Category: LNP

LNP, Uncategorized

EDITORIAL: Something stinks in the Coalition and it’s not just dead fish

Murray-Darling gross mismanagement

While then Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Water Barnaby Joyce was busy building up his “private” media brand enough to rival the Kardashians, under his watch, management of the Murray-Darling Basin was steadily careering out of control.

Perhaps the most damning part of this whole stinking mess is best summed up with this one little detail concerning the chief beneficiary of Coalition Government water policy, Webster Limited:

‘Webster, a Tasmanian company, is also one of Australia’s biggest water traders. Its shareholders include Australian Food and Fibre, which is controlled by the Robinson family, a major donor to the National Party.’

via EDITORIAL: Something stinks in the Coalition and it’s not just dead fish

LNP, Uncategorized

Failing Australia: An obituary for the LNP

failure to act on climate change;
the ongoing persecution of refugees;
the destruction of the NBN;
a million dead fish;
rorting politicians;
draconian surveillance legislation;
towns without water;
withdrawal of funding from frontline agencies that offer protection to women and children fleeing violence;
the torment that Centrelink has become;
the rise and rise of the far right-wing;
nurtured politicians whose goal is to incite discontent and xenophobia;
contempt for concepts such as truth, morality and ethics — replaced by religiosity and ideology; hypocrisy in personal lives, masked by the propaganda of “family values” and “traditional marriage”;
a destructive focus on internal disunity and power struggles at the expense of good governance; and
lies, lies and more lies.

via Failing Australia: An obituary for the LNP

LNP, Social Welfare under LNP

Thousands Of Young Unemployed People Have Had Their Welfare Payments Suspended Under The PaTH Program

“Recent estimates figures again demonstrate that the program is failing young people, with only 2,918 participants finding employment with their host organisation,” she said.

“Not only is the government failing to get young people into work, but it is failing to protect them from exploitation under the program.”

via Thousands Of Young Unemployed People Have Had Their Welfare Payments Suspended Under The PaTH Program

LNP

The Liberal Party: a rolling fiasco | The Monthly

What seems so hard for Liberal politicians and supporters to acknowledge is that it’s the culture of the Liberal Party – so masculine, white, and uninterested in listening to scientists or policy experts, to young people, to women – that has created the current rolling fiasco. Bullying is one index of this. Even in the wake of allegations by Julia Banks, Julie Bishop, Ann Sudmalis, Lucy Gichuhi and others, the party has done nothing to address its “women problem”. It will have even less female representation going into the next election. Candidates in the Liberal Party are selected according to merit? By what standard, though? They can’t even say why Scott Morrison is the prime minister. And yet, he’s exactly what they want: a leader who enacts their brand of paternal condescension while sticking to the same narrow politics.

Source: The Liberal Party: a rolling fiasco | The Monthly

LNP

Lawyer jokes? As always, the joke is on us. – » The Australian Independent Media Network

“Ysaiah Ross: Yes, I think there’s some truth about that. The fact that lawyers are in people’s minds all the time is probably very good for the profession, it probably generates more business. The Howard government, its Cabinet has more lawyers than any other Cabinet in the history of any Australian government. And it’s also the one which is least responsible for human rights. I find that very strange.”

Here we are, more than a decade later, with a parliament full to overflowing with tertiary qualifications. The abundance of lawyers is staggering, as is their mediocrity. It is the most unfunny ‘lawyer joke’ ever told, against which Duddo’s legal advice pales into insignificance.

via Lawyer jokes? As always, the joke is on us. – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP

Morrison trumps even Howard with size of pre-election war chest | Australia news | The Guardian

The Morrison government’s $10bn pre-election budget “war chest” is the biggest in 15 years, two and a half times larger than the Howard government’s surprise cash splash on pensioners and retirees during the 2007 election campaign.

via Morrison trumps even Howard with size of pre-election war chest | Australia news | The Guardian

LNP, Uncategorized

“Seedy Asian Trips” – Thank God The Adults Are In Charge! – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Now, it’s been suggested that one of their members has been travelling overseas to indulge in “sex tourism”.

Nothing illegal in that, of course. I mean, the AFP have investigated and made it clear that it’s not a crime. And there’s no Scott Morrison Tourism Australia promotion for “sex tourism” in Australia where some model asks, “Where the bloody hell are ya?” After all, one could hardly indulge in a seedy Australian sex tour, and that’s not just because the wages here aren’t competitive.

