The Big Budget Bribe.2018

joe6pack Uncategorized

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The 2018 Federal Budget will be announced tomorrow ( or what little parts already haven’t been) but a desperate Government hoping to bribe the voters into re-electing them.

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By all reports they are going to spend big on infrastructure as well as any other items the think will be looked upon favourably as well as giving tax cuts and other sweeteners immediately to the lower classes while the more affluent will have to wait a few years.

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Morrison and Mal are indeed trying to be Santa Claus. The hypocrisy is astounding by them as well as the complicate media,

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What happened to the DEBT AND DEFICIENT disaster   we were warned about day in and day out when it was much lower than what it is now? What about the Sovereign Risk to Australia,? WE were all going to be ruined unless it was bought back under control.

 

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This is the biggest bribe in place since Costello’s last one, which was the last trick to save their tired old Government from losing. This coming budget is about saving Turnbull/Morrison and the rest of Coalscums jobs.It will be talked up as brilliant by their sprukers and lickspittles , Labor will pillared from post to paddock if they don’t immediately agree to pass all the measures in the budget and then get out of the way and let the rightful rulers get on with their agenda with out question.

 

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Will the Public fall for it, or are they more savvy than given credit for?

Time will tell.

3,079 thoughts on “The Big Budget Bribe.2018”

    • That guy is as dim as Tin Ear Turnbull. What a great way to encourage the opt out option.

    • I still don’t understand why anyone bothers with private insurance. Maybe this will convince a few people to opt out of that, too.

      Labor has the wrong message on private health insurance. Instead of whinging about increases in premiums and talking about a freeze on them Labor should be talking about removing all subsidies from these rip-off funds and putting that money into the public system.

    • I’m sure there are some cases where private health insurance is needed but forked if I can think of one. I have suffered several bad injuries through sport and work,more than once been stretchered into Emergency. Treatment, service etc on public health has been superb and for the life of me cannot think how it could have been better

      I particularly remember the occasion I was carted in with a ruptured Achilles tendon. On arrival I was asked if I had private health cover. Saying no I asked what difference it would have made if i was. The receptionist said no difference except it would delay my operation and I could choose a surgeon.

    • You can choose your surgeon with the public system too. This “choice of doctor” business is just another of the lies we are told to persuade us the private system is better.

  6. So what are Turnbull’s plans to deal with all the problems involved in this? Country towns will need a lot of help providing trivial stuff like infrastructure, health services, education, employment, water supplies, transport and more if this is to happen. Does he have any plans? Any polices? Of course he doesn’t.

  8. Labor says it will reverse the Coalition’s plan to axe the clean energy supplement, which is worth hundreds of dollars a year, for those who went onto welfare after September 2016.

    While Labor has consistently opposed the as-yet unlegislated measure, on Sunday the opposition leader, Bill Shorten, and the shadow human services minister, Linda Burney, promised that if the supplement was cut, Labor would restore it. The payment is worth $365 a year for singles and $550 for couples.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jul/22/cruel-blow-for-pensioners-labor-promises-to-undo-coalitions-energy-plan

    Can’t see any mention on the ABC …

    • Labor has been promising that for ages, it’s not something new. The government has been trying to get the Senate to pass a series of bills about this, without success, for almost two years now. It will never happen, unless the government can persuade Hanson and her cross-bench cronies to wave it through.

      Here’s the big question, something Labor has not mentioned – the Abbott government removed indexation of the Energy Supplement in November 2014. Will a new Labor government restore that indexation, or is Shorten hoping no-one remembers that piece of trivia?

    • I’m now eligible for the OAP, but will stay on Carer pension for two reasons. First one is I am still a Carer, and two I would lose that energy supplement. It is not a huge amount to lose but it does cover two or three of our electricity bills.

  9. leonetwo

    Re choosing surgeons. I found it a lol at the time as, how the covfefe would someone like me, Joe Bloggs, be expected to have any idea of the good the bad and the ugly Achilles tendon surgeons ?

    • Saw that, didn’t bother clicking.

      I hope Labor wins with an increased vote in every by-election for two reasons.
      1. It would be a huge kick in the guts for Fizza.
      2. It would wipe the smirks off a whole lot of Press Gallery faces. You can tell the bastards are itching for Labor to lose.

  13. Down the aisle..
    Your shopping correspondent.

    School holidays and the central market is chockers with parents and their kids..sometimes with other parents kids too!..One lady had quite a cluster swarming about her ..

    “You got the whole class today?” I asked, to which she agreed and replied ;”Almost!”

    Trouble is, they form a kind of grommet bottleneck at all the free-sample stalls…especially the Smelly Cheese places…their hesitant nibbling on a delightful washed rind or Italian hard-cheese occupying so much time that one is tempted to want to abandon the experience altogether….if it wasn’t a free sample..

    One trick I do use to get a place in a crowded situation, now that I have age on my side..is to say loud enough in a plaintive kind of weak-wail..: “Is there any room for a retired old fellow?”..and hey..you should see them scatter on a good day!..and of course, the aged fart is always a solid fall-back position…clears a space no worries..

