Letter to the Prime Minister

This little black duck Uncategorized

Prime Minister,

On 18 September 2013, you were made Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. You set in place certain policies and practices.

On 17 February 2014, I, Reza Barati, from Iran, prisoner on Manus Island, died from beatings by prison guards and Manus Islanders.

On 22 June 2014, I, Sayed Ibrahim Hussein, from Pakistan, prisoner on Nauru, drowned in the ocean.

On 5 September 2014, I, Hamid Kehazaei, from Iran, prisoner on Manus Island, died from untreated septicemia.

On 29 April 2016, I, Omid Masoumali, from Iran, prisoner on Nauru, died when I killed myself.

On 11 May 2016, I, Rakib Khan, from Sri Lanka, prisoner on Nauru, died from an overdose

On 2 August 2016, I, Kamil Hussain, from Pakistan, prisoner on Manus Island, died swimming.

On 24 December 2016, I, Faysal Ishak Ahmed, from Sudan, prisoner on Manus Island, died from untreated seizures.

On 7 August 2017, I, Hamed Shamshiripour, from Iran, prisoner on Manus Island, died when I killed myself.

On 2 October 2017, I, Rajeev Rajendran, from Sri Lanka, prisoner on Manus Island, died when I killed myself.

On 2 November 2017, I, Jahingir, from Bangladesh, prisoner on Nauru, died hit by a car.

On 22 May 2018, I, Salim Kyawning, stateless Rohingya, prisoner on Manus Island, died when I killed myself.

On 15 June 2018, I, Fariborz Karami, from Iran, prisoner on Nauru, died when I killed myself.

You failed in your duty of care: you killed us.

In that time, you have taken more than one million dollars from Australian taxpayers. Is eighty thousand dollars sufficient reward for each of the twelve lives?

We feel so sorry for your God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

495 thoughts on “Letter to the Prime Minister”

  2. Must be time for another arm-in-sling

    The Home Affairs Department is failing to support a troubled $317 million fleet of new border protection vessels, according to a report officials wanted to suppress.

    Australia’s national auditor has uncovered tensions within the patrol program as the Australian-based shipbuilder maintaining the fleet claims it is taking on unreasonable costs because of a shortage in federal government funding and a failure to anticipate the work involved.

    The company contracted to manage the Cape Class fleet says more funding is needed.Credit:Max Mason-Hubers

    Last month, it was revealed that Home Affairs flagged it could have the national audit office’s report redacted, a move feared to continue a precedent set by an arms manufacturer that forced parts of a report into a military deal to be blacked out.

    The Auditor-General on Tuesday released a report into the nation’s Cape Class vessels patrolling for illegal activity on the nation’s coastline, finding multiple failures by Home Affairs to manage the fleet as it came into service.

    Funded with $570 million in government spending over a decade, the boats are tasked with detecting asylum seeker arrivals, illegal activity at sea and biosecurity threats, and together were required to provide 2400 patrol days each year.

    Since the fleet arrived in full in 2015, Home Affairs has reported the department is falling well short of its 3300 patrol day target.

    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/federal/audit-under-censorship-threat-reveals-home-affairs-patrol-boat-tensions-20181219-p50n7v.html

    • You really don’t want to know. First Dog is letting fly at ALP supporters because the ALP isn’t perfect and have to do all those boring things a major party is obliged to do – like cost analysis of policies and weighing the political cost of their actions. .

      The Greens, meanwhile, can promise any old thing, safe in the knowledge that they’ll never actually have to produce it and face up to the consequences.

      As always, I’m in sympathy with a lot of what the Greens stand for, but routinely appalled at the way they go about their politics. When you’ve got the support of just 10% of the nation, the best you can be is an honest broker. Standing around tapping your feet and saying ‘tut tut’ to the nearest party to you doesn’t actually achieve anything.

  4. Credlin for Mallee? Oh sure, please let the Libs go ahead with that. They can ask Sophie Mirabella just how well her career as a partisan spear carrier for the hard right went in a rural Victorian electorate.

