Open Thread III

Welcome to Open Thread III.  Here you can post comments on any issue that doesn’t generally fit into topics running at the time.  No limits.

Here are the links to the previous Open Threads:

Open Thread

Open Thread II

298 comments on “Open Thread III”

  8. There’s a rumour going around that Abbott’s been kicked out of home after being caught having an affair with the daughter of a financial backer. Still only a rumour.

  9. Well Miglo, he has had a long face for the last couple of weeks.

    It would have to be a rumour, could there be two reports of scandalous behaviour in one week.

    The Mirabella One still has a long way to run, despite being ignored by the media.

    Maybe that is the reason he took time off suddenly for a holiday. in Switzerland of all places.

  11. Miglo
    That rumour, hmmmmm, I have been thinking out loud, why is it Tony is NEVER a home?
    If you look at his schedule he is always, always away.

    CU
    as to Sophie there is more today. Possible breach of the Electoral Act, the $100, 000 undeclared.
    ‘Some of the more than $100,000 the QC spent had contributed to Ms Mirabella’s Liberal Party preselection campaign. He had regarded it as ”a privilege to have been involved”, Ms Howard said. At the time, any contribution for an election campaign of $1500 or more was required to be disclosed. The Electoral Act says personal gifts must be disclosed if used ”solely or substantially” for an election.
    Advertisement: Story continues below

    But the Australian Electoral Commission website records no contributions from Colin Howard in any relevant year to Ms Mirabella or the Liberal Party. Ms Mirabella said yesterday: ”All declarable items have been declared”, but did not elaborate. Special Minister of State Gary Gray said all required election campaign donations should be disclosed and ”lack of knowledge is no excuse”.’

    Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/no-record-of-mirabella-declaring-money-from-lover-20110924-1kqw3.html#ixzz1YuATyNPu

    http://www.theage.com.au/national/no-record-of-mirabella-declaring-money-from-lover-20110924-1kqw3.html

  14. The future PM of Australia is a good catlick and would never be caught having an affair,,,,poor moral judgement.

    On the other hand, Yabbott maybe lapsed which would indicate he’s not so devout. Does he still go to confession?

    These are important questions that Rupert is not asking.

    On an entirely different matter, this is an idea that both sides of politics will probably embrace and about time too.

    ‘PARENTS must be able to claim childcare – including nannies – as a tax deduction if Australia is to increase the number of women in the workforce.

    ‘That is the directive from a coalition of high-ranking female executives pushing the federal government for changes they say are needed to lift the numbers of women in paid employment and their ability to seek promotion.’

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/executive-style/executive-women/working-women-owed-a-break-20110924-1kqml.html#ixzz1Yu9r9zOH

  16. Rumour must have legs, look over there starting.

    Nannies is just a rehash of Lib policy.

    Jane where are you? the flu is no excuse.

  20. El gordo, so far the Abbott thing is just a bit of hot juicy gossip and I haven’t seen anything factual come to light as yet. I’ve had a look on some of the anti-Abbott sites and can’t find any mention.

  21. Apart from The Drum’s Peter Craven describing At Home with Julia as ‘inane drivel’..here is another assessment.

    Gillard deserves better than being portrayed as some dimwitted political hack who spends her days perving on the gardener and trying to find meaningful employment for her de facto. But it’s him I really feel for. No doubt Mathieson is having the time of his life as our First Bloke, but I’m pretty sure he didn’t sign on to be ridiculed on television as a needy bumbler, desperate for marriage and work. Can you imagine the outcry if Janette Howard had been portrayed in this way?

    By all means poke fun at our politicians, especially when their cant and hyperbole demand it. But let’s stay out of their private lives and, in particular, their bedrooms. I suspect it’s the last place voters – and viewers – want to be. And as for the flag, let’s salute it, not dishonour it. It’s no laughing matter.

    http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/society-and-culture/time-for-a-few-home-truths-about-bad-tv-20110924-1kqpo.html#ixzz1YuKZFTxq

  22. “So whaddaya have to do to get a drink around this sorry sad-assed hellhole..?”

    It should be enough that you drink in the atmosphere of love and joy here, with the great outpouring of benevolence towards our wonderful leader being enough to slate your greatest thirst.

  28. Did the “source” see a credit card voucher? If they did we could put Brandis on to it and he could “write” to the NSW police.

  29. “Someone here has been smoking a joint.”

    I was going to go on about the love and joy here being enough of a drug… but reality intrudes.

    I note that yesterday O’Farrell was front and centre at a new inner Sydney playground for kids that is part of $500 million redevelopment for the area. He was waffling on about how great this all was and how great his government was blah blah.

    What he didn’t mention even in passing was it’s a previous government initiative and program. I guess he thinks that as he didn’t scrap it in the budget he will take all the credit for it, and all the other previous NSW Labor government programs he’s now claiming as his own that he canned when in opposition.

    I so often mind scream for the media to just once be even a little fair and pull up the Liberals like O’Farrell for the phoniness and spin they so heavily criticised Labor for.

  32. Min
    Rumours are always nasty, there are plenty around. The trouble for Abbott is his continual comparison of himself as a “family man” and the jump therefore superior to the PM. Earlier this year there was the “bar maid ” in WA, quickly closed down. We have the continual campaign. Even when Parl on recess for 2 weeks Tony anywhere but home. This week the alone Tony wondering the streets of Melb. So if the party thinks there is an “issue” we will quickly see some shots of him ‘relaxed ” with family, at least one daughter is photo.

    Two weeks to parliament sits, can he stay out of the papers, go back to his own electorate, no. Tuesday he is in Port Macquarie, then what.

  33. “That’s surprising, I didn’t think that Tony Abbott was in love with anything but his own image.”

    Min, does the man have to be in love?

    What Tony wants, Tony takes.

    PS How would anyone know if he has been ejected from home, he is never there to make a comparison with.

    Maybe that is why he is always on the road, promoting his “no” case. He has not a home to go to.

  34. “‘PARENTS must be able to claim childcare – including nannies – as a tax deduction ”

    el gordo, that sounds like a repeat of calls that Ms. Bronwyn Bishop has made for donkey years. One thing about the Coalition, they do not give up.

    This Opposition also appears incapable of coming up with anything new, that has something to do with today’s issues.

  35. CU, wise words indeed..Abbott, egotist supreme.

    And also re “‘PARENTS must be able to claim childcare – including nannies – as a tax deduction if Australia is to increase the number of women in the workforce.

    ‘That is the directive from a coalition of high-ranking female executives pushing the federal government for changes they say are needed to lift the numbers of women in paid employment and their ability to seek promotion.’”

    Therefore you would end up with poorer women who often have to rely on relatives or cash in hand payments to friends (as examples), working to subsidise nannies for the already wealthy. Clearly anything such as this would have to be heavily means tested to avoid the above, otherwise it becomes yet more middle class and upper class welfare.

  36. Min and CU
    Beside Tony never being a home, we have had over recent weeks a campaign, via the Sydney and Melbourne rags and shocks, attacking the PM, Did she/did she not co-habit with ….. As the PM rightly said it was an old story, then the Oz upped the ante thanks to the dwarf, that progressed with apologies than more attacks. A dirty campaign but was it a diversion launched by the faithful. The article had been been past lawyers before, the dwarf knew this, so there was no reason for running it, unless it was a game of tactics.

  38. Sue, the only thing the PM is guilty of is having a healthy sex life.

    Maybe in the past, it was not something a woman epected to have but those days are long past.

  40. I quite enjoyed your prose, Möbius. After waking up with the gloomy acceptance that today is the last day of my five week’s leave, you managed to change my facial expression from a frown to a smile.

  42. Migs, on a brighter note at least all your staff will be wanting to hear about all of your adventures..don’t forget the chipmunks 🙂

  43. Now Cafe here is the biggest laugh you will ever have.
    Apparently even Ray Hadley “was apoplectic about the revelations”.!!!!!!!!
    The Telegraph is on the defense of an MP who has an unsubstantiated allegation of lewd sex made about him and now the poor MP, his staff and family have to deal with this, appalling!!!! The Tele has photos of the laneway and pool. the supposed scene of the lewd act, just in case it helps you understand the story better, no doubt.

    “Former premier Kristina Keneally, possibly regrettably, cracked jokes on Twitter on Friday, writing: “Well, someone in BOF’s Cabinet seems to have taken Clover’s call to ‘activate the city’s laneways’ very seriously.”

    But it has been no laughing matter for the MP.”
    http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/scandal-that-dares-not-speak-a-name/story-e6freuy9-1226145298961

    Are we not lucky that the Telegraph is there for the Liberal MP.