    Zuma’s Café, of course, was the usual crowded place, where one has to reluctantly trip up a fellow pensioner and send them sprawling then walking over the top of them to get to secure a table first…You gotta be cruel to be kind to yourself in those crowded cafes..

    And there I was re-packing the trolley outside Goodies and Grains, there by the pensioner’s seat when this six or seven year old with those shoes with the secreted wheels on the bottom came scooting past so fast as to nearly sweep me around in a spinning circle…

    “Watch out old timer!” he called…the bloody cheek!..old timer indeed!…I tell you what, some of these young-uns…you just got to get one look at ‘em and you know it’s not gonna end well.

    Now, just when I’m getting used to those stressed jeans that the young people wear, with the knees ripped and so on..I saw yesterday where they now are wearing those black tights and they are stressing them too..like horizontal runs in the fabric…I dunno..the only way we could rip our jeans back in the old days was by falling off our motorbikes…I suppose you’d call that ; “doing it the hard way”.

    And those puffy jackets that seem to be all the rage now..getting around like the top half of the Michelin man doesn’t appeal to me..but I gotta admit, while lacking in style, they do look cosy.

    But I did learn a new label while standing outside Standom’s small-goods and admiring their selection of processed meats..I heard two passing, thin looking people, that in retrospect could very well have been vegans..one commenting to the other in what could be called a sneering whisper..:

    “Hrumph!…perving at the flesh there…it’s carnivore porn!”

    Well..until next time, shoppers, this is your correspondent signing off.

  14. This reporter won’t last long………..but I did enjoy this.

  15. Some feedback please?

    I have osteo in the knee joints and I am looking at an alternative to knee replacement surgery. I was told by one surgeon that knee replacements are said to have a use-by-date of 15 yrs and surgeons will not replace them until one turns 70 or so.(not their yet).

    I am looking at stem cell treatment, have spoken to one person who has had it with favorable results.

    Sure it is expensive, in the region of $12,000 to $15,000 but if it proves to be a viable option to surgeon, I feel it would be well worth it. I can also afford it.

    Has anyone here had stem-cell treatment or know anyone who has? I would be grateful hear yours or their experience. Thank you

    • I’m not going to be much help, my knees are still hanging in there.

      I can say this though – whoever is telling you knee replacement surgery can’t be done until you are over 70 is lying. I know a few people who have had it done in their early 60s and one who had it done in their 50s. Get another opinion(s) on that.

      I have a friend who was going to have the stem cell option. He spent months on a special anti-inflammatory diet in preparation, then the doctor who had convinced him to have this option left town and it didn’t go any further. The diet did make his knee feel better though, so it was doing what it was supposed to do.

      Now, a few years later, he’s just been to see a surgeon about having the op done the “normal” way. He has completely lost interest in the stem cell thing.

  17. Freeall852

    You forgot the fish shop, you need a stockwhip to clear the way to that counter. What about the iconic second hand book stall? Many a good read is to be had from the piles of printed word.

    It is hard to describe the Central Markets, except to say it is a foodies’s delight, with that old fashioned fruit, veg, cheese, fish, bread, pastries, cured meats, coffee, sweets, chocolate, fresh flowers smell of an undercover market that has been around almost forever.

    Hey, let me know when you are going to be there and I will meet you at Zumas. I will help knock over a few grannnys and gramps to reserve us a table.

    • As an SA exile, it is one of my delights to go to the Central Markets in Adelaide. It is a marvel that they’ve survived at all in this development age, and better still that they’ve even improved their appeal through the modest development of connecting arcades and the great expansion into Asian and other multi-ethnic groceries and foods. And since my youngest days I’ve enjoyed browsing at the 2nd-hand books.

      Adelaide has kept an eye on its rich heritage, most notably since Dunstan’s time, but reaching back even earlier. I’m sure that the National Trust would have the Central Markets very high on their ‘must retain’ list.

  18. Now here is a spray ! “Former Liberal candidate in NSW takes aim at the NSW Liberal Party in right wing organ The Spectator…”

    James Falk
    20 July 2018
    7:53 PM

    Well done, New South Wales Liberals, well done.

    You weren’t content with sentencing the people of NSW to years under the spineless nanny Premiers Boozey O’Forgetful, Twotter Greyhound and Chastity de Stadia.

    You weren’t content with foisting Lord Waffle and his wife Rasputina upon the nation.

    You weren’t content with soiling the centre-right with the incessant factional bickering between The Moist, The Unctuous and The Unlikeable.

    You weren’t content with running from political debate and slowing the Left’s cultural and economic destruction by 20 or 30 minutes.

    You weren’t content with reducing government to Michael Photios’ employment agency.

    No – you had to do more.

    You had to prove what we all knew. That at heart our rulers are exactly the self-serving, careerist status-hounds you told us you weren’t. That you carry not one ounce of integrity, not a semblance of a sense of duty. That you only seek to represent your own interests, not those of your party members, and certainly not those of your electorates.