  6. Interesting

    Taylor was brought up on a sheep and cattle property near Nimmitabel, New South Wales, and was educated at Nimmitabel Public School and The King’s School, Parramatta. Taylor then studied at the University of Sydney while residing at St Andrew’s College, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Economics, winning the university medal and a Bachelor of Laws. He won a Rhodes Scholarship, to study for a Master of Philosophy in Economics at New College, Oxford and completed his thesis on competition policy, with a focus on the ties between brewers and pubs in the UK brewing industry

    …

    After leaving university, Taylor worked for global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. He was made a partner in 1999.

    Taylor went on to become a Director at Port Jackson Partners, an Australian management consulting firm. He was the Director of Rabobank’s Executive Development Program for leading farmers in Australia and New Zealand, as well as their Farm Managers Program which focused on younger farmers.

    After leaving university, Taylor worked for global management consulting firm McKinsey & Co. He was made a partner in 1999.

    Taylor went on to become a Director at Port Jackson Partners, an Australian management consulting firm. He was the Director of Rabobank’s Executive Development Program for leading farmers in Australia and New Zealand, as well as their Farm Managers Program which focused on younger farmers.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angus_Taylor_(politician)

  10. Commissioned early this year, probably unusable for its purpose when Pell finally returns to court next year for the verdict..

