However, when one Party hosts private events for the media the odds become stacked as to who is controlling and focussing the “gotchas”
My thought for the day The right to vote in an election is the gift that democracy gives. Therefore, it is incumbent on the voter to have a rudimentary understanding of politics and take an interest in the political landscape. ( John Lord)
Source: This will be a ‘gotcha’ campaign – » The Australian Independent Media Network
Isn’t integrity what underpins all governments and elections?
The Liberal leader Scott Morrison’s comments this week ramp this up as a key question for the 2022 federal poll. He promised before the last election to introduce an integrity commission and he has not done that. Now he is trying to blame Labor for the broken election promise. Integrity underpins every other promise made – by everyone vying for government.
Change of wording applied here to the wording of Morrison’s associated media, who reported Rachelle Miller as giving the Government “permission” rather than “challenging the government to release the full and truthful account of her case by dropping the NDA which Morrison was hiding behind. Will Morrison now oblige us and have the truth and information released or will he keep it unavailable?
Lawyers for Miller say the former Coalition staffer wishes to remove ‘any impediment’ preventing the PM giving a ‘full and truthful account’ of her case
Morrison has simply brought
1) Nope Nope Nope to describe his LNP Government in that if you don’t agree with him and everything he demands nothing will get done. More over it’s your opposition that’s at fault. How childish and Trump is that?
2) There is no room for Representative Democracy with an LNP government lead by Scott Morrison. Negotiation and compromise are a weakness and he couldn’t give a running fuck if 60% of the nation don’t vote for him.
3) His LNP isn’t interested in passing any bills to improve the country moving forward. Yhat suggests a compromise. Julia Gillard did that, and almost set a record on the number of bills passed. A seemingly Kumbyiah record, according to Morrison. It represented weakness, and loss of leadership in the country. Did Brian Houston ask his followers for advice? He had strength, and conviction in doing nothing about his father’s pedophelia. According to Morrison doing nothing is a sign of strength and he has done a lot of that. Like burying many reports that came back negative The Prayer Room, Tudge, Higgins and should we go on?
Once again demonstrating the chutzpah and audaciousness that has come to frame his style when under pressure, Morrison denied that he had broken a promise and blamed Labor for its lack of delivery. Yes, the opposition. Yes, I know they are not in power, but he said it’s their fault we don’t have one because they would not vote for the government’s model.
If you think being on the campaign trail with Prime Minister Scott Morrison means meeting real voters, think again. Mr Morrison has sewn safety harnesses, thrown basketballs and inspected native timber. But he has so far mostly avoided the activity you would think took precedence in a re-election campaign: meeting voters.
Source: Election 2022: What it’s like to be among Scott Morrison’s media pack
“again help our partner ( Trump) to become president “
Soloviev expanded on that point, suggesting that Russia should just go ahead and nuke the US because that is the true nature of the war in Ukraine.
Propagandists on Russian state television told their public audience last week that the time has arrived to sever diplomatic relations with the United States and that the Kremlin is finalizing its “preparations” to interfere with future American elections. The Daily Beast’s Julia Davis reported on Monday that President Joe Biden’s unwavering support for Ukraine has revitalized Moscow’s appetite for manipulating the American electorate. Their objective, one of the individuals revealed, is to “again help our partner,” former President Donald Trump, “to become president.”
Well Mr Putin what did you expect?
Finland has been neutral since 1945, seeking cordial relations with its vast Russian neighbor. But Vladimir Putin’s war on Ukraine has emboldened champions of Finnish NATO membership — and made things harder for left-wing critics of the military alliance.
Bottom line: the relevant regional comparison is to New Zealand
Morrison needs to gild the lily because his boast has proved 1) to be false, and 2) Any saving of lives not his doing but rather the work of the States.The Ruby Princess was Morrison’s kick start.
To say there has been a saving of 40,000 lives relies on a comparison to the northern hemisphere at the beginning of the pandemic when Australia had a climatic cloak of protection and a safe distance from which to learn from overseas evidence.
New Zealand provides a more useful comparison if we’re to judge the success of the Morrison government’s pandemic handling. Our neighbour faced the closest set of climate and wider conditions to us and had similarly high levels of PCR testing (at least until Omicron overwhelmed testing in late 2021). On this comparison, Australia did not do well.
