-liberals.htm
Tony Abbott’s Budget Emergency?
by Truth Seeker
truth bender Abbott telling all his lies and half truths during his budget reply. For me though, the icing on his “Mud” (read SHIT) cake was his declaration of the “Budget Emergency” that needs to be dealt with,
truthseekersmusings.wordpress.com/.../
Today’s front Pages
Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 23 May 2013
www.thepaperboy.com/australia/front-pages.cfm
News headlines
http://www.hotheadlines.com.au/
22 May 2013
Damned Lies and Journalism
by @MrDenmore
presented as "news" (not opinion) by the likes of the Daily Telegraph and the Herald Sun, are not true. They are misrepresentations, they are distortions and, in some cases, they are outright lies manufactured by a media magnate seeking to deliver an election outcome
thefailedestate.blogspot.com.au/.../...nalism.html
The Imaginary Budget Emergency
by @beneltham
there can be no doubt that some serious austerity is on the cards should the Coalition take office. “Thanks to Labor’s poor management over five years, there is now a budget emergency,” Abbott claimed, a statement that must rather surprise the finance ministers of Greece and Cyprus.
newmatilda.com/.../imaginary-budget-emergency
What is Abbott up to?
by @LarvatusProdeo
By the way, the gallery that clapped Abbott so enthusiastically was an invited audience. I wonder whether there is scope for games to be played on this one.
larvatusprodeo.net/.../
Why Are theRight So Feral?
by @saint13333
Never in my life have I come across a human rabble so feral. So nefarious, so malevolent, so xenophobic, so bigoted, so crass, so homophobic so ubiquitous, discourteous and disgustingly bad mannered.
theaimn.com/2013/05/21/why-are-theright-so-feral/
Opposition claim about Budget and PEFO
by @PMOPressOffice
Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey claim they cannot release their fully costed and funded commitments until after Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook (PEFO) is released because they say the fiscal and economic figures produced in the Budget are not accurate and cannot be trusted.
pmopressoffice.wordpress.com/.../
Budgeting in Challenging Times
by Treasury
Address to The Australian Business Economists, Dr Martin Parkinson PSM | Secretary to the Treasury
www.treasury.gov.au/.../Budgeting-in-Challenging-Times
Hockey strenuously denies negative gearing review
Shadow Treasurer did not, or is not, examining the perverse tax with a view to reform.On one final note, in its two and half year history of cutting edge analysis, not once has MB been approached so quickly about reversing a story. Nnnnzzzzzz.
www.macrobusiness.com.au/.../
Fund managers hold the Aussie dollar in their hands
by @TheKouk
I have been speaking to a number of top-tier fund managers dotted around the world. On balance, each probably has a quite a few billion dollars tied up in their Australian bond and fixed income portfolios and with the stunning strength of the Australian dollar and
www.businessspectator.com.au/.../fund-managers-hold-aussie-dollar-their-hands
It’s All About The dB/km’s
by @sortius
it has become increasingly apparent even to the layman that Malcolm Turnbull’s broadband policy is a dud. There are no redeeming features (it’s not cheap, it won’t be deployed faster, & the cost/benefit of the policy is hard to see in a positive light)
http://sortius-is-a-geek.com/?p=2983
Chocolate-box TV’: Carlton blasts Hadley Oz Story ‘travesty’
by @KnottMatthew
“I described his program as a temple of hatred … By selectively and deceptively editing me, By selectively and deceptively editing me, they recruited me into his fan club.”
www.crikey.com.au/.../
The Power of fibre
by @ALeighMP
Tony Abbott's brash statement that he is 'confident 25 megs is enough for the average household' reminds me how easy it is to underestimate the changes that technology can bring. When I bought my first computer in 1984, it had 3½ kilobytes of memory. That sounds tiny now, but it was about that time
www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=15029
Trying for Pyne and Entsch accountability on @MRowlandMP baby leave
by @margokingston1
It’s an accountability responsibility of the fourth estate which involves seeking to uncover the truth and insisting that politicians who have not told the truth correct the record and explain the reasons for their falsehoods.
australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com/.../
Oops I Did It Again
by @madwixxy
For McClymont to attack him via the press based on flawed so-called investigations, the word of dodgy witnesses, and outright lies, is not only an attack on Thomson, it is an attack on democracy by a member of the main stream press
wixxyleaks.com/2013/05/21/oops-i-did-it-again/
Forget the Messenger & focus on the Message for a change
by @YaThinkN
I don’t know why Kevin Rudd has raised this issue again. For all I know he really does care & has been doing some soul searching. He could also be trying to raise his profile again, who knows.
yathink.com.au/.../forget-the-messenger-focus-on-the-message-for-a-change,73
To the Node Policy
by @AshGhebranious
The coalition are not fans of addressing an issue so much as masking one. Their concept of financial management is to minimise spending, including on investment projects.
ashghebranious.wordpress.com/.../
Budgets, A Letter, Calibre, Emergencies, Contemplative Moments & Sheep
by @knarfnamduh
I was particularly impressed by the NO Coalition loading up the general public area with supporters who cheered and clapped at every utterance of the Leader of the Opposition. As a budget reply it left much to be desired, long on slagging and short on detail.