  45. ABC Stateline NSW also has done a bit of a turnaround in the case of the alleged public sex by an O’Fareell minister. The difference in their reporting by having a go at the media making public the private sex lives of politicians, instead of raising the actual morality of the minister involved as compared to their treatment of the former NSW Transport minister is very telling indeed.

    O’Farrell in full flighty hypocrisy was all aghast at how low the media have gone in reporting “allegations” that have been cleared by the police. Yet when in opposition the media had not gone low enough when they were reporting alleged malfeasances or morality of the previous Labor government, and being cleared by the police was absolutely no reason to stop condemnation and lambasting of the minister and government.

    And O’Farrell did all this with a straight face and a fairly good act of being outraged that the media had “stooped so low”.

  46. Yes Sue you can see the pattern merging across the wingnut world as they now all go into faux outrage at how bad the media has become in making allegations and publishing assertions against politicians, only if those politicians are Liberal ones of course, otherwise these same media presenters are up there with the best of them making unfounded allegations and assertions.

  47. Thanks Bob. As much as I might be moaning to myself about going back to work, the reality is that I’m grateful to have a job to return to.

    And yes, Min, I will be hounded by one and all with news of my holiday. Most of the people I work with have travelled themselves, so hopefully I won’t be hounded too much.

  48. But Migs, you’ll say it so much better. 🙂 You always put a different perspective on things such as toilet paper and chipmunks.

  51. Another horror story on NSW hospitals, but finally the media turns on the O’Farrell government. I had originally staeted this as a complaint

  54. Another horror story on NSW hospitals, but finally the media turns on the O’Farrell government. I had originally started this as a complaint on yet another NSW hospital failure that are becoming regular ocurrances but as I was typing a news piece came up highly critical of Skinner the Health minister.

    She was always front and centre slamming the former government on every bad hospital event. Now she is using exactly the excuses she criticised the previous government using, but this time the media pulled her up for it, pointing out her previous criticisms of the excuses she is now making, even quoting her exact words and highlighting her hypocrisy.

    O’Farrell and his shadow ministers turned all news good and bad against the government, so now have no excuses of their own as long as the media is willing to point out the hypocrisy as they did today.

    Where goes O’Farrell goes Abbott, who is aping the O’Farrell oppose model, and lo and behold Insiders pointed this out on Abbot’s attack using asylum seekers. If in government he has nowhere to go or any excuse to offer when the first boat arrives under the Nauru solution.

  57. Mobius, I have absolutely no doubt that O’Farrell will go down in history at the worst Premier ever and likewise for Abbott, that should we have the extreme misfortune to elect his party that he will be the worst Prime Minister in history. Tony Abbott is John Howard in lycra.

    As always it seems up to the media to have the gumption to call it. Surely some time soon people are going to be switching off, sick to death of the anti-government rhetoric, sick to death of the papering over.

  61. I did mention to the lads at GT that an astrologer told me that Julia will see out her term and be rolled at the next election.

    I assume the crowd at the cafe are more familiar with this inexact science…..

    Julia has Saturn in her first house and the astrologer said that Rudd and Howard also had it in their first house before they slipped from prominence.

    Discuss.

  63. wasn’t it the republican presidents wife who set the model of engaging astrologers and we know how fond the liberals love, the republicans,
    then again it was a choice between alzheimers and astrologers.

  65. Another media attack on O’Farrell today as he’s way overdue on implementing a major election promise, and probably THE top election promise, that’s the changing or scrapping of Part 3A of the planning provision for the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

    The developers are now getting toey and want the changes that O’Farrell promised as a high priority. Not happy with already getting pristine land to develop on, land that O’Farrell promised would not be developed, they now want carte blanche to develop what they want wherever they want.

    Labor were in power for more than a decade, even though they turned out to be terrible in governance, because the previous Liberal State government had wrecked NSW. If O’Farrell keeps going the way he is then after his two terms he will again leave behind a decimated NSW and invoke more than a decade of Labor in government.

  66. ‘…he will again leave behind a decimated NSW ‘

    It depends on what happens in the wider world and we also have Barry’s Bonds.

    He will go into infrastructure like Bullet Trains, open up the west. We have ten good seasons in front of us and they fully intend using agriculture to grow the state.

  67. “Discuss.”

    Is not this what the Opposition do every morning according to Mr. Pyne. Reading the tea leaves I mean.

  69. Picked this up at the Bolter.

    ‘Not long after his stunning election victory, the “exceptionally nasty” side of Rudd surfaced. ; Eventually he alienated most of caucus… The apex of his stupidity occurred when six senior backbenchers went to see Rudd to “discuss” the decision of the special minister of state, John Faulkner, to slash their printing allowance in half.

    ‘Faulkner was right to do so but when “the magnificent six” entered the prime ministerial office they were met with a torrent of abuse and expletives that would make a bullock driver blush. It was the beginning of the end of Rudd.’

  71. Yeah, well…I was lurking around looking for politicl science tips.

    The upshot is that Rudd is not coming back, caucus would rather go down with the good ship Julia.

  72. That reminds me, I wonder how the Blot is going with his racial vilification case? The Blot is of course to be believed without question and is clearly the font of all knowledge..Larissa Behrendt should of course (as per Rudd) bow to Blot’s superior knowledge and immediately admit that she isn’t a ‘real’ Aboriginal.

    And likewise Rudd should immediately agree with the Blot. OMG Rudd SWORE at Senator John Faulkner, Faulkner of course immediately ran boohooing to the Quiet Corner and got on the phone to his (cough cough) best mate Andrew Bolt to have a cry on his shoulder and tell him how the nasty-wasty Wudd was mean to him.

    Honestly..el gordo..why the name of this blog. People with Faulkner’s experience do not say a word within cooee of anyone who is remotely likely to go and tattle to the likes of Andrew Bolt. Bolt makes it up as he does along.

  74. CU the idea is that you may follow it up if you’re inclined. Break your vow and go down the road to the big shed where everyone is shouting slogans and see what useful information is laying around.

    The Bolter is giving Julian Disney a slam….this should be interesting.

  75. OMG Professor Julian Disney Professor Director of the Social Justice Project at the University of New South Wales should run away and hide at the mere thought that a second rate shock-jock might say something nasty about him.

    And of course it’s going to be nasty isn’t it because the Blot bends to the will of dim-witted by saying nothing nice. Funny isn’t it how the dim-witted rarely have a good word to say about others.

  77. “Break your vow and go down the road to the big shed where everyone is shouting slogans and see what useful information is laying around”

    What big shed? What do you mean? You have lost me again.

    I am sure Julian is well able to look after himself. At least he cares about people. I have enjoyed every lecture I attended of his. Cannot even be bothered watching Mr. Bolt on his TV show. Very boring indeed.

    I fail to see why it is fun to see an idiot putting down a person who cares about the welfare of others. I must be missing something.

  80. Good to see the AFL wanting to keep a political campaign out of their grand final week.
    The AFL president said that he did not know the person from Clubs Australia and that he should just shut up.
    I t makes you think that this mornings headlines were just another political ploy.

    Leigh Sales did an interview on the pokies. It would have been better if Sales had done some investigative journalism before the program and then do some probing interviews. As it was it was left to Tim Costello presenting facts and trying some questions himself to the Clubs australia person, who was only interested in pushing an agenda.
    The question as to of why does australia has the pokies where you can lose $1200/hr and other countries do not, was never answered.
    Now i thought australia was the world supplier of pokies, so surely a solution to converting them to $120 /hr should be able to be resolved.

  81. I’m very pleased to see this report being aired at the parliamentary inquiry…plus the mention that some of the ‘people smugglers’ are just children themselves.

    ”Detention of asylum seeker children and their families is a form of child abuse,” the Australian Medical Association’s Peter Morris told the inquiry into the troubled detention network.

    When the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young asked Dr Morris why he used the term child abuse, Dr Morris replied that the damage was institutionalised and it was a system being imposed upon the families.

    There are 119 children being held in immigration detention at Darwin Airport Lodge, including 58 unaccompanied minors. Another 10 Indonesian child crew members are held at Berrimah House in Darwin.

    http://www.smh.com.au/national/holding-asylum-seeker-children-likened-to-abuse-20110926-1ktpr.html#ixzz1Z5jkfnIV

  82. Sadly I’ll have to agree with Frank Brennan on this one..

    If her trusted advisers are now telling her Nauru will not work, there is no way they could ever have told her East Timor would work. East Timor would have become a honeypot for asylum seekers in Indonesia catching the ferry to West Timor and making their way by land to the East Timor processing centre, asking for fast track processing to Australia. It was always an absurd idea.

    http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=28404

  83. No Min, don’t agree because that makes the mistake that East Timor was going to be another Nauru, when in fact it was going to be a regional processing centre. The way I understood it this was very different to setting up a dump and park out of sight refugee centre that Nauru was.

