Category: LNP Government

LNP, LNP Economic Management, LNP Government

Concerns about NBN overuse highlight Coalition Government’s failings

Many long-term issues plaguing the NBN could’ve been avoided if it was an all-fibre network, writes Paul Budde. RECENTLY, IT was reported that a new Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) Commissioner, Anna Brakey, said: We’ve got an opportunity to have a look at the regulatory framework and to make sure, that we efficiently use the NBN. If we set prices too low, there would be overuse of the NBN. And as a result, that would require more investment that just would not be efficient. It would not be valued by people because we priced it too low in the first place. But if we set the price too high, there will be underuse of the asset and potentially bypass. So, without a doubt, I think, getting the NBN regulatory framework, giving that attention and coming up with a new [special access undertaking] or revised SAU, is by far my biggest priority for this year. It’s astonishing to hear from the ACCC that they think that the “NBN could be overused” and that “customers would not value it anymore”. The ACCC is mandated to act on behalf of the consumers, not the NBN company. The fact that she is in favour of protecting the NBN in the knowledge o

Source: Concerns about NBN overuse highlight Coalition Government’s failings

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LNP, LNP Government

Morrison’s vaccine rollout fail: Mates versus the states

Unlike other vaccine rollouts, the Morrison Government’s COVID vaccine rollout hasn’t been distributed by the states, but by Liberal-aligned private companies. Andrew P Street follows the money.

Source: Morrison’s vaccine rollout fail: Mates versus the states

LNP, LNP Government

The Coalition’s absurd and undemocratic war against the ABC

Another Senate Estimates session brings another culture war attack on the ABC. This time it is the revelation that Government senators are apparently monitoring the Twitter feeds of prominent ABC journalists to see what they “like” and using this information to accuse them of… oh, who knows what, this time?! It’s becoming both tedious and absurd.

Source: The Coalition’s absurd and undemocratic war against the ABC

LNP, LNP Government

ABC News economics department shows incompetence with false information

The ABC’s economics reporting is becoming as bad as in Rupert Murdoch’s tawdry tabloids and Fairfax/Nine pro-Coalition pamphlets. Alan Austin reports.

Source: ABC News economics department shows incompetence with false information

LNP, LNP Government

Propaganda Machine: Deloitte skews fact on economy, media laps it up – Michael West

Deloitte's dodgy data

Deloitte Access Economics’ claims about Australia’s economic recovery were repeated verbatim by media outlets, although many were based on cherry-picked data and mixed verified GDP figures with unverified data in a classic apples with oranges comparison. Alan Austin takes a closer look.

Source: Propaganda Machine: Deloitte skews fact on economy, media laps it up – Michael West

LNP, LNP Corruption, LNP Government, LNP Tactics

Incorrect ‘facts’ now emanate from Scott Morrison’s federal departments

In his address to the Australian Business Economists on Tuesday 18 May, Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy said (page 1): “Australia’s economic recovery from the pandemic has been… ahead of any major advanced economy as at the end of 2020.” In fact, Australia is badly lagging many advanced nations on the critical indicators, as analyses of comparable economies have proven. Independent Australia asked Dr Kennedy: ‘Do you accept that South Korea, Japan, China, Taiwan, Denmark, Israel, Norway and New Zealand are major advanced economies comparable with Australia and all had stronger or similar annual GDP growth and lower jobless rates at the end of 2020?’ His office replied: ‘The Secretary’s ABE speech was rigorously checked beforehand and is based on the latest available data and Treasury’s most recent forecasts.’ Australia’s post-COVID economic recovery lags behind comparable nations Australia’s post-COVID economic recovery lags behind comparable nations It is not just Scott Morrison and his ministers disseminating dubious data. The head of at least one federal department is making factually questionable assertions of a political nature, writes Alan Austin. Ken

Already, Kennedy’s incorrect assertions are being used for tawdry party political purposes. It also now appears Treasury is the source of many of the Treasurer’s false assertions. This really should stop.

