Category: ALP Government,

ALP Government,

Nothing to see here. Albo’s vows of transparency vanish in a veil of secrecy – Michael West

Veil of Secrecy

The Senate has handed down its report into the operation of Commonwealth Freedom of Information laws, and Labor reports ‘nothing to see here’. Transparency warrior Rex Patrick looks at the inquiry’s findings.

‘Nothing to see’ is indeed an accurate reflection of the state of the FOI regime, because that’s how most FOI requests are returned … with nothing.

The majority view expressed in the report by the Greens and the Liberals was that it is a completely broken system, but the Labor view is that it is sitting pretty much where the Government wants it.

Source: Nothing to see here. Albo’s vows of transparency vanish in a veil of secrecy – Michael West

ALP Government,

Australia has abandoned international law – Pearls and Irritations

Israel and Palestine crisis and middle east conflict or Israeli and Palestinian questions with two opposing sides as pencils drawing a question mark as a dispute concept with 3D illustration elements.

why is Australia beholden to Israel? Come on Mr. Albanese and Ms. Wong. You could start by explaining why you don’t accept that Israel is an apartheid State. So much flows from that. Then you might explain why, back on 30 December 2022, Australia voted against a UN General Assembly resolution requesting the ICJ to investigate practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Readers may also be interested in:

Source: Australia has abandoned international law – Pearls and Irritations

ALP Government,

Join our Team! AUKUS foreign expenditure sinkhole blows out to $12B … already – Michael West

Submarine Sinkhole

All this for America’s second-hand subs as the promised new ones will never made or be delivered

The Albanese Government has just announced another $3B into the US submarine industrial base, in addition to the $4.7B already committed. It’s money that should have been spent in Australia instead. Rex Patrick reports on a widening foreign expenditure sinkhole.

Source: Join our Team! AUKUS foreign expenditure sinkhole blows out to $12B … already – Michael West

ALP Government,

How much do we know about Australia’s weapons export to Israel? – Michael West

Weapons Trade Show

Australia’s defence export program has recently come under scrutiny for its lack of transparency, particularly in relation to whether approved export permits are providing material support to Israel’s war against Hamas. Lauren Sanders, an expert in war crimes enforcement, reports.

Source: How much do we know about Australia’s weapons export to Israel? – Michael West

ALP Government,

Rot in the Civil Service: Farewelling Mike Pezzullo – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Having left the Australian Public Service Code in tatters, Pezzullo will undoubtedly find himself on the board of a defence or security company and take his place in the military-industrial complex. He might finally get a chance to join a thinktank. His sacking, however, was the culmination of a culture long in the making. Over the decades, the major parties have made political appointments a matter of course, subordinating expertise and fearless advice to party loyalties. Perversely enough, Pezzullo was a perfect exponent of that tendency: a political civil servant. The result: Canberra is awash and sinking with officialdom terrified to take a different stance to the political agenda of the day. Agree with those in government, or risk languishing, demotion or worse.

Source: Rot in the Civil Service: Farewelling Mike Pezzullo – » The Australian Independent Media Network

ALP Government,

‘Change is coming’: protesters to block major coal port – Michael West

Hundreds of protesters in dinghies, tinnies and canoes will lay siege to the world’s largest coal port as they call on the government to stop new fossil fuel projects.

Source: ‘Change is coming’: protesters to block major coal port – Michael West

ALP Government,

Let us punish immigration detainees twice – » The Australian Independent Media Network

What is particularly disappointing is the way the Albanese Government has so abjectly accepted Dutton’s scaremongering and confected moral panic. Rapists and murderers exist within Australia’s population. If they have served their sentences, they are free to re-join society. But not if they are on a visa, or stateless.

Source: Let us punish immigration detainees twice – » The Australian Independent Media Network

ALP Government,

“Several… – The Fiberal Party of Australia – Lies & Misdemeanours | Facebook

The relentless election cycle

While the LNP has swung Trumpist, so far Right The ALP had nothing left to steal they too are almost looking Liberal. The Liberals can no longer talk about the Economy because they’re the ones who fucked it up. The ALP needs to because their priority is to fix it. In the meantime, the coalition wants to suck them into the rabbit warren of the Culture wars where everyone has an opinion, is easily manipulated, and gets so heated it divides families but ambergris to media organizations like News Corp.

