The polluting power of poisonous politics

We are witnessing the most disgraceful campaign of poisonous politics this country has ever experienced. It is perniciously eroding the confidence of the people in its elected Federal Government. The campaign is aided and abetted by much of the mainstream media, which faithfully echoes the disingenuousness and downright lies of the Opposition.

This world has seen how lies perpetrated by malevolent people can cause damage to people and ultimately unspeakable destructiveness. The treatment of Jews by Nazis in Germany in the first half of the last Century is a grotesque example. They used Joseph Goebbels' ‘Big Lie Theory’ that states: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it.” Goebbles went onto say: “The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie…”.

Before Coalition supporters bristle at the drawing of the parallel between what the Federal Coalition is doing and what the Nazis did during the last Century, read on for a while, and then use the comments option to point out whatever error you believe I have made. I am not in any way suggesting that the Coalition and the Nazi Party have anything in common ideologically or politically. What I am proposing is that the Coalition is using Goebbels' ‘Big Lie Theory’ to advance its political objectives. Let me elaborate.

We know that the Nazis used a purposeful strategy to demean and dehumanize the Jewish race. As recorded in Jews in Nazi Germany, in a speech in Munich in 1922, referring to the Jews, Hitler said: "His is no master people; he is an exploiter: the Jews are a people of robbers. He has never founded any civilisation, though he has destroyed civilisations by the hundred...everything he has stolen…” It goes on:“Once in power, Hitler used his position to launch a campaign against the Jews that culminated in the Holocaust. Hitler blamed the Jews for all the misfortunes that had befallen Germany: the loss of the First World War was the result of a Jewish conspiracy; the Treaty of Versailles was also a Jewish conspiracy designed to bring Germany to her knees; the hyperinflation of 1923 was the result of an international Jewish attempt to destroy Germany.”

Having promoted hatred, the Nazis forced Jews to identify their businesses with the Star of David, which they also had to wear around their necks with the label ‘Juden’. Hatred for the Jews based on their race was deliberately escalated. They were labelled as exploiters and robbers, to be despised and rejected. In 1938, in Germany and Austria, 10,000 Jewish stores, homes and synagogues were burned, looted and destroyed in what became known as ‘The Night of the Broken Glass’. The police did not intervene; the fire brigade did not arrive; and afterwards the Jews were forced to clean up the glass from the streets and pay for the damage.

I relate all this simply to demonstrate the terrible outcomes that result from fostering hatred, from demeaning people, from debasing people or groups by telling downright lies about them.

This is what we have seen in this country politically for a long while. But it has never been as gross as it has been since the ascent of Tony Abbott to leadership of the Federal Coalition. And it is having its predictably awful effects on our political life, and particularly on the people’s image of the nation’s Prime Minister. Let me illustrate with some now familiar examples of how Abbott and his strategists and minders have used these devices to damage the Prime Minister and her Government.

Demeaning the Prime Minister – Ju-liar
It was shock jock Alan Jones who created the now-infamous tag: ‘Ju-liar’ at the beginning of that appalling interview on Sydney 2GB in February 2011, which he began by publically castigating her in the way of a schoolmaster chastising a schoolgirl for being ten minutes late for the interview. His attitude from the beginning was belligerent and rude. Writer Mick Molloy had this to say after hearing the audio: "There is not another nation in the world that would tolerate that kind of cross examination, that petulant cross examination from a radio announcer." Indeed!

The Ju-liar label stuck and has been repeated endlessly by the PM’s adversaries, the media and by members of the public. Every time it is used it puts her down, diminishes her in the eyes of the electorate. Tony Abbott has promoted the ‘liar’ meme over and again, adding variations such dishonest, devious, evasive, tricky, untrustworthy, not to be trusted with anything. Is it any wonder that opinion polls about attributes rate her poorly on ‘trustworthiness’? Coalition members will argue that she broke a promise on the carbon tax. I won’t go over the fallacy underlying this accusation, but to label the PM as an inveterate liar as if all other politicians are as pure as the driven snow when we know they are all prone to lying, is disingenuous. Abbott’s lies abound as pointed out on The Political Sword in Tony Abbott, we are sick of your lies, yet has he been burdened by the ‘liar’ tag? No, it’s only Julia Gillard, and that is not because she has told more lies than Tony Abbott – he leaves her well behind – but simply because the Coalition strategy is to make the ‘Ju-liar’ tag stick indelibly, as it virtually has. She will have great difficulty shaking it off.

Even during Abbott’s Budget Reply speech last night, during which the electorate was hoping to hear about his vision and plans for our nation, what we inappropriately got was another vitriolic attack on PM Gillard, calling her ‘fatally compromised’ and urging her removal, and yet another load of lies, misrepresentation and deception.

Demeaning her has been very successful. It has given ‘permission’ for others to follow the lead. So we saw ‘Ju-liar’ again at the Alan Jones sponsored anti-carbon tax rallies in Canberra where Tony Abbott stood with Sophie Mirabella and Bronwyn Bishop in front of ‘’Ditch the Witch’ and Bob Brown’s Bitch’ placards. Once the demeaning process begins, it escalates.

It has given the OK to interviewers, even on our ABC, to be rude and aggressive to our PM. Only this week we had Chris Uhlmann interviewing her on 7.30 in a demeaning way, disrespectful of her as a person, and as our Prime Minister. If you missed it, view it here. His opening question was: “Do you think that people believe you when you say that you're going to reach a small surplus by this time next year?” Later Uhlmann asked: “If you have to break a series of old promises on aid, on Defence, on company tax, in order to make new ones, why should people believe any promise? And later: “And all of them were promises that you broke.” And: “But to some of those three things, on company tax, on aid and on Defence, you're happy that people will look at all those things and take you at your word, that you are not breaking any of those promises?” Note the repetition, and the emphasis on ‘broken promises’, which is another way of calling her a habitual liar.

Just as in Nazi Germany ‘permission’ was given to the German people to demean the Jews, so in Australia ‘permission’ has been given to anyone to demean our PM by calling her a liar, to question her ability to keep a promise, to be disrespectful and rude. It seems there are all too many willing to join the throng ready to demean her whenever they can. It is dangerous for our democracy that our elected leader is so treated.

Labelling the Government incompetent
This is another tactic that the Coalition has used to good effect. Again it was Alan Jones who said: “…in the best country in the world we have the worst possible government.” How many times have you heard Tony Abbott say “This is a bad government getting worse”; “This government can’t manage money”; “This government is addicted to spending and debt”; “This is an illegitimate government that has lost its way”; “This government cannot be trusted”; and just this week in reference to the return of the budget to surplus: “This is a desperate government in diabolical trouble that has cooked the books and the people are not buying it’. How does he know what the people are ‘buying’ the day after the Budget? He doesn’t – it’s just another Abbott lie, which we can be sure no one in the media will challenge.

More recently, it has become fair game to accuse PM Gillard of lack of judgement. Abbott does it all the time, and just this week on 7.30 Chris Uhlmann asked the PM in reference to the fact that her support for Craig Thomson went on for a long time: “Was your judgment wrong on that?” And later: “Was it an error of judgment to put Peter Slipper in the Speaker's chair?” Uhlmann was deliberately provocative and rude.

In Nazi Germany the Jews were labelled as exploiters, robbers and conspirators, despoiling and destroying the countries in which they lived, and responsible for all their economic ills. These labels invited retaliation from non-Jewish citizens. In a similar way, PM Gillard and her Government have been labelled as illegitimate, incompetent, one that can’t manage the economy, lead by a PM who has poor judgement, and which needs to be removed immediately. Judging by the mood of the people derived from the additional questions asked by pollsters, the people have bought this rhetoric. They blithely discount the buoyant state of our economy, the fact that the Labor Government steered the country through the GFC with flying colours, sustaining it as the most admired economy in the developed world, and instead believe the rhetoric of the Coalition, echoed in the media, that this is an appalling government that should be chucked out now. In polls that ask which party is the best economic manager, the Coalition wins comfortably, the respondents apparently ignoring the Government’s outstanding recent record as economic managers and the Coalition’s almost complete absence of economic credibility or knowledge. Coalition propaganda, redolent with big lies, Goebbels-style, has so far won the day.

Dishonesty about Government achievements
A vast array of lies has been perpetrated about the achievements of the Gillard Government. Although it has now passed over 300 pieces of legislation, and only yesterday the ‘Schoolkids Bonus’ legislation, the Coalition represents it is a do-nothing, incompetent government. Among the bills passed have been vitally important and far-reaching reforms in education, health, infrastructure, climate change and taxation. None of these achievements are acknowledged by the Coalition or by much of the media. Moreover, the reality of the GFC and the ongoing uncertainty in global markets, against which Labor’s economic achievements have been wrought, seems also to be denied by the Coalition and the media.

Successful programs have been pilloried. The HIP, demeaned by the derogatory term ‘pink batts’, insulated a million roofs; the BER, characterized by the slogan ‘waste and mismanagement’, was highly successful, attracting over 97% approval. JohnL has debunked the criticism of these initiatives in a series of four articles on The Political Sword: Absurdities abound as Abbott wages a crass war, Abbott’s amazing amnesia on insulation inquiry, Nonsense of $8bn BER ‘waste’ claims exposed, More falsehoods of the $8bn BER ‘waste’ claims.

Yet the pollsters tell us that much of the public still regards these programs as failures, debacles and disasters. The only exceptions are the parents who have children at the schools that benefitted from the BER; they give it a tick.

Spreading fear, uncertainty and doubt
The ‘toxic’ carbon tax is an example of how slogans and cleverly designed Coalition propaganda have influenced the electorate through fear mongering. From a majority wanting action on climate change a couple of years ago, a minority now accept that an ETS, preceded by a price on carbon, is necessary. Abbott’s ‘toxic tax’ has taken hold in people’s minds. His propaganda has effectively negated the generous compensation that will accompany its introduction. Climate deniers too have been given much publicity and have added to the rising opposition to the ‘toxic tax’. Lies and disingenuousness have triumphed over the truth. Only when the people experience the tax will the fear and the doubts be removed, and that will take time.

Another area where Abbott has transmitted doubt and uncertainty is the state of the economy. For his own selfish political purposes he has constantly talked down the economy, even in the face of low unemployment, low inflation, low interest rates, growth at trend, return to surplus, and a vast pipeline of investment. The result is diminished consumer and business confidence, which is harming our economy. Abbott does not care about the damage he is doing so long as he gains some political advantage. He is an economically irresponsible liar.

Media complicity
How is it that this mountain of lies, misrepresentation, and disingenuousness has been promulgated so successfully. There is a simple answer – the media.

In Nazi Germany the police and the state-controlled media were complicit in transmitting hatred and lies that so poisoned the minds of the people against the Jews that indescribable obscenities were committed against those people, beginning in the towns and cities, but inexorably leading to the extermination camps of the Holocaust.

In the same way, much of our media, particularly the Murdoch media, is complicit in promulgating the hatred of our PM and the lies about her Government, so much so that her position in the eyes of much of the electorate is significantly diminished. Indeed, her chance of reelection is deemed impossible by the very same media that has spread the hatred and the lies, relying as they do on their own unreliable polls of voting intention, polls that result from the lies and misrepresentations that are fed daily to the public by their media outlets. Is it any wonder her status in the polls is low?

I trust that this comparison of the outcome of Goebbels' ‘Big Lie Theory’ in Nazi Germany last Century, and the contemporary outcome of its use by Tony Abbott, the Coalition and the media here in our own country, will convince you of the pernicious effect of this malevolent strategy, and that you will join me in condemning it vehemently.

Poisonous politics pollutes powerfully. It was lethally dangerous in Nazi Germany – it is dangerous here.

What do you think?

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TalkTurkey

11/05/2012Ad I've taken the liberty of reposting this since the new thread was posted. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ My comments in italics ABC Editor's Note Paul Keating's attack on Chris Uhlmann's interview of a fellow Labor Prime Minister demonstrates an understandable tribal loyalty. So . . . Nothing to do with reasoned intellectual condemnation then. Keating sent it unsolicited to The Drum and we published it because this site has a culture of open and robust debate. "unsolicited?" When did the ABC ever solicit comment from PJK? Who needs him, you have Reith Reith Reith instead! "A culture of open and robust debate"? This is the first time anybody can remember any such reply as the one you have provided, and all comments are already closed. But it cannot pass without comment. It is a personal and unreasonable assault on one of this country's best political journalists and interviewers. So all the overwhelming majority of bloggers who agree with Keating's comments are also unreasonable. I take this as a personal attack and insult. No wonder people have turned off 7.30 in huge numbers. Uhlmann's interview with the Prime Minister canvassed the decisions made by her government to achieve a forecast budget surplus. "Blanketed her answers" is the more accurate description, he interrupted the great majority of the PM's comments. There is no excuse whatsoever for his failure to allow our Prime Minister to finish sentences. He asked questions in the public mind - questions about savings made by breaking or shifting previous promises on business tax cuts, defence and foreign aid. "The public mind" . . . So you know that? He asked reasonably whether broken promises reflect on the credibility of the government and on its forecast. Oh so he was reasonable, Keating and the rest of us are not ? When the theme of credibility is infused into the very being of the current parliament, it's a fair enough line of inquiry. The ABC has been no more diligent than the commercial shock-jock media in explaining the truth about the propensity of the Government and our PM in paricular to tell the truth, which is that she has never lied to Parliament nor to the people. A promise one is unable to keep because of changed circumstances is not at all a lie, and the ABC for the well-being and information of the nation should long ago have given a lie to the liars who call our PM a liar. Instead your publicly-funded organisation has aided and abetted their meme. Later parts of the interview were about cash bonuses, the carbon price and Julia Gillard's judgement about Craig Thompson and Peter Slipper. These are matters that go to the heart of Julia Gillard's prime ministership. I’ve just re-watched the interview. Chris's tone throughout was respectful but probing, the appropriate tone for a political interviewer doing what political interviewers have always done – acting devil's advocate for a public seeking to better understand its leaders. This is pure cant. Respectful and probing, what crap! Impudent, combative, interruptive, ever trying for gotchas, that is Uhlmann's style with the PM and others in the Government. The record, of which you are in headlong denial, tells the story, an interruption every 40 seconds on average throughout the 15 minute interview! In glaring contrast to Uhlmann's interview with Reith last night, or any interview I have ever seen him do with Abbortt. I've been around long enough to remember Prime Ministers and their acolytes levelling similar charges of impertinence against ABC political anchors, from Richard Carleton to Kerry O'Brien. That is a pathetic comment. They couldn't have been right by any chance? And how dare you invoke the name of the late great Richard Carleton in defending Uhlmann! Chris Uhlmann, widely respected in Canberra and amongst his colleagues as a decent, intelligent and no-nonsense journalist, continues a fine tradition. Take no notice of all the public trying to tell you why they have turned off the ABC in disgust. You clearly know better. Bruce Belsham PS Your transcript of the interview is utterly sanitised. It has erased nearly every trace of Uhlmann's interruptions. Now THAT is a LIE! You are a disgrace to the name Bruce Bruce. I happen to know!. Head ABC Current Affairs as up before I posted it on the last.

TalkTurkey

11/05/2012Bum! All the formatting in the above comment (there was a lot) has disappeared, it no longer makes sense, please refer to last thread!

Ad astra reply

11/05/2012TT Thank you for your perspicacious comment on the Belsham defence of Uhlmann, with which I agree. Even sans italics, your critique is clear.

puffTMD

11/05/2012I am glad someone has said it, and said it as well as you have. I am sickened by what is happening in this country. It is like a reality TV program, when the producers decide which unsuspecting sap, err, participant is going to be portrayed as the Villain, and all the tapes are cut to show him or her that way. Here you are Australia, we have manufactured your next victim to bully.

Tom of Melbourne

11/05/2012[i[‘broken promises’, which is another way of calling her a habitual liar.”[/i] My only comment about this is that perhaps Gillard isn’t quite habitual. Otherwise, it’s a reasonable description. You seem to think it is unreasonable to have a journalist test the integrity of a politician.

TalkTurkey

11/05/2012From Poll Bludger Cuppa Posted Friday, May 11, 2012 at 10:28 pm | Permalink (quoted someone) "Funny that i have just been reading afv" [i][I don't know what afv is atm. TT][/i] Have you checked out The Political Sword? Lots of good people there too. The set-pieces are worth reading every time, and there’s some superb writing in the comments threads. The host Ad Astra values his commenters, makes them welcome. http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/ Cuppa good on you, that's what we like to see, we do it mutually too, especially Lyn our Tweetie Bird with her Daily Links of course as you know, more than anybody. We are very proud of her and our host Ad astra who writes most of our set pieces and much comment too. And we regard PB as Us really, bit different style, similar position, no friction ever. Comrades. I love my say even though she's Catholic and I'm very much antireligious altogether. Just goes to show eh. Victoria, BK, so many good-hearted sincere Lefties. Not to overlook all the other good blogs too. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Am I right or am I right, the Great Dismemberment is ON! Did I or did I say it would happen [i]this week?[/i] [b]Eye of Time[/b] never foresees individual events like the Slipper defection or the Carr accession to FM or this falling out of all these Libs or the involvement of Brough and Uncle Tom Cobbley in the Ashby affair . . . but it has never been in any doubt as to the dynamics and the fractal nature of the Abbortians, and now they are fracturing in all directions. On PM with Emma Alberici Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury has just destroyed Matthias Cormann on the economy before my very eyes! THIS is at the core of what I've been predicting! I ended up clapping even though I'm sitting here all alone! Abbortt remember The Ides of September Abbortt's "Budget" reply (!) has not gone well for Them. It will be used over and over again by Labor to show their hollowness. Abbortt is bilingual you know. He talks crap fluently.

PatriciaWA

12/05/2012You are absolutely right, Ad Astra. This needs to be said, and said often. Tony Abbott is a very dangerous man, and the media machine which supports him is mad, malign and Murdoch controlled.

Dan Gulberry

12/05/2012TT AFV stands for A Frank View Http://afrankview.net Hosted by Labor stalwart Frank Calabrese.

Dan Gulberry

12/05/2012Oh yeah, and of course, another excellent piece AA. It is starting to make my blood boil when every day Abbott continues to get glowing press. His budget "reply" is a case in question. Just another stump speech full of "government bad", "New election now", etc.. The worst thing about his alleged reply is he did exactly the same thing in reply to last year's budget as well. Naturally after Abbott's no-reply, Their ABC had independent analysis of it by Peter Reith. Poor fellow, my country.

PatriciaWA

12/05/2012Dan, I was appalled to hear on ABC news this evening that the story about the stoush between Kroger and Costello [i]'had taken the gloss off Tony Abbott's budget reply'[/i]!!!! At the end of the previous thread I expressed my hunch that the Kroger/Costello fight is a put up job, staged to draw attention from a very serious internal problem the Libs have. I see that Danny Lewis at the Poll Bludger thinks the same. Time will tell.

nasking

12/05/2012Good points Ad. Not impressed by Levenson’s approach at the end of UK ethics enquiry tonite…felt like he was helping Brooks to justify her actions: [b]Leading question[/b] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leading_question If you ask me Brooks seemed almost grateful dealing with Leveson and him providing excuses for her…having been put the wringer by Jay. I noticed this article from the past: [b]Miliband mulls MPs’ demands to remove hacking-inquiry judge Labour leader shares concerns over impartiality of Lord Justice Leveson after revelations that he attended parties at the home of Elisabeth Murdoch[/b] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/miliband-mulls-mps-demands-to-remove-hackinginquiry-judge-2319555.html You have to feel confident a judge is impartial. I’m not convinced…particularly watching close-up on IPad Furthermore, Rebekah Brooks complained of trivial info put to her about relationship with Murdochs. Got a taste of her own medicine. Irony. Tabloid-like speculation annoyed the precious editor of a tabloid. She looked very stressed when discussing BSKY-b bid…Fred Michel…the campaign to out local pedas that led to riots…conservatives Osborne and Hunt. The ethics inquiry tonite demonstrated why ownership of media should be limited…and not extend to cross-ownership…sports, cable/paytv etc. Btw, amazes me these condescending toffs run papers trusted by the working class. One good recording of how they really feel about their readers would end the pretence…the working class are a meal ticket. Also thought it pathetic that Brooks felt they needed to cater to readers so much…mentioned case of Mirror and NOT IN MY NAME campaign…how they lost readers. So much for doing the right thing. Obviously attracting readership at any cost was priority for Brooks and News International. Gawd forbid they had guts and revealed the stink behind the war. Keeping the readership uninformed…until no other option. How could the readership change their view if not offered up alternative info by a propaganda-like machine? N’

nasking

12/05/2012More here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18032676 Handy summary and tweets. N'

Tyler

12/05/2012I think you're completely right about the climate of misrepresentation and the endless smears made about the current government. There are absolutely genuine criticisms that can be levelled at the Prime Minister, her appalling positions on Newstart, Refugee Policy and Gay marriange leaping immediately to mind. However as you rightly point out what the media obsesses over are issues based wholly on the wiful misreporting of facts that is now endemic in Australian politics. The suggestions that this is an incompetent government, well debunked on this blog, that this is a high taxing/spening government, well debunked by Stephen Koukalas amongst others. The allegations of sleaze and corruption by a single MP from several years ago is then used to try and tar the entire government, a government which has done a lot of good. It's a complete disgrace and has allowed Tony Abbott and his cronies to level their partisan smears without being challenged. Personally i feel that the real driving force behind this state of affairs is the fact that the lies and distortions of Right-Wing talkback radio are now given an enormous boost throughout the News Ltd press in particular. All the column inches which are given to Bolt et al have poisoned the well and their ferocity has dragged the rest of the media further and further to the right. (Most disgustingly the ABC which almost never bothers to critically analyse any of the assertions of the News Ltd shock jocks) The lowest common denominator of the Australian media now dominates the broad political narrative and things are only likely to get worse from here, particularly if the polls tighten and their smear campaign is ratcheted up in desperation.

TalkTurkey

12/05/2012Dan Gulberry said TT AFV stands for A Frank View Http://afrankview.net Hosted by Labor stalwart Frank Calabrese. Thanks Dan. I do know AFV now you tell me what it is, I know that FC is a Leftish Stormy Petrel, cheers for him. Good to see you here Dan, come back often.

Ad astra

12/05/2012Tyler Welcome to [i]The Political Sword[/i] family, and thank you for your comprehensive comment. Do come again. You are right. The shock jocks and New Limited dominate the news, with very little counter from the rest of the MSM. So it is up to the Fifth Estate to be active, although our voice is small. For example, how many know Stephen Koukoulas and what he has to say? So his debunking of the myths tends to be lost to most of the electorate. But as we know, small voices have a record of being heard, eventually.

Cuppa

12/05/2012Hi TT and all, It's important we keep the Brogressive blogosphere vigorous and various. That's why it's my pleasure (and sort of a personal duty) to promote fine blogs such as The Political Sword. As Progressives are lucky if we get a a bare word edgewise into the Orwellian right-wing media echo chamber, and have NO mainstream media outlets that advocate for Progressive policies or politics, blogs and social media are it at the moment. We must build and strengthen our Progressive voice, work together and get the word out loudly and widely! The media situation in this country is wholly toxic. It's a one-party media in what is essentially a two-party 'system' of government. That's cancerous; no wonder a dangerous extremist like Abbott can swagger about with his media-generated polling dominance. In fact it's only BECAUSE of the media being all behind him / anti Labor that Abbott is in the race at all. Take away the unanimous media boosting and he'd be as relevant as any other wild-eyed crank.

TalkTurkey

12/05/2012Tyler, Good morning and welcome, I agree with most of what you say 100%, and some about 70% or so. eg I don't know what Labor can do about asylum seekers while held in a vice of Greens on one side and the Abborttians on the other . . . Our Party will sort it out when we can, with the best humanist principles too, but as cows can't jump over the moon no matter how hard they try, neither has Labor a means to achieve a happy strategy atm. What would you do if you were *J*U*L*I*A*? Bearing in mind that peremptory simplistic action would be worse than nothing. Cuppa said [i]It's important we keep the Brogressive blogosphere vigorous and various. That's why it's my pleasure (and sort of a personal duty) to promote fine blogs such as The Political Sword. [/i] My idea too, though atm I only post here but I talk up the most poignant posts on PB and a few other blogs. Others here are much more peregrinaceous, Tweetie Lyn showing the way. I believe that there is a great deal of osmosis-like interchange of ideas between blogs, good ideas find their own level but we are all part of the pressures that spread the ideas around. It is vital to do it, for the reasons you cite.

D McMinn

12/05/2012The ones telling the BIG LIE is the Labor Party - not the Liberals - not business - not farmers - not people who have turned up to protests at Canberra - it is Julie Gillard, Craig Thompson, Peter Slipper, Anthony Albanese, and the rst of them. Tony Windsor is so distorted by hatred for the Coalition that he can't/won't see the damage the Labor party is doing and his own legacy to Australian politics is thus destroyed. When a party has to resort to bringing in head kickers from the UK who know only dirt dirt and more dirt then you know who has lost the plot. The Opposition are not faultless but they aren't even in the same race when it comes to lying as the Labor Party. This article of yours proves you are just a HACK

Lyn

12/05/2012 This article of yours proves you are just a HACK Obviously "So are you"

Cuppa

12/05/2012From New South Wales... [b]Minister's aide quits over allegations of electoral funding breaches[/b] [i]Sydney Morning Herald[/i], 12 May 2012 http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/ministers-aide-quits-over-allegations-of-electoral-funding-breaches-20120511-1yi4w.html

Lyn

12/05/2012Good Morning Ad and Everybody Twitterverse for you this morning, Craig Thomson again, Mr Oakes trying to score a bombshell: Marisa Bell‏ Just watched Craig Emerson on ABC 24. Brilliant interview! Go boy! Thomson to claim of set up, Channel Nine , Laurie Oakes Interview this morning http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-12/thomson-claims-credit-card-set-up/4007356 A-PAC‏_ch648 Thomson claims he was set up by rival: Craig Thomson claims a union rival threatened to 'set him up' with prosti... http://www.skynews.com.au/politics/article.aspx?id=749450&vId=3247521 walabytrack‏ Thomson claims he was set up - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) - http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-12/thomson-iv/4007282 Thomson's defence: I was set up http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3501300.htm Kate McClymont‏ Is Craig Thomson delusional? Here is a guide to his Parallel Universe http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/thomsons-alternative-reality-didnt-fit-the-facts-20120511-1yi4f.html James Paterson‏ Interesting. Neilsen shows ALP leads coalition 54-46 in Victoria: http://ghostwhovotes.files.wordpress.com/2012/05/nielsen-120512.png TAWNBPM‏ There appears to be more analytical comment in the SMH letters section than in any of the commentary provided by.. http://www.smh.com.au/national/letters/abbott-does-not-speak-our-language-20120511-1yidf.html TheFinnigans Thomson is not stupid, there is a method in his madness. He is laying down the groundwork for his explosive Parlt Statement Latika Bourke ‏ Craig Thomson says in 2004 he was threatened by a union official that they would destroy his political career by setting him up with hookers Thomson claims threat of hooker set-up http://theaustralian.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspx Australia‏@__australia__ Angry voter backlash to Gillard Government's Budget bribes: Others Image Video Julia Gillard: Hanging on by a th... http://bit.ly/K8VJTq Wayne Swan‏ Pretty average @TonyAbbottMHR is now withdrawing support for family payments and cost of living relief http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-11/abbott-considers-axing-tax-rebate-increase/4005614 #FairGo Katharine Murphy Peter Costello's statement in response to Mr Kroger http://www.petercostello.com.au/press/statement-11-may-2012 :):):):)

NormanK

12/05/2012D McMinn You are of course welcome to your own opinion but I would be interested to see some flesh on the bones of your complaint. [quote]Tony Windsor is so distorted by hatred for the Coalition that he can't/won't see the damage the Labor party is doing ...[/quote] Be so kind as to point out the damage that is being done by the Labor Party. The MRRT has not scared off investment in mining projects, in fact the pipeline of new money is absolutely huge. The Carbon Pricing scheme is predicted to have a very modest effect on inflation and has similarly not frightened off investment in coal mining. The damage must be reflected in the inflation level spiralling out of control just as it was under the Howard government in its final years. But it's not, is it? The damage can be seen in the current ever-escalating interest rates that typified the last term of the Howard government. Not really, eh? Surely the unemployment statistics are indication enough of the damage that Labor is doing to this country. No? The rate of growth of GDP at around trend levels when much of the rest of the Western world is struggling to keep its head above water is evidence enough of Labor destructiveness. No? Wage levels at historically normal levels should show us how tough Australians are doing it at the moment. No? Cost of living trends absolutely flat (despite the hysteria in commercial media outlets to the contrary) show us that the damage is reaching into each and every household. No? I would also be interested to hear what any political party has to gain by trying to damage the economy and society they have been elected to represent. Destroy the Australian economy in order to cling to power? Doesn't make much sense does it? And isn't it working a treat? Unfortunately, in the face of objective data to the contrary you have chosen to follow your emotions rather than your intellect. Australia is doing extremely well at present and the current Labor government deserves some of the credit for that.

bennyg

12/05/2012Abbott at the budget reply lunch in Sydney on Friday: "I know in the marrow if my bones that my job - should I be elected - will not be to cling to office. It will not be to hold office for it's own sake. It will be to build a better country." This from the man who has spent the last 18 months trying to gain office for it's own sake. No vision. No policy. No concern about what his constant lies and deceit are doing to the economy and the culture of this country. "Build a better country"???. Maybe stop destroying it first! Power for power's sake. Because in the marrow of his bones, he genuinely believes that he deserves to be PM. On th contrary, he and his band of incompetent misfits have proven over 18 months that they are persons not fit to be given control of this country and its economy.

LadyInRed

12/05/2012Tom of Melbourne the point is all politicians 'break promises' or lie as you prefer to call it. Tony Abbott does it all the time - but he doesn't get labelled constantly a liar by the press. Personally I think you should allow politicians to change course if conditions change in an unforseen way. The result of the election WAS unforseen (never mind I dispute that the carbon tax was a lie). I am just assuming that you do. D. McMinn - clearly you have just swallowed the whole lot whole. Try chewing stuff before you swallow. If you want to sprout that stuff come up with the goods and expect that for every piece of dirt you can espouse to the PM an equal one will be shown to you for the opposition Abbott in particular. Then chew. Great article by the way ad astra. Pertinent points. I am going to put large headings at the top of all my posts on The Drum etc. THIS IS THE WORST OPPOSITION LEADER EVER. THIS IS THE MOST INCOMPETANT OPPOSITION LEADER EVER. And, unlike Abbott I will give account for my saying so. Back it up - not just rhetoric. Perhaps the media will get the idea? I live in hope.

TalkTurkey

12/05/2012Hi Lyn I gotta grin At apoplectic D McMinn! Freaking out Spinning spin He's realized Labor's Gonna win! Screech, screech As loud as you can You're wasting your breath Past-use-by Man! As scorpions sting anything When in their last death throes McMinny-thing's a whingey thing Cos we've got up his nose! What s/he/it will hate most is, this is the only time I'll even reply. Trolls HATE that. Bye Minnie.

LadyInRed

12/05/2012Well said NormanK

Cuppa

12/05/2012LadyInRed wrote: [i]...the point is all politicians 'break promises' or lie as you prefer to call it. Tony Abbott does it all the time - but he doesn't get labelled constantly a liar by the press[/] Kerry O'Brien famously called Abbott out on one or two of them on the [i]7.30 Report[/i] in 2010. Interestingly, that was to be O'Brien's last interview with Abbbott: shortly thereafter has retirement from the show was announced. www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tc5ljcri6Nk

Bilko

12/05/2012Whilst reading the Canberra times today, yes I know its damaging to ones health to read any newspaper in this country at this point in time, I came across this letter to the editor which left me thinking that I am living in a parallel universe, “On Thursday night I listened to a statesman giving an address to the nation. There were no sneaky deals or promises or handouts just a down t o earth assessment of where our country should be heading. There was a note of positiveness, something we don’t here from our current government. Listen to the knockers, then ask them to come up with someone who can say it with honesty and commitment like Abbott did” I still have not watched my recording of Abbott’s reply but from comments everywhere else the writer of the above must be. Almost all the opinion expressed in the CT today has Abbott ensconced in the Lodge. Is it possible to get 3 yrs supply of valium. God help us

Cuppa

12/05/2012Bilko, Here's how Geoff Kitney of the [i]Australian Financial Review[/i] described Abbott's effort: [i]...one of the most vacuous budget reply speeches ever delivered by an opposition leader It offered no alternative economic strategy and contained hardly any numbers. ... it was an insult[/i] Reasonable observation, yes. But then Mr Kitney turns around and, as the thesis for his piece, basically blames Julia Gillard for Abbott's contemptuous attitude and approach to the electorate. http://www.afr.com/p/national/budget/labor_makes_abbott_job_easy_yW3B4WLUiAC6V4NL7pPErL

Bilko

12/05/2012Cuppa thanks that confirms most of the reports, I have been saying to AA that labor needs to change its slippers, no pun intended, for hob nailed boots and starting kicking ar** as all the american heroes say as they take on the bad guys, and make no mistake about it Abbott and his cronies are just that and deserve it big time. Off to my grandson's 18 now. May the force be with us

Ad astra

12/05/2012bennyg Welcome to [i]The Political Sword[/i] family. Do come again. Thank you for your comments. I note that you are among a growing number who see right though Abbott’s hollowness, and perceive that his pursuit of power is his prime aim. To bad about our country!

Lyn

12/05/2012Hi Ad and Everybody Andrew's article is a brilliant response to Abbott's budget reply. Andrew Elder and Ad Astra would leave any Newspaper for dead wood: Tony Abbott made a lazy speech in reply to the budget last night. He thinks he's going to cruise into office. Against a dispirited and disorganised government The first thing that occurred to me on hearing this soaring opening was: who are you and what have you done with Tony Abbott? Where is the hot blast of negativity? It didn't take long for the dog to return to his vomit: http://andrewelder.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/adding-value.html?m=1

Ad astra

12/05/2012PatriciaWA, Dan Gulberry, Nasking, TT, LadyinRed, Cuppa, Bilko, Lyn Thank you all for your complimentary comments, and your additions to this important debate, and your tweets Lyn. The prospect of an Abbott Government is so frightening that we must muster whatever small voice we have to show the people of this country how dangerous a government led by Abbott would be for our nation. The complicity of the media in promoting Abbott and demeaning PM Gillard and her Government is distressingly extensive. Julia Gillard has not only to fight her traditional opponent, but the media as well. Reflect on how different the situation would be if the media were evenhanded, instead of being a publicity organ for Abbott and his Coalition. Imagine what the polls would say if the media sided with Julia Gillard and her Government and against Abbott and his Coalition. Whoever controls the media, controls the flow of information to the electorate, information on which they make decisions about whom to vote for. If control of the media were to be magically wrested from conservative hands and fall into progressive hands, the political scenery would be soon reversed. We could all write enticing headlines extolling the actual virtues and accomplishments of the Gillard Government, while writings strident headlines demeaning the lack of policy and the economic incompetence of the Abbott Coalition, and what it proposes to do that will penalize the less fortunate, while advantaging the well-off. We have learned from the Levinson Inquiry just how newspapers can defeat or advance political parties at their will. They believe they should decide who shall govern a country, and make sure all their consumers know how they should vote.

Ad astra

12/05/2012NormanK Thank you for taking the time to respond so fully to D McMinn. He is welcome to participate on [i]TPS[/i], but I do hope if he returns he will make a better fist of making his point. I wonder who are the ‘head-kickers’ from the UK. Perhaps he will tell us, and also tell us how what I have written ‘proves’ that I am a ‘HACK’.

archiearchive

12/05/2012"Attitudes have hardened into vicious hatreds and the consequences will be terrifying. Australians look to Norway and sanctimoniously say, “It couldn’t happen here!” The bad news is that we are closer to such an event than anyone other than ASIO will admit." Even the heartless men of the Liberal Backrooms are beginning become concerned that they may have unleashed a demon they can no longer control. http://archiearchive.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/the-cracking-of-the-abbott-monolith/ The good news is that

Ad astra

12/05/2012Cuppa It is a sad reflection that Kitney can say that blithely say that Labor’s wounds are self inflicted, and feels no need to elaborate. He condemns Abbott’s Budget Reply, but implies that he is entitled to be contemptuous of the electorate because ‘Labor is its own worst enemy’.

Ad astra

12/05/2012Hi Lyn Thank you for the link to Andrew Elder’s very detailed analysis of the Abbott Budget Reply, which I shall relish reading after the pre-Mother’s Day celebrations were are having today.

Cuppa

12/05/2012Folks, The blog linked below is documenting the descent in standards at the ABC. Plus, they’re soliciting for tip-offs. So if you’ve seen or heard something on the ABC that should be highlighted, you can email them the information. [b]The ABC Has Gone To Hell[/b] http://the-abc-has-gone-to-hell.tumblr.com/

Ad astra

12/05/2012archiearchive Sadly, you are so right. I look forward to reading your piece. Cuppa Thanks for the link.

LadyInRed

12/05/2012THE ABC JUST DOENS'T GET IT. What a pathetic reply from Bruce Belsham. Can I complain about his reply? Tell me where...please. Why should he get the last word?

Lyn

12/05/2012Hi Ad This is Craig Emerson on Video this morning in case you missed it:_ Separate politicians from legal process: Emerson Trade Minister Craig Emerson has called for politicians not to interfere in the legal process, saying that crossbencher Craig Thomson has the right to the presumption of innocence. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-12/separate-politicians-from-legal-process-emerson/4007418 :):):):)

LadyInRed

12/05/2012Clearly I was quite cranky and so my spelling went out the window with my temper....sorry neighbours. THE ABC JUST DOESN'T GET IT.

NormanK

12/05/2012LadyInRed A belated welcome aboard. :) It's nice to have another Queenslander in the ranks.

PatriciaWA

12/05/2012Cuppa, I've just revisited that Kerry O'Brien interview with Tony Abbott you linked us to. We should keep reminding ourselves and everyone we know of what a real journalist can be like, and how we took him for granted for decades. And he wasn't the only one! How have they all become so compromised if they are still with us? Even the younger and newer voices take on a rightist tone as they become part of the ABC establishment. I occasionally listen to radio in the car and I am really surprised by Waleed Ali these days. Is that my bias, my imagination? What a brilliant interview that was, and great photography too! Tony Abbott revealed in all his lying splendour, not just in his shifty verbal replies. There were also the involuntary responses of his body language squirming, the darting of his eyes and smirking facial twitches. By the way was there any doubt about Kerry O'Brien's retirement? True it came shortly after that interview, but hadn't it already been announced?

Cuppa

12/05/2012LadyInRed wrote, [i]Can I complain about his reply? Tell me where...please. Why should he get the last word?[/i] New blog, [b]The ABC Has Gone To Hell[/b] is open for comments in response to Mr Belsham's piece: http://the-abc-has-gone-to-hell.tumblr.com/post/22833103943/abcs-defensive-response-to-paul-keatings-letter

TalkTurkey

12/05/2012That O'Brien/Abbortt clip is an all-time classic Cuppa. As for people calling Craig Emerson Labor's Attack Dog - [i]No fair![/i] He is our [i][b]Defender Dog![/b][/i]

Cuppa

12/05/2012A commenter on a Crikey thread 'gets it'. Susansan Posted Friday, 11 May 2012 at 2:27 pm http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/05/11/tony-abbott-philosopher-prince-of-the-assertion-based-community/#comment-198054 QUOTE: "...Tony Abbott is not a politician of the policy-making school. How very last decade or last century is that very idea!. He is a knee-capper, toe-cutter, a man acting with utter confidence that the press will never hold him to account in any serious or thoughtful way for the gob-smacking absurdities and contradictions of his ever shifting ‘positions’ [...] "with the monumental help of the Murdoch press echo-chamber that is detectable even in the framing of questions by Radio National journalists these days! "The entire press of this Australia, with the very smallest and rarest exceptions such as this site, has had just one deeply uncivil note to sing for the last 12 months or more, which is let’s kick this government to death while it’s down and spit on its high offices, kill it, drown it, drown it out, do anything but take a serious look at the running joke called the Opposition." UNQUOTE

Cuppa

12/05/2012Patricia, Perhaps I've got the timeline of events around the wrong way, but I thought the order was: 1) O'Brien shamed Abbott in interview; 2) O'Brien announced his retirement from the program. Certainly whichever way they happened, it was convenient for Abbott and the Liberals that KO'B's replacement was Uhlmann, a fellow conservative, fellow ex-seiminarian, and contributor to the conservative journal, [i]The Spectator[/i] (Aust edition). http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/chris-uhlmann-seen-as-biased-by-both-sides/story-e6frg996-1225966028401

jaycee

12/05/2012Having worked shoulder to shoulder in the building industry with your basic working stiff for all my working life (47yrs)I can tell you ; there is not much going on "in there".....political debate is simple and shallow while opinion is simple and loud! They are nievely honest and now,thanks to a relentless Machiavellian media; totally corrupted against fair-play and social policy. The ignorance is so impenetrable the worker will self-flagellate and self-immolate his person to an ideal of right-wing corruption. When Tony Abbott and the media call for sacrificial blood, they will bare their wrists! The Liberals under this leadership learnt their "grooming techniques" from the "best".....;"Give me the child till he is seven..." now we also have the Shakespearean touch..;"Friends, Australians, countrymen...I come not to praise democracy, but to bury it!"

Ad astra

12/05/2012jaycee I'm not sure if you have been here before, but if not, welcome to [i]The Political Sword[/i] family. Do come again. Your mention of the Jesuit:'Give me the child till he is seven...' is germane.

Casablanca

12/05/2012Fellow Swordians, The ABC has posted a defence of Chris Uhlmann by Bruce Belsham that signals very clearly that any complaints about Uhlmann will not be shown due regard. The article by Paul Keating and the Bruce Belsham response are at: http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4004234.html As an alternative way to make a point, perhaps a few people could let Ms Gai Brodtmann know their views about the revulsion we have for the way that her husband plies his trade. He is treating her boss, our Prime Minister, with rudeness and is unfairly fanning the anti-Labor message of the Coalition. Her email address is: Gai.Brodtmann.MP@aph.gov.au Snail Mail addresses are at: http://www.aph.gov.au/Senators_and_Members/Parliamentarian?MPID=30540 Another suggestion is that we let Jonathan Holmes know of our dis-pleasure at both the pre-emptive defence by Bruce Belsham and the rudeness and disrespect of Chris Uhlmann towards the PM. The Media Watch Facebook is at : http://www.facebook.com/ABCMediaWatch The Media Watch email address is: mediawatch@your.abc.net.au [b]Go to it Swordians![/b]

Ad astra

12/05/2012Cuppa Here is the email I have sent to the ABC: Dear Mr Belsham I am astonished at what you wrote at the end of Paul Keating’s piece on The Drum before you closed comments. The comments that followed Keating’s piece, and the feedback you received via email were presumably so consistently critical of Chris Uhlmann’s interview of this nation’s PM that you felt compelled to rush to his defence. I doubt if what you wrote will convince anyone who criticized Uhlmann to take a different view. Those of us who were offended by his rude, aggressive, interrupting and disrespectful approach to this nation’s leader, are now doubly incensed. You write as if his interview was appropriate, one that met the ABC’s standards of fair and balanced reporting, the norm. Since you are the one who judges the quality of your journalists, your response is even more troublesome than the interview itself. While we would not have expected you to openly criticize Uhlmann in a postscript, to have said nothing at all would have been preferable to saying that, in your view, the interview was OK by you, and presumably by our ABC. Go back and play it again. Then play his interview with Tony Abbott a few days earlier. If you then thought the same disrespectful, confrontational approach was applied to the Abbott interview as was applied to the interview with the PM, I would despair of the judgmental processes you bring to your assessment of your journalists. Unless Uhlmann takes the adverse feedback seriously, he will never learn to be a Kerry O’Brien. If he believes your reassurance that his interview was OK, how will he ever realize how much offence his approach has caused, and how inappropriate it was in the eyes of many?

Casablanca

12/05/2012AA We have done it again and posted at exactly to same time, 3.45, though it would appear that I beat you by a nose! Forget to say that I was impressed, as usual, with your insightful post. The Goebbels Lie Theory appears to be in Abbott's DNA.

Ad astra

12/05/2012Casablanca What do they say about great minds! Thanks for all the contact details re the Uhlmann interview. We must not let this matter lie - the stakes are too high.

Sir Ian Crisp

12/05/2012[quote][i]Paul Keating's attack on Chris Uhlmann's interview of a fellow Labor Prime Minister demonstrates an understandable tribal loyalty. So . . . Nothing to do with reasoned intellectual condemnation then. [/i][/quote] Did I see the word intellectual and Paul Keating somehow linked? Keating an intellectual: we must be approaching a prophesised biblical event when the lamb will lie down with the lion. Is this the very same articulate intellectual Paul Keating who said: [quote]Paul Keating on former Labor Prime Minister, Bob Hawke: "Now listen mate," [to John Browne, Minister of Sport, who was proposing a 110 per cent tax deduction for contributions to a Sports Foundation] "you're not getting 110 per cent. You can forget it. This is a f**king Boulevard Hotel special, this is. The trouble is we are dealing with a sports junkie here [gesturing towards Bob Hawke]. I go out for a piss and they pull this one on me. Well that's the last time I leave you two alone. From now on, I'm sticking to you two like shit to a blanket. "Old Jellyback." "Old Silver." [/quote]

Fiona

12/05/2012As long as we have the likes of Ad astra, Andrew Elder, archie, Bushfire Bill, Mr Denmore, Poll Bludger, and (almost) all the people who comment here, there, and everywhere, I have hope that the situation will improve. Don't forget, the Leverson interim report will be out in October(ish). And investigations wrt Nooz are hotting up in America. Further, I find it almost impossible to believe that NewsCorpse here doesn't have a teeny bit of putrescence in it... Meanwhile, as Talk Turkey has observed: [quote]Abbortt is bilingual you know. He talks crap fluently.[/quote]

Tyler

12/05/2012TT i think a relatively smooth shift towards community based detention of refugees would be possible if a gutsy prime minister took the fight up to the tabloids and shock jocks on the issue. That people come to Australia seeking a better life in those desperate circumstances should be a source of pride to a compassionate, egalitarian democracy. Not cause for fear and loathing Still i'd certainly accept that it would be difficult to achieve for any labor government, as we've seen having the facts on your side isn't enough against murdoch's fear merchants.

LadyInRed

12/05/2012Casablanca I sent an email on the 24th April to media watch about Uhlmann : Hi, I don’t expect this will go anywhere but I would like to make note of the difference in Chris Uhlman’s style when he interviews Tony Abbott compared to when he interviews others. He sits and listens respectfully when Abbott is being Interviewed and he attacks, interrupts and generally uses a belligerent combative style when interviewing other politicians, especially anyone from the government. Just compare his combative style when he interviewed Anthony Albanese to Abbott. Or Gillard to Abbott. It is blatantly obvious. In fact when he brings on that combative style regardless of who is interviewing he could do well to drop it. We get enough of that everywhere else in the media. Just ask the questions respectfully and listen respectfully no matter who is the interviewee. I don’t believe you have to be belligerent to ask good pertinent questions. Also, those terrible posters about Peter Slipper were un called for (Slippery when wet), the man is innocent until proven guilty. This is the reply I got : Thanks for your comments, Lucy. Regards, Sashka Koloff Media Watch So clearly they are not interested. But perhaps now Keating has got in they might be - I hope so. I'll try again.

LadyInRed

12/05/2012Just watched that interview with Abbott and Kerry O'Brien. He tracked the interview so well. You can only do that when you really listen to someone. Take note Uhlmann, when you listen and when you remember to be respectful, you don't lose yourself in your own importance. Kerry had him on toast and managed to be respectful in the way that he did it. He is a fine journalist. Ad astra that was great email to Belsham.

Ad astra

12/05/2012Hi Lyn I’ve just now read Andrew Elder’s great analysis of Abbott’s Budget Reply: http://andrewelder.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/adding-value.html?m=1 I enjoyed these sentences near the end: “[i]At least half that speech is the same old shit Abbott says at any occasion where he is called upon to speak: journalists have heard it so often they don't question it, but if Australia deserves better as Abbott says, then the scrutiny has to be applied - to his face, and by cross-checking what he says against what actually happens… Abbott will not collapse in a hurry but already his momentum is not what it was. His attacks have an increasingly cracking-hardy air and the faces behind him on the Coalition benches last night were grim. They were not the forward-leaning, grinning and urging faces you see from an opposition that can smell government approaching…[/i]” Stephen Koukoulas’ piece too was interesting: http://www.marketeconomics.com.au/1973-the-abbott-fact-check-other-matters

Ad astra

12/05/2012LadyinRed Thank you for your kind remark. I'll look with interest at Media Watch Monday night. Let's hope you have stimulated interest in the Uhlmann interviewing style.

jaycee

12/05/2012With the condemnation of Rupert Murdoch as a "Not fit and proper" person to run a media corporation in England, and seeing as we, as Australians are connected to England via a Governor General whom is continuely called upon by the Liberals to dissolve parliament for new elections...Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party must cut all ties to Murdoch's News Corp' and distance themselves from such influence. News Corps' boss, having been "charged" and found culpable by a "semi-judicial authority" ought to be damned and shunned by Tony Abbott as testament to his sincerity of political purpose. Do this,Tony..:"Cry havoc and let slip the dogs on the whore.." and we will take more notice of your "honesty".

Lyn

12/05/2012Hi Ad Thankyou for your magnificent article, you have awed us again. John said congatulations too he said your article is gripping, stark and so true to what is happening. Ad Astra you earned me 7 new followers today well done, Wow! I posted on Twitter and within 10 minutes the article is linked to hundreds it just went "Woosh" So glad you enjoyed Andrew Elders piece, did you see he has a new format, really easy to read. ABC News‏@abcnews Abbott says an interview in which Craig Thomson claims he hsa been set up is an alibi for the PM to retain his vote http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-12/thomsons-set-up-claim-an-alibi-abbott/4007520 ABC The Drum ‏@ABCthedrum Budget replies and promises of an unrealistic Abbott - a piece by @annabelcrabb http://bit.ly/JDoQyo #budget2012 Cheers Lyn:):)

2353

12/05/2012Campbell Newman's Government is already breaking promises. Car rego is going up despite a promise to [quote]"The LNP believes it's time to give motorists a break and if elected we will freeze car registration fees during the entire first term of Government." [/quote]. So he sends the Transport Minister out to suggest as it is the Third Party Insurance (charged on the rego bills in Queensland) going up, it's not a broken promise. The Motor Trades Assn has responded with a statement that basically says - you're speaking crap. At least most of the Queensland media are calling them out on it.

Lyn

12/05/2012Hi Ad and Everybody Tweet from Bushfire Bill:- Bushfire‏Bill Uhlmann 7.30 job interview here: Basically if Uhlmann doesn’t understand that an interview is like a normal conversation and surely when he was interviewed for the job he didn’t butt in. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2012/05/11/morgan-phone-poll-budget-poll-face-to-face-poll/comment-page-22/#comment-1256373: :):)

TalkTurkey

12/05/2012cud chewer From cud chewer on PB Posted Saturday, May 12, 2012 at 6:55 pm | Permalink I just fell in love with a new nickname.. Tony Abort or.. Abort, for short No offence . . . but I think cud chewer needs to do some fresh grazing . . . Abbortt's been Abbortt here for [i]years![/i]

Linda

12/05/2012Thanks for the link to the ABC - I have just lodged my reaction to Uhlmann's "interview". I would have also responded on The Drum but comments were closed quite quickly! Hmmm. I wonder how many viewers have been lost to 7.30 since Kerry O'Brien and Leigh Sales have left. I have no quarrel with in-depth interviews but rude, bully boy tactics are over the top.