Source: Incorrect ‘facts’ now emanate from Scott Morrison’s federal departments

LNP, LNP Government

Scott Morrison 4 Corners: ABC versus the government is a song that remains the same

Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

This year, Four Corners, the longest-running, most lauded and consequential program in Australian television history, turns 60. But will the ABC pluck up enough courage to throw a party? No doubt the Prime Minister, should he be invited, will send his apologies. Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Prime Minister Scott Morrison.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Tensions between the ABC and the government have once again boiled over, despite Scott Morrison coming to high office with the best intentions to steer well clear of the ABC controversies his predecessors delighted in stoking.

Source: Scott Morrison 4 Corners: ABC versus the government is a song that remains the same

LNP, LNP Government, LNP Policy

NDIS independent assessments will be introduced this year despite concerns and mistrust

NDIS Minister Linda Reynolds remains committed to introducing legislation for independent assessments this year.

The new Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme has stood behind a plan to introduce independent assessments for people with disabilities by the end of the year, but conceded in budget estimates hearing the original plan needed more work. National Disability Insurance Scheme Minister Linda Reynolds told senate estimates on Friday afternoon it became clear when she took on the portfolio there was “significant concern” about the independent assessment process and the way it was being communicated.

NDIS independent assessments will be introduced this year despite concerns and mistrust

LNP, LNP Economic Management, LNP Government, LNP Tactics

Secret NDIS report warns of backlash unless government is ‘seen’ to have listened

NDIS Minister Linda Reynolds has paused the implementation of independent assessments.

A secret marketing strategy to convince Australians to support a controversial overhaul of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) says the federal government must be “seen” to have listened to concerns of disability groups, who will be targeted with an extensive campaign. A leaked communications and engagement strategy from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA), which administers the $26 billion scheme, reveals an aim to announce a legislation date in late August. It also aims to combat any backlash from the disability community through what Labor calls an “expensive multi-media spin campaign”.

Source: Secret NDIS report warns of backlash unless government is ‘seen’ to have listened

LNP, LNP Corruption, LNP Government

Mathias Cormann calls for ‘ambitious’ plan to reach net-zero emissions

Mathias Cormann, in his first speech as OECD secretary-general, has argued countries need to set ambitious plans to achieve net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050.

Why the LNP can’t be trusted. Their politicians are little more than ‘guns for hire’ opportunists and careerists taking advantage of what seems the best path for them to gain advantage for themselves at any one time. Men without any real conviction or plan the least able to be trusted to give the public service rather than service them. The concept of a ‘common good” shrunk.

Former finance minister Mathias Cormann has called on the world’s richest nations to develop an “ambitious and effective” plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 in his first speech as head of the OECD.

Source: Mathias Cormann calls for ‘ambitious’ plan to reach net-zero emissions

LNP, LNP Government

Right-wing media backs Alan Tudge on ‘leftist’ history curriculum

Sky News commentator Andrew Bolt has supported the opinion of Education Minister Alan Tudge that the Australian history curriculum is ‘hateful’, writes A L Jones. “NEO-MARXIST RUBBISH”, says a NSW Cabinet minister of the new draft national curriculum. And the Federal Education Minister Alan Tudge agrees with Andrew Bolt that the history section is biased against our Western heritage and should include, for example, “what bad things Aborigines did to Aborigines”. Mr Tudge said in a Sky News interview with Bolt:

“I do get concerned that students don’t have a firm understanding of how we did become this rich, egalitarian, free, Western-liberal democracy… If you don’t understand that, then you’re less likely to value it and defend it.”