It’s because of fellow Coalition members who support family values.

Members like Tony Abbott, Andrew Broad and George Christensen…

Ok, Andrew Broad looks a bit of a hypocrite at the moment, but nobody could criticise the other two. Well, not without a defamation action, anyway.

via “Seedy Asian Trips” – Thank God The Adults Are In Charge! – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP

Scomo and the Fry: The Great Pretenders – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Bill Shortens’s announcement of a plan to construct 250,000 new homes over ten years is exactly what is needed. It won’t do much to arrest falling house prices, but it will inject some much-needed activity to help offset the anticipated fall in employment.

What won’t help, is budget surpluses which starve the economy of money. How hard can it be to get this message across? How hard can it be to explain this to supposedly intelligent men and women, successfully?

The one saving factor is that neither Morrison or Frydenberg are likely to realise their overly ambitious forward budget estimates. No prime minister or treasurer over the last eleven years has been able to achieve that.

In all likelihood, the status quo will be preserved. And while a coalition in opposition will see this as Labor’s failure, this time, it will be their credibility that is well and truly discredited.

via Scomo and the Fry: The Great Pretenders – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP

The truth behind the Liberal Party’s MYEFO budget update

Anyone can do NOTHING and wait (ODT)

After the disastrous political reception to its first budget in 2014, the government made no further serious attempt to reduce the budget deficit, instead quietly resolving to wait until the passage of time caused the economy to strengthen and tax collections to recover.
The government’s net public debt has doubled from the $175 billion it inherited in September 2013 to $355 billion this October.

The first politician to show us a projected return to surplus in the next few years was Julia Gillard in 2010. Since then, the Coalition has had to revise down its own projections countless times. We’ve learnt the hard way not to believe any budget number that’s not an “actual”.

 

via The truth behind the Liberal Party’s MYEFO budget update

Informed Comment, LNP

Nice try guys but I don’t think anyone’s buying it – » The Australian Independent Media Network

When pressed to give examples of religious discrimination today, Scott floundered until Christian helpfully stepped in recounting how a person who had expressed opposition to marriage equality on Facebook got sacked and had to sue for unfair dismissal. Which was kind of ironic as he was announcing the government’s support for religious schools to sack teachers if they express support for marriage equality.

Scott then remembered that someone had been blocked from entering a meeting somewhere because of their religion…then remembered they want to enshrine the right of religious groups to stop people from entering their premises so kind of mumbled something about exemptions.

via Nice try guys but I don’t think anyone’s buying it – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP

Labor accuses Government of tweaking Parliament calendar to skip work and dodge scrutiny – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Labor leader Bill Shorten stands at a microphone, with his parliamentary colleagues sitting behind him.

via Labor accuses Government of tweaking Parliament calendar to skip work and dodge scrutiny – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Liberal Party, LNP

Victorian election a wake-up call for federal Liberals and some aren’t staying silent – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Morrison is looking left to right with some side-eye, lips pursed, and wearing a suit with Australian flag pin.

via Victorian election a wake-up call for federal Liberals and some aren’t staying silent – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

LNP

Indonesian MPs claim Australians could be targeted in terror attacks in response to Israel rethink

“I pointed out that in dealing with terrorism, one has to know the causes,” Dr Mahathir told journalists after emerging from a bilateral meeting with the Australian Prime Minister. “Adding to the causes of terrorism is not going to be helpful, I pointed that out. And Australia has not made any decision, they are looking into it.”

Source: Indonesian MPs claim Australians could be targeted in terror attacks in response to Israel rethink

LNP

Canberra’s go-slow is now beyond a joke

Workers lose about $2.85 billion a year from failures to pay their superannuation fairly and in full. This is a conservative estimate from the Australian Taxation Office but there are claims the shortfall could be as high as $6 billion.

That is a real-world problem and it needs faster attention. It is also a useful way to measure the cost of the lethargy in Canberra.

Australians have learned to keep their expectations low when waiting for their politicians in Canberra to act on a problem. There was no sign this week that Parliament will ever move faster to end a disagreement and get something done.

Voters are told the government is not caught up in the “Canberra bubble” and that their political leaders, from all parties, are focused on what matters most in the real world.