Lyn

12/05/2012Hi Ad and Everybody You need to read:- This is interesting but mind boggling:= George‏ So Abbott has a stooge working in FWA and why he defends Kathy Jackson Check out RE: Leone http://bit.ly/JxcOTX So, let’s see where we are up to in the Thomson saga… Michael Lawler was appointed to FWA by Tony Abbott back in the Howard days. Michael Lawler is Kathy Jackson’s boyfriend/partner/lover. Michael Lawler failed to ensure that the witness Craig Thomson put forward was interviewed as part of that investigation. Three years and they didn’t bother? Kathy Jackson’s former husband Jeff Jackson was employed by HSU until 2009 and READ MORE: http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2012/05/11/morgan-phone-poll-budget-poll-face-to-face-poll/comment-page-32/#comment-1256878 :):)

Ad astra

12/05/2012Hi Lyn We had great pre-Mother's Day with the children. I've been trying to keep up with [i]TPS[/i] in between celebrating and enjoying the grandchildren. Thank you to you and John for your kind remarks about this piece. There has been 67 comments since it was posted around 24 hours ago, and you have had many join you on Twitter. We must be on a track that others too wish to walk. BB's piece of satire about Chris Uhlmann was apt. Linda too has joined the throng complaining to the ABC. If his boss doesn't warn him off such disrespectful interviews, what hope is there for the ABC? Let's see if his behaviour changes. The Craig Thomson affair becomes more intriguing by the day. I see on evening TV that Tony Abbott doesn't believe his story as told to Laurie Oakes, and adds, gratuitously, that neither do the people of Australia. The fact that he cannot know this expands his already gigantic disingenuousness to mind-boggling proportions. What must be terrifying him is the possibility that Thomson is not guilty. Craig Emerson is warning that matters of guilt or otherwise must be left to the legal system. Of course Abbott is happy to be judge and jury, and have the public follow him down that dangerous road, because that best suits his political purpose. I've just now read the post by leone. Wow! I'm calling it a day.

Jason

12/05/2012theburgerman | 9 hours 18 minutes ago Sunday pollies: #AustralianAgenda: Penny Wong & Tony Windsor, Laurie Oakes: Joe Hockey, #Insiders: Jenny Macklin, #MTP: Anthony Albanese

Casablanca

13/05/2012Attack of the B-grade heroes MICHAEL INMAN [i]THEY'VE been dubbed ''Howard's B-team'' by the government. And some political experts agree, saying a reshuffle of Tony Abbott's frontbench is long overdue. [/i] Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/act-news/attack-of-the-bgrade-heroes-20120512-1yjud.html#ixzz1ufMqHUjq No cost crisis, just hypochondria Adele Horin [i]Life is indeed tough for some. But it's not true that life has got tougher, and that the federal Labor government is to blame. Most of us, including age pensioners and self-funded retirees, low, middle, and high income families have never been better off. [/i] Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/no-cost-crisis-just-hypochondria-20120511-1yhok.html#ixzz1ufP5RPaH Thomson adviser breaks silence. Heath Aston [i]She established Craig Thomson's campaign office and concocted a community group as a front for the Labor Party, but the woman at the centre of Mr Thomson's 2007 election win in Dobell insists she was just working for the union movement. [/i] Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/thomson-adviser-breaks-silence-20120512-1yjh4.html#ixzz1ufQlju6W Oakeshott: I have been suffering from an autoimmune disease Phillip Thomson [i]Independent MP Rob Oakeshott has been diagnosed with an incurable autoimmune disease, which caused his hands to shake and eyes to bulge when he made the biggest political decision of his career to back Julia Gillard as Prime Minister. [/i] Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/oakeshott-i-have-been-suffering-from-an-autoimmune-disease-20120512-1yjet.html#ixzz1ufRaK6z3 'No one set him up. He's in another universe' Stephanie Peatling, Misha Schubert [i]Three of the five members of the crossbench are uncomfortable with the idea that he should face parliamentary censure - breaking ranks with fellow independent Rob Oakeshott - arguing it is a breach of the separation of the parliamentary and legal systems. They also accused the opposition of playing ''fast and loose'' with democracy. [/i] Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/no-one-set-him-up-hes-in-another-universe-20120512-1yjgn.html#ixzz1ufSH5Ojd

Michael

13/05/2012Whenever I hear or read Tony Abbott say something is being done to 'protect' Julia Gillard I know that whatever it might be, it's being done to protect Australia. From him.

Robin Evans

13/05/2012Australians will attack Julia till they destroy her and her party then they'll suffer under Abbott and wonder why... You may not say it but I will, the guy is a little Nazi...

TalkTurkey

13/05/2012Robin Evans Welcome to TPS Very few posters here will argue with your characterization of Abbortt as a Nazi . . . And the ones that would are Nazi-like themselves. Casablanca, Lady in Red, Leone, Good to see your passion and prolificity We all encourage us all. Crassidy's first sentence on Lopsiders: "With the Government swaying in the breeze . . ."

TalkTurkey

13/05/2012Bushfire Bill I hope you don't mind my transplanting this from PB Posted Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 7:33 am | Permalink From the “Reap What You Sow” department. They wanted him to speak, and now he’s talking. Craig Thomson… ... told Channel Nine he was waiting for the benefit of parliamentary privilege to name the union official he believes set him up. He said that a union official threatened to ''set him up with a bunch of hookers'' because he tried to increase transparency of the finances of the HSU. Advertisement: Story continues below But the union whistleblower, Kathy Jackson, predicted Mr Thomson was ''going to drop a bucket'' on other HSU figures in his speech, using the protections of parliamentary privilege in a ''coward's castle''. She said he was preparing to accuse her former husband Jeff Jackson of complicity in a ''set-up'' involving prostitutes - a claim that Mr Jackson rejected. ''No one set him up. He's in another universe that we're not in. If he's got these allegations to make, why not do it outside Parliament?'' http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/no-one-set-him-up-hes-in-another-universe-20120512-1yjgn.html#ixzz1uh3AFT3b I doubt whether there’s anything much to complain about. After all, the Coalition wanted this. They fought for it. They held up Parliament in Budget week to get it. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Thanks BB You strengthen the resolve of many and you stimulate good writing across the blogosphere.

Cuppa

13/05/2012Queenslanders being taken for mugs by their new Liberal-National government. [i] [b]Queensland motorists to pay more to register cars in 2013 despite State Government's promise to freeze registration fees for family vehicles[/b] Robyn Ironside, Courier Mail, 12 May 2012 Queensland motorists will pay more to register their cars next year despite the State Government's promise to freeze registration fees for family vehicles. The Motor Accident Insurance Commission will announce next Friday an increase in compulsory third party insurance premiums for the first time since 2009. Although the size of the increase will be kept quiet until then, industry sources indicate it will be substantial.[/i] http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/queensland-motorists-to-pay-more-to-register-cars-in-2013-despite-state-governments-promise-to-freeze-registration-fees-for-family-vehicles/story-e6freoof-1226353369017

NormanK

13/05/2012A lengthy article on the way Clive Palmer does business. For example, it is alleged that he bought sufficient shares in an exploratory company such that he gained access to confidential information, sold down those shares and then launched action to acquire some of that company's licences based on the information made available to him. [b]Tracing Palmer's wealth - a titanic undertaking[/b] by Tom Allard, Stuart Washington Brisbane Times [quote]According to a 2010 judgment from WA's Warden's Court, which deals with disputes over mining tenements, the Rey Resources subsidiary Blackfin alleges Mineralogy learned about the status of the licences after it had purchased shares in Rey Resources and was invited by its management to develop ''corporate transactions or asset deals'' that might benefit both companies. Mineralogy has applied for Blackfin to forfeit two exploration licences in the coal-rich Canning Basin in Western Australia because it did not spend the required amount of expenditure on drilling and exploration to maintain the licences. While no one disputes that the small miner has failed to meet the expenditure threshold, it had received exemptions regarding its underspend in the past - a common occurrence. It is, however, the manner in which Mineralogy obtained the information about the underspending that has raised the ire of Rey Resources.[/quote] http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/business/tracing-palmers-wealth--a-titanic-undertaking-20120511-1yi2w.html

TalkTurkey

13/05/2012Tony Windsor for President (After Barry Jones of course) Rob Oakeshott has my sympathy re his auto-immune disease (Graves Disease) and my best wishes for satisfactory long-term management of it. On a lighter note, Graves Disease was what supposedly killed Ern Malley, the bogus poet who whoopped the BS about free-verse poetry, and in doing so both [i]destroyed[/i] and [i]made[/i] the career of Max Harris who made such a fool of himself over his gushing accolades about the definitively nonsense writings of the two mischievous hoaxers, that he was never forgotten and became a successful entrepreneur on the back of his ridiculous and ridiculed comments. Ern Malley From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Ernest Lalor "Ern" Malley was a fictitious poet and the central figure in Australia's most celebrated literary hoax. The poet, and his entire body of work, were created in one day in 1944 by writers James McAuley and Harold Stewart as a hoax on Max Harris, Angry Penguins, the modernist magazine he had founded and edited, and contemporary trends in poetry.[2] In the decades after their publication, the hoax had a negative impact on the cause of modernist poetry in Australia. Since the 1970s, however, the Ern Malley poems, though known to be a hoax, became celebrated as a successful example of surrealist poetry in their own right, lauded by poets and critics such as John Ashbery and Robert Hughes. Much more on Google

Psyclaw

13/05/2012Hello Robin Evans On a trip to Nuremburg last year a very competent German tour guide gave us the background as to the German population being so powerfully receptive to Hitler. Nuremburg was the heart of his constituency, and the city where he gave the first and many of his major speeches. It was the city in Germany ripe for his plucking. As a result of the depression etc unemployment was very high, and life was a great struggle for the masses. Against this background Hitler, a most talented orator gave them hope and won their overwhelming support by promises. Never mind what he was actually going to do, the populus was totally conned by unsubstantiated promises of providing a much better way of life and the end to their feelings of hopelessness. The sociological parallels here are that the populus have been conned by Abbott, his sycophants and his media agencies into a (false) but real perception of hopelessness .... that the economy is bust, that the carbon tax will mean misery forever, and that they are doing it oh so tough. They actually believe these things. Against this creation of us being in post-depression-Germany "we're all rooned" state of mind, Abbott,an ideological dogmatic grifter, feeds us unsubstantiated promises of a much better world under him. And most of us are taken in. The reason he is succeeding is simple ..... those whose role it is to question and scrutinise him, the MSM, have joined his team.

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13/05/2012Robin Evans Welcome to The Political Sword family, and thank you for your comment. Do come again. Whether or not Tony Abbott is 'a little Nazi' as you describe him, he is certainly using Goebbels' 'Big Lie Theory' to advance his political position, to the detriment of our nation.

Psyclaw

13/05/2012TT It's interesting Ms pure-as-the-driven-snow Jackson knows what Mr Thompson is going to say before he even opens his mouth. Is she a mind reader, or is she in possession of a guilty mind based on facts she has known for yonks. The latter I suspect.

Andy

13/05/2012AA, Thank you for a refreshing, honest look at the current state of play regarding the media and opposition politics. You would think that people would have got it when Howard took us on a disastrous ride (Dogs on the wharves, AWB scandal, politicisation of the ABC and public service, Children Overboard, Iraq, David Hicks etc.....). I thought this was why Australians finally voted his government out and himself out of his once safe seat. But no it hasn't taken long for the propaganda unit to ramp it up and take hold again. Not until there is a complete overhaul of the nation's media will we be safe from this race to the bottom. I'm not holding my breath. I feel very sad for the country that my son (and his children) will inherit.

Bushfire Bill's Alter Ego

13/05/2012AA wrote: [quote]Yet the pollsters tell us that much of the public still regards these programs as failures, debacles and disasters. The only exceptions are the parents who have children at the schools that benefitted from the BER; they give it a tick.[/quote] It's worse than that. A lot of parents at schools which have perfectly fine BER constructions, sincerely believe that, while their school is OK, it must be [i]other[/i] schools that have the problems. I've asked a lot of people about this, and, to a man and woman, they admit their own BER enhancements are great, but all of them have an example of failure from somewhere else. One instance I remember was the famous "Canteen Too Small For The Pie Warmer". I've heard that this awful pie warmer was in several schools, but the main candidate site seemed to be a school north of Hornsby, in Sydney. As it happens I know people who are local to that school. They duly disparaged the size of the canteen. I was asking questions about it and it came out that the canteen was built [i]five years before the BER[/i]. The BER made some incidental additions to it, without altering its size. Pies were not sold at the school (it had a "progressive" tuckshop). But six months or so after the BER work was finished, co-incidentally, the P&C changed the formula. [i]It was only then that the canteen was seen to be too small for the pie warmer that was sourced[/i] (forgive the pun). The pie warmer itself [i]had been donated[/i]. There was no choice as to which pie warmer the school could have for its canteen. It was either take the large pie warmer, or have nothing. So... the canteen had built and modified years before the pie warmer was purchased, and the pie warmer itself was not measured to see if it fitted the canteen. Nothing at all to do with the BER. Not one thing. When I pointed this out to my friends, they went on about [i]another[/i] school they had heard of, that had some other problems with its BER additions. Having been shown logically to be wrong about their own school (a school which was given large coverage by the Daily Telegraph) they assumed it must have been some [i]other[/i] school that was causing all the "waste". Their argument ran: we know the BER is a gigantic cock-up, so there [i]must[/i] be something wrong, somewhere.

Lyn

13/05/2012Good Morning Ad This mornings Twitterverse for you, there are some comments from the Insiders at the bottom: Randall Gillespie‏@randallgill Branch stacking just got a lot lot easier via samanthamaiden ...build Mr Abbott proof fence via @LindaSilmalis http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/labors-5-deal-to-woo-back-supporters-to-the-party/story-e6freuy9-1226353886276 LABOR is trying to woo back supporters with a $5 deal as part of one of the biggest recruitment drives in the history of the party. The "Help Build An Abbott Proof Fence" campaign, to be launched today, will involve party officials heading out to university campuses to sign up students.A new recruitment website will go live today to make it easier for new members to join, while posters of Opposition leader Tony Abbott standing near a rabbit-proof fence will be distributed across the branches for use at recruitment drives http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/labors-5-deal-to-woo-back-supporters-to-the-party/story-e6freuy9-1226353886276 TAWNBPM‏ Links between the Libs and the loony right, the Tea Party, explained. " But what appears to be a proliferation... http://www.theage.com.au/national/bernardi-busy-behind-grassroots-anticarbon-tax-movement-20111015-1lqj7.html news.com.au‏@news_com_au Thomson set-up 'an absolutely false fantasy': HSU whistleblower Kathy Jackson has accused Craig Thomson of prepa... http://bit.ly/Jsxf65 Mulgabob‏ The last paragraph says it all http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/craig-thomson-set-up-a-fantasy-says-health-services-union-whistleblower-kathy-jackson/story-e6freuy9-1226353849517 Paul Howes‏ Communism and the budget; reality and The Australian. How none are related - my column in today's Sunday Telegraph http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/red-baiters-out-from-under-their-1950s-beds/story-e6frezz0-1226353699063 news.com.au‏@news_com_au Thomson set-up 'an absolutely false fantasy': HSU whistleblower Kathy Jackson has accused Craig Thomson of prepa... http://bit.ly/Jsxf65 The Insiders: Alexander White‏ Remind me, doesn't Cassidy write about the decline of political journalism & the focus on the sideshow? He's the ringmaster today. #insiders Darshi‏@Darshi79 insiders of course that's the image Nikki Savas would pick! Poisonous she is Judith Kerr‏ #Insiders: Lenore taylor have to pursue Slipper but we need to think about his family and the effects of stories. Roberto Surely this has gone on long enough. Smear tactics go viral http://bit.ly/JmCW9A #insiders #auspol Judith Kerr‏ #Insiders: Slams debate about whether Craig Thomson is guilty and says chat shows about the allegations are mischievous Fit & Proper Geek Why wouldn't the Govt with help of the Independents expel Abbott from Parliament with a simple majority? #insiders #auspol Agnes Mack‏ insiders Barrie is right, Abbott suggested poor parents wld squander schoolkids bonus but media didn't give that front page treatment Kimmaree ‏ "when the Telegraph comes out defending people on the North Shore" ... you know NewsLtd have become over confident #insiders sortius‏ Bahahaha, Reith talking about beat ups. The KING of beat ups, hypocrisy I name thee #insiders :):):):)

Gravel

13/05/2012Ad Astra Thank you for this excellent effort. There is not one word I could disagree with. I am pleased that I am not alone in feeling scared for Australia's future. Not so much for myself, but the future of my children and grandchildren and what sort of Australia they will have to continue to live in. Lyn Thanks for your help with Twitter. I am following Craig Emmerson, and when we got home from footy (watching grandkids play, and the eldest one kicked a goal((sorry proud grandma boast here)) ) I had a look a twitter while I was warming up and I actually thanked Craig, and he replied. Unlike you, I haven't the courage to get involved, but love reading your tweets.

Ad astra

13/05/2012BB What a telling story. You have furnished yet more evidence of the application of the use of Goebbels ‘Big Lie Theory’ by the Coalition and the media, and the almost indelible effect it has had on the electorate. The parents you quote were happy with the BER at their school but had been brainwashed by the Coalition and by Murdoch papers, particularly [i]The Australian[/i] that ran a prolonged anti-BER campaign, that it was a monumental waste of money and a sign of the habitual mismanagement of the Labor Government. ‘Waste and mismanagement’ became the catch-cry that was, and still is, reflexly applied to the BER, and mindlessly accepted as true, even by intelligent people. There could scarcely be a more convincing demonstration of the perniciousness of slogans devised to demean and detract.

TalkTurkey

13/05/2012Thank you Cuppa, thank you Puff . . . from Poll Bludger . . . Cuppa Posted Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 10:02 am | Permalink Latest post at The Political Sword. In-depth analysis by host Ad astra: The polluting power of poisonous politics http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/post/2012/05/11/The-polluting-power-of-poisonous-politics.aspx . . . 2279 Puff, the Magic Dragon. Posted Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 10:04 am | Permalink Cuppa That is a brilliant analysis by Ad Astra and should be widely circulated. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I love people cross-posting links to choice lead articles and set-pieces in all directions, that is where much of the blog communication comes in - not just within any one blogsite - and that is what makes Lyn, and in her absences NormanK, so valuable. But there is another area less addressed, and that is that we only rarely simply lift and transplant some of the very most poignant posts from one site to another - as I have done a couple of times this morning, once with BB, once with a complementary combo of Cuppa and Puff. It's so easy, there's plenty of room for concise comments, and surely it must please the pirated posters to be so quoted. And I only mean pretty exceptional posts, not a [i]great[/i] many. I don't understand why we don't do it more. [i]What do you think? [/i]

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13/05/2012Andy I’m not sure if you’ve been here before, but anyway welcome to [i]The Political Sword[/i] family. Do come again. Thank you for your comment. Many feel as you do – fearful for our country should it be inflicted with an Abbott Government. You rightly point out the many scandals that beset the Howard Government, now largely forgotten as they are overshadowed by the anti-Government propaganda perpetrated by the media.

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13/05/2012Hi Lyn Thank you again for the Twitterverse. I thought the most delicious part of it was the last paragraph of [i]The Telegraph[/i] story about Craig Thomson: http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/craig-thomson-set-up-a-fantasy-says-health-services-union-whistleblower-kathy-jackson/story-e6freuy9-1226353849517 [i]"Mr Jeff Jackson,[/i] [Kathy Jacksons’ former husband] [i]former HSU executive member, settled and repaid the HSU in 2009 an undisclosed amount in a confidential settlement following allegations of using a union credit card at the name(d) escort agencies in Sydney."[/i] It’s worth a look and a read.

TalkTurkey

13/05/2012also from PB victoria Posted Sunday, May 13, 2012 at 10:15 am | Permalink Cuppa I always read Ad Adstra’s contributions. They are fantastic And Victoria I always read yours except that I can't keep up with PB. PB is like one branch of The Sword's extended family. United we stand.

LadyInRed

13/05/2012Hi all. Thanks for all the links. No a very good Insiders today. Jenny Macklin did well. I think it was light on re the Budget. Class warfair got a bit and big applause for the point well made about the Daily Terror suddenly shifting to defend the North Shore. Abbott reply didn't get much of a grilling? Given this was the first Insiders after the budget. The wrap up on Insiders said it all. Laura Tingle the only one who said anything of value on the budget. I wish Niki Sava would just go away if she can't put up a balanced argument. What was that pot shot of the bus with the PM & Thompson supposed to mean? Yep, Cassidy gave her the last say and what did she use it to do 1) take a pot shot at the PM and 2) an opportunity to push Abbott's barrow. Abbott can do no wrong as far a Sava is concerned. She sits there like the Queen making sure that no-one steps out of the MSM line. Why they give her the time of day is beyond me. At least we didn't have Henderson sitting on the couch with his slumped shoulders and belligerent, school boy, don't beat me please, attitude nose getting out of joint sulking because people dare to have an opinion differing to his. I suppose I should be grateful for small mercies.

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13/05/2012TT Graves’ disease, otherwise known as thyrotoxicosis, or hyperthyroidism or more simply, overactive thyroid, is eminently controllable. We wish Rob Oakeshott well. Psyclaw Thank you for that very interesting account of your Nuremberg trip, a telling account of the malicious effect of propaganda. Goebbels ‘Big Lie Theory’ works! Gravel Thank you for your kind comment. We are all scared of an Abbott Government.

42 long

13/05/2012First go at this. Like what I see. Good comment at last.

Catching up

13/05/2012"The ABC has posted a defence of Chris Uhlmann by Bruce Belsham that signals very clearly that" The fact the the ABC feels they have to defend Uhlmann says it all. O do not like his ruedeness. I do not like the way he cuts off answers he dies not want. I do not like the way he continues to ask questions that have nothing to do with the answers given. I do not really care whether he is bias or not. We are all in one way or another. What I do object too, is the fact that the ABC continues to impose on us, a man that has no ability or skills for the job. If was a politician, I would welcome strong and tough questioning. This allows one to get ones opinion across. Uhlmann, does not have the skills of tough interviewing. The questions he asks show lack of knowledge and are often just plain stupid. The PM has always shown that she is capable of dealing with tough questions. It is only the stupidity that she has to deal with most of the time, that she shows disdain. Maybe I was lucky to be born in 1941 and bought up in the shadow of post second world war. We were made very aware of out fragile our democracy is. We learnt that we always had to be alert and be ready to fight for it. We are seeing today, much of what maintains our democracy being trashed for political purposes. What is also being trashed, is what makes this country fair. That is our juridical system. What protects us is, the presumption of innocence. The separation between the judiciary and government. The universal human right to remain silent. we must never allow these important principals to be dumped or undermined for cheap political advantage. We must never allow trial by media, the public or Opposition to replace our legal system. We can do better than to revert to the law of the jungle, where the rich and powerful rule. To finish, the government is not continuing to stand by the embattled Thompson. The government os not saying whether he is guilty or not. The government is standing by the pillars of our society that matters. The government refuses to play politics or be judge and jury in this matters. It is inappropriate to act otherwise. There is no place for the parliament acting as kangaroo court.[quote][/quote]

Catching up

13/05/2012Sorry for the typos.

grannie

13/05/2012My father inlaw who was a dutch resistace fighter, often mentioned the years leading up to 1939. Sometimes saying always be alert' speak out Thank you,,, for writing this I would urge, all to send this piece to as many others as possible, liberal , labor, green

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13/05/2012To all Mothers Happy Mother’s Day to all our [i]TPS[/i] Mothers and all our visiting Mums.

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13/05/2012TT I like the idea of cross posting. Sharing ideas between us widens our perspective; no individual or group has all the answers, or the complete picture. So long as the author and source is acknowledged, together with the link (Permalink is useful), everyone benefits – the reader and the originator. Who does not like his or her work/ideas being quoted?

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13/05/2012There MUST be some in the Liberal Party who are concerned about this. Are they so hungry for an instant power grab that they will go along with it? If they are "worthy" of ruling, do they want to get there by a route paved with lies propaganda and deception, which will eventually become obvious. The treatment Abbott gives his audience is insulting. He must think we are all complete fools, but at the moment it is working. Sad for Australia. The Gillard government has negotiated with the independents worked with the greens, battled the Clubs Australia Lobby, the Power of international Big Tobacco, and the very vocal and greedy Mining Lobby, and 99% of the Australian Media. They certainly don't lack courage.

franc

13/05/2012No matter how valid the parallels, there is rarely a pay off for living up to Godwin's law. And as loathsome as News Ltd. may be, they would still be nothing without the end user that makes their business model viable. Our politicians (with rare exceptions) are the shit you find when you scrape the crud from the bottom of the barrel, that's a given. But you need to ask why? The main cause that they are lazy, sloppy and corrupt is because they are not being scrutinised and kept honest anywhere near well enough by our 4th estate, the media. And why are our media failing to do their duty and quite often are even complicit in this decay? Because the public is failing to scrutinise the media and demand acceptable standards. That means you, me and everyone else on the planet. We get what we deserve - the responsibility is ours. It is easy to slag politicians - but they are merely opportunistic parasites that take advantage of our own failures in diligence. So are commercial journalists. A more appropriate parallel is not to Nazis, but to bread and circuses - the historically familiar death gargle of Empire. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses

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13/05/2012LadyinRed I thought today’s [i]Insiders[/i] was less bad than many others. It was unique (correct me if I’m wrong) in that it had three female panellists. The always-balanced Laura Tingle was a good counterpoise to the acerbic Niki Savva who can never resist having a dig at Julia Gillard, no matter what the subject. Lenore Taylor was largely sensible in her comments this morning. To me, there seemed fewer attacks on Julia Gillard than usual. The interview with Jenny Macklin was good. She is a real trouper who can be relied upon to say it the way it is, and not put her foot into it. Barrie Cassidy treated her with respect. Chris Uhlmann, take note of how it’s done. Since [i]Insiders[/i] has become more tabloid than a forum for serious analysis, it’s not surprising that the Budget and the Budget Reply were given little prominence. A whole program could be devoted to each, but that will never happen as [i]Insiders[/i] too has to meet the editorial imperative that above all else, it be entertaining.

jj

13/05/201242 Long, Gillard has not beaten the pokies lobby...remember, she broke the deal she made with Andrew Wilkie to actually deal with the problem. Now she has put it off onto the never never list with a trial here and a trial there.

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13/05/2012I think the ABC ( which once believed had integrity) has conceded that the Abbott mob will get power and are cowed at that prospect unless they "suck" for favours. The ABC MUST remain unbiased or it will have the same respect that government owned( Or the appearance of) media outlets have around the rest of the world.( Which is virtually zero) They are supposed to be a voice of reason and calm in the midst of an otherwise profit only motivated alternative. Same as the BBC which has respect around the world. Took on Thatcher when the Faulklands was on. Show some "balls" ABC or be shamed forever.

Mangrove Jack

13/05/2012[quote]Since you are the one who judges the quality of your journalists, your response is even more troublesome than the interview itself.[/quote] I thought Ad astra's comment hit the nail right on the head. Something's rotten in the State of ABC. I gave up on Fran Kelly maybe 2 years ago, the 7.30 report when Kerry left, and the Insiders when the media pack turned on Rudd, whenever that was. I filter everything else that comes out of Ultimo through a fine sieve. That's really sad. I feel dispossessed. I do sometimes see Uhlmann on the over-run from the news however, and I must say that his "squeeze-box" hand gestures would drive me nuts if I stayed watching. They add nothing to the story, and are usually out of sync with his "points". He's not alone. There's an epidemic of it amongst tv journalists, but he's the worst.

Ad astra

13/05/2012Catching up You are right, trial by parliament would be dangerous. I suspect that most parliamentarians know this. I doubt if Tony Abbott would try to put up a censure motion against Craig Thomson. While politicians do feel uneasy about having someone sitting amongst them who has had so many adverse findings against him, they know that censure requires proof that these findings represent a serious misdemeanour, and proof can come only through a proper judicial process. That may be months or even years away. And what Thomson has to say in Parliament when it resumes will change the situation. So far we have the Fair Work Australia Report, and lots of gratuitous opinion, mostly adverse, from Tony Abbott, Christopher Pyne, and Julie Bishop; the others have said little. Abbott and Co. have already found Craig Thomson guilty, and with him Julia Gillard for ‘accepting his vote’ in the House. BTW, although Jenny Macklin’s comments on the matter were reported on ABC News as ‘Labor continuing to support Craig Thomson’, that is not what she indicated. What she said was that Labor continued to uphold the separation of the judicial from the parliamentary process, and that to act otherwise would be dangerous.

Ad astra

13/05/201242 long Welcome to [i]The Political Sword[/i] family, and thank you for your comment. Do come again. I agree with you that it is likely that many in the Coalition are concerned about Abbott’s belligerent behaviour. You only have to look at the people behind him when he embarks on his vitriolic tirades. An occasional laugh, a fleeting smile is about all we see. For the rest of the time we see grim resigned faces. They must wonder how the public is receiving Abbott’s messages. The opinion polls tells them that they are going down well, but those who know the vagaries of opinion polls, especially halfway through a term, must suspect that Abbott is building a house of cards that will come crashing down once the people wake up to his disingenuousness. You are right – the Gillard Government has taken on several powerful commercial lobbies, but that courage is never reflected in the headlines.

42 long

13/05/2012There you go. The problem IS the Journo's. I have many times been involved with quite newsworthy happenings and when I watch the evening reporting I wonder if i was at the same place. They are NOT accountable for the distortions that they propagate and have a vested intersest in the outcome. They do not provide news, they provide views, and are more opinion shapers than disseminators of fact. How can you get anywhere when this is all that happens. All democracies need good Journo's . They fall over when they don't have them. The Canberra press Gallery is "incestuous" any how. They chase opinion polls, any snippet of scandal and have formed a comfortable relationship with the system. On another matter slightly, is it a bit presumptuaous for M Grattan to advise a Prime Minister to "fall on her Sword". What's that got to do with reporting things the public should know. It's HER opinion. Is her opinion newsworthy? Only in the context of what I an discussing here. ie Is it part of her job to advise the PM. Who owns ALL the media ( or most of it)

Ad astra

13/05/2012franc As I don’t recognize your Gravatar, I think you may have not been here before, so welcome to [i]The Political Sword[/i]. Do come again. You have a very jaundiced view of politicians. While some are clearly out for themselves, and may even be corrupt, I believe most enter parliament to make a difference, to improve the state of the nation. Some are primarily interested in improving prosperity and productivity, while others are primarily concerned with social justice, fairness and equality. Some are primarily interested in power. But I believe most want to do good things. Unfortunately, they too often become embroiled in power plays and power struggles where self-interest, or the interests of the party, override the national interest. In one sense, if we take no interest in the political process, we get the party we deserve, but more often we get the party the media pushes us towards. Judging from my own acquaintances, few take much interest in politics, most have little knowledge of the issues, many are of the view that politicians are self-serving low life. Polls rating the ‘professions’, rate politicians near the bottom of the pile, next to journalists and used-car salesmen. How then do we form our opinion about leaders and political parties? It is mainly via the media which presents to the public its representation of events and those involved, not in a fair and balanced way, but in a way that subserves its ideological, political or commercial purposes. Your ‘bread and circuses’ analogy strikes a chord. It may have applied in Roman times, but in contemporary society what the public knows and believes about the political processes are mediated almost entirely through the mass media. In my view the media is at the very centre of the political turmoil we now experience. Although the media would deny creating the morass, it is almost wholly responsible for representing it to the public, which it does in pursuit of its own goals, not the common weal.

Ad astra

13/05/2012Mangrove Jack Thank you for your supportive words. I earnestly hope that the feedback that Chris Uhlmann has received about his interview with the PM, from one of the highest in the land to we bloggers at our keyboards, will cause him to reflect seriously on his interviewing technique and his aura of disrespect for high ranking leaders, and bring about a change in his approach. On the other hand, if he gives precedence to the reassurance offered by his boss Bruce Belsham, and arrogantly continues on the same path, he may find himself up a blind alley with nowhere to retreat.

Ad astra

13/05/2012grannie Thank you for your remarks. This piece has attracted a lot of attention. Over a hundred comments, mostly supportive, have been added in less than two days, many comprehensive, many linked to other information.

Gravel

13/05/2012Ad Astra It was great to come home from a wonderful Mother's Day lunch and read comments from some new posters. You certainly have struck a chord with many people. I would love to know if any of the commentors have seen through the media all along or are slowly waking up to them. My hope would be that some, maybe quite a few, are starting to wake up to what is happening. We need Aussies to pitch and fight for this great nation and not give in to the propaganda.

Ad astra

13/05/201242 long We agree. See my response to franc. Michelle Grattan, like many senior journalists, and a growing number of junior ones, see themselves as players in the political process, rather than impartial observers and reporters. They relish being kingmakers, or even better, dislodging leaders from their thrones. I remember well Janet Albrechtsen in her column in [i]The Australian[/i] telling John Howard that it was time for him to go. It is this vicarious exercise of power through the media that gets their journalistic juices running. It is inappropriate and wrong. But they don’t mind if it earns them brownie points with their associates. Scoops and making or deposing kings are the real stuff of political journalism. Ask Rupert Murdoch.

Ad astra

13/05/2012NormanK I’ve just now finished reading your link to the article about Clive Palmer. What a web of companies, negotiations, deals and commercial risks this man is entangled in. I hope he knows what he’s doing. Gravel I’m glad you’ve had a good Mother’s Day. Yes, we have had a lot of great comments, and yes, we all need to pitch in, in our small way, to try to rescue this country from the tyranny of the media.

42 long

13/05/2012Rupert Gets the Prize for being our most "shameful" export. The Dirty Digger. King maker and breaker. Sullier of great newspapers. He's not so comfortable at the moment, but no matter how bad it becomes it will not be in excess of what he has done to others for his own ends. Perhaps no-one is above the law, after all. I'd like my own personal "tiger lady" too. a real assett.

Tom of Melbourne

13/05/2012[i]” the Gillard Government has taken on several powerful commercial lobbies…”[/i] You’re so right!! Such as the gaming industry. Didn’t the government show some backbone in implementing the changes they’d committed to (to win the vital support of Wilkie and form government) Amazing backbone. [i]” 
I've asked a lot of people about this, and, to a man and woman, they admit their own BER enhancements are great, but all of them have an example of failure from somewhere else.”[/i] Perhaps you should mix more widely. The riches schools in the country got about a $bn or more out of the BER. That’s schools that may charge $20K per student. In this area there is a high concentration of expensive private schools. There isn’t one of them without a new “Performing Arts Centre” built courtesy of taxpayers. So while ALP supporters hate to hear anything negative about the BER, perhaps do a search on “Scotch College mini amphitheatre”, or “Trinity Grammar Performing Arts Centre” or ditto for Xavier, MLC, Ruyton, Carey, Loreto Mandiville Hall, Genazzano, Melbourne Grammar, Melbourne Girls Grammar, St Kevins… All of those schools, within a few kilometers of each other got $$$$millions each! Very efficient. Money well spent.

Lyn

13/05/2012Hi Gravel I was absolutely delighted to get your tweet. Did you get my direct message to you? If not press connect and then interactions or mentions at the top of page, but you should have got an alert. Good for you getting a reply from Craig Emerson, he is new on Twitter finding his way. You must be having a great time in your new home being able to go and watch the Grandchildren play their sport Here is the link to build the Abbott Proof Fence:- Mark Duckett‏ Help build and Abbott proof fence http://bit.ly/JvCBxP #ALP #ausunions Tony Abbott thinks he’s going to be Australia’s next Prime Minister he’s arrogant for a reason - there is a very real danger that Tony Abbott could one day become Prime Minister. http://campaigniq.communityengine.com/ch/32537/1ws6m/1683099/141ea11x3v.html http://www.nswalp.com/get-active/help-build-an-abbott-proof-fence/ Cheers to you Gravel :):):):)

2353

13/05/2012ToM - you need to prove your accusations or shut up - you have been called out on this before. While the building may be worth millions, you have never linked to any documentary evidence to support your point of view. To save time, when you respond please provide proof (by linking to the appropriate source document) of the BER funds paid out to the schools you mention, the cost of the facility built and some evidence to suggest that the schools you mention "got more" than the average spend on State Schools across Australia. I await you response.

Jason

13/05/2012ToM Why don't you put your "vote dodging" time to good use and attempt to pull apart JohnL's post of March the 14th! Nonsense of $8bn BER ‘waste’ claims exposed http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/post/2012/03/14/Nonsense-of-$8bn-BER-%E2%80%98waste%E2%80%99-claims-exposed.aspx

Tom of Melbourne

13/05/2012Yes, I’ve been challenged on that, and in the past I’ve provided links to demonstrate that the government has spend many hundreds of millions on “Building the Education Revolution” for the very wealthy private schools. I’m not going to bother to find it now. You’ll just have to put up with it as being a fact.

Ad astra

13/05/2012ToM Subsidies have been going to private schools through the Howard era, and continues. You may disagree with this, but it is a bipartisan approach. So with the BER, private schools benefited too. The question is: were the private schools pleased with the improvements to their facilities? Or did they bellow ‘waste and mismanagement’?

Psyclaw

13/05/2012TT I have followed your strong defence of and advocacy for JG for more than a year now and have agreed 100% with you. She is a first rate PM, a real doer, and she deserves to remain PM after the next election. However, sadly I am today in the process of contemplating whether or not she should lead the ALP to the next election. I have not abandoned her, but Dog Albitey, she is just not being allowed to break out of the doldrums. In recent days we have had Abbott refusing to support the School Allowance …..no electorate backlash, and cuts to Company tax ….. no electorate or business backlash. He gave a totally irrelevant, incompetent, non-economic reply to the budget …… no electorate backlash. He stuffed up QT daily and asked no or minimal economic questions …..no electorate backlash. He blamed the government every day for failing on another promise ie the company tax reduction, when it was he who ensured that the promise be broken…..no electorate or business backlash. Every one of the issues I have listed should have been positive for the government ….. not one played out that way. It goes without saying that the MSM, his agents, facilitated all of this. And it is as though the great economic numbers, ie low unemployment, a budget surplus, low interest rates, steady growth, and a triple A rating just don’t exist. Add to this the other factors running in his favour, the Thompson and Slipper cases. The result is that the very thought that JG might be a pretty good PM has again gotten zero oxygen. By my reckoning JG has two more opportunities to turn the tide, and if neither work, I think she’ll be a goner. First one is the public’s realisation that the carbon tax has not ended the world. Second is an Abbott meltdown before Christmas. If neither of these occur come January, with a resultant significant increase in public support, I think she’ll go, probably by being pushed, since she is just not a quitter. I want none of this to happen, but as I have said, this week she did many good things and is still going backwards. Abbott has been his usual hopeless, pugilistic self, and is going forward. My local rag interviews six people on the street daily. On Friday the question was about the government doing a good job or not. Four of the six interviewed said that they were pensioners and they will vote for Abbott because Labor “never does anything for pensioners”. All four answered in this vein. Such ignorance is a sad thing to behold.

Tom of Melbourne

13/05/2012No, the premise to the BER was a stimulus, not simply an expenditure program. In this respect the government had a responsibility to spend it to best economic and social effect. Handing over many, many hundreds of millions to the very wealthiest of private schools hardly meets economic or social efficiency criteria. (and by the way, Swan predicated the stimulus on an unemployment rate of 12.5%! He said it was an economic emergency. The rate didn’t reach half that, but Swan left the stimulus entirely place anyway. On the criteria he used to justify it, the magnitude wasn’t necessary)

johnL1

13/05/2012Tom of Melbourne: I will take you seriously when you admit there should not be any Government aid for wealthy private schools. Until then, there is no logic in your approach. Put simply, your concern about wealthy private schools receiving BER funding can be justified only if you believe there should be no Government funding for private schools (wealthy or otherwise). l await your explanation as to how you think it would be equitable for the Government to rule out including the private schools (wealthy or not) from participating in the Building the Education Revolution (BER). And what happens to your argument if there are public schools (think some of the newer ones), that already have excellent buildings? Would you have an inventory of every school in Australia to determine if each had a case for having its buildings improved? In that case you could also be penalising those schools (private or public) that have used the work of parents to provide extra facilities. Your approach would either involve an unacceptable decision not to treat all schools equally in distributing BER funds or, by carrying out the inventory mentioned, meaning that we would still be waiting for the BER to begin. My advice to you is simple: Stop flogging the dead horse. It has been cremated and your whip has no sting. In short, Tom of Melbourne, I think you are a troll, pretending to be concerned about spending Government money on private schools. I do not think that is in your DNA.

2353

13/05/2012[quote]I’m not going to bother to find it now. You’ll just have to put up with it as being a fact. [/quote] You've gotta be kidding. Accept as fact anything said by someone who can't post anything that hasn't been passed as "public release" by LNP HQ. Money up or shut up ToM - your remaining shred of creditability is at stake here.

Tom of Melbourne

13/05/2012Go find it yourself. I've posted the material before here and on other sites, I'm not your sidekick researcher. --------- I find it highly entertaining that whenever someone tests the common thinking of this site, they're a "troll". I think that label is the last resort of those that are bereft of ideas or logic.

Jason

13/05/2012LIBERAL MP Ken Ticehurst, who lost the seat of Dobell in 2007 to Labor's Craig Thomson, plans to sue Mr Thomson for lost earnings, claiming he was robbed of his seat, costing him a lifetime parliamentary pension of $85,000 a year. Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/opinion/political-news/robbed-lib-mp-threatens-to-sue-20120512-1yjvl.html#ixzz1ujt8KOYn

johnL1

13/05/2012Tom of Melbourne: If you are not a troll, prove it by answering the questions posed. Put simply, the issue for you is put up or shut up.

tiffany232

13/05/2012Tom of Melbourne Go away. Thank you

Tom of Melbourne

13/05/2012Why would I say there should be no government funding for private schools? My children are beneficiaries of Swan’s largesse. I’ve observed first hand the cash that has been splashed out in the local expensive schools, all entirely unnecessary. Swan is just doing the work of the fundraising committees. I walk past all the schools here with a new “Performing Arts Centre” sign out the front, while each builds one for themselves, with the support millions in BER funds. There must be 6 new ones within 3 or 4 kms of here. I don’t mind it being in the grounds of the schools my kids attend, but the millions and millions is hardly efficient use of taxpayers funds. ------ I’ve posted the links before, don’t blame me if you’ve missed them, I’m not spending my evening finding something again simply because you demand it.

2353

13/05/2012Getting a little defensive aren't we? The shred of creditability is quickly disappearing.

Jason

13/05/2012johnL 1, ToM is a card carrying member of the "Australian Democrats" who can't even be bothered to vote. ToM did provde a few links in response to your post in March such as this one http://www.flickr.com/photos/gervo1865/6638250753/ which was a photograph of a building This one www.mlc.wa.edu.au/.../ Was the "Principal's Address at the Health & Sports Centre Opening" no smoking gun there either Then we were left with this link http://www.scotch.vic.edu.au/gscot/09sepgs/11.htm which goes on to say " The Scotch College Junior School, having an enrolment of 430 boys, was entitled to apply for up to $3 million in federal government grants and has received funding approval to renovate and extend the Junior School Assembly Hall. " ToM's original post went on to say" There isn’t one of them without a new “Performing Arts Centre” built courtesy of taxpayers." But back at the Scotch College link ToM Provided it said this The BER Guidelines indicate that funding can be used for capital expenditure on the following items (in order of government priority): 1.Construction of a new library; 2.Construction of new multi-purpose halls (e.g. gymnasium, indoor sporting centre, assembly area or performing arts centre), covered outdoor learning areas; 3.Construction of classrooms, replacement of demountables or other building to be approved by the Commonwealth; or 4.Refurbishment of existing facilities March 15. 2012 08:11 PM The point is that schools that charge $20,000++ per year were handed hundreds of millions …billion… to build facilities that are entirely surperfluous to their needs or the needs of the community. While that’s fine for my children, there is actually better priorities for a billion. http://www.scotch.vic.edu.au/gscot/09sepgs/11.htm http://www.flickr.com/photos/gervo1865/6638250753/ www.mlc.wa.edu.au/.../ Millions and millions on “performing arts centres”, fully equipped indoor gymnasiums, “mini amphitheatres for the junior school”. So congratulate the government for saving the mothers clubs of these schools the need for a few black tie balls and raffles. Tom of Melbourne

Tom of Melbourne

13/05/2012Fine Jason, I’ve also provided a link that listed the private Victorian schools that were given a total almost $200mill. Just Victoria! It’s all fine with me personally and great for my children, but hardly efficient use scarce taxpayer funds. Only a troll would disagree.

PatriciaWA

13/05/2012Psyclaw, if Julia Gillard goes it will not be because she is pushed, but because she thinks it would be the best thing to do. But I think she is a true leader who has the confidence of the best minds of her side who truly value her. They are solidly behind her. Besides, they all know that these virulent attacks would be directed at whoever replaced her. Her talents are so considerable the Opposition know that if she does break through she will be running this country for a good while. If she cannot achieve that then the Right, big business and Murdoch media will have won out. Informed opinion appreciates her. She is not a lame duck PM by any means. It is her strength of character which attracts the determined and poisonous politics which Ad Astra has described. Wise heads in our country know how 'cultivated' and spurious is this so-called hatred of Julia Gillard. There is a huge groundswell of support for her and the Left amongst trade unions, community organisationss, non profit organisations, and even conservationists. The Greens too know how important it is that Abbott and Co. not win out. We can do our bit by maintaining our support for her out here in our own little worlds, amongst friends, on the street and in casual conversations. Don't set deadlines for her, please. Have faith. Hang in there.

NormanK

13/05/2012A bit of good ol' country straight-talkin' from Tony Windsor as he loses patience with the [i]Sky Australian Agenda[/i] panel, in particular Peter Van Onselen. http://video.news.com.au/2234141765/Australian-Agenda-seg-2?area=videoindex5 Tony Windsor for president!

Tom of Melbourne

13/05/2012Even the AEU didn’t think all the BER was all well spent. For example - [i]54 major Victorian private schools which received BER funding. These included Geelong Grammar ($3.175 million), Melbourne Grammar ($3.4 million), Carey Grammar ($3.2 million), Caulfield Grammar ($3.2 million), Haileybury College ($3.2 million). Scotch College ($3.2 million), Wesley College ($3.2 million), Methodist Ladies’ College ($3.2 million), and Xavier College ($3.2 million). Geelong Grammar which received $3.175 million for new tennis courts, a shade structure, a library and classrooms had, just prior to the BER, erected its own resort-standard $16 million Centre for Wellbeing Other elite private schools were able to use BER money for such things as music rooms, pool upgrades, water harvesting systems, improving the thermal performance of buildings and sports halls.”[/i] http://www.parliament.vic.gov.au/images/stories/committees/etc/BER_Submissions/58_Aust_Education_Union_310710.pdf

Lyn

13/05/2012Hi Norman K Thankyou for the link to the Tony Windsor's interview on Sky I thought the questions by VanOnselen and Paul Kelly were disgraceful, almost begging Tony Windsor to abandon his support for Julia. Here is a few twitter comments:- TheFinnigans Tony Windsor has just PvO a big slap. Get your facts right on #Slynews Graham Parks‏ vanOnselenP quite frankly your ability and understanding of facts paint your ability in your role at the Ray Hadley level Fit & Proper Peter Van Onselen gets crucial fact wrong on Tony Windsor & Nick Greiner. Appears to be the second time he has done so. TheFinnigans vanOnselenP haha welcome to the Club. PvO has a very thin skin, especially after today humiliation by Tony Windsor TheFinnigans PvO & Paul Kelly was humiliated & lectured by Tony Windsor GOLD Cheers:):):)

Sandra

13/05/2012I would be totally lost and desolate if I didn’t have the Political Sword to read and send to all my networks.

PatriciaWA

13/05/2012That was great to witness, wasn't it NormanK? It's so heartening to know that men like Tony Windsor are standing firm for us all. If I ever needed confirmation of my judgement of our Prime Minister I need only look to a man like Tony Windsor who has a good opinion of her too. By the way, Psyclaw, talking of men of good judgement....... Someone else whose opinion I value was responding over at the Poll Bludger to someone else questioning the wisdom of continuing indefinitely with our current PM. That was Ian, who has commented here quite often. I'll copy his response in full rather than send you off to find it! He says the things I wanted to say to you far more effectively than I was able to. Someone had asked [i]"If JG can’t start turning things around, what is your solution?" [/i] [b]Ian [/b]replied [i]The first thing you don’t do is sacrifice the strong to appease the weak. Therein lay the foundations of the society that the Neo-cons want. Whether you agree or not, and it is my firm opinion only, Julia Gillard is the strongest person, to do the hardest job, in a world of rapidly changing alliances, values and geopolitics. A job of crippling downsides, treacherous alliances, viscious opposition and she has to do it with a target, painted, supplied and fitted on her forehead by the Murdock press at the behest of vested interests. On occasion the only upside, as I see it, would be the passing of legislation that has been concieved, nurtured and borne of a consultive group of people commited the safeguarding of future generations. That, I imagine, would make it all worthwhile. I may be called a “Gillard Groupie” or some other such rubbish. Well, so be it. I’ve been around long enough to understand the difference between real strength and braggadocio. It doesn’t matter what polls say now, in 6 months or a year ago. Like a dodgied up golf score they serve only to appease those who will, invariably, fail when the pressure is really on. [/i]

Lyn

13/05/2012Hi Sandra What a lovely comment so nice. Cheers:):)

PatriciaWA

13/05/2012I don't like this new gravatar I seem to have been assigned by TPS. I've just gone out and logged in again at wordpress. Let's hope that Tacker re-appears. If not, does anyone have any suggestions? Trust everyone had as great a Mother's Day as I did. Mind you, at our house every day is a great day. True, politics does cast a shadow, but it gives me a job to do at this late stage of my life. Being part of the Julia Gillard cheer squad!

Sir Ian Crisp

13/05/2012Who am I?* I have assets of about $1.5 million, which includes three Riviera properties. I own a mansion in the village where Pablo Picasso once lived. I have a stake in two flats in Cannes. My assets valued at €1.17 million ($1.51 million) mean I just fall short of the figure that would see me pay a wealth tax. I am an alleged socialist. I am Francois Hollande, French President-elect. Even as far away as France the socialists can’t manage to tell the truth. *Source: [i]Official Journal.[/i]

42 long

13/05/2012Tony windsor has always impressed me. He had tremendous support in his electorate for his straight forwardness. The NP hate defectors. Why do so many defect? The NP have gone their hardest to undermine him. You can understand that, but things can get dirty. It's not too big a stretch of the imagination to wonder about some potential for big dirty tricks in all this. Since when would Tony Abbott care about the welfare of Union members?. He has attempted to smear ALL unions, not just the East branch of the HSU. Pretty funny how Tony has lots of sdvice of how the Labour Party should run it's affairs. Surely you would not consider it serious. It is always mischievous and the prime aim is to attack Juliar by character assassination. When he was trying to get Rudd Back did he ever think that in this case it might actually have advantaged the ALP? Most of the Party don't want to work with Rudd so that is the business of the ALP and no-one elses. Julia gets returned with a large majority, while Tony is there with one vote margin. If the show can be kept on the road, I believe that Abbott has more chance of being rolled than Julia. How much more chance of making sure with Turnbull at the helmof the LNP? He would romp it in of a vote was held of the coalition although the Australian Taliban don't think he is "true blue". All very interesting, isn't it. Hang in there Julia and the back bench nervous nellies stop reading the polls. They could exhibit the biggest reverse in history if some games don't play out as planned.