  84. Mobius, I agree with the reasons Frank Brennan gave that East Timor was not a good option..but I should have said not with the rest of the article.

    Malaysia is already home to thousands of processed asylum seekers who in my opinion should be given priority over those yet to be processed. As Australia was prepared to take more asylum seekers than were going to be taken to Malaysia one could hardly call that ‘dumping’.

    Nauru is the worst option because it neither discourages people smuggling nor can be a regional processing center.

  86. Sue, that is an excellent and timely article by Tim Costello..the superior half of the Costello brothers.

    From your link:

    In 2010, the Productivity Commission found the same proportion of profits (40 per cent) came from the addicted – that is almost $5 billion of the $12 billion lost annually on pokies. So it recommended pre-commitment cards and $1 maximum bets. These reforms did not come as a surprise or out of nowhere. Eddie, as I say to clubs and pubs who cry we will go broke (they won’t), what responsible business depends on 40 per cent of its profits from addicted people?

  88. Sue, right-o..great job Hockey. I’m very pleased to note how the media haven’t let Hockey’s ill-advised comments get away with hardly a mention, which is what I have been expecting.

  89. Sue at 9.04 Is Hockey the guy who twice missed out on the job of village idiot on the grounds of being over qualified or am I thinking of Barnaby Joyce?
    Both got a spot in Abbott’s fantasy team as part of the Liberal party financial management brains trust.

  90. Sue at 9.04 Is Hockey the guy who twice missed out on the job of village idiot on the grounds of being over qualified or am I thinking of Barnaby Joyce?
    Both got a spot in Abbott’s fantasy team as part of the Liberal party financial management brains trust.

    That was gold. 🙂

  92. Here at least is a little good news on the asylum seeker issue..

    Even so, the 2011 survey shows a rise in sympathy for boat people over the past year. We are much more likely now to believe they are bona fide: that they fled in desperation, facing persecution and in fear of their lives. In 2010, only 40 per cent of us thought that but in 2011 the figure has risen to 57 per cent.

    http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/flatlining-on-trust-but-sympathy-for-refugees-rises-20110926-1ktpt.html#ixzz1Z6XRH4yp

  93. From: http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2945590.html

    Q. The Federal Government has proposed gambling reforms which include “pre-commitment” technology that will require pokie players to have a card registered to their name and pre-programmed to prevent them losing more than a set amount in a 24-hour period. Do you support or oppose this measure?

    Sept 12 Vote Labor Vote Lib/Nat Vote Greens
    Total support 67% 80% 59% 78%
    Total oppose 25% 15% 34% 9%
    Strongly support 34% 44% 27% 43%
    Support 33% 36% 32% 35%
    Oppose 13% 9% 18% 7%
    Strongly oppose 12% 6% 16% 2%
    Don’t know 9% 6% 7% 12%

  94. Reading that article by Tim Costello reminded me why I’m happy meet friends at the local more often these days. It’s not because I have more time now I’m retired. In fact when working it used to make sense on a Friday to stop off for a drink before going home. In WA, that is, but not in Sydney. I had forgotten how much I hated walking past those serried ranks of poker machines in pubs there. Even a glimpse of them put a damper on the outing for me.

    We don’t have pokies here except at the casino – where they belong! Clubs Australia should be glad it’s just pre-commitment for the high stakes machines that Wilkie and others want. Prohibition except in gambling specific venues makes sense to me.

  95. Patricia, that reminds me of when I was living in Victoria pre-poker machine days. My parents used to take a trip up to Mulwala a couple of times a year to have a flutter on the pokies, meet up with the rellies from Tungamah and it was all good fun.

    Then from memory, Victoria in the early 1990’s decided to introduce poker machines because they were worried about all of the $s heading north into NSW. You should have watched my dad play..one cent by one line. The clubs were never ever going to make their fortunes from my father..and that’s for certain!

  96. ‘….but in 2011 the figure has risen to 57 per cent.’

    That is good news, we are winning this argument just in time.

    Both parties need to get their act together before the election is held, offshore processing is not the people’s choice.

  97. Min last I heard Barnaby Joyce was in the left-right-out position and was trying to secure a spot for next season.
    The club has not “expressed full confidence” in the Captain / Coach (Smasher) Abbott but there is still plenty of time left in the current season.
    My pick for next season is Mal Brough to move into the role of Captain with Turnbull as vice captain (provided he has some work on that spinal weakness).
    Of course the former premiership contenders are still smarting from their grand final defeat in extra time. They need to ditch the biff and work on some smart moves to bring back their free flowing game.

  98. el gordo, once again you leap in where many fear to tread.

    Mr. Abbott’s off shore processing is just that. Processing off shore before they come to Australia. No other country or region involved. The UNHCR do not support this option.

    The Malaysian solution is not off shore processing in the same way.

    The PM with the assistance of the UNHCR is attempting to set up a regional processing centre. The PM is building on the Bali operation that was set up by Mr. Costello.

    All that come by boat to this country, will be redirected to Malaysia to be processed. They then will go to the end of the queue that is already in that country.

    We will take an increased number from that queue.

    The UNHCR will take responsibility for the processing, as they do now.

    We have ensured that these people will not be treated as illegals, allowing them access to work and education.

    It is hoped that if successful, this process will be extended in the region.

    If people do not want to end up in Malaysia, they have the choice not to get on the boats.

  101. El gordo, just to add my three pennies worth. Currently NO overseas processing center is viable due to the High Court ruling.

    Malaysia has some validity in that there are currently many genuine refugees there who have already been processed by the UNCHR..

    Exactly how many refugees are there currently on Nauru..oh that’s right there aren’t any are there. How many refugees will there be on Nauru if Tony Abbott gets his way..THOUSANDS.

  102. el gordo, maybe not in the short term. The solution is viable.

    Maybe the politics is not.

    What I know for sure is that the Nauru solution is well past its use by date. It will and cannot meet the needs of Australia and the asylum seekers. The boat trade will continue at great expense to Australia.

    If Mr. Abbott believes otherwise, he better let us in on the secret.

    We can all hope that common sense prevails, but sadly, that is unlikely while Mr. Abbott is in charge.

    The Greens also have a dilemma to face. Do they want to end up with years of waste and suffering with solutions like Nauru?

    Are the Greens willing to accept what they believe is second best but does meet many of the asylum seekers needs. They can accept reality and work towards making the Malaysian solution better. Sometimes we have no choice but to be pragmatic. I believe this is one such time.

    The Malaysian solution is not warehousing. Putting people on Nauru at great expense is.

    The Greens went down this path with Mr. Rudd’s climate change. Are they willing to cut off their nose to spite their face once again?

    el gordo, what do really want to see happen as a human being? Take the politics out of it and ask yourself this question.

    Have you considered it would have been easier for the PM to do as she others have been advised, revert to Nauru? The PM would probably lose less skin doing this but the matter to be put aside for a while. Why do you think the PM is taking a much more dangerous path politically?

    I suggest it could be that the PM sees this as a lasting solution. It could be a solution that brings certainty to the asylum seekers. It could, deter them from coming by boat.

    It could be true that the PM or Mr. Bowen and other in the government do not want to wake up to headlines saying hundreds have downed, mostly woman and children.

    Remember that Mr. Abbott’s solution is not only Nauru. It is turning boats around. It is restoring temporary visas. Mr. Abbott’s scheme leaves these people’s lives either in limbo or worse for many years. It is also very expensive. It is also putting our Navy in a position they do not want or believe to be their role. It will not stop the boat trade.

  104. Sue, Aussies want a poll: Abbott. And there is no Aussie who wants one more that Tony Abbott. Mind you I also wanted Howard to call a poll, the more often the better the chance of getting rid of the old b*stard..sadly he wouldn’t comply with that one either.

  105. Sue, alarm bells must be ringing at Liberal Party HQ. Invitation only means die hard Liberal supporters, of whom at least 20% don’t support their leader.
    At least there are some sane people still in the Liberal Party.

  106. And here are more other alarm bells.
    The deputy leader of the NSW govt has decided not to run for the Federal seat of Lyne.
    Tony Abbott has said that the coalition will support the (loser) National party member, who stood at the last election, at the next election.

    Add to that that Abbott met with Oakshott yesterday afternoon, in Oakshott’s words “to kiss and make up”. Now who would believe Abbott would want to do that if the seat of Lyne was now in the Coalitions make believe hands.

  107. I reckon Abbott is trying to get out of the fact that he has painted himself into a corner by knocking back the immigration amendments. Those who own and run the Liberal Party must be livid that their right wing xenophobic immigration policy is under threat. Abbott needs a face saving way out, so why not claim he has done a deal with Oakshott for “better” amendments.
    The punters will swallow just about anything nowadays.