What a load of crap by these two hypocrites not judging, but protecting their history of Australian mythical facts from critical eyes and wanting to retain dogma rather than encourage reasoned research and critical analysis of the reality of our varying  past perspectives . The 500 years of colonial western history is writ large in the crippled African continent, the tragedy of the Latin Americas run by serial dictators, a middle east left in tatters totally repressed with the hate caused by caused by the West, and then there’s  Australia walked over by jackboots that remain largely in place today and ruled over by white supremacists. If any nation or culture were to be regarded as having done the most to lift billions to a better state of being in the fastest possible time then China is light years ahead of us. Even India has accelerated improvement since casting off the shackles of Western Colonialism. Maybe not as fast as China it might be argued but nevertheless fast enough for us to see just how far the West had held them back for hundreds of years.

What Aborigines did they did it to each other not globally or to the rest of the world. To suggest they wouldn’t have changed without European invasion is typical of White supremacist arrogance. The instruments of the torture used by the West are now “pay to see” items in European tourist centers. We can see what we did to each other and to others without a second thought using “god’s name” as justification. Things we did to those we self righteously  decreed were “lesser humans” and that these two bastards pretend today never existed let alone be taught to the next generation. Our museums are filled with the trophies gained by rape, pillage, slavery,pain and slaughter done, but not to be emphasized or taught or remembered in their “heroic” but false history of the world.

The LNP and Murdoch media hand in hand are found here preaching “Cancel Culture” not just antiseptically editing the past but any form of critical theory, reasoned research or analysis in search of truth. That is an excercise far too dangerous for them because the next generation just might want to reexamine the values taught them and change things for the better when realizing the worst of our past. Hitler believed in the the Bolt and Tudge principle of education as well.

The one thing that strikes me is these ultra-conservatives always combine the notion of Western Culture with Christianity with it’s then inferred god given right to their historic truth. It’s tied very much to the notion of the ‘elect’. A notion In line with the preachings of other religious extremes and cults. Groups like today’s neo-Nazis, Trumpsters, Moonies, ISIS, and other anti-democratic, authoritarians. People like Bolt and Tudge who want to turn our schools into unenlightened fundamentalist christian equivalent of Madrasas teaching only their orthodoxies. Beneath their suits beats the rise of yet another Inquisition and a return to the heart of darkness.

This is an interesting podcast relevant to what we see happening today   https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/the-cult-of-trump/id1551582052?i=1000523783469  The Cult of Trump

(ODT)

Source: Right-wing media backs Alan Tudge on ‘leftist’ history curriculum

LNP, LNP Corruption, LNP Government

Senate misled: Watergate deal negotiated directly with Swiss-based Cayman Islands director – Michael West

AHURI - Angus Taylor

New documents show the government negotiated the controversial $80m Watergate deal directly with the Cayman Islands company founded by Energy Minister Angus Taylor. The Department failed to notify the Senate. Jommy Tee investigates the email trail between the Department, then overseen by Barnaby Joyce, and secretive Switzerland director and Taylor associate Connor Maloney.

Source: Senate misled: Watergate deal negotiated directly with Swiss-based Cayman Islands director – Michael West

LNP, LNP Government, LNP Tactics

View from The Hill: Porter decides it’s time to ‘fold em’ in ABC defamation case

When he launched his defamation action against the ABC over an article reporting a claim of historical rape against him, Christian Porter boldly indicated he looked forward to going into the witness box to clear his name. His lawyers said: “Mr Porter will have and will exercise the opportunity to give evidence denying these false allegations on oath”. In the event, he never got near the witness box. On Monday Porter settled for an ABC acknowledgement it hadn’t intended to suggest he was guilty, regretted some had read its article that way, and did not contend the accusations against him could be substantiated to a legal standard.

Source: View from The Hill: Porter decides it’s time to ‘fold em’ in ABC defamation case

LNP, LNP Government

A Humiliating Backdown – Really? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Christian Porter just doesn’t know when to leave sleeping dogs lie – he just has to have another twist of the tail, another kick in the guts. After agreeing during mediation to withdraw his expensive defamation action against the ABC and their investigative journalist, Louise Milligan, to wear his own legal costs, not to insist that the ABC report in question be taken down and not to receive any of the damages he had been hoping for. He took these body blows like the Black Knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail responding that this was just a scratch, a mere flesh wound, and that the ABC had been forced into a “humiliating backdown”.