Source: Canberra’s go-slow is now beyond a joke

LNP

Liberal candidate for marginal Yan Yean gone after anti-Muslim video surfaces

Meralyn Klein, second from right, during the 2016 Nillumbik Council elections.

The Liberal Party’s candidate for the marginal seat of Yan Yean has quit as the endorsed candidate after a video surfaced that appeared to show her making allegations against Muslims.

Source: Liberal candidate for marginal Yan Yean gone after anti-Muslim video surfaces

LNP

‘They can’t look the other way’: Scott Morrison turns up heat on Muslim leaders

As far back as 2005 with the Cronulla riots the biggest enablers of those riots were said to be the shock jocks of 2GB and Alan Jones was singled out back then as one of the loudest Nationalist voices at the time. Scott Morrison in fact saw political advantage to be had in encouraging the ultra-right-wing division of the them and us culture wars. However there were wiser heads than his in the Liberal Party at that time who saw the party and Australia in fact as a broad church.

However that all changed with the coming of  Tony Abbott and his Team Australia . Not until 2013 did we see the expanding dark cloud of Islamophobia form across Australia. Despite the miniscule number of domestic events defined largely by the media as terrorist the volume of noise devoted to Islamic hate and Islamophobia come to a crescendo that we haven’t let go of. Abbott took us to yet another war we couldn’t and won’t win, he increased National Security to a level never seen before and now Morrison is amplifying the same providing justification of hate despite the advice of all our experts.

It seems Politicians know better than experts these days on just about everything.. Conservatives have a historical record of drumming up danger that only they claim thay can manage and at times when they are particularly desperate. Wit the assistance of Andrew Bolt who can name 5 cases among 10 million people in Australia’s 2 largest cities as living proof of the danger we are living in. Forget the fact the rest of the world considers those 2 cities as the worlds most livable for their safety.  The fact that Morrison 10 pts down in the polls has re-introduced Abbott’s Team Australia, Them and Us onto the front pages of our conservative influencers for profit MSM media indicates one thing the LNP are not only desperate but incapable of managing themselves let alone the country. (ODT)

Tony Abbott, who oversaw a major strengthening of Australia’s counter-terrorism laws as prime minister, on Monday said Mr Morrison was “quite right to say on the weekend that there is a problem within Islam”.

via ‘They can’t look the other way’: Scott Morrison turns up heat on Muslim leaders

LNP

Q&A reaction: Mathias Cormann concedes Coalition was ‘in a more competitive position’ when Malcolm Turnbull knifed

Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann

Corman now agrees with Turnbull again but still blames him for the coup?( ODT}

Senator Cormann blamed Mr Turnbull for calling a “surprise” leadership ballot on Tuesday August 21, essentially sealing his own fate by revealing a high degree of support (35 votes) for Mr Dutton.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann – whose shift in support was crucial in the coup against former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull – has conceded the Coalition had improved its electoral position just before his colleagues knifed their leader.

Senator Cormann said he had not seen internal party polling showing the Coalition ahead 52 to 48 in key marginal seats – polling Mr Turnbull revealed in his appearance on the ABC’s Q&A program on Thursday night.

via Q&A reaction: Mathias Cormann concedes Coalition was ‘in a more competitive position’ when Malcolm Turnbull knifed

LNP, Uncategorized

Coalition stalls on renewable energy decisions

The Coalition Government doesn’t seem to be making carbon emission reductions a high priority at a time when it’s needed most, writes Giles Parkinson.

IF THE WENTWORTH and Wagga Wagga by-elections were supposed to send a message to Coalition Governments about the need to act on carbon emissions and embrace renewables, it hasn’t worked.

If anything, it seems the Federal Government has lurched even further to the hard Right, deepened its attachment to coal and declared its outright hostility to making any moves to increase its emissions reduction targets. It has vowed to do all it can to stop Labor from doing just that, should it win power in the next federal poll.

via Coalition stalls on renewable energy decisions

LNP

EDITORIAL: Murdoch and Morrison — what happens after Wentworth?

After the ATM Government’s crushing defeat in Wentworth, where to now for the Liberal Party and its propaganda arm, the Murdoch media?

… Rupert Murdoch had helped bring on the coup when he told Seven West proprietor Kerry Stokes a change was needed at The Lodge.

“Malcolm has got to go,” Mr Murdoch told [Mr Stokes]…

… Mr Stokes said a leadership challenge would guarantee a Labor government within a year.