Jason

13/05/2012Sir Ian, No doubt the Australian will have it on their front page in the morning blaming Julia Gillard,the carbon tax or both for the wealth of the " French President-elect"!

NormanK

13/05/2012Psyclaw Not to jump on your head or start one of the Groundhog Day discussions that seem to dominate PB with monotonous regularity but I reckon Labor have to stick with Gillard. Putting aside my admiration of her (which is not without its limits) if Labor replace her then all they will be doing is putting up a sacrificial lamb and ruining a political career. Presuming that they put up a worthy candidate, say Combet, and he loses the next election then he will never be prime minister, probably not even opposition leader for very long. That would be a waste. Whoever they put up is just going to cop the same treatment as Gillard from the sections of the press that are presently actively involving themselves in a campaign. In terms of restoring the opinion polls, any replacement strategy is likely to put off just as many voters as it attracts in the medium term. It will also delegitimise everything that Gillard and her government have done. As things stand at present my greatest concern is that Abbott might be elected. That is to say that I fear that more than I fear losing the next election. Labor should have two primary objectives at the moment and they are closely inter-related. They need to be laying deep foundations in their major pieces of legislation. Tonnes of concrete and reinforcing steel bar that tie the CEF, the NBN and the MRRT so firmly to the economy that it will be impossible to dislodge them without incurring huge costs and risking the whole edifice coming down. They also need to be working to have Abbott replaced as LOTO. A moderate leader from the traditional Liberal camp would not pose anywhere near the threat to the ALP legacy as Abbott does. Therein lies a problem for the Coalition because if they install someone with a sympathetic attitude to the notion of AGW then they will take a dive in the polls because all of those deniers who have been smiling quietly to themselves as Abbott gives them the nod and wink on his DAP (that he will in fact find an excuse to drop it) will feel betrayed. If Labor lose the next election but their legacy (in particular the CEF and NBN) is safeguarded then I reckon progressives can say that they had a pretty good innings. Many of the other reforms (MRRT, health, education, NDIS, aged care) stand more chance of survival in some form if a moderate is elected. So, for mine, it is more important that Abbott be brought down than that Labor win the next election. Of course, pursuit and realisation of those two ambitions might also have the added bonus of winning them another term. In my current mood if we could win a third term and see these reforms advanced well beyond the point-of-no-return then we could happily let the other mob have a go for a couple of terms. The most important thing is that Abbott must be brought down and his style of politics and ideology get such a drubbing that they can't resurface for another decade. Imagine Bernardi and Cormann if Abbott wins! The next election is about the next decade and these hard-right lunatics must not be encouraged.

jaycee

13/05/2012$1.51 million!! AND the President of France!!...JEEEEZZUS...$1.5 million is that all?...You fail to mention his wife and family, do they not have a share in that property?...A mansion in Picassos' once village?...What, when Picasso was a pauper artist?...I'm just a bum carpenter, and if I was to claim ownership of all the property I have built on and bloody worked for,I was joint or part or perhaps ownership in, it would probably almost add up to the same!!! as would most sixty something year olds who owned their own house and with an inheritance from a parent who just happened to live in a once fringe but now inner-city suburb!! Who am I?....Sir Ian Crisp??.....masturbator!!

Sir Ian Crisp

13/05/2012You're wrong J Guy. It's Abbott's fault or perhaps the MSM can wear the blame.

Ad astra

13/05/2012Folks I was about to retire for the night when I came across all your evening comments. I wanted briefly to say a few things in response. Psyclaw Your despondency is understandable, but there are eighteen months to the next scheduled election. That gives plenty of time to counter and reverse the unhappy state of affairs that now exists, predominately because of the contemporary power of the media, which we saw flagrantly exhibited in the interview of Tony Windsor where PvO and Paul Kelly tried to pressure him into a retreat from support of the Gillard Government. He gave them both short shrift, particularly PvO. The fact that these Murdoch stooges were trying so hard is the measure of the desperation in the Coalition camp to extrude Julia Gillard now before she gets too strong. They realize that once the measures are in place that Tony Abbott insists will bring the sky tumbling down, and in fact the sky stays in place and the sun keeps rising in the east, the people will realize they have been conned by this inveterate liar and by the complicit media. As everyone continues to insist, the public is not stupid, and although there is a lot of indoctrination to be erased that has resulted from Coalition and media brainwashing, sooner or later the penny will drop and the shysters will be exposed. As Abraham Lincoln said: [i]”You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.[/i]” The time for fooling all of the people is almost up. Folks, be of good heart, keep the pressure up on our miserable, incompetent and malevolent media, and they will crumble. Thank you all for your thoughtful comments, your heartwarming comments Sandra, and Lyn for your tweets. To those of you who have dealt with ToM, thank you; I need say no more. PatriciaWA, I much prefer Tacker. [i]TPS[/i] does not assign Gravatars – there must be some aberration at the Gravatar site. I really am now going to bed. Good night.

Tom of Melbourne

13/05/2012 [i]” To those of you who have dealt with ToM, thank you; I need say no more.”[/i] ...and yet despite the Australian Education Union going to the trouble of identifying inefficient BER expenditure in its parliamentary submission, almost all here are unwilling to accept or consider any criticism. Blinkered.

NormanK

13/05/2012Give it up ToM. If you were handed a chest full of gold coins you'd bitch about the colour.

Psyclaw

13/05/2012NK I agree with everything you say and there is no-one who would be happier than me if and when she is re-elected. (well TT and you and Patriciawa might be .0000000001% happier than me, I'll concede) I am not a Ruddstorator. But the issue I raise seems almost to be insurmountable and I am beginning to experience seeds of thought that JG's longevity might not rest in her hands. (I'm talking here of [u]more[/u] than the JWH claptrap that he will serve the party till they wish otherwise ..... we all know from the events (secret part-cabinet meetings in his absence) during the Pacific Forum in Sydney in early 2007???? that his party at no stage had the bollocks to 'wish' him no longer to be leader and he always knew it). Here is the kernel reason for my view. In a country where a LOTO can say blatantly that the government is wrong (promise breaker) or incompetent or gutless for not passing a law, [u]when he, the LOTO himself is the only obstacle to that law's passing,[/u] [b]and the the electorate either can't see the lie, the illogicality, the hypocrisy in such behaviour or don't care about the lie, the illogicality, the hypocrisy in such behaviour[/b], and accept the LOTO's argument because they implacably dislike the PM, then things might well never turn around for the PM. This is happening now re the company tax non-reduction issue. This happened last year regarding the reform of the Immigration Act to allow any government to use off-shore processing of asylum seekers. Each night my better half and I shake our heads in amazement as Abbot and the MSM agents simply turn around the bullets that his dishonourable, wrong, illogical, untruthful statements should attract and fire them at JG accurately, and the public is oblivious or doesn't give a fig. IMO there are only two explanations for this (a) the electorate is dumb and/or the electorate permanently dislikes JG. All power to her.

TalkTurkey

13/05/2012NormanK Thank you for seconding my nomination! [b]Tony Windsor for President.[/b] He truly is the linchpin of this democracy. Linchpin: 1. a pin placed transversely through an axle to keep a wheel in position. 2. a person or thing regarded as an essential or coordinating element: [i]the linchpin of the company[/i] [C14 [i]lynspin[/i] :) from Old English [i]lynis[/i]] (Collins) The Honourable Tony Windsor MHR (ind.) has certainly stopped the wheels falling off, Dog bless him, Viva Tony! His contribution to this society is beyond measure. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Grannie Welcome, am I right you are a Southern Taswegian? If so, and I am right that I know your writings from another place, you have an unknown admirer, me. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ tiffany I loved this: Tom of Melbourne Go away. Thank you tiffany232 Not that I give the proverbial of course. :) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So many new posters today, we are gathering strength! 42 long, Franc, Mangrove Jack, Catching Up (which is what I'm trying to do, Oh I know I've missed some newies too but Welcome All. Psyclaw I agree with everything you say, but read PatriciaWA's staunch post today, save my fingers, WELL SAID COMRADE PATRICIA! I think the week has been great for Labor, this is the Titanic we're turning, I know it's seemed interminable but now is the payoff for the government's effort, long slow hard work still to come but we are just into the second half and this is where the stamina comes in. *J*U*L*I*A* is a long distance hard yards specialist. *Life wasn't meant to be easy!* Be steadfast Psyclaw. Double the fist. Set the jaw. Narrow the eyes. Summon up the blood. We WILL win. Or as the Sandinistas yell in defiance: [i]VENCEREMOS![/i]

Psyclaw

13/05/2012AA Thanks for your comment. I'm not really feeling despondent and am full of hope. But I am bewildered by the fact that JG and her government are doing such good things for so many of those who irrationally dislike her, and am beginning to suspect that this phenomenon has already gained unstoppable momentum. And the likes of Kelly and PvO on Sky today with Mr Windsor have so much power to deceitfully keep the momentum up despite Mr Windsor's castigations. Maybe the non-falling-in of the sky after the July 1 carbon scheme commencement will stop the momentum! Or will Abbott's next argument "just wait a bit ......the falling of the sky is just around the corner" perpetuate the electorates anxiety. Look at the surplus ...."Labor will never have a surplus" becomes "it's an insignificant surplus". He just unethically ups the ante anyway he can and so many suckers fall for it. As I've written here before, two close tradie neighbours were both kept in full time work through the GFC by the BER yet they then and now are outspoken enemies of JG. Idjits!

jane

14/05/2012BBAE, I bloody [b]knew[/b] the great pie warmer scandal had to be a giant beat up! Thanks for exposing yet another Ltd News pack of lies. Ad astra @12.03pm, a great ah ha! in that last para. No wonder the Liars favourite "whistleblower" is so desperate for everyone to "look over there!" Jason, wouldn't suing the voters of Dobell make more sense? After all they're the ones who refused to deliver the gravy train to Ticehurst, wanker extrordinaire and typical Liars Party waste of space. Psyclaw, it's very easy to become despondent at the stupidity and cupidity of pensioners and the ignorant. I think the interviewer could and should have, asked them why they held this view in light of the long list of extra benefits and increases in the pension and the further benefits that will come from the budget. I still think that Julia will lead the government to the next election and that the government will be returned with a workable majority. Should this happen, I hope that Windsor and Oakeshott will still be invited to contribute. They have earned that right, I think. NormanK, Patricia, 42 long, well said. And thank you Normank for the pleasure of Windsor trouncing PvO and Kelly. SIC @10.08pm, so?

TalkTurkey

14/05/2012Sandra said [i]I would be totally lost and desolate if I didn’t have the Political Sword to read and send to all my networks.[/i] Read TPS, send TPS to friends, and please, [i]write[/i] here too! (K) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [b]LOST - STOLEN OR STRAYED[/b] Small purebred mongrel Gravatar, grey/fawn, furry face, last seen hereabouts yesterday. Answers to *Tacker*. Sorely missed. Please return to Patricia. Reward.

TalkTurkey

14/05/2012Patricia! I think I just saw him! I only got a glimpse, it sure looked like Tacker, he was one of several dogs advertising some programme on dogs on Wednesday 7.30 on Gem !

TalkTurkey

14/05/2012Psyclaw, and everyone, I just want to say, I do not always feel entirely upbeat about Labor's prospects, I would be a fool to think we couldn't lose. But overwhelmingly I [i]am[/i] confident, perhaps it's 8% bravado, but it's mainly terror of the reverse, and pride in our great Party, with the determination that I will do everything in my tiny power to prevent an Abborttian win. That includes encouraging those I can, jollying and arguing, and ridiculing the Tories and their lickspittles. They hate our resilience, and they fear our satire as vampires fear the light. They don't do humour themselves. ["I'm red, he's always cross . . ." :) . . . Killer! See the effect on Abbortt, with everyone laughing [i][/i]at him and [i]with[/i] *J*U*L*I*A*! ] I might sound a bit OTT but don't mistake that for cocky, I'm not. But I do know this, no platoon leader would ever go into battle yelling to his comrades [i]We're all doomed! We're Gonna Lose![/i] Can you imagine the Crows going against the Cats last weekend with that attitude, all the pundits had us dead catsmeat, well not that I would dream of rubbing it in to Jason Obelix :) but we got out there and creamed 'em! AAARRRK! AAARRRK! AAARRRK! Psyclaw I am proud to be thought of as a staunch encourager, but I am no orphan, Ad astra and Bushfire Bill and many others were here long before me, and they are in there battling every day, helping to keep people's spirits up, because that is the way we WILL win! I am very proud of the spirit of this site and today was one of the best I've seen for TPS. This is not just a blog for observers, it's a fighting organisation, and words and thoughts are our weapons. Let us wield them with all the skill and courage we can.

Cuppa

14/05/2012Good Morning Swordsfolk, TalkTurkey mentioned Julia's recent dig at Abbott's expense: what a beauty! It was at aa Red Cross function, the setting perfect for the line she delivered. Here is the video. Watch Abbott's reaction as the realisation hits home that he's being mocked. You've got to look closely as he's more-or-less in the background of the shot (just the place for him). Note the unhinged head-nodding: it's like he had another mini Mark Riley moment. Doesn't take much to set him off! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsoSReLGbDI

Lyn

14/05/2012TODAY’S LINKS Who robbed Ken Ticehurst-, Andrew Elder, Politically Homeless the Coalition never understood why it lost in 2007 or 2010 and thinks that anything that denied it can only be illegitimate. Any action Ken Ticehurst may take against Thomson will draw publicity and attention away from the Liberal candidate for Dobell. The Coalition isn't ready for government http://andrewelder.blogspot.com.au/ The ABC has gone to hell, Andrew Kos, The ABC has gone to Hell Chris Uhlmann and So threatened by Paul Keating’s succinct and dispassionate letter, the Head of ABC Current Affairs, Bruce Belsham, felt the need to tack on his unconvincing defense of the apparently infallible pin Paul Keating’s assessment as partisan .http://the-abc-has-gone-to-hell.tumblr.com/ Spinning Wheel , Mr Denmore, The Failed Estate A health warning to consumers of the mainstream media: When a news story starts with the words "is expected to", activate the bullshit detector. And when that news story involves forecasts about economic statistics, shift the detector to warp speed http://thefailedestate.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/spinning-wheel.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_) Class war in Australia? In your dreams Tony, Ethical Martini The Australian listens to and speaks for Australia’s ruling class as represented by these ‘business leaders’ and ‘peak industry groups’. But the class nature of this position is disguised – business leaders http://ethicalmartini.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/class-war-in-australia-in-your-dreams-tony/ Toxic Tony’s Traitorous Treachery, Ash, Ash’s Machiavellian Bloggery’ Abbott claims, and has for a long time now, that Craig Thomson’s vote is ‘tainted’. This is a lie. Under the constitution, before a MP’s vote can be brought into question, there needs to be a conviction. It is very clear on this. Abbott and his one armed http://ashghebranious.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/toxic-tonys-traitorous-treachery/ Truth Overboard - 35 Lies told by John Howard and counting , Australian Workers Union ' Truth is absolute, truth is supreme, truth is never disposable in national political life' - Prime Minister John Howard to ABC radio, 25 August 1995. The Labor Party outlines the lies here. http://www.awu.net.au/109589607626152_5.html?H|19|109589607626152|1650569191203 Class Warfare- They Just Are!, Only the Depth Varies That’s not class warfare, that’s reality. That’s what you’re up against. In our reality, the majority of Mr Abbott’s Budget Reply speech wasn’t about the Government’s Budget, or about any budget that the Coalition would offer. It was a vague promise that the Coalition would do better because the ALP are a mess. http://onlythedepthvaries.blogspot.com.au/ That’s not a class war, This is a class war, Turn Left 2013 When the poor and downtrodden rise up and start hacking the heads off the rich and elitist at the guillotine, and display their heads like trophies on pikes at the city borders, then we will have achieved class warfare. http://turnleft2013.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/thats-not-a-class-war-this-is-a-class-war/ Who are ‘Doctors for the Family’?, Marian, The Conscience Vote The Herald-Sun published a letter signed by 150 doctors, who all expressed their concerns that same-sex marriage – oh, sorry, “so-called same-sex marriage” – posed a health risk to any children those couples might parent. http://consciencevote.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/who-are-doctors-for-the-family/ Budget 2012: Why the experts will get it wrong , Jeffrey Braithwaite, The Conversation The Treasurer has been under immense pressure to deliver a surplus, no matter how many extraordinarily complex factors shift over the next 12 months, and beyond, in an entirely unpredictable globalised economy. http://theconversation.edu.au/budget-2012-why-the-experts-will-get-it-wrong-6972 Guest post: Cake, phallocentric narratives and deconstructing the Thomson Affair, Bernard Keane, Crikeyreal issue beneath the Thomson affair which, of course, is that there is no “real issue”. Drill down, deconstruct and unpack the affair as much as one wishes, it will be the narrative equivalent of slicing through multiple layers of icing in pursuit of a non-existent cake http://blogs.crikey.com.au/thestump/2012/05/13/guest-post-cake-phallocentric-narratives-and-deconstructing-the-thomson-affair/ The Cracking of the Abbott Monolith, Archie, Archieachives The Truth is finally catching up with Tony Abbott.Those “inconsistencies”, those sudden U-turns in his aspirations, those “let’s not be pedantic about what I have said” moments. As his lies statements have become less consistent, so his http://archiearchive.wordpress.com/2012/05/12/the-cracking-of-the-abbott-monolith/ PRO HIT: HSU’s evil empire used prostitutes to destroy enemies says MP, Vex News Current HSU leadership, Kathy Jackson denies all, indeed, she’s been relatively quiet this week, struck dumb with fear perhaps over now furiously denied 7 News reports that Victoria Police raided the HSU Credit Union, which has notoriously lent Jackson very large sums to support her multi-million dollar property portfolio, Mike Williamson http://www.vexnews.com/2012/05/pro-hit-hsus-evil-empire-used-prostitutes-to-destroy-enemies-says-mp/ Not too late for the Libs to change course, Barry Everingham, Independent Australia What a tragedy it will be for this country, that a political thug like Tony Abbott is a hairsbreadth away from becoming our next Prime Minister, while talent such as Malcolm Turnbull – and now, it seems, Peter Costello – are hovering in the background. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/not-too-late-for-the-libs-to-change-course/ Carbon Tax made simple- Can we really reverse the decision-, Substainability Net Each step in the constitutional process takes time, and in practice, it could take eight to 14 months for the repeal bills to pass, with risks of further delay at each stage of that process,” research analyst Tim Jordan wrote in a report released yesterday. http://sustainabilitypr.net.au/2012/05/carbon-tax-made-simple-can-we-really-reverse-the-decision/ Opposition rubbish Thomson's plot claim, Sky News Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey says Federal MP Craig Thomson's claims of a plot by a union rival is unbelievable.In weekend interviews on the Nine Network and in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, Mr Thomson, http://www.skynews.com.au/politics/article.aspx?id=749800&vId= Blast from the past: Meet the “New Tony”… Same as the “Old Tony”, Miglo, Café Whispers Tony Abbott will never change to be like the people. Instead, Rupert Murdoch is changing the people to be like Tony Abbott.Read B Toplutt’s post (re-posted below) and you’ll agree that there’s http://cafewhispers.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/blast-from-the-past/ The Antipodean Budget Reply Process, Patricia wa, Polliepomes That Budget Reply Speech from the Leader of the Opposition left me dumbfounded. That evening I went to various other sites and found http://polliepomes.wordpress.com/2012/05/11/the-antipodean-budget-reply-process/ Video Attention diverted during budget week, The Insiders The Federal Government has delivered its budget with a predicted return to surplus, but the Craig Thomson saga has taken some of the spotlight. http://www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/2012/s3501573.htm Abbott says Thomson claim is an alibi, ABC http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-12/abbott-says-thomson-claim-is-an-alibi/4007534 Australian Agenda, seg 2 Sky News political commentator Peter Van Onselen talks to Independent MP Tony Windsor. http://video.news.com.au/2234141765/Australian-Agenda-seg-2?area=videoindex7

Lyn

14/05/2012TODAY'S FRONT PAGES Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 14 May 2012 http://www.frontpagestoday.co.uk/index.cfm?PaperCountry=Australia

2353

14/05/2012ToM has proven to point that all Schools were entitled to some BER funding - even the "elite" ones that he claims his kids attend. This is as a result of a decision made years ago (if not by Menzies - you know the bloke surely - it was continued by a number of Liberal PMs) that private schools as well as state schools were entitled to operational grants for recurrent and capital funding. Apart from the economic benefits of the BER that have been discussd and proven here and elsewhere on a number of occasions; apart from the 96+% satisfaction that people around the country have with [i]their[/i] BER project (including my satisfaction with the BER project at my kids State school that also conincidentally cost around $3million), what do we have? We have someone that claims to send his kids to a private "elite" school who has happily accepted Government funding to the school for operational and capital expenditure for decades but for political reasons will not accept that a funding package used to prime the economy that was distributed what seems to be fairly and equitably across the country is somehow wasting money. My kids enjoy music and sport in their new BER part funded music and indoor sports area at a Brisbane surburbian State School - thanks for asking. I think that shread of creditability is fast becoming a noose ToM. And SIC, while I'm here a lot of "Australian Battlers" could lay claim to a million today by the time you add the value of their house, super, car/s and savings together. What's your point?

Psyclaw

14/05/2012Cuppa I think the Red Cross do was last Monday.....after 3 days of Abbott's silence and disappearing from the camera after the Brough/Pyne lies were in focus the previous Friday. If you look at him even before JG's joke, he was ill at ease. The joke was the icing on the cake and JG delighted even herself. A classic!

Ad astra

14/05/2012LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

jaycee

14/05/2012The one qestion all these tragic working-class supporters of Tony Abbott need to ask themselves, honestly taking into consideration ; their class status, their religious, sexual, race and gender status....is : While I would vote for Tony Abbott.., Would Tony Abbott EVER vote for me?....if you have doubt on that question, rest assured...Tony Abbott will never do justice to your wants.....never! Great site...good commentry and refferal posting!....I apologise if I get a little rude sometimes.

sue

14/05/2012Ad Astra Just a great big thanks for your article. We are so fortunate in this country that our PM is as strong as she is, that she can and is standing up to so much poison. Australia would be an unfortunate place if we didn't have the internet for blogs and were reliant on the msm.

Lyn

14/05/2012Good Morning Ad and Eveybody Twitterverse for you:- TAWNBPM‏ Found this letter in the SMH today, by a page member: "It disappoints me that the Opposition Leader, Tony... https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid= AshGhebranious‏ Is it no strange @Clarke_Melissa that while the coalition attack Thomson re code of conduct, they delay senate group http://bit.ly/J30AGN Malcolm Farr‏@farrm51 The Festival of Kevin rolls on. The Punch :http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-festival-of-kevin-is-not-over-yet/ Zuvele Leschen‏ Federal budget delivers on school costs:"With five kids anything we can get back from the government is good. " http://www.nenews.com.au/stories.aspx?pub=ch&day=Fri&class=Stories&type=SINGLE&path=XML/&rec=04 James Chessell‏ 'Delusion can be powerful force in politics' says Mark Latham about Craig Thompson [free] http://www.afr.com/p/opinion/human_frailty_made_manifest_bD4EoJBBEqV7ii1dtDudPN Pamela‏ TAbbott does not have sufficient majority within LNP party room: stupidity Leaders preach to perceived choirs http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/leaders-preach-to-perceived-choirs-20120512-1yjbx.html Meta Starostin‏ Why Is the Conservative Brain More Fearful? The Alternate Reality Right-Wingers Inhabit Is Terrify.. http://bit.ly/ISkvnx A-PAC‏@APAC_ch648 Live on A-PAC now - Joint Select Committee on Gambling Reform hold an inquiry into the prevention & treatment of problem gambling #auspol http://www.a-pac.tv/ Don Arthur‏ Why do libertarians support conservative parties? | Club Troppo http://clubtroppo.com.au/2012/05/13/why-do-libertarians-support-conservative-parties/ Stephen Warne‏ The Age on notable Melbourne bloggers: http://bit.ly/JlLWeW. Craig Emerson MP‏ Pyne matter is unfinished business. :):):)

Jason

14/05/2012jane @May 14. 2012 12:12 AM Yes! that would make more sense to sue those ungrateful bastards in Dobell. I mean how dare they just kick him out!It's his birthright.

tincan

14/05/2012Abbott must surely hold the intellect of the Australian people as being extremely low. Trying to promise he will get rid of the NBN, Carbon Tax, and MRT is just all hot air, because he knows he will not get it past the greens and independents. It would also cost us billions of dollars to undo it all, so how does he think he will pay for it? Increase taxes, sack 20,000 public servants, increase the GST to where Irelands' level is right now - 23%. On Saturday we attended two local school fetes, both of which were held indoors for the very first time, thanks to the BER funding. Of course when the schools had their grand re-opening celebrations our local Lib MP attended, and told the attendees that is was his ideas which lead to the buildings being built? He also has urged the govt to fast forward the NBN, because the tourism industry needs it? I had a knock down match with a liberal facebooker who stated that a school canteen was built that cost over $380,000 to build. I challenged him and he finally admitted it was built in an Aboriginal Community, but insisted that BER money was used. A quick google of the community site, showed that the Federal Govt had loaned them the money to build the community canteen, but it was not funded by BER, money was to be repaid in 5 years time.

Ad astra

14/05/2012Hi Lyn Thank you again for your links and tweets. I found one tweet of particular interest, reinforcing as it did what I have read previously, namely that the conservative brain works differently from the progressive brain. The article on [i]Alternet: Why Is the Conservative Brain More Fearful? The Alternate Reality Right-Wingers Inhabit Is Terrifying[/i], talks about research on the function of a part of the brain called the amygdala that suggests that conservatives are, on average, more susceptible to fear than those who identify themselves as liberals (democrats/Labor). Chris Mooney, author of [i]The Republican Brain[/i] concludes that this [i]“new research suggests [that] conservatism is largely a defensive ideology - and therefore, much more appealing to people who go through life sensitive and highly attuned to aversive or threatening aspects of their environments.”[/i] The article continues: [i]But those cognitive biases are only part of the story of how a political movement in the wealthiest, most secure nation in the world [the US] have come to view their surroundings with such dread. The other half of the equation is a conservative media establishment that feeds members of the movement an almost endless stream of truly terrifying scenarios.[/i] The latter is just what is happening in Australia as Tony Abbott engages in relentless scaremongering that is echoed by a complicit media. Is it any wonder that the people are apprehensive about their future, especially those of a more conservative nature? Conservative strategists in the US, and here in Australia, know about this research and use it to their political advantage. It is a sophisticated form of brainwashing, and it is working for them. We need to be aware of this strategy and call it for what it is – mind manipulation. http://www.alternet.org/media/155210/why_is_the_conservative_brain_more_fearful_the_alternate_reality_right-wingers_inhabit_is_terrifying

Lyn

14/05/2012Hi Ad I was hoping you would find that link, brilliant read I thought. Your post in reply is fantastic as well, thankyou Ad I love the article better with your opinion added. "sophisticated form of brainwashing, and it is working for them." Won't afflict us but scary thought for the Public being exposed on a daily basis. :):)

Ad astra

14/05/2012tincan Welcome to [i]the Political Sword[/i] family. Do come again. Thank you for your comment, which like the one left by Bushfire Bill yesterday, exposes yet another lie associated with the BER. Who spreads this deception? It doesn’t arise out of thin air. It is a deliberate strategy of the anti-BER push to hoodwink the public.

Ad astra

14/05/2012sue Thank you for you complimentary remark. I agree with you. Julia Gillard is strong and resilient. There is no one in Labor ranks that can match her. Any talk about leadership change should be ignored for the scuttlebutt it usually is. jaycee Thank you for your supportive comments about [i]TPS[/i]. We are all allowed to be passionate about what we feel and believe. There is plenty of provocation out there from the conservative side that evokes high emotion. Blogs are now part of our political life, and I suspect being watched carefully by those who write for the MSM. TT Thank you for the continuing optimism you exhibit, which keeps our spirits buoyant. We know the forces pitted against Julia Gillard and her Government, but we also know of her extraordinary strength of purpose. The big bad wolf is huffing and puffing but will not blow her house down.

Shirley

14/05/2012Ad astra, again thank you for your analysis of history and as it relates to our present society. When I read Paul Keating's letter to the drum I thought a statesman speaks out. But alas only to be put in my place by the editors defense. The optimist in me believes our Prime Minister with a minority government turn this into a positive with the debate shifting to ethics. A code of conduct debate that is out in the public is timely. The opposition can hardly block this without looking stupid. I also truly believe we need an open inquiry into the media and code of conduct and ethics debate. Agree the "big bad wolf will not blow her house down".

PatriciaWA

14/05/2012Good morning, TT, Lyn, AA and everyone! Your efforts have paid off, TT. Tacker is home and determined to stay indoors because it's raining steadly here. It just shows what a bit of positive thinking and networking can do. As I watch our Prime Minister mingling with familes and children, appearing at press conferences and on public stages, always calm, often smiling and determinedly in the [u]now[/u]doing the best job she possibly can, I have to try to follow her example. I think that's how she inspires her team.

PatriciaWA

14/05/2012Oh, no he's not returned to TPS with me! He's over at the Cafe and the Poll Bludger. and happy there. What can I do about this interloper?

TalkTurkey

14/05/2012Lyn's Daily Links are so encouraging. So everything. Thanks always from everyone Lyn. I know I say such things quite often but Dog, Lyn does this every weekday and though she promised to take the weekends off I don't see much evidence of that. Psyclaw, I do empathize with your doubts and fears, we all have the same feelings but we [i]have[/i] to win, we really haven't any choice, and that is why we will win too, desperation is adrenalizing and adrenalin turns timid little mice into rampaging rats, er, don't know about that metaphor but you get my drift. Desperation is part of the mlityuesix which will focus our thoughts and fuel our actions and steel our resolve and get us over that line. Just imagine how you would feel if we were all suddenly [i]bereft[/i] of the Internet, and TPS in particular. How isolated, how desperately impotent. We would have good reason then to be downhearted, because then Murdoch would control virtually all information, how Kafkaesque is that! So rejoice, for we do have this wondrous tool. At least we know we are not alone. As it is we get instant information, at least we bloggers are not so easily fooled. No wonder Murdoch hates the NBN, the world is slipping from his tentacles. Look on the Up side, we do have this weapon, we know what's going on, at least as much as is available anywhere (except cabinet and boardrooms and oh well lots of secret places I guess) but our challenge is to find ways to use The Sword to cut through the tinsel and the lies, no not to [i]sell[/i] the budget, Idon't think much of that expression, but to [i]teach[/i] it, in pubs and clubs and workplaces, every place we talk to people. To demand acknowledgment from bigots, or those in false consciousness about which side butters their bread and which just throws crusts: [i]that they give credit where it's due,[/i] yes for all those school facilities and insulated roofs, yes for all the BISONs, yes for the best economy in the universe, yes for the coming NBN, yes for the sense and courage to demand from the billionaire robber-barons a little fairer share of the lode, all for ordinary people. Disbelieve the Polls, they are blindsiding everybody, Abbortians included. Let them dream on in their own false consciousness, one thing I can tell you for sure, come the day of the One Poll That Counts, the figures are going to be very different from what they are now. And we are all going to help. [b]Teach.[/b]

Gravel

14/05/2012NormanK Unfortunately I cannot get that link to run, it just sits there with a couple of arrows going around on Tony Windsor's face. I use Firefox, and usually have no trouble downloading video links. Any one out there that can help? I would appreciate it. Lyn Thanks again, but you probably won't see many tweets from me, but love your tweety bird twits. :-)

johnL1

14/05/2012Tom of Melbourne: You seem unaware that the Building the Revolution (BER) Guidelines were released in February 2009 and contained all the information about the funding entitlements for the Primary Schools for the 21st Century (P21), Science and Language Centres for 21st Century Secondary Schools (SLC) and National School Pride (NSP) components of the program. With both the P21 and NSP components the funding entitlements were based on enrolments. With P21, indicative funding caps were $150,000 for 0-50 students, $850,000 for 51 to 150, $2 million for 151 to 300, $2.5 million for 301 to 400 and $3 million for 400 plus. With NSP indicative funding caps were $50,000 for 0-50 students, $75,000 for 51 to 150, $125,000 for 151 to 300, $150,000 for 301 to 400 and $200,000 for 401 plus. I mention this because in your post at 0930pm on May 13 you refer to the AEU (Australian Education Union) submission to the Victorian Parliamentary Inquiry into the BER Administration in August 2010 stating that 54 major Victorian public schools received funding. Actually what the AEU submission did on page 7 was to quote its source for this as an article in the Herald Sun of 20 March 2010. I note that you ignore the AEU's praise for the BER in the first six pages of it submission. Here are some of the quotes: “The AEU congratulates the Federal Government for making education, through school infrastructure improvements, the centre piece of its GFC economic stimulus package.” “Our evidence suggests that, even taking into account its shortcomings, the large majority of government schools see the BER program in a positive light and believe it will leave a legacy of improved school infrastructure and facilities across the system.” “For teachers and principals who have worked in the Victorian public school system over the past few decades, the very notion that a Federal Government is willing to spend $16.2 billion on school improvement over a two year period is quite amazing. It does not matter that the main objective of the spending was to stimulate employment and the economy, the fact that the medium for this investment, equivalent to more than 1% of GDP, is schools rather than something else, sends all sorts of positive messages to those involved in school education. The BER simply represents the biggest school capital infrastructure program in Australia’s history.” “The union has received feedback from many of our members about BER implementation with a large majority supportive of the program, even where there have been irritations with various aspects of it. There is also an awareness of the context within which negative media comment is being made – the predictable politicisation of government policy in an election year (particularly in a double election state like Victoria).” Tom, you seem to have cherry picked that part of the AEU submission which is critical of spending on wealthy private schools. It does not say much for the research skills of the AEU and Herald Sun that they did not know until more than a year later that private primary schools with more than 401 students would be entitled to around $3.2 million in P21 and NSP funding. And, just in case you want to make something out of the fact that two of the nine schools namedare not exactly $3.2 million (the other seven are), I refer back to the 2009 guidelines which state the amounts are “indicative and a state, territory or BGA (Block Grant Authority which administer grants for Catholic and Independent schools) may decide to fund some schools at slightly lower amounts and some at slightly larger amounts than indicated, provided they remain within the total funding amount paid to them by the Commonwealth...” Jason in his post at 0806pm on May 13 noted that Scotch College referred to the four capital expenditure items (in order of priority) set by these guidelines. This was correct. You seem fixated on “performing arts centres”, but these were among the list of projects that received the second highest priority, as listed in the February 2009 guidelines. And, your post at 0656pm on May 13 shows you did not read the guidelines which says under Objectives that: “Through the BER, the Commonwealth aims to: 1. Provide economic stimulus through the rapid construction and refurbishment of school infrastructure. Build learning environments to help children, families and communities participate in activities that will support achievement, develop learning potential and bring communities together.” The BER did achieve its primary goal as outlined in (1) of achieving economic stimulus by providing rapid construction and refurbishment of school infrastructure by generating work. In the executive summary of its December 10, 2010 report, the Building the Education Revolution Implementation Taskforce had this to say on page 7: “The primary goal of the BER program was to underpin economic activity in the construction sector through a period of significant global uncertainty. Effective monetary policy, strong commodity prices, continued growth in China and the Commonwealth’s fiscal stimulus program all acted in concert to economically shield Australia from the global financial crisis. The Taskforce considers BER made a material contribution to economic growth especially in its first year. It is projected to support approximately 120,000 jobs over the full life of the program, filling a gap left in demand from the private sector and playing an important role in supporting apprentices and skill retention in the building and construction industry.” Many of those 120,000 jobs supported by the BER were on projects at the 2287 private schools (1370 Catholic and 917 Independent) throughout Australia. You whine about 54 wealthy Victorian primary schools receiving funding. They represent around 9.1 percent of the 591 participating primary schools in the State (396 Catholic and 195 Independent). I suspect Tom that if the Federal Government had not adopted an even-handed approach to funding, you would have been leading the opposition yelling “Class war, class war”. Really, I think it is time for you to jump off this hobby horse and do something useful. One suggestion is to visit Young in early summer. That’s cherry picking time and you have shown some skill at that.

NormanK

14/05/2012Gravel I had that problem on Safari. It was caused by Safari AdBlocker. Right click in the middle of the Safari window and a pop-up page appears. Select 'Disable Safari AdBlocker'. To reinstate AdBlocker repeat process. Not sure about Firefox - let me know if you still have trouble and I'll do some research. If you have another ad blocking programme installed you may need to turn it off to watch that particular video.

NormanK

14/05/2012JohnL Excellent response.

Lyn

14/05/2012Hi Gravel Try this link to News Com should work Ok on any search engine. Hope it is the Tony Windsor and Peter Van Onselen interview you wanted to watch : Sky News Agenda Tony Windsor tells how Nick Greiner's premiership ended in '92 after an ICAC finding of 'corruption', later overturned News Com http://video.news.com.au/2234141765/Australian-Agenda-seg-2?area=videoindex5 Cheers :):):)

Patriciawa

14/05/2012Thanks for that really comprehensive response to ToM, JohnL.

Ad astra

14/05/2012JohnL You are brilliant at dismantling poorly constructed arguments, in this case about the BER. Perhaps that is because you use hard facts rather than anecdote and hearsay. Thank you for taking the time to answer ToM's contentions so comprehensively and convincingly. I hope he is satisfied. I enjoyed your last paragraph.

Ad astra

14/05/2012PatriciaWA You might have to go to the Gravatar site: http://en.gravatar.com/ put in your username and password, then log in and reinstall Tacker. I had similar trouble with Gravatar when I tried to attach my Gravatar to another email address, and eventually gave up. I do hope we can see Tacker back again.

Patriciawa

14/05/2012Trying to get some facts on That attention seeking lady Whistleblower, Kathy Jackson. So far, looking very shady. You wouldn't have to be a doctoral candidate to do research for an investigative story on Jackson. My first google found this by Cameron Stewart from only February 12 of this year, http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/union-dues/story-e6frg8h6-1226270776249 which gives more than enough background on her to make any editor or journo think twice about believing anything she says, much using information provided by her for a program or story which incriminates a Member of Parliament with the potential to bring down a government.

Patriciawa

14/05/2012Sorry, ommission there. 'much [u]less[/u]using' Hello, Tacker, where have you been hiding?

Lyn

14/05/2012Hi Tacker Welcome back , we missed our gorgeous little Man's/Lady's best friend. A couple of links to more on Kathy Jackson: Can anyone guess who c@tmomma is I know:- Mark ‏ A few comments about Kathy Jackson (Thanx c@tmomma ): http://bit.ly/MaZFoT #auspol http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2012/05/11/morgan-phone-poll-budget-poll-face-to-face-poll/comment-page-68/#comment-1258695 vexnews‏ WHIPPED: High-ranking FWA official Michael Lawler flipped from Opus Dei to the dangerous cult of Kathy Jackson: ... http://www.vexnews.com/2012/05/whipped-high-ranking-fwa-official-michael-lawler-flipped-from-opus-dei-to-the-dangerous-cult-of-kathy-jackson/ Fit & Proper Geek‏@geeksrulz Did I read on Twitter that Kathy Jackson and James Ashby have the same barrister?” Yes but pure coincidence of course ;) :):):)

Patriciawa

14/05/2012I think that was all about [i]Patriciawa[/i] as opposed to [i]PatriciaWA[/i]

jaycee

14/05/2012The most frustrating thing I find when responding to "righto's" simplistic posts is the desire TO even respond! I mean they are mostly sooo child-like, one feels that you have to lead them step by tender step, not overlooking any comma or colon and tediously explain as to a child this or that fact! The interview of Mr. Windsor with Mr. Von Onselen is a prime example where a tired-looking Tony Windsor had to do such! One wonders if they (the right-wing) are just too lazy to do their own thinking.... But thank you John L for taking the pains....now if only "Tom" could contribute a little of his own thinking on the subject...?

Gravel

14/05/2012NormanK Okay, in firefox, went to options and turned off any that I thought would cause problem, nothing happening though. Lyn Thanks, yes that is the link I am trying to run, I desperately want to see as you have all been raving about it. I know a while back when I used to 'read' the papers online one of the papers I couldn't get the video links to work......this seems to be a similar sort of thing. Apologies to everyone else for interrupting the flow. Patriciawa Glad to see tacker back, I did miss him. When I read your first comment without him, I sorta knew you writing voice, but was pleased to see it was you and I was right.

NormanK

14/05/2012Gravel I'm having no trouble getting that video link up in Firefox. Because there is an advertisement at the beginning and based on Safari AdBlocker stopping it from loading in Safari, I would suggest that you have an ad blocking application that is filtering out that video. You could try copying the link and pasting it into Explorer. Fingers crossed, someone will put it up on YouTube before too long. If you are absolutely mad keen you could download Safari for Windows. http://www.apple.com/safari/download/ Look at my earlier comment to see how to disable AdBlocker.

Karen

14/05/2012The ABC started treating the Government with contempt back in 2010. You only have to see the way the two transcripts were treated first one Kevin Rudds,with every um and ah included. Broadcast: 12/05/2010 Reporter: Kerry O'Brien http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2897846.htm Then second one a week later Tony Abbott a chronic stutterer.....guess what not one um or ah! Broadcast: 17/05/2010 Reporter: Kerry O'Brien http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2901996.htm I sent a complaint to ABC and they said the person that took that transcript"was new". Wouldnt you think if that was the case they would have removed the "ums"on Rudds? They havent!

Jason

14/05/2012Aa, I guess we get to see if Uhlman has turned over a "new leaf" or is the same as usual! @abc730: Incoming ACTU Secretary @daveeoliver interviewed tonight on #abc730 about Unions future and legacy of the #HSU scanda

Gravel

14/05/2012NormanK Bingo. Safari did the trick, I really appreciate you help, thank you. That video was worth all the effort for me. My very high estimation of Tony Windsor just got higher. We are all very fortunate that he was in the same position previously to call on his experience. I call for this man to be our next Governor General or even our first President.

LadyInRed

14/05/2012Haven't had much free time today, but just want to thank everyone for all the links and posts.

Lyn

14/05/2012Hi Lady in Red What a lovely thing to say to everyone how nice of you.:):):)

2353

14/05/2012While I would also support Tony Windsor for GG, it'll never happen if the Leader of the Oppn ever gets the keys to The Lodge. Which also means that if Gillard does it at some time in the future, the Leader of the Oppn would have a field day complaining about jobs for the boys. It's a shame really, Windsor seems to have a great sense of fairness that is isn't demonstrated by a number of the front bench of both major parties.

Ad astra

14/05/2012Karen If you haven’t been here before, welcome to [i]The Political Sword[/i] family. Do come again. Thanks for the links to the Kerry O’Brien interview with Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott. The absence of ‘but, buts’, ‘ahs’ and ‘ums’ from the transcript of Abbott’s answers is striking. Folks, if your memory has dimmed of that awful interview when Abbott conceded we can believe with surety only the carefully scripted remarks he makes, go to http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2010/s2901996.htm and do play the video again at http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/201005/r568374_3489094.asx where you will hear all his hesitations in typical Abbott style. And to think about as many people would prefer him to our PM! Mind you, I think that metric reflects the voting intention more than approval of him as PM.

Ad astra

14/05/2012Jason I'm sure we will watch Chris Uhlmann with renewed interest tonight.

Ad astra

14/05/2012PatriciaWA Welcome back Tacker.

Ad astra

14/05/2012Shirley Sorry, I missed your comment - thank you for your kind words. If Tony Windsor has anything to do with establishing a code of conduct, we can be sure it will be sound.

NormanK

14/05/2012It's a wonder I'm not bald as a result of tearing my hair out over the nature of our economic reporting. For twelve months or more we have been hearing about how large sections of our economy are struggling for survival as a result of the high Australian dollar. Today, with the dollar falling below parity with the U.S. dollar, we get reports that treat the Aussie dollar as though it was a national sporting team. Oh no! The dollar has slumped below parity! And the cause? A poorly performing economy! God help us. A high $A causes poor economy. A poor economy causes low $A. Is it any wonder people are confused about how the economy works? How about a few headlines that celebrate the gradual slide in the value of the $A because it is good news for tourism, manufacturing and agriculture? Nope. We've got to find the negative angle.

Casablanca

14/05/20122353 Mark Latham also demonstrating a sense of fairness and might I add, a degree of compassion not so far seen in the MSM: Human frailty made manifest [i]For the Liberal opposition, Thomson is red meat in a parliamentary tactic to force an early election. My advice to Tony Abbott and his team is to proceed with caution. After the Oakes interview, they should have little doubt of Thomson’s delusional state of mind. No matter the political outcomes at stake, such a person is in need of pastoral support and consideration. We all know of instances when the pressures of parliamentary life have been too severe for individuals to handle. Abbott’s first concern should be a matter of common humanity: giving Thomson and the people close to him time and space to sort out his thinking. I say this, not as an apologist for the unions or the Australian Labor Party, rather, the time has come to see beyond the politics of the HSU controversy and think about the man himself.[/i] http://afr.com/p/opinion/human_frailty_made_manifest_bD4EoJBBEqV7ii1dtDudPN

LadyInRed

14/05/2012Thanks ad astra for the script of Abbott Quizzed on Mixed Messages. I am going to use extracts of it when I post on The Drum etc. Very useful for all those ignorant people who fill their answers with rhetoric about the PM or the government lying and completely ignoring anything Abbott does and says. I live in hope that we can make a difference if we keep vigilant and at least try to refute one wrong thing that has been posted a day. Just one a day. We build an Abbott-proof fence when each of us put in one brick at a time.

Tom of Melbourne

14/05/2012John L and others, it’s always entertaining when those on this site “cherry pick”. Every elite, expensive private school in this area now has a “Performing Arts Centre” thanks to the BER stimulus. How people who profess a social conscience reconcile this waste is beyond me, and I’m a beneficiary of the largesse. It’s a fact that the BER spent $$$$hundreds and hundreds providing entirely unnecessary facilities in those schools. But not a word of criticism here. No probing, no sense that it all could have been used to better effect… all we see here is an effort to justify a significant waste of public resources. Next is the justification on economic grounds. Swan forecast an unemployment rate of 12.5%. He said we were in an economic emergency that required emergency spending. He said the stimulus was necessary to hold the unemployment rate to 10.5% Did unemployment even make it to half his forecast? Swan left his stimulus in place long, long after it became obvious that we weren’t going to suffer the worst of a recession. We didn’t even have a recession! Swan was still stimulating the economy while the Reserve Bank was lifting interest rates to restrain economic growth. So…what we have- • Hundreds of millions spent on wealthy private schools for unnecessary facilities, which are justified by • A stimulus that was based on an inaccurate economic forecast.

Psyclaw

14/05/2012TT @11.30 am Yep, we'll all just have to keep the pressure on Abbott, his minions, and the foolhardy bloggers who have no idea of his limited capabilities, big ego, and preparedness to do or say anything that will self promote.

Jason

14/05/2012ToM, Give me your account deatails so I transfer $0.05 and you can call someone who gives a ?

Casablanca

14/05/2012My assessment is that Uhlmann was less abrasive tonight than he has been over recent weeks. What do others think? I imagine that many contributors to this site have largely abandoned 7.30.

2353

14/05/2012Casablanca - that is really surprising coming from Latham. ToM - there is more to Australia than the "elite" schools that you seem to have a problem with. Thousands of schools across the country got infrastructure they obviously needed (and Performing Arts Centres aren't that uncommon (they used to be called School Halls). You must have a real problem with Universities all but a couple of them get Government funding as well and charge thousands per year for provision of courses. In the spirit of Mark Latham via Casablanca (above) have you sought professional help for your obvious problem with fee for service education providers?

Tom of Melbourne

14/05/20122353, I think you challenged me to provide evidence of all the Performing Arts Centres” for elite private schools, costing $$$ many hundreds of millions. You don’t even have the good grace to acknowledge that your challenge was met. Then somehow you equate university funding with building unnecessary facilities in schools that charge $20,000 a year in fees! You’re just making stuff up now. You have no idea how removed from reality your comment is.

Jason

14/05/2012ToM, Well you got the government you voted for so why complain now?

Lyn

14/05/2012Hi Casablanca Chris Uhlmann was noticeably subdued tonight, only a few tweets to be found, so no-one is talking about him it seems. The incoming ACTU secretary Dave Oliver was too smart for Uhlmann anyway. Here is a couple of comments, all I could find:- Michael Wyres‏@mwyres I have a strong desire to interrupt Chris Uhlmann... #730 Fit/Proper Gusface‏ toolman only ever interviews himself- the rest is ephemera Fit & Proper geeksrulz Uhlmann has been very quiet since the Keating appraisal. http://is.gd/PVmjB8 Has he been hiding under Bruce Belsham's skirt? #abc730 :):):)

johnL1

14/05/2012Tom of Melbourne: My last word to you. Get off your ridiculous hobby horse. You are being tiresomely repetitious.

jaycee

14/05/2012Well, casablanca...first, I thought he tried it on but realised quite quickly, like most bullies, he was up against a male antagonist who would confront him in a masculine manner. Julia Gillard would be demeaning herself as a woman if she came over all agressive and "shirt-fronting". I think you will find that a bully is also a strategist in his targetting.

Tom of Melbourne

14/05/2012John L, I think you’re the one who chose to defend $$hundreds of millions for elite fee charging schools, and then suggest that it was a necessary part of the stimulus. Don’t blame me if the facts just don’t support your partisan opinion.

jaycee

14/05/2012Put your hands down,Tom, you've been well and truly done over!

jaycee

14/05/2012Put your hands down,Tom, you've been well and truly done over!

Jason

14/05/2012Normank, 2353 Has there been much of a reaction to "can do's" decision on this? "MARK COLVIN: On the eve of the first sitting of the new Queensland Parliament, the Premier, Campbell Newman, has announced that not all new legislation will be run past parliamentary committees. Mr Newman says the LNP's enormous majority means it has a mandate for election promises, and they don't need to be reviewed. That effectively turns on its head a new committee system which the Bligh government introduced in a bid to improve accountability. http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3502602.htm

tiffany232

14/05/2012Tom of Melbourne Here's a tip for free. Go away. I'll stop being polite soon.

DMW

14/05/2012NormanK @ 5:51 PM tut, tut, you missed the most obvious reason for the sliding $. It is all the fault of the Carbon Tax. It will the ruin of the world as we know it. Anyone from Whyalla visit here? Could you let us know when you disappear off the face of the earth if you can

NormanK

14/05/2012Jason I wouldn't consider myself as being in the loop but from reports that I've seen so far the Labor opposition have gone "squeak" with no support yet from legal bodies or other concerned citizens. Newman got so much of the vote that for the next twelve or eighteen months very few people here are likely to speak up because they voted for him. It may take a while for buyer's remorse to set in. I hope the unions are the first ones to realise that although they may have 'taught Labor a lesson' they have also unleashed a megalomaniac. When some of his legislation is challenged in the courts because it is faulty we may see some scrutiny of this latest decision. The implication from Newman is that review committees are only there to examine whether or not something should go ahead. No acknowledgement of a committee's capacity to fine tune legislation by pointing out flaws and pitfalls. This bloke is going to ride roughshod over Queensland for at least a couple of years.