Source: A Humiliating Backdown – Really? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP, LNP Government, LNP Tactics

ABC hits back at Christian Porter’s claim it ‘regrets’ Four Corners story | Australian Broadcasting Corporation | The Guardian

Christian Porter addresses the media

The ABC has doubled down on its defence of the Four Corners article at the centre of a now-defunct defamation case brought by Christian Porter, with the public broadcaster stating it does not regret its reporting and stands by the story. The former attorney general on Monday dropped his high-stakes defamation bid against the ABC, holding a press conference in which he sought to claim he had forced the broadcaster to back down, despite not securing an apology or retraction. Far from ending hostilities between the parties, the deal to drop the case has sparked a fierce war of words between Porter, the ABC and the Four Corners journalist Louise Milligan, who broke the original story. After the ABC agreed to add an editor’s note on its story saying it “regretted” that some readers had “misinterpreted” the article “as an accusation of guilt against Mr Porter”, the former attorney general insisted the public broadcaster had been forced into a “humiliating backdown” and had admitted to regretting the “sensationalist” article. But the ABC hit back, saying it “has not said that it regrets the article” and “stands by the importance of the article”.

Source: ABC hits back at Christian Porter’s claim it ‘regrets’ Four Corners story | Australian Broadcasting Corporation | The Guardian

LNP, LNP Government

Morrison Government facing the consequences of vaccine rollout disaster

The current surge in COVID-19 cases in Melbourne is a result of the Morrison Government’s mismanagement of the pandemic and vaccine rollout, writes Dr Jennifer Wilson.

Source: Morrison Government facing the consequences of vaccine rollout disaster

LNP, LNP Corruption, LNP Government

There’s no record of vaccinated aged care workers – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Today we discovered that no-one knows how many aged care workers have been vaccinated.It seems that we do not know how many aged care workers had been vaccinated, as there seems to be no-one keeping track of who has received the vaccine, and who hasn’t. According to the Department of Health, work is now “underway” to survey aged care workers at the nation’s facilities (read: literally counting heads).

Source: There’s no record of vaccinated aged care workers – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP, LNP Government

‘Extraordinary’: Less than 10 per cent of aged-care workers fully vaccinated

Aged care services minister Richard Colbeck

A Senate hearing has descended into a fiery stand-off after Aged Care Minister Richard Colbeck admitted the federal government still doesn’t know exactly how many staff in Victoria have had COVID doses. It’s now 100 days into the federal vaccination rollout, and federal health officials have admitted that 21 aged-care homes across Australia are yet to receive even a single dose of vaccine – while the number of vaccinated staff may be as low as 8 per cent. Health department officials could only confirm that around 32,000 aged care workers, out of 366,000 nationally, had gotten their first doses – but stressed this was a “minimum”, and that many more workers would be vaccinated, but they weren’t sure how many exactly.

Source: ‘Extraordinary’: Less than 10 per cent of aged-care workers fully vaccinated

LNP Government

Breakthrough Aussie war drone may target civilian protestors – Michael West

Black lives Matter

An Australian breakthrough in drone technology that makes it easier to locate hidden enemy on the battlefield could also be used to target civilian protesters. The US government has already used surveillance drones to monitor Black Lives Matters protests while Israel last week reportedly used small drones to drop tear gas on Palestinian protesters. Michelle Fahy investigates.

Source: Breakthrough Aussie war drone may target civilian protestors – Michael West

LNP, LNP Government

Victorians are right to be dismayed by the federal government’s failures in pandemic policies | Bill Bowtell | The Guardian

People wait in queues at a Covid-19 testing centre in Melbourne on May 26, 2021, as Australia’s second biggest city scrambles to contain a growing Covid outbreak.