Mr Murdoch replied: “They’ll only be in for three years — it won’t be so bad. I did all right under Labor and the Painters and Dockers; I can make money under Shorten and the CFMEU.”

~ Australian Financial Review, 21 September 2018

via EDITORIAL: Murdoch and Morrison — what happens after Wentworth?

LNP, Uncategorized

Poor planning causes overcrowding – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Population Minister Alan Tudge has suggested that Melbourne and Sydney are experiencing significant pressure from excessive population growth. He’s probably got a point, but his ‘solution’ — forcing immigrants to live in areas with less population pressure for at least five years after permanent residency is granted — demonstrates Tudge’s complete lack of knowledge of the subject matter he is responsible for implementing on behalf of the Australian Government.

The Abbott/Turnbull/Morrison government has a long history of dog whistling to turn opinions against those who don’t look like them (generally middle-aged to elderly white men). First we had ‘stop the boats’, then the ‘gangs of African youths terrorising Melbourne’ and now the same people are being blamed for failures of politicians over the past 40 years to argue the case for additional capacity when expensive infrastructure is built. Because in the long term it’s cheaper to build it once with some growing room — just like the 2-year old’s new t-shirt.

It’s time to call Tudge’s thought bubble out for what it is — racism.

What do you think?

via Poor planning causes overcrowding – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP, Uncategorized

The Morrison government’s biggest economic problem? Climate change denial

Last week Peter Costello accused Malcolm Turnbull of failing to develop an economic narrative to unite the Coalition. Turnbull promised this when he challenged Tony Abbott for the leadership of the Liberal Party, but, said Costello, it never came, and the result is a government struggling to manage deep differences over social issues. There was “jobs and growth”, but this is really just a goal without much of a story about how to get there, except for the company tax cuts.

The big question, though, is why the government does not have a coherent economic narrative.

One possible answer is that it has been too preoccupied with social issues such as religious freedom and before that, same-sex marriage, to give the economy sufficient attention. There is something in that.

via The Morrison government’s biggest economic problem? Climate change denial

LNP, Uncategorized

And the Clock Struck Thirteen ! – » The Australian Independent Media Network

The reinstatement of the Colonial Spirit. What if an Immigrant manages to escape to the City? Will be labelled a Papillion and the full force of the ABF come after him or her? How about admitting  government policy encouraged temporary entry while using infrastructure as a political football against the states holding them to nothing.(ODT)

The Federal Government has unveiled a plan that will settle certain classes of new migrants [to be known as drones] in regional areas for up to five years after their arrival in Australia. These will be required to work as indentured labour and will not be able to leave their servitude until the five-year term of indenture has been served to the satisfaction of their masters.

Minister for Population and Cities, Alan Tudge laid out the plan to bust congestion in Australia’s biggest cities – Melbourne and Sydney – in a speech in Melbourne on Tuesday.

via And the Clock Struck Thirteen ! – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP

Stubborn ABC refuses to die despite constant attacks

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has, so far, been unable to conceal his glee over the ABC’s woes.

First, he contradicted Milne’s suggestion that he, like the nation, had likewise only just been informed of Guthrie’s removal.

Then, he appeared on Insiders to remind the ABC and the rest of Australia who’s boss, telling the ABC, without any trace of irony, that it needs to stop talking about itself and go back to work or “it can expect more attention” from him. He also managed, during this interview, to stick the boot into that pesky Emma Alberici tax cuts article, once again.

And, finally, wildly flaying his arms around and barking in his customary fashion, he informed us all, in case we hoped the issue of political bias may have been addressed, that the Coalition, currently in the throes of finding a suitable replacement for Milne, would not seek bipartisan support for the appointment by consulting with the Opposition.

Of course not. As Mr Morrison keeps repeating, the ABC is, after all, an “independent” organisation — with ever-decreasing funding from his Government, a board appointed by his Government, a selection process overruled by his Government and a Nomination Panel also chosen by his Government. Yep, nothing to see here.

via Stubborn ABC refuses to die despite constant attacks

LNP

Morrison seeks to subvert ‘foreign donation’ laws to protect L-NP donors

The State Government is blowing up over the Federal Coalition trying to intervene with its donation disclosure laws. The Commonwealth is joining an appeal to try to stop the LNP from declaring contributions of less than $13,500.