    https://outline.com/pauz5A

  12. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    John Hewson delivers a Christmas message to politicians.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/so-this-is-christmas-why-pollies-need-to-make-it-a-better-new-year-20181219-p50n50.html
    Greg Jericho writes that this government has decided that a tax cut bribe is the best hope of staying in power and he asks what the chances of a budgetary hangover are.
    https://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2018/dec/20/the-government-has-been-hit-with-a-surplus-but-what-if-the-good-times-dont-last
    In an interesting contribution John Warhurst examines what makes Morrison tick and how he is a creature of the NSW Liberal party.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/morrison-s-narrow-view-of-the-world-to-be-tested-next-election-20181219-p50n73.html
    Shane Wright explains how Michael McCormack has flayed leakers within the government as selfish promoters of their own agenda who do not understand the cold desolation of opposition.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/leakers-don-t-know-the-cold-desperation-of-opposition-warns-acting-pm-mccormack-20181219-p50n7a.html
    The states and territories may go it alone developing their own electricity and greenhouse gas emission policy after a fractious meeting of energy ministers ended in acrimony directed at the Morrison government. Not a good day yesterday for Canavan and Taylor!
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/federal-government-facing-energy-uproar-as-nsw-distances-itself-from-canberra-20181219-p50n9g.html
    The Australian tells us that Barnaby Joyce says he received reports when he was Nationals leader of alleged sexual indiscretions by Andrew Broad, undermining a claim by Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack that he was unaware of “allegations of impropriety” against the now disgraced Victorian MP until this week.
    https://outline.com/NKA2a2
    And the New Daily reports that a social media post has emerged showing disgraced Nationals MP Andrew Broad was confronted with claims about use of “sugar daddy” dating sites nearly a year ago.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2018/12/19/andrew-broad-sugar-daddy-year-ago/
    Tony Burke is not impressed with the arrogance of Pyne with respect to electronic voting for divisions.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/swipe-left-labor-hangs-up-on-christopher-pyne-s-electronic-voting-20181219-p50nb9.html
    Kevin Rudd has labelled it a “minor badge of honour” to be attacked by CFMEU official John Setka and has slammed Mr Setka’s Victorian division of the union as a blight on both Labor and the trade union movement.
    https://outline.com/RrdkjR
    Samantha Hutchinson reports that Victorian Liberal heavyweights exchanged text messages that used homophobic and racist references to describe party members and supporters in the lead-up to this year’s and last year’s state conferences. Charming!
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/victoria/liberal-powerbrokers-in-racist-and-homophobic-text-furore-20181218-p50n2b.html
    Christian Porter losing the fight on family law reform.
    https://outline.com/FkamCf
    Jane Gilmore tells us why she went on a mission to fix the media framing of domestic violence.
    https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/life-and-relationships/why-i-went-on-a-mission-to-fix-the-media-framing-of-domestic-violence-20181218-p50n1b.html
    Ben Weir reports that according to environmental experts entire ecosystems are under threat due to warming oceans with parts of the Australian coast stretching from Sydney to Adelaide experiencing the most stress.
    https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/greater-warming-different-species-under-threat-20181219-p50n7k.html
    The Grattan Institute says that taxing inheritances might be unpopular, but it’s fair.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/taxing-inheritances-might-be-unpopular-but-it-s-fair-20181219-p50n5b.html
    For a full eight minutes, US District Judge Emmet Sullivan read aloud an inventory of Michael Flynn’s lies, describing his “disgust” that President Donald Trump’s national security adviser sought to deceive FBI agents while “on the premises of the White House”.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/judge-gives-michael-flynn-and-trump-a-lecture-on-the-law-20181219-p50n6n.html
    Elizabeth Knight was at yesterdays MAB AGM where investors sent a huge message to the board.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/shareholders-haven-t-just-spoken-they-have-shouted-20181219-p50n85.html
    Michaela Whitbourn tells us that our friend Salim Mehajer is busy representing himself in court from prison. She saw a very different Ken Henry than the pontificating, pompous and often uncooperative seen from him at the royal commission.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/guest-of-her-majesty-mehajer-represents-himself-in-court-from-jail-20181219-p50n8j.html
    Australia is experiencing more extreme heat, longer fire seasons, rising oceans and more marine heatwaves consistent with a changing climate, according to the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO’s state of the climate report. Stand by for more budgetary cuts to those two organisations!
    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/20/australia-experiencing-more-heat-longer-fire-seasons-and-rising-oceans
    The Coalition has unleashed further budget cuts to university funding, throwing bad policy after bad. Professor Margaret Gardner reports.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/morrison-governments-myefo-raid-on-inventions-ideas-and-talent,12216
    UNSW Sydney has published the results of work that can transform clothes into products such as flat construction panels for acoustic and thermal insulation. Later, it expects, they may be modified for flooring and walls.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/how-to-make-new-buildings-from-old-clothes-20181211-p50lgh.html
    Stephen Koukoulas delivers some good news on health – Australians are smoking less with the amount of tobacco consumed dropping to a record low in the September quarter 2018, and this includes data back to 1959 when Australia’s population was about 60 per cent below the level of today.
    https://thekouk.com/item/658-smoking-levels-continue-to-plummet.html
    A 10-year-old boy who now lives in Sydney was allegedly raped three times in an immigration detention centre as the Federal government failed to protect him, lawyers argue in a new claim.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/lawsuit-claims-security-failures-on-nauru-led-to-rape-of-boy-20181219-p50nap.html
    A report the Department of Home Affairs warned it might try to suppress has found significant failings in the management of a coastal patrol fleet Australia uses to intercept asylum seekers. Internal documents released last month showed the department had warned the auditor general it might try to suppress parts of his investigation of the Cape-class patrol boats on “national security grounds”.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/dec/19/auditor-report-finds-significant-failings-in-fleet-used-to-intercept-asylum-seekers
    Doug Dingwall wonders just what it is that Home Affairs wants to hide.
    https://www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/federal/audit-under-censorship-threat-reveals-home-affairs-patrol-boat-tensions-20181219-p50n7v.html
    Sam Maiden serves it up to the vacuous and dangerous anti-vaxxers.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/life/wellbeing/2018/12/19/critics-no-jab-no-play-anti-vaxxers/
    If a silver lining emerges from the troubling Majak Daw episode, it should be this: that there will be a better understanding and less cynicism about the mental health challenges facing the contemporary AFL player.
    https://www.smh.com.au/sport/afl/daw-incident-may-reduce-cynicism-over-footballers-mental-health-20181219-p50nav.html
    Meanwhile Dana McCauley writes that the head of the peak body for general practitioners says the Medicare system is failing to address the burden of mental health on the profession, while rewarding doctors who rush patients through consultations.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/stop-pressuring-us-to-rush-mental-health-patients-say-gps-20181219-p50nao.html
    Virginia Haussegger tells us how Australia slid backwards on the gender-equality league table.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/retreat-australia-fair-we-ve-slid-backwards-on-gender-equality-league-table-20181219-p50n62.html
    The United States is planning a total withdrawal of US forces from Syria. Trump has previously expressed a strong desire to bring troops home but his defence officials fear it’s too early.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/us-plans-complete-withdrawal-of-troops-from-syria-trump-declares-isis-defeated-20181220-p50nbe.html
    How the world has fought back against the violent far-right and started winning.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/19/how-the-world-has-fought-back-against-the-violent-far-right-and-started-winning
    A husband and wife duo are behind bars after a long-running investigation targeted them as ringleaders of a scheme that has been issuing fraudulent construction industry trade qualifications to unqualified people for a fee since at least 2015. A definite nomination for “Arseholes of the Week”.
    https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/fake-tradies-husband-and-wife-alleged-ringleaders-in-qualification-fraud-20181219-p50n5k.html