  111. lunalava if Abbott can only gather upto 85 party faithful and Julia Gillard can amass 500 to community forums what does this tell us of the true level of support out there in voter land, out there outside the twittershere, out there in the non Newspoll land.
    One leader is prepared to front up to ordinary Australians and the pretender goes for the sheltered workshop of party faithful.

  112. I couldn’t decide on a song, Min. Over time this blog has played just about every mushy squishy birthday song ever recorded, and I wasn’t going to put up a repeat. I felt like bopping (while I’m still awake).

  114. I have been trying to evaluate what happened with Abbott’s tour in Tasmania. As there is not much written at all about the trip I am left to assume the turn out was poor. The news coverage has also weakened, so maybe all is not as rosy as the nasty press and its polls would have us assume. That is probably why the big nasty of news, had as its main story this week was an analysis of the past polls.

  117. Mobius, that is a brilliant article..thank you so very much. From your link..

    I am continuing to focus on what I love doing most, working with young Aboriginal people around the country and teaching them how to write their own stories, in the hope they too will one day have the position of privilege to publish their own words.

    Finally, in the words of Dr Rosie Scott, award-winning author, former Chair of the ASA and former Vice-President of PEN Sydney – an organisation who fights for the rights of imprisoned writers who don’t have the ‘free speech’ we so readily enjoy:

    ‘Free speech is the cornerstone of genuine democracy, but when writers publish disinformation dressed up as fact, lies as truth, slander as objective evaluation and call it free speech, they are devaluing its very essence and betraying all those who’ve fought for it.’

  118. ‘…what do really want to see happen as a human being?’

    We should honour our international obligations and process onshore.

    I mentioned earlier about my mad idea of building a city at Ord River to accommodate new arrivals.

    Not a prison or concentration camp, no razor wire, an ideal place to help the settlers understand who we are.

    Most will be released fairly quickly to become Australian citizens.

  119. Mobius, I look forward to their rants. Whilst racism offends me, the ravings of a right wing, redneck troll amuse me. Oh how they scream. Pity for them the rest of the world has moved on.

  120. El gordo, I agree with you. Everything changed when Howard politicized the refugees in 2001 and regrettably our politicians have followed the discourse ever since. They all want to pander to the redneck voter, still believing we are a redneck dominated electorate.

    Can’t see it changing in the foreseeable future.

  121. Min and ME
    and here is another quote about the Bolt verdict

    After the verdict, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott warned against restricting “the sacred principle of free speech”.

    “Free speech means the right of people to say what you don’t like, not just the right of people to say what you do like,” he said.

    I suppose Abbott will get a star billing on next Sunday’s show and the sunday after and the ……

  122. El gordo, a problem is that you’re going to encourage people smuggling.

    The solution: Get Indonesia to recognise that people smuggling is a crime. Get BOTH Indonesia and Malaysia to become signatories to the Convention. And Bob’s yer uncle…

  127. The story in the HS

    “Class action against columnist Andrew Bolt succeeds in Federal Court ”

    But on the front of the online HS the story is written headlined as

    “Andrew Bolt class action successful”
    Is the HS trying to to be deceitful with this confusing style of writing?

  128. Yes indeed Migs 😉 Fortunately we are a well balanced blog who readily accepts all opinions..plus it’s blogmaster isn’t half way bad looking either.

    (Note..I’m after a payrise..does this mean 2 autographed placemats instead of just one?)

  130. Watch Bolt now play the victim for all its worth and his small army of zombie wingnuts astroturfers hit the blogs.

    “Astroturfers”? Adrian, do you understand what the case was about?

  133. Sancty, I’m sure that everybody, whatever their label, will have a say on this issue.

    BTW, where are the celebrations here in the Café?

  137. Migs, clearly we haven’t done nearly enough to celebrate the Blot being found GUILTY of racial discrimination. I thought that I could start the party a’rollin’ with this one..

  139. I have just listened to PM Gillard, she has launched a White Paper on Australia/Asia, to be led by Ken Henry.
    Now there is a PM who is a leader, she is not going to be calling an election any time soon Abbott.

  143. Happy Birthday Min !!!!

    The decision against Andrew Bolt is a good decision.

    There is freedom of speech and then there is the ability to limit ones own freedom of speech when that speech is offensive, slanderous or downright malicious in its content.

    It may forced him to rethink his comments before launching them on the public at large. Andrew Bolt should have the skills to know the difference.

  144. ‘Andrew Bolt Class Action Successful’

    Good catch, Sue.

    They have a way of twisting things.

    I blame the subs, who would have taken a good ten minutes to come up with that gem.

  147. Thanks Sue, I count 42 and I wonder how many of those were staffers, girlfriends and official hanger-ons.
    Always knew the Libs struggle with maths so I will help out; if 100 were invited, only 40% bothered to show up. Bums on seats is the best poll.

  148. It is interesting that the judge found Mr. Bolt guilty, because there were too many ERRORS in the article. The judge also said that Mr. Bolt knew what the reaction he would get when he wrote what he did.

    In other words, it is not about free speech. It is about writing lies with the intention to insult. It is about sloppy journalism.

    It is about racism.

    The court made it clear that there is not anything in the judgement that stops people from writing about the subject.

    It sounds like they could also have taken action under libel or defamation laws.

    The people who took action have not asked nor do they want a money judgement.

    They want an apology, which they do not expect to get.

    The parties have been ordered to get together to work out what needs to be done next.

    It is likely the papers will print a retraction, that Mr. Bolt will do nothing.

    I would suggest that the parties then seek a big settlement, which can be donated to charity. Mr. Bolt should be made to accept the responsibilities he takes on when he wants to work as a journalists.
    Yes, there are rights, but also responsibilities. We do not have the right to insult people we do not like.

    The man needs to become, as Mr. Murdoch did, become humble. It is not Mr. Bolt is right or place to tell indigenous people how they should think. It is not up to him to tell these people they should only dwell on what makes us the same and ignore what makes us difference.

  149. Shane, thank you for the birthday greeting.

    The Blot is dead meat. If he does or says anything he will be in contempt of court. This will get his script writers scurrying…!!!

  151. Sue, you have not been able to obtain any figures for Mr. Abbott’s plane fares for the last six months.

    I wonder how they compare with Mr. Rudd’s.

  153. Cu, I heard a lawyer say that a person has to be very careful what they write or say about Bolt as he is quick to sue. When he is on the other foot he claims that his right to speech has been eroded. Double standards, it seems.

  154. BSA Bob, having spent years as a Disability Advocate working with HREOC and Anti-Discrimination NSW..I have absolute faith in the law and these organisations. Once a ruling is made it becomes a precedent under Common Law.

    Maybe the Blot’s lawyers will challenge the ruling as was previously mooted and take it to the High Court. That is now their only option. Otherwise it’s put up and shut up.

  156. TB, thank you so much..and give The Minister a hug from me. We sorta missed out on catching up a couple of months back but hope to do so in the future..hopefully not too distant.

  157. Maybe Miglo, it will be harder for him to sue now. It appears he expected to win today. He turned up at court with his wife and children.

    I have never understood why one takes your children to court.

    It is not a place for children and children generally6 do not want to be there.

    It is interesting he refused to answer questions.

    Nova site is also closed for comment. The Menzies site is in full flight.

    The worse decision in Australia’s history. Surely not. Surely there are more important things going on in Australia.

    I cannot see the paper going higher. I feel that Mr. Bolt may have to put his own money on the line.

    Interesting programme on ABC. Most charged with drug offences have been recruited because of their gambling, mostly poker machines, addiction. More than half sentence to jail have not had previous offences.

  158. ‘the subbies don’t write the headers now do they….’

    Fairfax sacked heaps of subs, but I thought Murdoch didn’t follow the trend.

    Subs are word smiths, while editors are something else again.

  160. CU, it’s a sympathy vote and for the before/and after pics. A wife and children are useful for this purpose. A wife is supposed to be proof that the man has upstanding family values.

    To put this into perspective the Bolt Case is a win for Anti-Discrimination. Bolt’s lawyers previously mooted that they would take it as far as the High Court.

    I’m taking a wee small breath on this one because I want to see a transcript of the actual ruling rather than making comments based on what I might read in the newspapers. One cannot judge too early on this one due to not having a current Primary Resource.

    So far there is nothing other than Bolt lost…and for the moment that’s good enough for me.

  163. Will do Min.

    Bacchus, Beatles are always my first choice but then my g/daughter (10) suggested Chipmunks and gave “the look” … 😉

  165. Catching Up at 4.47
    Read your piece & popped over to Menzies House to see for myself. I read somewhere George Orwell’s considered to be the most misrepresented author in the English language- their man Tim Andrews is certainly doing his bit to keep the tradition alive.