However, like it or not the ALP is here to repair the economy and the material world in which we all live. Its priority needs to be to make it a fairer place for everyone. Dropping the stage 3 tax promise might just be the best option available to begin with. Returning the ABC to its intended charter another. It was never meant to be balanced but a body to hold all governments and politicians to account not just a platform for their he said she said voices.

So much of what has happened to our politics can be put down to its Americanisation, which on past performance can hardly be accepted as a winning formula. I guess some have just wanted to emulate features of what is often described as the world’s leading democracy. Others (many in the Coalition) have wanted to pick up from the United States Republican party and, in recent years, to emulate and harness its Trumpism. They have been impressed by the way the former US president has built a conservative edifice by exploiting division, attacking members seen as obstructing a more hardline-right economic and social policy agenda, with little grace or empathy.

Source: “Several… – The Fiberal Party of Australia – Lies & Misdemeanours | Facebook

ALP Government,

Dutton chortles as Labor acts on L-NP Robodebt delinquency

Australians generally elect Labor governments when they believe change is needed and they hold high hopes for progress.

Source: Dutton chortles as Labor acts on L-NP Robodebt delinquency

ALP Government,

Fix Stage 3 tax cuts, save billions, make Australians richer – or keep a poor election promise? – Michael West

Jim Chalmers and Anthony Albanese

The Albanese government has to make a vital decision: support Australians who are financially under water, or keep an election promise. Economist Peter Martin reports on the controversial Stage 3 tax cuts.

Voters may disagree

But when asked in an Australia Institute survey what was more important – keeping a promise or reacting to changing economic circumstances – 61% picked reacting to changing circumstances.

Even among Coalition voters, 56% supported reacting to changing circumstances.

It puts the Stage 3 tax cuts in play. There’s still time, and plenty of electoral and economic reasons to rejig them.

Source: Fix Stage 3 tax cuts, save billions, make Australians richer – or keep a poor election promise? – Michael West

ALP Government,

Legal case set to expose Australia’s facilitation of war crimes – Pearls and Irritations

Israel and Australia flag together realations textile cloth fabric texture

Is the Albanese government aiding and abetting the Israeli military and intelligence services in actions in Gaza which are serious violations of international human rights laws?

Source: Legal case set to expose Australia’s facilitation of war crimes – Pearls and Irritations

ALP Government,

Albanese and Labor slump to worst position in Newspoll since 2022 election

When two conservative parties go head to head and one pretends their progressive

A national Newspoll, conducted October 30 to November 3 from a sample of 1,220 people, gave Labor a 52–48% lead over the Coalition, a two-point gain for the Coalition since the final Newspoll before the October 14 Voice referendum.

This is Labor’s narrowest lead in Newspoll since the 2022 federal election. Primary votes were 37% Coalition (up two percentage points), 35% Labor (down one), 12% Greens (steady), 6% One Nation (steady) and 10% for all others (down one).

Source: Albanese and Labor slump to worst position in Newspoll since 2022 election

ALP Government,, Australia's Shame

Six Eyes: Australia’s secret support for the Israeli assault on Gaza, through Pine Gap – Michael West

Pine Gap, Israel, Gaza

Billions of dollars are being invested to kill what Right -Wing Israelis call rats trapped in a cage called Gaza. Why is the ALP government doing this? Are we America’s puppets their base in the Pacific or a sovereign nation? Albanese seems to be between a rock and a hard place and shames us. Dutton we know would be celebrating loudly while handing the keys to Biden. Albanese is not but are we doing what’s right and moral?

“Pine Gap facility is monitoring the Gaza Strip and surrounding areas with all its resources, and gathering intelligence assessed to be useful to Israel.”

Australia is not only providing diplomatic support for the Israeli government’s slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza, but logistics support too. Peter Cronau of Declassified Australia reports.

Source: Six Eyes: Australia’s secret support for the Israeli assault on Gaza, through Pine Gap – Michael West

ALP Government,

Getting away with murder: Time to go after the tax evasion ‘sharks’

Whatever did happen to those named in the Panama Papers years ago? Why did the LNO allow tax evaders like News Corp and  Mining companies to self-negotiate what they were willing to pay in Tax?