TalkTurkey

14/05/2012Good evening Swordsfolks, Welcome to all newies, I didn't see BB's actual comment, (such is the rate of flow of the Poll Bludger's comment stream, that is inevitable, that's why I reckon his comments deserve posting here on this more sedate medium.) I often find my thoughts to be in complete synch with BB's, and this is a case in point. I was thinking of a song which would put the horrid things Abbortt would do if ever he got in, and I was thinking I would need to think of them all and write them down, I was just feeding the gerbils a few rhymes when I found BB's list as quoted by Danny Lewis Posted Monday, May 14, 2012 at 8:05 pm | Permalink Actually, I like BB’s idea. It could turn out to be a monumental wedge: “Well, obviously if the Coalition have a landslide win at the next election then that means all of their agenda has been endorsed by the Australian people.” “It means that if people vote for the Coalition, they are saying they want the NDIS shelved indefinitely.” “It means the NBN will be stopped in its tracks and the Rolls Royce broadband scheme will be replaced by a Fiat Bambino scheme” “It means that Carbon Pricing will come to an end and the Government’s plan will be shelved – and compensation rolled back – so the Liberals can afford their more expensive and less efficient Direct Action Scheme.” “It means the fairer Paid Parental Scheme plan will be replaced by a “nannies for the rich” scheme and a business-pays PPL scheme whereby costs would ultimately be passed on to everyone, regardless of their income.” “It means that health and education reforms will be put on the back burner until some unspecified “aspirational” time-frame passes.” “In short, everything that you want – everything this government has promised and is delivering – will be wound back in favour of things that are either uncosted, non-existent or far too expensive.” “But, hey; if that’s what you really want then we will let you have it.” ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I'd love to write a catchy set of lyrics that went really viral (to a catchy tune, unfortunately I don't do music, so it limits me to parodies on existing songs, or at least using their tunes.) I could probably parodise [i]Land Down Under[/i] but maybe Men At Work might object to the politicisation of it - though they might dig it I'd hope. [i]Under[/i] rhyming with [i]plunder[/i] is a pretty inviting start! And after all that tune won us the America's cup. And then some jerk sued the bloke who put into that song a tiny bit of [i]Kookaburra Sits In The Old Gum Tree [/i]( the pretty flute?recorder? bit) and cost him untold money, bastard, it wasn't even as though the [i]suer[/i] even wrote that song, it was just that he claimed copyright and he won. Anyway I might write such a song anyway. Not for financial reward, so no-one could really bitch. Could they?

Jason

14/05/2012NormanK, Thanks for that! It's a shame that "can do" sees the need to act like that, yes he has a mandate but I was unaware he seems to think it extended to doing away with checks and balances! Interesting times ahead it would seem Normank.

NormanK

14/05/2012DMW I was too busy not believing my eyes to actually entertain that rational thought. :) After months of hearing about the steel and aluminium industries struggling because of the high dollar you'd reckon most of us could heave a sigh of relief that it has finally dropped back down closer to parity. It's a good news story for the tourism industry and for everyone trying to compete in export markets and yet the angle most stories took was that it was disappointing that our little Aussie Battler had dropped a few shots on the Fourteenth Hole. I know that I shouldn't regard the media as a single entity but when these conflicting story-lines keep crashing up against each other it makes me wonder whether some of these journalists actually read what their colleagues write. It would appear not. Either that or they have been trained to look for the downside of every new piece of economic data. Whatever else they may talk about they certainly won't mention that this is a desired side-effect of RBA interest rate reductions and federal fiscal policy.

NormanK

14/05/2012Jason I tell you what, you wouldn't want to be a flying fox up here tonight. Today's announcement about legislation that would relax the rules about killing them will be enough encouragement for some of the cowboys to be out tonight celebrating with their twelve gauges. The only hope that I have for the short-term is that Newman over-reaches himself and comes a cropper that causes him to pull his head in. If not, CanDo is gonna do and do and do and do.

DMW

14/05/2012NK you need to be careful with statements such as: [i]... it makes me wonder whether some of these journalists actually read what their colleagues write.[/i] as it could wreck the groupthink theory of journalism. However let's not go there tonight. Part of the problem is economists and which one the journalist believes is 'right', Krugman or Keane (listen in on todays Counterpoint for an interesting take on that bit of argy bargy) I suspect it is a truism that every silver lining is encased in a very dark cloud and human nature being what it is it easier to see the cloud than look for the tiny thread of silver. Add the now common belief that we have an incompetent government and an unworkable and sleazy parliament and of course it is a bad thing the dollar is below parity. It is peeing me off no end I mean to say my e-books from Amazon are going to cost me at least ten cents more and that is going to absolutely send my lifestyle down the gurgler. And not only that the overseas trip I have been hoping for just got more expensive and that is just intolerable. Bleedin' heck, has this government no shame? making it more expensive for we, the rich and famous, to have suffer more expensive lifestyle choices Oh, by the way, the cost of my regular dose of cynicism pills has gone up as well.

Tyler

14/05/2012Just caught the end of Q&A tonight, can't stand it for the most part but glad i caught the last question. What a beautiful response to the last question from Penny Wong, such an inspirational woman. Hockey's answer was as loathsome and judgmental as you'd expect

Cuppa

15/05/2012I see some Liberal-leaning columnist (take your pick!) is insisting the government use the phrase [b]"Carbon Tax"[/b] in the new information ads for the Clean Energy Future package. As usual it is the aim of conservatives to sow confusion. Can you imagine the reaction of some viewers when they're told (by the ads) they will be receiving compensation from A TAX? "Hang on, I thought a tax was something I PAID! Yet here the government is telling me I wil BE RECEIVING money. It doesn't make sense." And of course, it doesn't make sense because it is not a "tax" in the generally-accepted meaning of the term. a) It is paid by only 500 organisations. b) It doesn't have a cents-in-the-dollar rate. c) It won't involve accountants or tax agents. d) Taxpayers will not have to account for it in their annual tax returns. e) It will actually result in there being FEWER taxpayers as the low income tax-free threshold will be tripled. Perhaps out of the confusion of people being told, on the one hand, that it's a TAX, and on the other that they will be RECEIVING compensation, will cause some people to wake up to the fact that they've been fed a lot of bull and scare-rhetoric by the Liberals and their media allies. You can't fool people for ever, as the Liberals-media are about to learn. Because you can fool some of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time.

Cuppa

15/05/2012Speaking of the contempt in which the conservatives hold the Australian people, a couple of cartoons by Alan Moir tell a story. 1) [i]Sydney Morning Herald[/i], 15 May 2012 http://images.smh.com.au/2012/05/14/3296019/port-A10-20CARTOON-20MOIR-600x400.jpg 2) [i]Sydney Morning Herald[/i], 26 April 2012 http://images.smh.com.au/2012/04/26/3249987/port-moir_26April12-600x400.jpg

Lyn

15/05/2012 TODAY’S LINKS Chris Kenny hates Australia, Andrew Elder, Politically Homeless Where is the sorry clown who thinks this "aspirational" bullshit is going to work? You either promise to do it, or you don't; nobody is going to believe this "aspirational" crap. If Labor introduce a policy and the Libs airily put it on the never-never (e.g. the NDIS), Labor look like doers and the Libs like bullshitters http://andrewelder.blogspot.com.au/ Troy Buswell Covers Himself In Glory Again, Dan Gulberry,The Daily Derp Despite this behaviour, Colin Barnett chose to have Buswell in his cabinet as Treasurer after the Barnett led Liberal Party were elected in September 2008. By 2010 however Buswell was forced to resign from the cabinet after revelations that he was having an affair with the Greens member for Fremantle, Adele Carles. http://thedailyderp.net/ Gillard Fluff - don't worry, it's just an internal ABC joke , The ABC Has Gone to Hell got a lovely email from the ABC apologising for a story with the label “Gillard-Fluff” in the URL. PS – I was just a tad cranky and don’t apologise for not holding back on labeling ABC as being Bias. Having said that I’d send a similar complaint if the ABC had a story which indicated a bias for any political persuasion, http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/abc-complaint WHIPPED: High-ranking FWA official Michael Lawler flipped from Opus Dei to the dangerous cult of Kathy Jackson, Vex News circulated around media circles, where Lawler (a supposedly senior judicial officer) staggered up at the off-the-record gathering and made a wild series of claims denouncing unions and various people at the HSU before comparing his beloved to a Christ-like figure. http://www.vexnews.com/2012/05/whipped-high-ranking-fwa-official-michael-lawler-flipped-from-opus-dei-to-the-dangerous-cult-of-kathy-jackson/ Which part of the word ‘class’ don’t you understand, Ethical Martini We can mostly see class in other parts of the world, but usually not in our own backyards. It seems that in some media it can’t even be seen in places like Greece and France. Instead the editorialists and senior writers fall back on cliches like ‘living beyond their means’, or that Greek workers are lazy. http://ethicalmartini.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/which-part-of-the-word-class-dont-you-understand/ The Craig Thomson Saga- He's in another universe-, Clarence Girl, North Coast Voices However, it may pay to tread carefully because Thomson’s claim bears a remarkable similarity to another HSU official’s claim in 2009. The fact that there are two individual claims in a short time frame tends to support the idea that dirty tricks may be part of the internal life of this union. The Jackson allegations were also allegedly investigated by police. http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/ Noble and indulgent: Swan's duelling budget ambitions, Mungo MacCallum, The Drum And of course he himself can provide tax cuts not only for business, but for everyone, without either a mining or a carbon tax. Why, he can find savings of $50 billion just like that. Given that Swan has just taken $45 billion out of the system, this seems improbable; and in any case, Treasury estimates that Abbott is already in hock for some $70 billion worth of promises http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4010030.html More on Doctors for the Family and their ‘evidence’, Marian, The Conscience Vote Part of the media’s job is to challenge those sorts of assertions, so that those of us who work in other sectors can learn the facts behind them. It’s not enough to simply reprint part of a media release and get a comment from the most easily identified opponent to someone’s views. You need to investigate. http://consciencevote.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/more-on-doctors-for-the-family-and-their-evidence/ Social Media Fail – Insulting a popular politician from a business account, Turn Left 2013 However, since then, she has been seen as a hard-working, dedicated local member, who supports her community, women in sport, marriage equality, the Stillbirth foundation, is occasionally controversial on ALP policies, and sassy and funny on Twitter, and gained a lot more fans over time. http://turnleft2013.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/social-media-fail-insulting-popula-politician-from-business-account/ A moment that has passed?, John Quiggin As I wrote before, my immediate (over-)reaction to George Megalogenis The Australian Moment, was driven by the ageist generational clichés that started on page 1, and reappeared periodically thereafter. But I promised to write something about the serious content of the book and here it is http://johnquiggin.com/2012/05/13/a-moment-that-has-passed/ Now It’s Amanda Vanstone Who Can’t Understand Debt & Economics, Stephen Koukoulas, Market Economics Well all three major credit rating agencies have affirmed Australia’s triple-A credit rating after the Budget, which suggests they don’t know the Budget contains a “pea-and-thimble surplus”. Oh and by the way, the Howard government never had the 3 ratings agencies have Australia triple-A. This is something only achieved late last year for the first time. \ http://www.marketeconomics.com.au/1986-now-its-amanda-vanstone-who-cant-understand-debt-economics Some call it class warfare. Swan on his budget today, Peter Martin Treasurer Wayne Swan will today embrace the rhetoric of class warfare as he depends his budget, accusing its opponents of wanting to keep Australia’s wealth in the hands of a fortunate few. http://www.petermartin.com.au/2012/05/budget-as-class-warfare-swan-will-take.html Chris Uhlmann has Got to Go, Café Whispers Anyone who has watched Uhlmann interview Gillard and then watched him interview Abbott would acknowledge that the guy does a jekyll and hyde routine. The fact that the shows ratings have plummeted should indicate that there is a problem, but then http://cafewhispers.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/chris-uhlmann-has-got-to-go/ Commonwealth lags badly on MP code of conduct,Bernard Keane, Crikey At what point does an MP need to reveal that, like John Howard’s industrial relations consultancies for law firms in the 1980s, they’re receiving income from another source? The NSW code, for example, addresses that issue. What rules should apply to post-political employment? http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/05/14/commonwealth-lags-badly-on-mp-code-of-conduct/ The Australian Opposition class warfare joke, Independent Australia This budget has not increased the pain for Australia’s richest people and it certainly does not represent any kind of class war push-back against those with privilege or against members of the elite.There’s nothing in this budget to make the ruling class tremble. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/the-australian-opposition-class-warfare-joke/ Australia - National Broadband Network and the Opposition - mid-2012, Paul Budde, The Budde Blog Nevertheless it is a positive development that the early rhetoric from the Opposition has now been replaced by a far more balanced position from them; however, without vision, or at least a policy http://www.budde.com.au/Research/Australia-National-Broadband-Network-and-the-Opposition-mid-2012.html?r=70 Tony Abbott wilfully misleads the Australian people on NBN, Stephen Conroy Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has misled the Australian public with his remarks on the National Broadband Network in his Budget reply, said Minister for Broadband, Communications, and the Digital Economy, Senator Stephen Conroy.Mr Abbott told Parliament that the cost to consumers of NBN http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/media/media_releases/2012/065 Video Episode 15, 14 May 2012 Media , http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/ Mr Denmore‏ 730 Report caught fudging it again, as the ABC cravenly seeks to align itself with the fear mongers of talkback radio. #mediawatch Irate Citizen‏ Finally the bastard Uhlmann & @abc7.30 got caught on with their lies & propaganda. #mediafail Brendan Brooks‏ Uhlmann caught out sensationalising derp. Twitter to explode 3, 2, already has #mediawatch Q AND A Anthony Albanese ‏ Proud to call Penny Wong my friend #qanda Angela Lo Rosso I hope tomorrow I see a story on Joe Hockey's outrageous insult to Wong on #qanda if not kiss your fan base goodbye enough already. Kate‏ Well done, Penny Wong. That was a very dignified response to Joe Hockey's homophobic position against marriage equality. #qanda Stephen Koukoulas‏ Hockey says economy good in Canada? Net debt 35%, unemployment 7.5%. Budget not in surplus for 4 years! Wrong facts Joe. #qanda http://www.abc.net.au/tv/qanda/txt/s3497231.htm Gillard flags code of conduct amid Thomson affair, ABC Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she would welcome a code of conduct for MPs as Parliament grapples with the scandal facing suspended Labor MP Craig Thomson. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-13/gillard-flags-mps-code-in-wake-of-thomson-affair/4008356

Lyn

15/05/2012TODAY'S FRONT PAGES Australia Newspaper Front Pages for 15 May 2012 http://www.frontpagestoday.co.uk/index.cfm?PaperCountry=Australia

2353

15/05/2012Tom - as well as being fixated on a particular subject, you obviously don't read responses. Refer to the post at 7:46 am yesterday. It's the best you're going to get. You haven't addressed why "elite" schools are not entitled to a similar level of funding to thousands of State and Private Schools around Australia (including a few State Schools near my place) who have also received around $3million for large halls. It is a long standing bi-partisan policy to provide operational and capital funding to State and Private schools. You also haven't demonstrated that the "Performing Arts Centres" that you complain about were funded entirely from BER Funding as you claim. Apart from anything else, smaller "Performing Arts Centres" have a value to the community. Smaller performing arts groups ("little theatres", ballet schools, community choirs etc) can hire school "Performing Arts Centres" for a reasonable price and have a chance of recouping their outlay in ticket prices. This gives the "artists" of the future a chance to practice their craft to an audience. Hiring venues such as QPAC or the Victorian Arts Centre is economic suicide for a small group (if they could get a booking anyway). Jason - a few comments being heard about Newman returning Parliament to the days of Bjelke-Petersen. I think at this stage people are still giving him the benefit of the doubt, however it will be interesting to see what happens if/when he over-reaches (as NormanK has already suggested may happen). To be fair, the ALP had reduced the LNP to little more than the size of an NRL team a few times in recent history and and both Goss and Beattie knew when to pull their heads in and respond to public opinion - Newman may be able to do the same thing - we'll see.

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15/05/2012LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

TalkTurkey

15/05/2012Early morning Cuppa! Delicious! WOO HOOOO! Government +3% ! Abbortians [i]-6% !!![/i] ABC 24 doesn't list that fact as among the top stories. Greece, Cattle exports, Thugby, BS BS BS . . . But WE know, don't we Troops! NOT 60-40 - 55%-45%!!! Abbortt remember The Ides of September! You have our best wishes For a horrible December. We will dance on your grave for Christmas. [i]Stop the Popish Plot![/i] Seems everywhere I look there are Catholic politicians who don't give a toss about lying and hypocrisy because they are washed white as snow in the blood of the Lamb each weekend. D'urrrhhh. I sound like an anti-religious bigot? - Well I wouldn't if it weren't for all the religious bigots! With Archbigot Pell at their head. Psyclaw I hope you're feeling a little happier now . . . DMW too . . . Just yesterday I said [i]Disbelieve the Polls, they are blindsiding everybody, Abbortians included. Let them dream on in their own false consciousness, one thing I can tell you for sure, come the day of the One Poll That Counts, the figures are going to be very different from what they are now.[/i] Well they already are! :) Melissa Clarke saying The Opposition still with a comfortable lead . . . hee hee hee . . . Like falling off a cliff . . . Quite comfortable as long as you're falling . . . :) Congratulations Ad astra and all Swordsfolks, and all simpatico bloggers on other sites, We [i]are[/i] helping. One more bad poll for the Coalons and Abbortt will be abbortted.

Psyclaw

15/05/2012Cuppa [quote]And of course, it doesn't make sense because it is not a "tax" in the generally-accepted meaning of the term.[/quote] Neither is it a tax in the legal sense. The Air Caledonie case in the HC defined "tax". The relevant aspect vis a vis the carbon price is that if a payment is optional, it is not a "tax". The carbon price is optional. Companies can pay it, or clean up their emissions and avoid it or reduce it. Wise corporations are well in tune with the latter option and have gone down that path already. Corporations not in tune should sack their CEOs and Boards for incompetency i.e. lack of foresight and planning.

Psyclaw

15/05/2012TT @ 9.22pm The Danny Lewis/BB quotes you have listed refer to the big election "sleeper" which polls don't address i.e. the actual election campaign period. At that time the Abbortians will not be able to mantracise "we'll let you know closer to the election". They'll have to put up or do a Joh B-P .... "now don't you worry about that". And the electorate should see through that. Any half witted ad-man should be able to do a most powerful TV commercial "these are what you'll lose if you elect Abbott". BTW Hockey was pathetic on QandA. As my better half commented after listening to him say nothing of substance in answer to any question "to be the country's treasurer surely you need to be a bit more than a fat teddybear with a big friendly smile". I think he should be now known as [b]General Sloppy Joe[/b] i.e. a careless, confused person who can not get down to specifics. Cheers

TalkTurkey

15/05/2012PatriciaWA said on Poll Bludger Posted Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 9:21 am | Permalink Boerwar @ 372 – re The Reverend Tim Costello’s compassion for Craig Thomson. My recollection is that he expressed concern some time after he had joined the mob in firmly doubting Thomson’s innocence and credibility. Yes yes yes yes and yes! As someone else says 'Judge not lest ye yourself be judged for in the same measure as you judge others the same will be judged unto you again' or wtte. "Christians" are the world champion hypocrites.

LadyInRed

15/05/2012Tom of Melbourne it is a matter of opinion that a Performing Arts Hall is a waste of money. I get the impression that because in some schools the BER wasn't spent on a Science lab or extra classrooms, or a canteen, or sports facilities it is considered a waste. Narrow minded comes to my mind. Trying to change your opinion on whether or not the BER was a good thing is pointless if you have that sort of thought process.

LadyInRed

15/05/2012Casablanca your post on Uhlmann being better tonight. I agree he did seem a bit better given he had a Union Official in front of him. He didn't interupt. But I don't know about anyone else thinks but his questions sound like statements. Somethign is not quite right in the way he conducts an interview. I think his fundamental problem is he is reading from a script and so a question sounds like a statement or a set of facts that the interviewee has to respond to - and so at times they come out like allegations or something? He is no Kerry O'Brien, and if he wants to be in that category then he needs to watch a lot more other people who get it right - becuase thus far he hasn't got it right.

Cuppa

15/05/2012How many times has this Tom of Melbourne had it explained to him about the BER? I recall doing so myself at some point many months ago. Ultimately, the fact is, the BER was part of a stimulus package that's been lauded by experts as world's best practice. It was the biggest injection into school infrastructure funding ever seen in this country. It stimulated economic activity in every postcode area, from the Outback to inner metro areas. It targeted building trades specifically, as previous experience showed that those industries are the first to evidence the effects of slowdown.

LadyInRed

15/05/2012Jason I am a Queenslander and in response to 'can do's' mandate to push through legislation is please take notice the rest of Australia - this is what will happen if you give an overwhelmingly large majority to Abbott. He will have the opportunity to change the fabric of society, and democracy as we know it with his moralistic nonsense. "It's alright if I lie and its alright if I change my policies to suit the audience" (because I wasn't reading off a script) but its not alright if a female PM changes her policy when the political landscape legitimally changes - she is a liar. What utter crap! Q&A - does anyone agree that the format just doesn't work? All the panelists look so frustrated because often their points get lost, and silly statements often don't get challenged and are left to stand.

Tom of Melbourne

15/05/2012[i]” I get the impression that because in some schools the BER wasn't spent on a Science lab or extra classrooms, or a canteen, or sports facilities it is considered a waste.[/i] Have you actually read my comments? The point I’ve made is that people here have been flat out defending the $$$hundreds and hundreds of millions that has been spent on “Performing Arts Centres” for [b]elite, fee charging private schools[/b]. All Swan did was save the Mother’s Clubs of Scotch, Carey, Trinity, MGC etc a few fund raising activities. ----------------- Others should try to match the forecast that justified this huge expenditure with the reality. If Swan had correctly forecast 6% unemployment, there is no way he would have tried to justify the many $$$$$billions in stimulus.

Lyn

15/05/2012Good Morning Ad and Everybody The Twitterverse this morning is excited about the polls:- visivoz‏@visivoz Polls overload. Weekly. Labor up significantly. Suddenly margin of error is highlighted in morning news. #abcfail @_lis_sy_ Carry_On‏ If rumours are true & Pyne does resign is he guilty of doing the wrong thing?Or is it just Abbott throwing him under the bus to save himself GhostWhoVotes‏ #Newspoll Would L/NP have delivered better #Budget: Yes 37 No 42 #auspol George Megalogenis‏ Sure PhillipCoorey but you use polls as a device to drive circulation. Follow the lead of @annabelcrabb and myself. You know we are right. George Megalogenis‏ Good lord PhillipCoorey you arguing over polls on behalf of your employer? I want you to join annabelcrabb and myself in boycotting them. National Times‏ Budget bounce for Labor in latest poll http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/budget-bounce-for-labor-in-latest-newspoll-20120515-1ynmq.html via @NationalTimesAU Equitist‏@OzEquitist Now to lying by omission, it seems the un-Australian Newspaper couldn't spin this: http://www.newspoll.com.au/image_uploads/120401%20Personalities.pdf @PhillipCoorey #AusPol National Times‏ HSU whistleblower hit for $40,000 legal fees http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/hsu-whistleblower-hit-for-40000-legal-fees-20120514-1yn4n.html via @NationalTimesAU National Times Swan to tell business he's still committed to cut in company tax rate http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/swan-to-tell-business-hes-still-committed-to-cut-in-company-tax-rate-20120514-1yn42.html via @NationalTimesAU Gary Buckley Labor gains ground in post-budget poll - ABC http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-15/labor-gains-ground-in-post-budget-poll/4011146/?site=newcastle The Punch‏ Newspoll: Labor gets three-point boost: http://www.news.com.au/money/federal-budget/budget-gives-labor-a-three-point-boost/story-fn84fgcm-1226355769313 The Age‏ Budget bounce for Labor in latest poll http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/budget-bounce-for-labor-in-latest-poll-20120515-1ynmq.html via @theage CuppaT‏ DrNoalition Australian economy leads the worldhttp://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/australian-economy-leads-the-world-20120418-1x6ac.html Gary Buckley™‏ HSU whistleblower hit for $40,000 legal fees. http://www.portlincolntimes.com.au/news/national/national/general/hsu-whistleblower-hit-for-40000-legal-fees/2556055.aspx Noelle‏ CraigEmersonMP well done! news ltd on the warpath today - can't have labor helping families! SMH Environment‏ Canberra knows cost of carbon and value of saying nothing http://bit.ly/Kns0X6 #environment Ken ‏ Coalition's Greg Hunt Tony Abbott complain about Govts advertising but it's Abbott's scaremongering that's responsible http://bit.ly/L4puYk 2GB 873‏@2GB873 Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on Craig Thomson, carbon tax, class warfare, and the budget: http://www.2gb.com/index2.php?option=com_newsmanager&task=view&id=12777

DMW

15/05/2012This is not the sort of article I would have expected in The Business Review Weekly (via Kate Carruthers ‏@kcarruthers & Fit & Proper Geek) [b]Ballsing it up[/b] Jeanne-Vida Douglas [i]How did we get to the point where our first female Prime Minister is having her leadership destabilised by alleged sexual indiscretions of two male MPs? How is it that their incapacity to keep their peckers in the pants is somehow connected with her leadership?[/i] http://www.brw.com.au/Page/Uuid/48f9ef50-7d0e-11e1-b02f-6e69c1c30e2b Top read and the last par with a Betty White quote takes the cake.

Jason

15/05/2012LadyInRed, Thanks for the response on "can do" I agree, a very worrying prospect indeed. As to "Q&A" the format doesn't work,mainly because it's filmed in Sydney 99% of the time and forget who might be on the "panel" the questions are the same every week.I'd like to see the show filmed in "all" parts of the country every week,after all our "pollies" come from all parts of the country not just Sydney. Also "Tony Jones" doesn't work! he's a hopeless moderator who seems to think the show is all about his "smart arsed" comments! There are times where some on the pannel want to say more than they should only for Jones to pull them up at the vital moment he should be seen and hardly heard.

BSA Bob

15/05/2012Lyn Them's top lookin' links this mornin'! Am busy now but will definitely return to them.

Lyn

15/05/2012Good Morning BSA Bob Good on You. There is some top reading there this morning. The poll result has lifted everyone's spirits significantly. :):):)

2353

15/05/2012So ToM's basic problem is he has a problem with people being able to afford thousands in fees to "elite" schools. There are two ways of looking at it - either they can see some value in the money they pay or they are fools. Either way, it doesn't change that the BER is "world's best practice", a significant number of schols across the country now have appropriate infrastructure for their needs and the delivery followed the bi-partisan approach followed by the Australian Government for the past 40 years at least. If George W Bush and others had correctly estimated the reactions of Wall Street to his deregulation agenda, there would have been no GFC for Swan to "underachieve" his unemployment estimate 10 to 20 years later. Surely there is a considerable number of people who are very happy that the unemployment rate didn't go as high as expected. Again you are reminded that Australia is the only developed economy that has yet to suffer a recession this century. For the record, the home insultaion scheme was a good idea as well. YOu have no argument - let it go or go somewhere else.

TalkTurkey

15/05/2012The doctrine of the Separation of Powers is the central pillar of the Westminster System. The powers referred to relate to the 3 arms of the State: the legislature which makes the laws the judiciary which judges their application the executive which puts the laws into effect. [By far the largest is the last, including the armed forces, police and public servants.] It is the linchpin of the whole system that [i]each be independent of direct influence by either of the others[/i], on the basis that in the event of any one going feral - say, the politicians pass a law that blue eyed babies be used as dog food - the legislature will say [i]Look you can't do that [/i]and the police will enforce that - so that there are checks and balances built in, and excesses are damped automatically. Hopefully. Except maybe in Queensland of course, where they don't even have a bicameral system. (i.e. no Upper House, thanks to Labor if memory serves. Just goes to show, the only thing worse than an upper house is [i]no[/i] upper house!) Joh Bjelke-Petersen never understood the doctrine of the separation of powers, or pretended so very effectively until his dying day. Even more disgracefully, it is only one of the two great principles presently under full frontal attack by the Murdoch-dominated Media and by such as Senator Brandis QC. The second of these is the doctrine called the Presumption of Innocence, i.e. 'innocent until proven guilty'. It's not rocket science. The reasoning is unchallengeable, but that doesn't stop the likes of Brandis and doesn't faze the Media. The Government [i]must[/i] win on these most precious of principles. Don Dunstan put his leadership on the line to defend the principle that his Government's authority was superior to Harold Salisbury in the matter of secret Police Special Branch files. People have fought to the death for these principles. They are not trivial. The doctrine of the Separation of Powers is one of the first precepts expected to be grasped by students in any Politics 101 course. Does any of the current younger crop of crap political journalists understand it? Or do they and they don't care? In that case they are traitors. I want Labor and Green and IndependAnts to shout in defence of those vital principles. It is no good to assume that people know about them, or realise their vital part in a free society.

LadyInRed

15/05/2012No Tom of Melbourne I didn't miss your point. I don't have a problem with spending money on school children of whatever persuasion, fee paying or not. I especially don't have a problem with it being spent on Performing Arts - fee paying students or not. Money spent on children whether it be for fee paying children or non fee paying children is to the benefit of all our society, Performing Arts or canteens or sport or whatever. So for me the BER was not a waste of our money!

Psyclaw

15/05/2012ToM [quote]"All Swan did was save the Mother’s Clubs of Scotch, Carey, Trinity, MGC etc a few fund raising activities. "[/quote] Who built the buildings? Fairies? Or was it tradies being kept in employment? Saved from the dole? Their families with food on the table? Their mortgages and business loans and ute payments paid? Enough already!!!!

LadyInRed

15/05/2012DMW thanks for the Ballsing it Up link. A great read.

nasking

15/05/2012 Too many of the media fail to appropriately question Abbott...rather they tend to feed him. Furthermore, it's oft hard to hear all of the questioning. This provides Abbott with an opportunity at least once a day to make a grand government bashing speech. I have not seen this in any other country...so much time allocated to an opposition leader. They are obsessed with him. What did I learn today? Tony Abbott likes young people learning Mandarin at school...his wife hopes to recruit foreign language speakers at her work. Seems to me that Tony Abbott is terrified of Kevin Rudd. Has he forgotten who is the PM? Or is this a move to try and make China more acceptable to One Nation types...the ones becoming suss of Clive Palmer and his Chinese connections? I support foreign language teaching...but I find Abbott's timing odd. N'

nasking

15/05/2012 Tom, the stimulus projects were about creating building, construction and related jobs far and wide during the GFC. JohnL gave a comprehensive answer. You have been stuck playing the same record for years. The vinyl now sounds warped as it has been EXPOSED to intense light. N'

Casablanca

15/05/2012Tom of Melbourne Perhaps you would like to tell us which countries have a Triple A credit rating from all rating agencies. Also, which countries have an economy which has recorded economic growth since the GFC, which have an un-employment rate at or around 4.9%, which countries have not had a Recession this century (or further back). Which countries have a low Government Debt to GDP ratio. Which country's Treasurer is the International Treasurer of the Year? Which country has has the least diversified press. Hint: It's the country in which you live.

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15/05/2012Folks I’ve had a busy morning and am still catching up with your many comments. TT You and I know not to place reliance on polls of voting intention this far out from an election. I for one will be waiting for a few months to see if today’s [i]Newspoll[/i] is heralding a trend, or is a one off. We can be sure that News Limited will leave no stone unturned to see the result reversed by pulling out all the negative stops with seriously damaging articles in their tabloids when [i]Newspoll[/i] is next in the field. I suspect this result came somewhat as a surprise to them, so don’t expect them to lie down. I think it is unwise for ministers to come out so quickly and attribute the result to Tony Abbott’s negativity – he’s been negative for over two years now – or attribute it to anything the Government has done. If the poll goes back to what it has been for a long time now, what will they then say? It’s only trends that have any significance, so ministers would be wise not to play the game commentators on the polls like to play, and give an individual poll any credence. If I were they, I would simply say: ‘let’s wait a while to see whether or not this is a trend’. I was surprised that the ABC gave the result a positive run, that is after more important items, but was disappointed that they ran the obligatory ‘Coalition comment’ that seemed as if it was made in reference to the poll result, but was actually made by Joe Hockey on [i]Q&A[/i] when the result was not even known. It was a standard Coalition comment about ‘punishing a government that broke the trust it had with the people’, but made in a different context, that of [i]Q&A[/i]. It was sloppy journalism. The Hockey comment was presumably inserted in the absence of a contemporary comment from the Coalition actually on the poll. While on the subject of journalistic standards at the ABC, I thought Chris Uhlmann’s interview with Dave Oliver on [i]7.30[/i] was rather muted. It looked to me as if he was caught between being overly aggressive and rude and copping another dose of criticism, and being ‘tough’ enough to show that he had not lost his mojo because of the criticism of his interview with the PM. So he took a middle course, trying to be ‘tough enough’ without going over the top. The real test will be subsequent interviews. Will he revert to his rude, aggressive style with Government people, or will he tone down his approach to a new and more moderate level? Let’s reserve judgement for a while. My guess is that he’ll be quieter for a while, but his antagonism to the PM and her Government will bubble up again, whereupon we should pounce on him once more.

nasking

15/05/2012 [quote]It stimulated economic activity in every postcode area, from the Outback to inner metro areas. It targeted building trades specifically, as previous experience showed that those industries are the first to evidence the effects of slowdown[/quote] Exactly Cuppa. I've notice that the likes of Tom, a supposed registered Democrat, continually fart on about the BER and insulation....not unlike the usual suspect media. I would like to know why the Coalition stimulus and rebates are not examined. The way private healthcare rebates were used to grow private hospitals and clinics that sucked workers out of the public system. Could this have led to a shortage of docs and nurses in some hospitals? Deaths? What were the consequences of ABC Learning Centres being unleashed on the public and then crashing? They expanded bigtime from Coalition childcare rebates. How well thought out was that? What about the first home owner's grant scheme? Did this lead to houses being built too quickly...built perhaps in flood zones? Or with bad insulation? Built as fire hazards? Built on hills that could collapse after heavy rains? The list goes on. I ask our media: Why is it ALP government stimulus & rebates are scrutinised so intensely...mountains out of molehills created? The Coalition helped stimulate a war in Iraq based on sexed-up and bogus evidence...how much did that cost us? Every government has its pet projects...its stimulus...its way of redistributing income, revenue...it's about time the media recognised Tony Abbott and his Old Guard frontbench had important roles in a high taxing, redistribution government. Enuff of this crap that Righties believe in smaller government. They sure don't demonstrate it. N'

42 long

15/05/2012Where is Fran Kelly? Not missed. More sensationalist than the full of advert stations.-- And who invented the "NR-- Your World Unfolding." bit That sure misses any mark that I can think of. Why would you want your world unfolding. Drop it It's irritating and meaningless.

Jason

15/05/2012Nasking @ May 15. 2012 01:07 PM Well said!

Lyn

15/05/2012Hi Nasking We miss you, you know. Great to see you, hope you had a nice little rest. You said:- "Too many of the media fail to appropriately question Abbott...rather they tend to feed him" A couple of comments you will agree with:- Syd Walker‏ davrosz Interesting! BTW, not ONE MP has had the guts to ask Tony Abbott about 'broken promise' Greg Jericho‏ Abbott: "there has been a 21 per cent decline in students studying Japanese since 2001" Not surprising given funding for it was cut in 2002. Leroy‏@Leroy_Lynch New Productivity Commission report, gives the Gillard Govt top marks. Report here: http://bit.ly/hTUHrM via @HawkerBritton #auspol #ausecon TheFinnigans Who would have think that. Sam Maiden alluded that it was Liberal operatives behind the Shorten smears!! #auspol :):):)

Fiona

15/05/2012Talk Turkey: [quote]But there is another area less addressed, and that is that we only rarely simply lift and transplant some of the very most poignant posts from one site to another - as I have done a couple of times this morning, once with BB, once with a complementary combo of Cuppa and Puff. It's so easy, there's plenty of room for concise comments, and surely it must please the pirated posters to be so quoted. And I only mean pretty exceptional posts, not a great many. [/quote] I've been posting interesting bits from all over the place to all over the place - well, to Poll Bludger and to Facebook, where I'm involved with an interesting bunch who post on a page called Tony Abbott Will Never Be Prime Minister: http://www.facebook.com/index.php?lh=d2d23ac9062fa1290d7510319f28eaad&#!/pages/Tony-Abbott-will-never-be-prime-minister/274330505796 IMHO it is really important to do this - apart from helping us to keep our courage up, it is always useful to acquire new insights.

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15/05/2012Folks I’m not responding in any particular order – I’m just scrambling to keep up. Several of you have been very patient with ToM, giving him facts and figures and well-reasoned arguments about the extraordinary value of the BER to the recipient schools, the building industry, and the economy generally. He is not about to be persuaded from his views about private schools, particularly the ‘elite’ ones. This may be a good time to call it a day, and expend your considerable energies on matters much more important than those raised by ToM. The old adage of not flogging a dead horse, or a dead argument, applies. Nasking Welcome back. I hope you feel better. You are in good literary form. Of course, I agree with your contention that journalists don’t seriously challenge Abbott. I wonder is it because many journalists feel insecure as newspaper circulation falls and advertising revenue dips, leaving them wondering how long they will have a job. So they dare not risk losing a job with News Limited, which supports Tony Abbott, or risk not getting a job with News Limited if their paper fails. It is said: ‘There are only two types of journalist in Australia: those employed by News Limited, and those who may soon be looking for a job with News Limited.’ It’s a rough approximation but useful working hypothesis.

Casablanca

15/05/2012PM on ABC24 now delivering riveting address to ACTU Conference

nasking

15/05/2012 [b]Abbott: "there has been a 21 per cent decline in students studying Japanese since 2001" Not surprising given funding for it was cut in 2002. [/b] Lyn, what a top tweet by Greg Jericho. Abbott doing another contortionist act. Head up own bum. :) Thnx for the lovely comment Lyn...I've been checking out the state of other blogs. Was at Crikey today: http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/05/14/with-karl-james-packer-showed-he-has-his-swagger-back/#comment-198484 I see you are doing yer usual fine job of keeping visitors informed via useful links and tweets. Coming here is like a treasure trove of info...roads leading to all kinds of doors opening up to reveal the Coalition for the extreme right wing hijacked mess it is. Thnx for yer efforts Lyn...and all the other contributors here. Great to see so many new contributors too. BTW, I really dig: http://www.thepowerindex.com.au/union-heavies/ged-kearney And: http://www.thepowerindex.com.au/union-heavies/dave-oliver N'

nasking

15/05/2012 Cheers Jason. I reckon too many of the MSM have been working eyes wide shut when it comes to the Coalition...and Abbott in particular. [b]What could be the consequences of a government rebated nanny scheme? Will the media blame Abbott if a nanny or twelve shakes a child to death? I doubt it...but that's how inconsistent and loopy and illogical things have become. [/b] [b]Thnx to a Murdoch-led MSM that was willing to find any stick to beat both Rudd and Gillard [/b] I don't know how they sleep at night. Cool, removed characters obviously. Audience/readership, ads, job security, moolah, bosses' ideology are top priorities. Remind ya of the UK? N'

Fiona

15/05/2012NormanK a couple of days ago: [quote]Putting aside my admiration of her (which is not without its limits) if Labor replace her then all they will be doing is putting up a sacrificial lamb and ruining a political career. Presuming that they put up a worthy candidate, say Combet, and he loses the next election then he will never be prime minister, probably not even opposition leader for very long. That would be a waste. Whoever they put up is just going to cop the same treatment as Gillard from the sections of the press that are presently actively involving themselves in a campaign. In terms of restoring the opinion polls, any replacement strategy is likely to put off just as many voters as it attracts in the medium term. It will also delegitimise everything that Gillard and her government have done.[/quote] Yes indeed. I wept when I heard of the leadership change in June 2010 - I really feared that the bloody fools from Sussex Street were throwing yet another great woman politician to the wolves in order to save their own skins. I'm so proud of Ms Gillard's ability to negotiate her way through all the complexities of minority government. She is one classy woman. DMW @ May 15. 2012 11:14 AM A great article, and I adore Betty White :)

Fiona

15/05/2012Psyclaw @ May 15 2012 08:55am: [quote]I think he should be now known as General Sloppy Joe i.e. a careless, confused person who can not get down to specifics.[/quote] You made me snirtle 'til there were tears in me eyes. Btw, which is the current career, the psych or the law? Just curious, because I can be similarly classified - with psych being the present occupation. :)

nasking

15/05/2012 Hi Ad, Thnx for the support. You are in fine for yerself...per usual. [quote]I agree with your contention that journalists don’t seriously challenge Abbott.  I wonder is it because many journalists feel insecure as newspaper circulation falls and advertising revenue dips, leaving them wondering how long they will have a job.  So they dare not risk losing a job with News Limited, which supports Tony Abbott, or risk not getting a job with News Limited if their paper fails.  It is said: ‘There are only two types of journalist in Australia: those employed by News Limited, and those who may soon be looking for a job with News Limited.’  It’s a rough approximation but useful working hypothesis. [/quote] Could well be Ad. Part of the reason we need a strong, diverse public broadcaster...and various other media companies for alternative views. One reason I subscribe to Crikey. When it comes right down to it journos, researchers etc. are gonna have to make a living...and we're all going to have to contribute to that. I just wish more people would subscribe to the alternative news' sites rather than the same old stuff. The problem lies with the fact that News Corp has so much revenue coming from its various tentacles...sports, paytv/cable, movies, The Sun, advertising, Fox shows...the list is extensive... it provides them with enuff money to keep expanding and in turn promoting their wares to larger and larger audiences... how can smaller media organisations hope to compete?...particularly when the more money you have the more staffers you can afford to pay to scan the blogosphere and other media and take, mutate the ideas and styles of others. Politicians allowed this disastrous situation to occur. It's as bad as permitting a few HUGE investment banks to go poorly regulated. Or those huge Hollywood studios way back when who owned all the stars...and production, distribution and exhibition points. The balance is out. Money and political influence and market dominance seem to make the world go around. N'

nasking

15/05/2012Make that : You are in fine form yerself...per usual. Unfortunately my eyes aren't as good as they used to be. N'

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15/05/2012Hi Lyn As usual, your tweets and links are intriguing. The is of course a set of comments about the [i]Newspoll[/i] with the pundits trying to explain what they term a ‘turnaround’. It is a pointless exercise, except of course that it makes good copy and fills column inches. If in a few months time it turns out to be the beginning of a trend in Labor’s favour, Labor supporters will rightly be delighted. But let’s not be deluded by the ‘pundits’, who ought to know that one poll, especially so far out from the next scheduled election has no predictive power. If the result scares the Opposition or News Limited, that is at least grist to the mill for Labor supporters, no matter how unreliable the poll might be. I note that recently the margin of error is expressed by the ABC, perhaps having been warned off drawing conclusions about a point or two movement one way or the other. I wonder though how many realize that a margin of error of 3% is a margin of plus or minus 3%; in other words the ’real’ or ‘actual’ result could be as much as 6 percentage points from the one stated in the poll. Moreover, that margin is usually calculated at the so-called 95% confidence level, which places the probability of it being correct as 95 chances out of 100, or 5 chances that it is wrong. Journalists like to represent as simple what is a complex statistical process, and in doing so, inadvertently of deliberately mislead and confuse the consumer. It’s good that the margin of error is stated but it would mean more if it was also stated that, for example, a level of support for a party stated to be 50% could be anywhere from 47% to 53% (and if they want to be pedantic, that this will be so 95% of the time). For anyone interested to read further, this story from [i]Margin of Error[/i] by Robert Niles might be interesting. [i]”Margin of Error deserves better than the throw-away line it gets in the bottom of stories about polling data. Writers who don't understand margin of error, and its importance in interpreting scientific research, can easily embarrass themselves and their news organizations. “Check out the following story that moved in the summer of 1996 on a major news wire: “WASHINGTON (Reuter) - President Clinton, hit by bad publicity recently over FBI files and a derogatory book, has slipped against Bob Dole in a new poll released Monday but still maintains a 15 percentage point lead. “The CNN/USA Today/Gallup poll taken June 27-30 of 818 registered voters showed Clinton would beat his Republican challenger if the election were held now, 54 to 39 percent, with seven percent undecided. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus four percentage points. “A similar poll June 18-19 had Clinton 57 to 38 percent over Dole. “Unfortunately for the readers of this story, it is wrong. There is no reasonable statistical basis for claiming that Clinton's lead over Dole has slipped. “Why? The margin of error. In this case, the CNN et al. poll had a four percent margin of error. That means that if you asked a question from this poll 100 times, 95 of those times the percentage of people giving a particular answer would be within 4 points of the percentage who gave that same answer in this poll. “(WARNING: Math Geek Stuff!)
Why 95 times out of 100? In reality, the margin of error is what statisticians call a confidence interval. The math behind it is much like the math behind the standard deviation. So you can think of the margin of error at the 95 percent confidence interval as being equal to two standard deviations in your polling sample. Occasionally you will see surveys with a 99 percent confidence interval, which would correspond to 3 standard deviations and a much larger margin of error.
(End of Math Geek Stuff!) “So let's look at this particular week's poll as a repeat of the previous week's (which it was). The percentage of people who say they support Clinton is within 4 points of the percentage who said they supported Clinton the previous week (54 percent this week to 57 last week). Same goes for Dole. So statistically, there is no change from the previous week's poll. Dole has made up no measurable ground on Clinton. “And reporting anything different is misleading. “Don't overlook that fact that the margin of error is a 95 percent confidence interval, either. That means that for every 20 times you repeat this poll, statistics say that one time you'll get an answer that is completely off the wall. “You might remember that just after Dole resigned from the U.S. Senate, the CNN et al. poll had Clinton's lead down to six points. Reports attributed this surge by Dole to positive public reaction to his resignation. But the next week, Dole's surge was gone. “Perhaps there never was a surge. It very well could be that that week's poll was the one in 20 where the results lie outside the margin of error. Who knows? Just remember to never place too much faith in one week's poll or survey. No matter what you are writing about, only by looking at many surveys can you get an accurate look at what is going on.[/i]” http://www.robertniles.com/stats/margin.shtml Another reference is: [i]Basics: Margin of Error[/i] by Mark C. Chu-Carroll “[i]The margin of error is the most widely misunderstood and misleading concept in statistics. It's positively frightening to people who actually understand what it means to see how it's commonly used in the media, in conversation, sometimes even by other scientists! “The basic idea of it is very simple. Most of the time when we're doing statistics, we're doing statistics based on a sample - that is, the entire population we're interested in is difficult to study; so what we try to do is pick a representative subset called a sample. If the subset is truly representative, then the statistics you generate using information gathered from the sample will be the same as information gathered from the population as a whole. “But life is never simple. We never have perfectly representative samples; in fact, it's impossible to select a perfectly representative sample. So we do our best to pick good samples, and we use probability theory to work out a predication of how confident we can be that the statistics from our sample are representative of the entire population. That's basically what the margin of error represents: how well we think that the selected sample will allow us to predict things about the entire population.”[/i] To read on go to: http://scienceblogs.com/goodmath/2007/01/basics_margin_of_error.php

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15/05/2012TT Your comment about separation of legislative and judicial powers is spot on. Yet so many either don’t understand it, or ignore it, or find it convenient to not let it get in the road of expressing their opinion. Last night’s Q&A was a prime example. The only one who stuck by this principle was Penny Wong, who refused to pass judgement on Craig Thomson, who was, as expected, the subject of intense discussion and speculation. Of course Joe Hockey condemned Thomson, insisting that his story on Laurie Oakes’ interview was fantasy; and Judith Sloan, an economist but part-time Coalition apologist, was of the same mind. Perhaps not surprisingly, the always self-opinionated Stephen Mayne did not hold back from finding Thomson guilty of the Fair Work Australia findings and his story of explanation imaginary. But what surprised me was that Tim Costello, a man of the cloth, also indicated he did not believe Thomson’s story and clearly felt he was guilty of besmirching parliament, which is code for being guilty of the findings of the Fair Work Australia investigation. Contrast that with the approach taken by Tony Windsor (on Sky News in his interview with PvO and Paul Kelly), who insisted that Thomson should not be subject to the judgement of his colleagues in the House, and that he would not be a party to it. Apart from Government ministers, he and Rob Oakeshott are the only parliamentarians I have heard that have taken this principled stand. Nick Minchin has warned of the danger of turning the parliament into a quasi-court. What hope is there of fairness being extended to Thomson, when so many, even those one might expect to be evenhanded, have condemned him out of hand, even although, apart from what he said to Oakes, we have not heard his side of the story. His explanation to parliament will be fascinating to hear, but I suspect that no matter what he says, he is already condemned in the eyes of his opponents, many important figures and much of the public, even before charges have been laid, and long before a trial might take place. So much for justice!

jane

15/05/2012[quote]Abbortt remember The Ides of September! You have our best wishes For a horrible December. We will dance on your grave for Christmas.[/quote] TT lurve it, lurve it, lurve it! DMW, love the Ballsing it up link, which reinforces the very thing we've been maintaining forever. If liealot is so marvellous, why isn't he in the Lodge this very minute? How come Julia Gillard, from the wrong side of the political tracks, could persuade conservative Independents to back her, but Liealot, from the right side of the political tracks, could not? That is what it boils down to. Windsor, Oakeshott and Wilkie (at the time) had no faith whatever that Liealot could be trusted. And, with the erratic and somewhat spiteful exception of Wilkie, they still don't trust Liealot. I repeat, the reason that Liealot isn't perched in the Lodge at this very moment and the Liars are on the left of the Speaker, is ALL down to him. So, far from being successful, he's a dismal failure. And if the Emperor hadn't thrown all his malevolent power behind Liealot, he'd be on the opposition back benches, or perhaps the Shadow Minister for Broom Cupboards! [quote]I would like to know why the Coalition stimulus and rebates are not examined.[/quote] We all know the answer to that one, Nas'. Incompetence and rorting writ large. Mustn't lift that Noalition rock; God knows what would escape. And I couldn't agree more with the rest of your comment Ad astra, Tom is impervious to facts and truth he doesn't like. He is indeed a lost cause. Bit like the ABC's Sally Cray: [quote]ABC spokeswoman Sally Cray said Uhlmann had done nothing wrong and had offended no one. “We love Chris,” she said. “He is an ornament.”[/quote] Courtesy of lunalava @CW. Obviously, Ms Cray lives in an alternate universe.

NormanK

15/05/2012[b]Get the facts and figures right - there is no debt crisis[/b] by Tom Watson The Age [quote]FACTS and the truth are partners. When Amanda Vanstone tries to conjure a national debt crisis, facts are few and far between - and unreliable. She starts with a misleading analogy, makes a few dodgy comparisons, throws around a couple of big scary numbers and then gets the key figure wrong.[/quote] http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/get-the-facts-and-figures-right--there-is-no-debt-crisis-20120514-1ymwg.html#ixzz1uslmGDV7

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15/05/2012DMW What a great article in BRW: [i]Ballsing it up[/i] by Jeanne-Vida Douglas. I did enjoy the last two paragraphs particularly. Too true. Anyone who missed it can find it at: http://www.brw.com.au/Page/Uuid/48f9ef50-7d0e-11e1-b02f-6e69c1c30e2b

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15/05/2012Hi Lyn I’ve just got round to your morning links and played the Media Watch segment about the Chris Uhlmann story on [i]7.30[/i] about Afghan migrants supposedly rorting the asylum seeker system. I missed it last night, and if anyone else did, it’s here: http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/ Here we see Uhlmann seriously misrepresenting the situation he was covering, well exposed by Jonathan Holmes. So it seems Uhlmann is not only rude and aggressive to our PM and Government ministers, he is also capable of distorting the facts and the misrepresentation of what his sources said, in this case Marion Le, to make a good story. Soon he will have qualified for a job with News Limited. Tyler I agree – Penny Wong’s last statement on Q&A was the most poignant of the whole episode, and gave a rather indifferent edition a nice finish. In contrast, Joe Hockey, who spoke just before Penny, was left floundering, a state of mind with which he must now be becoming familiar.