    You had to prove you cannot think beyond tomorrow, and if you could, you wouldn’t care.

    Your one true act of goodness is to prove the popular rising across the West is right on absolutely everything.

    I don’t know what form The Beast will take. I don’t know who will get to choose its form. It could be a person, or it could be an event. I don’t know when it will be. But The Beast will come.

    And NSW Liberals, no one will defend you.

    https://www.spectator.com.au/2018/07/the-nsw-liberals-destroy-themselves-along-with-the-nation/

    • My goodness!

      More a blast from a fire hose than a mere spray.

      Lord Waffle and Rasputina – love it!

  20. Fred (@eJames39) leonetwo

    I had a knee replacement in 2004 I turned 50 in April this year. The knee is as good today as the day it was put in and the only thing I will have to have done at some stage is have the plastic the joint slides on replaced.
    My Knee problem was caused by an industrial accident at work where I was hit by a 16inch flange that gave me a compound fracture a extensive damage to the knee

    I also had osteo and was having an osteotomy every 6 months where they would surgically break the femur or tibia and take a wedge of bone out to straighten up the leg I had 4 of these until the surgeon said no more time to consider replacement

  21. I think Raab needs to tread a bit carefully. I don’t think EU27 would mind a hard Brexit

    The UK’s new Brexit secretary, Dominic Raab, has accused Brussels of being “irresponsible” for flagging up the risks to EU nationals living in the UK from a no-deal Brexit.

    In an interview on the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show on Sunday, Raab described a document published by the EU last week highlighting the risk of the UK leaving the EU without an agreement as “obviously an attempt to try and ramp up the pressure”.

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2018/jul/22/brexit-no-divorce-payment-without-trade-deal-says-dominic-raab