    Cartoon Corner

    David Pope goes to town in the Nats!

    As does Andrew Dyson.

    And John Shakespeare.

    Cathy Wilcox sees through MYEFO.

    John Shakespeare and a Coalition Christmas.

    From the prolific Matt Golding.
    https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_828/t_resize_width/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto%2Cdpr_auto/fd0974d280aa64679d3b3a4aa8e7fc2fe9c764a0





    Jon Kudelka explains the Coalition’s energy policy.
    https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/5b3820c693ae53b9527ee8f8efc4f593

  13. John hewson obviously hasn’t even looked at Labor’s policies. I think his last dozen or so articles are just swapping and rearranging paragraphs. Nothing new there. Making out both sides are as bad as each other. I’m just sick of it.

    • His first sentence after the reworked song gives his game away.

      “Not surprisingly, voters have had enough of our politicians and political processes.”

      He’s using the standard ploy – referring to “politics”, “political processes” and “politicians” when he’s really referring to the government and to Lib and the Nats politicians.

      It’s part of the ongoing campaign to portray both major parties as exactly the same. We know why they do it, the message is “you might as well keep voting conservative because Labor is just the same so there’s no point changing the government.” It’s been going on for years and the MSM lead this campaign.

  14. Been wondering where the Interim PM has gone?

    He’s been visiting Iraq. Afghanistan was also on the agenda but was considered too dangerous so that visit was cancelled. I bet the troops there are thankful they didn’t have to meet FauxMo.

    ‘I understand it’s a sacrifice’: Scott Morrison makes pre-Christmas visit to Australian troops in Iraq
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/i-understand-it-s-a-sacrifice-scott-morrison-makes-pre-christmas-visit-to-australian-troops-in-iraq-20181220-p50nc3.html

  15. FauxMo boasts about bringing children and adults from Nauru for medical treatment, but how many are actually receiving any treatment at all? Have these adults and children just swapped one detention centre for another? Will they be quietly sent back to Nauru when the government decides”it is safe to do so”?

    Six weeks since being brought to Australia for treatment, Nauru refugee yet to see doctor
    Hazara woman Narges, who is at risk of hearing loss and cerebral abscesses, says she was handcuffed en route to appointment which was cancelled
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/20/six-weeks-since-being-brought-to-australia-for-treatment-nauru-refugee-yet-to-see-doctor

  17. The United States are preparing a war between Latin-American states

    John Bolton, the new US National Security Advisor, has relaunched the Pentagon’s project for the destruction of the State structures in the Caribbean Basin.

    We remember that in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the Secretary for Defense at that time, Donald Rumsfeld, created the Office of Force Transformation and nominated Admiral Arthur Cebrowski as its Director. Its mission was to train the US army for its new role in the era of financial globalisation. It was designed to change military culture in order to destroy the State structures of the regions which were not connected to the global economy. The first chapter of this plan consisted of dislocating the « Greater Middle East ». The second stage was intended to perform the same task in the « Caribbean Basin ». The plan was designed to destroy some twenty coastal and insular States, with the exception of Colombia, Mexico and as far as possible, territories belonging to the United Kingdom, the United States, France and Holland…

    Working from several previous analyses, we concluded that the destabilisation of Venezuela – beginning with the guarimbas movement, continued by the attempted coup d’etat of February 2015 (Operation Jericho) [2], then by attacks on the national currency and the organisation of emigration – would end with military operations [3] led from Brazil, Colombia and Guyana. Multinational manoeuvres of troop transport were organised by the United States and their allies in August 2017 [4]. This was made possible by the election of pro-Israëli President Jair Bolsonaro, who will come to power in Brasilia on 1 January 2019.

    http://www.voltairenet.org/article204400.html

  18. The two Mc-s were being interviewed. Poor Michael! Bridget brushed his cheek with her ponytail when she swivelled her head so emphatically. Imo she needs to fix her hair.