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) is punishing some tax cheats, but still has to catch the big players, reports Alan Austin.

Source: Getting away with murder: Time to go after the tax evasion ‘sharks’

ALP Government,

Australia left isolated as neighbours demand protection of civilians at UNGA – Pearls and Irritations

Results of voting by General Assembly on resolution on Israel-Palestinian conflict at UN Headquarters in New York on October 27, 2023. GA adopted the resolution sponsored by Jordan. Draft resolution sponsored by Jordan on Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory was adopted by General Assembly with 120 votes in favour, 14 against, and 45 abstentions. Image:AAP/ Lev Radin/Sipa USA

Many Australians will be ashamed that our nation has failed to speak and vote unequivocally at the United Nations during this crisis. As a nation we cannot continue to pretend that Israel has “a right to defend itself” while Palestine has no such right and is being systematically destroyed.

Source: Australia left isolated as neighbours demand protection of civilians at UNGA – Pearls and Irritations

ALP Government,

Lies, damn lies and politics – » The Australian Independent Media Network

As for the financial disclosure, if a multitude of on-line shopping websites can tell you within minutes that Anthony A of Marrickville purchased a “Comfy” camping chair – complete with image and price for your fear or missing out to trigger and get the identical product – the software exists for the $20,000 donation to any political party to be given similar publicity. It can’t be that hard.

A ban on lies in political advertising is popular according to a survey by The Australia Institute. All we need is the Parliament to work together and make it happen.

Source: Lies, damn lies and politics – » The Australian Independent Media Network

ALP Government,

As challenges mount, so does criticism of Albanese

When the IA starts to sound like News Corp do we need to be concerned? Government questioning is normal it was once the role of the ABC. Why make it sound exceptional?

The fact is, Albanese has been stumbling in a very public way from one shambles to another in recent times. Consider the following four matters of public importance which have dominated the news and elicited much public discussion. Cumulatively, they suggest the need for an urgent reset for a Labor Government so many of us have so much invested in.

Source: As challenges mount, so does criticism of Albanese

Filed under:
ALP Government,

Australia must put more pressure on Israel as it occupies more and more Palestinian land – Pearls and Irritations

Australia’s biased friendship towards Israel undermines peace and forsakes justice for Palestinians, serving neither Australian nor Israeli.

Source: Australia must put more pressure on Israel as it occupies more and more Palestinian land – Pearls and Irritations

ALP Government,

Energy bills to fall as gas and coal prices drop, renewables go ballistic – Michael West

Except at the bowser

Finally, good news for beleaguered electricity consumers, business and Australia’s economy. But can the government seize the momentous opportunities to make this country a renewable energy superpower? Michael West reports.

Source: Energy bills to fall as gas and coal prices drop, renewables go ballistic – Michael West

ALP Government,

AUKUS: The greatest policy blunder – Pearls and Irritations

AUKUS banner with USA, UK, Australia flag icons.

Whether or not one is a supporter of the AUKUS project, it is impossible not to see the shortcomings of the responsible ministers and officials as putting Australia’s security at the mercy of forces the government cannot affect. Collectively successive governments might have authored the greatest policy blunder in Australia’s history.

Source: AUKUS: The greatest policy blunder – Pearls and Irritations

ALP Government,

Why the ‘drug dealers defence’ doesn’t work for exporting coal. It’s actually Economics 101

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek is relying in part on what critics call the “drug dealer’s defence”. It’s reasoning that argues:

if we don’t sell this product, someone else will.

Source: Why the ‘drug dealers defence’ doesn’t work for exporting coal. It’s actually Economics 101

ALP Government,

Defence alliance with Indonesia. Is Marles cuddling up to the wrong man? – Michael West

Prabowo and Marles

Defence Minister Richard Marles’ has “high ambitions” for defence cooperation with Indonesia to reinforce a regional bulwark against China, but that’s led him to cuddle up to a notorious abuser of human rights. Rex Patrick and Philip Dorling unpack developments in Australia’s relations with Indonesia.

Source: Defence alliance with Indonesia. Is Marles cuddling up to the wrong man? – Michael West

ALP Government,

Labor tightens further batch of student visa policy

Under the 10 years of LNP government rule the rorts and scams have been unprecedented. Child Minding, Education, NDIS, and Temporary Work Visas, all became a hornet’s nest of corrupt operators never witnessed before.