  26. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    Peter Hartcher on the Coalition’s improv3d fortunes.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/frankenstein-s-monster-arises-in-canberra-20180722-p4zszb.html
    Tony Walker writes that Super Saturday will be a moment of truth for Shorten.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/super-saturday-shorten-s-moment-of-truth-arrives-20180720-p4zsnn.html
    Jess Irvine opines that our future prosperity depends on addressing inequality.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/future-prosperity-depends-on-addressing-inequality-20180722-p4zsxb.html
    Travers McLeod asks, “Is it time for an Australian sustainable finance taskforce?”
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/national/time-for-an-australian-sustainable-finance-taskforce-20180720-p4zso1.html
    A less than impressed Ross Gittins leads his contribution with “I see the federal Auditor-General has been less than complimentary about the Turnbull government’s cashless welfare card. The cheek! I say the man should be removed and replaced by a Liberal Party staffer forthwith.´
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/budget-office-fills-gap-left-by-politicised-treasury-20180722-p4zswb.html
    Michelle Grattan looks at how the leaders are grappling for the position of underdog in the lead up to Super Saturday
    https://theconversation.com/leaders-seek-underdog-status-in-byelection-battle-to-be-top-dog-100370
    Senior judicial figures have called for the establishment of a federal anti-corruption watchdog to investigate dubiously large sums of money paid to irrigators by the federal government. This could prove to be dynamite!
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2018/07/22/federal-icac-murray-darling/
    Greg Jericho writes that industry super funds are thrashing those run by banks – and business is crying foul.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2018/jul/22/greg-jericho-industry-super-funds-keep-outclassing-retail-ones-but-the-attacks-dont-stop
    In similar vein Labor senator Jenny McAllister says the Australian public service deserves a leader who respects it. Hear hear!
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/public-service-deserves-a-leader-who-respects-it-20180720-p4zsqd.html
    John McDuling wonders if Amazon will go the same wat as Starbucks has don in Australia.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/amazon-in-australia-starbucks-redux-20180720-p4zsp2.html
    Labor says it will reverse the Coalition’s plan to axe the clean energy supplement, which is worth hundreds of dollars a year, for those who went onto welfare after September 2016.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jul/22/cruel-blow-for-pensioners-labor-promises-to-undo-coalitions-energy-plan
    The Trump presidency is the politics of anti-politics, writes Kim Sawyer. It is the politics of disrespect. Trump is “The Lord of the Lies”, he says.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/the-lord-of-the-lies-donald-trumps-uncivil-war,11714
    Researcher Nicky Ison tells us that the Turnbull NEG policy guarantees nothing but the status quo on power and climate.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/turnbull-policy-guarantees-nothing-but-the-status-quo-on-power-and-climate-20180722-p4zsx1.html
    The British billionaire investing in South Australia believes renewables are the future of energy, because it makes economic sense – and he’s going to prove it!
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/jul/23/sanjeev-gupta-coal-power-is-no-longer-cheaper-and-well-prove-it
    Richo says that the LNP are running a scare campaign against Labor which reeks of hypocrisy as Turnbull wants to make us believe that Labor will open the borders and the boats will be hitting our shores again with all of the accompanying deaths at sea.
    https://outline.com/Jm6pTz
    Professor Mark Gregory says that the NBN should be built and fully operational by 2022, having cost about A$50 billion. The question will then be whether the government should retain the NBN or sell it off.
    https://theconversation.com/what-should-be-done-with-the-nbn-in-the-long-run-99294
    Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has cautioned US President Donald Trump about pursuing hostile policies against Tehran, saying “America should know … war with Iran is the mother of all wars.”
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/iran-s-rouhani-warns-trump-war-with-iran-mother-of-all-wars-20180722-p4zsyy.html
    Urban Wronski this week begins with comment on how Shorten has been attacked by “our glorious Coalition, a collective of climate change deniers, rent-seekers, lobbyists and sundry other butlers, maids of the mining, banking and corporate oligarchies which run our nation with Gina Rinehart and Rupert Murdoch’s tender assistance”.
    https://urbanwronski.com/2018/07/22/look-out-bill-is-right-behind-you/
    The SMH editorial says rapid population growth is causing growing pains. The answer is to increase investment in infrastructure, not to demonise people making such a positive contribution.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/immigrants-are-not-pawns-in-the-game-of-politics-20180722-p4zsyn.html
    Meanwhile a leader of Victoria’s South Sudanese community has claimed he was bashed in a politically motivated attack, amid a growing rift within the community and a government freeze on funding.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/south-sudanese-leader-claims-he-was-attacked-20180722-p4zsz6.html
    The Uber Tuber just won’t let up though!
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/sudanese-gangs-a-major-law-and-order-problem-says-dutton-20180722-p4zsyb.html
    The regulator responsible for the nation’s super was warned eight years ago that the major banks were overcharging members.
    https://outline.com/TYzNgj
    The prospect of sending more skilled migrants to the bush to work appears to be gathering steam with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saying it is “certainly feasible” and a Labor senator signalling the party is open to the idea.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/turnbull-signals-plans-to-get-more-skilled-migrants-to-the-bush-20180721-p4zsuj.html
    The proposal to weigh children at school is justified by Professor Allender on the grounds that it’s working well in the United States and the United Kingdom. If that’s the case then how come American kids are so obese? Kasey Edwards won’t have a bar of it.
    https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/the-proposal-to-weigh-kids-at-school-is-misguided-20180722-p4zszh.html
    The Trump administration has released documents related to the surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, as part of an investigation into whether he colluded with Russia to undermine the 2016 US presidential election.
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/jul/22/trump-administration-releases-carter-page-wiretap-documents
    A story from the New Ypork Times explains that Republicans, regardless of their stance so far, are facing a charge that goes beyond the White House: complicity.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/world/north-america/after-helsiniki-congress-faces-a-new-charge-with-trump-complicity-20180723-p4zszx.html
    Another Troppo Trump Tweet session.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-tweets-his-campaign-was-spied-on-illegally-and-fbi-misled-courts-20180722-p4zszj.html
    Owen Evans says that We seem to have entered yet another outbreak of data anxiety in Australia, triggered by the introduction of an opt-out period for the My Health Record system. He concludes that it is up to the industry to find solutions that will once again make it safe for non-expert citizens to use IT as an enabler rather than seeing it as the “big scary baby” it seems to have become.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/data-anxiety-is-bad-for-your-health-20180720-p4zspr.html
    When you don’t count national parks, Sydney’s population density exceeds Los Angeles’ – and some suburbs are more heavily impacted than others.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/the-truth-about-how-many-people-are-being-packed-into-sydney-20180621-p4zmww.html
    Embattled department store owner Myer has launched legal action to recover the $4 million the struggling retailer says it is owed by its product warranty insurer.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/myer-sues-insurer-to-recover-lost-millions-20180720-p4zsqf.html
    Investigative reporter Kate McClymont, who has won five Walkley awards and collected even more death threats, is a firm advocate for changing defamation laws..
    https://outline.com/3PUvLF
    The banking royal commission has probed AMP and the big four banks for hundreds of thousands of documents, board minutes and fee and return structures as it prepares to grill executives over misconduct in the $2.6 trillion superannuation sector.
    https://outline.com/pNut2D
    ARCO fund manager George Colman says he is cautious on the Australian economy and is warning of a “slow-motion property market crash”.
    https://outline.com/Kzwq7p
    A new report shows telco consumers are not impressed with their customer service experiences – especially with Telstra.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/frustrated-telco-users-hit-out-in-new-report-20180722-p4zsxt.html
    We are up for a spectacular lunar eclipse on the morning of 28 July.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/the-world-is-about-to-witness-the-longest-lunar-eclipse-of-the-century-20180723-p4zszv.html
    Michael West reports that the Adani Group’s near decade-long attempts to build an integrated “pit-to-plug” export thermal coal mine in the Queensland’s Galilee Basin, to supply its 4.6 gigawatt (GW) Mundra import coal fired power plant remains at risk of being a stranded asset. However, Adani Ports chief executive Karan Adani’s comments this week highlight that Carmichael is by no means dead and buried.
    https://www.michaelwest.com.au/adani-never-underestimate-a-billionaire/
    The family of Australian life coach Justine Damond Ruszczyk, who was shot dead by a Minneapolis police officer, will file a civil lawsuit in the US. If successful, the lawsuit could result in a multimillion dollar payout to her family.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/world/north-america/justine-damond-s-family-to-file-us-civil-lawsuit-20180723-p4zt00.html
    Grieving Australians could be saving “thousands” of dollars in funeral costs but are often ripped off at their most vulnerable by aggressive up-selling tactics on unnecessary ‘bells and whistles’. There are ways of keeping the cost down.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/consumer/2018/07/20/funeral-cost-expensive-save-money/