Lyn

15/05/2012Hi Ad Do we think Mr Abbott is in trouble, No he will get out of it,the only thing though I was wondering should he stand down, if there is charges against him:- Abbott to ‘strongly defend’ defamation claim, Australian Financial Review Asked at the event how the MBAV should support a campaign against the abolition of the ABCC, Mr Abbott is alleged in the court documents to have said: “Because so many of you have got to go onto sites every day and you’ve got to deal with the John Setkos (sic) of this world every day and the last thing you need is home visits from some of the gentlemen associated with some of the industrial organisations that you have to deal with every day and those home visits we know take place. http://www.afr.com/p/national/abbott_to_strongly_defend_defamation_tc3vRuXtTdKfFhM9L61W3M

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15/05/2012Hi Lyn While the defamation claim against The Honourable Tony Abbott MRH is extant, to preserve the dignity of the parliament I believe he should step aside as Leader of Her Majesty’s Loyal Opposition, and that he should instruct his replacement as Leader to not count his vote in the House of Representatives until the matter is settled in court. Only an unreasonable man would do otherwise; we all know Mr Abbott is a reasonable man

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15/05/2012NormanK Thank you for the John Watson article. What a classic example it is of how Liberal members, in this case an ex-parliamentarian, Amanda Vanstone, have so little regard for the facts, so great a propensity for getting them wrong, so great a willingness to misrepresent them, and such indifference to their affect on those affected by the misrepresentation. It's the old story, 'don't let the facts get in the way of a good story'. http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/get-the-facts-and-figures-right--there-is-no-debt-crisis-20120514-1ymwg.html#ixzz1uslmGDV7

Casablanca

15/05/2012Did any other Swordians watch the PM's address to the ACTU national congress this afternoon? I have not been able to find a transcript or pod cast as yet. However, there is a 2min clip on the SMH. It takes a snippet of the PM's comments on the Thomson matter and then a snippet where the PM talks about how we have been screamed at by Abbott. She said that she wants to take the country from fear to hope. http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/gillard-tells-of-dismay-at-union-scandal-20120515-1yocm.html The PM spoke with force and passion for about 25 mins. I think that she only looked at her notes twice in that whole time and she did not miss a beat. What's more there was no waffle or padding or umming or ahhing. Lyndal Curtis, speaking immediately afterwards called it a stirring speech. I expect that she will examine it further at 5.30pm on Capital Hill (ABC24) Uhlmann will be interviewing/haranguing Dr Ken Henry, former Treasury Head tonight.

TalkTurkey

15/05/2012From Poll Bludger I don't often agree with this author but I must with this. Thornleigh Labor Man Posted Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 10:07 am | Permalink The presumption of innocence is good enough for Craig Thomson BUT not Julian Assange?

TalkTurkey

15/05/2012Ad astra said "TT You and I know not to place reliance on polls of voting intention this far out from an election. I for one will be waiting for a few months to see if today’s Newspoll is heralding a trend, or is a one off." > Yeah but this is a sugar hit for us, and a serious lemon suck for the Abborttians. Better if the ministers keep their comments careful sure, but the figures will be shaking the enemy's confidence and with that, whiteanting Abbortt himself. His popularity as PPM will already be lower by now than it was yesterday . . . and the area he will have lost most is his own supporters, those fools who thought he was the Messiah, and [i]what is he? [/i]:) "While on the subject of journalistic standards at the ABC, I thought Chris Uhlmann’s interview with Dave Oliver on 7.30 was rather muted. It looked to me as if he was caught between being overly aggressive and rude and copping another dose of criticism, and being ‘tough’ enough to show that he had not lost his mojo because of the criticism of his interview with the PM." > I thought exactly the same Ad. "So he took a middle course, trying to be ‘tough enough’ without going over the top." > Yes that's how it seemed to me too. "My guess is that he’ll be quieter for a while, but his antagonism to the PM and her Government will bubble up again, whereupon we should pounce on him once more." > Yes, well I think our past pounce found its mark. Hooray for PJK and Hooray for us. And Bruce Belsham in his pathetic defence of Uhlmann shows himself a person of interest and part of a very serious infection in the public broadcaster. We have tasted blood ourselves now, well done all who helped.

Jason

15/05/2012Casablanca, JuliaGillard Address to #ACTU Congress http://t.co/DJYGTLCf

Jason

15/05/2012Pollytics | 16 minutes ago RT @MeddlesomPriest: Court has now released Ashby statement of claim, in which he abandons Cabcharge allegations

Casablanca

15/05/2012Jason, Thanks for the link to the Prime Minister's address to the ACTU. I hope that Swordian's can find the 27 minutes to listen to it in full. DMW That was an amazing article in BRW at http://www.brw.com.au/Page/Uuid/48f9ef50-7d0e-11e1-b02f-6e69c1c30e2b As you will realise from the PM's speech she is one hell of a woman. The PM said, 'I don't ask anyone to fight for me: I fight for Australia'. She does indeed!

Psyclaw

15/05/2012AA @4.36pm "Joe Hockey ...... was left floundering," Floundering is the best he's capable of. It has been obvious re economic matters since Abbott shadow treasurered him, but he now looks like a goose whatever the question, whatever the subject. I think he's desperately trying to present himself as a man for all seasons ...... friend of every elector, foe of no elector. I call this "being without principles". So he ties himself up in knots every time he opens his mouth. He's well and truly in the process of sinking. Fiona My formal careers are over. But my major interest is in the latter area and of cours politics/government/judicial matters . Cheers.

42 long

15/05/2012If this matter ever gets to court, I will be interested in How Pyne, Brough and J bishop enjoy being cross examined. How stupid to go within a mile of it, or else they are part of it.

Fiona

15/05/2012Psyclaw, Thank you for your courtesy, and I understand your "major interest" - I've been a political junkie since the day I was born (or at least since the age of 5). Cheers to you, shoulders to the wheel, and all that jazz. Because, to extend Casablanca's quotation of the Prime Minister, [i][b]we[/b][/i] - almost all of us here - fight for Australia.

Fiona

15/05/2012[b]BREAKING NEWS[/b]: Rebekah Brooks and her husband are to be charged with perverting the course of justice. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/may/15/rebekah-brooks-charged-perverting-course-justice

TalkTurkey

15/05/2012Ad astra said "I note that recently the margin of error is expressed by the ABC, perhaps having been warned off drawing conclusions about a point or two movement one way or the other." Ad I don't read their sudden interest in margins of error as showing sensible [i]caution[/i], but rather as a deliberate downplaying of the seismic shift these figures [i]might[/i] presage. Don't forget, [i]these are the very people who really believe the Polls![/i] So there is a point to our doing some yahooing about the (admittedly suss) figures, to demoralize the Abborttians and destabilize their leadershit. But Ad I think you're upawattle here - or else I am . . ? . . "I wonder though how many realize that a margin of error of 3% is a margin of plus or minus 3%; in other words the ’real’ or ‘actual’ result could be as much as 6 percentage points from the one stated in the poll." That can't be right. That would mean a [i]range[/i] of 12% ! The 3% means a range of up to 3% more, or 3% less. OK we're given a poll result of 2PP of 45% , so that means it could be a vote of as low as 42% or as high as 48% (within an [i]estimated[/i] 95% level of probability, n'est-ce pas? :) - because then there's the 5% - estimated - beyond the 95%! ) But note, even that is suss. Ad I've reread your sentence above to see if I've got it rsup but I don't see any other reading of it. The other thing, (giving the dubious validity of the 3% estimate the benefit of the doubt), is that the 45% is where the bulge of probability is - the eventual vote is more likely to be within the 46-48 range than further out, the further from the 45% the less the probability. But then of course anything can happen! Children overboard! Big shiny thing! Stupid old cow! So polling ain't no science. But it SUCKS! Let us not be suckered. But enjoy the moment. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Did anybody watch tonight's Drum? [i]What did you think?[/i]

TalkTurkey

15/05/2012Bjelke-Petersen under cross-examination in 1988 cited in Speeches 19th Pacific Regional Judicial Conference Tumon, Guam 7-10 November 2010 Judicial independence - Breaking free from the Executive Branch [1] Hon Justice Michael F Moore RTF version | Annexures -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Introduction The cross examination of the then Premier of the State of Queensland in 1988 during a Royal Commission into police and political corruption[2] revealed the following of the knowledge of the leader of the State about the doctrine of the separation of powers: Michael Forde: What do you understand by the doctrine of the separation of powers under the Westminster system? Sir Joh Bjelke Petersen: The Westminster system? The stock? Forde: The doctrine of the separation of powers under the Westminster system? Bjelke Petersen: No, I don't quite know what you're driving at. The document? Forde: No, I'll say it again. What do you understand by the doctrine of the separation of powers under the Westminster system? Bjelke Petersen: I don't know which doctrine you refer to. Forde: There is only one doctrine of the separation of powers. Bjelke Petersen: I believe in it very strongly, and despite what you may say, I believe that we do have a great responsibility to the people who elect us to government. And that's to maintain their freedom and their rights, and I did that � sought to do it � always. Forde: I'm sure you're trying to be responsive to the question, but the question related to the doctrine of the separation of powers or the principles. Bjelke Petersen: Between the Government and the � Is it? Forde: No, you tell me what you understand. Bjelke Petersen: Well, the separation of the doctrine that you refer to, in relation to where the Government stands, and the rest of the community stands, or where the rest of the instruments of Government stand. Is that what-? Forde: No Bjelke Petersen: Well, you tell me. And I'll tell you whether you're right or not. Don't you know?[3] I do not suggest the Premier's apparently limited understanding of the doctrine was typical of political leaders then or now. However the cross examination illustrates that we cannot assume political leaders understand the doctrine (or, charitably, are familiar with the way it is commonly described and discussed) let alone seek to ensure its effective operation. In this paper I address firstly the doctrine in a summary way and then move to discuss practical ways in which courts can be immunised, so far as possible, through administrative structures from an executive or even a parliament not completely committed to adherence to the doctrine. The paper draws essentially on the Australian experience. I need to add the qualification that some of the commentary may be dated as administrative structures for Australian Courts do change and may have recently changed in ways of which I am not aware. In a sense, however, this does not matter. That is because problems which have been identified in relation to a particular model of administration which may have been superseded are most likely be a problem in relation to that model if existing elsewhere in the Asia-Pacific region or if proposed to be introduced in the region. The doctrine of the separation of powers The doctrine of the separation of powers has traditionally been perceived as a safeguard of liberty within a society operating under the rule of law.[4] The doctrine advocates that the three arms of government, being the executive, legislative and judicial arms, should be separate and that their respective functions and powers should be mutually exclusive.[5] This creates an institutional design that prevents the concentration of too much power in and consequent abuse of power by a single arm of government.[6] The premise underlying the separation of powers doctrine "is not a harmonious relationship but a checking and balancing of power"[7], ensuring that no one governmental arm unduly harms the interests of the governed.[8] There are many reasons why theorists support the doctrine of the separation of powers, particularly the separation of judicial power from the legislative and executive powers, as being an important precept in the Australian system of government. The doctrine is said to protect minority interests far better than a system that is purely reliant on representative democracy. One commentator has suggested this is because �the people and politicians cannot be trusted, even where democratic majorities exist, to respect the rights of minorities and individuals because of their basic self-interest.�[9] The doctrine of the separation of powers is entrenched in the Australian Constitution as it has been interpreted by our constitutional court, the High Court. In a number of recent cases, the High Court has resisted attempts by parliaments to both limit the judiciary's review function[10] and encroach on the judiciary's adjudicative function.[11] Justice McHugh of the High Court has said extra-curially that "[d]espite its inefficiencies and tensions, the distinction between the judicial and the executive powers of government in particular continues to be jealously guarded in the federal sphere and operates in 'full vigour'"[12]. His Honour cited . . . more ... http://www.fedcourt.gov.au/aboutct/judges_papers/speeches_moorej7.html

Tom of Melbourne

15/05/20122353 – [i]” So ToM's basic problem is he has a problem with people being able to afford thousands in fees to "elite" schools. “[/i] Is that a joke? I’ve already explained twice that I have children in those schools. Clearly I don’t object to paying the fees for those schools! I simply object to the waste of $$$$$$hundreds of millions, every private school now has a “Performing Arts Centre”. There’s 3 of them on the same block, there’s more than 6 of them within a few kms. ----------------- Psyclaw - [i] “Who built the buildings?”{/i] You’re missing the point, the downturn during the Asian Meltdown was as serious. The magnitude of the stimulus simply wasn’t justified on Swan’s own forecast. ------------------- Nasking – [i]JohnL gave a comprehensive answer. 

You have been stuck playing the same record for years.”[/i] Nasking, you’ve been prattling on for longer than me. Many here are simply unable to acknowledge that this government [b]ever[/b] deserves anything less than an A++. There is no acceptance that policies can get a C, or even a C-. Spending huge amounts of taxpayers cash on very expensive schools, which are already loaded with great facilities, is not best practice. Rest assured, I’ll continue to remind people of their blinkeredness.

Ad astra

15/05/2012TT I think we agree on the effect of the poll on both camps. Labor will be encouraged; the Coalition will be concerned even although we have had bravado exhibited by George Brandis who said: [i]"If there were to be an election held today this government would get a NSW-style result rather than a Queensland-style result.”[/i] We know that the predictive value of this poll is zero for an election eighteen months from now, but we might as well enjoy any uncertainty the Coalition now feels. You are right in you 7.23 pm comment. I should have said: [i]"I wonder though how many realize that a margin of error of 3% is a margin of plus or minus 3%; in other words the ’real’ or ‘actual’ result could [b]range[/b] 6 percentage points [b]around[/b] the one stated in the poll, that is, 3 percentage points either way."[/i] Later in that paragraph I gave an example: [i]“...a level of support for a party stated to be 50% could be anywhere from 47% to 53%...”[/i] Thanks for the correction.

Ad astra

15/05/2012Folks Did you see the interview of Ken Henry by Chris Uhlmann on [i]7.30[/i] tonight. That was a respectful, courteous interview. He is capable, so why was his interview with the PM so disrespectful and discourteous? Incidentally, I thought it was a very positive statement by Henry about the actions taken by the then Rudd Government before and during the GFC. I suppose we should be thankful for something positive from the ABC. If you missed it, it is here: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2012/s3503553.htm BTW, did you see any mention tonight on ABC1 TV of Tony Abbott being sued for defamation? Was it on ABC News 24? It was on ABC radio News; I wonder will it be on [i]Lateline[/i]? This afternoon, I heard on ABC Melbourne 774 radio Stephen Mayne talking about last night’s [i]Q&A[/i]. He said that after the program Joe Hockey was furious about the last question, which was whether he though he and his wife would make better parents than Penny Wong and her partner. His answer, no doubt conditioned by the teachings of the Catholic Church, stood poorly alongside the composed and poignant answer given by Penny Wong.

jane

15/05/2012Ad Astra @5.15pm, funny how Liealot continually fails to put his money where his mouth is. And how silent the barrackers are wrt the various Liars Party MPs & Senators, including the LOTO either under investigation or with legal action hanging over their heads, for various tawdry, dodgy dealings. All of whom seem to think they are entitled to the presumption of innocence, yet in the very same breath say that Craig Thomson, who is still just the subject of rumour and innuedo, should be denied that entitlement. Hypocrisy writ large. Jason @6.16pm, well, well. So the Great Big Cab Charge Scandal we didn't have to have has vanished into the ether never to be mentioned again........perhaps. I think it deserves an airing every so often, in QT.... 42 long @6.39pm, let's hope it does get to court. The thought of that sleazy mob sweating away as they're grilled warms the cockles of my feet. lol

Ad astra

15/05/2012Fiona That is interesting news: that Rebekah Brooks and her husband are to be charged with perverting the course of justice. But I couldn’t get the link to work. Jason That is interesting: that Ashby is dropping the Cabcharge accusations. Do you have a link? Like 42 long, I wonder what Pyne, Brough and Bishop will have to say if any of Ashby’s accusations get to court.

Ad astra

15/05/2012TT Thank you for the comments about the Bjelke-Petersen era. Michael Forde could not have been any clearer in defining the separation of powers, and Joh more confused, or perhaps more obfuscatory than he was.

Fiona

15/05/2012Ad astra, That's strange: it works perfectly for me. Do you possibly have something which is blocking such links? Maybe this will work for you: http://www.theage.com.au/world/rebekah-brooks-to-face-charges-20120515-1yosn.html As to Ashby, these two links - especially the second - may be of interest: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/bid-to-strike-out-slipper-cab-charge-claim-20120515-1yocc.html http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-15/slipper-staffer-files-court-claim/4013028 The second includes the amended statement of claim - which makes no reference to the "Cabcharges" accusation, and also omits most of the "juicier" bits from the original SoC. Over at Poll Bludger surmise is running rife - some on the money, in my opinion, some not - but I'd rather not try to summarise it now.

42 long

15/05/2012Jane, I like to think that "time wounds all heels. They have contributed zilch to the government of this country, since Abbott and his band of Tea Party and crazy side of USA Republican party clones, tried their rotten technique of ridicule, character assassination and disregard for proper conduct in the parliament. They should be ashamed to take their salaries. I have voted Liberal a few times in the past, but there is NO WAY that I could get close to voting for this mob of amateur unprincipalled pathetic actors. Politicising the refugee situation is the lowest act. They will never get away with turning back ONE boat.

Ad astra

15/05/2012Jane You are right. It will be informative to measure how much coverage Abbott being sued defamation receives in the media, and even more fascinating to see how much critical comment and analysis it get from the commentariat. Could you imagine how the media would light up and explode if it were Julia Gillard who was being sued for defamation??? Imagine what Dennis Shanahan and Michelle Grattan would write!

Fiona

15/05/2012As a last resort, Ad, go straight to the Guardian website - lots of fun going on there!

Jason

15/05/2012Aa, Ashby link http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-15/slipper-staffer-files-court-claim/4013028

Ad astra

15/05/2012Fiona Thank you for the links, all of which worked. What interesting developments these are, both here and overseas!

Psyclaw

15/05/2012AA The Ken Henry I/V was very good, due mainly to the style and wisdom of Mr H. Uhllman was better behaved, but he is indeed a poor interviewer. Not once did he ask a follow up question. He simply went through his prepared list. On many occasions Mr Henry's answers were very interesting .... I was hanging out for elaborations, but none were requested. Of great interest was Mr Henry's praise for the government's GFC response. This included his reflection that KR was well ahead of the game and anticipated what was coming even before Mr Henry did. As well Mr Henry said that the stimulus money was well done ..... fast and plenty ..... and that the important thing was that the $s were put quickly into the economy, not how or on what or how effectively it was spent. These latter aspects he said were about 3rd level considerations. Implicitly he criticised those who now retrospectively criticise such things as what it was spent on and whether there was value for money. These are the aspects I would have liked follow up questions about. Did they not come because it would have meant more praise for the government !!!!

Psyclaw

15/05/2012ToM [quote]Psyclaw - “Who built the buildings?”{/i] You’re missing the point, the downturn during the Asian Meltdown was as serious. The magnitude of the stimulus simply wasn’t justified on Swan’s own forecast. [/quote] Not according to Mr Henry. You are wrong, wrong, wrong.

Fiona

15/05/2012Psyclaw: [quote]These are the aspects I would have liked follow up questions about. Did they not come because it would have meant more praise for the government !!!![/quote] Ooooooooh cynical!!!!! Ad astra, thank you for your kind words :)

42 long

15/05/2012I agree with your summation of it. The LNP have done their best to discredit Henry. Didn't they say he was "unelected". Perhaps this stuff will gradually seep through to the person on the street. Hope springs eternal in the Human Breast

Russell in Glendale

15/05/2012Good evening everybody the 7:30 interview with Ken Henry was very good indeed. Very instructive, although I think Chris Uhlmann was way out of his depth intellectually. One of the points I took from the discussion, is that the government of the day at the beginning of the financial crisis was willing to take professional advice and act on it. This raises some very serious problems should an Abbott led government get up. The current financial climate globally is fragile. Mr Abbott would need to listen to impartial advice, be able to act on it, behave diplomatically to our asian neighbours and even help our customers in their time of need for our own good... Alas, I see this as far to difficult for someone so painted into an ideology with no where to move.

Ad astra

15/05/2012Russell in Glendale I share your apprehension about Tony Abbott’s readiness to take the sort of advice Ken Henry would give, or for that matter, that of his successor Martin Parkinson. Abbott has rubbished Henry and poured scorn on the Treasury. I expect that if elected Abbott would clean out the top echelons of Treasury and install people who would bend to his ideological position, and give him the answers we wanted. I agree with you that Uhlmann was out of his depth, and with Psyclaw that he asked only set questions and failed to follow up on Henry’s answers. Had he done so, the interview would have been even more informative. All I said about Uhlmann was that he was courteous and respectful, in contrast to his demeanour when interviewing the nation’s leader. That’s all!

42 long

15/05/2012A diplomat Abbott isn't and never will be. If he can speak well, he's keeping that a secret. I don't know what he is good for but that is the liberal party's problem. They are just going along for the ride thinking he will give them government. If he is ever prime minister, he will make us look like a mob of idiots, when he travels overseas. To get into the Republican party, you have to be a climate denier, see darwin as a threat. Believe in intelligent design, believe the universe is 6,700 years old, and never let any of your siblings marry a democrat. This would be amusing if it wasn't true

Casablanca

15/05/2012Psyclaw It is Dr Henry, not Mr Henry.include iduchMee

Casablanca

15/05/2012Oops! reCAPTURA playing tricks on me. Apologies.

Fiona

15/05/2012Dear Casablanca, This is emphatically not intended as a getting-at-you post, but I must say that it's far more polite - and hence more ironic - to refer to people in the political arena by their proper titles. I have been guilty of calling the former Prime Minister "Little Johnny" (among other things); I try now to refer to him always as "Mr Howard". And I deplore the habit especially of journalists of addressing (and calling) our present Prime Minister as "Julia", while almost invariably addressing (and calling) the LOTO as "Mr Abbott". Denigration in spades, even if (they might persuade themselves) subtle.

Ad astra reply

15/05/2012Folks No mention of Abbott defamation allegation on Lateline. Not newsworthy I suppose. Good night.

Fiona

15/05/2012Ad astra, How could one defame anyone who is simon-pure?

DMW

15/05/2012A sobering word or two re polling and the budget. [b]Newspoll versus the dollar[b] George Megalogenis @ Meganomics [i]THE mid- to late-1980s were glory days for Australian politics because policy pulled rank. The first test of a budget was how it was greeted by the financial market, not whether there would be any poll bounce for the government. Sadly, the machine has been ruling party politics for so long now that most people in parliament house would be unaware that screen jockeys still sit in judgement. Their verdict to date is fascinating.[/i] http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/meganomics/index.php/theaustralian/comments/newspoll_versus_the_dollar/

Psyclaw

16/05/2012Text of message to Lateline after tonight's episode. [quote]Ms Alberici said that the PM "lashed out" at the HSU, the media, and the opposition, in her ACTU speech today. Ms Gillard spoke slowly, quietly, and deliberately. At no time did she "lash out". Ms Alberici certainly saw a different speech to the one I did. Please use appropriate and non-inflammatory words. ABC comperes should lead by example, not just follow the rantings of shock jocks and commercial news writers.[/quote] On another front, is anyone else getting tired of Abbott's (Credlin's???) juvenile word associations. Every day there's another one. Tonight brought "The PM is governing on borrowed money and her government is living on borrowed time" ......deep!!! And "the PM is disgusted by CT, but she is not disgusted to accept his vote" ...... what oratorial skills!!! Listen tomorrow ..... there'll be more of his "quality" debating vocabulary and wordsmith "skills".

jane

16/05/2012Ad astra @9.09pm, if the boot was indeed on the other foot, Grattan would have to wear incontinence underwear. As for the Liars, it doesn't bear thinking about. I read an amusing comment on a delimiter link a little while ago. There was a discussion about whether Liealot knows he's lying or that he's just been fed the lines to say. One of the commenters wrote: [quote]I don’t think Tony Abbott is lying at all. That would imply he knows what the hell he is talking about.[/quote] I found it highly amusing, yet terrifying. This idiot could be our next PM.

Casablanca

16/05/201242 long The LNP would know that Ken Henry was 'unelected' because he was appointed to the position of Treasury Secretary by their esteemed Treasurer, Mr Costello. But for the LNP to admit that would be letting facts get in the way of a put-down or rant. Fiona I accept that you make a very different point to the one that I was making. Psyclaw downgraded Ken Henry’s title and academic status to ‘Mr’. Obviously, he was not attempting the sort of ‘politeness’ – ie excessive, ironic or annoying politeness, that you describe which can be a powerful verbal weapon. Ad Astra referred to Dr Henry as Ken Henry and that is perfectly acceptable: clearly, my remark was not directed at him. Given your earlier inter-change today with Psyclaw about your shared background in psychology and the law I thought that this was odd for him to be inaccurate and to repeat the error several times. Another interesting issue comes up with the inappropriate use of honorary titles. I read somewhere recently about Clive Palmer using the title of Professor. I had previously heard him called ‘the professor’ and took this to be ironic. It turns out that he was appointed as an Adjunct Professor at Bond University. However, Clive did not understand that he is not entitled to style himself as Professor outside of the University context and in other proscribed circumstances. Ad Astra The ABC 7pm News in Canberra carried a mention of the defamation action against Tony Abbott. I don't recall how far into the bulletin it came. It was the lead item on the 4pm News on Classic FM and was mentioned on later broadcasts on that network.

Psyclaw

16/05/2012 Casablanca [quote]Psyclaw downgraded Ken Henry’s title and academic status to ‘Mr’..........I thought that this was odd for him to be inaccurate and to repeat the error several times[/quote] There was no downgrade intended. I have only ever heard him referred to as Ken Henry. Whilst I am not surprised that he is indeed Dr Henry, the fact is we all live and learn. I am aware of Dr Emerson, Dr Hewson and a couple of other hi profile government /PS PhDs, but I must confess that I haven't studied who has what qualification in depth, nor do I intend doing so. I am confident you will take the opportunity to point out another example of my crassness on a future occasion. [quote]"Given your earlier inter-change today with Psyclaw about your shared background in psychology and the law I thought that this was odd for him to be inaccurate and to repeat the error several times."[/quote] I am surprised to learn that psychology and the law are paragons of academic etiquette.

jane

16/05/2012Psyclaw @12.34am, Enema Alberici is another smart@rsed low talent opposition echo chamber like Uhlmann, imo. I hadn't had the displeasure of seeing her in action until she interviewed Roxon. She was rude, disrespectful and obnoxious, shouting over the top of Roxon, displaying the same deplorable "interviewing style" as Uhlmann. You will note that I call her Enema, because that is the effect she has on me.

Casablanca

16/05/2012Psyclaw, I did not call you crass. I was just surprised that you did not know that Ken Henry has a PhD in Economics. My surprise is based on my enjoyment of your past contributions and my respect for your observations. And Yes, I confess that in my experience, lawyers, are very fond of words and are usually forensic in their comments on any matter. I confess too that this lack of use of a person’s correct title is one of my bugbears. Two ABC anchors referred to Ken Henry today as Mr Henry so when you referred to him, not once, but several times in the same way I pounced. I do not think that there is any excuse for professional political commentators to not know the correct title of people and events on which they report. However, I guess that I over-stepped the mark in my extended comments about you in responding to Fiona. My apologies, Psyclaw. ps Clive Palmer is crass if he does in fact use the title Professor on his mining business letterhead when it is an honorary title.

Cuppa

16/05/2012Latest post at new blog, [i][b]The ABC Has Gone To Hell[/i][/b].... [b]More evidence of the sad decline of the once reputable 7.30 Report[/b] http://the-abc-has-gone-to-hell.tumblr.com/post/23101098411/more-evidence-of-the-sad-decline-of-the-once-reputable

Lyn

16/05/2012TODAY’S LINKS What to make of confusing employment figures?, Greg Jericho, The Drum When we seek to find one overall figure, we have become used to the unemployment rate; but for mine, when the labour figures come out, check the employment to population ratio to get a bigger and also more accurate picture of how the economy is going http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4012728.html How Jackson, Lawler and Abbott tangled Thomson with the HSU, Independent Australia The mind boggles as to how someone who is a former employers’ barrister in their disputes with unions and was appointed to the AIRC by Tony Abbott as well as allegedly being a personal friend, is able to allegedly hack the emails of a Union official and then make a criminal complaint regarding this Union even while being the Vice President of http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/how-the-hsu-tangled-jackson-lawler-and-thomson-with-abbott/ The Damage Done , Sally Piracha ,Only the Depth Varies Right now, if given a choice, many Australians wouldn’t vote for either of the major parties. In the past three months, the Labor primary has decreased from 35% to 30%...but while the Coalition primary has been above 50%, it's fallen back to 45%, exactly where it was three months ago. The Greens have picked up a whole percentage point, but “others” have picked up 4% .http://onlythedepthvaries.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/damage-done.html?spref=tw Staffer files formal claim against Slipper, ABC The staff member who has made accusations against House of Representatives Speaker Peter Slipper has filed a formal statement of claim in the Federal Court.A directions hearing for the case, launched by former adviser James Ashby, is due to be held on Friday. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-15/slipper-staffer-files-court-claim/4013028 Abbott sued for defamation – his vote is tainted, he must stand down, Turn Left 2013 Tony Abbott has systematically targeted the most powerful unions in the country, in an attempt to destabilise them in order to undermine their support for Labor. Abbott has said he will reintroduce Australian Building and Construction Commission which removed workplace rights for people in the construction industry. http://turnleft2013.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/abbott-sued-for-defamation-his-vote-is-tainted-he-must-stand-down/ The captive ABC and the tyranny of balance, Independent Australia Balance’ in the ABC has also become a kind of tyranny. The ideal of ‘balance’ leads journalists to give minority, sometimes inaccurate and often ultra-conservative views more credence than they deserve. We are in desperate need of transparency about the ABC’s use of think tanks for commentary and the use of their http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/business/media-2/the-captive-abc-and-the-tyranny-of-balance/ NO GUTS NO GLORY: Liberal students urging party leadership to revive WorkChoices, Vex News In a signal many grassroots Liberals are growing more and more confident of an historic and massive electoral triumph in next year’s election, the University of West Australia’s Liberal Club has unanimously carried a motion urging the re-adoption of once controversial labour WorkChoices by the next Coalition government. http://www.vexnews.com/2012/05/no-guts-no-glory-liberal-students-urging-party-leadership-to-revive-workchoices/ Do We Need A Pollies' Code Of Conduct?, Ben Eltham, New Matilda How seriously does the electorate take codes of conduct anyway? Few voters understand the existing rules enshrined in the Constitution, such as the one about parliamentarians being disqualified if bankrupt, or convicted of a crime with a sentence of more than a year in prison. As for the parliament’s standing orders — http://newmatilda.com/2012/05/15/do-we-need-pollies-code-conduct Attention Tony Abbott: Indonesia wants collaboration, not confrontation , Colin Brown, The Conversation Abbott has recently announced three things. First, he would go to Jakarta in his first week as Prime Minister to advise Indonesia that his government would turn asylum-seeker boats back to Indonesia.Second, he would tell Indonesia that he regards people smugglers with the same seriousness as Indonesia regards drug smugglers. http://theconversation.edu.au/attention-tony-abbott-indonesia-wants-collaboration-not-confrontation-6817 Why a code of conduct won’t change Craig Thomson, Kath Walters, The Power Index code of conduct will not make a person behave ethically, but a code of ethics might, an ethics expert with over 20 years' experience says. And it provides a valuable framework for dealing with offenders against it. http://www.thepowerindex.com.au/analysis/why-a-code-of-conduct-wont-change-craig-thomson Roll Up! Roll Up! Clown On Parade!, Niall Cook, The Bannerman All we ever see, read or hear from Abbott is endless moaning in the ‘we-wuz-robbed’ vein, supported by scare tactics which are baseless and aimed directly at the gullible, politically ignorant sector of Australia’s voter cohort, which coincidentially also happens to be socially conservative in philosophical outlook. http://waddayano.org/wp/?p=1404 The Convergence Review: regulation of media and Internet content, Martyn Taylor, On Line Opinion the Report recommends the retention but refinement of Australia’s media ownership rules. New rules would be based on a ‘minimum number of owners’, so that a minimum number of CSE would provide news and commentary in each local market. The minimum number would be determined with regard to historic rules and market concentration. http://www.onlineopinion.com.au/view.asp?article=13614 Policy Perfection- Isn’t It Great When Policy Plans Work! Stephen Koukoulas, Market Economics Never, never before has Australia had, simultaneously, 2.1% inflation, 4.9% unemployment rate, budget surpluses, a 3.75% official cash rate, 2% growth in real wages and economic growth on track to hit 3%.Long may these continue. http://www.marketeconomics.com.au/category/uncategorized Charges laid against Rebekah Brooks – the daughter Rupert Murdoch wishes he’d had, Richard Farmer, The Stump May I remind all concerned that these six individuals now will be charged with criminal offences and that each has a right to a fair trial. It is very important that nothing is said, or reported, which could prejudice that trial http://blogs.crikey.com.au/thestump/ The Critical Decade: NSW Climate Change Report Released, Australian Politics.. Com The Climate Commission has released a report on New South Wales climate impacts and opportunities http://australianpolitics.com/2012/05/14/the-critical-decade-report.html WWF: Australians living well beyond planet’s means, David Twomey, Eco News WWF points out that if everyone on the planet lived like the average Australian, it would take 3.76 planets to support the world population.The global organisation says the findings underscore the critical importance to Australia of staying the course on pricing carbon, in the face of short-sighted resistance. http://econews.com.au/featured/wwf-australians-living-well-beyond-planet%e2%80%99s-means/ Is Abbott consciously lying on NBN costs?, Renai LeMay, Delimeter As a journalist, you can only point out when a politician is mistaken on an issue so many times before you have to draw the conclusion that the politician is deliberately ignoring commentary on the issue and is choosing to, as Conroy put it last week, “wilfully mislead” — in layman’s speech, ‘lie’ — to Australians. When that politician is an important a figure as the Leader of the Opposition, that is a very serious issue indeed. Right now, on the NBN, Tony Abbott is on very shaky ground — and it may just be on the verge of collapsing underneath him. http://delimiter.com.au/2012/05/14/is-abbott-consciously-lying-on-nbn-costs/ Does Australia Really Want The NBN?, Michael Wyres When you subtract all the “tasty soundbites” from each of the government, the opposition, and the various slants of the major news outlets, and actually listen to Australians, it is wanted andit is needed.And listening to what people want sounds like a reasonable idea to me. http://michaelwyres.com/2012/05/does-australia-really-want-the-nbn/ Think I Smell A Rat, Wixxy, Wixxy Leaks HR Nicholls Society’s website shows just how close the ties are with the Liberal Party. Peter Reith is a board member, other notable names on the list of who contribute to this society are, Tony Abbott, Eric Abetz, Peter Costello, Michael Kroger… the list goes on and on, even Andrew Bolt gets a mention.Jackson is even due to be guest of honour and give a speech at the HR Nicholls Society annual dinner on June 12th. http://wixxy.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/i-think-i-smell-a-rat/ I Don’t Believe Him! Do You? He’s Guilty!”, Patricia wa, Polliepomes No one has asked if he has had any input at all into the recently produced FWA damning report about Thomson which has given Tony Abbott more ammunition in his publicity onslaught on Julia Gillard’s government. Even more recently it emerges that Michael Lawler is a long term friend of Abbott’s through Opus Dei. http://polliepomes.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/i-dont-believe-him-do-you-hes-guilty/ Video Tony Abbott , Whatever It Is, I’m Against It http://australianpolitics.com/2012/05/15/whatever-it-is-im-against-it.html Address to the Australian Council of Trade Unions Congress http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2kqWBM3QwQ&feature=g-all-u

Lyn

16/05/2012TODAY'S FRONT PAGES Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 16 May 2012 http://www.frontpagestoday.co.uk/index.cfm?PaperCountry=Australia

Ad astra

16/05/2012LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

TalkTurkey

16/05/2012[i]Enema[/i] Alberici LOL! [Anal Jones Bumbolt Wormtongue jones Crassidy Ol' Coke Bottles OOman Trivioli Toady Oakes Pigs Ackerman Glen Milne the Drunken Thug Annabelle the Slyly-Sidling Crabbe (More!) Then there's all the politicians Abbortt Poo-Poo the Mincing Poodle Trussszzzzz Vampirella Mesma Sloppy Joe Poor ol' Andrew Robb Rhyming slang (Hunt) Morriscum Barnyard More! I DO use insulting nicknames wherever applicable! But Casablanca, I'm sure Psyclaw meant no slight by using Mr instead of Dr, in fact it's probably the Media's fault because they always use Ken Henry, wouldn't want to give him any more credibility than they can avoid! Unlike the Opposition in the time of (my one-time Politics lecturer and tutor) Dr Neal Blewett, Ph D (or was it D. Phil?): they always, (and deliberately insultingly), referred to him as Mr. His was one of the sharpest minds ever to confront me.

Psyclaw

16/05/2012Casablanca All's well. Cheers

Psyclaw

16/05/2012Cuppa The 7.30 Report is surely going to hell in a handbag and is almost at it's destination. But I do think Leigh Sales can turn it around. Here's hoping. Lateline is in hot pursuit and only millimetres behind. The way Ms Alberici is going, it'll meet the grim reaper first. There is no "Leigh Sales" waiting in the wings to save it, and of course TJ does not lift the game at all on his nights there

Psyclaw

16/05/2012Casablanca All's well. Cheers

Psyclaw

16/05/2012Casablanca Sorry, I thought I'd lost the first one and now a refresh has brought up two.

Psyclaw

16/05/2012Rebekah Brooks says she is "outraged" at being charged, and that this was not a "proper initial assessment" by the Prosecution Dept. her hubby says it's an "unjust sideshow" to the main game. On the other hand Mr"Brooks" ????? , perhaps this is actually the main event. Why else would you get rid of so much evidence at such a critical time in the unfolding of it all if there was not at least a slight feeling of guilt on RB's part. This may be the own goal of the year. RB says she didn't know , but is caught hiding the info showing that she did know (of the hacking). BTW, her "outrage" and criticism of the process may be portents of what could happen here. Can anyone guess which media tarting lady will come up with similar words if required. Try HSU for a clue!

Ad astra

16/05/2012Good Morning Lyn I've begun working through your great set of links, and wanted to draw attention to the second one, which is about the web of connections around Kathy Jackson. It may be largely scuttlebutt, but it is an intriguing read. It is relevant to the Craig Thomson affair. Anyone interested can find it at the Independent Australia website: http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/how-the-hsu-tangled-jackson-lawler-and-thomson-with-abbott/

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16/05/2012Have you noticed how up close and personal J Bishop is with Kev Rudd? Rudd might have bursts of brilliance but his judgement is real suss. I shuddered when he went to Afghanistan and publicly described it as this ***forsaken place. This man is a diplomat?

GrannyAnny

16/05/2012I am deeply troubled by the content of the article in Lyn's link to the independentaustralia site. It may indeed be scuttlebutt but this is not the first time these sorts of connections have been noted outside the main media. Surely the Government is aware of this sort of stuff. Although the outcomes of Royal Commissions are difficult to predict I think the time is right to examine the connections between the media and their owners, their think tanks, and the people who influence what happens in this country. I have E-mailed the PM to say so. Another that troubles me greatly is the number of married people in Government, the media (especially) and other organisations where we have no idea they are partners because they use different surnames.

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16/05/2012I think we should all be troubled because increasingly with politics, thinga are rarely what they are made out to be. If you are not a skeptic now you soon will (should) be.Your opinion is constantly being "shaped" deiberately by some very clever and well rewarded manipulators.

Patriciawa

16/05/2012Thank you for the link to the Independent Australia story. Finally, Ad Astra, someone has tied together and published the threads of a story which has made me unhappy for a long time. Those uneasy peelings plunged to their depths on Monday evening when Tim Costello joined the national lynch mob determined to condemn Craig Thomson on the Q&A program. Whatever part he has played in that unhappy saga is yet to be determined. Until he is charged and formally tried he is entitled to the presumption of innocence. That basic principle aside, for me there has always been something murky about the personal and political connections and behaviour of his accuser, the so-called whistleblower. This story has raised issues of criminal, legal and constitutional matters intertwined with our current political situation. Throughout all of that is our losing sight of the simply Aussie belief in a fair go. Craig Thomson's family deserve that. And so does he! This is the 21st century not the Middle Ages when suspected wrong doers were dragged through the streets, pilloried and placed in the stocks as form of public entertainment. “No, I don’t believe him!” said Reverend Tim, As if weight of judgement lay with him. Thousands watching shared his thought, Nationwide jury in a kangaroo court. Outrage required a penalty be paid, To be decided once a charge was laid. Meanwhile the rack will do, or pillory, In full sight of his friends and family. His accuser, once colleague, is feted, Whistleblower, congratulated, With much to gain and nothing to lose She stars in many media interviews. Seems she’d long sought that in years before. Obviously needn’t seek it any more. So why have journalists no suspicions As she’s taken up by politicians? We need research, more facts on this lady. Her lover's connections all seem shady. Find out how they impact on justice and the law. Isn’t that what freedom of the press is for? http://polliepomes.wordpress.com/2012/05/15/i-dont-believe-him-do-you-hes-guilty/

Patriciawa

16/05/2012Sorry - [b]uneasy feelings[/b] I think that's an overhang from another metaphor I wanted to use of his being dragged through the streets and pelted with rotten eggs and vegetable peelings!

Ad astra

16/05/2012PatriciaWA Your poem is apt and clever. Perhaps some of Thomson's accusers will experience some uneasy peelings!

Lyn

16/05/2012Good Morning Ad I have just finished picking through the Twitterverse for everybody. Kathy Jackson's ties to Tony Abbott are astounding, wonder will the truth come out or fade into thin air unreported by the MSM. Seems Campbell Newman is getting himself into trouble. Big time Charlie it was bound to happen.. Amy Simmons‏@amesimmons Protesters chant "always was, always will be Aboriginal land" on way to Parliament House https://twitter.com/#!/amesimmons/status/202562714600611843/photo/1 julie boyd‏ Outstanding article on the grace of Penny Wong, discomfort of Hockeys personal vs party n state of political punditry http://theconversation.edu.au/penny-wong-joe-hockey-and-the-dire-state-of-political-punditry-7039?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=tweetbutton&utm_campaign=article-top Financial Review‏@FinancialReview Parliamentary report to recommend the AFP set up unit to counter growing threat to Oz #superannuation assets [free] http://bit.ly/JFFThH Stephen Mayne‏@MayneReport George Mega got a bit twitchy when I launched a big spray at the News Ltd jihad on Rudd/Gillard last night. Listen here http://download.wheelercentre.com/120514_FifthEstate_BoomTimeBudget.mp3 stevie3070‏ Ashby slipper thompson morosi cairns gillard whitlam fraser abbott vincelgair rexconnor khemlani stranger than fiction http://m.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/slipper-accuser-drops-taxis-claims-20120515-1yp33.html Mr Denmore‏ Ross Gittins says Robin Hood budget not before time http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/robin-hood-budget-not-before-time-20120515-1yor0.html via @smh PB‏@youngapprentice @TonyAbbottMHR standing down over civil action for defamation? http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/abbott-to-defend-defamation-claims-20120515-1yp4o.html If not SHUT the F&C* UP about #slipper and #thomson Doktor_ ABBOTT & HOCKEY LAMBASTED AS ECONOMIC INCOMPETENTS - AGAIN Spreading the love to buy votes? So what, it was about time http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/spreading-the-love-to-buy-votes-so-what-it-was-about-time-20120515-1youa.html The Australian‏ Unionists to fund new campaign war chest: UNION members will contribute tens of millions of dollars to an electi... http://bit.ly/KtZh2O The Wall Australia‏ The world is watching, Brisbane. And so far, what we see is a reanimation of the corpses of the Bjelke-Petersen... http://thewall.com.au/topics/74051-the-world-is-watching-brisbane-and-so-r ABC News‏ Rebekah Brooks lashes out after being charged with conspiring to pervert the course of justice http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-16/brooks-lashes-out-at-charges/4013592 John Nugent‏ This incredible letter from Labour MP Michael Meacher is doing the rounds on Facebook, and, well, shit. Just read it. https://twitter.com/#!/mr_nugent/status/200527054972784640/photo/1 George‏ SteveCannane Ashby has abandoned cab fare charges in late claim just lodged Possum Comitatus‏@Pollytics Now after endless tantrums demanding Thomson and Slipper stand aside over civil matters, Abbott gets one slapped on him o_O ManO'Steel Abbott sued for defamation! Will he stand aside until this civil matter is determined? #auspol #double #standards #LNP Paul?‏ So... will Tony Abbott be stepping aside for a while, just to make sure the parliament isn't brought into further alleged disrepute? #auspol walabytrack‏ John Setka issues defamation writ against Tony Abbott - http://m.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/union-official-sues-abbott-for-defamation-20120515-1yofb.html. STAND DOWN TONY Fit & Proper Geek Breaking: Clown Counsel Brandis says that Mr Abbott should be afforded the presumption of innocence according to the rule of law. #auspol Possum Comitatus‏ Looking forward to Tony Abbott standing aside until the civil matter against him reaches a conclusion o_O Fit & Proper Geek‏@geeksrulz Now that Tony Abbott's vote is tainted by a civil suit, will the LNP abstain from accepting it in Parliament? :):):):)

Gravel

16/05/2012Patriciawa Have sent usual email about your great latest pome. Where is the media on these links with Abbott and the FWA bloke? I will not hold my breath waiting to hear or read anything there. Saw the aboriginal protest on the tele this morning. One would have thought that after the apology for past wrongs that we would not have to apologise again, but that was a forlorn hope on my part. Our Prime Minister, Julia, gave a very uplifting and inspiring speech and the Union Conference. Sadly it was distorted and had shots of people sleeping on ABC footage. I would go so far as to say that that footage was from some other event. I got very angry. Will this propaganda ever cease? I think I know the answer to my own question.

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16/05/2012To reverend Tim. Judge not lest ye be judged... Let he who is without sin ,cast the first stone. This is from the book you quote,no doubt. I have resoect for the work you do, but that was not your finest moment.

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16/05/2012What the ABC is doing is self serving. They (like many) think the LNP will get in easy and are currying favour with a party that is not Known for it's love of the ABC. There is no other explanation Do you need one?

Lyn

16/05/2012Hi Ad ABC has Joe Hockey on The Press Club @ 12.30pm, questions might be interesting:- ABC News 24‏@ABCNews24 Today's National Press Club address will be a budget reply speech from Shadow Treasurer @JoeHockey. 12.30pm AEST on :):)

Fiona

16/05/2012Ad astra, The piece in Independent Australia is deeply troubling. I recommend that all here read the full article, of which IA's piece is a shorter version (already linked by Lyn): http://wixxy.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/i-think-i-smell-a-rat/

LadyInRed

16/05/2012Thanks Lyn for the fantastic links. The captive ABC is a great article. Indonesia wants collaboration - fancy that. [i]“May I remind all concerned that these six individuals now will be charged with criminal offences and that each has a right to a fair trial. It is very important that nothing is said, or reported, which could prejudice that trial. For these reasons it would be inappropriate for me to comment further.”[/i] So well said - Abbott and journalists take note. For this reason alone I can't see Slipper or Thompson getting a fair trial should it come to that. Is Abbott consciously lying about the NBN – dah? Like all ignorant people he believes what he wants to, and if his staffers tell him what he wants to hear all the better – I doubt he checks anything. Why should he when it appears the public simply wants to believe him. [i]“Tony Abbott should check his facts before delivering a national address in the Australian Parliament.” Right now, in reporting comments by the Opposition on the National Broadband Network, I — and no doubt other journalists — are facing an uncomfortable decision. When do you stop reporting that a leading political figure is ‘misleading’ Australia on a certain issue, has made a ‘factually inaccurate’ statement, or is simply ‘mistaken’, and start reporting instead that that politician is deliberately ‘lying’ on an issue in public, for political gain? As a journalist, you can only point out when a politician is mistaken on an issue so many times before you have to draw the conclusion that the politician is deliberately ignoring commentary on the issue and is choosing to, as Conroy put it last week,[/i] Gosh journalists are pretty fearless when they the tag the PM with the liar liar pants on fire tag!

TalkTurkey

16/05/2012Anyone watching SloppyJoe Hovkey floundering like a beached whale through his disaster of a Press Club address is watching the tide go out on the LNP's chances. Coke Bottles' question as I write. Weak questions but complete lard for answers. Hockey has NO IDEA!

Lyn

16/05/2012Hi Lady In Red We have got a gang of Sweetie's on our blog and you are one of them. I love your contributions, don't stop will you. The Captive ABC by Independent Australia is a brilliant article: Balance’ in the ABC has also become a kind of tyranny Independent Australia http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/business/media-2/the-captive-abc-and-the-tyranny-of-balance/ Lots of cheers :):):):):)

2353

16/05/2012To borrow the headline - "Here we Joh Again" http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/blogs/blunt-instrument/here-we-joh-again-protest-divides-city-along-familiar-lines-20120516-1yq49.html

Shirley

16/05/2012Talk Turkey, Yes I watched the "sloppy Joe" Mr Hockey flounder through the Press Club, couldn't help but notice all the peole in the audience who where asleep or nodding off. When asked a question from Channel 10 he responded with the opening "I didn't expect a question like that from Channel 10" That is the secong time i have heard him respond more or less admitting bias takes place towards the opposition. I agree with you it was watching the "tide go out". I have read a few of Lyn's daily links re the HSU. So much doesn't pass the decency test. Having had personal experience of a workplace where a whistle blower was given a moral licence by all I took away from that a realization that there is always two sides to a story and what is reported and claimed is never the full story. Lets the courts decide and a royal commission to tease out any possible corruption. My thoughts are with the families, and HSU members.

Lyn

16/05/2012Hi Talk Turkey Yes I watched Joe Hockey, and thought to myself "within 20 minutes of his address, I could do that just get up and say all the things I would do. No need to mention how or where the money will come from, "it just will " Outsanding questions there were 2 If you were reliant on Craig Thomson's vote would you accept it, Hockey "would be hard to refuse" so in other words they would accept his vote if it would bring down the Governent. If you were a minority Government Mr Hockey would you compromise Hockey " well I don't like the Independents I don't trust them" or words to that effect in other words Mr Hockey will not compromise. That is my insignificant opinion but read the heavies:- Stephen Koukoulas‏ Joe Hockey's speech should scare every investor in Australia ... the internal inconsistencies are mind numbing. Justin Barbour‏@justinbarbour OH JOE. Hockey said would be difficult for them to refuse Thomson's vote. TheFinnigans TonyAbbottMHR Your Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey has said at #npc that he will accept a tainted vote. Will you? Greg Jericho‏@GrogsGamut Hockey stating the Libs will try to block the debt ceiling increase. A move straight out of the tea party playbook... #npc Report from AEC:- Latika Bourke ‏ DobellThommo: AEC report clearly shows FWA got it wrong on electoral expenses. Wonder how widely that gets reported!” ManO'Steel(town)‏@berkeleyboy Thomson cleared by #AEC. Is this due process in action? Can't wait to hear Abbott's response. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/craig-thomson-cleared-by-electoral-authorities-over-most-of-spending-of-union-funds-on-seat/story-fn59niix-1226357699045?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAustralianNewsNDM+%28The+Australian+%7C+News+%7C%29 The Australian‏ Abbott dismisses defamation 'stunt': OPPOSITION L eader Tony Abbott says a union leader's defamation case against... http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/tony-abbott-dismisses-defamation-case-as-politically-motivated-stunt/story-fn59niix-1226357715233?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheAustralianNewsNDM+%28The+Australian+%7C+News+%7C%29 :):):):)

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16/05/2012Could anyone be expected to put up with more workplace harrassment than Julia Gillard does, knowing that she will be misquoted everytime she speaks by the opposition who bastardise question time by moving suspension of standing orders when it is being broadcast nationally, at usually about 20 minutes before it goes off the air, to get a FREE KICK of prepared diatribe at the PM. This has been done over 50 times, now. How much would you have to pay for that advertising at market rates? Why do the thinking people lose interest. Talk about respect for Parliament. You wouldn't know what it meant Abbott. The US Replicans that you model your party on will take a while to get over George W Bush. The libs will pay for your behaviour too everything you have done is out there to haunt you. What will you say when your grandkids ask What did you do when the climate started to go bad Poppy?