For mine, this means we need to be aware of their opportunistic and desperate attempts to make as many changes as they can before they are punted. This is usually in the form of top jobs on Government boards or entities to mates, legislation that looks innocuous but helps the party scam extra power, favours or cash, and of course the signing of heaps of contracts or consultancies to donors and other mates so the flow of Government funds to rent-seeking corporate donors and blood sucking “consultancy” firms are set in stone and can’t be changed by an incoming Government — think Great Barrier Reef Foundation and Foxtel handouts, times a hell of a lot more.

via Morrison seeks to subvert ‘foreign donation’ laws to protect L-NP donors

LNP

Liberal president donates $100k to campaign as donor dispute drags on

They aren’t what they used to be (ODT)

Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger is donating more than $100,000 of his own money to the election campaign as the bitter dispute with the Cormack Foundation, once the party’s most generous donor, drags on.

via Liberal president donates $100k to campaign as donor dispute drags on

LNP

Quotas are not pretty but they work – Liberal women should insist on them

From Prime Minister Scott Morrison down, Liberal Party men are pushing back against women pressing for cultural change within the party. They don’t want to share power for ideological reasons: conservative men like women to know their place, and that place is not in the House of Representatives or the Senate. This ethos is intensifying as fringe and evangelical Christians make ever deeper inroads into Liberal Party branches and preselection processes.

Respected Liberal women like former Liberal Party vice-president Tricia Worth and former Liberal senator Sue Boyce have poured scorn on the internal party mechanisms proposed so far to deal with the problem. They point out the implausibility, for example, of making a bullying complaint to Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger who denies such bullying exists.

Read more: A ‘woman problem’? No, the Liberals have a ‘man problem’, and they need to fix it

Liberal Party women face an immediate choice. They can be cowed by the “quota girl” sledge of hostile male colleagues, and other unsupportive comments by these men’s female enablers such as NSW Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells.

via Quotas are not pretty but they work – Liberal women should insist on them

LNP

What is Melbourne’s population?

Victorian Planning Minister Richard Wynne said people were drawn to Melbourne due to its “booming economy and lots of jobs”.

“We’re building for growth with game-changing projects like the Metro Tunnel and the Melbourne Airport Rail Link, and we’re planning for the future with the Suburban Rail Loop, as well as pouring billions into hospital upgrades and new schools,” he said.

“The Liberals did nothing but cut crucial services for four years and Matthew Guy has promised to send a million extra people into the outer suburbs.”

via What is Melbourne’s population?

LNP

Taylor launches extraordinary and ill-informed attack against wind and solar | RenewEconomy

Energy Minister Taylot running in the footsteps of IPA, News Corp and Abbott (ODT)

New energy minister Angus Taylor has launched a new and extraordinary attack against wind and solar, saying they cause “de-industrialisation” and claiming that Labor’s 45 per cent emissions reduction target would send a “wrecking ball” through the Australian economy.

The comments came in an interview on Sky News on Sunday night, and little more than a week after Taylor told radio shock jock Alan Jones that there was already “too much” wind and solar in the grid.

The fact that the right-wingers Jones and Kenny hold such extreme and ill-informed views about climate and energy is well known, and not of great consequence.

But the fact that the country’s energy minister goes on to their programs and agrees with them, despite all the evidence to the contrary, is deeply troubling – for investors and consumers.

These are scare tactics reminiscent of the Abbott and Joyce attacks against the then carbon price – remember the ‘Whyalla will be a ghost town’ campaign, and the ‘$100 lamb roasts’? For a quick rebuttal of these South Australia energy myths, this might be useful.

via Taylor launches extraordinary and ill-informed attack against wind and solar | RenewEconomy

LNP, Uncategorized

Peter Dutton’s backers refused to leave Liberal Party members’ offices, demanded they reveal votes during spill – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Tight shot of Bishop looking stern. She's standing in front of an Australian flag.

When can bullies be seen flipping the argument and blaming the other side when they are ultra conservatives. Soon we’ll see them declaring that they are the victims. It’s not a strange practice and is a common ploy when backs are to the wall Corman is doing it here. He was a vote collector for Dutton and it wasn’t a last minute decision on his part as he tried to make out.  (ODT)

Cabinet Minister Mathias Cormann, who supported Mr Dutton, said Malcolm Turnbull’s unusual tactics ahead of the Liberal leadership spill added pressure to his colleagues.