    Cartoon Corner – this is all I could dig up!

    At least DVID Rowe has a couple for us.


    Jon Kudelka on the fight to claim underdog status.
    https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/87f10f859c7920de20beb0343bc1cb71
    Just three more in here.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/best-of-fairfax-cartoons-july-23-2018-20180722-h13059.html

  27. Dear Fairfax journalists –

    Please explain why Super Saturday will not be a “moment of truth” for TurnbulL

    Please explain why there are no articles about challenges to Turnbull’s obviously precarious leadership while every day you write confected rubbish about Albo counting numbers and preparing for a challenge if Labor loses just one Super Saturday by-election.

    Please explain why there have been no articles condemning Turnbull and the Liberal Party for their cowardice in refusing to run candidates in the Perth and Fremantle by-elections, and in doing so denying their voters a choice.

    Until these explanations are provided I won’t be reading any of the wafflings churned out by you lot. I think I’ll be waiting for ever.

    • What absolute rubbish!

      It’s blatantly obvious that Lenore Taylor and Katharine Murphy still adore Turnbull. What is it with these apparently intelligent, well-educated, mature women and their silly, fan-girl devotion to Fizza?

      Never forget Taylor and Murphy once argued over which one of them had been first to say they thought Fizza was “the best”. I

      The media are falling over themselves to laud Malcolm Turnbull. Even the Guardian is getting in on the act. Lenore Taylor was recently heard to say “I think he’s the best”, to which Katharine Murphy replied “Well I thought he was the best first”.

      A recent piece by Katharine Murphy called Prime Minister Turnbull “Mr Nuance”

      https://newmatilda.com/2015/11/27/media-praises-turnbulls-reasoned-and-nuanced-torture-of-asylum-seekers/

      This pointless, misplaced and unbecoming adoration colours Taylor’s editing and Murphy’s political articles. The pro-government bias at The Guardian is growing. For some reason The Guardian is seen as left-friendly and leaning towards Labor. I don’t think so.

      This duo are not alone in their girlish flutterings. Annabel Crabb always seemed enchanted by Abbott. Her giggly reactions on “Insiders” whenever Abbott’s name was mentioned or a video of his latest stunt was shown were embarrassing for those who had to endure them. So were her articles where she talked about Abbott being “charming” (on what planet?) or hyperventilated over his alleged masculinity. And just look at the way Leigh Sales simpers and flutters her eyelashes whenever she does an interview with Fizza yet comes over like a 19th century spinster schoolmarm, all prickly manner and harsh voice when she interviews Shorten.It’s time they all grew up, acted their age, stopped acting like Turnbull groupies.

  32. Very interesting article here, written in 2016. Good to see Turnbull getting a dishonourable mention as the author of the flawed legislation.

    As always seems the way with legislative disasters, it goes back to Howard. He was desperate to neutralise Rudd’s environmental focus leading up to the 2007 election and rushed into the Murray Darling Basin Plan, designed for no other reason than political gain.

  33. When the going gets tough the weak run away.

    To save you Googling (this is a strongly paywalled article and Outline won’t have a bar of it) here it is, in its heart-rending, Poor Pauline entirety.

    An “exhausted’’ Pauline Hanson has made a surprise withdrawal from campaigning ahead of the Longman by-election, increasing the unpredictability of the already knife-edge contest for the marginal Queensland seat.

    In another sign the One Nation leader is feeling the pressure from the latest round of brawling in her party, Senator Hanson quietly withdrew about 10 days ago and is not planning to return ahead of Saturday’s ballot, leaving candidate Matthew Stephen to fight alone.

    As Malcolm Turnbull and Bill Shorten ramped up their campaigns with weekend appearances in the sprawling electorate, north of Brisbane, new polling confirmed One Nation preferences would be likely to decide the by-­election. A jump in support for One Nation, and Senator Hanson’s decision to preference the Liberal National Party ahead of Labor, has the government just ahead and in sight of becoming the first to snatch a seat from an opposition at a by-election in 98 years.

    But any leak of One Nation’s vote to Labor — with Senator Hanson’s absence in the crucial last week — could keep the seat with the opposition, and help ­secure Mr Shorten’s leadership.

    Senator Hanson could not be contacted yesterday, but a senior One Nation spokesman said she was “exhausted and in need of some R&R’’.