As they enter the “circuit-breaker” lockdown, Victorians are entitled to be dismayed by the multiple failures in Australian government pandemic policies that have required the use of such blunt but necessary measures to contain this outbreak. By the end of 2020, the Australian people had done the hard work required to achieve sustained zero local transmission of Covid-19. Victorians had endured a 15-week winter lockdown that eliminated Australia’s most serious and deadly outbreak of Covid-19. Having done so well in the emergency phase of the pandemic response, Australians were entitled to expect that the federal government would rapidly implement policies on quarantine and vaccination critical to securing these magnificent achievements, and to bolster our defences against the virus.

Source: Victorians are right to be dismayed by the federal government’s failures in pandemic policies | Bill Bowtell | The Guardian

LNP Corruption, LNP Economic Management, LNP Government, LNP Policy, LNP Tactics

Morrison government under fire over Covid vaccine delays as Victoria enters lockdown | Australian politics | The Guardian

Australian health minister Greg Hunt speaks in parliament as prime minister Scott Morrison watches on

The Morrison government has come under attack over “failed” quarantine arrangements and the sluggish pace of the national vaccine rollout as Victoria enters a seven-day “circuit breaker” lockdown. There is mounting concern the latest virus wave could have become “uncontrollable” with almost 30 cases in the Melbourne-based cluster. The acting Victorian premier, James Merlino, on Thursday pointed to vaccine delays and “aged care facilities where not one person has been vaccinated” as practical problems in managing the response. Both are the responsibility of the federal government. His Labor colleagues in Canberra declared the situation could have been avoided.

Source: Morrison government under fire over Covid vaccine delays as Victoria enters lockdown | Australian politics | The Guardian

LNP Economic Management, LNP Government, LNP Policy

Breaking: Number Of Australians Vaccinated Just Exceeded Number Of Government Announcements On The Subject! – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Ok, here’s a brief timeline of events in the vaccine rollout. August 2020: Scott Morrison announces that Australia has secured 25 million doses of the Oxford Astra-Zeneca vaccines and that it would mean “early access” for all Australians. The vaccines would be “as mandatory as you could possibly make it.”

Source: Breaking: Number Of Australians Vaccinated Just Exceeded Number Of Government Announcements On The Subject! – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP, LNP Economic Management, LNP Government

Less than 2 per cent: The real numbers of the vaccine rollout – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Yesterday, Canberra again promised that we’ll be vaccinated by Christmas. Yet, three months into the rollout and only 1.9% of NSW has had both doses.

Source: Less than 2 per cent: The real numbers of the vaccine rollout – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP, LNP Economic Management, LNP Government

Scott Morrison’s claim Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are falling does ‘not stack up’ | Climate change | The Guardian

A lone tree stands near a water trough in a vast drought-effected paddock

Despite official accounts showing Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are falling, its contribution to the climate crisis has increased over the past 15 years once areas beyond the federal government’s control – the drought and emissions from land and forests – are excluded. Scott Morrison told a climate leaders summit hosted by the US president, Joe Biden, last month that Australia had cut its emissions by 19% since 2005. The prime minister said it was “more than most other similar economies” had done and the country was “on the pathway to net zero”. An analysis by the Australia Institute found the reduction in emissions over the past 15 years was largely due to two major shocks beyond government control – the drought and the pandemic – and mostly historical changes in the amount of CO2 released from the land and forests. Fossil fuel and other emissions not linked to the land or agriculture sectors – those from electricity, industry, mining, transport and landfill – actually increased by 7% prior to Covid-19. The institute found on this basis Australia had done much less to reduce emissions than several comparable countries, including the US, UK and members of the European Un

Source: Scott Morrison’s claim Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions are falling does ‘not stack up’ | Climate change | The Guardian

LNP, LNP Corruption, LNP Government, LNP Tactics

It’s time for the government to walk the talk on media freedom in Australia

The ABC reported this week the Senate inquiry found “government agencies should have to prove ‘real and serious’ harm caused by the publication of classified intelligence and information before a criminal investigation can be launched”. Donate today and support non-profit news. The Senate inquiry’s report said: Without such a requirement, the provisions would be susceptible to overuse, misuse or even abuse. In particular, the absence of an express harm requirement can lead to circumstances where a journalist is prosecuted for a very minor or trivial ‘dealing’ with classified information. When giving evidence to the inquiry, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) was asked to provide any examples of when a publication had demonstrably harmed Australian national security. ASIO could not produce a single example.