  166. I offer free drinks and within a whisper TB and Bacchus turn up. 😛

    U saw some chipmunks in the Grand Canyon, TB. I didn’t know they were so small. And cute. Fussy little buggers though; snubbed their noses at the strawberries and carrots but were happy to eat my fruitcake.

  169. I just threw a small tanty over at Australians for an Honest Media so thought to post it over at the Café too:

    No, Freedom of Speech always has to be tempered under considerations such an incitement to riot/incitement to vilify. The case still stands: Bolt, can’t be Aboriginal because you too too white. Bolt, you can’t be Jewish because you don’t look Jewish. You can’t be a woman because you don’t look like one. And especially and this is WHY the the Justice had to call against the Blot. YOU DO NOT LOOK DISABLED THEREFORE YOU CANNOT BE DISABLED. All anti-discrimination law is interlocked via the States Anti-Discrimination legislation and HREOC. I was postive of the outcome, because you cannot say that a person isn’t this or is not that just because their appearance.

    And now I’m taking break..and I’m going to eat chocolate and will probably pay the price by having the world’s worst allergic reaction tomorrow.

  173. Migs, dibber dobber. I was going to open a box of Belgian chocolates this evening because sadly there are no Fruchocs around this neck of the woods. But having opened the box of Belgian chokkies do not expect anything coherent from me tomorrow as I’m sure to have a huge allergic reaction..but then probably nobody would notice anyway…

  176. Min, sounds good to me but I’ll have ordinary Coke – no ice 😀

    BTW, if a character called ‘Phil’ turns up here talking about Bundy and Coke … it’s me….gremlins….

  179. “VICTORIANS are losing $300,000 an hour on the pokies at pubs and clubs – $2.6 billion in the past year.

    The losses are $55 million more than in 2009-10 and come as Victorian clubs admit they are spending, on average, 5c out of each dollar of net revenue on direct community benefits.”
    http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/victorians-losing-300000-an-hour-on-pokies/story-fn7x8me2-1226149873510

    5 Cents in the Dollar, for the community, goes to show how stupid are the patrons marching with their banners.

  181. It would be interesting if the management and the lawyers for the HWT insist that Bolt sign a new contract, one that encompasses the ruling of the court.
    As the judge has read Bolt’s articles you would think it would be a wise organisation that moderates what Bolt has to say on the judgement.

  182. Sue, from your link: About 1 per cent of pokies revenue was directed to external charitable causes.

    So much for the clubs claiming that it’s all about community.

  184. Yes Min, the clubs and pubs will cry poor mouth because there are lots of jobs at stake.

    The pokies actually saved them after governments introduced the RBT.

    So this time around they will fight tooth and nail to maintain status quo.

  186. El gordo, sorry no. What happened is that money otherwise spent on something useful went to the aggrandisement of the mega wealthy clubs.

    And rubbish about the jobs. What? A couple of bar tenders. The clubs have done everything possible to avoid hiring people – from the self-serve buffet to the poker machines no longer paying out in coins. The latter one means that the clubs need LESS STAFF because the players do not need to call an Attendant, just punch out the ticket and take it to the counter.

  187. The pokies saved them because of the RBT. Talk about drawing a long bow to make a connection. Last time I looked the bars at the clubs around my areas were still selling lots of alcohol as were there take away bottle shops.

    The clubs responded to the RBT by putting on courtesy buses. Pokies had nothing to do with it.

    It is also clubs that are forefront in minimum wage/conditions for their staff whilst management reaps in the high wages, and that’s where the real story of club pokies is. This nonsense about social good from pokie profits is a furphy. In most cases it’s such a small percentage of the club intake, less than 2% from one report I read, that a small cut in executive salaries would provide more money to the sporting clubs and social centres they support.

    Then there is the fact that a large chunk of the clubs profits, around 40% is from problem gamblers. And the latest report on crime statistics showing that problem gamblers are factoring high in crime as they steal and move into illegal drugs to make money. More than that, problem gamblers are actively recruited in clubs by criminal bosses to carry out their illegal activities, and it is the gambler who is caught and prosecuted whilst the boss goes on to recruit others for there are plenty to recruit.

    Factor in the social costs of problem gambling that ordinary tax paying Australians pay for along with the criminality I mentioned before and you begin to understand the enormity of what the clubs are doing, especially when the taxes on gambling nowhere near cover the social costs of that gambling.

  188. It was a long bow, but you’ve set me straight.

    The connection between the alcohol lobby and the police is a worry.

    The O’Farrell government in NSW is being lobbied to relax curfew hours and at the same time he is being pressured to reign in loutish drunken behavior late at night.

    The Coalition has a mandate and will run for at least two terms, so an outstanding Premier would return the Summary Offenses Act.

  197. Remember back in the dark ages when tobacco advertisement was banned.

    Remember the dire predictions that all sport, arts and community events would disappear.

    Funny, that does not seem to happen.

    Sport is still strong in this country. We still have the junior teams completing each weekend.

    The booze buses do not seemed to have wiped out the alcohol trade.

    I suspect that they will survive not relying on the addicted gambler.

  198. Words for thought?

    “…Changing Federal Government in the current turbulent global economic climate would be a severe risk, says Shaun Newman.
    Several recent stories I have read lead me to believe that, despite all the hard and quite brilliant work from the Rudd Government to steer us around the 2008 Global Financial Crisis without falling into recession, the current financial situation remains a dire one.

    I believe we are quite fortunate to be facing the current situation with Julia Gillard as Prime Minister and Wayne Swan (the global Finance Minister of the Year) as Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer. We, as a nation, will draw heavily upon these two, now very experienced, people in the near future.

    The most unsettling thought at this stage would be a totally inexperienced financial team at the helm that we may inherit if the Federal Opposition were to be able to force an election at this stage. If this situation arose before the next scheduled election in 2013, it could have catastrophic results for our economy.

    With all due respect to the Coalition, the LNP were $11 billion shy in the alternate budget presented to the federal treasury at last year’s election and they are currently searching for $70 billion in cuts to the current budget just to make it balance. If these changes were implemented in the current global financial situation Australia could very well find herself the basket case of Asia….”

    http://www.independentaustralia.net/2011/politics/financial-uncertainty-and-the-risky-opposition/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=financial-uncertainty-and-the-risky-opposition

  199. Holy mother of god.

    For once I actually finding myself nodding in agreement with CU at 3.42pm..

    (But not in a Tony Abbott Channel 7 kind of way)

  200. You have a brain freeze reb, never. A brain snap is another matter though.

    Clubs giving back, you have to be kidding. Note how little Rooty Hill gives out compared to what it takes in, and it has the largest amount of pokies outside of a casino.

    with an amazing 726 gaming machine licences. Poker machines raked in $43.2 million of the club’s total operating revenue of $64.7 million — a neat two-thirds of its revenue. Against this, the club spent $5.7 million on entertainment, marketing and promotional costs, $1.8 million on members amenities and a miserly $601,000 on donations. $13.1 million was paid out in poker machine taxes and wages and staff costs accounted for $18.6 million, but the club was still able to record a healthy operating surplus of $5.2 million for its 2010 financial year.

  202. What senses? I never laid claim to having senses!

    You lot are just accusing me of things so that you can just tear me down to pieces on a mere whim!

  203. Reb, we often agree. I like and agree with many of your posts on GT.

    I have a feeling you just like to pretend to be different.

  209. Always someone to spoil the mood.

    You sound a little more awake tonight Miglo.

    Sadly it does not take long to get back in stride and the holidays seem a world away.

  213. ‘Responsible’ Rudd backs Gillard

    http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/responsible-rudd-backs-gillard-20110930-1l0sv.html

    Asked if he’d rule out a leadership challenge, he said: “As I have said on multiple occasions, I’m very happy being foreign minister”.

    “I support the prime minister and I also believe the prime minister will lead us to the next election.”

    He said leadership speculation was not distracting him.

    “I’ve been around in politics long enough to know this question comes and goes,” he said.

    “I manage to work a pretty healthy day not thinking about any of this
    stuff …”

  216. Now I know who they poll by telephone, the same people who receive invites to this type of community forum.

    We’ll all be rooned because Julia isn’t hitched!
    “About 260 invited guests gathered at C.ex Coffs to hear a brief exposition on the faults and follies of the present Federal Labor Government before raising their own concerns.
    These ranged from the unwed state of Prime Minister Julia Gillard, setting a dire example to young people by living with a man without marrying him; to the evils of people swearing allegiance to a German woman sitting on the English throne.”

    http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com/

  217. As far as I can see, this event is going almost completely unreported…

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/02/occupy-wall-street-protesters-brooklyn-bridge?newsfeed=true

    More than 700 people were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge on Saturday evening during a march by anti-Wall Street protesters who have been occupying a downtown Manhattan square for two weeks.