    “She won’t be campaigning any more in Longman; she wisely has taken time off and isn’t intending to campaign in Longman this week … she needs the rest,’’ he said.

    “There is a big year ahead, which will include a general election, and she wants to recharge over the next few weeks and come back bigger and stronger.’’

    Senator Hanson’s absence has sparked speculation over how she is handling the pressure after months of debate and negotiations over whether to support Turnbull government legislation and internal party bickering.

    The One Nation spokesman also said she had faced a series of illnesses in her family, with her daughter, Lee, recently under­going surgery on her spine.

    In late May, Senator Hanson broke down during a television ­interview amid a brawl with One Nation senator Brian Burston, who then resigned from the party.

    Mr Stephen said he had hoped Senator Hanson could return to the campaign and that she had spent a “full week” with him at the beginning of the campaign.

    “If she has time to spare, I’m grateful for it,” he said when asked if he wanted the One Nation leader to rejoin him on the campaign.

    “If she doesn’t, well she doesn’t. I’m not here to rely on superstar powers to get into office, I’m relying on policies.”

    But he said he had noticed a big difference between her visits and those of Mr Turnbull and Mr Shorten at the weekend. “They don’t go through shopping centres, they don’t publicly expose themselves — unlike when we had senator Pauline Hanson here, it was like I was walking around with Rod Stewart,” he said.

    “It was like you’re in a crazed fan frenzy — there were selfies and wellwishers. You don’t see Bill Shorten or Malcolm Turnbull doing that because they’re not popular.”

    A ReachTEL poll, published by The Sunday Mail, show the LNP’s Trevor Ruthenberg on 51 per cent to Susan Lamb’s 49 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis. In the primary vote, the LNP has 37.9 per cent, Labor is on 35.8 and One Nation is at 13.9 per cent.

  34. At last! An article that starts with “Malcolm Turnbull has been dealt blow”.

    This is not a good look, Tim Wilson is the chair of the government’s standing committee on health.

    Liberal MP Tim Wilson speaks out against My Health Record

    Malcolm Turnbull has been dealt a blow by one of his own MPs, who has publicly criticised the controversial My Health Record system and revealed he has opted out.
    ………………………….
    “I don’t think it would surprise anybody that my instinctive position should always be as a Liberal that systems should be opt in and that people should be free to chose to opt into a system, rather than have to go through the process of opting out,” Mr Wilson told Sky News this morning.

    “And that includes myself. I have opted out of this system.

    “Ultimately it’s up to everybody to chose what to do.”

    https://outline.com/B3kS8J

  40. May is a coward

    No 10 refuses to say May supports Javid on allowing death penalty option for British jihadists in US

    I’m just back from the Number 10 lobby briefing. Most of the questions were about the Telegraph splash, and Sajid Javid’s decision to effectively approve a death penalty option for British jihadists facing trial in the US, and the Downing Street line was unusually ambivalent. Here are the main points.

    Number 10 said the decision to let the two jihadists face trial in the US without the usual assurance that the death penalty would not be applied was taken by Javid and Boris Johnson, the then foreign secretary. The prime minister was aware of the decision, her spokeswoman said. But the spokeswoman repeatedly refused to say that Theresa May “supported” the decision. Instead she kept insisting that he government was agreed that the men need to face justice (although she was unable to explain why facing justice required a death penalty option.)

    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2018/jul/23/javid-says-british-militants-can-be-tried-in-us-without-usual-no-death-penalty-assurance-politics-live

  41. Tonight I’ve been watching Bill Shorten’s latest town hall meeting (via Facebook) in Devonport.

    There won’t be a word about this meeting in the media tomorrow, or on any TV news show. No-one wants to talk about Labor’s polices or plans, so all we get is drivel about an imaginary challenge from Albo.

    Bill has just told the audience to get out there and talk to others, because the media will not mention anything about Labor plans. He’s dead right.

    Here’s the empty chair reserved for Turnbull, who was invited to turn up to debate health. He didn’t bother. He’s busy taking selfies in Tennant Creek.

    Video of the meeting, if you have 2 hours to spare.

    Worth it in particular for the comments by the woman whose partner has been incarcerated on Christmas Island for 16 months. Starts around 1 hour 34 in, and gets a revisit at the end.

  42. Does she care about those stupid enough to vote for her party? Nope!. Hanson is as far away from Australia as she can get – Belfast. On a cruise ship.

    So much for being “exhausted”, or needing to support her daughter after surgery.

    • According to Bolt she’s with her sister and her sister’s husband. Ashby apparently not there. You can bet Pauline hasn’t paid for any of this, either it’s come from party funds or she will claim it on expenses as “electorate business”.

      Don’t you love the video, made ages ago allegedly at her Queensland property but released now to make it seem poor, exhausted, doting mum Pauline needs help with her campaign.

