Has anyone thought about how would you get a measure of the traded lives when we lock an economy down? What are we sacrificing in terms of lives? Economists have tried to do that and we try to do that in currencies like the value of a statistical lifeā¦ we are still potentially better off not having an economic lockdown in the first place because of the incredible effects that you see not just in a short-run way but in many years to come.
A factor in the Coalitionās winning of the 2019 election could well have been the ā dare I call it corrupt ā pork barrelling through the sports grants.
All attempts, however feeble, by the Coalition to establish an anti-corruption watch dog have so far gone nowhere, but ā praise be ā religious discrimination laws seem to have been assigned to the dustbin!
The picture is not pretty ā and even if our actions on climate change pale into insignificance beside those needing to be made by the really big polluters, USA, China and India ā showing willing, added to efforts in Europe and elsewhere, would do much more good than harm.
I strongly feel that the actions of too many of our politicians go way beyond self-interest ā ignoring their duties to electors ā and actually move substantially into the realm of corruption.
Another facet of the governmentās lack of consistency is the unspent $60 billion!
Millions were left without substantial help, while businesses were given first priority to be able to continue in existence.
If Morrison was prepared to spend the money for employees who, it transpires, do not exist, then he should use if for those who do exist, but who were abandoned because they fell outside his arbitrary criteria.
Morrison currently has a one seat majority and even if Eden Monaro turns that into a 2-seat majority, it is not an overwhelming mandate ā particularly as he gained fewer than half the votes.
To ignore social distancing by inciting a revolution, out on the streets en masse, demanding attention to climate change action, would be irresponsible.
But come the end of the lock-down, we need to be prepared for action.
This probably corrupt and definitely uncaring government must be brought to heel!
via How deep does corruption in high places go? – Ā» The Australian Independent Media Network
We now have Angus Taylor looking to change the rules of the CEFC and ARENA to further prop up fossil fuels. And his āhand-picked for previously expressed viewsā advisers are giving a veneer of consultation to what is a full-court press to prolong the āclimate destruction for profitā policies of Coalition donors.
Other parties are not like this.
Whenever you hear someone say ātheyāre all the sameā, point out they are repeating deliberate Liberal Party propaganda.
The myth of sameness is precisely what enables the Liberals to get away with this corruption.
They are counting on people to believe this crap is business as usual – so One Nation, Palmer and now the Greens – can funnel preferences to them with no one even thinking about how important it is to put the Liberals last on their ballot paper.
Donāt let this country develop a culture of corruption. Kick them out.
Murdoch is the proxy State Media for the LNP government “No questions asked” as long as you slash the funding to the ABC. Today our public media has been reduced ti the equivalent funding it had in 1984. This Government rode into power on the promis of No Cuts to the ABC. (ODT)
Any decent journalist would have asked basic questions such as:
How and when did the extraordinary surge in asylum seekers come about?
How big is the problem, really, given the Government is saying it is no big deal?
Is the Government really getting on top of the problem or are they just spinning a line?
What is the surge costing the economy and the budget?ā
Does the Government actually have an effective plan to get on top of the problem?āBut no, Chambers and Kelly just happily ignore such basic questions.
via ‘The Australian’ falls for Government spin on asylum seekers ā again
Here we see the LNP Treasurer quoting Wayne Swan when the LNP tore into him for saying this same thing back in 2008 and saved us from the GFC. How hypocritical are these jerks claiming “saving the country” is ok for them when it wasn’t ok for the ALP. Back then The Australian and News Corp didn’t give the government support but just criticism. Andre (ODT)
“Let me make it very clear on the budget that we believe the budget in surplus is important because we believe it gives the nation the opportunity to respond to circumstances like these when they arise,” he said.
“And [while] we do believe that these are exceptional circumstances and why we would love to see the budget in surplus, we would not like to see it in surplus at the expense of these local communities.”
via Australia fires: Treasurer warns surplus at risk as economy hit
Scientists round the world are looking aghast at the politics of climate change in Australia.
It’s one of the most vulnerable countries on the planet to rising temperatures, yet there is still denial about the impacts of rising CO2 levels on events like the current wildfires.
There is no serious doubt among scientific institutions that rising global temperatures are leading to record heat.
The heatwaves are driven by a natural phenomenon but they are adding to an already over-heated planet.