Source: It’s time for the government to walk the talk on media freedom in Australia

LNP, LNP Corruption, LNP Government

The Coalition, where all revolving doors lead to outdated fossil fuels

In one of the most uninspiring and regressive budgets ever, the Morrison Government, among other backward moves, has continued its eye-watering bolstering of the fossil fuel industry, throwing good public money after bad policy. There is little doubt that if this Coalition Government had been in power when it was discovered that the Earth was a sphere, it would have held on to the flat Earth theory, fervently ridiculing all evidence to the contrary. This is because, in all likelihood, it would already have invested in exorbitantly priced tours to find the ends of the planet and then provided tax breaks for the shonky tour operators.

Source: The Coalition, where all revolving doors lead to outdated fossil fuels

LNP Economic Management, LNP Government, LNP Policy

Australian subsidies give oil refineries the whole carrot farm while electric vehicles get the stick | Richie Merzian | The Guardian

Prime Minister Scott Morrison (centre) visits. an oil refinery in Gladstone, Queensland, in January.

The federal government has announced a fuel security package to shore up Australia’s two remaining oil refineries, in Geelong and in Brisbane, with a hefty price tag of up to $2bn. Australia’s response to fuel security has been a hodgepodge of ineffective policies and taxpayer-funded subsidies, and this week’s announcement is another Band-Aid solution. It sits neatly in the budget alongside the $8bn in fuel tax credits (which is set to rise to just under $10bn in five years).

Source: Australian subsidies give oil refineries the whole carrot farm while electric vehicles get the stick | Richie Merzian | The Guardian

LNP, LNP Economic Management, LNP Government

“Political Stunt”: how the Budget cash splash means profit to providers over aged care reform – Michael West

https://olddogthoughts.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/image0-1.jpeg

The Budget cash splash in aged care has rendered the Royal Commission a political stunt as the billions in extra funding are not tied to reform measures or direct care and food for elderly Australians. Dr Sarah Russell reports.

Source: “Political Stunt”: how the Budget cash splash means profit to providers over aged care reform – Michael West

LNP, LNP Economic Management, LNP Government

Revealed: Australia defies UN pleas over atrocities in Yemen, escalates weapons exports to Saudis – Michael West

Yemen, Defence Department, Saudi ArabiaDocuments released under Freedom of Information reveal Australia approved 103 military export permits to UAE and Saudi during the Yemen war – and denied just three permit applications. Michelle Fahy investigates Australia’s escalating export trade in weapons with the Saudi dictatorship, in defiance of its international commitments.

Source: Revealed: Australia defies UN pleas over atrocities in Yemen, escalates weapons exports to Saudis – Michael West

LNP, LNP Corruption, LNP Government

Morrison’s corrupt LNP would crumble under a royal commission

The Liberal Party has escaped accountability for its corruption for too long and the Australian public should speak up now, writes Grant Turner.

Source: Morrison’s corrupt LNP would crumble under a royal commission

LNP, LNP Government, LNP Policy

Snowflake’s Chance in Hell: prospects slim at best for PEP11 gas rig off the coast of Sydney – Michael West

PEP11

It is embarrassing enough that the government is even considering PEP11, the proposal to drill for gas directly off the coast of Australia’s most populous beaches and wealthiest economic zone. The final decision rests with Resources Minister Keith Pitt. Luke Stacey and Michael West report.