By September 15 2021, COVID case rates in Australia were almost four-fold that of NZ (3,038 versus 796 cases per million) with more than eight times the death rate (43 versus 5 five per million) – further puncturing the Morrison government’s 40,000 lives boast.
In November 2021, the federal government claimed it was well prepared for Omicron, but 70% of all COVID deaths in Australia (4,579 out of 6,569 as of April 11) occurred after that date. The majority of those were in 2022 and are therefore not accounted for in the 2020 and 2021 comparison underlying the 40,000 lives saved claim.
‘I don’t hold the hose’ ‘The election isn’t about me it’s about you’ Morrison with the team of Murdoch, Costello, and Stokes is doing what he did to Towke to get preselected. It’s what he did to Abbott, to Turnbull and to Julie Bishop sending out poisoned messages but drawing attention away from himself and creating smokescreens and Non-Disclosure Agreements about these past performances. That’s all that he’s ever done. Nobody ever said he wasn’t deceptive clever or a scumbag. He just isn’t a leader and the tiger never changed his spots or his message “It isn’t my fault it’s his, hers, theirs or yours”
Morrison had a more urgent task. He had to somehow distance himself from his government to give it a better chance of holding on to power. Almost in his first breath at his news conference Morrison said his government “is not perfect” and had never claimed to be. He went on to say they had “been upfront and you may see some flaws”. Clearly, he was talking about himself. The principal flaw, of course, is far from being upfront – this Prime Minister is a past master at obfuscation, blame shifting and coming late responding to crises. This goes a long way toward explaining why the approval of his performance in the latest Newspoll continues to be deep in negative territory. In a piece of curious framing, Morrison says others will seek to make the election about him, but “it’s actually about the people who are watching this right now. It’s about them”. Work that out.
Source: Paul Bongiorno: Scott Morrison tries to withdraw from the election equation
here’s some serious journalism listing all the questionable decisions that ScoMo and co made after he forgot to check with Jenny first.
The federal government has:
Source: A complete list of the Liberal Party’s corruption over the last 7 years | The Chaser
A Mistake laughed at by John Howard who responded “So What?”
Labor treasury spokesman Jim Chalmers came to Albanese’s defence and education spokeswoman Tanya Plibersek played it down on the ABC. “Elections aren’t memory tests,” she said. “They are tests of leadership.” Former prime minister John Howard was in Perth kick-starting the campaigns of Swan candidate Kristy McSweeney and Hasluck MP and Indigenous Affairs Minister Ken Wyatt when he was asked whether it was bad that Albanese didn’t know the nation’s unemployment rate. He responded incredulously: “Is that a serious question?” “Anthony Albanese didn’t know the unemployment, all right, so what?” Howard said. Howard was himself asked what the unemployment rate was and said it had a ‘3’ in front of it. Wyatt then stepped in and said it was coming down.
Source: Election 2022: Anthony Albanese Australian unemployment rate gaffe seized on by Scott Morrison
The 20 seats to watch are a mixture of those with super-slim margins, must-win or must-keep electorates for both sides, and a couple that should normally be safe Liberal holdings where the introduction of independents and minor parties has shaken things up. These are the seats leaders Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese will visit over and over, as will senior frontbenchers and possibly party veterans like John Howard.
Source: Election 2022: Dobell, Chishlolm, Cowan – the 20 seats that could decide the outcome
Voters have deserted the federal government in large numbers since the last election in powerful swings that could sweep the Coalition from at least 14 seats including parts of Queensland and Western Australia where it once thought it was safe. The findings highlight the challenge for Prime Minister Scott Morrison in winning Australians back to his cause when he starts the campaign with a Coalition primary vote of 34 per cent nationwide, down from 41 per cent at the last election.
Source: Election 2022: Voters deserting Coalition in Queensland and WA, says Resolve survey
But not all polls are equal, and often results shift from week to week by only small amounts, well within the margin of error.
They’ve done it; got Hitler on the front page of The Australian newspaper alongside independent candidate Zoe Daniel. And the campaign has not even officially kicked off.
Source: Murdoch media introduces Hitler to Australia’s election campaign – Michael West Media
My thought for the day One of the cornerstones of Christianity is the concept of “truth”: in fact, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the light”: “the truth shall set you free”: Our Prime Minister is a fervent practising member of that faith. Even allowing for the hue of political practice, it is difficult to imagine how arguably the greatest liar ever to have walked the corridors of Parliament can perpetuate its hypocrisy.( John Lord )
AUKUS = US, UK and “that guy Down Under” ?