  43. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    Greg Jericho gets to the point in writing that Australia’s tax base is collapsing and we are on a collision course with reality. An excellent article!
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2018/jul/24/australias-tax-base-is-collapsing-and-we-are-on-a-collision-course-with-reality
    Peter Hartcher tells us how Australia has become do sensitive to Beijing because we have become so dependent on China as an export market. A strong relationship with India might ne the right medicine he says.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/stronger-ties-to-india-can-reduce-unhealthy-dependency-on-china-20180723-p4zt5m.html
    Simon Bartholomeusz writes that the Australian dollar will be a good barometer of the intensity of the trade hostilities launched by Trump.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/trade-wars-australia-could-get-badly-hurt-if-giants-collide-20180723-p4zt2f.html
    Meanwhile Australia has backed growing calls for a revamp of global trade rules to defuse an escalating tariff war between the US and Europe and China, with Treasurer Scott Morrison calling for a broader review “of how the system has failed”.
    https://outline.com/NMk2xK
    Eryk Bagshaw explains how Treasury had concerns about the surging cost of dividend imputation before Labor announced a $55 billion plan to clawback tax refunds from 1 million retirees, new government advice marked “protected” has revealed.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/treasury-analysis-warned-of-dividend-imputation-costs-blowing-out-20180723-p4zt2d.html
    David Crowe reports that Morrison has backed a fall in Australia’s permanent migration intake as proof the policy is “working as it should” despite growing business concerns about skilled migrants being turned away.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/scott-morrison-backs-tighter-migration-settings-20180723-p4zt5n.html
    Not only “Kill Bill” but now “Get Emma”.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/embattled-labor-mp-emma-husar-charged-taxpayers-2000-for-limousines-to-sydney-functions-20180723-p4zt2w.html
    Capping a week of drama, backtracking, a double negative and blistering statements from allies about his attitude towards Russian election interference, Donald Trump was back to referring to “a big hoax”.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/a-big-hoax-donald-trump-again-casts-doubt-on-russian-election-meddling-20180723-p4zt6a.html
    The Washington Post says that Trump’s pugnacious tweet in Iran was simply a misdirection attempt.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/what-trump-s-iran-tweet-was-really-about-misdirection-20180724-p4zt6n.html
    The White House on Monday threatened to strip six former US intelligence and law enforcement officials, including Obama-era CIA director John Brennan, of their security clearances as Trump considers striking back at critics of his summit meeting last week with Putin.
    https://www.theage.com.au/world/north-america/white-house-wants-to-strip-security-clearances-from-former-officials-20180724-p4zt6m.html
    The UK Guardian’s editorial says Donald Trump has channelled the anger felt by globalisation’s discontents to serve an agenda in line with elite interests.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/jul/23/the-guardian-view-on-trumps-trade-wars-making-a-bad-situation-worse
    Meanwhile Sacha Baron Cohen continues to dupe US right wingers into ridiculing themselves!
    https://www.theage.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/us-politician-drops-pants-and-screams-n-word-in-new-who-is-america-episode-20180723-p4zt53.html
    Porline can really pick her candidates!
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jul/23/one-nation-election-longman-candidate-matthew-stephen-company-debt-irish-labourer
    Directors from 14 super funds will be called upon to explain themselves when the Hayne royal commission kicks off public hearings into superannuation when hearings start on August 6. Half of them will be industry funds.
    https://outline.com/GYpGX2
    Now Tudge throws the race card at Dan Andrews.
    https://outline.com/bTyF8P
    And Dan Andrews hits back at the Uber Tuber by saying the family of a woman who was killed in a Melbourne CBD apartment brawl “deserve better”, after her death prompted a political debate about law and order in the state.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jul/23/melbourne-mother-calls-for-justice-after-daughter-killed-in-cbd-apartment
    Adam Carey tells us that the Liberal upper house MP Simon Ramsay has been put under pressure to resign from state politics by Opposition Leader Matthew Guy after being caught driving almost four times over the legal alcohol limit.
    https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/liberal-mp-who-blew-19-pressured-by-matthew-guy-to-quit-politics-20180723-p4zt25.html
    Tony Walker tells us why the world should be worried about the rise of strongman politics.
    https://theconversation.com/why-the-world-should-be-worried-about-the-rise-of-strongman-politics-100165
    Current backbench troubles reflect elected representatives who are divorced from the reality of life for most workers, writes John Passant.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/by-elections-backbenchers-and-wannabes,11716
    Investors in AGL Energy and Origin Energy are right to be worried about the prospects for their electricity retailing businesses, according to competition tsar Rod Sims, who is leading the regulator’s crackdown on the way the big three players treat their most loyal – and profitable – customers.
    https://outline.com/ub9TFK
    John Birmingham is pleased he grew up in an era that did not have social media.
    https://www.smh.com.au/technology/why-i-m-glad-i-didn-t-grow-up-with-social-media-20180723-p4zt6h.html
    Michael Pascoe writes that the American go-slow on refugee resettlement is holding Australia to ransom.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/world/2018/07/22/manus-nauru-asylum-seeker-deal/
    Australia’s electoral commission was left effectively powerless to crack down on a Panama-hosted website publishing homophobic material during the same-sex marriage debate, an episode that has raised fears about its ability to enforce campaign laws on political advertising originating abroad.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/jul/24/australian-watchdog-unable-to-enforce-political-advertising-law-over-offshore-sites
    News Corp Australia has called on the government to review the charters of the ABC and SBS and to restrict the public broadcasters from unfairly competing with its newspapers, websites and Sky News.
    https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/jul/23/news-corp-wants-limits-on-abc-to-prevent-advantaged-competition
    Barnaby Joyce says he would still love to lead the Nationals and be Australia’s deputy prime minister. Heaven forbid!
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2018/07/23/barnaby-joyce-deputy-pm/
    Elizabeth Knight opines that the appointment of a 20-year veteran of the Wesfarmers board as an independent chairman of the soon-to-be-separated Coles doesn’t pass the pub test.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/independence-day-wesfarmers-ceo-defends-choice-of-coles-chairman-20180723-p4zt3w.html
    National Australia Bank chief executive Andrew Thorburn says the bank will stop charging farmers penalty interest if they fall behind on their repayments due to drought as he admitted it had lost touch with some of its customers.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/we-lost-touch-nab-to-give-farmers-drought-reprieve-20180723-p4zt52.html
    Most Australians have negative views of cash-only businesses, with consumers saying it makes them wonder if the business is honest, according to research commissioned by the Australian Tax Office and published on Tuesday.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/small-business/ato-warns-over-honesty-of-cash-only-businesses-20180723-p4zt54.html
    Clementine Ford argues that the NSW bar association got it wrong on consent.
    https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/why-the-nsw-bar-association-got-it-wrong-on-consent-20180723-p4zt69.html
    A worthy entrant for “Arsehole of the Week” here.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/guest-at-billionaire-s-penthouse-party-convicted-of-sex-assault-20180723-p4zt5w.html