  21. Death penalty may await Sun Bo, boss of Chinese aircraft carrier firm CSIC, for alleged spying role

    Details are unclear but signs point to deep trouble for Sun Bo over espionage claims
    Beijing may want to use case as a warning to others, source says

    The disgraced deputy head of the state-owned firm developing China’s first home-grown aircraft carrier may face the death penalty over his alleged involvement in passing its secrets to foreign intelligence agents.

    Sun Bo, former general manager of the China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), has already been found guilty by the country’s anti-corruption watchdog of taking bribes, but at least three sources familiar with the issue have said investigators were looking into allegations that he had passed on confidential information about the Liaoning, China’s first aircraft carrier.

    It is unclear what level of confidential information about the Liaoning Sun may have given to foreign intelligence agents, but the sources said he “could even face the death penalty” or “at least a suspended death sentence”.

    One source close to the carrier project said: “It depends on the importance of the information Sun passed to the foreign agents.

    “If it was highly confidential, then a death penalty is waiting for him.”

    https://www.scmp.com/news/china/military/article/2178403/deputy-head-chinese-shipbuilder-sacked-and-expelled-communist

    • I wish people would stop making misleading memes based on dodgy information or deliberate misinterpretation of figures..

      I had a look at Littleproud’s expenses.That $22,000 was not just for 84 km, it included a series of charter flights for a tour of regional towns in Queensland and NSW over 3 days, 4 June, 5 June, 6 June. The flights involved several stop-overs and really seem to have been official business for the Minister for Agriculture.A few seconds of googling gave the reason for this trip – a “drought listening tour” with Malcolm Turnbull.

      Here are a couple of reports.

      https://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/drought-tour-doorstop-with-david-littleproud-mp-and-ann-leahy

      https://www.queenslandcountrylife.com.au/story/5450621/pm-tight-lipped-on-drought-aid/

      Over the following months new drought relief measures were announced, based on what had been seen and heard on that tour.

      The schedule is shown in Littleproud’s expenses claim as –
      Warwick to Toowoomba, Toowoomba to Dubbo, Dubbo to Blackall, Blackall to Charleville, Charleville to Boulia, Boulia to Archerfield.

      Considering the distance covered it was reasonable to use an aircraft rather than cars. Would any critics of the government be doing the same if a Labor Ag minister had been accompanying a Labor PM on a drought listening tour to work out better ways to provide drought relief? Of course not.

      I’m all for exposing rorts when it comes to politicians claiming expenses for, say, travel to football games, competing in triathlons or trips to buy real estate, but when it comes to ministers doing their jobs then we need to lay off unless we know for sure there was a ridiculous amount of money spent. In this case the spending was justified.

      Not everything a Coalition government does is evil, not everything a Labor government does is good.

  31. Now what could that “C” possibly stand for?

    Good thread which brings up a few questions. Why isn’t the Army bloke wearing a flak Jacket? What happens if a sniper takes aim at FauxMo’s unprotected belly? It’s a pretty big target.

  32. A company run by Pauline Hanson’s chief of staff has been fined and convicted for failing to provide information on time about the use of a plane by One Nation.

    James Ashby appeared in Maroochydore magistrates court on Thursday where he admitted Black Bull Qld had failed to comply with the Australian Electoral Commission’s request.

    The business copped a conviction and $1,000 fine but no charges have been brought against Ashby over the incident.

    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/dec/20/james-ashbys-company-convicted-for-failing-to-provide-details-of-one-nations-use-of-plane?CMP=share_btn_tw

  34. Adani has been ordered to pay almost $12m owed to engineering firm AECOM for work on a scrapped rail line to the Carmichael coalmine.

    A judgment in the Queensland Building and Construction commission details how “payment difficulties” emerged in a contract between AECOM and an Adani subsidiary company. The 1,862-point commission adjudication says Adani had “anticipated” receiving government support that did not materialise, including a $1b federal loan to build the rail link between Carmichael and the Abbot Point port.