If these and the changes announced a few weeks ago are effective (and properly resourced), we should see a sharp increase in providers being de-registered over the next 6-12 months and a gradual decline in both onshore and offshore student visa application rates. That will help reduce the contribution of students to net migration from the currently unsustainable levels (for example, 219,340 or over 56 per cent in 2022).

Source: Labor tightens further batch of student visa policy

ALP Government,

China is not a threat: debunking the US narrative – Pearls and Irritations

Flag of United States of America against China in cracked texture - indicates negative impact and conflict between these two countries such as international economy, trade war, partnership. Image: iStock / twinsterphoto

In this series, I explore how US narratives on the ‘China threat’ have become entrenched in Western security communities and how a ‘China threat’ narrative has been constructed by Republicans and Democrats in the United States in an attempt to create a “rally round the flag” effect designed to internally unite a deeply divided America.

Source: China is not a threat: debunking the US narrative – Pearls and Irritations

ALP Government,

Under Labor, corporate executives to face 25 years gaol for workers killed

Criminalising workplace negligence

The Albanese Government has announced it will criminalise industrial manslaughter, which will be defined as a workplace death resulting from negligence or recklessness.

Under the proposed legislation, corporations will cop greatly increased fines while business managers will face a maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment.

The Albanese Government is seriously stepping up efforts to reduce avoidable workplace fatalities, reports Alan Austin.

Source: Under Labor, corporate executives to face 25 years gaol for workers killed

ALP Government,

Exceptional Circumstances: Mark Dreyfus, Richard Boyle, Gina Rinehart and Oracle Corporation – Michael West

Oracle Racing, Oracle Corporation

Why is the rule of law applied in ways which reward a bad corporation, Oracle, with regulatory munificence, while a good citizen, Richard Boyle, acting for the integrity of the public service is dragged through legal hell? Wally The Chartered Accountant asks Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus.

Source: Exceptional Circumstances: Mark Dreyfus, Richard Boyle, Gina Rinehart and Oracle Corporation – Michael West

ALP Government,

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has turned into Australia’s #1 Enemy of Free Speech with the new “misinformation laws”Kangaroo Court of Australia

Social Media censorship

The bottom line is that attacking the “media” as phony undercuts public trust in receiving factual information from all medium conduits. Democratic institutions can only survive with an informed citizenry. If the owners of the mediums distributing this corrupting message care more for their profit margin than providing valid information, then the institutions that guarantee their existence will collapse. (Nica Lacata)

We have an obligation to address the question of truth and its political meaning during a time of widely communicated nonsense. We have an obligation to support the values of reason and human freedom. The role of social scientists and truly independent media is to disturb, bear witness to, resist systems of oppression not support them. These principles, in the age of emerging fascism, are under attack by a horde of far-right members of the LNP and gangster Capitalists and anti-media crying out their sponsored right to “free speech” in a quid pro quo chorus.

Independent Statutory Bodies like the ABC are essential to ongoing Democracy

Shane Dowling demonstrates why his argument for “free speech” doesn’t really make sense to me. He’s an example of why any argument about “free speech” can’t be run without being accompanied by discussions about “for what”, ” Individual or common” “liberating or restricting”, “public or private”, “small or mass- media” and/or “who owns the technologies that distribute it?

Simple arguments for and against the notion of “free speech” simply never cut it and have been shown to go nowhere. It simply doesn’t exist in any real world as we know it.  He’s right when he says government tinkering doesn’t help or strike a balance either. Maybe it’s time to break the stranglehold of private corporate media has been able to build over the years like an East India Company once did and colonize us. After all the condition in which we find ourselves in today Climate, Indigenous Affairs, Homelessness, etc is History and requires the strength of action to move forward and that’s neither random or free. The Independence once intended for the ABC was intended to make governments accountable while the many and varied smaller voices squabbled over their sponsored interests to flourish and discover the meaning of the terms Common Good, News, and Information seemingly lacking today.

 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Labor Party are in the process of trying to legislate new “misinformation laws” which if passed will give a few people, a lot of power, to override free speech in Australia.

