Today’s Guest Contributor is This Little Black Duck, with a photo essay of his March in March in Canberra (and yes, PM Blood Oaf, we knows it’s St Pat’s day – so what was your mob doing marching yesterday? Can’t read a calendar yet?).
Mille remerciements, Monseigneur le Duck …
MARCH IN MARCH – THE CANBERRA EXPERIENCE
(What’s even better – it happened on Saint Patrick’s Day …)
THE PUB 
Remember all the gushing from the Liberals when Sinodinos became a senator? He was touted as a star in the making, a rising politician, definitely a future cabinet minister, maybe a future treasurer or even leader if he could make the transition to the lower house.
http://www.thepowerindex.com.au/power-move/sinodinos-expected-to-replace-coonan-so-who-is-he/20110818296
John Howard had a lot of praise, saying his mate Arthur should certainly get a cabinet position.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/former-liberal-leader-john-howard-backs-new-liberal-senator-arthur-sinodinos-for-senate/story-fn7q4q9f-1226182397212
Abbott, who had previously made sure Sinodinos had been elected unopposed as President of the NSW Liberal Party, immediately gave the newly-arrived senator a job heading a task force looking at ways to cut red tape. He piled on the praise with words he might now regret saying.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2012/10/10/17/07/sinodinos-to-chair-business-taskforce
It didn’t take long for the shine to wear off, by March last year Sinodinos was facing accusations of dodgy dealings and ‘forgetting’ to mention interests.
http://www.dailyliberal.com.au/story/1334182/sinodinos-comes-clean-on-more-directorships/
Abbott, despite his earlier praise for Sinodinos, and against expectations, did not give Mr S that cabinet position when he announced his ministry last year. Did he know a lot more about Arthur’s business deals? Is that why he relegated Arthur to the outer ministry? Did Abbott hope it would all just go away?
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/arthur-sinodinos-warned-about-awh/story-e6frgczx-1226860703810
Arthur Sinodinos ‘warned about AWH’
MARK COULTAN and LEO SHANAHAN The Australian March 21, 2014 12:00AM
ARTHUR Sinodinos was warned that the cashflow and costs of Australian Water Holdings were out of control months before he took the chairmanship at the privately owned firm.
Rod De Aboitiz, whose family invested in the business, told the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption yesterday he met Senator Sinodinos, who was then out of politics and an AWH director, in May 2010 to warn him about the financial position of the company and voice his concerns about its solvency.
At the time the company was in financial trouble, with no revenue but its 10 employees were paid huge salaries and living extravagant lifestyles including expensive meals, such as $900 dinners at Sydney’s upmarket Rockpool restaurant, and trips.
Mr De Aboitiz, who is a former chief financial officer of investment bank Rothschild, invested $1 million of his family’s trust in AWH through his relationship with the company’s chief executive Nick Di Girolamo, who was an old school friend.
But after seeing an extract of the company’s accounts, he realised that its costs were out of control and became concerned about his investment.
He went to see Senator Sinodinos at his then National Australia Bank offices. “I wanted to make sure that there was no doubt, at the executive level of the board and the non-executive level of the board, there was a clear understanding that they needed to get their affairs in order,” he told the commission.
He said he told Senator Sinodinos: “Arthur, you know that solvency’s a big issue for a director. You’re a director. You’re an experienced person. This is silly. I understand Sydney Water may be playing hard ball with you with respect but surely, surely you are in control of your own cashflow.”
“He assured me the board was on top of it and it was taken care of,” Mr de Aboitiz said.
(more in the article – just google the title or URL)
http://webarchive.nla.gov.au/gov/
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/21/us/politics/lawrence-e-walsh-iran-contra-prosecutor-dies-at-102.html?hp&_r=0
http://theconversation.com/treasury-recruits-business-leaders-to-help-drive-its-organisational-change-24647
It is a cesspool in the Liberal Party. Money, ambition and greed does that.
How can the Abbott government NOT back a call for an investigation into Sri Lankan war crimes? Easy – Abbott needs Sri Lanka on his side if he’s to keep on sending back asylum seekers.
Australia resists pressure on Sri Lanka war crimes probe
http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/australia-resists-pressure-on-sri-lanka-war-crimes-probe-20140320-355×2.html
Australia is fast running out of credibility thanks to Abbott and his miserable, corrupt, morally bankrupt government. We are becoming international pariahs.
Re the ATO: Putting the crims in charge of the police force.
It all comes down to “STOP THE BOATS”.
http://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-while-sinodinos-is-off-at-icac-someone-should-have-a-look-at-his-financial-advice-legislation-24632
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/21/us/politics/us-expanding-sanctions-against-russia-over-ukraine.html
Another free article from AFR on Sinodinos. Thy are certainly being generous with the freebies when it comes to Arfur.
Arthur Sinodinos’ Greek tragedy
A charitable explanation for Sinodinos’s lapses of judgment came from colleague Neil Chenoweth in yesterday’s Financial Review.
“Sinodinos’s account of his three-year stint from 2008 [first as a director and then as chairman of AWH] can be summarised as fathomless ignorance,’’ Chenoweth wrote.