    The group, called Occupy Wall Street, has been protesting against the finance industry and other perceived social ills by camping out in Zuccotti park in New York.

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2011/sep/30/occupy-wall-street-in-pictures

  218. Min, I heard today that the Police were using pepper spray against the Occupy Wall Street group.
    They didn’t appear to be doing anything wrong !

  219. Pip, someone on Facebook has been putting up minute by minute reports..apparently the police started arresting children first, no doubt to try to intimidate the rest of the crowd.

    They say 700 arrested and so you can just imagine the size of the crowd.

  223. What next !

    Angry Anderson is joining the Nationals and running for a seat at the next election….no deal stitched up, but open to the idea …

    Tweets…

    BrigadierSlog Brigadier Slog
    LOL AA thought it was the Nationalist Party RT @abcnews: Angry
    Anderson joins National Party #auspol

    mishaschubert Misha Schubert
    Angry Anderson joins the Nats. Hope the spin doctors don’t get to him. Could be rebranded as Mildly Irritated Anderson.

    urthboy Urthboy
    Angry Anderson running for the Coalition is like Buster joining the army in Arrested Development.

    rhysam Rhys Muldoon
    Angry Anderson: Warren Truss with tattoos.

    bennpackham Ben Packham
    Angry Anderson standing for the Nats is about as credible as Warren Truss in a mosh pit

  224. Tweet from Wall Street Group… a Marine….

    sirstefan Stefan Sirucek by Asher_Wolf

    Message from a marine at #occupywallstreet

    “The second time I’ve fought for my country but the first time I know who I’m fighting against.”

  227. Teabagger Angry Anderson needs some competition..
    here’s an idea…

    Van Jones Praises Occupy Wall Street, Says Progressives Launching ‘October Offensive’ To Rival Tea Party

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/01/van-jones-occupy-wall-street-rebuild-the-dream_n_990463.html?1317505313

    “Wall Street has long been the home of the biggest threat to American Democracy. Now it has become home to what may be our best hope for rescuing it,” Jones writes.

    “A new generation has gone to the scene of the crimes committed against our future. The time has come for all people of good will to give our full-throated backing to the young people of the Occupy Wall Street movement.”

  228. ALP launches ads on boat changes
    http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/alp-launches-ads-on-boat-changes-20111002-1l3fb.html

    The Labor Party has launched an advertising campaign seeking to pressure Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to support the government’s bid to resurrect its controversial Malaysian people swap deal.

    The party-funded radio ad, authorised by ALP national secretary George Wright, is to run on commercial stations in capital cities over the next few weeks.

    The ad features voices talking about the government’s draft laws aimed at restoring its power to send asylum seekers to third countries following a ruling against the Malaysia Solution by the High Court in August.

    Mr Abbott has pledged to block the legislation unless the government accepts an amendment that would rule out Malaysia because it is not a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention.

    “First Tony Abbott supported offshore processing, now he’s opposing it,” the ad says.

    “Does he really have a policy or doesn’t he care?”

    We would salvage our self-respect and our reputation as the country of the ‘fair go’, as well as save millions of dollars if the asylum seekers were ‘processed’ onshore.

  229. Where did Angry Anderson go wrong..I love this one. For xone special..just the way I am, talking just as fast as I can. I’ve been known to do that 😀

  230. Pip, from your link..don’t you just love it when the media treat us as just plain stupid..

    Meanwhile, four boats carrying more than 300 asylum seekers have arrived in the past eight days, since it became clear the government’s legislation was doomed.

    Absolute and complete and utter cr*p. Firstly prove a causal relationship..or is that all to difficult…well of course it is, because it’s unprovable.

    Second point is that October and November are when the main people smuggling operations occur, not just Australia but all of Asia because November marks the start of the Wet Season/Monsoon Season when all boat operations are most usually restricted until February.

  231. Min, no, I don’t love being treated like a mushroom by the media at all !!
    Would the bright media sparks even know there is a wet season ??

  232. ‘Howe’ come this writer gets a gig at the daily smellagraph ?

    Abbott-turn shows up a sore loser
    http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/abbott-turn-shows-up-a-sore-loser/story-e6frezz0-1226156068500

    LAST week we saw a stunning announcement from Tony Abbott. The Opposition Leader was ready to dump on his own personal political history.

    He surprised a media interviewer by suggesting he was changing tack on his long-held belief in the merits of individual employment contracts.

    When I first heard that, I was sceptical. There goes Tony, I thought, ready to do anything, or say anything, just to grab another media headline.

    Surely this was one of those “never ever” promises favoured by his mentor John Howard.

    Abbott’s not to be believed whether he puts it in writing or not !

    All the spruikers who say the Prime Minister ‘lied’ know the truth …she did not …

    Julia Gillard’s carbon price promise
    by: Paul Kelly and Dennis Shanahan From: The Australian August 20, 2010 12:00AM

    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/julia-gillards-carbon-price-promise/story-fn59niix-1225907522983

    Min, I’m going to keep on posting this one at least once a week 🙂

  233. A challenge to Turnbull..

    3 October 2011
    Goldilocks NBN policies costing Libs credibility

    http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/3206438.html

    We Aussies love a good competition, which may be why we tend to boil everything down to two black-and-white options. In the discourse around the NBN, those options have been defined by the unerringly disruptive hand of Tony Abbott’s Liberal Party, whose communications policy is not so much a policy as a constantly changing collection of false dichotomies peddled by shadow
    communications minister Malcolm Turnbull.

  234. Pip, good girl. Goodness we put up with the JuLiar tag for eons..so thank you for your excellent research..it’s just a shame that the MSM couldn’t manage the same amount of research as you do.

    T’bull has blown it in my opinion. The Golden Boy might have been forgiven his over-zealousness (is there such a word?) in relation to the Grech Affair, but his absolute and utter cr*p in relation to the NBN throws him straight into the Joe Hockey camp of say anything/no matter how ridiculous.

  235. “THE Federal Government spent $140,000 on a single publicity stunt to announce the first seven customers to sign up for a free trial of the NBN, it has been revealed.

    The launch in independent MP Tony Windsor’s northern NSW seat in May was attended by Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, as well as NBN Co boss Mike Quigley.

    The Government has admitted the cost of the event, which the Opposition calls a “giant publicity stunt”, was $138,474.05….”

    http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/pms-140000-stunt-to-promote-national-broadband-network/story-fn7x8me2-1226156391182

    This is a big story. The PM doing her job.

    Where are the headlines for the daily stunts that the Opposition leader pulls all over the continent, even going as far as Malaysia and Nauru for some.

    Where are the daily costings for his ongoing election campaign since the last one was decided twelve months ago.

    Why is the taxpayer expected to pay for this man’s obsession in becoming PM.

    Surely his time would be better spent doing or acting as Opposition leader, as he was elected, in this parliament than campaigning for an election that is not due for two years.

  236. This evening there was a community cabinet in Hobart, televised on
    News 24 . At he cabinet table were PM Gillard and a number of the Cabinet including Kevin Rudd. Enrolments by the community audience exceeded previous meetings. There were a variety of questions from the community on health, education, climate change etc answered by either the PM or a Minister. There was not one question with a”liar” tag nor one question about “stabbing” Rudd. The audience was large and open to all, not at all like the small, invited guests only functions of Abbott.

    An enlightening picture of what is really happening in voter land.

  238. Min, @ 4.08pm, you’re welcome …..went off to sleep… and no it wasn’t a nanna nap 😀
    For all his polish, Turnbull is very ordinary !

    Catching up @ 7.14pm, ltd news says that they follow their own ethical guidelines, but their every article supports the Coalition, and more to the point, often unfairly bags the government.

    …..I nearly didn’t bother to read this one….

    Kroger overcomes ‘Napoleon complex’
    http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/private-sydney/kroger-overcomes-napoleon-complex-20111003-1l5f3.html

    Taking place not far from where Napoleon Bonaparte bid a teary farewell to his empire nearly 200 years ago, Kroger’s emotions were considerably less bleak, especially with several lots earning well above the reserve and his new girlfriend, conservative commentator and former fellow ABC board member Janet Albrechtsen, offering support.

    A perfect match….

    Michael Kroger takes Janet Albrechtsen on a date
    http://www.thepowerindex.com.au/power-couples/michael-kroger-takes-janet-albrechtsen-on-a-date/20110830345

    As power couples go, this one would be hard to beat. He’s a suave investment banker and Liberal Party powerbroker; she’s The Australian’s most conservative and most talked-about columnist. Together they’d be a conservative killing machine.

    We’re talking, of course, about Michael Kroger and Janet Albrechtsen who caused a splash on the weekend by stepping out together at union boss Paul Howes’ 30th birthday party in Sydney.