Source: Snowflake’s Chance in Hell: prospects slim at best for PEP11 gas rig off the coast of Sydney – Michael West

LNP, LNP Government

Blood on your hands, Prime Minister? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Morrison is right – but not for his vacuous rhetoric. Future generations will judge us on what we deliver. Just as they judge us today on what we do rather than whatever our government might say – and then pretend it didn’t say or try to crabwalk away from. The inaction of this government to honour its obligations to its citizens in its travel ban on those trapped in India – or its chicanery on energy or climate change, its betrayal of its stewardship, or duty of care of the planet for future generations, is an indictment of its motives to seek and hold power for its own sake and a travesty of democratic principle and responsibility to its people. It is also a declaration of moral bankruptcy.

Source: Blood on your hands, Prime Minister? – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP, LNP Government, LNP Policy

The Coalition is backing a gas plant that also runs on hydrogen. Is this the future or a folly? | Energy | The Guardian

The 316-MW Tallawarra B plant south of Wollongong in NSW is a peaking plant, designed to fire up when demand for electricity is high.

Climate science tells us the world will likely need negative emissions technology – drawing CO2 from the atmosphere – if it is to meet the objectives agreed in Paris six years ago. The emissions from the gas burned at the new plant will ultimately add to the CO2 in the atmosphere, and they are avoidable. To borrow a phrase, you cannot offset your way to zero.

Source: The Coalition is backing a gas plant that also runs on hydrogen. Is this the future or a folly? | Energy | The Guardian

LNP, LNP Economic Management, LNP Government

Coalition’s $10bn scheme to curb rising insurance premiums in Queensland may not improve affordability | Insurance industry | The Guardian

Stranded vehicles in floodwaters in Townsville in 2019.

Government should focus on ‘disaster mitigation rather than clean-up’ as climate change events increase, industry experts say

Source: Coalition’s $10bn scheme to curb rising insurance premiums in Queensland may not improve affordability | Insurance industry | The Guardian

LNP, LNP Government

‘Year of the mate’: At least 13 former Liberal MPs, staffers given plum jobs

Attorney-General Michaelia Cash.

At least 13 former Liberal MPs and political staffers have been appointed to plum federal government jobs since the start of the year, including a former deputy mayor given a 26-year-long, $10 million post at the Fair Work Commission.

Source: ‘Year of the mate’: At least 13 former Liberal MPs, staffers given plum jobs

LNP, LNP Corruption, LNP Government

“Scientifically Indefensible”: how a $13 billion political fix is killing the Murray Darling Basin – Michael West
The federal government continues to squander $13 billion of taxpayers’ money in an unlawful mess that was supposed to fix this country’s greatest environmental catastrophe – the destruction of the Murray Darling Basin. It is a tale of political interference, scientific censorship and deception, pressure from lobbyists and bureaucratic cowardice. Richard Beasley SC reports.

Source: “Scientifically Indefensible”: how a $13 billion political fix is killing the Murray Darling Basin – Michael West

LNP, LNP Government, LNP Tactics

ANDREW P STREET: Questioning Angus Taylor’s sci-fi emissions plan

A glance at Angus Taylor’s track record somewhat explains the lunacy behind his latest plans for climate action.

Source: ANDREW P STREET: Questioning Angus Taylor’s sci-fi emissions plan

LNP, LNP Government, LNP Policy

Red alert for the planet: UN chief’s call to phase out coal by 2030

The steelworks and coal loading facility at Port Kembla. Coal mining operations are set to expand in the Illawarra region following Wollongong Coal’s successful application to reopen the Russell Vale colliery.

Source: Red alert for the planet: UN chief’s call to phase out coal by 2030

LNP, LNP Government, LNP Policy

Crocodile tears no mask for Coalition’s economic war on women – Michael West

March 4 Women

Well may Scott Morrison tear up as he relates how his daughters, wife and widowed mother drive his every decision. The facts are that every move of the Coalition government ensures women are poorer, more insecure at work and more vulnerable to violence on the job. The Industrial Relations bill pushed through last week is a final nail in the coffin for women. Alison Pennington reports.