Instead of feeling a sense of shame, there was merriment that Australia could be oh so useful to the power projects of others. Hoping that no one would notice, an emphasis on danger has been made. Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce justifies the acceleration of the hypersonic weapons program by claiming that Australia faces an “existential threat” from them. It would only take “about 14 minutes” for such devices to reach Australia, “so we have to make sure that we are right at the top of our game”. Presumably, this means doing everything to make Australia attractive, in an existentially doomed way, to other powers in the region.
Source: Morrison’s Australia remains servile under AUKUS agreement
The problem is hardly new. In 1961, U.S. President (and five-star general) Dwight Eisenhower warned against, “the unwarranted influence”, of the “Military-Industrial Complex”, which will do anything to increase profits, which grow as arms sales increase and which benefit from wars. So, while moral outrage over Russian crimes in Ukraine is completely justified, we in the West need to avoid simplistic good guy/bad guy dichotomies. A global peace movement, like the one that prevented the United States from using nuclear weapons against the Vietnamese, is our best hope to reduce the risk of wars and other existential crises. As Nicolas Haeringer observes (in Informed Comment), “We can turn concrete acts of solidarity into the new norm…” 10 and reduce the unacceptable amount of suffering from conflicts, hunger, and poverty, as well as addressing the climate crisis. It’s up to us.
Source: Ukraine and NATO Expansion
A second text from former NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian has slammed the Prime Minister as being more concerned with “petty pointscoring” than human lives at the height of the deadly 2020 bushfires. The texts, sent from Ms Berejiklian to a mystery colleague within the party, were then sent to Channel 10 journalist Peter van Onselen, and saw the former Premier call Mr Morrison a “horrible, horrible person”. The full exchange includes Ms Berejiklian saying: “Morrison is a horrible horrible person. He is actively spreading lies and briefing against me re the fires,’’ the text message reads. The recipient of the text, which the Channel 10 political editor says was a cabinet minister, replies: “Morrison is about Morrison. Complete psycho. He is desperate and jealous. The mob have worked him out and he is a fraud.” A second screenshot obtained by news.com.au shows the conversation continued, with Ms Berejiklian going on to say: “Thx. I’m just so so disappointed. Lives are at stake today and he is just obsessed with petty political pointscoring. So disappointed and gutted.”
Mr Dutton last week stated that former prime minister Malcolm Fraser “did make mistakes in bringing some people in” as part of his immigration policies in the 1970s.
When pressed on those comments during Question Time on Monday, Mr Dutton singled out people of Lebanese-Muslim background.
Source: Peter Dutton suggests Fraser government made mistake by resettling Lebanese refugees – ABC News
Half of voters say budget designed to win election as Labor takes 11-point lead on economic management
If Liberal-National Party voters have a skerrick of integrity left they should assist the rest of Australia in ushering this Government out the back door, in a landslide.
The Coalition Government’s cash splash Budget is the final piece of a mountain of evidence that proves Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s team of “deplorables” are incompetent, devious and unfit to lead the nation.
Some Liberal MPs have already had the good grace to be honest with their supporters. Former Liberal MP John Alexander hopes ‘that if Labor’s Anthony Albanese wins the Election, policies more fit to serve the national interest rather than narrow sectional interest might be served’, while Liberal Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells says Morrison is “not fit to be Prime Minister” and, along with his cronies, has already “destroyed the Liberal Party in NSW”.
In National Party ranks, Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce, in a moment of lucidity and honesty, called Scott Morrison “a hypocrite and a liar” and stated that he had “never trusted him” and disliked “how he earnestly rearranges the truth to a lie”.
Racists are never shy when going to an election. Ukraine refugees are welcome jnHungary when others weren’t!
Ahead of today’s Hungarian election, Viktor Orbán has boasted of his solidarity with Ukrainian refugees. The anti-immigrant premier has folded to public sympathy for Ukrainians — but the welcome doesn’t extend to everyone fleeing war.