deknarf.wordpress.com/.../
A letter from the Office of the Prime Minister
by @TeamOyeniyi
I am pleased to see, despite it being budget week last week, we have a Prime Minister who does communicate with the electorate. While Julia has not read Love versus Goliath,
teamoyeniyi.com/.../
Gresham’s Second Law
by @watermelon_man
The ABC, retaining the air of authority, of credibility, of objectivity, built up carefully over decades by good people, is providing legitimacy in turn to News Ltd. The procession of News Ltd journalists, columnists, the reviewing of the papers, the breathless presentation of Murdoch Memes, all replace the original good
davidhortonsblog.com/.../
Radio 2GB launches its own Media Watch
by @mumbrella
Jonathan Holmes, stands down by the end of the month, as I read.”Bolt didn’t get the gig rather Paul Barry did… but that hasn’t stop Andrew and night host Steve Price setting up their very own Media Watch
mumbrella.com.au/radio-2gb-launches-its-own-media-watch-157093
What’s life really like on the NBN? (Part II)
by Computerworld
Williams has been connected to the NBN for around 15 months and is on the 100/40Mbps speed with Exetel, paying around $50 a month. Williams says she signed up to the fastest speed on the network because the price was comparable to what she was paying on ADSL2 with TPG.
www.computerworld.com.au/.../?fp=16&fpid=1
Today’s Front Pages
Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 22 May 2013
www.thepaperboy.com/australia/front-pages.cfm
News headlines
http://www.hotheadlines.com.au/
21 May 2013
Raising the GST
by @LarvatusProdeo
the idea that Australia faces a “budget emergency” is bullshit, we do have some decisions to make. Australia’s governments do not raise enough tax revenue to pay for the services we want
larvatusprodeo.net/.../
What Is Abbott Really Up To?
By @newmatilda
emotive language disconnected from reality (“skyrocketing debt”, “a spiral, deeper and deeper into debt”, “budget emergency”), sophistry (the implied need for “cost of living relief”), unsubstantiated generalisations (“bad government”) and simple fallacies, including a confusion of inflation with wealth
newmatilda.com/2013/05/20/what-abbott-really
Gillard’s budget boost
by @CoffsOutlook
the government will take heart from what it hopes is a return to the slow but steady poll recovery achieved in the second half of 2012 when Mr Abbott’s anti-carbon tax scare campaign collapsed.
coffsoutlook.com/.../
Whose views skew the news? Media chiefs ready to vote out Labor, while reporters lean left
by @ConversationEDU
This is further evidence to support the argument that Australian journalists’ worldviews and cultural backgrounds are still not representative of the general population.
theconversation.com/whose-views-skew-the-news-media-chiefs-ready-to-vote-out-labor-while-reporters-lean-left-13995
Tony’s double carbon duplication redundancy
by @macro_business
Where is the sense in this? The carbon price will already fall to $10-$15 one year later when it joins the EU scheme. In the mean time, we’re going to go through this incredibly wasteful, markets destabilising, socially divisive exercise to rid the nation of a price that has been endorsed by the economic titans of both
www.macrobusiness.com.au/.../
Debt that goes bump in the night
by @TheKouk
Australia’s government finances are among the strongest in the world. The return to surplus is prudent and based on sound assumptions. Commentary to the contrary is based on fear, opinion and bias and not fact.
www.businessspectator.com.au/.../debt-goes-bump-night
This budget less dishonest than last year's
by @1RossGittins
this year the vociferous criticism of Treasury's forecasts and assumptions has come from the Opposition (they would say that), partisan economists and shock jocks who wouldn't know the difference between a forecast and a projection if it bit them on the backside.
www.rossgittins.com/.../...ishonest-than-last.html
Every day it's a getting closer, more GST
by @1petermartin
Tony Abbott has said he will allow consideration of the GST in the tax review he will commission should he win the next election, but that any changes would be put to the people first at a subsequent election.
www.petermartin.com.au/.../...closer-more-gst.html
Fears births will be brought forward
by @1petermartin
Treasurer Wayne Swan is being urged to smooth the ''sudden death'' end of the baby bonus, due to fall from $5000 to $500.
www.bordermail.com.au/.../?cs=7
Response to the reactions to the Budget reply
by @OnLineOpinion
Observers familiar with Australia's economy would have noticed in the presentation several stated or implied falsehoods and other curious claims. And might have expected some criticism from the commentariat.Well, not only was media reaction completely devoid of fulmination against the fibs,
www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=15025
Sudden outbreak of responsibility from both parties on budget
by Bernard Keane
Abbott, while dancing around the issue, has declined to exclude the GST from his promised tax review. Of course, without the GST, such a review is entirely unnecessary while the Henry review sits unloved on Treasury bookshelves. Fixing the damage done to the GST by ex-Democrat head Meg Lees
www.crikey.com.au/.../
News Limited Seeks Excess Access To Your Social Media Accounts
by @mwyres
When signing up using your Twitter account, they want access to “read tweets from your timeline”, “see who you follow, and follow new people“, “update your profile“, and “post tweets for you“.