“There’s nothing wrong with seeking to convince each other of the merits of our arguments, but it always ought to be done with courtesy and respect,” he told Sky News.

Some of Mr Dutton’s other backers, including young conservatives Andrew Hastie, Michael Sukkar, James Paterson, Zed Seselja, Tony Pasin and Jonathon Duniam, have denied any knowledge of, or involvement in, the alleged bullying.

via Peter Dutton’s backers refused to leave Liberal Party members’ offices, demanded they reveal votes during spill – Politics – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

Filed under:
LNP

Get Used To It Girls – » The Australian Independent Media Network

They witnessed ‘Ditch the Witch’ abuse hurled at Julia Gillard by Tony Abbott; they remember Alan Jones’ advice that she should be ‘tied in a chaff bag, taken to sea and dumped’. Liberal males have form in the bullying stakes.

So where are the Liberal women left?

It seems pretty obvious. There will be no apology, no compromise from their male counterparts, certainly no rapprochement.

All they can expect from macho Liberal males is: ‘Get used to it girls’.

via Get Used To It Girls – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP, Uncategorized

A chequered history: Matthew Guy’s most controversial decisions

Victorian opposition leader Matthew Guy has been caught up in a string of controversies involving Liberal party figures, donors or donations, notably in his time as planning minister in the Baillieu and Napthine governments between 2010 and 2014.

 A chequered history: Matthew Guy’s most controversial decisions

and

Matthew Guy paid out millions ‘to keep his job’

As planning minister, the Liberal Opposition Leader signed a multimillion-dollar settlement with taxpayers’ money to avoid a date in court.

  • by Royce Millar & Chris Vedelago

 

LNP, LNP Policy, Uncategorized

Dutton’s au pair drama shows hypocrisy of immigration policy

Has there been a MP like Dutton whose constantly shown himself up as a fool? Yes, Tony Abbott who became as popular as a fart in a crowded elevator and look what happened to him (ODT)

Is there some principle being applied consistently that accounts for both cases? Or can we now admit that this posturing of law and order, of national sovereignty, of the solemn duty to banish “unlawful arrivals” is just so much bullshit, conveniently dropped for the right kind of people?

I’m not saying this is the scandal of the decade. I suspect this will all soon pass without much cost to Dutton and that’s probably fair enough. But if it passes without a clear verdict of hypocrisy, not just on Dutton but on the way we frame our public discussion of immigration, it will only be because we’ve long since abandoned any approach to the subject that has anything to do with principles.

via Dutton’s au pair drama shows hypocrisy of immigration policy

Humour, LNP, Uncategorized

No Scott, we can’t just heal and move on – » The Australian Independent Media Network

“I’ve had Jones, Hadley, Bolt, Peta Credlin … insert name of right-wing commentator here … give me free character assessments basically for the past five years,” he said.

“And the last election campaign I think is the best example of what influence they actually have, if you are a shrewd marginal seat operator. It was an eight-week campaign where particularly Alan Jones would offer free character assessments that weren’t too complimentary on a daily basis. And when the state of NSW had a 5.1 per cent swing against (the Liberals) I had a 1.6 per cent to me.”

He said the broadcasters encouraged voters to contact him, with Mr Hadley publishing his official email address.

“I couldn’t thank him enough for that because what it does is it takes those fired-up people — a lot of times based on misinformation and that commentator’s personal opinion and a real personal dislike of me or Malcolm Turnbull — it makes that listener come to me,” Mr Laundy said. “I’ll ring them. I’ve done it thousands of times. And I read my own emails and reply, usually pretty quickly. And it shocks the living crap out of them,” he said.

I can personally confirm this. I emailed Mr Laundy asking him to back up claims he had made about convictions arising from the trade union royal commission. He responded with the details I had requested. And he was right – it shocked the living crap out of me to get a factual response, no obfuscation, from a Coalition MP.

There have been several Liberal party members suggesting that politics is no place for “snowflakes”, intimating that if you can’t cop intimidation then you aren’t up to the game.

Sadly, these people seem to think that being able to endure bullying is more important than being able to formulate, understand, and advocate for sensible policy direction. (Looking at you Craig Kelly for starters)

Political pundits will tell you that it has ever been thus.