    The loan was vetoed by the Queensland government in November last year. The contract to design the rail line was suspended about six months later.

    Soon after AECOM lodged a claim with the QBCC alleging it was owed $20m for the work. Adani countered by offering $325,000.

    The QBCC this week issued a detailed mixed ruling that Adani owes AECOM about $12m, plus interest. The ruling also reveals how the rail line, which has since been abandoned, suffered a series of setbacks.

    These included Adani being unable to provide AECOM with access to properties to undertake design work, “expected government relaxations that did not materialise” and the veto of a loan from the Northern Australia infrastructure facility.

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/20/adani-ordered-to-pay-almost-12m-for-work-on-scrapped-carmichael-rail-line

  36. Good news.

    Adani ordered to pay almost $12m for work on scrapped Carmichael rail line

    Adani has been ordered to pay almost $12m owed to engineering firm AECOM for work on a scrapped rail line to the Carmichael coalmine.

    A judgment in the Queensland Building and Construction commission details how “payment difficulties” emerged in a contract between AECOM and an Adani subsidiary company. The 1,862-point commission adjudication says Adani had “anticipated” receiving government support that did not materialise, including a $1b federal loan to build the rail link between Carmichael and the Abbot Point port.

    The loan was vetoed by the Queensland government in November last year. The contract to design the rail line was suspended about six months later.

    Soon after AECOM lodged a claim with the QBCC alleging it was owed $20m for the work. Adani countered by offering $325,000

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/20/adani-ordered-to-pay-almost-12m-for-work-on-scrapped-carmichael-rail-line

  37. Wonderful roses. I bought a David Austin “Radio Times” and a ‘Claire Austin’ a couple of months ago. Rose scent TO THE MAX. Most pleased to see both rated as “tough”

  39. Maybe talking about curries after this morning’s news about the way the Victorian Libs refer to their Indian members was not the best idea.

    The whole thing is way beyond cringe-making.

    And who told FauxMo those new glasses with the heavy black frames were a great idea?