Source: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has turned into Australia’s #1 Enemy of Free Speech with the new “misinformation laws”Kangaroo Court of Australia

ALP Government,

Federal budget back in black for first time in 15 years

Is this riding the Inflation high? What does it do for ordinary Australians if the surplus isn’t spent on the poorest of us?

Sky-high prices for Australia’s commodity exports and robust jobs growth have helped the federal government land a much bigger surplus than expected.

Source: Federal budget back in black for first time in 15 years

ALP Government,

Australia rewards its workers and rejoins the growth economies

The latest official data confirms the Albanese Government is achieving sound economic outcomes and also fixing entrenched injustices, Alan Austin reports.

Source: Australia rewards its workers and rejoins the growth economies

ALP Government,

From Main Street to Wall Street: is the HAFF housing scheme a gift to the money men? – Michael West

Social Housing, HAFF

The Labor government and the Greens have finally agreed to pass the Housing Australia Future Fund (HAFF) bill. But how much will go to housing, and how much to fund managers, Harry Chemay asks?

Source: From Main Street to Wall Street: is the HAFF housing scheme a gift to the money men? – Michael West

ALP Government,

What is Albanese hiding? Maybe it’s the experts’ vision of the climate hell ahead – Pearls and Irritations

Australian flag with stars on fire.

A good way to scare people is to suggest your chief security body has written something so frightening that you can’t possibly let anyone read anything about it.

Source: What is Albanese hiding? Maybe it’s the experts’ vision of the climate hell ahead – Pearls and Irritations

ALP Government,

Ten and rising: Albanese government new fossil fuel approvals unveiled – Michael West

Albanese in a Rio shirt

The ALP is sounding more like a Tobacco Company saying that they are the leading investors in Quit Smoking campaigns.

The Albanese government has approved or extended eight fossil fuel projects and two carbon capture projects since taking office in May last year. Callum Foote with the (hard to figure out) list.

Source: Ten and rising: Albanese government new fossil fuel approvals unveiled – Michael West

ALP Government,

10-year feral cat plan brings us a step closer to properly protecting endangered wildlife

Why manage cats?

Unless we control the impact of cats, many native wildlife populations will continue to decline. Some will be driven to extinction, a sad and irreversible outcome for future generations and the ecosystems these species are part of.

Source: 10-year feral cat plan brings us a step closer to properly protecting endangered wildlife

ALP Government,

AUKUS submarines money drain is well under way – to the UK and the US – Michael West

Virginia Class submarine build

Paul Keating rightly calls it the “worst deal in all history,” and the Albanese Government intends to use Australian taxpayer’s money to build up the US and UK submarine construction and ship repair industry. Rex Patrick looks into the AUKUS detail.

Source: AUKUS submarines money drain is well under way – to the UK and the US – Michael West

ALP Government,

The ‘No’ campaign’s argument isn’t based on fear – it IS fear – The Shot

AUSTRALIA’S SHAME WHY “YES” IS NECESSARY BUT ALBANESE IS SIMPLY A CHOICE!!

 Before we begin I’d like to acknowledge how painfully Australian it is that the Prime Minister announced the date of the referendum – ostensibly about whether we should listen to Indigenous people – almost immediately after photo-oping in a personalised Rio Tinto shirt, a mining company that was recently urged not to blow up a 46,000-year-old Indigenous heritage site but did so anyway because this is Australia and we don’t listen to Indigenous people.

Source: The ‘No’ campaign’s argument isn’t based on fear – it IS fear – The Shot

ALP Government,

Australia’s Public Sector Union Is in Decline Thanks to Its Labor-Aligned Leadership

For decades, the leadership of Australia’s public sector union has promised members that once a Labor Party government comes to power, it will lift wages and fix staffing shortfalls. The Albanese government is now refusing these demands.

Source: Australia’s Public Sector Union Is in Decline Thanks to Its Labor-Aligned Leadership

ALP Government,

Why are government officials manufacturing false espionage threats? – Pearls and Irritations

Espionage conspiratorial spy.