Source: Viktor Orbán’s New “Pro-Refugee” Stance Is Opportunistic — and Still Racist
The claim that Australia’s recovery “leads the world” is one of the two most easily disproven falsehoods in the history of budget fabrications. Australia is nowhere near the leaders.
France, the UK, the US, Sweden, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Norway, and Portugal all grew by more than 5%. The Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Greece, Singapore, Saudi Arabia and Poland advanced by more than 6%. Ireland, Israel, Turkey, Argentina, Croatia, Georgia and Estonia expanded by more than 8%. Chile, Colombia, Malta, Panama and Slovenia grew by more than 10%.
Other measures also have Australia well down the global tables, and near the bottom on some. These include youth jobless rates, wages growth, retail sales, productivity, social housing and infrastructure investment.
Source: Blinded by dodgy stats: Frydenberg’s sermon relies on rusty tablets – Michael West Media
Public school funding to be cut by $559 million over the next three years. Private school funding increased by $2.6 billion.
“Closer analysis of the Budget papers shows the Morrison government has cut over half a billion dollars from public schools,” said Correna Haythorpe, Australian Education Union federal president.
The cuts to public schools’ funding from the 2021-22 Budget are:
$139 million in 2022-23
$193.9 million in 2023-24
$226.9 million in 2024-25
In sharp contrast, the increases in private schools’ funding are:
$616.8 million in 2022-23
$690 million in 2023-24
$715.6 million in 2024-25
$537.1 million in 2025-26
Though the government does have its priorities set, giving $61m for school chaplains.
Source: Public school funding cut by half billion, private increased – Michael West Media
But consecutive leaks showing senior figures in his government view untrustworthiness as one of Scott Morrison’s most salient personality traits is going to cement the Prime Minister’s credibility problem. Deputy Prime Minister and Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce was forced to apologise on Saturday for a text he sent less than a year ago, while on the backbench, saying Mr Morrison “earnestly rearranges the truth to a lie”.
Source: Barnaby Joyce not the first to call Scott Morrison a liar
After two-year freedom of information battle with Guardian Australia, the PM’s office has been told to search for any messages with QAnon proponent Tim Stewart
Morrison was and still is an architect of Australia’s racist shame when it comes to asylum seekers and refugees. He was the first in line to yell that Ukrainians were allowed to “jump the queue” that queue that had others incarcerated for over a decade and still continues do. Afghanis who fought shoulder to shoulder with Australians were never given that same spontaneous welcome. Peter Dutton’s direct attacks on African Christians readily threw fuel on the fire to distract from the LNP’s underlying racism and incompetence. They keep telling us Africans Lebanese and Indigenous Australians have poor fitting cultures not suited here. Yet, they are far more likely to be practising Christians and in the case of Africans more educated than the average Australian. What they are are really denying is Australia’s multiculturalism and more specifically their race and colour.
We must turn solidarity with Ukraine into the new normal for all refugees The global North’s unprecedented support for Ukrainians has revealed racist double standards. But it’s also an opportunity to extend such solidarity to everyone.
Source: We must turn solidarity with Ukraine into the new normal for all refugees
Racism is a historic needless appendix to our Institutions and is given strength it doesn’t deserve in the heartbeats and mindset of a cultural minority that keeps telling us they represent “most” of us. The only thing this “most” represents in a multicultural society is the echo of the cyclops bigotry of “some” of us and we certainly know the groups that uses it and where to find them.
However, it’s fading and grows weaker with each and every passing generation. After all we are only 220 years old. If we want to really rid ourselves of it positive action against privilege, the economic, and opportunity divides need to be addressed in order to allow multiculturalism to really flourish. Scandinavian countries are streaks ahead of us in their institutional approache to multicultural democracy and its reflected in their public institutions primarily in their education system which begins in kindergardens through to secondary schools.
Australia’s political leaders often talk about its multicultural credentials, making sweeping statements about its unmatched success in diversity. According to Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Australia is the “most successful” multicultural country in the world. This self-congratulatory speech, however, masks the reality that we are a country with a deep racism problem that is not getting better. Racism in Australia My recent co-authored book Racism in Australia Today with Amanuel Elias and Yin Paradies looks at various manifestations of racism in our history and across key institutions.
Source: Racism is still an everyday experience for non-white Australians. Where is the plan to stop this?
Will Smith Apologises but will that be the end of it?