What is certainly “fathomless’’ is how Sinodinos could have imagined his reputation would remain untainted by his association with the sorts of scoundrels involved in what has all the appearances of a public utility scam.
http://www.afr.com/p/national/arthur_sinodinos_greek_tragedy_PMaIsCzkMLmbPTOOm065SO
Joe Hockey denies everything. Getting a bit worried, by the sound of it. Funny that his office says they have repaid the money that Joe says has never been received and so could not have been repaid. Someone is lying, Joe.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-21/joe-hockey-denies-receiving-money-from-awh/5335698
To save scrolling back, the story that has upset Mr Eleventy.
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/liberal-fundraiser-linked-to-hockey-pays-back-22000-20140320-355zl.html#ixzz2wX7Eeqsi
What the Mona Lisa would have said to Abbott:
No doubt about it. Liberal politicians are great negotiators.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/21/campbell-newman-tipping-petrol-on-fire-in-dispute-with-doctors
“A Spanish island hopes to become the first in the world fully powered by renewable energy later this year when it launches a new wind and water energy plant, a spokeswoman said on Thursday.”
http://www.thelocal.es/20140320/tiny-canary-aims-for
http://www.acfonline.org.au/news-media/media-release/landcare-founders-call-new-decade-action
http://www.nff.org.au/read/4455/landcare-founders-call-for-new-decade.html
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2014/carbon-crash-solar-dawn-49570
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd1112a/12bd177
If anyone ever doubted Campbell Newman has completely lost the plot then his ‘Plan B’ should convince them he has gone completely mad. Doctors from other states and New Zealand have already been warned by their associations not to consider moving to Queensland.
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/public-hospital-specialists-slam-campbell-newmans-plan-to-force-contacts-set-up-18m-fighting-fund/story-fnihsrf2-1226809311542
Trying to portray doctors – doctors, for heaven’s sake! – as union heavies is insane. The AMA, hardly a hot-bed of rusted-on Labor supporters – says Newman is the one flinging the petrol.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-21/doctors-contracts-dispute-ama-urges-calm-after-newman-comments/5335942?section=qld
MH370 announcement from PM Abbott may have come too soon
PRIME Minister Tony Abbott yesterday grabbed the attention of the world when he told Parliament of satellite images which had been in confidential circulation for four days, but suddenly raised hopes the fate of the Malaysian Airlines plane would finally be explained.
However the absence of immediate confirmation and the increasing speculation that whatever the satellites saw may be merely ocean garbage has raised questions over the Government’s decision to go so hard with its announcement.
http://www.news.com.au/national/mh370-announcement-from-pm-abbott-may-have-come-too-soon/story-fncynjr2-1226861053939
Leroy
Labor did indeed do the heavy lifting, as Bill Shorten pointed out in parliament on Wednesday. These facts should be spread around, because the media took absolutely no notice. .
http://billshorten.com.au/category/speeches
The recently deceased anti gay loon from the Westboro church had an unexpected side.
http://www.smh.com.au/world/fred-phelps-founder-of-antigay-westboro-baptist-church-dies-at-84-20140321-hvkyn.html#ixzz2wYeNv3jf
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-21/geoff-brock-says-no-sa-election-outcome-until-next-week/5336748
Phelps is one of those interesting cases of the human state, where we can confront what is plain injustice on one side, yet preach intolerance from the other.
We are all Janus.
There are days when my decision to hand out HTVs for a particular party makes me question my sanity. Especially when particular voters rudely and occasionally vehemently spurn my proffered suggestion.
But then I am reminded that there are ‘wonderful things’ to be seen through small holes and that sometimes those small holes are actually quite big ideas!
my own opinion is that PMBO used the report of debris to divert media attention away from the questions about Arthur Sinidosis. Another ‘Oh look a unicorn!’
This crap from Mitch Fifield that roll out of NDIS is a disaster is a joke. (Hoping to cancel it and we know how many LNP bothered to turn up for the Bill in Parliament.)
The reason it was started in only trial sites was so that they could iron out bugs before the system is rolled out across Australia.
Catalyst
I agree. Absolutely. There’s also a fair whack of ‘it always has to be about Tony’ attention-seeking in there too but it has turned out not to be the sort of attention he was hoping for. Abbott looks like a fool and the whole world is watching.
A group of real Christians, not the faux Morrison/Abbott/Andrews kind, have been holdiong a prayer vigil at Scott Morrison’s office. They are praying for asylum seekers.Right now they are being arrested – for praying. They certainly look dangerous –
Blokes’ questions for Tony Abbott. He asked for it, he’s got it.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2014/mar/21/questions-for-tony-abbott?CMP=ema_792
Early
RAFFLE NIGHT
Comments will close here soon
Leone,
Amazing!
I’m hoping Abbott will get booed and heckled in PNG.
Seems I was near the money with my suggestion that the ocean debris might be a shipping container. That the Idiot would raise the relatives of victims hopes by using the announcement to cover the corruption of Uncle Arfur is truly the mark of the man!