  40. Good morning Dawn Patrollers.

    A key confidant of Prime Minister Scott Morrison offered Sutherland Shire councillor Kent Johns a $350,000 party job in an attempt to head off a preselection showdown with sitting Liberal MP Craig Kelly. Surely this sort of stuff this is ICAC-worthy!
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/scott-morrison-s-fixer-offered-craig-kelly-s-challenger-a-350-000-party-job-to-drop-out-20181219-p50n7j.html
    Samantha Hutchinson reveals a big factional war within the Victorian Liberal Party.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/revealed-factional-war-to-oust-rival-liberal-mps-20181220-p50njf.html
    And Victorian Liberal state director Nick Demiris is expected to become the latest senior party figure to quit his post following November’s crushing election loss. Arrangements for Mr Demiris’ resignation were under way at a meeting of the party’s powerful administrative committee last night.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/another-senior-victorian-liberal-to-fall-on-his-sword-20181220-p50nkl.html
    Tony Wright has his say on the Young Turks of the Victorian Liberals and their old-time toxic culture. He concludes that demands for a new culture within the party can only get louder.
    https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/young-turks-of-the-victorian-liberals-and-their-old-time-toxic-culture-20181220-p50nid.html
    A federal government MP has been labelled a possible target for blackmail and extortion because of trips taken to sleazy areas ­frequented by prostitutes and drug dealers in Southeast Asia.
    https://www.outline.com/GCG8nx
    Michelle Grattan writes on 2018, the year of governing badly.
    https://theconversation.com/grattan-on-friday-2018-the-year-of-governing-badly-109152
    And Dave Donovan looks back at an exhaustingly chaotic year in Australian politics.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/editorial-excerpt-2018-partly-in-review,12224
    Waleed Aly says that it’s a remarkable thing to see a populist political stance transform into a liability in front of your eyes. So it is with the federal Coalition’s adventures in climate denialism. A good read.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/once-again-the-liberals-find-themselves-on-the-wrong-side-of-history-20181220-p50nf0.html
    Lee Duffield assesses that, asking what is making voters tick and what kind of new messages will get communicated in the coming months as the Liberals campaign in panic.
    https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/are-the-liberals-really-done-for,12220
    Phil Coorey reckons that the government’s tin ear on emissions risks a repeat of the Victorian Liberals’ disaster.
    https://outline.com/u4JAfG
    The Morrison government’s big stick energy interventions are threatening firm generation projects that will be needed to replace AGL Energy’s Liddell power station when it closes in 2022, energy companies say.
    https://outline.com/hnGe4j
    Shane Wright tells us why a strong economy may not save Morrison.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/why-a-strong-economy-may-not-save-morrison-20181220-p50ncg.html
    The SMH editorial says that the ALP is succeeding by being boring. It contrasts it to the behaviour of the Coalition.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-s-syria-retreat-shows-he-can-t-be-tamed-or-changed-20181220-p50nfz.html
    The Australian’s Brad Norrington laments that GetUp has ­received a $500,000 donation that will be used to help make climate change a hot button issue in the election.
    https://www.outline.com/ZEbYwL
    George Williams outlines the problems in Morrison’s religious freedoms act.
    https://outline.com/HPKTdw
    Matthew Knott explains how Trump’s Syria retreat shows he can’t be tamed or changed.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-s-syria-retreat-shows-he-can-t-be-tamed-or-changed-20181220-p50nfz.html
    The Australian says that Trump’s shock decision to withdraw all US troops from Syria has sparked fears of a renewed threat from Islamic State.
    https://outline.com/rLULGs
    The NY Times’ Charles M Blow (an “only in America name!) writes that Trump’s presidency is much worse than he thought. It’s quit a serve.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-s-presidency-is-so-much-worse-than-i-thought-20181220-p50nhg.html
    Bloomberg expands on Trump’s deplorable intervention over Huawei.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/donald-trump-s-deplorable-intervention-over-huawei-20181220-p50ned.html
    Stephen Bartholomeusz tells us that the US Federal Reserve Board raised US interest rates again, but lowered expectations for future rate rises. US markets weren’t happy and the divergence between US and Australian rates could pose some challenges for our Reserve Bank.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/us-markets-got-what-they-expected-from-the-fed-but-still-weren-t-happy-20181220-p50nd7.html
    Eryk Bagshaw explains how NSW is losing residents at the fastest rate in a decade, with an exodus to Victoria set to make Melbourne the country’s most populous city by the 2030s.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/nsw-residents-race-south-to-victoria-20181220-p50nf9.html
    Economist John Quiggins asks,” What should we do with the government surplus?”
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/21/what-should-we-do-with-the-government-surplus
    Nicole Hasham writes that most Australians will pay $28 less on their annual electricity bill within two years largely due to a measure soon to be killed off by the Morrison government that encourages renewable energy and cuts carbon emissions.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/power-bills-drop-28-a-year-thanks-to-renewable-policy-since-dumped-by-the-government-20181220-p50nfx.html
    The UK Guardian says that the polls are clear: -support for staying in the EU has rocketed.
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/dec/20/polls-stay-eu-yougov-brexit-peoples-vote
    Clancy Yeates summarises the banks’ reporting season by writing that they will be under fierce pressure to take the knife to executive bonuses next year, after three of the big four faced a shareholder revolt over the payment of short-term incentives in a year of poor returns and misbehaviour.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/base-pay-in-drag-pressure-on-banks-to-rein-in-bonuses-20181220-p50nh4.html
    The Fin Review says that one of the enduring lessons from the latest round of annual meetings of the major banks is confirmation of the growing power of the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors.
    https://outline.com/hNXwpK
    Australian Border Force staff experienced “alarming levels of sexual harassment and bullying”, discrimination, increasing militarisation, and a culture of nepotism and favouritism, an internal review obtained by Guardian Australia reveals.
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/dec/21/border-force-review-finds-staff-subject-to-alarming-levels-of-sexual-harassment-and-bullying
    The commonwealth faces “unique fraud risks” arising from its management of the $3.2bn portfolio of environmental water in the Murray-Darling Basin, an internal audit has found. A federal ICAC anyone?
    https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/dec/21/murray-darling-basin-water-management-faces-unique-risks-audit-reveals
    Rob Oakeshott preparing to announce he will contest the 2019 election. He could just about get up, too.
    https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/rob-oakeshott-preparing-to-announce-he-will-contest-the-2019-election-20181220-p50nj4.html
    The US and UK have taken the unprecedented step of accusing hackers linked to the Chinese government of waging a sustained cyber-campaign focused on large-scale theft of commercial intellectual property.
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/dec/20/us-and-uk-accuse-china-of-sustained-hacking-campaign
    Cole Latimer reports that coal will replace iron ore as Australia’s most valuable export this financial year as supply concerns lead to a steep price rise for the core commodity.
    https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/coal-is-australia-s-most-valuable-export-in-2018-20181220-p50nd4.html
    Emma Koehn writes about low self-awareness and 360 degree feedback in organisations.
    https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-s-syria-retreat-shows-he-can-t-be-tamed-or-changed-20181220-p50nfz.html
    The most expensive drug in Australia, costing taxpayers more than $1 billion a year is Gilead’s cure for hepatitis C. Gilead’s medications rank first, fourth and seventh on the list of the most expensive drugs in the country. We are talking $1.14 billion, or ten per cent, of Australia’s entire $11 billion medication budget going to one US drug company. What sort of company is Gilead? Michael West reports.
    https://www.michaelwest.com.au/gilead-extortionate-prices-corporate-vices/
    And for today’s nomination for “Arseholes of the Week” we have this – Rogue medical practitioners conducting dangerous cosmetic Botox and filler procedures are causing serious injuries to their patients, including blindness, facial growths and even death.
    https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2018/12/20/the-dark-side-of-injections/