I’m sad that, at the pinnacle of his career, Smith has trashed his own reputation. I’m sadder still that, in their own moment of glory, he chose to taint the Williams family too.
and
“Violence in all of its forms is poisonous and destructive. My behavior at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about Jada’s medical condition was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally,” he wrote in an Instagram statement.
“I would like to publicly apologize to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”
A comedian’s poor joke isn’t the issue here. Neither is the personal offense taken by Smith. But violence is and should not be condoned under any circumstance let alone at an award ceremony. Will Smith should have been told to leave. The Academy was not only tarnished by Smith but by its own inaction.
Will Smith instantly went from hero to the worst imaginable role model for American kids watching the Awards on the night. Rock on the other hand gained people’s support and respect for the coolness of his reactions under the circumstance.
It was assault, plain and simple. Smith should have been ejected from the auditorium. Smith played Richard Williams in the movie King Richard, the story of the father/coach of Venus and Serena Williams. He was the favourite to win Best Actor and, yes, he won. So, in one night he was a winner and a loser. A hero and a zero.
Currently, the LNP is locked foot and step with the GOP American Republican Party. The Liberal Party has never been closer to Trumpster alt-right than it is today and they even echo their policies here in Australia as they haven’t any original ideas of their own. Public Service, Education, Health, Welfare Immigration, and Emergency Services have all become rapidly privatized or outsourced so much so they no longer function or are fit for purpose in emergencies. Chaos has reigned with Morrison at the helm and we’ve deteriorated on every social metric other than the profits made by their corporate supporters,who they have gifted handsomely. Our Democracy is under threat of drifting even closer to Mussolini’s ideal model of government, The Fascist Corporate State.
There is an opportunity to restore Australian Democracy, by addressing the core issues that Australians nominate as underpinning their growing sense of distrust and dissatisfaction. A Democratic Commission should play a central role in this effort. Failing to intervene in our democratic decline is a failure to appreciate Australian Democracy’s fragility, and its pre-eminence in underpinning our way of life. This is a mistake we cannot afford to make.
Man-made climate change denialists can’t say that this event is purely “natural” and will begin to reverse. Meanwhile, Peter Dutton will continue to joke about the Pacific islands and water lapping at their doorsteps. Andrew Bolt might even return to Roy Spencer and argue that the planet is actually cooling or at least not warming at the rate “97% of Global Climate scientists say”.
There was a time we believed man-made events occurring on the other side of the planet never really affected us. Until we came face to face with WW2 but that now seems wasn’t a lesson learned. Pandemics haven’t done the job let alone the relationship between fossil fuels and climate change. While the rest of the world is convinced not Russia Australia or India are. However, we are sure as hell waking up to it today and have learned the consequences of the LNP ignoring it for over two decades.
Andrew Bolt even argues if the EU hadn’t been as active in transitioning to renewables Putin wouldn’t have “had to” invade Ukraine. His logic, if the EU hadn’t tried to act like irrresponsible globalists, “for the planet”, and remained dependant on Putin’s oil and gas he wouldn’t have been “forced” to invade Ukraine for its resources. Ergo the EU started the war says Bolt.
The Associated Press reports that the Conger/Glenzer ice shelf in East Antarctica has collapsed. The event was caught on satellite video, and it is the first such collapse known to have occurred on the east coast of Antarctica, which had been thought to be more stable and less affected by human-caused global heating than the west. The ice shelf was holding back two glaciers, Conger and Glenzer, named for American naval personnel who helped survey the area in the late 1940s. The glaciers collapsed along with the ice shelf.
Source: Human-Driven Climate Crisis: East Antarctica Ice Shelf collapses for First Time in Human History
A reminder of a very tainted history of a Senator currently not raised by the LNP who are tripping over themselves to make K.Kitching look like a saint the victim of ALP thugs. The ALP on the other hand has nothing to defend Kitching’s well-documented past reveals who she was. Albo’s right Kitching herself issued “no formal complaint”. So it leaving Morrison standing naked in front of the cameras showing who he really is. The three amigos in fact Scott Morrison Tim Stewart and Brian Houston all naked.
Federal parliament reaches a new low with the appointment of fraudster, thief and former bankrupt Kimberley Kitching to replace the retiring Senator Stephen Conroy. Kitching is so disliked in her own party she has failed on at least 3 other attempts to become a federal politician and that was even with the support of Bill Shorten.