The Home Affairs minister Clare O’Neil warns they face a “dystopian future” from cyber-crime, foreign interference and threats to our Biggestdemocracy. What she didn’t say is that Australia can no longer be called a liberal democracy because it has numerous harsh laws lacking the normal protections for liberty. Defence minister Richard Marles stresses the urgent need to spend vast sums on weapons to defeat an unnamed enemy (China) which shows no sign of wanting to invade Australia.

Source: Why are government officials manufacturing false espionage threats? – Pearls and Irritations

ALP Government,

Australia’s Voice Referendum Is Losing Thanks to the “Radical Centrism” of Its Architects

When a Historian takes aim at writing the History of the referendum and is from the left what chance has the voice two months from now. Grace Brooks is neither a supporter of the voice nor an advisor. In fact, she’s less active than those she criticizes.

Later this year, Australia will vote in a referendum on creating an Aboriginal Voice to advise parliament. The Yes campaign is flagging, hobbled by a technocratic strategy and language borrowed from corporate social responsibility values statements.

No campaign’s messaging is designed to appeal to a broad spectrum of voters. While the Yes campaign sticks to unconvincing, technocratic rhetoric about community consultation and “listening,” the No campaign is arguing that the Voice will interfere with everything from national defense to school curriculum. It’s a scattergun approach, and it is working.

If the Voice had emerged as a result of an organic movement — like the campaigns against Australia Day or those for a treaty, which regularly mobilize tens of thousands of people — then it might have been in a position to counter the No campaign. But this is far from the case.

In fact, among the highest-profile supporters of the Yes campaign are peak corporate bodies like the Business Council of Australia and mining giants like BHP, which has donated $2 million. It’s a far cry from the strikes that spearheaded the Aboriginal land rights movement of the twentieth century, which were aided by solidarity from unions and the Communist Party of Australia.

Source: Australia’s Voice Referendum Is Losing Thanks to the “Radical Centrism” of Its Architects

ALP Government,

Labor fails on the environment at national conference

Albo’s plot to ensure Tanya remains in the background?

THE PUBLIC IS entitled to know the true cost of Labor’s rejection at the recent national conference of any significant policies to address climate change, biodiversity loss and ending native forest logging.

Source: Labor fails on the environment at national conference

ALP Government,

Albanese and the ALP, running scared – Pearls and Irritations

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaks at the 49th ALP National Conference 2023 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre in Brisbane, Thursday, August 17, 2023. Image:AAP /Jono Searle

 

Australian politics is at a critical moment in its history. The timidity of the Albanese government is matched by the ruthless negativism of the Dutton opposition. The political culture from which both sides operate harks back to Australia in the 1950s when, as Donald Horne pointedly remarked, the country was led by second-rate people. It still is.

Australia should be led by first-rate, morally inspiring, truly visionary leaders. There is light at the end of the tunnel. A younger generation of leaders is emerging. Some were at the Labor conference, voicing their concerns. Albanese ignored them, but it will be to his peril.

Source: Albanese and the ALP, running scared – Pearls and Irritations

ALP Government,

Marles Mauled: Rex Patrick demolishes Defence sophistry on AUKUS, submarines, nuclear – Michael West

AUKUS

Labor’s Shame, However, the worm will turn,

At this week’s Labor Conference Defence Minister Richard Marles distributed a 32 paragraph statement for insertion into the ALP National Platform to explain the Albanese’s Government’s rationale for an incredible $368B of public expenditure on submarines. At $11.5B per paragraph, one can be left very disappointed in his words. Rex Patrick provides readers with a hard hitting paragraph-by-paragraph analysis that reveals a massive swindle.

Source: Marles Mauled: Rex Patrick demolishes Defence sophistry on AUKUS, submarines, nuclear – Michael West

ALP Conference, ALP Government,

Why Labor has embraced AUKUS with so little party dissent

AUKUS

Are you convinced?

You have to laugh though Peter Dutton talked about the “Great Division in the ALP” about  AUKUS. Yet again it was something that proved not to exist.

“We have to analyse the world as it is rather than as we would want it to be,” he said. “These are the choices of a mature nation.”