NormanK

16/05/2012[b]Liberal MPs break ranks[/b] by Staff reporters Canberra Daily Made-up In breaking news from Canberra this paper can reveal that a split has emerged in the Liberal Party over the responsibilities of MPs to behave in accordance with a generally accepted informal code of conduct. Yesterday Tony Abbott had a civil action launched against him in the Victorian Supreme Court for alleged defamation of a senior union official. Mr Abbott has protested his innocence describing the action as a "blatant political try on". However, Senator George Brandis, a Queen's Counsel and therefore eminently qualified to speak on such matters, has broadsided Mr Abbott's reliance on the presumption of innocence by declaring it to be a dangerous and deliberately disingenuous interpretation of the term as it applies to civil actions. In an article in The Australian on Tuesday Senator Brandis said "(i)t is always dangerous when legal doctrines are taken hostage by politicians and sharpened into rhetorical weapons. A great deal of nonsense has been talked about the presumption of innocence ..... As respected Brisbane QC Tony Morris pointed out in The Spectator Australia this week, the presumption of innocence is a legal rule about the burden of proof in criminal trials. It exists only within the context of a criminal trial and can be understood only as an aspect of the laws governing criminal evidence and procedure. Since the presumption of innocence applies only to the criminal law, it has no relevance to civil claims." Senior Liberal sources have stated off the record that this amounts to an attack by Senator Brandis on Mr Abbott and may in fact be the precursor to a leadership challenge especially if Mr Abbott refuses to stand aside while the charges against him are being heard. Mr Abbott has been vociferous in his calls for MP Craig Thomson to stand aside and not vote in the House while investigations are underway into misuse of HSU funds. No charges have been laid against Mr Thomson. Mr Abbott has described Mr Thomson's vote as 'tainted' and 'bringing the parliament into disrepute'. Factional heavyweights opposed to Mr Abbott's leadership have criticised him for hiding behind Julia Gillard's skirts by making self-serving use of her interpretation of the presumption of innocence in a desperate attempt to cling on to power at any cost. In a further blow to Mr Abbott's authority, Christopher Pyne, the Leader of Opposition Business in the House, has said today that the Coalition would take "whatever action is needed to protect the integrity of the House". Mr Abbott's office was unavailable for comment at the time of going to press.

Lyn

16/05/2012Hi Ad and Everybody Latest news on the Jackson scandal Union halts HSU whistleblower Kathy Jackson's address to conservative thinktank by: Lanai Vasek From: The Australian May 16, 2012 10:57AM The HR Nicholls Society is an anti-worker organisation and anyone who would identify as being a union person should have nothing to do with them,” the motion stated “Accordingly, HSU East notes with grave concern that the executive president intends to address a gala dinner of this anti-union hate group. “Further, we direct the executive president not to attend any meeting of the HR Nicholls Society on the grounds that its objectives include undermining unionism, collective action and the legal framework that protects workers' rights at work.” “Accordingly, HSU East notes with grave concern that the executive president intends to address a gala dinner of this anti-union hate group. “Further, we direct the executive president not to attend any meeting of the HR Nicholls Society on the grounds that its objectives include undermining unionism, collective action and the legal framework that protects workers' rights at work.” http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/industrial-relations/union-halts-hsu-whistleblower-kathy-jacksons-address-to-conservative-thinktank/story-fn59noo3-1226357496879 :):):)

Ad astra

16/05/2012Folks Here is the transcript of Joe Hockey’s address to the MPC today, taken from the Liberal Party website: http://www.liberal.org.au/Latest-News/2012/05/16/Post-Budget-Address.aspx You will see that the first two thirds is simply a repeat of the Coalition’s criticisms of the Swan Budget – nothing new there. The next third is a series of platitudinous statement about the Coalition’s ‘Economic Plan’. Sweeping statements abound; details are sparce: 1. Improve Public Finances - achieve a surplus in our first year in office and…achieve a surplus for every year of our first term. - surpluses will be real. They will not be based on moving payments and revenue around in the same way this Government has in the Budget. - release all of our costed and verified policies and savings prior to the election day. (In response to a question from Peter Martin, he would not commit to when.) - meet with senior public servants to identify the real commercial value of the NBN and the Clean Energy Finance Corporation… - absolutely committed to the full privatisation of Medibank Private… - immediately commence our program to consolidate Departments including merging the Department of Climate Change into the Department of Environment. - Commission of Audit will report on the findings of its top-to-bottom independent review of public spending to identify savings and efficiencies. - initiate greater transparency in the budget numbers by publishing the structural deficit position in the Budget Papers and MYEFO each year. - in the first 100 days I will initiate a meeting with my Treasury counterparts in the States and Territories… to better Commonwealth State Relations. I will make further announcements on other measures prior to the election. 2. Lower and Simpler Taxation The second pillar in our economic growth plan will be to have lower and simpler taxes. - first task will be to repeal the Carbon Tax. - also repeal the Mining Tax. - offer personal tax cuts on today’s personal tax rates that will not be funded by a carbon tax, but by prudent savings in Government expenditure. - offer a modest cut in company taxes. This too will be funded from the Budget and will not be funded by a carbon or mining tax. - there will be a levy on large business to fund our participation enhancing Paid Parental Leave Scheme. - overall taxes will be lower under the Coalition when compared with Labor in the same financial year. Good tax administration is almost as important as the tax policies we put in place. Today I am also announcing a Coalition initiative that will provide the Tax office with a greater understanding of the practical implications of ATO decisions. The Commissioner’s governance of the ATO is supported by three Second Commissioners of Taxation. The Commissioner and the Second Commissioners are seven year, statutory appointments. The Coalition will expand the number of Second Commissioners. This initiative is just the start, I can foreshadow that the Coalition will have more to say in the policy space of tax administration ahead of the next election. 3. Boost Productivity - Coalition has a compelling strategy to help lift productivity. As the election approaches we will provide more detail on our six point productivity plan to grow the economic pie, and to provide incentives for innovation and investment. - will undertake genuine welfare reform that will lift participation in work. We will also insist on work for the dole and there will be our Green Corps as part of our Direct Action Climate Change Policy. - will be public sector reform to deliver better, more cost-effective services, including by repairing the now calcified Commonwealth State reform process. - will be red and green tape reduction to cut business regulatory costs by at least $1 billion a year. And Tony Abbott recently announced a new one stop shop for environmental approvals for major construction projects, whilst maintaining high environmental standards. - will be competition reform to ensure that large and small businesses are competing on a genuinely level playing field. - will be infrastructure reform to ensure best value from Commonwealth spending. This will include mandatory cost/benefit analysis for projects over $100m. - will be labour market reform to encourage higher pay for better work, including a re-instatement of the ABCC with all of its previous powers and resources. 4. Closer Engagement with Asia - closer engagement with the world’s fastest growing economic region across Asia. - we should be looking to broaden our trade links in services such as tourism, education, health and financial services. Tony Abbott added to these commitments in his Budget in Reply speech by pledging to work with State Governments to boost the number of year 12 school students studying foreign languages - particularly Asian languages - to 40 per cent within a decade. This very important initiative will enable more person to person commerce particularly in the services sectors. Conclusion Then came the concluding flourish ending with “We want a government that provides all Australians with hope for the future, reward for hard work and innovation, and opportunity for a better life.” Most questions were soft and answered vaguely or were deliberatively evasively. Very little extra was derived from question time. It will be interesting to read how it is reported, especially by those reporters with whom he tried to curry favour by handing them compliments. Altogether, it was an archetypical Hockey speech. Lots of bluster, an abundance of stereotypical criticism of the Government’s Budget, a broad but largely platitudinous outline of the Coalition’s ‘Economic Plan’, with some, but not much detail, and one new initiative about additional Commissioners of Taxation. There was little about how his Economic Plan would be implemented. He ended with a fine-sounding coda and gave largely evasive answers to mainly limp questions, several from sycophantic journalists. Judge for yourself. Then let’s see how the media judges it.

Ad astra

16/05/2012Hi Lyn Judging from your tweets, Joe's address didn't get much of a rating! NormanK Clever and apt satire. I must subscribe to [i]Canberra Daily Made-up[/i].

Ad astra

16/05/2012Hi Lyn What an interesting article about Kathy Jackson's intended address to the H R NIcholls Society. The tangled web gets more tangled by the day.

BSA Bob

16/05/2012Norman K at 2.48 Good stuff!, saw it first on PB & came here to congratulte you as I often see you here. P.S. Nice gravtar. I keep thinking of getting a better one, Talk Turkey & I discussed this some while back but I slacked off as usual & forgot about it. How's it done folks, & is there a cost?

Lyn

16/05/2012Hi Ad Bushfire Bill's post on Kathy Jackson, brilliant as normal: Also, the main “salacious” aspect of Ashby’s claim – that SLipper illegally abused Cab Charge dockets – has been deleted, one could say, only after it had done its work. The excuse given is that, after Ashby referred the matter to the AFP, this very action, Ashby’s own, has cruelled the ground on the civil aspects of the Cab Charge matter. It’s a closed loop: Ashby’s own acts have conveniently made it impossible for Ashby to continue suing the Commonwealth for breach of contract with Ashby. Pretty convenient, after all the damage the original allegations have done. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2012/05/14/newspoll-55-45-to-coalition-4/all-comments/#comment-1261151

NormanK

16/05/2012BSA Bob Cheers! Gravatar is free. [u]Gravatar Tutorial[/u] Bear with me if I state the obvious but we'll try to do this in one hit. If you don't already have an image in mind, do something like a Google Image search and pick one out. Copy and store this image somewhere that you feel you can navigate to easily later on e.g My Documents. Go to Gravatar Home Page. http://en.gravatar.com/ Click on "Sign Up" at the top of the page. The new page will ask for your e-mail address. Fill in your address and click "Signup". Wait for an e-mail from Gravatar. This is their way of confirming that you actually exist at this e-mail address. As part of this e-mail there will be a link which begins with "http://en.gravatar.com/accounts/activate/" and more. Click on this link and it should take you to a registration page at Gravatar.com. I can't replicate this next step because an account already exists for my e-mail address but from memory this is where you need to create a Username and a Password. Here is the most likely hurdle. Because Gravatar is world-wide, there is a high likelihood that someone else has already used your Username. You need to devise a different one and see if the system will accept it. If you get a message along the lines of "username already in use" you will need to fiddle some more with your username. (Now is a good time to point out that the only time you will need this username is at the Gravatar site. Once your image has been accepted and attached to your e-mail address it will follow your e-mail address wherever you go.) Keep trying until you get a name which is acceptable to the system. WRITE THIS DOWN. My suggestion would be to rename your proposed image so that the two things are visually connected for possible later use. You will need to create a Password. Do so and WRITE IT DOWN. Click Register or Next or whatever the button is to go forward. You will be invited to attach an image to your e-mail address. Click "My computer's hard-drive". A new page should appear. Click "Choose File". A new window will drop down. Navigate to where your image is stored and click on it. Click "Choose". Drop down window will disappear. Click "Next". This will upload your image to the Gravatar database and your browser should refresh with your image centre-screen. You can crop your image by moving the dotted lines individually or from a corner. Gravatar images are square so if your original is rectangular you will need to crop it. Making the dotted "crop box" smaller zooms in on the image so play with it until you are happy with the Preview. Click "Crop and Finish!". Select a rating for your image - hopefully not "X". This will upload your edited image to the database. Note : your original image in My Documents is not altered by this process. You should see a blue box with your cropped image beside your e-mail address. Below this will be : "Select image (below) to use for the selected email (above)" Click on your image. This last step is probably not necessary but do it anyway. A confirm message comes up. Click "Confirm". You will return to Manage Gravatars page. This is the end of the process. Because you are a good cyber-citizen, click on My Account and Log Out so that you are not taking up server space. Wait at least 10 minutes. Return to your favourite blog, refresh and look at one of your previous posts to see if you have been successful. If it is not there at first wait another ten minutes and refresh. It's important to know that you can continue to use your current name because your Gravatar follows your e-mail address not any username. The Gravatar is applied retrospectively so that all of your previous posts on other Gravatar-enabled sites will be accompanied by this image. This is good and bad. Your nom de plume gives you a certain degree of anonymity but your Gravatar makes you recognisable to an extent. If you use another e-mail address your image will not appear. I hope this helps. If you fail the first time, try again but take note of the steps you have taken and where outcomes differ from those above and in this way we can find the shortcoming in my tutorial or the error in your application. Good luck.

Patriciawa

16/05/2012NormanK, you are naughty! For a moment there my heart lifted! Was this the explanation for Chrissey Pyne's recent reticence? Needing to decide if he could support his leader any longer? Never mind. I enjoyed every word when I came to earth. Great stuff!

TalkTurkey

16/05/2012Lyn I saw that 'salacious' comment by BB . . . Puzzles me a little . . . "Salacious": [i]having an excessive emphasis on sex [/i]. . . so the cab charge part is not really the salacious part, unless BB was referring to the destinations which may have salacious associations I suppose. The parts that Ashby has dropped are the only [i]criminal[/i] allegations I thought, unless the AEC matters are, and they have been largely chucked out today I thought.

BSA Bob

16/05/2012Norman K Thanks for taking the trouble to write the Gravatar tutorial. I've saved it & should soon be able to get to work on it. Cheers Bob.

nasking

16/05/2012 [b]Campbell said that while Rupert Murdoch is “fundamentally right-wing” he also liked to back winners, which influenced the decision of The Sun to back Labour in 1997.[/b] http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/05/14/alistair-campbell_n_1514399.html What I ask is: What did he see in Blair…or know? Or want? In February 1996, after former US Republican Party political strategist and NBC executive [b]Roger Ailes left America’s Talking (now MSNBC), Murdoch called him to start the Fox News Channel. Ailes worked individuals through five months of 14-hour workdays and several weeks of rehearsal shows before launch, on October 7, 1996.[/b] [b]FNC saw a large jump in ratings during the early stages of the Iraq conflict. By some reports, at the height of the conflict Fox News had as much as a 300 percent increase in viewership, averaging 3.3 million viewers daily.[/b] (wikipedia) Record Viewing Figures for Sky News And BBC News http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011…ecord-audience The BBC News Channel and Sky News saw record viewers during the riots the BBC News Channel was watched by 13.1 million beating the previous record of 8.8 million, [b]SKy had 9.28 million beating its highest viewing figures since the 2003 Iraq war, [/b] ———– War…was it good for? N’

nasking

16/05/2012 [b]BSkyB launches Sky News Arabia:[/b] http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/may/06/bskyb-launches-sky-news-arabia N’

nasking

16/05/2012 #Murdoch: "I only met Blair 2-3 times a year. Spent most of our time debating euro - I turned out to be right" http://t.co/eXfATWAi #Leveson N'

Lyn

16/05/2012Hi Talk Turkey I don't know but I was mainly interested in the deletion of anything connecting Ashby to the Liberal Party eg: (Ashby has the same lawyers as Jackson. They are a well-known right-wing firm with connections to the HR Nicholls Society, of which Brough, Hockey, Costello, Abetz and Abbott are also closely in contact.) Anne Summers‏@SummersAnne HSU Kathy Jackson to give keynote at HR Nicholls annual dinner to staunch anti union audience. Which side are you on Kathy? #justsaying :):):)

nasking

16/05/2012 Rupert Murdoch Blair was reported to have been supported by Rupert Murdoch, the founder of the News Corporation organisation. [b]In 1995, while leader of the Opposition, Blair disclosed in the Commons register of interests that he was a guest of Murdoch when he flew to meet him in Hayman Island.[/b] In 2011 Blair became Godfather to one of Rupert Murdoch’s children. Apparently Blair was ‘robed in white for the ceremony’ (wikipedia) A job well done I take it. N’

42 long

16/05/2012An old truism. It's not what you know it's WHO you know. Nobody owns newspapers for the money from the "want" ads

Tom of Melbourne

16/05/2012[i]” Throughout all of that is our losing sight of the simply Aussie belief in a fair go. Craig Thomson's family deserve that. And so does he!” [/i] Apparently there’s never enough evidence for some. A few months ago we had to wait for Fair Work Australia to conclude its lengthy investigation. It found exactly what any rational person suspected, that Thomson had rorted union funds, he’d used the union as a personal bank account. But now even that’s not enough. We’re supposed to continue to suspend judgment, until…? Anyone in any other occupation would be long gone.

Jason

16/05/2012WARNING WARNING, ToM of Melbourne is back time to reach for the "tin foil hat" No doubt you were there Yelling at the top of your voice that "Lindy Chamberlian" was also guilty!

nasking

16/05/2012 [b]In the period between September 2002 and April 2005, Blair and Murdoch are documented speaking 6 times; three times in the 9 days before the Iraq war, including the eve of the 20 March US and UK invasion, and on 29 January, 25 April and 3 October 2004.[/b] (wikipedia) KERCHING KERCHING KERCHING N’

Jason

16/05/2012ToM, "Anyone in any other occupation would be long gone." That's right! being an MP isn't just "any other occupation" So until he is handed a sentence of 12 months or more under the constitution he can stay! More circle jerking as usual TOM!

Lyn

16/05/2012"Anyone in any other occupation would be long gone". You should practice what you preach Tom and be long gone.

Psyclaw

16/05/2012ToM The AEC has disagreed with the FWA report viv a vis the use of union funds in CT's election campaign. How do you explain this?

nasking

16/05/2012 [b]On Amanpour Tony Blair’s Director of Communications Alastair Campbel repeats his oddly timed & desperate assertion that George W Bush had never met Rupert Murdoch and asked Blair ‘what’s he like?[/b]’ More here: http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/15/2695/ Why would Bush need to? [b]Daddy and son Bush had an INSIDE MAN[/b]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Ailes [b]Roger Eugene Ailes (born May 15, 1940) is president of Fox News Channel, chairman of the Fox Television Stations Group. Ailes was a media consultant for Republican presidents Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush, as well as Rudy Giuliani’s first mayoral campaign in 1989[/b]. In 1987 and 1988, Ailes was credited (along with Lee Atwater) with guiding George H. W. Bush to victory in the Republican primaries, and the later come-from-behind victory over Michael Dukakis. Ailes scripted and (with Sig Rogich) produced the “Revolving Door” ad, as well as all of Bush’s broadcast spots in the primary and general-election campaigns. [b]Days after the 9/11 attacks, Ailes gave President George W. Bush political advice indicating that the American public would be patient as long as they were convinced that Bush was using the harshest measures possible. The correspondence was revealed in Bob Woodward’s book Bush At War. Ailes lashed out against Woodward, saying “Woodward got it all screwed up, as usual,” and “The reason he’s not as rich as Tom Clancy is that while he and Clancy both make stuff up, Clancy does his research first.”…Ailes refused to release a copy of the memo he sent to the President.[/b] (wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Ailes WHAT IF THEY CREATED A WAR AND EVERYONE WATCHED? N’

2353

16/05/2012Thomson and the Leader of the Oppn have both had court papers filed on them this week in civil cases. Both claim they don't have a case to answer. Neither (despite investigation) have criminal charges to answer - unlike at least two other members of the Liberal Party. So where is the faux outrage here and elsewhere that the Leader of the Oppn should stand aside from his role, that his vote is "tainted" and the Liberal Party shouldn't accept it (however that works anyway!). Oh, thats right, Hockey will accept Thomson's vote now in the unlikely event that Thomson wants to vote with them. I'm looking forward to Abbott's explanation in the Parliament - straight after Thomson's would be a nice touch don't you think

2353

16/05/2012Forgot to ask where is the faux outrage for a certain Senator from South Australia that was found guilty of assault - which [b]is[/b] a criminal offence but allowed to remain in the Senate as no conviction was recorded due to her position?

Jason

16/05/20122353, Yes Senator Mary Jo Fischer hired one of this states best "QC's" to defender her. As for the "shop lifting" charge it was argued she was suffering a mental illness at the time. I can only assume those with "legal Aid" lawyers that followed may not have been as lucky as "our" senator from SA.

nasking

16/05/2012 From Crikey’s Pure Poison: Stephen Mayne made the case over a year ago in Crikey: [b]Why ACMA should force Lachlan Murdoch off News Corp board Given that Lachlan Murdoch is now exerting clear influence over Ten Network Holdings as acting CEO and a substantial shareholder, why aren’t the regulators examining the question of his ongoing directorship of News Corporation?[/b] … Lachlan Murdoch personally owns 50% of DMG, owner of the Nova radio network which operates in all metropolitan markets and reaches 53% of the Australian population. So how can he also be acting CEO of Ten and a director of News Corp, the largest newspaper publisher in Australia with 70% of the market? Now the international online activist group Avaaz.org has taken things a step further by lodging a formal complaint with ACMA. It will be instructive to see how this complaint about a member of Australia’s media elite is handled. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/2012/05/16/will-acma-act-on-lachlan-murdoch/ [b]AVAAZ PETITION HERE:[/b] http://www.avaaz.org/en/australia_investigate_lachlan_murdoch/?cUcEAbb Seems like father like son. Incrementally building an empire. C’mon Lachlan get real! This is our democracy too. N’

jaycee

16/05/2012Tom of Melbourne......Of course, you HAVE taken into account that the entire case against Craig Thompson (disregarding yours or my personal opinion)predicates on the evidence of a doubtful Ms. Jackson, but most importantly ; Fairwork Aust'. There have been a few doubts cast on THAT source by both anecdotal statements from private citizens here and elsewhere and the Electoral Commission. It must be said that against such accusations, it would only be fair (truly an old Aussie tradition) to now wait for Mr.Thompson to tell his side of the story before we make any pejorative judgement....Surely a truly liberal approach to justice, do you not agree?

jj

16/05/201223whatever, To claim that no conviction was recorded for MJF is just ridiculous. You cannot accuse one side of politics with playing dirty and being untruthful when you pull comments such as those out of nowhere! You are just as disgraceful as the rest of the people on this blog who do exactly what you condemn others for doing...

nasking

17/05/2012 Some bedtime reading... Just watched last night's Lateline…catching up. Was impressed by [b]Euclid Tsakalotos[/b]…as noted on Lateline: [b]economics professor at the University of Athens. He was elected to parliament in the May six elections as a member of the left coalition SYRIZA party, and he’s considered a close confidante of leader Alexis Tsipras.[/b] ——- TSAKALOTOS:… It’s all very well saying that it’s just the Greek people who have been profligate but there’s a crisis in Spain and in Portugal and in Italy, and part of the problem was the banks made an awful lot of money during those periods, and now that they’re not making money the rest of society is socialising their losses. Quite frankly, that isn’t capitalism, is it? It’s not a capitalist solution that every time the banks don’t make money and make losses, the rest of society pays for it. Thus we think that to get out of this crisis we have to have a very different banking system that invests in the real economy; we have to have growth, Germany cannot get out of this crisis if it doesn’t expand its economy – it’s no longer a small open economy, and it can’t run its macroeconomic policy as if it doesn’t care what’s happening in the south. If it continues to do so, as many economists in the Financial Times and the economists in the New York Times have said, the eurozone will collapse, and it will collapse because of bad German economic policies and a bad architecture that cannot deal with the recession… EMMA ALBERICI: All that aside, would you agree that Greece – if we look at just Greece for the time being – there might need to be some cultural shift in your country that there can’t continue to be an attitude that says paying tax is an optional measure; and also this idea that people are entitled to a pension in their 50s, where virtually everywhere else in the world we wait until our 60s? EUCLID TSAKALOTOS: You’re listening a little bit too much to the creditors’ point of view. But that having been said, you’re quite right. Nobody in the left in Greece suggests that we should go back to the pre-2008 situation. You’re quite right, we need to expand a taxable base. We need to have important reforms in the public sector, we might want to make the public sector more public and not be a field for private interests and private gain. We have a big program which is not a return to the pre-2008 program. We were very critical of the model of development that was based on lending and big projects in the pre-2008 period, so you’re actually preaching to the converted. But, on the other hand, we also need a model that has a regulation of the banks, that deals with social inequalities, that deals with regional inequalities – and that is what the Greek left is saying. And we’re appealing to progressive forces in Spain and Italy and France that there is no reason why the eurozone should always be the eurozone of Merkel, why it should always be the eurozone of the banks, why it should always be the eurozone that restricts democracy, that doesn’t allow peoples to vote on alternative policies – which says more or less you can vote for anything you like as long as you vote for what Merkel and Schauble says is right. That can’t be a permanent just equilibrium for Europe. EMMA ALBERICI: The Germans have a very persuasive view and that is that money talks. The Germans have put something in the order of $600 billion into the stability fund – the financial firewall, so… EUCLID TSAKALOTOS: Of which all these loans they are making. EMMA ALBERICI: They tend to have a view that gives them… EUCLID TSAKALOTOS: They haven’t given us… EMMA ALBERICI: …that that gives them a bigger say. EUCLID TSAKALOTOS: There’s two issues there. The first issue is that Germans have not put any money into Greece which they’re not profiting from. Even German newspapers you will read and understand how much profit they’ve made from loans to all the southern European economies. Not just now in the crisis but before the crisis as well. The second issue is that after every crisis of capitalism – in 1929, in 1974 – we never returned to the status quo. All these arguments that we’re hearing – that we must go out of this crisis by reducing wages, reducing the public sector – we heard in the 1930s, and no economy in the 1930s got out of a recession or reduced its debt-to-GDP ratio through austerity. It was true then, it’s true now, and unless there’s going to be a settlement that will have to be imposed on Schauble and on Merkel, and by what I see in German election results they’re losing ground, and people are discussing euro bonds, they’re discussing a different European Central Bank, they’re discussing a very different macroeconomic strategy; the discussions, the debate has opened. I will just tell you what very many leader articles and opinion makers have been saying in the main financial papers: the eurozone will either change in a more progressive direction, or it will collapse – and it will not collapse because the Greek left got 17 per cent of the vote, it will collapse because it didn’t understand what the economics of monetary union are and that you cannot reduce your debt through recession. EMMA ALBERICI: Mr Tsakalotos, they’re tough words you speak, but the fact remains that the IMF, the European Commission and the European Central Bank have sent you a very clear message – you being Greek society. The $170 billion bailout money is not negotiable: it comes with conditions and conditions of severe austerity? EUCLID TSAKALOTOS: Well, because I’m a professor of economics and I’ve studied economic history, negotiating positions can change when the balance of forces change. Obviously, I wouldn’t expect Merkel and Schauble to say anything else before negotiations, but if the peoples of the south change the balance of forces, difference social forces come to the fore – as they did in the 50s and 60s. In the 50s and 60s, after the recession of the 30s, no economist who had been saying these things about the necessity of austerity was in power. They had all been marginalised because people came back after the war and said and, “We will not return to the devil’s decade of recession, unemployment, hunger marches; we can do something better”. And we’re in this situation again. We can do something better. And if Merkel and Sarkozy and the others don’t understand that, I think they will have to understand it when the balance of forces changes. EMMA ALBERICI: I think it’s Hollande now you will be dealing with, not Mr Sarkozy. But at what point do you countenance a Greek exit from the Eurozone? EUCLID TSAKALOTOS: Well, we’re not actually proposing a Greek exit. We’re proposing different kind of proposals for economy and society which are good for Greek people and for the peoples of Europe. We have no intention of leaving by our own accord monetary union, and as very many economists have been saying, the eurozone cannot withstand a Greek withdrawal. It’s rather like adultery. Once you’ve done it once, the temptation to do it again is greatly increased. If they throw Greece out, investors will know that Portugal or Spain or Italy will be the next, and the eurozone – this is in professor Krugman’s blog of this week – once Greece go, the probability of another country goes is very, very strong, and that’s what gives us bargaining power against what the Germans are saying and against what the IMF is saying. More here: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3503667.htm Good interview. N’

nasking

17/05/2012 This from Crikey: [b]Rundle: Greece is now the cutting edge of the world by Guy Rundle[/b] That is what has happened in Greece. Rather than the shell-game of finance capitalism dictating the terms, people have made a fairly clear statement of what they want — the social-political has come to the centre of society, as it should. What the morons who constitute the ranks of financial journalism call “chaos” is really the exact opposite — it is politics, people expressing their will in a non-violent form, and then trying to negotiate an arrangement between differing manifestations of ideas and interests. Chaos, by contrast, can be seen on the screen on every finance trader across the Western world, where stocks, shares, currencies move according to no rational basis, driven by the echo chamber of rumour. The idea that the business of everyday life should be governed by these processes rather than by the rational activity of production for use, indicates the nihilism at the heart of the market, its alliance with dead matter — numbers, money, power — rather than life. The Greeks have rebelled against this. It looks like their rebellion will continue — with the failure of the latest attempts to form a coalition government the country is going back to the polls. Syriza, the left coalition that had taken 5% of the vote in the last election, and 17% in this, is now polling in the mid-twenties. Such a result — if it occurred in the new elections, to take place in mid-June — would give Syriza the 50-seat bonus still in place. That would give them about 120 seats out of 300. Presuming that Democratic Left retained 10 seats or so — they would lose some seats back to Syriza — then there would be extreme pressure on Independent Greeks — the right-wing breakaway party — to support Syriza in their shared belief, a rejection of the austerity measures contained in the second memorandum. That would deliver a government expressing the popular sentiment — in Europe but rejecting the memorandum. That is the scenario — a rational democratic one — that finance journalists call “the nightmare”. It is, but not in the manner they suggest. The truth is, that if Syriza forms government while rejecting the memorandum, but refuses to unilaterally leave the euro, then it is really Europe’s problem, not Greece’s. The usual groupthink that has everyone writing articles as to how Greece will leave the euro next week, etc, fails to take account of the fact that there is no easy way to expel a country from the eurozone. The onus is on the EU to do the expelling. Much more here: http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/05/16/rundle-greece-is-now-the-cutting-edge-of-the-world/ Makes sense. ———– Get a load of the Greek cuisine: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_cuisine N’

2353

17/05/2012jj @ 11:38pm Check the media reporting and court record. I think you'll find my statement is accurate. Becuase in the past you have been to intellectually lazy to research when challenged, heres the link -> http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-18/mary-jo-fisher-shoplifting-judgment/3678996/?site=sydney

Lyn

17/05/2012TODAY’S LINKS More Buffoonery From Joe Hockey At The NPC The real highlight of Hockey’s comedy routine however was when he was asked the question,”Would the Noalition accept the vote of Craig Thomson if he supported the Noalition in a vote of no confidence in the Government?” Sloppy Joe admitted that they would. http://thedailyderp.net/2012/05/16/more-buffoonery-from-joe-hockey-at-the-npc/ Marriage equality is inevitable - just look at its critics, Tim Dunlop, The Drum What Mr Hockey's answer revealed is the unthinking prejudice that lies at the heart of opposition to marriage equality. That unthinking prejudice is revealed in the very incoherence of his response. He literally cannot state a rational argument in support of his position.All he can do is rattle off a prejudice dressed up as one. http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4015156.html Parliament not Shorten gossip and rumours, Independent Australia If such a Code was ever accepted, it would mean Abbott might have to desist in his constant abhorrent behaviour towards Julia Gillard on a daily basis — we all know that the failed seminarian is a misogynist of the lowest order and wouldn’t take on a bloke in the way he does Gillard. http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/parliament-not-shorten-gossip-and-rumours/ Penny Wong, Joe Hockey and the dire state of political punditry, Dennis Altman, The Conversation Perhaps that is why the final exchange between Penny Wong and Joe Hockey on Monday’s Q&A was so electric. Here were current politicians talking about personal beliefs, and Hockey’s clear embarrassment was evidence that his basic decency is restricted by his party’s policy. http://theconversation.edu.au/penny-wong-joe-hockey-and-the-dire-state-of-political-punditry-7039 March Wage Price Index- Where’s my wages breakout—Greg Jericho, Grog’s Gamut Interest rates? Well since Abetz gave his speech the cash rate has dropped a full one percentage point and job losses? Well as we we saw last week, the unemployment rate is now 4.9% – below the 10 year average of 5.2%.Someone should let Abetz know that he can sleep soundly – his worries were just figments of his imagination http://grogsgamut.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/march-wage-price-index-wheres-my.html Ross Gittins Says – Spreading the love to buy votes? So what, it was about time, Turn Left 2013 The only people who should be complaining about being worse off are the ultra-rich, the faceless-billionaires, the people who regularly make the Rich-List yet never seem to pay tax – and that is not the majority of Australians. http://turnleft2013.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/ross-gittins-says-spreading-the-love-to-buy-votes-so-what-it-was-about-time/ Tony Abbott and the debt ceiling playbook, Alex White Tony Abbott had decided that he is not going to just copy the extreme Republican tactics of opposition and obstruction, but he is also going to import their disastrous tactic of targeting the debt ceiling.The debt ceiling stand-off in the USA was a disaster — it removed the US’s Triple A credit rating for the first time inhistory http://alexwhite.org/2012/05/tony-abbott-and-the-debt-ceiling-playbook/ Rebekah Brooks charged and could face time, Paul Barry, The Power Index There is now much speculation about how much time Brooks might serve if a jury finds her guilty. The maximum penalty is life imprisonment, the average 12 months, but the celebrated author Jeffrey Archer copped a four-year sentence in 2001 for concealing a diary during his libel action in http://www.thepowerindex.com.au/power-fail/rebekah-brooks-charged-and-could-face-time/201205151360 Don't You Worry About That, Sally Piracha,Only The Depth Varies Under our new hero’s leadership, we would return to the heady days of Joh Bjelke-Petersen and his stand-up mates. None of this namby-pamby new-millennium peace-and-tolerance bullshit for us. The LNP, political arm of Clive Palmer’s mining organisation, teamed up with the conservative Christian Lobby and convinced more than enough Queenslanders that the only way forwards was backwards. http://onlythedepthvaries.blogspot.com.au/ DAYS OF WHINE AND Poseurs, Alan Kennedy, Hoopla Joe and his mob have voted against every piece of legislation aimed at winding back the entitlements of people who don’t need them. They wrap their objections in the smelly rag of class warfare http://thehoopla.com.au/class-warfare-fair/ Hockey won't commit to disability scheme, Samantha Hawley, ABC Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey has distanced the Coalition from the National Disability Insurance Scheme, saying he does not want to raise false hope about the future of the plan.The Federal Government committed $1 billion for the initial rollout of the http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-16/hockey-won27t-commit-to-disability-scheme/4015434 WISE HEADS, The Monthly of the media coverage about this government's management of the economy is derogatory. The nation is indebted up to its eyeballs, it is said; we're living beyond our means ('Cash Splash'!); crippled by the spectre of new taxes and a socialist government committed to destroying our most productive sectors. http://www.themonthly.com.au/politicoz/latest Rebekah Brooks is not for humbling, Jonathan Holmes, ABC In a mere 11 years, Rebekah Brooks, nee Wade, climbed from secretary to editor of The News of the World; she reached that pinnacle at the age of 31. She not only survived but dominated the tough, testosterone-fuelled culture of the British tabloids, first at the News of the World and then, for six years, at The Sun; she put the http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-16/holmes-rebekah-brooks-not-for-humbling/4015174 NBN debate not about technology, says Turnbull, Renai LeMay, Delimeter as Turnbull has described it this week, it could take a Coalition Government its whole first electoral term — three years — merely to unwind much the current NBN project and set its new framework for the future. In fact, many observers will note, it took most of the Rudd Labor Government’s first term, from 2007 through 2010, to set up the NBN in the first place. http://delimiter.com.au/2012/05/16/nbn-debate-not-about-technology-says-turnbull/ Turnbull's latest NBN fail , Supratim Adhikari, Technology Spectator Turnbull may not like the comparison but his speech is another example of the retrogressive policymaking that will certainly leave Australia with a broadband solution that will be adequate but nowhere near what’s needed to embrace a digital future. http://technologyspectator.com.au/nbn-buzz/turnbulls-latest-nbn-salvo?utm_source=Technology+Spectator+List&utm_campaign E-health budget about efficiency: Plibersek, Suzanne Tindal, ZNet Federal Minister for Health Tanya Plibersek has addressed criticism of how the government has reallocated funds for its planned e-health system in a speech to the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA). http://www.zdnet.com.au/e-health-budget-about-efficiency-plibersek-339337994.htm Possum Comitatus‏@Pollyticvia @smurray38: AEC assessment on electoral expenditure issues from HSU http://bit.ly/KZvs7d (Pdf) Thomson free, Jackson not so much AEC clears majority of Thomson funds disclosure, ABC The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) has found that most of the union funds spent on Craig Thomson's electoral campaign were disclosed appropriately. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-16/thomson-cleared-of-most-campaign-spending/4014284 Australian Electoral Commission, Reporting obligations under the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 and the Report of the Delegate to the General Manager of Fair Work Australia The purpose of this document is to set out the analysis by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) of the information contained in the Report of the Delegate to the General Manager of Fair Work Australia – “Investigation into the National Office of the Health Services Union http://aec.gov.au/Parties_and_Representatives/compliance/files/hsu-report.pdf Video National Press Club Address - Budget 2012-13Wednesday, 16 May 2012 http://www.joehockey.com/portfolio/news/details.aspx?r=13 Insider trading breaches surge: ASIC ASIC received $47 million in last week's budget to improve market surveillance. Ms Gibson says this will give it the power to "stand toe-to-toe" with corporate crooks in terms of computer capacity. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-16/insider-trading-cases-surge-says-asic/4014338 The white collar jobs crisis http://youtu.be/Vepv9BXXONc Doubts emerge over NDISIn his official post-budget reply shadow treasurer Joe Hockey has refused to commit to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. , Joe Hockey http://video.news.com.au/2235371482/Doubts-emerge-over-NDIS?area=videoindex5

Lyn

17/05/2012TODAY'S FRONT PAGES Australian Newspaper Front Pages for 17 May 2012 http://www.frontpagestoday.co.uk/index.cfm?PaperCountry=Australia

Lyn

17/05/2012Good Morning Ad More reports on Pyne's activities regarding Ashby plot:- Jessica Wright ‏@jesswrightstuff The OTHER email Pyne forgot. This one went directly to James Ashby. http://www.theage.com.au/national/pyne-emailed-slippers-accuser-20120516-1yre1.html #auspol Craig EmersonMP thefinnigans This is why Abbott won't hold press conference and Pyne wouldn't answer Marius Benson questions Craig EmersonMP Revelation of Pyne-Ashby email today confirms Lib cover up. Abbott said on 4 May no email contact occurred. Lib lies continue. Russell Mahoney‏ So Ashby drops Cabcharge claims, turns out Pyne did send email. Steve Lewis the reporter. Starting to feel a little Ozcar like. Popi‏ Pyne sent aide email after drinks http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/pyne-sent-aide-email-after-drinks-20120516-1yre6.html via @brisbanetimes TAWNBPM‏ "Mr Pyne told the Herald earlier this month that he had ''no reason'' to contact Mr Ashby after the meeting, and... http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/pyne-sent-aide-email-after-drinks-20120516-1yre6.html

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17/05/2012LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

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17/05/2012Good Morning Lyn Thanks for your links. Since your Front Pages have been so valuable an addition to your Daily Links, from today I will add them at the foot of your links when I post them to your special page, so they will become a permanent record. So in addition to posting them separately, could you also please paste at the foot of your links: Australian Newspaper Front Pages for (date) and the link. Thanks too for the tweets about Christopher Pyne's additional email to James Ashby that has now come to light. Perhaps this is why Tony Abbott has gone quiet on the Ashby/Slipper matter. It looks more and more that there as been Liberal Party complicity in this affair.

Jason

17/05/2012jj, When are you going to offer 2353 an apology? He didn't pull those comments out of "nowhere" as you claimed! it was all FACT and on the public record.

Lyn

17/05/2012Hi Ad Twitterverse for you:- HIGHLIGHTS: Bob Hawke vidoe of him singing, Canberra Times, Article on Chris Uhlmann. Not Harry Jenkins‏MP “ @BreakfastNews: Bob Hawke: The Musical - http://ow.ly/aXGug #ac12 George‏ About time some reality on ABC disgrace Uhlmann interview marks new low in treatment of PM http://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/letters/uhlmann-interview-marks-new-low-in-treatment-of-pm-20120516-1yrfq.html via @canberratimes G_R_E_E_N_S___W_I_N‏@Greens_Win Pyne's Email To Ashby http://www.ozpolitic.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1337208807/0#0 #auspol #greens #Myliberal #alp #pyne #slipper ABC Radio‏ Now on AM: @SabraLane on the email revealing Christopher Pyne's contact with James Ashby. #CraigThomson #HSU #auspol http://www.abc.net.au/am/ vexnews‏ Craig Thomson could be in the clear on FWA civil offences because of statute of limitations #auspol http://bit.ly/JTV3l4 Stephen Koukoulas‏ Same is true with Abbott's personal finances. Had to refinance his house to cover recurrent expenditure! http://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2012/05/11/is-tony-abbott-feeling-a-bit-of-financial-pressure/ National Times‏Exclusive: Pyne emailed Slipper's accuser http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/pyne-emailed-slippers-accuser-20120516-1yre1.html via @NationalTimesAU Craig Emerson MP‏ Shadow Cabinet Minister accuses Labor of creating GFC. I kid you not. Emmo. https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B0ctB3LVda7hY3psYUF4WUpkbzg Turn Left‏@turnleft2013 Are you serious? You're comparing our Prime Minister with Rebekah Brooks http://turnleft2013.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/are-you-serious-youre-comparing-our-prime-minister-with-rebekah-brooks/ National Times‏ Hockey casts doubt on disability funds http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/hockey-doubt-on-disability-funds-20120516-1yr9x.html National Times‏ Thomson tells Laurie Oakes, but not police http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/thomson-tells-laurie-oakes-but-not-police-20120516-1yrcc.html Chris Johnson‏@seearjay Abbott's pro bono legal aid: in case he's made bankrupt and out of parliament? Turn Left‏@turnleft2013 Kathy Jackson calls unions "soviet-era, Stalinist" http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/jackson-slams-union-muzzle-attempt-20120516-1yqwg.html not sure, but I dont think she is in the right job for her

Lyn

17/05/2012Hi Ad That's ok no problems I will just include Today's front pages link at the bottom of Today's Links in the future. Here is Stephen Koukoulas on Radio National:- Stephen Koukoulas‏@TheKouk Interview with Radio National this morning on the debt ceiling: Hockey calls for debate on debt ceiling increase Guests Stephen Koukoulas Economist, managing director of Canberra-based consultancy Market Economics http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/hockey-calls-for-debate-on-debt-ceiline-increase/4016248 :):)

Psyclaw

17/05/2012Heard a lady from US on Radio National early today. Forgot the actual name of her organisation, but it's an equity group which supports women entrepreneurs. i think her name was Millman???? Anyway, they've come here (ie to set up in Australia) and Clover Moore is to officially welcome them at lunchtime today. They give equity and other support to women setting up businesses. The point of my post is this. She said at the end "Australia is such a wonderful place in which to invest". Funny that! Hope the Three Stooges were listening.

Psyclaw

17/05/2012Also hope jj, SIC, ToM and such were listening!

TalkTurkey

17/05/2012[u]Does Any One Believe Chris Pyne?[/u] Tune:[i] Has Anybody Seen My Girl?[/i] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbcPYJYnoxE&feature=related (Even my words are nicer than this creep deserves.) Five Foot Nine, Poo Poo Pyne, Specialist in outright lyin'! Does anyone believe Chris Pyne? Frilly head, face all red, Poodle can't lie straight in bed! Does anyone believe Chris Pyne? Now if you run into a nasty Poo Spitting with hate Screeching threats Place your bets That's Poodle Pyne our lyin' Mate! Does he fib? Is he glib? Watcha reckon, he's a [i]Lib![/i] Does anyone believe Chris Pyne?! Poo Poo Pyne, Five Foot Nine, Specialist in outright lyin'! Does anyone believe Chris Pyne? Frilly head, Face all red, Poodle can't lie straight in bed Does anyone believe Chris Pyne? ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Original Lyrics (1920's) FIVE FOOT TWO (Ray Henderson / Sam M. Lewis / Joe Young) Five foot two, eyes of blue But oh, what those five foot could do Has anybody seen my girl? Turned up nose, turned down hose, All dressed up in fancy clothes, Has anybody seen my girl? Now if you run into a five foot two Covered in fur, Diamond rings and all those things, Bet-cha life it isn't her. But could she love, could she woo? Could she, could she, could she coo? Has anybody seen my girl? Five foot two, eyes of blue But oh, what those five foot could do. Has anybody seen my girl? Turned up nose, turned down hose, All dressed up in fancy clothes, Has anybody seen my girl? Now if you run into a five foot two Covered in fur, Diamond rings and all those things, Bet-cha life it isn't her. But could she love, could she woo? Could she, could she, could she coo? Has anybody seen my... Has anybody seen my... Has anybody seen my girl?

LadyInRed

17/05/2012Hi Lyn, I am so grateful to the work you do with all the links it makes my task of being informed so much easier. Tell me Hockey isn’t that stupid! The Noalition would take Thompson’s vote. The man might one day run the country – the hyprocisy. The thought that a code of conduct would silence Abbott’s constant vitriol against the PM is a wonderful bonus – Bring It On. [quote]“If it isn’t politicians, we rely on members of the press gallery, who between them dominate political analysis on Sunday morning talk shows. I suspect no one watches these shows, but they provide footage for the evening news, when the same opinions that were in their newspapers can be trotted out again, and then reported the following day in an endless cycle of repetitive insider knowledge. We used to rely on the ABC for this sort of informed but dispassionate analysis. Maybe it’s time for it to cleanse its stables and move beyond the smug circle whereby “insiders” and “outsiders” merge, as long as Tony Jones can interrupt at will.”[/quote] To true what happened to the ABC? I lament. I agree that opinion is always subjective – however I live in an area where I don’t get good reception and so the ABC and SBS are the only channels I watch. I have seen a change for the worse. That the ABC give equal weight to climate deniers (based on opinion) as it does to climate scientist’s (based on science and who never appear on the shows) – is but one example. SuperCanDo – I am a Queenslander and I can tell you we will rue the day we gave him such a majority. Great article Lyn. The Wise Heads article so true of Henry – unfortunately it is the BOOFHEAD that gets all the press. Turnbull is also a nitwit. Three years to turn back the NBN and for what purpose? So that people in one suburb can be getting their healthcare through the internet, attend university through the internet, and run a successful business through the net, at super speeds! AND people living in next suburb can’t. How egalitarian is that! Talk about class warfare it’s going to be INTERNETACCESS warfare as far as I am concerned because I live in one of the safest federal liberal seats in QLD (I had to add federal because there aren’t very many sate ones thanks to CanDo and the Union movement in QLD). And Kelty can shut up as well. How helpful in the 30second sound bite world we live in is it for him to say the two words Labour and Lie in the same sentence! Abbott will seize on that one! I’m seeing red today folks.

DMW

17/05/2012ToM these tweets are for you to consider Andrew Leigh ‏ @ALeighMP Inspiring opening of the BER multipurpose hall at St Thomas More Primary today. Some wonderful pianists among the kids! 1/2 Andrew Leigh ‏ @ALeighMP Moira Najdecki, Director of Catholic Ed Office said: "to the critics, come and look at any of our 52 BERs & you'll eat your words" 2/2

LadyInRed

17/05/2012Lyn I did all the gravatar stuff and have a nice picky but it didn't come up - do I need to something else?

Lyn

17/05/2012Hi Lady in Red. Isn't it just the best ever to have TPS to share information, I think we are all clever. Something happened to me once my Gravatar started to show it's own picture. I deleted my word press all together then started again . Important to highlight the picture then click primary. Have another try. Can't wait to see what the pretty lady in red has chosen for her Gravatar. Thankyou for you lovely posts. Cheers Lyn

42 long

17/05/2012Has Kelty lost whatever brains he had. Why hand Abbot that propaganda on a platter? Sort of supporting the curent media performance????? Where did they dig him from anyhow? With Richardson making a living out of bagging the Party he belonged to. Latham in full flight, but more believable. Hawke thinking he is a living national treasure re-invented. Who needs Kelty? How refreshingly different is Brian Howe? someone you can actually trust. Nev

LadyInRed

17/05/2012TalkTurkey I loved the clip and how clever with the PynePoem. Wonder if I will get a gravatar this time.

LadyInRed

17/05/201242long agree - Kelty said. [quote][/quote]"I've got to be frank - it's too easy to blame the media, too easy to blame the faceless politicians, and there's no purpose blaming the opposition for doing what, after all, you'd expected them to do," he told a gala dinner at the ACTU triennial conference in Sydney.[quote][/quote] I think Kelty is out of touch. I didn't expect the opposition to use such vitriol, I didn't expect them to constantly tell us the government is illegitimate and get away with it. I didn't expect Abbott to be able to say whatever he likes and no one pull him up on it. I didn't expect him to be able to relentlessly go ON and ON and ON without substance. I didn't expect them to make a joke out of parliament and call for suspension of standing orders 44 or is it 45 times out 55 parliament sittings. Gee, silly me, I expected them to oppose stuff and give good measure to an opposing view.

nasking

17/05/2012 [b]His term will pass into history as one that saw human rights violations, public insecurity, the military on the streets, more than 60,000 dead and 10,000 disappeared.[/b] http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/may/15/tragic-consequences-mexico-organised-crime?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+RevtruthSiteFeed1+%28RevTruth+Site+Feed+1%29 Living next to America (sing it) N'

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17/05/2012TT That is a clever adaptation of [i]Has Anybody Seen My Girl[/i]. I noted that on the midday news Tony Abbott angrily waved aside questions about Christopher Pyne’s involvement with James Ashby, obviously irritated by having himself to answer awkward questions. Can’t these journalists get it right? They should know better than to nail him with difficult to answer queries. It distracts him from his perpetual demonization of Julia Gillard. It’s just not fair.

Patriciawa

17/05/2012Hi Lady in Red, spot on with your response to Bill Kelty. He is very out of touch! Re gravatar. I'm not sure, but lately word doesn't just pick it up automatically from my email address. I now have to log in to my own site every day before I visit anywhere else, and be very careful not to mispell anything, or use upper case etc inappropriately. If I close down during the day, ie log out and turn off power, then I have to restart all over again. I now stand by even if I'm going out for a few hours. Tacker then waits around patiently on line!