  241. Pip, from your link to The Mercury..

    THE National Broadband Network will push deep into Tasmania’s largest cities, with fibre to pass another 90,000 Tasmanian homes, Prime Minister Julia Gillard will announce today.

    The biggest tranche of the network rollout in Tasmania so far will also create 800 new jobs.

    Of course 800 new jobs is interesting in itself but in addition I get the impression that what the PM has in mind is that all reforms be so well entrenched by the time of the next election that the Liberals will never be able to undo them. And hence another reason that we are unlikely to see an early election.

  245. Little porkie and the new age National, should go down well with the tea and scones or was that dope and booze.
    “Indeed, he rants on one of his recent blogs: ”Do we really believe that this push for a tax on carbon pollution is anything but raising revenue for the government and the United Nations in league with the international banks using the new world order as a blueprint for the globalisation of the new free world?”

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/still-angry-after-all-these-years-20111003-1l5g0.html#ixzz1ZmQSXJRM

  246. Miglo, I don’t believe the donations to the sporting clubs makes much of a dent in the clubs profits ! 😀

  247. Andrew Elder cuts Amanda Vanstone down to size

    Wait for the rest of your life
    http://www.andrewelder.blogspot.com/

    In this article, Amanda Vanstone is pretending to a wisdom she clearly lacks. She has somehow become less knowledgeable about how government works for the country and the economy than she did in Opposition.

    Schools, research and health will have to wait till we pay off our debt.
    We’ve been here before. When the debt gets paid off, people like Amanda Vanstone regard education and health as fripperies and call
    for tax cuts, which means that schools, research and health get cut no matter what.

  249. I used to dislike Amanda Vanstone until I saw her sitting in the stands at the 2004 AFL Grand Final wearing a Port Adelaide scarf.

    She has class.

  255. Tweet from Rhys Muldoon..

    rhysam Rhys Muldoon

    The best way to understand Andrew Bolt is to watch Sharon Stone in Casino, or Vivien Leigh in Streetcar Named Desire.

    and this whoopsy

    TammyMLC Tammy Franks MLC by KevCorduroy

    Not sure how to take the lobbying emails/letters on the Steph Keys’ Sex Work bill that start ‘Dear Madam’ #saparli

  256. Just heard on radio that the Treasurer said the Coalition was invited to the Tax forum and Mr. Abbott says he wasn’t…. who to believe …

  259. Min,
    Abbott would be at a huge disadvantage at the tax forum, because his slogans would be found wanting and he knows it.
    Stilted ranting would not work.
    On the other hand he feels perfectly safe with the msm, who dutifully report without any scrutiny of his slogans.
    The kiddies at the Menzies forum will take very good care of him.

  260. Gee shucks, if the rumours are true and Abbott didn’t receive an invitation to the Tax Forum..maybe calling it a pointless talkfest might have been a reason why.

  261. It is about time we begin to look at the real cost of coal, in the past and now.

    “….Giles Parkinson
    A new economic analysis published in the highly prestigious American Economic Review has made a damming assessment of the costs of pollution from fossil fuel industries, and concludes that coal is doing more harm to the US economy than good – and that doesn’t take into account its climate impact.

    The paper by respected economists Nicholas Muller, Robert Mendelsohn (Yale) and William Nordhaus (Yale), models the physical and economic consequences of emissions of six major pollutants (sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, ammonia, fine particulate matter, and coarse particulate matter) from the country’s 10,000 pollution sources. It is an update of a previous study concluded in 2009.

    It concludes that the “gross external damages” (GED) from the sickness and death caused by the pollution, is larger than their value add in several key industries – coal- and oil-fired electricity plants, solid waste combustion, sewage treatment, stone quarrying, and marinas!…”

    http://www.climatespectator.com.au/commentary/coal-not-so-cheap?utm_source=Climate%2BSpectator%2Bdaily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Climate%2BSpectator%2Bdaily&utm_source=Climate+Spectator&utm_campaign=c8bc9b880a-CSPEC_DAILY&utm_medium=email

  263. Tony Abbott welcome at tax summit if he leaves ‘wrecking ball’ at home
    July 28, 2011 12:47PM

    A spokesman for Wayne Swan said the Opposition Leader and his treasury spokesman had made it known they weren’t interested in attending.

    “Even so, the opposition are welcome to attend the tax forum within the framework we’ve announced, provided they are prepared to approach it in a constructive way,” the spokesman said.

    “Unfortunately the Liberals under Mr Abbott have no positive policy agenda and have done nothing but try to wreck important reforms and talk down the economy.

    “So the opposition are welcome to attend if they are prepared to be constructive. But if Mr Abbott is going to bring his wrecking ball along, he should stay home.”

  266. Why did Mr. Abbott lie and continue to make it when it was pointed out to him, he was wrong.

    Maybe Mr. Abbott’s one track mind was full of the new joke he was going to tell. The joke, that if you stop the boats, you stop the smokes.

    It went down like a lead balloon. The dill stood there with a grin a mile wide on his face.

    The press were more interested in finding out if he was invited, would he attend the tax forum. As usual, no answer was forth coming.

    It appears someone bought up the cost of providing smokes to the asylum seekers. It is apparent that the asylums seekers are paid an allowance, many choose to but cigarettes.

    Is this surprising, when the countries they come from have some of the highest smoking rates in the world.

    What else is there to do behind the wire?

    That is the contribution, Mr. Abbott made to today’s political debate while the all governments, business and those interested in the wellbeing of the country spent the day in Canberra talking about tax.

  268. Mobius, another O’Farrell back flip.

    “….The New South Wales Government is preparing to spend more than $1 million replacing the roof of Sydney’s Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital, even though it campaigned against renovations when in opposition.

    The Government has asked interested tradespeople to attend a pre-tender meeting at the hospital in Sydney’s north next week.

    Doctors at the hospital have complained they are working in Third-World conditions.

    The chairman of the hospital’s Medical Staff Council, Richard Harris, says replacing the operating theatre’s roof is a waste of money because the entire complex needs to be demolished and rebuilt.

    “It remains a complete disgrace as a modern place to do surgery in New South Wales,” Dr Harris said.

    Before the Coalition won Government, Jillian Skinner – who is now Health Minister – agreed.

    “You’re putting a new roof on a hospital where the walls are damaged by termite infestation,” Ms Skinner said last year.

    “It’s not on. This is not a solution…”

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-10-04/doctors-hit-roof-over-sydney-hospital-repairs/3208762

  269. Why does that not surprise me Cu, and O’Farrell/Skinner will be front and centre boasting of the great job they are doing.

  270. As Sophie is off the front pages for now I have been doing a little search, wow what you read, anyway I came across this little gem that we should not forget.

    “A LIBERAL staffer who splurged $906 on a cab ride from Wodonga to Melbourne boasted on Facebook: “I don’t do buses.”
    Adam Wyldeck, who works for Victorian Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella, provided taxi fare updates on Facebook as he travelled to the airport on Sunday”

  271. Pip at 4.29
    Agreed, Abbott will steer well clear of any serious policy discussion in order not to expose his lack of serious policy. I notice from this evening’s news that the MSM are deliberately or not giving him a leg up with their depiction of the whole tax discussion as a bit of a yawn. I’m a bit tired of swipes at Labor over their implementation of the Henry tax review. Apparently Labor was supposed to implement everything within ten minutes of its publication, all of which would then have been ridiculed as a matter of course.

    Business pleading along the lines that if they get to pay a lot less tax they’ll really really do something good with the extra money. Don’t remember them in the front line helping the Government when they stood to benefit from the MRRT.

    Sophie might be off the front pages at the moment, but she features on Wixxy’s blog, well worth a perusal.

  272. And now some bits about Sophie’s choice, the hubby.
    from 2007, when Libs in govt.(Mirabella was first appointed to the $60,000 per year position (created with a Federal Government grant) in highly controversial circumstances in late 2006, when the Liberal Party was still in Government.)

    “Top job for MP’s husband
    THE husband of outspoken federal Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella has been hired to run a key rural music festival that is chaired by a staffer in Ms Mirabella’s office.
    Greg Mirabella, an ex-army lieutenant-colonel, recently landed the $60,000-a-year role as business manager of the Wangaratta Jazz Festival.
    Mr Mirabella said he was not a jazz fanatic, but enjoyed the music style”
    http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/top-job-for-mps-husband/story-e6frf7kx-1111113288049

    And this when Sophie ‘s hubby out of a job, but includes some info on the other secret campaign donations
    “He could always start an abattoir
    It was revealed that a key Festival committee member responsible for making the appointment was also a full-time staffer for Sophie, whose electoral office is also in Wangaratta.
    It came hot on the heels of Sophie Mirabella’s controversial involvement in the demise of the local tobacco industry where she was instrumental in arranging a $26 million Federal Government compensation package to convince growers to accept the buyout offers from British American Tobacco, while receiving secret ’donations’ to her campaign fund from the same company.
    As for Mr Mirabella’s record while running the Festival (which is really run by the volunteer committee) all I can say is that it’s surprising we never heard a word out of him in the local media for his entire tenure. You would think that someone (technically) in charge of Australia’s biggest, longest running and most successful Jazz & Blues festival would ‘pop his head up’ now and then if only to make out he was actually doing something.