Source: Why Labor has embraced AUKUS with so little party dissent

ALP Government,

“Our government is about to redefine us as willing backers of US militarism” – Anthony Albanese in earlier days – Pearls and Irritations

Anthony Albanese speaking at a business conference in Melbourne c.2013 Image: Alamy /manwithacamera.com.au

Albanese of old isn’t today’s man. He once disagreed with our subservience in favor of our Indpendence

“At the height of the Cold War, Prime Minister Menzies agreed to the British request for a permanent site to test nuclear weapons… This was a political decision by a government that was subservient to the British government, and today there are parallels, with the Australian government being once again subservient to the decisions of a foreign power.” “Our government is about to redefine us in the eyes of the world as willing backers of US militarism.” – Anthony Albanese, 2003.

Source: “Our government is about to redefine us as willing backers of US militarism” – Anthony Albanese in earlier days – Pearls and Irritations

ALP Government,

Refugee freedom walker welcomes increased humanitarian intake – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Australia is a nation built on people running away in hope of escaping war and its consequences

Refugee freedom walker Neil Para and the coalition of refugee groups supporting him welcome the increase in the humanitarian intake announced yesterday by Immigration Minister Andrew Giles.

Source: Refugee freedom walker welcomes increased humanitarian intake – » The Australian Independent Media Network

ALP Government,

ASPI’s call for a militia – a step to military madness – Pearls and Irritations

Army camouflage uniform with flag on it, Australia.

Racing to become a war economy is more part of the American dream than the Australian. Beware of what you dream of look where it has led the USA. If America counts all its affiliated military businesses it’s economically bigger than all the world’s other 9 biggest war economies combined. Almost bigger than the world’s total economies exporting war machinery. Our ALP government’s aspiration is to join the top tier of the world’s madness

The Australian economy is increasingly becoming a war economy. The PM talks of the economic benefits of weapons manufacture, and of how the military and a growing military-industrial-complex is almost a job creation scheme. The media works diligently to build and sustain a sense of fear. But even so, the warmongers of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) and their stablemate, Strategic Analysis Australia (SAA) are not satisfied.

Source: ASPI’s call for a militia – a step to military madness – Pearls and Irritations

ALP Government,

Australia’s Decision to again use the Term ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ brings it into Line with international Law

ALP Government’s “token gesture” to Palestine makes their “yes” campaign look like just a mere “gesture” as well.

Australia’s minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, has announced Australia will return to use of the term “occupied Palestinian territories”.

Source: Australia’s Decision to again use the Term ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ brings it into Line with international Law

ALP Government,

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese busted protecting Peter Dutton with a fake corruption InquiryKangaroo Court of Australia

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton

One might well ask Why Albo why?

For some scandalous unexplained reason Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, after he announced the inquiry (31-7-23), allowed Peter Dutton to have a secret meeting with AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw and the AFP now changed their evidence. It is my understanding that Opposition Leaders cannot meet with the head of any public service department unless approved by the Government which raises the question: Why did Albanese approve Dutton meeting with Kershaw?

Source: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese busted protecting Peter Dutton with a fake corruption InquiryKangaroo Court of Australia

ALP Government,

Betrayal: The threat to life on Earth – Pearls and Irritations

Red soil hand shape on sand in aboriginal art style.

It has been overlooked during Garma festival that, under current policies, global warming would render aboriginal lands in central and northern Australia unliveable and the top-end a nuclear target…

Source: Betrayal: The threat to life on Earth – Pearls and Irritations

ALP Government,

Why does the Australian Government fear dissent on AUKUS and Palestine? – Pearls and Irritations

Two businessmen pulling tug of war with a rope concept for business competition, rivalry, challenge or dispute.

Desperate to present a united front at the forthcoming Labor conference in Brisbane, the Albanese government looks to prevent delegates from voting on the merits of the AUKUS alliance and for recognition of Palestine as a state. On two crucial issues, dissent is feared. An opportunity for informed debate will be lost. Toeing a party line is the priority. On each issue, Australia’s identity as an independent, human rights-respecting country is at stake, so why fear debate?

Source: Why does the Australian Government fear dissent on AUKUS and Palestine? – Pearls and Irritations

ALP Government,

Australia’s Insecure Work Framework Is Designed and Maintained by the Labor Party

The Australian Labor Party is introducing legislation it claims will help end endemic insecure work. But if the party’s track record is anything to go by, casual workers shouldn’t hold their breath.

Source: Australia’s Insecure Work Framework Is Designed and Maintained by the Labor Party