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17/05/2012LadyinRed Joe Hockey might not be stupid, but his address yesterday did nothing to enhance his economic credibility. It was a mixture of what we have heard over and again, light on detail, devoid of costings, and with just one new initiative. It seems not to have had much impact on the media. I heard one item that said he would make no promises he could not keep, and the only item in the press today that I could find was in [i]The Australian[/i] by David Uren [i]Coalition to axe breaks for battlers[/i] http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/coalition-to-axe-breaks-for-battlers/story-e6frg9qo-1226358191609 It began: [i]Joe Hockey has declared he will not detail the Coalition's savings measures until closer to the election but made it clear they will include reversing the government's $8 billion in tax cuts for low and middle-income earners.”[/i] If you or anyone else has seen an appraisal by the political commentariat, please post it. My feeling is that the media was mightily unimpressed, and so thought it better to write nothing, rather than having to write about nothing. To me the only noteworthy comment Joe made was his one about being tempted to accept Craig Thomson’s vote if he voted for a motion of no confidence in the Government!

42 long

17/05/2012It's noteworth all right. How can a "tainted" vote be ok for some and not suitable morally for another. It seems to be becoming less "tainted" as time goes by. How utterly revolting for those who claim to have the high moral ground and have tried to take the government into wholly hitherto uncharted territory of wanting the parliament to usurp the function of the courts, and finding they have their dirty hands all over it' FWA the way it is structured may be unreliable too because of the Tonu Abbott appointed person. Look for a money trail or a vested interest and then start adding the dots and match the dates, when matters are commenced and you get a hell of a convincing picture. just circumstantial? We'll see.

nasking

17/05/2012 We used to think it bad when banks lost millions: [b]JPMorgan’s Trading Loss Is Said to Rise at Least 50%[/b] BY NELSON D. SCHWARTZ AND JESSICA SILVER-GREENBERG NY Times [b]The trading losses suffered by JPMorgan Chase have surged in recent days, surpassing the bank’s initial $2 billion estimate by at least $1 billion, according to people with knowledge of the losses.[/b] When Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan’s chief executive, announced the losses last Thursday, he indicated they could double within the next few quarters. But that process has been compressed into four trading days as hedge funds and other investors take advantage of JPMorgan’s distress, fueling faster deterioration in the underlying credit market positions held by the bank. A spokeswoman for the bank declined to comment, although Mr. Dimon has said the total paper trading losses will be volatile depending on day-to-day market fluctuations. The Federal Reserve is examining the scope of the growing losses and the original bet, along with whether JPMorgan’s chief investment office took risks that were inappropriate for a federally insured depository institution, according to several people with knowledge of the examination. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is still under way. The overall health of the bank remains strong, even with the additional losses, and JPMorgan has been able to increase its stock dividend faster than its rivals because of stronger earnings and a more solid capital buffer. Still, the huge trading losses rocked Wall Street and reignited the debate over how tightly giant financial institutions should be regulated. Bank analysts say that while the bank’s stability is not threatened, if the losses continue to mount, the outlook for the bank’s dividend will grow uncertain. More here: http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/jpmorgans-trading-loss-is-said-to-rise-at-least-50/?hp Couldn't agree more with the following: [b]But the underlying problem is that while these sharp swings are expected at a big hedge fund, they should not be occurring at a bank whose deposits are government-backed and which has access to ultralow cost capital from the Federal Reserve, experts said. “JPMorgan Chase has a big hedge fund inside a commercial bank,” said Mark Williams, a professor of finance at Boston University, who also served as a Federal Reserve bank examiner. “They should be taking in deposits and making loans, not taking large speculative bets.”[/b] What's really happening inside these huge "too big to fail" banks is a mystery to most...including it seems to their top management...and regulators. How comforting. N'

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17/05/201242 long, LadyinRed I agree that Bill Kelty’s comments were not just unwelcome, but stupid. With ex-Laborites Richo and Latham regularly mouthing off about Labor, we can do without another coming out of the closet. If he’s go so much insight and so much good advice to give, why not give it privately rather that broadcasting it far and wide and giving the Coalition ammunition? Is he suffering from relevance deprivation syndrome, having been so prominent in a past era? If so, why not say something positive, or give some encouragement? I disagree with some of his contentions. First, I believe we [b]can[/b] blame the media for much of the difficulty the Government is experiencing, not all of it of course, but a very large part of it. I believe, and have argued this repeatedly, that the media is a major political player, and through the way it presents stories, it has diminished the Government markedly and over a long time. It could have been quite different. My next piece spells this out. Next, I believe he is wrong to let the Coalition off the hook by claiming it is only doing what oppositions always do. Under the Abbott leadership it has been the most venomous, vicious, vitriolic opposition in living memory. Recently Penny Wong expressed the view that in all her time in politics she could not remember a more rancorous and spiteful period, and others have echoed her feelings. By virtually endorsing Abbott’s behaviour, Kelty gave it credence and an aura of normality. We know this is simply not so. At least he said everyone should get behind Julia Gillard, but that advice has been largely lost in a media hungry for conflict and sensation. Labor’s enemy within is more lethal than the external one. Kelty would have been better to have said nothing at all – at least that would not have harmed the party for which he has worked all his life. Sometimes the old and bold yearn for ‘the good old days’, those halcyon times when they ran the show, and look down their noses at the contemporary mob, which I suspect they believe are much less skilled and perspicacious than they were. Time has passed them by. The world is very different now and immeasurably more complex, but they live in their memories of a simpler world, one more susceptible to their wise ministrations. It’s sad, and damaging.

nasking

17/05/2012 From The Daily Beast: [b]10 Shocking Bits From Book About How Texas Executed an Innocent Man[/b] Police hastily decided on their suspect. The crime scene was mishandled. The condemned man went through agony during his lethal injection. Ben Jacobs on the most gripping bits from ‘Los Tocayos Carlos,’ a new book on Texas’s wrongful execution of Carlos DeLuna. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/05/16/10-shocking-bits-from-book-about-how-texas-executed-an-innocent-man.html AND: [b]Rick Perry votes for Romney Texas governor says former rival will win election[/b] http://www.tucsonsentinel.com/nationworld/report/051612_perry_romney/rick-perry-votes-romney/ AND: [b]George W. Bush Backs Romney[/b] George W. Bush has surfaced from his postpresidential hibernation to endorse Mitt Romney. After his father, his brother Jeb, and even his mother backed Romney months ago, it seemed like G.W. might sit this one out. But Tuesday, just before the elevator doors closed on him as he was leaving a speech on human rights in D.C., Bush blurted out the words, “I’m for Mitt Romney.” http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/2012/05/15/george-w-bush-backs-romney.html I guess they'll all ride together...to the next execution. N'

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17/05/2012Nasking What will the free marketers now say about the JPMorgan Chase episode? What will those who oppose bank regulation say? How many more of these episodes do we have to experience, episodes that affect us all, even those at the end of the money chain, before Governments clamp down and rigorously regulate these cowboys and their Wild West adventures, especially when they are ‘too big to fail’ and are thereby enjoy government guarantees?

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17/05/2012Folks I’ve found something on ABC Radio National Breakfast about Hockeynomics from Stephen Koukoulas: [i]” Sovereign debt concerns are weighing heavily on financial markets around the world once again. But as far as the Coalition is concerned, it is more than just Greece's debt that Australians should be worried about. In a speech to the National Press Club yesterday, Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey said he did not accept the Federal Government's reasons for raising the Commonwealth's borrowings by $50 billion to $300 billion in last week's Budget. He said the Coalition would try to split the debt ceiling measure from the Budget legislation and debate it separately.”[/i] Good heavens!

2353

17/05/2012I've seen the comments about Kelty and others giving the ALP what for over the last little while. I have an alternate theory to the "he's sold out" line. Is it that these "respected members" of the ALP have been agitating behind the scenes for a period of time to assert their view that while the Oppn is nasty and the media is against them, navel gazing and sitting in the corner moaning "poor us" is not going to win the next election. If the recent Brisbane Council and Queensland State elections are examples of current "state of the art ALP campaign thinking", they really do have a large problem. The campaigns were pitiful at best. As I have said here and elsewhere before, the ALP needs to advertise it's successes - it isn't at present. Where is the public acknowledgement of the (in economic terms) full employment within the economy, where is the public acknowledgement of the low interest rates as well as the regular BISONs? If internal agitating hasn't worked - what options do these people have to get their pointout there to ALP members across the country?

Lyn

17/05/2012Hi Ad and Everybody Twitterati for you. Some on Hockey, some on Bill Kelty, some on Abbott:- Peter Martin‏@1petermartin Hold on to your hats. Hockey takes us through the budget fiddles (from Wednesday's press club speech) http://bit.ly/JggqP0 #ausecon #auspol Latika Bourke ‏@latikambourke Hockey pours scorn on ‘unfunded’ disability plan. Could NDIS be a game-changer? Hockey pours scorn on 'unfunded' disability plan, Matthew Franklin, The Australian Mr Hockey yesterday accused Labor of executing "a cruel hoax" on disabled people and their families by announcing an accelerated launch for the scheme without having secured funding. Mr Hockey's comments put him at odds with Tony Abbott, who has backed and welcomed an NDIS. Mr Hockey was responding to Labor's 2012-13 budget in a speech at Canberra's National Press Club in which he attacked the Gillard government's $5 billion cash handouts to low- and middle-income earners as an attempt to use borrowed money to redistribute national wealth for political http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/hockey-pours-scorn-on-unfunded-disability-plan/story-fn59niix-1226358249040 National Times‏ Hockey casts doubt on disability funds http://t.co/dpVfQY4s via @NationalTimesAU Joe Hockey undermines Tony Abbott on the National Disability Insurance Scheme by: Lanai Vasek From: The Australian OPPOSITION treasury spokesman Joe Hockey has undermined Tony Abbott's support for a National Disability Insurance Scheme, declaring he won't commit to something he cannot deliver. Tony Abbott has pledged Coalition support for the Labor's National Disability Insurance Scheme and has offered “constructive cooperation” on the issue. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/joe-hockey-undermines-tony-abbott-on-the-national-disability-insurance-scheme/story-fn59niix-1226357792809 Bill Kelty:- Leon Gettler 5 hours ago near Prahran, Victoria · Very struck by Bill Kelty's words to the Labor faithful last night. I have known Kelty and spoken to him many times. He always amazed me with his left of field ideas, some of them very un-union like. Bill Kelty was one of those once-in-a-generation characters who comes along, sees the big picture and has ideas to change everything. Much like Steve Jobs and Nelson Mandela. Kelty was a rare breed. We lost something significant when he retired. https://www.facebook.com/leon.gettler/posts/3624561726538 Mark Duckett‏ Bill Kelty's speech shows that great passionate ideas a come from social justice and equality, not greed, inequity and self-interest #ac12 ShamWow‏ Bill Kelty's speech is exactly what it means to be a unionist!!Go you good thing!! #ac12 tveeder‏ Transcript: Bill Kelty's speech at the #ACTU Conference http://t.co/h6J3k6DJ #ac12 (thx @ABCNews24) http://pic.twitter.com/qjNwRQiJ Andrew S Casey‏ Bill Kelty's amazing speech to #ACTU #ac12 #ausunions Congress has been widely reported & posted onto OzLabourStarthttp://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/industrial-relations/kelty-calls-on-the-faithful-to-get-behind-labor- GENERAL :- vexnews‏ Bill Shorten warns of 'gathering storm' facing Labor #auspolhttp://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-17/shorten-warns-of-gathering-storm/4017440 TAWNBPM I think this is interesting, a few others might too. :). "In the heat and hyperbole of political controversy... http://inside.org.au/the-howard-impact/ Stephen Koukoulas‏@TheKouk Confirming: This Govt is the only one in last 40 years to simultaneously have unemployment rate, inflation & cash rate below 5%. Just saying Ken ‏ The last fifty years have been Australia's hottest http://yhoo.it/MmzX0L Thanks to PM Gillard's Labor govt CO2 emissions will be reduced Equitist‏ TonyAbbottMHR what do u say re this: Craig Thomson cleared of dodgy election funding after AEC probe http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/craig-thomson-cleared-of-dodgy-election-funding/story-fn7x8me2-1226357642542 #AusPol :):):)

Jason

17/05/2012Aa, I'm with 2353 Kelty was right last night! Labor at at federal level has and is a poor communicator as it seems to think the majority are as switched on politically as we "junkies" are. Abbott is successful because he takes a complex policy and breaks it down to something the masses understand such as "great big new tax" it doesn't matter if he's wrong! we seem hopeful that the big picture and the compensation will do the work the government isn't. The media isn't there to do it for us either, but if candidates and the unions at the 2007 election could find time then to be on as much local media etc then to answer questions on "work choices"they should be doing it now to sell and argue the governments achievements. Kelty spoke of the 1993 election where Labor we gone for all money,Keating found away to beat Hewson at that election, the PM could well do with advice from the likes of Kelty, Keating and other Labor greats. Getting into government is the easy part, staying and taking the people with you even with unpopular policy is the hard part.

LadyInRed

17/05/2012Just had a rant at Cassidy for this article. Its a low blow. Not nice. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-17/cassidy-embattled-thomson/4017646

Jason

17/05/2012Ye Gods! The man who launched a sexual harassment case against Speaker Peter Slipper has made a formal complaint about comments made by political heavyweights Bob Carr and Barnaby Joyce. James Ashby's lawyers this afternoon lodged a formal complaint of victimisation with the Human Rights Commission over remarks made by the senators on Twitter and to the media http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-17/slipper-staffer-makes-complaint-against-carr-joyce/4017652

Psyclaw

17/05/2012Over on PB there's a view gaining currency that Pyne's second email to Ashby was in fact a reply. This means that Pyne's actions after the drinkies involved at least 3 messages .... 2 from Pyne and one from Ashby. When originally questioned, Pyne couldn't recall that he'd sent just the one email to Ashby. It now seems he "forgot" two by himself to Ashby, and a reply to his first by Ashby. It is being speculated that Jessica Wright (Fairfax) who broke the second email story yesterday, has held back some of its contents. The text she released doesn't make much sense even if it's a code. I can't wait for QT Monday.

Sir Ian Crisp

17/05/2012I see Kelty is the latest ALP heavy to sink the slipper into the Gillard camorra. If Kelty has negative views will he earn the tag troll? Will he be accused of being a mad right-winger?

Jason

17/05/2012Sir Ian, What's that "Liberal heavy" Fraser doing these days? Oh that's right he resigned from the party!

LadyInRed

17/05/2012Jason I take what you say on board - perhaps you have a point. But this is a minority government, and the first female PM. The PM is copping a lot of mysogyny. And I can't help think that even your remarks don't contain a bit. We need to get Keating, Kelty and other labor greats to give her a hand? Let's get the men in. Slogans what kind of slogans can we break down complex policy into? I think what you are saying is we have to get in the dirt with Abbott, and play dirty. The problem is when a female plays dirty it isn't always picked up the same way that it is for a male. I think if a guy took over KRudd's job he would not have had such a hard time of it. Maybe if JG showed her boobs? Would that work? Just a thought.

Ad astra

17/05/20122353 Thank you for your comment about Bill Kelty, and your response Jason. I take your points. But apart from getting behind Julia Gillard what advice did Bill Kelty give? He talked about Labor spelling out its vision. What does he think Julia Gillard has been doing these last two years? How many times does she have to say that she has a vision of opportunity for everyone – opportunity for ‘a great education’ to use her own words, to equip everybody for a rewarding job? How many times does she have to say that she wants a fair go for everyone in an equitable society? How many times does she have to repeat her concern for the welfare of working families, a phrase that some find tiring? How many more times does she have to say that she wants to spread the benefits of the mining boom more evenly across the nation? How many times does she have to say that she wants to prepare this country for a new economy based on clean energy, one that pollutes less and takes advantage of advances in renewable technology? How many times does she have to say that in pursuing a lower carbon economy by making polluters pay, the revenue generated will be passed on to consumers to cover increases in the cost to them of electricity and other commodities? How many times does she have to say that we are entering the Asian Century where our future lies? How many times does she have spell out her vision for our defence arrangements – our withdrawal from Afghanistan and our closer alliance with US centered in our region? How often does she have to reiterate her vision of a reformed health system centered on community-based care, the more efficient use of hospitals, the rationalizion of health funding, and closer collaboration between the Commonwealth and the States? How often does she have to reinforce her vision of simplified bureaucracy across states to facilitate transport, industry and business transactions? How many times does she have to spell out her commitment to infrastructure development in rail, roads, ports, and electricity transmission? How many times must she reiterate her determination to resolve the Murray-Darling dilemma? I could go on and on. What I have written has come from the top of my head. I didn’t have to look up any references; I didn’t have to go to the Labor Party website. I didn’t have to look up Julia’s old speeches? Why the hell can’t people like Bill Kelty listen? Are they tone deaf, like much of the media, who for as long as I have been following politics closely has been clamoring for a narrative, a vision, and real leadership. Spare me from this learnt ignorance, this purposeful intention never to listen, but only complain that the Government has no narrative, no vision, no leadership. This is the sort of stupidity that makes teachers despair, as I saw my Chemistry teacher at school despair about whether he could ever hammer anything about cadmium into our reluctant and indolent skulls. I do agree with you that the Government needs better to advertise its successes, better explain its intent. I have asked again and again what on earth the Government’s media unit is doing. Its recent effort advertising the compensation consumers will receive consequent on the placing of a price on carbon is pathetic. Why not, using today’s aggregated scientific evidence of temperature increases in our region over the last fifty years, simply say: [i]“In our region temperatures have been higher in the last fifty years than ever before. This is due to greenhouse gases that are generated by burning carbon in the form of coal, gas and fuel. For every man, woman and child in Australia there is more greenhouse gas generated than in any other country in the world. We [b]must[/b] curb this. We owe it to future generations to leave them a clean planet. This is why we are putting a price on carbon pollution, the so-called carbon tax. For every tonne of carbon the big polluters emit, they will have to pay $23. They can avoid this by reducing and eventually eliminating their carbon pollution. Until they do, what they pay will be passed on to you to compensate you for any increase in the cost of your electricity or what you buy for daily living. We have calculated that the extra cost to you will be less than one cent in the dollar. In other words, for every dollar you now spend, it will cost you less than one extra cent after July 1. For most households, this will amount to less than ten dollars a week. The money we pass onto you from the carbon tax will be[b]more[/b] than any extra cost. You will [b]not[/b] be out of pocket – in fact you will be [b]better off[/b]. Money will soon arrive in your bank account. If any of this ad doesn’t make sense, contact us at: [/i] As this ad has come straight off the top of my head, it would need polishing and testing, but I can guarantee it would be better than the one now extant. It would take about 90 seconds. This is where the Government can improve – getting its messages out – its successes and its plans. Of course it would still have to battle the negativity and obstructionism of the media, but for its paid ads it should be able to do much better. I would prefer it to spend its time in this manner than pursuing the pointless effort of attempting once more to spell out its vision and ‘narrative’, which so many seem unable or unwilling to hear.

nasking

17/05/2012 Hi Ad, Couldn't agree more. Thnx to Lyn for all the links and tweets. I like this: [b]Joe Biden slams Romney in Ohio speech "They Don't Get Us"[/b] http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=C1o-CApj1v4 N'

LadyInRed

17/05/2012Agree Ad astra. You are right - How many times does she have to say it? She doesn't get good press that goes without saying. That she is a woman who took a mans job is a problem but not insurmountable with a friendly press on board (or even just a fair one). I think anyone who is doing it tough, and if you believe the hype that is most Australians (even if it isn't true), blame the government. Abbott has convinced them he can make it all better. And people love a winner. He is constantly being shown as a winner, on the TV, in the press, whether it be in his lycra pants or his silly yellow vests when he visits factories. Some of the worst unfavourable journalism comes from women? So there is something very psychological going on in Aus today on the political front.

Psyclaw

17/05/2012AA "JG has no vision" and "JG has no narrative" are now mere mantras for non thinkers and those out to make mischief. Anyone who doesn't know about the new, green economy and renewable industries, assisting the disabled, keeping the economy steady, opportunity through education, protecting the environment, sharing the nation's wealth, better communication by NBN, etc etc, and that these all add up to constructing a fair, vibrant nation for the 21 st century, doesn't want to know.

42 long

17/05/2012One point you have missed and many do is that at the moment alternative energy is dearer than the cheap fossil fuel but the price of it will go UP because of demand and the price of the alternative energy sources will go down with technology and wider application. Most of the costs of electricity are associated with distribution, The network has been allowed to run dow because there has been no direction given. No future policy stated. States have tried to sell off the assetts and gone to hell for it. Now that Abbott ( the wrecker) has promised to reverse the Price on carbom ( even Peate marwick don't call it a tax) the industry is plunged back to having NO certainty for planning. Good on you Tony. Your silly plan will cost more. Everyone says so. You don't take advice from experts. You lead the attack on "science" . wasn't burning books in Germany done for the same purpose. deny people the advantage of knowledge?

Ad astra

17/05/2012LadyinRed I too wonder how many times JG has to explain her vision. There are none so deaf as refuse to listen. Psyclaw Thank you for your comment. You have added some visions that I had omitted: the vision of superfast broadband via the NBN that will revolutionize education, health, business and agriculture, the vision of the national disability insurance scheme, and protecting the environment. We heard about them so many times. Why are so many deaf? 24 long You are right, most of the costs of electricity are distribution, and it has been the run down of transmission infrastructure and it belated restoration that has caused the rise in electricity prices, not the carbon tax, which has not even begun.

Jason

17/05/2012LadyInRed, I'm secretary of my sub branch here in Adelaide, I belong to no faction! However it's not that the PM is a woman! or I think "the men" should take over! Kelty was right when he said the opposition is doing what oppositions do! "we" thought when Abbott took over from Turnbull he's such a fool it's only a matter of time before he stuffs up, then he saw off Rudd did we change how we deal with Abbott? No! Abbott has been doing the same old act yet "we" are sitting around still trying to come up with a strategy to deal with the "Coalition" it's the coalition we should be fighting not Abbott the less we hear Abbott's name the better. If we are to accept the praises as a "government" on reforms that he Hawke and keating gave us, we can also take the criticism he wishes to give.

Ad astra

17/05/2012Nasking I couldn’t get the YouTube clip of Joe Biden to work; I’ll try later.

NormanK

17/05/2012LadyInRed I suspect that your Gravatar problems are not of your own making. I have been locked into this particular rose since [i]TPS[/i] had a system upgrade. Psyclaw has a great Gravatar over at [i]The Poll Bludger[/i] but continues to show his blog-assigned one here. To test whether you have succeeded in assigning an image to your e-mail address might I suggest that you try posting a comment on another site. PatriciaWA's Polliepomes would be a friendly place to give it a whirl but it does necessitate you registering with WordPress. http://polliepomes.wordpress.com/ It is highly likely that the [i]TPS[/i] problem will be corrected at the next upgrade.

Ad astra

17/05/2012Hi Lyn Thanks for the tweets. It looks as if cracks are appearing between the wild spender Abbott, and moneybags Hockey who has to fund Abbott’s brainstorms. It looks as if Bill Kelty has plenty of fans, I’m not one. The report that Australia has experienced its hottest 50 years is very important. I wonder how much airplay it will get. LadyinRed The Cassidy article was informative. I wonder what his message really was?

Psyclaw

17/05/2012Jason Agreed. The coalition's Archilles heel is the policy area .....no policies, changing policies, silly policies (parental leave +company tax, Direct Inaction), contradictory policy statements within their front bench, where their funding will come from (what cuts), NDIS's great importance "but only if we can find $s" (General Sloppy Joe) ......stuff the money, it's so VIP the $s just isn't a consideration etc etc There's so much to work with. The front bench should get up them like a rat up a rafter, day in day out. No need for any mention of "Abbott" except incidentally.

Lyn

17/05/2012Hi Ad Chris Uhlmann's tweet wonder what and "that complaint from james Ashby" means, sort of sounds like Uhlmann thinks it's a joke. Some joke look what they did to Mr Slipper all those nasty pictures of him as a rat with terrible whiskers on the front pages. Chris Uhlmann‏ On 730 tonight the Foreign Minister, Bob Carr on his talks in China and Japan and that complaint from James Ashby :):):):)

2353

17/05/2012AA, In a perfect wold you are correct at 5:24pm, however the world is not perfect. Rudd was elected in 2007 with an implied promise of changing things for the better. While I would be preaching to the converted if I started going into the things Rudd (and subsequently Gillard) have done well, the perception is different. I'm not a member of the ALP (or any other political party) but I would imagine that a association with membership across the country that has been in existence for over 100 years has a number of vested interests. Lets just say that Rudd's removal could be (and was frequently) used to prove that Rudd (and by implication his Government) was a "dud". In my view, a large number of Australians still have that view, fanned of course by a compliant media who were happy to assist in pushing the line that Oakshott and Windsor were turncoats for supporting Gillard over the alternative. A CEO of a large employer once said to me that turning the organisation around was like driving the Queen Mary - it takes 10km to stop the thing before you can change direction (and nearly all of the 6000 employees were concentrated on the south side of Brisbane). When you remember that ALP members are not employees, are widely dispersed across the Country and rely on those that self select in the majority to travel to regional and national events, there is the opportunity for a number of different powerbases to develop and thrive. Those ALP members that "Self select" to travel to regional and national events can command considerable power - after all they have been in the same room as those with "real power". From experience in a Service Club years ago, the stories told by them on return and the reality can be significantly different. There is only so much that can be done by one person - regardless of the respect they are held in by the general membership. While it is easier for them to convince the leaders of the need, there is significant delay and confusion in getting the message down to the member on the floor. This is why, I suspect, Kelty went public. In the short term there might be a bit more negative media coverage however anyone with an interest in politics (including the majority of ALP members) will be aware of where he sees the problems are. Now it is up to the floor members to keep their delegates accountable. The ALP needs to change the system so that the Government's achievements are actually noticed and discussed in the media, mistakes like the Queensland negativity campaign are not repeated and local candidates are actually out campaigning (which certainly hasn't happened around here in 2012 - while my area is a rather deep shade of blue, we do surprise them sometimes by overwhelmingly electing an independent over the LNP at the Council election). Julia Gillard once suggested that Journalists "Don't write crap". Maybe for a start, the front bench should call out the Ullman's, Jones and Bolts of this world. "Sorry to answer your question over your interruption" followed on by a response to the original question would be a good response to the inevitable interruptions in the future. I have previously discussed here a "Mining is good for our community" type ad campaign for the Government and was shouted down from memory by those asking questions of detail, potential reactions and giving a thousand reasons why it might not work. Bottom line is that the ALP can't (on current figures) do much worse so why not have a go. Sitting there in the corner or playing internal power games (which is what the ALP seems to do well from this outsiders view) will not guarantee a victory in 2013, a long term and consistent strategy to "market the brand" might - after all it's worked for the LOTO quite well up until now (even though the brand in this case is vacuous).

42 long

17/05/2012Jason, IF Abbott ( the saviour) doesn't keep looking like the deliverer of the holy grail to the born to rule party, they will have to dump him because he scares them as much as he scares me, and many others. He performs abyssimally in everything except 'dumping on Gillard. He has one use only. Don't forget he got in by only one vote. If others had run THEY, not Abbot, would have been the leader. Your loyalty for Bill is obvious, but in any case all I said was why give the others the ammunition they crave when you don't have to.? It's called shooting your self in the foot, ( or similar).

nasking

17/05/2012 A new plan to save the planet Petition here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/a_new_plan_to_save_the_planet/?cl=1810165259&v=14365

nasking

17/05/2012 Ad, Just checked the Biden vid link...working now. Sometimes you have to refresh it to kickstart the Youtube vids. Cheers N'

Tom of Melbourne

17/05/2012Interesting. So many here just turn on their own when they make reasonable and constructive observations about the ALP. Denying the legitimacy of Kelty’s comments… is living in denial.

Jason

17/05/201242 long, My "loyalty" is to the Labor party! I doubt things as far as ammunition goes it could get worse! But I wont pretend that we are doing well nor do I think the things Kelty or others say should be dismissed! I can't remember in my short life of 44 years where you would have the likes of Paul Howes "thinking out loud" on a daily basis or in his weekly rant in the "Daily Telegraph" which also provides ammunition or Kathy Jackson (HSU) wanting to address the HR Nicholls crowd until that was stopped yesterday. Yet Kelty is seen as a villan!

Jason

17/05/2012I should add the only "union boss" that got fed up with the direction the "federal Labor party" was taking was the Victorian head of the "ETU" Dean Mighell! It seems he swore a bit more in public than Rudd did in private, and as state head of one of the most wealthiest union in Australia he sent his funds to Adam Bandt! Things like that can't be ignored!

Shirley

17/05/2012Hi Jason, The newspapers state Kathy Jackson will defy the unions request she not give the lecture at HR Nicholls. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/jackson-slams-union-muzzle-attempt-20120516-1yqwg.html As a unionist I would think it was an appropriate use of union funds to get a member elected to Parliament. Labour needed to be elected to overthrow workchoices. So in effect Craigs election was a direct benefit for the HSU members. I cant understand why there is no discussion in the media and among unions on this. Money well spent - we all benefitted by a change in Government.

Lyn

17/05/2012HI Lady IN Red I was wondering if this page of information would be useful to you with regards to your gravatar. Anyway have a look:- Daily Tip: Add Gravatar Photos to User Profile Pages in WordPress and Multisite AP Gravatars is a new plugin that will add a user’s profile picture directly below the new password settings, exactly where one might naturally look for Download the free AP Gravatars plugin from the WordPress plugin repository http://goo.gl/H9nis :):):)

42 long

17/05/2012The labour party has to broaden it's base to cover more than unions. When has the rate of union membership as a percentage of the entire workforce been lower. I know union leaders have a lot of worthwhile qualifications and experience in general, but the labour party can't just rely on that. it's future lies in the branches as well. You are preaching to a captive audience at an ACTU Conference same as to the HR Nicholls on the other side. Antbody who says there is no difference between the two parties is blind. The greens have made inroads into the ALP vote that has to be compensated for.

Jason

17/05/201242 long, In order for the "Labor" party to broaden its base there needs to be a recognition either from Kelty or others that there is indeed a problem! Carr Bracks and Falkner done yet another searching review after the last election, and I can only assume as the "sealed section" of which is only known to a trusted few of the ALP hierarchy, how is the rest of the rank and file ment to learn from past mistakes if we can't be told? More ammunition I think!

nasking

17/05/2012 The not so loyal rich: [b]From Manhattan to Monaco, the world's wealthiest people are disconnecting into a class of stateless transients. No Country for Rich Men[/b] by SAM PIZZIGATI Counterpunch Back in 1863, a short story took the American reading public by storm. Edward Everett Hale’s “The Man without a Country” told the tale of a poor treasonous soul sentenced to spend the rest of his life endlessly sailing the world in perpetual exile, as a prisoner aboard Navy warships. Today’s awesomely affluent are just as transient – by choice. Take Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin. This billionaire renounced his U.S. citizenship in 2011, a move perfectly timed to potentially save him hundreds of millions in taxes when Facebook goes public. Saverin has plenty of company. The number of Americans who formally renounced their U.S. citizenship soared to 1,780 last year from 235 in 2008. [b]The spark for this surge? U.S. tax officials ave been clamping down on overseas tax evasion. This bit of unpleasantness has some wealthy Americans, such as the Brazilian-born Saverin, cutting their ties to dear old Uncle Sam. They simply pay a $450 paperwork fee and an “exit tax” on unrealized capital gains, if they hold assets worth over $2 million or have paid over $151,000 to the IRS in any recent year. But the affluent who’ve formally renounced their citizenship comprise just a tiny share of what the Financial Times has labeled the “stateless super rich.” These uber-wealthy folks shy from the notoriety of citizenship spurned. They just live their lives as if they have no nation to call their own.[/b] The most famous member of this stateless-by-choice community may be Nicolas Berggruen, a 52 year-old “homeless billionaire” worth over $2.3 billion who has spent the last decade hopping the world from one five-star hotel to another. http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/05/16/no-country-for-rich-men/ America, Australia etc. (My Country, 'Tis Not of Me and My Moolah) N'

Tom of Melbourne

17/05/2012By the way DMW, my commentary here has related to the $$$hundreds of millions that the government has spent on private schools that charge huge fees. I’m not as bothered by all the school halls in the public sector, though I don’t think the government got good value (and I think the stimulus was too much and too long)

nasking

17/05/2012 The scare-mongers can relax…on Amampour tonite Alexis Tsipras, head of Syriza says NO to leaving EU: Rich people to buy everything with euros He was asked the consequences if Greece abandons the euro and returns to the drachma as its currency: “If Greece goes back to the drachma, the second day the other countries in Europe will have the same problem,” said Tsipras. “I really disagree with a lot of the things that Madame Merkel say and do, “ he said gamely speaking in English, “but I agree with what she said before, that if Greece goes out of the euro, the second day the markets will find who will be the second, and the second will be Italy or Spain.” “Italy has a very big public debt, not like Greece,” said Tsipras. “So you can understand what I was meaning when I was telling you this road goes to hell. We don’t want Europe to be in a catastrophe way. So if we want to save Europe, we need to change these directions.” But if austerity measures won’t work, what will? Tsipras reiterated that the answer won’t be found with the drachma: “We don’t want a whole catastrophe for the Eurozone and for Europe. At the same time we don’t want to go back to drachmas. Because in Greece we would have the poor people to have drachmas and rich people to buy everything with euros…” First of all, we will cancel all these austerity measures He wasn’t just speaking of Greece but of the Eurozone as a whole: “We will do whatever we could do to keep Greece inside the euro and inside Europe…. We are watching this situation in the whole view of Europe and the Eurozone. You can understand what will happen if the Eurozone will be split and the Eurozone will be in this big danger.” When asked what he would do as president, Tsipras said, “First of all, we will cancel all these austerity measures…. We believe that this crisis is not a Greek crisis but a European crisis. And we will try to find a common solution – about the role of ECB, about the Europe bonds, about the negotiation of the public debt of all the European countries.” Asked if he could foresee partners in that negotiation, Tsipras was optimistic: “We think we will find partners…. We will have the same problem with Italy, with Spain, with Portugal, and also with Ireland and also in the central Europe.” He views the recent election of socialist Francois Hollande in France as a positive sign: “We don’t want more austerity measures. We can’t go on with these austerity measures because everything was destroyed in Greece. If the Greek people will keep with this opinion, everything will change in Europe.” Vid here: http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/?hpt=hp_bn4 N’

DMW

17/05/201242 long @ 7:33 PM, [i]Don't forget he [/i] (Abbott) [i]got in by only one vote. If others had run THEY, not Abbot, would have been the leader.[/i] Others did run in the ballot: [i]Joe Hockey had also contested the leadership but lost in the first round, with Mr Abbott polling 35 votes, to Mr Turnbull's 26 and Mr Hockey's 23.[/i] http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/australia/3114148/Turnbull-loses-Aussie-leadership-battle The second thing to remember is that leadership battle was contested in the previous parliament when there was a different mix of people voting in the ballot. While Abbott may have lost some 'votes' from retiring members and, of course now, the 'tainted' vote of Mr Slipper, there are many who came in for the first time at the 2010 eclection and a fair swag of them would feel they owe Abbott for getting them there. The Liberal Party knows that, apart from Abbott, there is nobody acceptable ready to lead the party within the parlianentary ranks at this time. In the unlikely event of a vote for the leadership of the Liberal Party anytime in the near future it is probable that Abbott would win even if narrowly. How much it would make his leadership terminal would depend on the margin and the timing before the next election. My jaundiced view is that Abbott will lead the opposition to the next election. The likelyhood of him winning is totally and absolutely down to how the government performs and that ain't looking too hot at the moment.

DMW

17/05/2012ToM @ 7:57 PM de nial is not a river I would swim in. I note you are still swimming in the river of de nial when it comes to the BER. Pot - Kettle syndrome methinks.

DMW

17/05/2012ToM I posted my comment @ 10:54 PM before I saw yours @ 10:23 PM. At one level I can agree with your concern about [i]the $$$hundreds of millions that the government has spent on private schools that charge huge fees.[/i] At the time I lower myself to that level I also consider proposing that anyone who even thinks about sending their progeny to one of those institutions should be rendered unable to procreate and if they already have children they should be sent off for rendering and not allowed to rejoin society until they get over that stupidity. The debate over providing money to non government schools was had, won and lost in the late sixties and early seventies and we live with the results of the outcome of that debate. The amounts made available through the BER were based on enrollments not the social status or fee levels of the schools. We can argue until the cows come home about whether the amounts were too large or small and whether the stimulus lasted too long but the full and true answers won't be known about the effectiveness and suitability until 10 - 20 years down the track and by then neither will probably give a flying fig.

Ad astra reply

17/05/2012Folks What an antagonistic performance by Tony Jones tonight in his Lateline interview of Greg Combet. Although he let Combet have his head several times, he persistent questioning about the reason for the three year fixed price period of $23 per tonne of carbon prior to the floating price of the ETS, resulted in a sharp altercation during which Jones became irritated and upset, his eyes blinking angrily. Combet remained cool, refusing to be intimidated by Jones. The problem seems to arise from Jones' adversarial approach, and his persistent style of questioning that has him pushing a line well beyond what is reasonable. For example Jones persisted with questioning Combet about the Ashby court case, even after Combet told him that he had no detailed knowledge of it. Likewise, he tried to push Combet into conceding that Bill Shorten had made such a good speech at the ACTU Conference that it was a push for consideration for 'leadership' . Combet said he had not heard the speech, but said he had heard it was good. Yet Jones persisted in his attempt to get Combet to concede it was the speech of a leader. Jones is developing a disabling habit of coming to such interviews with a predetermined agenda to get a 'scoop', often some 'admission' that will make a headline or a good story. This habit is diminishing the quality of his interviews and his value to the ABC as an astute interviewer. He should replay his interviews to get this message, and curb this disabling habit. He would do better if he were less partisan in his approach.

Psyclaw

17/05/2012DMW Hockey was eliminated in the first ballot. He shot himself by saying he'd allow a conscience vote on the "in good faith" CPRS developed by Mr McFarlane and Ms Wong. What a fool. This was the very issue that Minchin, Benardi, Abetz et al were so against that they brought on the dumping of Turnbull. General Sloppy Joe quickly showed those faceless manipulators and their party sycophants that Joe was not up to the job [i][b]t[/i]hey[/b] wanted done ie breach faith and dump the CPRS agreement.

Shirley

17/05/2012 Interesting Quote from Leveson tonight;- 11.04am: [b]Leveson says stories going online is "leading to greater accountability for journalists. People will study them, and I think there's no reporter - no decent reporter - in the land who would not welcome this extra scrutiny."[/b] Except our ABC re criticism from Paul Keating and others. Good work Ad Astra and other bloggers. Agree with your comments re Lateline tonight. Greg Combet is cool.

TalkTurkey

18/05/2012 psyclaw Hope you don't mind my transplanting your comment from Poll Bludger What you and gloryconsequence have said saves my saying it. Wormtongue Jones is arrogant and malicious beyond all countenancing. Anybody who hasn't seen Lateline tonight should make the effort to try to catch it somehow. I'm sure someone will put up a link, I haven't looked, but it will be interesting to [b][i]compare the transcript with the video[/i].[/b] so from psyclaw Posted Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 11:17 pm | Permalink Missive to Lateline just sent: quote “What a classic I/V of Mr Combet by Mr Jones. For rudeness, aggression, combatativeness, speaking over, interrupting and being generally ignorant, this effort by Mr Jones rivals the Uhllman fiasco last week. BTW for your info Mr Jones, see s7 of the Juries Act. Except in defamation, many civil cases DO have juries. Pride and arrogance often leads to a fall. The result was an I/V of no substance, no analysis, just Mr Jones showing off and pushing his own barrow.” end quote 606 psyclaw Posted Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 11:18 pm | Permalink Fiona We’re all only human!!! 607 gloryconsequence Posted Thursday, May 17, 2012 at 11:19 pm | Permalink Tony Jones is the perfect example of how shit modern journalism/interviewing has become. He’s making himself and his own apparent knowledge, and ability to interject in a “gotcha” style, the main focus of the interview, rather than the interviewee. Sure, ask questions you need to, but let the interviewee answer the question before you interrupt and throw in your own egotistical personality. [b]He hasn’t let Combet finish one sentence. Literally[/b]. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ [Emphasis mine TT] Combet was repeatedly in disbelief as Jones interrupted him time after time after time. Jones should be sacked. As should Uhlmann. Jones seems to have decided that his future bread is buttered on the Right side and he will do everything to see the Government out. In solidarity with Uhlmann and Belsham. Tonight's display was a deliberate statement of challenge and defiance and malevolence. The ABC, Big Money, the Coalition, all the MSM, and Rightist religiomanes, all in league together marching as to War with the Trump of Tony going on before! Don't miss it Folks. This is a[b] coup in the plotting[/b]. Are you ready for [i]real[/i] class warfare? Have a very thoughtful look at that Combet interview. Taken along with Uhlmann, Alberici, Bruce Belsham, Crassidy et al, [i]what is Jones telling us[/i] between the lines about the intent of the ABC?

Casablanca

18/05/2012Lateline Transcript and video of Tony Jones interviewing Greg Combet are at: http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3505429.htm [i]Jones leads off with a series of questions about the Sexual Harassment case. As most here would have previously read, the Commonwealth Government is listed as the First Respondent and Peter Slipper as the Second Respondent. Tony Jones certainly should have apprised himself of this fact prior to the interview. Perhaps its another case of wilful ignorance that allowed him to suggest that this is a Government engaging in some sort of David & Goliath battle without due cause. Excerpt from Transcript concerning Ashby Case against the Commonwealth & Slipper:[/i] [b]TONY JONES: Now why is the Government mounting a legal challenge against James Ashby's case? [/b] GREG COMBET: Well, first of all, I'm not an authority on all that may have occurred in the court today, but as I understand it, Mr Ashby's brought a claim against the Australian Government as well as a claim against Mr Slipper and that's why the Australian Government solicitor would be in the proceedings, but I don't know the details of those matters, but the Australian Government is not representing Mr Slipper in the proceedings. TONY JONES: Very specifically not, is that what you're saying? GREG COMBET: Well that's my understanding, yes, but there's a separate claim that apparently Mr Ashby's brought against the Commonwealth as well. [b]TONY JONES: There may be legitimate legal arrangements over the way Mr Ashby has conducted himself in this, but what about the perception? Isn't this going to look like the weight of the Commonwealth is coming down on one man, the one who's making the allegations? [/b] GREG COMBET: Well I don't know that I'm a commentator about it and I don't think it's a very appropriate thing to be commenting on a case that's before the courts, but ... TONY JONES: There's no jury involved in this matter, so I don't think ... GREG COMBET: Yeah, but as I - but nonetheless, it's a matter that the courts have to consider. I don't know the detail of it. I haven't read any of the documents, I don't know anything about it. I wasn't in the court today. There's not much I can offer in terms of insight into it other than the fact that as I understand it Mr Ashby's brought some sort of claim against the Commonwealth Government as well and that's why the Government solicitor is there and I would imagine that the Government solicitor is suggesting that the case brought against the Commonwealth is not a very strong one. [b]TONY JONES: The problem is once again the Opposition has a very simple message. Tony Abbott says all that matters is a) did the Speaker sexually harass his staffer and b) has he misused his entitlements? Now the Government's got to make the case that it's defending itself against Ashby and that Ashby acted inappropriately. [/b] GREG COMBET: Well I don't know what else I can offer about it. If a case is brought against the Commonwealth, the Australian Government solicitor has to represent the Commonwealth in the court and do so in a professional manner. But there's nothing much I can say about the matters before the court, I'm afraid. [b]TONY JONES: Are you worried that if you raise questions about James Ashby and talk about them, you could end up being charged with breaching his civil rights like Senator Carr? [/b] GREG COMBET: No, actually, I don't spend too much time thinking about it. I mean, it's a serious matter that he's brought that should be heard by the courts. You know, I don't think it's appropriate for someone in my role to be a commentator on it, especially when I don't know much about it. *** [i]Here is an extract from the end of the interview where Jones is at his pompous and arrogant best and Combet has to ask to be allowed to finish his answer.[/i] TONY JONES: Alright. There's one basic thing that I don't believe has ever really been understood by the public and certainly by a lot of journalists and others: why did you need a three-year fixed price on the carbon tax? GREG COMBET: Well I think we introduced a fixed price at the start of an emissions trading scheme for some predictability and certainly in how the scheme will operate, that is that businesses in particular would know what the carbon price would look like, how to do their assessments of their liability and have some certainty about that for several years before we transition to a flexible price with an emissions trading scheme that will link international. TONY JONES: But, I mean, the obvious riposte to that is that Kevin Rudd's rather painstakingly negotiated emissions trading scheme had a one-year fixed price that. Now that would actually be concluded before the next election if it went on time. I mean, wouldn't you have preferred a one-year than a three-year fixed price with a carbon tax? GREG COMBET: Well, as I think you're well aware, we negotiated this package to get through Parliament and of course the scheme that you refer to when Kevin Rudd was prime minister was defeated in Parliament. I mean, at the end of the day, if you're going to make big reforms, we need to work within our parliamentary system and you need to secure passage of the legislation and that is what the Government did. I think the three-year fixed price period is in fact an appropriate one because ... [b]TONY JONES: But can I just ... GREG COMBET: If you'd stop talking over me for a minute. Let me finish a sentence, please. TONY JONES: Well, some of your sentences are rather long so we'd like to get a few questions in as well. GREG COMBET: Well, some of your questions are lengthy too. But a three-year fixed price period is an appropriate one because it does provide business with some certainly about the pricing over the course of the next few years, it allows people to get used to the carbon price in the economy and people to have certainty about their investment decisions. TONY JONES: If I might I say so, that's pretty much what you just said. Now you've repeated it. Anyway, is it the case that the three-year fixed price or carbon tax was actually a non-negotiable demand of the Greens Party? GREG COMBET: No, that's a load of drivel. [/b] TONY JONES: Well, that's a load of drivel that the Greens Leader, Christine Milne, suggested was the case on our program last week. GREG COMBET: Well, I didn't hear it, but that's not true. We had a whole set of issues that we negotiated to secure package of it and that's not the case. TONY JONES: Well, I mean, Christine Milne said that the three-year fixed price was non-negotiable and they negotiated with the Government and it was part of the process, as you say, of getting these things through Parliament. Why distance yourself from these negotiations? GREG COMBET: Well, I'm not distancing myself from it at all. I was in the room. I was the lead government negotiator and that is not at all my recollection of the situation. TONY JONES: Well, then, perhaps you could explain it to us. Who came up with the three-year fixed price? GREG COMBET: Well, I don't think I do have to explain it to you. I explained a little while ago that to make major reforms you have to negotiate with other parties in our parliament, democratically elected, in order to secure passage of legislation through the Parliament and that's what we did. Many things were discussed. It's a very comprehensive package of measures. They were discussed, negotiated, not just the Greens, but also with independent MPs.

Lyn

18/05/2012TODAY’S LINKS Limited abilities, Andrew Elder, Politically Homeless It would appear that the Coalition are trying to switch Abbott's negative perception, and loading onto Joe Hockey the "Dr No" persona in the name of economic responsibility. The trouble with that is, by undermining the budget with talk about "cooked books", they cast doubt on whether they or anyone can set the budget to right. http://andrewelder.blogspot.com.au/ Australia’s poorly partisan political punditry, Independent Australia The trend towards employing ex-politicians to pontificate is increasing at an alarming rate. The Age gives us the reflections of Amanda Vanstone and Peter Costello on a regular basis. Mark Latham seems to be embedded in the Financial Review, and Graham Richardson is such a fixture on Q & A that he is presumably now entered as http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/business/media-2/australias-poor-partisan-political-punditry/ How To Throw Away Your Life Savings, Ben Eltham, New Matilda The details of the Trio fraud are fascinating. There were all the usual features of high-level financial fraud including tortuous paper trials, tricky name changes, off-shore special purpose vehicles, overseas hedge funds, failed Wall Street merchant banks http://newmatilda.com/2012/05/17/trio-capital-inquiry-self-managed-super Comin’ Under Fire, Wixxy,Wixxy’sLeaks A source, who can not be named, has today leaked to us an email trail that was saved as a PDF document, allegedly by Kathy Jackson, from a computer within Fair Work Australia. The document has Jacksons name in the documents properties, and in the same properties it also tells us that the license for the software comes from Fair Work Australia. This all seems very odd indeed. http://wixxy.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/comin-under-fire/ Hockey’s work-hard mantra will hardly work in an era of job insecurity , Veronica Sheen, The Conversation the nonsense recently peddled by Joe Hockey in his speech in London. The key ingredients of Hockey’s social vision, “The End of the Age of Entitlement”, are low tax, hard work, minimal social protection, and self-provision. He advocates an immediate reduction in social programs in the cause of http://theconversation.edu.au/hockeys-work-hard-mantra-will-hardly-work-in-an-era-of-job-insecurity-7090 Police bribes probe the ticking time-bomb under News Corp, Andrew Cook, Crikey Brooks — the former Sun editrix who before her two hacking arrests was known to the Met as a purveyor of violent domestic assaults — says she will defend the charges against herself and her inner circle. But for Murdoch’s profit-beating global empire, the unravelling has already begun http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/05/17/police-bribes-probe-the-ticking-time-bomb-under-news-corp/ Is Tony Abbott feeling “a bit of pressure”?Alan Davis, Crikey But I cringed even more when I read this story on the front page of The Australian yesterday. Reporters Mitchell Nadin and Imre Salusinszky reckon Mr Abbott is bit like his local footy team, the Manly Sea Eagles, who’ve long been perceived “to be wealthier than they actually are”. They say it’s “a concept the Opposition Leader is acutely familiar with”. Mr Abbott, http://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2012/05/11/is-tony-abbott-feeling-a-bit-of-financial-pressure/ A Most Befuddling Puzzlement , Ben Pobjie He is actually complaining about the hypocrisy exhibited by so many members of the Australian left, in that they will happily acquiesce, or even applaud, when the Human Rights Commission engages in activities to promote human rights, but when a member of an Equal http://benpobjie.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/most-befuddling-puzzlement.html Will They Eat Crow?, Patriciawa, Café Whispers The Australian Electoral Commission clearing him of accusations of electoral fraud which Kathy Jackson accused him of and which the Fair Work Australia report had confirmed as true should give our media and public opinion pause for thought. Will they now at least listen to him when he addresses Parliament next week with an open http://cafewhispers.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/will-they-eat-crow-4/ Click: looking beyond the incessant news prattle, Jonathan Holmes, ABC Retiring ALP MP Steve Gibbons has a point about modern news media; about how, in his words, modern political reportage "is diminishing Australian journalism and making it very difficult for any government to get the message out". We just get too much news, he says, that's at the heart of the problem. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-17/green-escaping-the-news-cycle/4016854 Hold on to your hats. Hockey takes us through the budget fiddles, Peter Martin From Wednesday's National Press Club address:"The Treasurer is projecting an extraordinary drop in spending in just one year, which happens to be the year he promises a surplus: http://www.petermartin.com.au/2012/05/hold-on-to-your-hats-hockey-takes-us.html Slipper staffer makes complaint against Carr, Joyce, ABC The man who launched a sexual harassment case against Speaker Peter Slipper has made a formal complaint about comments made by political heavyweights Bob Carr and Barnaby Joyce. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-17/slipper-staffer-makes-complaint-against-carr-joyce/4017652 Report of the Delegate to the General Manager of Fair Work Australia FAIR WORK AUSTRALIA. Report of the Delegate to the General Manager of. Fair Work Australia. Investigation into the National Office of the. Health Services Report of the Delegate to the General Manager of Fair Work Australia http://resources.news.com.au/files/2012/05/07/1226349/136447-fwa-report.pdf Electoral Commission Clears Most Of Thomson’s Election Spending, Australian Politics. Com The Australian Electoral Commission says less than one tenth of $260,000 of Health Services Union funds used by Craig Thomson in his Dobell campaign remains in question.A report issued by the AEC says most of the funds spent by Thomson’s campaign were within the reporting guidelines laid down in the Electoral Act http://australianpolitics.com/2012/05/16/aec-clears-thomsons-election-spending.html Labourstart Australia Welcome to oz.labourstart.org -- LabourStart's new Australian news and campaigns page. For global labour news, click here.Add this page to your favourites in Internet Explorer; bookmark it in Firefox. Make sure your union links to it on their website. Meet the anti-Craig Thomson [The Punch] 2012-05-16 http://oz.labourstart.org/ New homes dudded over NBN, says Turnbull, Australian Financial Review Mr Turnbull said fewer than 1000 premises in new building estates were connected to fibre cable last year while Australia's largest telecommunications company, Telstra, installed about 35,000 homes and units to its copper network.By the end of 2011, 109,988 premises in greenfields estates remained on NBN Co's waiting list. http://afr.com/p/national/new_homes_dudded_over_nbn_says_turnbull_FK9xgOkNSYVqkJ8iLDcEJN Turnbull misleads again on National Broadband Network, Stephen Conroy“ Turnbull's claim that there were 109,988 premises in greenfields estates on the NBN Co “waiting list” is also completely misleading.“This figure refers to the total number of lots registered with NBN Co to service into the future, not completed homes. Many of these premises may not be built for years—NBN Co http://www.minister.dbcde.gov.au/media/media_releases/2012/071 Australia’s hot 60 years outstrips previous 1000, David Twomey, Eco News A new scientific study indicates the rise in temperatures in and around Australia since 1950 has been unprecedented for 1000 years. In the first study of its type in the region a team led by scientists at the University of Melbourne has found no period during the past 1000 years matches the warming experienced in Australasia in the past 60 years. http://econews.com.au/news-to-sustain-our-world/australia%e2%80%99s-hot-60-years-outstrips-previous-1000/ TODAYS FRONT PAGES Australia Newspaper Front Pages for 18 May 2012 http://www.frontpagestoday.co.uk/index.cfm?PaperCountry=Australia

Psyclaw

18/05/2012Casablanca, Fiona, Others In my email to Jones I omitted to scorn his use of "government" instead of "the commonwealth". I am sure this is not accidental. "Government" ties in JG and suggests interference. Jones intends this to effect a partisan beat up and "create" news. "The Commonwealth" is the neutral and correct term, viz a viz Ashby's court papers "First Respondent: The Comonwealth."

nasking

18/05/2012 [b]TONY JONES: Well, some of your sentences are rather long so we'd like to get a few questions in as well. [/b] Casablanca, thnx for the transcript. Jones got plenty of questions in...he's extremely sensitive these days. I don't watch Q&A nor many Lateline if he's hosting. He's become too big for his boots. It's like an actor who becomes a big celeb...stars in too many roles...after awhile you can't see past the actor. Also, because he's played the clown so much on Q&A during the late Howard years...and all of Labor's years...then tried to shift on Lateline to serious issues such as the Aboriginal intervention, Afghan War, GFC, China boom, EU crisis and so on...it's hard to know how to take him. I think he needs a break...and we need a break from him. Frankly, I reckon he'd do better on a show like HARDtalk on the BBC...or a version on the ABC. I do enjoy many of his interviews with overseas guests. N'

Tyler

18/05/2012Was i the only one who got the impression Pyne was trying to subtly ask Ashby for a private email address? Seems to be the only reading that makes his 'cryptic' email make any sense.