Does that mean we should allow it to continue?

via No Scott, we can’t just heal and move on – » The Australian Independent Media Network

LNP, Uncategorized

Angus Taylor signals further taxpayer investment in existing coal and gas | Australia news | The Guardian

Why do Politicians ignore the experts and try to con the public? ( ODT)

But while there is evidence from market analysts and analysis from the government’s energy bodies that renewables has led the price drop because of a big increase in supply contracted into the market courtesy of the renewable energy target, Taylor attributed the recent reductions to the government’s intervention in the gas market, and regulatory reforms, including forcing retailers to be more transparent about their pricing.

While coal proponents in the Coalition declare new coal investment means lower prices, the Australian Energy Market Commission has predicted prices will fall over the next two years because of the entry of 5,300 MW of new generation capacity into the national electricity market – most of it renewable projects.

via Angus Taylor signals further taxpayer investment in existing coal and gas | Australia news | The Guardian

LNP

Tennant Creek and ‘African gangs’ expose the hypocrisy of white Australia | Jack Latimore | Opinion | The Guardian

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull meets local kids as he rides along in a Julalikari Youth Night Patrol convoy, at Tennant Creek, in the Northern Territory, Sunday, 22 July 2018

Peter Dutton’s comments following the tragic death of Laa Chol, a young woman of Sudanese descent, in Melbourne on Sunday morning were not only opportunistic and inaccurate, they also made a mockery of his leader’s tour of Tennant Creek by ultimately undermining the sincerity of the prime minister’s concern for the plight of vulnerable Aboriginal families.

Tennant Creek and ‘African gangs’ expose the hypocrisy of white Australia | Jack Latimore | Opinion | The Guardian

LNP

NBN write-down ‘appears inevitable’: S&P

When Governments are Experts they are wrong how can you expect them to do anything other than screw everything up. (ODT)

But Minister for Finance, Mathias Cormann rejected S&Ps analysis. He said in a statement that the government was not considering a write-down of the NBN and remained confident it would reach its take-up forecasts.

“We remain confident that the federal government’s equity contribution to NBN will continue to be treated as equity and not a grant,” he said.

NBN write-down ‘appears inevitable’: S&P

LNP

The party or the people: Turnbull’s ABC dilemma

Mr Turnbull immediately launched the government into damage control and onto the back foot of a potential Mediscare 2.0. The Labor Party was always going to take up arms against such an idea.

But the problem with his brushing off of the sale is that he’s alienating the people he’s claiming to represent. By saying the motion – which, it has to be said, is not binding on the Government – is not Government policy, he’s rejecting the wishes of the organisation for which he’s the parliamentary leader.

via The party or the people: Turnbull’s ABC dilemma

LNP, Uncategorized

The Turnbull Government: Those that would destroy the ABC

But what they really think is different. I have already outlined what Fifield really thinks. They are in effect already underfunding the ABC to keep it quiet and compliant and eventually sell it off.

You cannot trust the conservatives when it comes to the public broadcasters. Remember Tony Abbott the day before the 2013 election

He said there would be:

“no cuts to education, no cuts to health, no change to pensions, no change to the GST and no cuts to the ABC or SBS.”

All turned out to be lies. And speaking of SBS, the Liberal Council also voted for an “efficiency” review of SBS. Be afraid.

All of this gives Labor wonderful ammunition and they will make political capital out of it. They had already committed to restoring the $84 million in Turnbull Government funding cuts.

How then can we defend the ABC? The time for being meek and mild is over. Let’s organise protests across the country. Perhaps ABC workers could walk off the job until funding is restored and a new direction for the national broadcaster that more adequately reflects Australian society and its left-wing views begins? Otherwise, the Turnbull Government will strangle the ABC by stealth.

via The Turnbull Government: Those that would destroy the ABC

LNP

Howard backs Turnbull’s fortunes as Liberal party votes to privatise ABC | Australia news | The Guardian

Former Australian prime minister John Howard

Howard continued the theme of unity that has flowed through Liberal party leadership speeches at its 60th national council – which also voted overwhelmingly on Saturday to privatise the ABC as conservative anger at the public broadcaster continues to be a political flashpoint.In a non-binding motion put forward by the Young Liberal Movement, members called for the full privatisation of the ABC, “except for services into regional areas that are not commercially viable”.

Source: Howard backs Turnbull’s fortunes as Liberal party votes to privatise ABC | Australia news | The Guardian

LNP

Court ruling a resounding defeat for the Liberal Party

Forget the spin, this was a resounding defeat for the Liberal Party and its president, Michael Kroger.