Social media giants are taking action to protect Ukrainians’ free speech as they resist a military occupation. Why aren’t they doing the same for Palestinians?
Source: Who gets to speak out against their occupier on social media?
In the end, the results came in much more quickly than expected. Due to COVID and the general trend to postal voting, the results of the South Australian state election were not anticipated until at least the middle of next week. But about an hour and half after polls had closed, the results indicated a brutal loss for Steven Marshall’s one-term Liberal government.
Source: Liberals’ brutal loss in South Australia reflects the fragmented politics of the centre-right
Harvesting and monetising people for capital gain the Public Trustees gorge on human disadvantage and service themselves. They do so in the knowledge of being fully protected by State and laws guranteeing teh silence and secrecy of their privilege.
Marla Grayson runs a lucrative, well-oiled racket, convincing the courts to grant her guardianship over dozens of elderly people whom she places in nursing homes. There they are sedated and left unable to contact anyone in the outside world. She then sells off their homes and assets, all through dubious but legal means, and pockets the proceeds. Anyone who watched last Monday’s Four Corners episode State Control, would recognise some shocking similarities between our 45-minute investigation and the Golden Globe winning movie. Trapped, stripped of assets, and silenced. And it’s all perfectly legal A Four Corners investigation reveals how people are virtually abducted and silenced under a system designed to protect Australia’s vulnerable. Chris Pearson Read more The difference being that, in Australia, it’s not individuals exploiting people with dementia, brain injuries and other disabilities — it’s our own state governments.
They say revenge is a dish best served cold . Kitching’s body has hardly cooled when the LNP’s dirt brigade moved in to start forensically disecting her and politicizing her death. Murdoch media were all over her like a swarm of blowies. The Telegraph and News.com suggesting Albo was the direct cause of Kitchings heart condition and not coincidentally recruited Emma Husar as a smokescreen to assist in their dirty work.
In 2019 Husar found herself in the media’s firing line not the Party’s and her complaint was that the Party failed to back her up. Unlike Husar Kitching never issued any complaints against Party or Albo. She had a history of giving as good as she got. One feels she’d be disgusted at all those unnamed sources claiming to be “close” are now playing advocates on her behalf when she had no such complaint.
Oh My god, how quick was Morrison to run in from stage and play “the man” on cue. Too quick too staged given there were so many other more improtant issues being cocked up on his watch and in the news. Will Morrison be attending Kitching’s funeral trying to shake peoples hands dressed to deliver is eulogy against Albo for the cameras?
More from politicsWhy ScoMo will skip Kitching funeralWhy ScoMo will skip Kitching funeralBudget clue for crucial Aussie industryBudget clue for crucial Aussie industryFresh sanctions for Russian billionairesFresh sanctions for Russian billionairesFormer Labor MP Emma Husar has launched an extraordinary attack on opposition leader Anthony Albanese — accusing him of behaving like a “gaslighting narcissist”.The Daily Telegraph spoke to Ms Husar in the wake of the death of Senator Kimberley Kitching and amid claims of a bullying within the Labor party.
Despite Morrison’s efforts to shut down the ABC critical media pressure, push, shove and “facts” do work. It’s why the ABC was established and why Morrison wants it gone. However on March 16th TND reported Morrison’s conspicuous oversight in not sanctioning the two Russians who had a 20% interest in an aluminum mfg plant conjointly owned with friends Rio Tinto. Today that’s been rapidly reversed after that fact was announced. Was ScoMo his usual slow self or caught out?
Two Russian oligarchs with ties to Australian aluminium manufacturing have been sanctioned by the federal government. Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg are named in a new sanctions instrument alongside nine Russian banks and a sovereign wealth fund and the entire Russian finance ministry. The Putin allies have significant stakes in Rusal International, which owns 20 per cent of the Queensland Alumina Limited refinery near Gladstone in a joint deal with Rio Tinto. The plant is one of the world’s largest, and hugely profitable amid a global shortage of aluminium and near-record prices. Until Friday, Australia had been conspicuous in not sanctioning either man, despite other Western nations imposing restrictions on them, and Prime Minister Scott Morrison pledging to stay in “lockstep” with allies.