Patriciawa

18/05/2012[b]Will They Eat Crow?[/b] “No, I don’t believe him!” said Reverend Tim, As if weight of judgement lay with him. Thousands watching shared his thought, Nationwide jury in a kangaroo court. Outrage required a penalty paid, To be decided once a charge was laid. Meanwhile the rack would do or pillory In full sight of his friends and family. His accuser, once colleague, is feted, Whistleblower, congratulated, With much to gain and nothing to lose She stars in many media interviews. She had long sought that in years before, Has no need now to seek it, for sure. So why have journalists no suspicions As she’s taken up by politicians? We need research, more facts on this lady. Her partner’s role for a judge seems shady. The public should know if they’ve broken the law. Isn’t that what a free press is for? With that Fair Work Report now proven wrong, Will the media sing a different song? Are all his critics going to eat crow? If they follow their leader, the answer is [b]"NO!"[/b] Lyn's link to wixxy.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/comin-under-fire/ will explain why I feel almost clairvoyant this morning! I had already re-written my latest pome in the light of wixxy's earlier revelations about HSU which I had seen at Cafe Whispers in http://cafewhispers.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/i-think-i-smell-a-rat/. Why aren't our newspapers and other media full of these shenanigans between the judge, the 'whistleblower' and her target? There seems to be a conspiracy of silence here. I think Talk Turkey is right. There's a [i]coup[/i] in the offing. We have to join him, psyclaw and others in resisting it. The fifth estate must step in if the fourth will not.

Ad astra

18/05/2012LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/LYNS-DAILY-LINKS.aspx

nasking

18/05/2012 Thnx for the links Lyn. From Andrew Welder: [quote]The Coalition are starting to realise that they have trashed Abbott with his perception of negativity. What they think is the smack of firm leadership looks like bloody-mindedness. He just looks disingenuous with a stunt like this: Mr Abbott, who completed a 1000-kilometre fund-raising bike-ride for Carers Australia last week, spoke about his admiration for carers and the many gaps in the support provided by the Disability Services Commission, in what he termed a "litigation lottery". He pledged bipartisan support for the NDIS and said he would defy accusations that he always took a negative approach. "I am sometimes accused of being Dr No ... When it comes to the NDIS, I am Dr Yes," he said. That was three weeks ago, easily available from a Google search. First of all, I'd be interested to see how much money Abbott actually raised for Carers Australia, how much they have actually received to date, and what they plan to do with it (compensating for some measure that Abbott plans to kybosh? Any Craig Thomson types running that outfit?).[/quote] In Republicans have an obsession with charity organisations over government spending to help the disadvantaged. I was watching CNN's Anderson-Cooper yesterday and they had this story: [b]KTH: $56 million donated, no vets helped CNN's Drew Griffin questions a charity for injured veterans that raised $56 million but spent nothing towards the cause.[/b] http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2012/05/16/kth-56-million-donated-no-vets-helped/?hpt=ac_mid It seems to me that this focus on a reliance on charities instead of government providing a useful ongoing scheme can be dangerous... we know there are many good charities that help the disadvantaged and provide where government can't or doesn't... but in America this "tax-exempt status" of charities has led to big rorting...and the corporatisation of charities. I just don't trust Abbott on this issue. Besides, can you imagine if we'd not had a Medicare, pension, free & affordable education system? Left it up to charities...and people using loan sharks and credit cards? A modern mess with a past era flavour. Somehow, I reckon that woulda suited Abbott...he reminds me of a fella from another era: [b]Snake Oil Salesman[/b] http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxy--AmtnVc N'

nasking

18/05/2012 Was meant to be: In America Republicans have an obsession with prioritising charity organisations over government spending to help the disadvantaged.

Patriciawa

18/05/2012Oops - I seem to have my estates confused there. Can someone sort them out for me, please? I haven't had a coffee yet!

nasking

18/05/2012 Related to a story I posted last night, 9:57pm: [b]Senators Go After Eduardo Saverin, Facebook Co-Founder, For Dumping U.S. Passport, Avoiding Taxes [/b] [quote]WASHINGTON -- Populist anger at Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin's decision to renounce his U.S. citizenship -- a move that could save him hundreds of millions in taxes if his Facebook stock gains value after the company goes public on Friday -- has inspired two senators to propose legislation that could hit Saverin with heavy taxes and bar him from ever reentering the United States. Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) are unveiling the Ex-PATRIOT Act, which stands for "Expatriation Prevention by Abolishing Tax-Related Incentives for Offshore Tenancy," on Thursday. The bill would force anyone who "expatriates for a substantial tax purpose -- as judged by the Internal Revenue Service" to pay a mandatory 30 percent tax on future capital gains. The ex-citizens would also be turned back at the border if they ever tried to come back. "This is a great American success story gone horribly wrong," Schumer told reporters Thursday. "Eduardo Saverin wants to defriend the United States of America just to avoid paying taxes. We aren't going to let him get away with it." Schumer called Saverin's behavior "outrageous," arguing that "Saverin has turned his back on the country that welcomed him and kept him safe, educated him and helped him become a billionaire." Schumer also predicted the GOP would go along with the measure. "Why wouldn't they?" he said. Casey added, "I'd like to hear the reason why not." According to his lawyer, Saverin renounced his citizenship in September, although his name just showed up on an Internal Revenue Service list two weeks ago, and has become a permanent resident of Singapore [/quote] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/17/eduardo-saverin-facebook-cofounder-citizenship-taxes-chuck-schumer_n_1524349.html I just looked at my wife's payslip...she's already paid 23 grand in tax...and that doesn't include GST etc. She doesn't mind...provided the taxes are used for appropriate and necessary services and schemes...from healthcare to pensions to education to infrastructure to childcare to safety nets to training to efficient defense to customs to disability services to some animal welfare to clean energy to Indigenous programs to the public broadcasters to public transport to Aged Care and so on. She loves her country. N'

Doug Evans

18/05/2012AA at the end of your piece by now very far above the top of my computer screen you ask what we think. What I think is that your piece is pretty damn perceptive. What I think is that the poison dwarves would have no difficulty brushing it aside as their hate speak coincides with the mood of the times. What I think is that Abbott and his band of gibbering Orcs have learned from their slavering counterparts on the right of the US Republican Party that the approach resonates perfectly with the mood of an uber-entitled electorate who, never having experienced hard times, see no reason why they shouldn't just party on. For a glimpse of where we would be headed if the whole damn house of cards wasn't about to collapse anyway (and the reasons why we are where we are) I recommend Matt Taibbi's book 'Griftopia' on the GFC. What I think is that the wolves are baying in the hills and that Abbott will grab the throne, probably with a thumping majority. What I think is that the confused remnants of a defeated and disillusioned Labor Party that has lost any sense of a coherent rationale is heading for the mother of all hidings. What I think is that, wishing to lick their wounds and sort out where it all went so horribly wrong they will will acknowledge the mandate of an LNP government (and thereby deny their own mandate) by rolling over on any and everything Abbott wishes to get rid of. What I think is that from the next election forward and for as long as the global economic system holds together in its present form (and here I'm thinking of the sort of analysis of this that Paul Gilding makes in his book 'The Great Disruption')it will be party time for Clive and Gina and their bloated uber-entitled mates as they claim their payback for bankrolling Abbott's ascension. But it won't last long. What I think is that a large majority of our fellow Australians have given up (for now at least) on any sense of the common good and are determined to preserve their assumed right to - well whatever they damn well feel like laying claim to. Exam results not quite up to your expectations? Sue the school. Struggling to afford the monstrous home loan repayments you committed yourself to? Toss out the government that doesn't throw enough cash at you to solve your self inflicted problems and replace it with one that will REALLY screw you. What I think is that failing a miracle dark times lay not too Batten down the hatches and get ready.

Ian

18/05/2012Well, I was feeling pretty chipper till I read Doug Evans.

nasking

18/05/2012 [b]Murdoch is 'evil', former editor tells Leveson[/b] Sir Harold Evans, editor of The Sunday Times from 1967 to 1981, described his former employer Rupert Murdoch as "evil incarnate" in his evidence yesterday to the Leveson Inquiry. In 1981 a number of groups were vying to take over The Sunday Times but Mr Murdoch's bid was favoured because "he was the man to take on the unions", Sir Harold said. Sir Harold was involved in a management takeover bid and believed the Murdoch proposal would go before the monopolies commission but the deal went through in three days. He told the inquiry that Mr Murdoch met former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher ahead of the takeover, despite the businessman's denials that talks took place. "There was a meeting on 4 January and Mrs Thatcher did a secret deal with Mr Murdoch," he said. "It was ridiculous to suggest you can't go to the monopolies commission for the most important newspaper takeover in British history," he added. "In three days a newspaper merger went through and it went through on falsehood and false figures." Sir Harold feared Mr Murdoch's arrival in England would have a deteriorating effect on tabloid journalism. The pair almost resorted to "fisticuffs" over a row about editorial content during a dinner at Sir Harold's home. Relations became even more strained as they clashed over the stance of the paper on Mrs Thatcher's policies. "Mr Murdoch was constantly sending for my staff without telling me and telling them what the paper should be." Mr Murdoch told one journalist his leader columns were too long and insisted he should be "attacking the Russians more". Sir Harold said that eventually he resigned because he was "absolutely disgusted, dismayed and demoralised by living in a vindictive, punitive atmosphere". http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/murdoch-is-evil-former-editor-tells-leveson-7763811.html No surprises there. N'

Lyn

18/05/2012Good Morning Ad and Everybody The Twitterverse for you this morning:- Sky News Australia‏@SkyNewsAust via @campricenews: Day one of Ashby v Commonwealth at the Federal Courts in Sydney. No sign of Ashby or Slipper. I'll have live coverage all Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said sexual harassment was an extremely serious matter that should be left to the court. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/slipper-staffer-takes-allegations-to-court-20120518-r The Today Show‏@thetodayshow Abbott on Thomson: "He shouldn't be on the Prime Minister's team but she'll do anything to hold onto power http://today.ninemsn.com.au/videoindex.aspx @jonaholmesMW DId you watch #lateline last night? If so, did you see the Tweets from their guest Tweeter @PeterPhelpsMLC ? Abc - a new low Turn Left‏@turnleft2013 lateline - anyone who watches again after that is like the battered spouse who returns "cos s/he love me" - ABC laughing at its audience ABC News Breakfast‏@BreakfastNews Tony Abbott re. James Ashby: People should be allowed to bring these actions without fear of character assassination. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-17/slipper-staffer-makes-complain Paul Barratt‏@phbarratt: Fantastic piece on what a pack of whingers Australians are by @Jess_Irvine. Bravo. http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/unpicking-the-collective-whinge-20120517-1ytk0.html Miss Eagle‏@misseagle Does this mean more or less political bias at Aunty? Does it mean more or less considered research? More or less... sansBS‏@OzFacts How will carbon tax affect me? http://bit.ly/JjRJRJ yet again @sbsnews leads the way with facts, ch9,7,10 &ABC prefer to scaremonger #auspol Mariana Faithful ‏@MarianaFaithful Oops! Smoking is healthy for the Liberals! RT @turnleft2013: Look Who Is Funding The Australian Liberal Party http://wp.me/p2hkLy-Nl John Hanna‏@John_Hanna Bugger, I missed it. @MargaretSimons also gets todays Editorial from the 'little petty' newspaper the @australian http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/reporters-reveal-the-role-of-journalism-academics/story-e6frg71x-1226359336901 Chris Barrett‏@selga55 What can I say without being sued? #auspol Ashby's motives over Slipper allegations dubious, say lawyers http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/ashbys-motives-over-slipper-allegations-dubious-say-lawyers-20120517-1ytnw.html via @theage AshGhebranious‏@AshGhebranious Mining baron Clive Palmer suing Fairfax for defamation | The Australian http://bit.ly/JzHSIb #auspol National Times‏@NationalTimesAU HSU secretary will be in firing line when Thomson opens defence in Parliament http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/hsu-secretary-will-be-in-firing-line-when-thomson-opens-defence-in-parliament-20120517-1ytny.html via @NationalTimesAU National Times‏@NationalTimesAU Ashby's motives over Slipper allegations dubious, say lawyers http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/ashbys-motives-over-slipper-allegations-dubious-say-lawyers-20120517-1ytnw.html via @NationalTimesAU TheFinnigans Oh NO RT @watermelon_man Have I understood - Tony Abbott is concerned about character assassination? Tony Abbott? Character assassination? :):):):)

2353

18/05/2012Like Paul Barratt in the links above - I also highly recommend Jessica Irvine's article in the Fairfax media today.

Doug Evans

18/05/2012Just noticed 42long at May 17 Many suggest that renewables wind and PV solar are already cost competitive with fossil fuel generated power. Giles Parkinson for one has been beating that drum for quite a while now. You might like to look at 'Solar PV – it’s cheaper than you think' http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/solar-pv-its-cheaper-than-you-think-58689 or 'Renewable Energy - Do we want it or not' http://duggyvans.blogspot.com.au/2011/09/renewable-energy-do-we-want-it-or-not.html There is no doubt that if it weren't for the billions of dollars in direct government subsidies that still inexplicably flow to fossil fuel generators renewables would already be clearly cheaper.

DMW

18/05/2012Jess Irvine has a way with words and her article today explains the 'dire straits' we are in well. [b]Unpicking the collective whinge[/b] Jessica Irvine @NationalTimes [i]I've figured it out. I've figured out how Australia's economic vital signs can be so good - low joblessness, low inflation, trend growth - and yet Australians can remain so resolutely miserable. There can be only one answer: we are, as a nation, chucking a full-on, all-screaming, all-door-slamming teenage temper tantrum.[/i] http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/politics/unpicking-the-collective-whinge-20120517-1ytk0.html I am off for to enjoy Hissy Fit Friday Ciao for now.

nasking

18/05/20122353, I agree...Jessica Irvine's article is a good read. Certainly alot of whining going on... I just about chocked on my meal the other day listening to a boss from BHP Biliton havin' a whinge...after all the money they've made? Gimme a break! Wasn't stabbing a PM enuff for the greedy bast*rds? They need to take down another do they? Thnx for the Irvine link Lyn. http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/unpicking-the-collective-whinge-20120517-1ytk0.html It lead me to another article @ The Age: [b]Big tobacco targeting teens, says Plibersek[/b] May 18, 2012 [b]THE federal government says big tobacco is deliberately targeting vulnerable teenagers by selling cheap cigarettes. British American Tobacco Australia (BATA) has released a budget brand called Just Smokes, which retails at about $11.50 for a pack of 25. That's much lower than the average price of $16 and only slightly higher than illegal counterfeit products. [/b] http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/big-tobacco-targeting-teens-says-plibersek-20120517-1ytm3.html I sat in a hospital for a week watching patients die and suffer due to the effects of smoking. Anglo-Aussies, Asian Aussies, Euro-Aussies. They all regretted starting. I reckon these big tobacco monsters are pretty cold-hearted types...I'd like to see them shipped off to Siberia...or space. N'

Lyn

18/05/2012Hi Ad See what's happened now :- AshGhebranious‏ Oh for petes sake!!! | Slipper's accuser requests a jury, not a judge http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/slippers-accuser-requests-a-jury-not-a-judge-20120518-1yuhm.html via @smh #auspol Slipper's accuser requests a jury, not a judge May 18, 2012 - 10:30AM Michael Lee, SC, for James Ashby, said the nature of the issues in the case made it appropriate for a jury, a move he understood would be opposed by the Commonwealth and Mr Slipper. http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/slippers-accuser-requests-a-jury-not-a-judge-20120518-1yuhm.html#ixzz1vB8No4VF :):)

nasking

18/05/2012 Doug Evans, thnx for the link to the Giles Parkinson Solar PV article: ...[quote]Australian solar is already at parity, and will become an increasingly cheaper option – which means it is pretty much a no-brainer for retail consumers (who now have access to zero-down finance) and also for the commercial market, which pays higher tariffs. This is why commercial-scale rooftop PV is the hot new sector in Australia. Even US Energy Secretary Stephen Chu (according to my spies) made a point at the conference of noting that Australia was one of the first countries that have appeared above the line – it’s just a shame that Australia’s energy ministers (state and federal) don’t seem prepared to recognise this. These arguments about parity have already been made by the International Energy Agency in their solar study last year, and more recently by McKinsey & Co, which made the point that solar PV is already competitive in four out of five key global energy market types, and by NRG CEO David Crane, who said this week that solar PV will do to electricity grids what mobiles did to fixed line telephony. As the paper notes, changes to the economics of solar PV are happening so fast that it is hard to gain a coherent picture of the shifts occurring across the industry value chain around the world. But it does say that, despite efforts by the likes of Bjorn Lomborg and others to paint solar as “prohibitively expensive,” even on wholesale prices it is competing in some areas with coal and gas.[/quote] I guess the government might be a bit touchy now about rebates and rollout of privately installed products. And since Aussie-based nuclear power became less of an option in the near future due to public perception off the back of the Fukishima reactor's disaster...and the huge demand for our uranium elsewhere...it seems turning to gas like America has...and return to brown coal based on pie in the sky projections of a clean coal future are the latest obsessions. It's a shame. I think it's useful to have both widespread energy independence...and base power. Makes defense sense too. But I'm not energy and resources minister and privy to the info Ferguson and others are. Nor do I require a surplus...and speedy gathering of revenue. N'

nasking

18/05/2012 Lyn, I can't help but feel some of these Ashby legal team demands are partly to keep the story getting headlines to attempt to manipulate public perception...offset the govt's compensation and school kid payments ...whilst trying to silence critical views. And eventually help Abbott win govt by keeping polls down. I've noticed SKY NEWS is obsessed with the story...and any character's words that criticise the govt...including Bill Kelty's from the other night. It all has the feel of a grand Machiavellian plan to me. Planned. N'

Patriciawa

18/05/2012Lyn, following your link to Phil Coorey's article, for which many thanks, at http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/political-news/hsu-secretary-will-be-in-firing-line-when-thomson-opens-defence-in-parliament-20120517-1ytny.html I am astonished that no mention is made of Michael Lawler as reported by Wixxy in another of your links today. Apparently Wixxy has left his latest Independent Australia material on the HSU imbroglio at all major mainstream editorial desks and as far as we can see is being ignored. Mind you, they they don’t seem to read or quote relevant already published mainstream stuff if it doesn’t agree with what they want to say that day!. Admittedly this is from News and not Fairfax and it was printed in February, some weeks back, but here’s a direct quote from Cameron Stewart in the Australian Weekend Magazine which set even little old me thinking and writing that pome [i]Will They Eat Crow?[/i] Wixxy led me to it in the Weekend Oz article with his http://cafewhispers.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/i-think-i-smell-a-rat/ article about all these so called scandals besetting the government. [quote]Jackson was released from the psychiatric ward on the Wednesday, and on the following Saturday night she sat down with Lawler to discuss whether she should follow through on her desire to take allegations against Thomson and Williamson to the police. The pair sank several bottles of wine. “I remember saying to Michael that night, ‘You understand this is not a cup I want to drink from, this will bring us a world of pain, people are going to smear us and they will do whatever it takes.’ There were lots of tears… I was scared, I was scared of the consequences.”[/quote] This is from a story published in February, 2012, about an episode the previous September! It is still on the public record at http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/union-dues/story-e6frg8h6-1226270776249 So why hasn't Phil Coorey got Michael Lawler featuring along with Kathy Jackson in Craig Thomson's upcoming statement? Mind you, having read that example of Lawler's injudicious behaviour in a national publication, who needs an explanation from Craig Thomson about it all under Parliamentary privelege?

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18/05/2012Doug Evans Thank you for your comments and your supportive remarks. I was disappointed though to see that you seem to have taken aboard the dire prognostications of the prophets of doom who predict the defeat of the Gillard Government at the next election, ranging from ‘the mother of all hidings’ to Abbott achieving ‘a thumping majority’. I’m not sure which would be worse! There are plenty of doomsters out there ranging from the turncoats Richo and Mark Latham, to the speakers at the ACTU conference who exhibited their apprehension, to the Nervous Nellies in the party who murmur about a change of leadership – a manifestly stupid idea if ever there was one. In the face of all this gloom, Julia Gillard presses on, insisting on ABC radio the other day that she ‘never thinks about giving up’. She sounded like Winston Churchill. And it’s not as if she is treading water waiting for the rip to carry her out, or the tidal wave to overwhelm her; she is swimming strongly, making progress, to use her words ‘getting things done’, governing the nation, making life better for us all, more equitable, spreading prosperity more evenly. Why should we who support Labor align ourselves with the prophets of doom, when we have an inspiring role model in our own PM? Why be overcome with gloom when there are competent hardworking, high achieving ministers that are getting things done, good things done, like Wayne Swan, Penny Wong, Anthony Albanese, Greg Combet, Bill Shorten, Jenny Macklin, Nicola Roxon, Tanya Plibersek, Stephen Smith – the list goes on and on and on. This is a high achieving Government that has undertaken more needed reform by far in its short life that the Howard Government ever did in its very long life. [b]We must be of good heart, of good cheer. Otherwise we are defeated before we begin.[/b] Now I know you can point to the sombre state for Labor of opinion polls of voting intention. Frankly, they should be ignored as predictors so far out from the time of the next scheduled election. Trends might be useful, but individual polls are not, even the last one where Labor did better. Yet it is on these polls that the commentariat has built most of its dire predictions. They are building their case on a stack of unstable and unreliable cards, voting intention. In the past we have seen how radically polls can change in this volatile political climate, especially as an election approaches. Watch the cards come tumbling down. I know too that the doomsters can point to popularity ratings, which are not good for Julia Gillard, but nor are they for Tony Abbott. What nobody points out is that it is to be expected that the leader of the party that is doing poorly in polls of voting intention is highly likely to do similarly in the popularity stakes. When did we last see a leader whose party is doing poorly on voting intention enjoying high approval ratings? Have we ever seen such dissonance? So we should expect that Julia Gillard’s approval ratings would mirror the TPP ratings. Let’s not be surprised at that. What is surprising, and ought to be worrying for the Coalition, is that despite its high TPP ratings, Tony Abbott’s approval ratings remain poor, and he struggles to match Julia Gillard as preferred PM. Julia Gillard’s poor approval ratings have lead to the mantra: ‘the people have stopped listening’, repeated by every Tom, Dick and Harry pundit from Richo to the rest of the doomsters. How do they know if the people have stopped listening? Is that a question they ask in opinion polls? No. I suppose focus groups might be saying this, but they are but a tiny and unrepresentative sample of the electorate. The stack of cards on which the prophets of doom have built their seemingly irrefutable case, one echoed through the groupthink-afflicted corridors of parliament and the media houses, is just that – a stack of unstable cards that threaten to collapse with little warning. We are being conned, and the media is up to its neck in this malevolent confidence trick. The piece I will post this afternoon: [i]How to turn the polls around in six months[/i] exposes the profound influence that the media is having on public opinion, effected through the way political information is presented for public consumption. Let me conclude by urging all who not only want Labor to continue its outstanding work into the next term, but also want to spare this nation the disaster that is known by the name of Tony Abbott, to cast aside despondency and despair, to be positive, to be of buoyant spirit, and above all strain every fibre of our being for the good of this country. Let’s do a Julia – never think of giving up. Finally, before anyone responds with the cop-out suggestion that I am ‘deluded’, remember that ‘delusion’ is a pathological state of mind. Hold your judgement. Time will tell.

nasking

18/05/2012 PM Julia Gillard certainly seemed confident & cheerful this morn up in Darwin. Pumped. Good to see. Apparently this INPEX gas project is creating 3-4,000 jobs. That's positive. Helping lots of businesses too. Gillard is definitely a Labor PM...JOBS JOBS JOBS. N'

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18/05/20122353, DMW Jessica Irvine’s article is essential reading. Why on earth can’t we have more of this honest tell-it-as-it-is journalism instead of the puerile offerings that are dished up day after day, often by well-established journalists? [i]Unpicking the collective whinge[/i] http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/unpicking-the-collective-whinge-20120517-1ytk0.html

nasking

18/05/2012 [quote]I was disappointed though to see that you seem to have taken aboard the dire prognostications of the prophets of doom who predict the defeat of the Gillard Government at the next election, ranging from ‘the mother of all hidings’ to Abbott achieving ‘a thumping majority’.  I’m not sure which would be worse! [/quote] Ad, I don't see how anyone can predict an ALP loss so far out. Things can SHIFT so quickly these days. I reckon the BENEFITS of the government policies will SINK IN soon. And voters will WAKE UP to how economically RISKY and socially EXTREMIST a Tony Abbott-led government would be. I expect an ALP win. N'

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18/05/2012Nasking Bravo - you are realist and an optimist. We need more Naskings

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18/05/2012Hi Lyn Thanks for your tweets, lots about the Ashby/Slipper case. I suppose Ashby's barristers believe a jury would be more sympathetic to his cause. Do we have any of the tweets from the [i]Lateline[/i] tweeter @PeterPhelpsMLC?

nasking

18/05/2012 Ad, My wife & I have heard so many positives about the NSW public education system over the years...so why are the Liberal party trying to damage it?...and lose the confidence of staff, parents and students?: [quote]Public school teachers across New South Wales have voted overwhelmingly in favour of ramping up strike action, if the State Government does not agree to a review of its 'Local Schools, Local Decisions' education reforms. Teachers at more than 2,000 schools held a two-hour stop work meeting this morning to protest against the changes, which would give principals more power over staffing and budgets. Education Minister Adrian Piccolli says giving more power to principals is good for students, and he has tried to closely involve the union in consultation on the policy. But the Teachers Federation fears the reforms will pave the way for bigger class sizes and the casualisation of the teaching workforce. President Maurie Mulhoran says it is clear that the reforms pave the way for cuts to the education budget. "We're not taking action over principals' autonomy, we believe that there should be more flexibility and autonomy," he said. "This is about a New South Wales Government that's using that as a wolf in sheep's clothing to cut back on staffing formulae, remove specialist positions out of schools, deregulate class sizes and effectively casualise the teaching work force." At meetings across the state, teachers have passed a motion to take further industrial action before the end of term two if the Government does not agree to a review of the policy. On Wednesday, the Industrial Relations Commission recommended the Teachers Federation be given a seat on the Steering Committee overseeing the reforms. However Mr Piccolli says that is a decision for the Education Department's Director-General.[/quote] Sounds like AUSTERITY MEASURES and incremental SOCIAL ENGINEERING by the backdoor if you ask me. N'

Tyler

18/05/2012One poll result that would be interesting is to see how many Australians support raising taxes on 90% of us at the same time as you cut taxes on Mining corporations. The reality of liberal policy will eventually sink in, once the interest rate cuts and tax cuts start to filter through i think the mood will start to shift.

Lyn

18/05/2012Hi Ad Peter Phelps is not a very nice person I see:- @ 12.10pm "Do we have any of the tweets from the Lateline tweeter @PeterPhelpsMLC" Here are his tweets during Lateline last night:- Just tossed this tweet in about the Crowned King of Hypocrisy: MisdaMagoo Abbott says Ashby matter must be left to courts. Will now travel to Dobell electorate to grandstand over Craig Thompson. WhatATurd Tweets by Peter Phelps Peter Phelps‏MLC 90 mins to go before I commence live tweeting #lateline. Combet is special guest. To prepare, I'm watching 'When Aliens Attack' on Discovery Peter Phelps‏MLC Well, it's now midnight. Another #trollday successfully completed. You Lefties can now go to bed seething with rage, knowing I don't care Peter Phelps‏ Combet laughing makes my blood run cold #lateline Peter Phelps‏ Picked up 42 new followers, just proving that, on Twitter, you catch more flies with vinegar than with honey #lateline #antisocialnetwork Peter Phelps‏MLC @jkara78 Is a "Carbon Tax" or a "Price on Carbon" about carbon, or about carbon dioxide? Why does the Left persist in its euphemisms Peter Phelps‏MLC Carbon price. If it is a tax on "carbon" how much will engagement rings (diamonds) go up by? #lateline Peter Phelps‏MLC michaelobrienmp Well, I annoy the Left because the Left annoys me.I'm a karma conservative Peter Phelps‏MLC Matt_Ros I think you meant to write "YOU'RE AN IDIOT", not "YOUR AN IDIOT". If you are going to abuse me, at least use correct grammar. Peter Phelps‏MLC Yeah, but Greg, did you ever use union credit cards to buy hookers? Peter Phelps‏MLC 3 year fixed price because they know full well then the arse has fallen out of CO2 'markets' (which aren't really markets anyway) #lateline Peter Phelps‏MLC So a carbon dioxide tax won't hurt families, but we have to give you money so you are not hurt #lateline Tweets to Peter Phelps:- Henry‏IXL PeterPhelpsMLC He's just a fat bastard without a clue is Phelps. Wouldn't mind normally but we pay his wage. I want a refund! Damien Maher‏@TheFlashpacker Much hating on PeterPhelpsMLC but what a way to light up the #lateline feed Marie Ryan‏@cybahound If u had any doubts he's a moron...RT PeterPhelpsMLC XCAnberra has another sub-zero night -must be that Global Warming #lateline Stephen C‏@2FBS PeterPhelpsMLC LOLOL.. Perfect example of your total lack of grasp on reality and current events AndoJC‏JC jonaholmesMW DId you watch #lateline last night? If so, did you see the Tweets from their guest Tweeter PeterPhelpsMLC ? Abc - a new low David J‏_Malleyscrub PeterPhelpsMLC I support your right to make a fool of yourself on twitter. Not sure if I like my taxes paying your salary though. #Lateline Dan‏@drowner1979 PeterPhelpsMLC you don't understand science do you? M McKenzie-Murray‏@feed_the_chooks PeterPhelpsMLC You have the soul of Jerry Lee Lewis. Maddie Charles‏@maddiet5 PeterPhelpsMLC how very dare we want #equalrights and a #fairgo for all??? Emma Pilbeam‏@e_pil @PeterPhelpsMLC According to the pols #lateline has done the right thing getting a right-winger to be the guest tweeter. Represent. AndoJC‏@AndoJC Anyone reading peterphelpsmlc 's Tweets? Can you believe this guy is in Parliament - racist, redneck crap #lateline :):):):):):):):):)

Gravel

18/05/2012Patriciawa and Tacker Another great inspirational pome. We all know the media will not admit to falsity and lies, just like their political party. Nasking Lovely to see you in full flight again with many an varied interesting subjects. While I've been catching up on reading this I have the tv on ABC24, they are actually reporting on Julia in Darwin, and no negative input at this stage. Even heard them say about Abbott that people should not comment on Ashby but then he continues to denigrate Craig Thomson.

nasking

18/05/2012 I've noticed quite a few angry, grumpy, ranting conservatives and former ALPers throwing stones at our PM and her team & policies the last few years...seems to be a regular occurrence. It got me thinking back to my youth. I grew up in a conservative household...three of them in fact. I can remember one male member...a dominant character...who was also continually bossy, grumpy, agro...and sometimes ranted like there was no tomorrow... often pointing fingers at women. Accusing them of doing this or that. Turns out that particular conservative man was a bleeding hypocrite...and lying sod. I discovered over the years he had in fact been running around behind his family's back...sleeping with gawd knows how many women. And his ranting and grumpiness stemmed partially from guilt and paranoia...partially to distract from his own actions. That's why I often take grumpy fingerpointing ranters with a pinch of salt...wonder what lies beneath. I just watched the West Wing episode Full Disclosure...really got me thinking. N'

Lyn

18/05/2012Hi Nasking re your post @ 11.16 (I've noticed SKY NEWS is obsessed with the story.) You are absolutely correct in your observations, Sky News Journalists on Twitter at 7am this morning, and honestly you would think by their excitement the Government is going to explode like now and the Coalition will take over. Sky is now reporting the Ashby Slipper case should not be made political said by Politicians including Tony Abbott. Notice the "including Tony Abbott" like he has been crucifying Slipper for how long. Sky News Australia‏@SkyNewsAust Take politics out of Ashby case Updated: 13:43 http://www.skynews.com.au/topstories/article.aspx?id=751540&vId= :):):)

Ad astra

18/05/2012Hi Lyn Many thanks for the Phelps tweets. I don't know of him, but clearly he's anti-Labor. Why did they pick him to tweet on the Jones/Combet interview?

Ad astra

18/05/2012Folks This is the email I have sent to the ABC about last night’s [i]Lateline[/i]. Hard on the heels of Chris Uhlmann’s rude and disrespectful interview of our PM, and Bruce Belsham’s defence of the indefensible, we now have the interview of Greg Combet by Tony Jones on last night’s Lateline, which too was a regrettable display of interviewer discourteousness and disrespect. While we have become accustomed to Tony Jones’ propensity to rudely interrupt his interviewees, and press his points beyond what is reasonable, which he exhibits on Q&A as well as Lateline, last night’s exhibition was beyond the pale. He is culpable on several counts. First, he opened with questions about the Ashby/Slipper case, and although Combet indicated he had no detailed knowledge of the case, Jones persisted with six questions all told, one suggesting that there might be a perception that: “the weight of the Commonwealth is coming down on one man, the one who's making the allegations?” Although Combet still said that didn’t know what more he could offer, Jones pressed on trying to probe the Commonwealth’s involvement, as if it were being heavy-handed. Commonwealth lawyers were there for obvious reasons – Ashby had named the Commonwealth as a respondent. Why did Jones waste so much time on this? Then followed a series of questions arising from the ACTU Conference, first focussing on Bill Shorten’s speech, which Combet had not heard, which Jones clearly saw as a leadership push: “Does Shorten have real leadership potential?” and “This was a rare chance though to show his leadership potential. Do you think he achieved that?” Again this line of questioning got nowhere and wasted more time as Combet had not heard it. Then Jones got onto the future of the Labor party with “…the future of your Labor Government at stake here, your political fortunes, if your political fortunes don't turn, but also the future of the labour movement. Do you agree with that assessment?” He permitted Combet to give a comprehensive account of the Government’s achievements, but clearly was irritated by Combet’s recital when he said: “…I don't really think we need to go through a list of other facts in favour of the Government,…” To which a viewer might say, why not? When Combet protested that ‘the facts are pretty important’, Jones responded: “Yes, they are, but that's not what my question was related to. Because the question is why people have stopped listening, have they stopped listening? And there are many examples of actual spin.” And after Combet responded with more facts about what the Government was doing, Jones said: “OK. I'm going to bring you back to the point that I was making which is people being fed up with spin.” As his starting point, Jones was determined to press the line that the people had stopped listening and were sick of spin, which Combet rightly brushed aside by evincing evidence that the Government was in fact governing. Jones became annoyed. Then Jones got onto the carbon price and asked why it was for a three-year period instead of one year as in the Rudd ETS. Combet patiently explained that despite three tries the Government could not get that legislation through parliament. Then Jones tried to get Combet to concede that it was Christine Milne who pushed the three-year period and had won. Combet said that was not his recollection, but Jones persisted. The upshot was an exchange where Jones became angry, his eyes blinked repeatedly, and his annoyance showed, while Combet remained cool and composed, yet unwilling to put up with Jones’ bullying. In a nutshell, Tony Jones seems to come to such interviews with a predetermined agenda to chalk up a gotcha or two. He throws up propositions that he hopes will achieve this result, but when the skilled interviewee sees them coming, deflects his gotcha-loaded questions and talks about what the interviewee believes is important, Jones becomes irritated, angry and aggressive, interrupting rudely and annoyedly. This makes for unbecoming television and diminishes our ABC. To me his approach, and that of some others at the ABC, seems party partisan. There would be fewer objections if the same approach was applied to all politicians, but it is not. Please give this feedback to Tony Jones. If he doesn’t understand what I’m saying, ask him to go to the 11 and a half-minute mark and play the rest. http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2012/s3505429.htm

TalkTurkey

18/05/2012Doug Evans said (I'm cherry-picking, but the whole post has the same artificial cherry flavour I reckon so I'm not changing it . . .TT) May 18. 2012 09:21 AM AA . . . you ask what we think. What I think is that your piece is pretty damn perceptive. What I think is that the poison dwarves would have no difficulty brushing it aside as their hate speak coincides with the mood of the times. . . . What I think is that the wolves are baying in the hills and that Abbott will grab the throne, probably with a thumping majority. . . . What I think is that the confused remnants of a defeated and disillusioned Labor Party that has lost any sense of a coherent rationale is heading for the mother of all hidings. What I think is that, wishing to lick their wounds and sort out where it all went so horribly wrong they will will . . . . . . will REALLY screw you. :) What I think is that failing a miracle dark times lay not too ([i]sic[/i]; what? many eggs? TT) Batten down the hatches and get ready. Doug Evans Doug look I understand why people who wish the Government ill come here to say dispiriting things: hateful though they might be, at least there is an honesty about that. I do not understand why anyone would come here with a message of done-deal Doom if they were wishing to be viewed as anything but hostile to the Government cause. As Ian said [i]Well, I was feeling pretty chipper till I read Doug Evans. [/i] Well yeah! Is that what you want to engender? It is not Labor's way to lie down and roll over. It is a fighting organization, and so, avowedly, is this site. I am delighted with Labor's stance on most of its huge burden of passed legislation, and equanimitous with its position in the popular perception. It is just that we must change the latter radically in the next 12 months. And we will. Never mind done-deal Doom.

Miglo

18/05/2012This is interesting. Wixxy's piece in Independent Australia was hacked and crashed five times, before the whole site was hacked and crashed. The site is now back up and running. Someone doesn't want the truth to be told. While I'm here, congrats to Patricia. One of her posts at CW was linked to by the ABC. Well done, Patricia. Your efforts are being recognised.

nasking

18/05/2012 Hi Gravel, good to see you...thnx for the supportive comment. Lyn, I started larfing my head off earlier in the day when I hit Sky News for a couple of minutes. It was David Speer's show The Nation... we got a flaccid lineup of a bunch of Sky hosts including Richo, Peter Van Onselen, Chris Kenny. I got this image of a bunch of warlocks in a dank cave...concocting an "anti-Labor govt" brew for their viewers to sip on:        Double, double toil and trouble;     Fire burn, and caldron bubble. N'

nasking

18/05/2012 [b]Someone doesn't want the truth to be told. [/b] Migs, shame that can't be traced. Congrats to Patricia. N'

Patriciawa

18/05/2012Nasking and Lyn - it is funny in a way, isn't it. This nasty little strategy hasn't worked out the way they planned. The judge will take his time before deciding how to proceed in the sexual harassment case. It hasn't brought the government down, and nor will the Craig Thomson affair. If a casting vote is needed then Anna Burke can cast it. At the same time Slipper is out of the house, stood aside, and the Coalition are down one member. Somehow Julia Gillard has got her team feeling very constructive and purposeful, achieving lots. Doesn't she look terrific these days? Last night I sat and read the Daily Telegraph just because she was smiling all over it and doing her live blog with their readers. Have you seen it? Her answers, on the spot too, are all so encouraging and informative. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/sydney-news/prime-minister-julia-gillard-telegraphed-her-answers-to-australian-voters/story-fn7q4q9f-1226358189492

nasking

18/05/2012 Patricia, I'll take yer fine word for it. I have an allergy to the Daily Rag the way I do The Dark...I mean The Sun in the UK...I find visiting those sites or reading those papers I suddenly can't think, rationalise...I start drooling and feel dumb...and have hissy fits over nothing. For some reason I start giving the finger to Lefties and swarthy-skinned folk. And find myself attracted to crap reality shows and celebs with more boobs than talent. A day later the entire experience ends with plague-like buboes showing up in the armpits and groin...bursting...foul black liquid seeps out. N'

nasking

18/05/2012 Ad, Useful post to the ABC. N'

2353

18/05/2012Migs, Hopefully the Software can work out the sequence of events that lead to the hacking. I hope it has been reported. PatriciaWA - congrats on the poem being linked by the ABC. See they aren't all bad at Aunty :)

Cuppa

18/05/2012Ad Astra, Congratulations on following up re: the Tony Jones interview. However don't expect any satisfaction from Their ABC. They rarely admit mistakes, and nearly always find themselves to be blameless and in the clear. I can't think of any other organisation that routinely responds to complainants with: [i]We are right; you are wrong[/i]. Like all right-wing media organisations Their ABC is adept in the art of Spin.

nasking

18/05/2012 Patricia, I just saw the PM from a radio show. She did look good and on top of the world. N'

42 long

18/05/2012There would be a lot of people who just couldn't cope with all that. The only person who has been working with her and doesn't find her honest and competant is Wilkie, because she could not deliver fully on his difficult to achieve single purpose reform. YET. Tony Winsor is terrific, always valuable and unruffled. A truly experienced and effective person in parliament. Why don't the Greens give a bit of gratitude for what has been done and not expect "everything" to go their way totally. Pick on labour at every chance. The would get Zilch from the conservatives, who regard them as a bigger enemy than labour, and one cannot envisage that they could ever govern in their own right. Politics is the art of what can be achieved, not getting everything that you want first time. They still have to accept the blame for the first ETS legislation not going through because it wasn't good enough for them. How different things would have been if that had happened.

Lyn

18/05/2012Hi Ad and Everybody Latest tweets on Ashby Slipper Court Case:- The Insiders first:- Susan McDonald‏ The Insiders panel this Sunday May 20 mishaschubert, PhillipCoorey and Brian Toohey 9am ABC1 and ABCNews24 Bushfire‏@BushfireBill PeterSlipperMP should subpoena Steve Lewis as Lewis has boasted he had been in contact with Ashby "for some time" http://www.2gb.com/index2.php?option=com_newsmanager&task=view&id=12477 MM@newsfeedAU‏@newsfeedAU I read it as Burnside & Borstein disagreed with Ashby's SC on need for jury vexnews‏@vexnews Ashby's motives over Slipper allegations dubious, say lawyers http://bit.ly/JTUd6T #auspol #slipper The Age‏@theage Slipper claims are character assassination, lawyer tells court http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/slipper-claims-are-character-assassination-lawyer-tells-court-20120518-1yuk2.html via @theage Court hears of Slipper's distress over sex claims The Federal Court has heard Speaker Peter Slipper is deeply distressed over sexual allegations made by former adviser James Ashby. Justice Stephen... abc.net.au/news/2012-05-1… ABC Radio‏@amworldtodaypm Reporter @LindyKerin brings us the latest from Day 1 of the Peter Slipper court case: http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2012/s3505755.htm :):):):)

Lyn

18/05/2012Sorry one link broken Here it is:- http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-18/ashby-hits-back-ahead-of-court-hearing/4018480

Ad astra

18/05/2012Hi Lyn Just back from shopping, I’m having trouble keeping up. Thank you for all your links and tweets; I admire your diligence in keeping up. I can see the Ashby/Slipper case will fill the columns and airwaves for some tome, which I suppose is what Ashby and his Liberal ‘advisers’ wanted. I’ll post my next piece as soon as I’ve caught up.

Ad astra

18/05/2012Patricia WA You pome [i]Will they eat Crow[/i] is apt and perspicacious. Thank you. When we know all the details of the Craig Thomson affair, I believe Thomson will not be the only one that will be suspect. Nasking, Cuppa I’m glad you approve of my email to the ABC. I don’t expect a response, but do believe that if enough complain, they will take some notice – not much, but some! TT You make your points well. Let’s together keep the flag flying high. If Julia can be upbeat in the face of all the crap she has hurled at her, we should be upbeat too.

Ad astra

18/05/201242 long I agree wholeheartedly.

Ad astra

18/05/2012MIgs I'm concerned to read that Wixxy's piece on IA was hacked. What was said there must have had a ring of authenticity. Otherwise why would the hackers bother?

Psyclaw

18/05/2012Doug Evans Welcome to TPS. Iheartily agree with some of your propositions. But in regard to #s 4, 5, 6, and 9 I think you are well off the mark. There is many a slip twixt the cup and the lip. And there are 16 or so months for the election cup to reach the lips. Even if Abbott makes no fatal mistake, there are two great impediments to his success. First is the fact that the sky won't fall in between July1 2012 and the election at the end of 2013 in the manner he has mantracised about for 2 years. Second is that there is yet to come an election campaign in which he will be expected to propose, explain, and cost his policies. He has a number of problems in that regard. (a) so many of his team do not support [b]his[/b] policies. (b) the three stooges have not yet put together a coherent stance about any economic issue ..... not once since December 2009. On the contrary. How will they do so in the heat of a campaign. (c) Abbott is singularly unskilled in policy development (incidentally when one tries to decide just what is his forte, other than bash and crash pugilism, one quickly gets to the scratching of the head stage). Of course there are many other factors which could come into play, like the decisions he made whilst minister, his propensity to drop clangers, his inability to talk truthfully, and his misogyny. Even as we discuss this, who knows what fallout may befall him from the Ashby matter.

Ad astra

18/05/2012Folks I have just posted [i]How to turn the polls around in six months[/i], which I hope will provide some food for thought for the next few days. http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/post/2012/05/18/How-to-turn-the-polls-around-in-six-months.aspx

Tom of Melbourne

18/05/2012All the “look over there at Michael Lawler and Kathy Jackson” is really quite odd. Does anyone seriously contend that Thomson didn’t milk the HSU members? Personally, I don’t particularly care if Jackson is guilty too, but the notion that Thomson is clean in all this is delusional.

daniel bryan

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Doug Evans

20/05/2012Psyclaw Thank you I've been here before but got tired of the sledging. I was tempted to comment by Ad Astra's excellent piece which ended with an invitation. Very much hope you are right but fear that I probably am and that Abbott and his mob will be foisted on us. Last year I was irritating Andrew Elder with similar predictions of electoral disaster. He has an apparently endless stream of reasons not dissimilar to yours as to why this won't come to pass. While I hope you are both right poll after poll after poll says you are wrong.

Doug Evans

20/05/2012AA appreciate your comment. As you might remember I put quite a lot of time and effort into trying to understand the state of play in our many sided climate cum environmental crisis. You may know that there has recently been a fair bit of chatter about the most effective strategies for climate change messaging. One strategy known as bright-siding has for some time been popular with government and eNGO's. The name is self explanatory and the idea underpinning it (crudely put) is that if people are confronted with the truth they will succumb to desperation. I'm no fan of bright-siding I'm with David Spratt http://www.climatecodered.org/p/brightsiding.html on this. I hope I'm wrong and that the political optimists in which your very interesting blog abounds are right but I fear I sniff the faintest whiff of a form of bright-siding here also. I'm not normally depressive. No-one will party harder if Abbott and his bag of horrors do not grab power but unfortunately I am of the school of thought that if it walks like a duck, quacks etc etc - you know the rest. I have no wish to spoil anyone's day so perhaps I should simply take my dark thoughts and scuttle back into the shadows.

Doug Evans

21/05/2012Just before I do scuttle off into the darkness a couple more thoughticles. I too thought Jessica Irvine's piece was really excellent. Does no-one think (as I do) that the sense of whingeing entitlement that she is writing about bodes very ill for this government at the next election. Look at the disconnect between public response to what seemed to me to be a pretty fair budget and its actual contents. 'Pretty poor effort, nothing in it for me.' Not even pretended interest in what might be good for someone else or the country as a whole. In the minds of our fellow Australians we are apparently worse off for Swan's efforts - go figure. Now excuse me while I slip into the outer darkness and don my hair shirt.

Doug Evans

21/05/2012AA A final batsqueak apropos your thought provoking piece. You draw parallels with the Nazis. I would like to add one more, fanciful as it may be. I suspect that if the citizens of Germany in the last year of the Weimar Republic had the internet there would have been much blogging by good lefties on the unelectability of that frothing populist Herr Hitler. Those who forget history are condemned to etc etc. To paraphrase David Suzuki a genuinely wise man who owes more than a little to the thinking of his Buddhist ancestors. It is ALWAYS best to try to see things for what they are. Strive for better (of course) but look reality square in the face. Now back to my belfry to sup on Green cheese.

Bilko

25/05/2012Hi all back from the funeral in Melb safe and sound all went well there,Thanks for the nice comments. Imagine 4 days without the blogs and real info Iam suffering from lack of real info disorder.and my computer is playing up. must sort out cheers for now keep the force burning

Simpson

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arun

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Critical Care Hospital

I have two politicians and add 17 clowns and 14 chimpanzees; how many clowns are there?