    Well, to be fair, we DID hear Mr Mirabella make quite a bit of noise in the local media about a proposed high tech abattoir to be built near the Mirabella’s family home in Wangaratta. The Mirabellas purchased their property AFTER the plans were announced and promptly proceeded to stir up objections to it, even though it was proposing to create 500 new jobs in Mrs Mirabella’s electorate. It would give off “odours”, he wrote.”
    http://alpineopinion.wordpress.com/2009/03/03/sophies-husband-out-of-a-job/

  273. Thanks Sue – “nepotism” can be defined as “The practice among those with power or influence of favoring relatives or friends, esp. by giving them jobs.”

    While “nepotism” gives off certain unpleasant political “odours”, selling out your constituents to British American Tobacco (BAT) really reeks. Here is a clip of her being told to shutup and then being thrown out of Parliament by her own side (when they were in government).

    She really is a nasty piece of work.

  274. Oh yeah and in case anyone from the ABC 7.30 report would like to know a bit more about how to ask good questions, there is this trip down memory lane:

    I often wondered where Abbott got the great idea not to say anything when asked a tough question.
    While Downer looks as if he might want to go away and stick a few pins in your effigy, Abbott always looks as though he is about to job the interviewer.

  275. More sophie
    Look at this from the Alpine Opinion blog. The blog host was answering and then telling a contributor that in future he would not publish unless they used a valid email. Then this little follow up to his answer.

    “Oh John, or should I say “Oh, Sophie”? – your server is from Parliamentary Services in Canberra, I see!

    Nice to know you read this blog.”
    http://alpineopinion.wordpress.com/2011/09/23/oh-sophie/

  276. Sue and luna lava, thanks for the enlightening comments about Cruella. Very interestingand not at all surprising.

  277. Jamie Briggs (Liberal Party spokesperson) has said the GST should be increased to include food (Howard’s Plan A).

    Abbott just popped up on my TV saying the Goods and Service Tax was not Liberal Party Policy.

    Liar, Liar of course the GST is Liberal Party policy, they introduced it, they want to increase it so they can reduce income tax for the wealthy.

  278. Ken Henry says VESTED INTERESTS make genuine reform
    harder
    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/beware-of-taxes-to-fix-behaviour-warns-gary-banks/story-fnab4up0-1226159023383

    Kevin Rudd’s resources super profits tax, which was based on the Henry review proposal, sparked a $22 million campaign by big miners that created the conditions for Julia Gillard’s ascension to the prime ministership.

    Dr Henry said his Future Tax System review panel accepted a widely-held expert consensus on super profits taxes that was also reflected in a recent UK tax review.

    “Consider the difference between so-called normal profit and super-normal profit,” he said.

    “A tax on the former should be expected to affect the pattern of
    real economic activity, while a tax on the latter … should not.

    “Our (Future Tax System) review took for granted that this point was well understood.

    “But I have to say, in retrospect, in the Australian setting, rather less should have been taken for granted.”

    Dr Henry said vested interests were an “unfortunate fact of life” when pursuing reform, with the media seemingly unable to distinguish between them and the national interest.

    “Tax reform, like any other genuine reform, is hard, especially when an articulate vested interest argues that it may be worse off”, he said.

  279. Steve, seems that Abbott says one thing [or another], and his MPs are regularly saying something very different…… and they’re spruiking that the PM lacks authority !

  281. From Wixxys blog
    http://wixxy.wordpress.com/2011/10/04/in-da-club/

    The latest in the procession of C Grade celebrities dumping on the govt pre-commitment policy is Angry Anderson, now a National Party hopeful. I don’t really think his entrance into this debate should be taken seriously, nor should his entrance into politics, however, see if you recognise the face on this pokie, it is one of latest Aristocrats machines…. here’s a clue, it plays Rose Tattoo music…

  282. Tax cut buffet but no appetite for fixes
    http://www.rossgittins.com/2011/10/tax-cut-buffet-may-appeal-but-theres-no.html

    The obvious truth is Julia Gillard would need her head examined to take on more tax reform at present. Her plate is already over-full. You’d never know it from all the chat this week, but we’re already engaged in two vitally important tax reforms: the carbon tax and the mining tax. The first is complicated but minor in its effect on household budgets; the second is a no-brainer.

    Yet Tony Abbott has been hugely successful in his dishonest scaremongering against both taxes. He is campaigning against all tax reform, promising to reverse both measures and pretending taxes only ever need to be cut. Are the Liberal-leaning reform advocates doing anything to set him straight? Hell no – that’s Julia’s lookout. And the polls say the man with the neanderthal views on tax reform will be swept into office at the first opportunity.

    When it comes to tax reform, Australians are utterly lily-livered

  283. Another Sophie moment …
    Is the media being manipulated?
    Today Abbott gave a press stunt outside the Nissan plant beside him was Sophie Mirabella.

    Not one person from the media asked:
    Mr Abbott do you have full confidence in the member for Indi, Sophie Mirabella?
    Mr Abbott do you have confidence in Mirabella as it has been reported that she allegedly did not declare a $100,000 donation for her election campaign, that she received another gift of $100,000 and that the family of her ex lover are in dispute with her over her care arrangements for their father?

    So was the media managed? Was there no one from Fairfax? Was Fairfax not interested? Were there any journalists present?

    What is the REAL story?

  284. Look at this as a headline, then look at the location of speech.

    Turnbull calls for leadership on climate
    In a speech in London overnight the opposition spokesman on communications urged “long-term thinking and leadership” to compete with China in fields such as climate change.

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/turnbull-calls-for-leadership-on-climate-20111005-1l9qg.html#ixzz1Zw7Buhd5

    Did you here that Tony and Coalition colleagues, China taking leadership on climate change!

  285. Sue, I wonder if Turnbull will put his money where his mouth is and cross the floor to vote for putting a price on carbon.

    And exactly..China is taking the lead not only on climate change but as I’ve mentioned previously have well and truly overtaken the US as world leaders into research into alternative energy sources.

  286. Min
    He has already stated he won’t and the govt can get the legislation through without him.
    He is playing the long game for when the Libs toss out Abbott, the Carbon tax is up and running and he hopefully wants the polls to be anti Gillard, step in Mr Turnbull, the all knowing savior to the Liberal party and of course the nation.

  288. Min, did you really believe she would run. The lady is nothing but an opportunist, who likes making money.

    The lady has not thought much about pulling her young daughter around the country for the last couple of years. Look at the many pictures of the young girl, a more unhappy little girl would be hard to find.

    The oldest daughter attempted to getting away from her by buying her own home in a distant state. Mother move in close by. The daughter then left her own home and moved in with friends.

    Yes, family maybe important to her, but not as much as being in the limelight and making money.

    I have felt for years that the USA President does not have any power, but is front for those who are all powerful. Paling would be one step too far, even for them.

  290. “…..The Opposition Leader said while Ms Gillard was focused on retaining her job she was unable to concentrate on the national interest.

    “Well, look, Graham Richardson is the ultimate insider and I think that he has always got to be taken seriously when it comes to the inner workings of the Labor Party,” Mr Abbott said.

    “But from my perspective, I am interested in good government and a Prime Minister who is watching her back is not getting on with the business of government…….”

    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/julia-gillard-laughs-off-new-leadership-plot-claim/story-fn59niix-1226160001975

    The PM is paralysed, watching her back and unable to operate.

    Who is that lady we have seen in the public arena over the last week or so?

    The one at the community cabinet meeting in Tasmania. The one that has been having daily press conference on different matters. The one that attended the Tax Forum for the last two days. The one that is addressing employment today.

    The lady must be a mirage or we are all asleep and dreaming, otherwise how can we see her.

    How can this man be taken seriously, considering the tommy rot he comes out with?

  292. Cu, I think the news was that she would help with ‘strategic planning’….sounds important …. 🙄

  294. Where does the lady get her experience from. She was a town mayor then the governor of a state for less than one term.

    That state has smaller population than the two councils, that make up the Central Coast of NSW.

  298. Absolutely no way have those adverts for Viagra have anything whatsoever to do with me…they’re all your fault!!! Now if it had been adverts for penis enlargements, I might own up to some responsibility. 😀

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