After launching adventurous legal action, the Liberal Party and Kroger had wanted to seize complete control of a $70 million investment fund, the Cormack Foundation.

via Court ruling a resounding defeat for the Liberal Party

LNP

The religious minority seizing power in the Liberal Party

This amounts to nearly 13 per cent of all those now in key positions within the Liberals’ organisational wing, compared to just 0.3 per cent of all Australians who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

Combined with conservative Catholics, evangelical Christians from churches such as Victory Faith Centre and City Builders, the religious right-wing now has unprecedented sway in Liberal Party politics.
committee – is their most influential figure.

via The religious minority seizing power in the Liberal Party

LNP

‘Nasty, brutish and short’: Hobbes and the Coalition’s politics of exclusion

Why is this the case? The simple answer is that the Coalition governs for the one per cent, not the rest of us. The big policy announcement in the Budget was a tax cut for the wealthy, disproportionately bigger than that given to workers on the average wage. The policy upon which the Government is pinning its fortunes is massive company tax cuts justified with the now proven lie that employers will pass on the windfall in wage rises and job creation. The lies are now blatant. Turnbull and company don’t even bother with pretence any longer. Their capitulation to the Ayn Randian ideologues of the Institute of Public Affairs is complete, brazen and deadly for the rest of us.

The Coalition is now dominated by the hard right and the politics of exclusion dominates the policy agenda.

via ‘Nasty, brutish and short’: Hobbes and the Coalition’s politics of exclusion

LNP, Uncategorized

Bring Back Beatings and Ban Immigrants, demands NSW Liberal Party Branch President

The president of the hard-right wing Carlingford Branch, George Popowski, says he wants to “straighten out the law and order system” by pushing the state back to colonial times with measures described by others as “Sharia-law style punishment”.

via Bring Back Beatings and Ban Immigrants, demands NSW Liberal Party Branch President

LNP, Uncategorized

Construction and national net worth continue to decline under Turnbull

 

Infrastructure is rapidly collapsing in Australia. Not literally. Not yet. But that could happen if current trends continue.

Australia’s investment in infrastructure remains well and truly in the slump that began soon after the 2013 change of government.

This is proven by the latest quarterly construction data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which shows private and government spending on engineering and building projects up to the end of last year.

This matters, not just because it is yet another outcome diametrically opposite to solemn Coalition promises, but because Australia’s national net worth is now declining disastrously.

via Construction and national net worth continue to decline under Turnbull

LNP

The Hypocrisy is Mind-Blowing – » The Australian Independent Media Network

Malcolm Turnbull admits 'political mistake' on bank royal commission

In trying to defend the indefensible, she struggled to cut through with anything that was remotely beneficial to her party’s credibility. If anything, it highlighted what a nasty piece of work they are.

Everything she said, stood in stark contrast to her party’s persistent opposition to it, for so long. Meanwhile, revelations during last week’s hearings that customers were given poor financial advice, were charged fees for no service, that a dead person was charged ongoing fees, that the corporate watchdog was deliberately misled for years, makes us salivate over what might be revealed when things resume next week.

Client theft, more compromised financial advice, financially ruining peoples’ lives; who knows what other surprises are in store.

This government’s actions in cutting funding to a multitude of community services shows us only too well, how concerned it is for the welfare of its constituents.

The Minister

 The Hypocrisy is Mind-Blowing – » The Australian Independent Media Network

 

LNP

Elderly, disabled, jobless or homeless? The Coalition is still blaming you

 

Despite the myriad of studies highlighting Australia’s growing inequality, the take-home message from the Turnbull Government is, if you’re poor, it’s your fault. Senior editor Michelle Pini reports.

And that meesage is even worse when delivered by the conservatives of the LNP

via Elderly, disabled, jobless or homeless? The Coalition is still blaming you

LNP, Sex

Guy under pressure to allow gay ‘conversion’ therapy for kids

Other motions to be debated at state council include:

Calls for the Commonwealth Sex Discrimination Act to re-insert “man” and “woman” in the place of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity”. The aim is that a person will define their gender as either male or female, according to their biological and reproductive function.
Calls to ban the Safe Schools program from Victorian schools and any other curriculum teaching a person’s gender may be different from their biological sex or that people can transition.

Guy under pressure to allow gay ‘conversion’ therapy for kids