michaelwyres.com/.../
Whither the progressive voter?
by @AusVotes2013
Thus, if you consider yourself a ‘progressive’ voter, the ultimate goal needs to be twofold; limiting the effectiveness of an Abbott government by voting Green in the senate, and sending a clear signal to the ALP that there is nothing to gain in drifting towards inhumane populism on asylum seekers.
ausvotes2013.com/.../
Big business beseiged Fairfax is un-Manning the barricades
by @independentaus
Most print financial media suffer from the same malaise; ideology and the kowtowing to favoured groups will always trump analysis and honesty. The genre is constitutionally dry. Witness incumbents of the economics editor role at the Fin: Michael Stutchbury in his natural habitat, author of the ‘seminal’ 1992 Gain from the pain
www.independentaustralia.net/.../
Hockey fumbles the ball – again – on Coalition economic policy
by @crazyjane13
Asked to justify why the Coalition insisted on using the phrase ‘budget emergency’, Hockey at first flatly denied ever doing so (even though Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is still using it as of this morning), then fell back on familiar talking points. '
consciencevote.com.au/.../
"a future akin to Europe's present"?,
by Gary Sauer-Thompson
Moir's cartoon is pretty accurate by you would guess that from business and political journalism. As we know the media’s commercial interest masquerading as news is not new and that a lot of the commentary is PR-driven churnalism.
www.sauer-thompson.com/.../a-future-akin-t.php
An Open Letter to the Moderators ABC Online
by @FairMediaAllian
Given the efforts of so many in the media to talk down Swan and talk up Abbott, this result looks to be pretty good for Labor.And then on Monday, the Morgan Poll:‘Last weekend’s multi-mode weekly Morgan Poll
fairmediaalliance.wordpress.com/.../
Abbott revisits superannuation at your expense
by @no_filter_Yamba
Australian Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott in his Budget Reply Speech of 16 May 2013 states he will not raise the compulsory superannuation contribution paid to Australian workers to 12 per cent:
northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/.../...-your.html
Rupert reveals his hand
by @MigloMT
The answer is simple: he wants to make money out of us. And who can provide that? Tony Abbott. And how can he provide that? By ripping up the NBN.
theaimn.com/2013/05/20/rupert-reveals-his-hand/
The art of journalism: satisfying beginners and expert readers
by @BaxterSally
What makes a journalist? A lot of people – inside and outside the profession – are asking that question. If you think it takes a genius, think again. Good journalists have a representative of their audience in mind who informs every step of their work.
australiansforhonestpolitics.wordpress.com/.../
The Power Index: who’ll really decide the federal election?
by @andrewjcrook
The wonks, the flacks, the hacks and the headkickers — here are the people who are doing their damnedest to get Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott into the Lodge. The Power Index names the string-pullers.
www.crikey.com.au/.../
Baby Can I Hold You
by @madwixxy
To make grandiose public statements as Pyne did without knowing the facts shows a willingness to make things up as they go along, whether it’s right or wrong.
wixxyleaks.com/2013/05/20/baby-can-i-hold-you/
Abbott budget reply a series of stumbles
by Michael Gillies Smith
Abbott cannot guarantee a fall in power prices in a carbon tax-free electricity market.The promise may haunt him from now until the election and, should he win the September election, beyond.
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4700796.html
Tony Abbott jumps on Labor's budget catch 22.2
by Mungo MacCallum
Abbott's big promise was that he would do nothing substantial about anything
http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4700314.html
Whose views shape the news?
by @btckr
I think it is the editors (and the owners and managers) who are leading public opinion and the broader electorate is being led by the nose. The opinion polls (one of which, Newspoll, is half-owned by News Limited) are reflecting what the editors think, not what the “broader electorate” really thinks
truthinmediaresourcecentre.wordpress.com/.../
Turnbull rejects Labor’s NBN subsidy claims
by @renailemay
Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has strongly denied claims by Labor MPs that the Coalition’s rival National Broadband Network policy would see those in rural areas pay more to access NBN infrastructure, stating that the Coalition would maintain the so-called “cross-subsidy”.
delimiter.com.au/.../
Tony Abbott; Paedophiles, Murderers and War Criminals
by @archiearchive
DRUNK PEOPLE WHO DRIVE EVENTUALLY KILL PEOPLE! Yet Tony Abbott is full of praise for his dangerously drunken chief of staff.
archiearchive.wordpress.com/.../
Mr Rabbit Takes Centre Stage, But Will He Regret It?
by Patriciawa
As I read Bushfire Bill’s article about Abbott’s fear, I agreed that Abbott was indeed afraid to face Prime Minister Gillard without a prepared speech and an audience also prepared to applaud on cue.
cafewhispers.wordpress.com/.../
Today’s Front Pages
Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 21 May 2013
www.thepaperboy.com/australia/front-pages.cfm
News headlines
http://www.hotheadlines.com.au/