Source: Crocodile tears no mask for Coalition’s economic war on women – Michael West

LNP, LNP Government

‘The world is changing’: Extra clean energy funding ahead of summit

Source: ‘The world is changing’: Extra clean energy funding ahead of summit

LNP Economic Management, LNP Government

Not fit for purpose: Australia needs independent Climate Change Authority

Source: Not fit for purpose: Australia needs independent Climate Change Authority

LNP, LNP Economic Management, LNP Government

Ten million face hip pocket hit without budget tax cut

Source: Ten million face hip pocket hit without budget tax cut

LNP Government

The Gas Cabal Exposed – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Source: The Gas Cabal Exposed – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP, LNP Government

End neo-liberal experiment: gutting of bureaucracy led to vaccine and aged care failures – Michael West

Outsourcing public services is failed model

Source: End neo-liberal experiment: gutting of bureaucracy led to vaccine and aged care failures – Michael West

LNP, LNP Government, LNP Tactics

Postpone the poll: why the Coalition is suddenly looking rattled | Australian politics | The Guardian

Australia’s deputy prime minister Michael McCormack and prime minister Scott Morrison

Morrison has repeatedly said he’s a “full termer” and has no plans of calling an election any time soon. It may be one of the few pledges he can keep.

A drop in the polls – largely due to the government’s manmade “women issues” combined with backbencher woes – had already left the Coalition teetering on the edge of minority government, making many MPs nervous.

The abrupt change in the government’s vaccine fortunes – once thought so golden that announcements came attached with Liberal party branding – turned nervous into anxious on Friday.

Source: Postpone the poll: why the Coalition is suddenly looking rattled | Australian politics | The Guardian

LNP, LNP Economic Management, LNP Government, LNP Policy, LNP Theft

JobMaker scheme fails youth as super accounts drained and JobKeeper bypassed gig economy – Michael West

The Coalition government’s signature employment policy for young people JobMaker has created just 609 jobs. And thanks to the flawed design of JobKeeper, which shut out many young people from key financial support, superannuation accounts were emptied, for which the young will pay a heavy price down the track. Kathryn Daley, Belinda Johnson and Patrick O’Keefe report.

Source: JobMaker scheme fails youth as super accounts drained and JobKeeper bypassed gig economy – Michael West

LNP, LNP Economic Management, LNP Government

Vaccine rollout: Not even the states can save Morrison’s government

Paul BongiornoSource: Vaccine rollout: Not even the states can save Morrison’s government

LNP, LNP Corruption, LNP Government

Public Jabs: multiple doses of lies, spin and obfuscation in Covid vaccine roll-out – Michael West

Coalition vaccine rolloutSource: Public Jabs: multiple doses of lies, spin and obfuscation in Covid vaccine roll-out – Michael West

LNP, LNP Government, LNP Tactics

Latest; Breaking News Melbourne, Victoria | The Age

In Morrison’s world, he didn’t say what he said. The states and the federal government are getting along harmoniously, and criticism of the rollout doesn’t actually exist. What is the above, if not textbook gaslighting?

Source: Latest & Breaking News Melbourne, Victoria | The Age

LNP, LNP Government, LNP Policy, LNP Tactics

State of Surveillance: Online Safety Bill captures the bad stuff but Commissioner’s powers too broad
State of Surveillance: Online Safety Bill captures the bad stuff but Commissioner’s powers too broad

State of Surveillance: Online Safety Bill captures the bad stuff but Commissioner’s powers too broad

by Samantha Floreani | Mar 30, 2021 | Business

The Online Safety Bill, if passed in its current form, could further undermine political accountability by ensuring footage of police violence or human rights abuses, for example, is taken down. That the government is not listening to concerns about the bill’s wide powers suggests some of the consequences may be intended. Samantha Floreani reports.