Liberal MP Catherine Cusack has announced she intends to resign from the New South Wales parliament over the selective distribution of disaster funding in flood-affected northern NSW.The ABC has reported that Cusack is “outraged” by how funds have been allocated to flood victims in the Northern Rivers, specifically that areas in the Nationals-held seat of Page were given more assistance than areas in the Labor-held seat of Richmond.It means Ballina, Bryon and Tweed shires – in the Labor-held Richmond seat – have missed out on the federal government’s additional disaster relief payments.
Let’s not forget 2013 post-GFC Australia was voted the “World’s Best Economy” and Wayne Swan “The World’s Best Treasurer” all under a Gillard/ALP Government. They saved us from the onslaught of the GFC recession the rest of the world suffered. Even before Covid-19 the LNP had doubled our National Debt and they have more than tripled it since, plunging our economic standing in comparison with the rest of the world. The spring back they call a “recovery” after a bungee jump dive is now being touted by Frydenberg as the best on the planet. These assholes sure know how to strategise, blatantly spin and lie to the Australian people. Morrison has expanded that department.
Wages have shrunk, fallen 3.5% while Corporate wealth has risen and grown 13.5%. More Australians are in multiple jobs and have suffered wage-theft and Super theft amounting to billions of dollars while Morrison’s has done nothing but reward corporations with tax cuts, JobKeeper when they were already making profit through Covid not a loss. Taxpayer money they don’t have to pay back which also ran into the billions.
Morrison’s Bullshit Compared with the Facts
Speaking on Sky News on Monday night, he said the next three to ten years would be tough as Australia recovers from the damage inflicted by the coronavirus. “It’s going to be a tough next 10 years, next three years and you need a government to keep (the economy) in strong shape,” he said.
“What’s important is you take the fiscal settings back to an after-pandemic normal, and that’s what we’re looking to do.”
Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese has drawn level with Mr Morrison as preferred prime minister in the latest Newspoll, while Labor is still ahead of the coalition on a two-party preferred basis at 55 per cent to 45 per cent.
While the government is behind in the polls, Mr Morrison said he wasn’t concerned, adding voters would soon move from “sentiment to real choices”. “When it comes to these things, Australians will focus on these things, and the federal election is always close,” he said.
Source: Voter sentiment will shift pre-poll: PM – Michael West Media
“It’s in our power alone to stop this madness,” the demonstrator, Channel One editor Marina Ovsyannikova, says in a pre-recorded video. “Go protest. Don’t be afraid of anything. They can’t put us all in prison.”
Source: “They’re Lying to You”: Anti-War Protester Interrupts Russian State TV Broadcast
The big political news story over the weekend was the Prime Minister’s faux-announcement through the newspapers that he is considering curing the fuel excise to alleviate the stress of rapidly rising petrol prices.
However, as is often the case with the federal policy cycle the idea was first brought to parliament by South Australian independent senator Rex Patrick. In an interview with MWM, Patrick raised his policy idea of relieving Australians of $6 billion a year in fuel excise costs.
Patrick has been bringing the policy of a 50% reduction in fuel excise costs to parliament since February, when fuel prices began to rise.
Murdoch 14/3/22
Morrison’s big Steal off Senator Rex Patrick Independant for the Rex Patrick Team SA
Since arriving on the Australian media landscape in 2013, The New Daily has amassed more than 700,000 subscribers who regularly read its daily newsletters and access its website. It is ranked 16th on the Nielsen news website ratings, with an online audience of 1.9 million readers. 10 News First has extensive access to breaking news footage from around Australia, thanks to its network of respected TV journalists.
Source: The New Daily signs landmark broadcast partnership with 10 News First
FRYDENBERG: Thank you Prime Minister. You can see I’m holding up a jar filled with jelly beans. For only $5 per guess and you can guess as many times as you wish; if you guess correctly, you get the jar and all the jelly beans in it. This offer is open to all of Australia. I’ll pay the postage if required. Everything going well we expect to raise $38,000 for a Labor held electorates affected by the floods.
MORRISON: Thank you, Josh. What a good guy he is. What Josh humbly didn’t mention is he bought the jelly beans out of his own money. And remember, all monies raised will go to a Labor seat. Michaelia Cash, get yourself up here.
Attorney-General Cash takes to the microphone.
Source: Morrison, Frydenberg, Joyce and Cash fundraise for Labor electorates
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