    Cartoon Corner

    David Rowe brings Albo into the picture.

    Paul Zanetti on Clive Palmer’s political comeback.

    Two from Sean Leahy on the Longman election.


    From Peter Broelman.

    A few from Matt Golding that are not in the link below.


    Mark Knight is a bit cynical here.

    And he puts a certain slant on the Trump-Putin summit.

    Knight was unimpressed with the AFL crowd brawl the other day.
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dix9Qd_V4AAaq1x.jpg:large
    Some very good ones in here.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/best-of-fairfax-cartoons-july-24-2018-20180723-h131tq.html

  45. Richard Denniss –

    The ABC needs fixing,not “saving”
    https://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/the-abc-needs-fixing-not-saving-20180722-h130bd

    I especially like this comment, something no-one else will say.

    Let’s clear this up. It is impossible to privatise the ABC because it loses about $1 billion per year and is not allowed to collect revenue from advertising. And if a privatised ABC were allowed to advertise, then the loss of revenue for the commercial TV stations would be enormous. Talk about sovereign risk

    One thing though – the comparison with the Australian War Memorial doesn’t work. Although entry is still free Brendan Nelson has allowed sponsorship by weapons manufacturers, and those names are very prominent. That is the equivalent of the ABC having advertising.

    http://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/why-are-weapons-makers-sponsoring-the-national-war-memorial/9788666

    • The other aspect is that if the ABC needs nobbling so that commercial channels can be less challenged, then those commercial channels are obviously not doing something right as even in its current nobbled state the ABC is better at the job than they are.

      Or is it more about propaganda than actually having a broadcaster that reaches all corners of the country, commercially viable or not, that appeals to more than just food-porn shows?

  46. We desperately need a federal ICAC

    Think tank close to Turnbulls receives $12m government grant

    The United States Studies Centre, a foreign policy think tank with close links to the Turnbull and Murdoch families, has been given $12 million by the federal government.

    The think tank, Based at Sydney University, was established by the American Australian Association to promote the US alliance, train students, develop policy and provide an intellectual counterweight to American critics in Australian universities.

    The grant, which was announced on Sunday, will be provided through the AAA, which was co-founded by Rupert Murdoch’s father, Sir Keith Murdoch. Part of the money will go to USAsia Centre, which is the US Study Centre’s sister organisation located at the University of Western Australia.

    The grant is an example of how politically connected organisations are often effective at lobbying governments for funding.

    Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s wife, Lucy Turnbull, is the United States Studies Centre’s “patron”.

    Their son-in-law, James Brown, was the think tank’s research director from 2015 until a few months ago, when he resigned to devote time to the unpaid role as president of the NSW division of the Returned and Services League of Australia, which is going through a financial scandal

    https://www.afr.com/news/politics/think-tank-close-to-turnbulls-receives-12m-government-grant-20180723-h1317e

  47. More about the PHON candidate for Longman.

    No wonder Hanson has run away. It’s worth mentioning that Belfast – her last known location – was where the Titanic was built.

  48. Perhaps Poorlene is over there looking for the Irish Tiler her candidate ‘sold’ the business to ? 🙂

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