In the election, the victorious Liberal (conservative) Party categorised climate change as a metropolitan fad for urban professionals, and gained support for the world’s biggest coal mine.
Coal is the dirtiest fuel and scientists say we shouldn’t be building more coal-fired power stations if we want to stabilise the climate.
The current drought in Eastern Australia has focused the attention of all Australians on water but effective policy responses are missing in action. Isnāt it time to call it a water emergency? Quentin Grafton and John Williams report.
via Declaring a water emergency means putting people before profit – Michael West
Despite being a serial law breaker, the Oracle Corporation is the beneficiary of government contracts from the likes of the Department of Finance, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Oracle is currently a key player in Australian Visa Processing Pty Ltd, one of two consortia bidding for the privatisation of Australiaās visa system.
Oracle cheats on Australian income tax but boasts the ATO on its client list. Oracle treats Australian laws with contempt but has various government departments fawning all over it. Imagine a shoplifter stealing from Woolworths and then being rewarded with employment shifts at the store on double time. This is the story of Oracle in Australia.
via Oracle and EY: 42 breaches of the Corporations Act and counting – Michael West
Peter Dutton’s Asylum Seeker’s Camp Care (ODT)
LNP have been slashing the ABC funding for the past 6 years never promised at an election and always called something other than what it is. Death of the ABCĀ will be the death of Democracy in Australia and the growth of Murdoch media whose profits are heavily entrenched supporting those that will have the money to pay at elections. $90 million vs $18 million tells the tale of modern politics and the media. A David and Goliath tale where Goliath has had his achillies cut and tongue cut out. (ODT)
Key points:
Mr Anderson did not say how many staff or from where in the ABC the jobs would be cut
He told Senate Estimates consideration would be given to keeping regional and remote jobs
The Government has frozen the ABC’s budget for three years, at a cost of $83.7 million
One of Joe Hockeyās first acts as Treasurer in 2013 was to gift the RBA $8.8 billion. The main reason for this was to make Laborās deficit look bigger. As a side bonus, it allowed the RBA to invest in the forex market, banking on the Australian dollar losing value as the mining boom subsided.
And that is exactly what happened allowing the government to drawā¦wait for itā¦$8.8 billion in dividends over the last six years. Thatās all very well (if we ignore how the Coalition screamed like stuck pigs when Labor took a one-off dividend of $500 million in 2013) except Hockey borrowed the $8.8 billion so we are still paying interest on it.
via The Coalition money shuffle – Ā» The Australian Independent Media Network
Fair and unbiased reporting is disappearing in Australia as the Coalition Government and Murdoch Mafia gain control of our news, writes Ranald Macdonald.
via Australia’s Right-wing stranglehold over public interest journalism
When the Coalition under Malcolm Turnbull won 76 seats in the 2016 election, it was generally accepted that Turnbull had āblown itā and the knives were quickly sharpened. Yet when the ad man wins 77 seats, he is hailed as a messiah that has delivered a decisive victory enabling the Coalition to do whatever they damn well please.
Letās be clear about that election result.
Leaving out Queensland, in the rest of the country, Labor won 62 seats compared to the Coalitionās 54. That is a resounding victory.
We have the government that Queensland thrust upon us against the wishes of every other state and territory (except WA ā the only other state where the Coalition won a majority of seats).
via Labor are losing their nerve – Ā» The Australian Independent Media Network
It seems just a few days ago that the Liberals were telling us how good theyāve been at creating jobs. I suppose if you use the word ācreatingā in the sense of a making up a thing thatās not really there, then one would have to agree.
Then again, Scottie is very helpful these days. When it was discovered that one of the councils being given drought relief was actually experiencing a bumper season, our PM told us that he made no apology for being generousā¦ which would be fine, were it not for the fact that the councils to which he was so generous didnāt seem to be in any Labor electorates. Iām mildly surprised that the metropolitan electorate of Chisholm wasnāt given drought relief, not because itās a marginal electorate, but because city people have to pay higher food prices thanks to the droughtā¦
And then thereās the NDIS which is so generous that it had more money than people needed. How else do you explain the $4.5 billion in unspent funds this financial year? Incompetence in its administration? Ridiculous. The Coalition is in charge! An obsession with returning the Budget to surplus no matter who suffers? You cynic! As if the government would do such a thing.
via Downer, The Spy Who Gave In What He Was Told… – Ā» The Australian Independent Media Network
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