    Cartoon Corner

    David Pope issues a political climate alert.

    John Shakespeare on the same subject.
    https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_828/t_resize_width/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto%2Cdpr_auto/36d13e2dd797c18f491a382b26d36a5e38c69e38
    Here’s Matt Goldings’s collection for the day.





    John Shakespeare with an unfortunate Foodora delivery.

    Jim Pavlidis and Morrison’s Christmas woes.

    Andrew Dyson with climate change winds.
    https://static.ffx.io/images/$width_828/t_resize_width/t_sharpen%2Cq_auto%2Cf_auto%2Cdpr_auto/7a46121b7de8797608236fef7d40e2d925feb6ee
    Peter Broelman and the Nats’ problem with women.

    Poor Theresa!

    Trump’s Foundation has foundered.

    Jon Kudelka thinks Coalition leadership issue have become quite pasée.
    https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/c55833c0a3a7fe4a43327117a462eff5

  42. Geez Morrison is a prat, isn’t he? Everything he does is informed by his PR background. His latest ‘like a good curry’ speech is a fairly crude attempt at branding. He obviously sat down with some guys back in August and mapped out a few identifiers for himself. Caps, Australianisms, and for some reason curries. One of the first things he said about himself as a PM was that he made a ‘mean curry. It’s probably some focus group thing that’s intended to make him seem more culturally inclusive or something.

    Not working. The man couldn’t look more inauthentic if he tried.

  43. Fiona

    Are you growing them in pots or in the ground?

    I put them in pots. Early days as I’ve only had them a couple of months. After their initial blooms dropped off they both looked pretty ‘distressed’ but in the last couple of weeks new growth everywhere and lots of new buds. I guess they got over their root disturbance. Not sure how it will go long term but I look forward to the next flush of flowers.

    The Radio Times made a bit of a splash at work when I took a couple of blooms in. One women went straight after work to buy a plant and another went that weekend ! If you want pink with a capital P and real old rose scent by the ‘bucket load’ they are the go. As I’ve not really grown roses before it was very reassuring to find that they are considered hardy and disease resistant 🙂

  45. It’s not April Fool’s Day, is it?

    Biohacker INJECTS himself with Bible & Koran DNA in bizarre experiment, his leg swells up

    To err is human, to inject oneself with DIY DNA is divine… apparently? At least, that may have been the thinking behind one of 2018’s most sensational science experiments.

    Teenager Adrien Locatelli from the French city of Grenoble translated the names of Jewish characters from the book of Genesis in the Bible and the entire 13th chapter of the Koran, the Surah Ar-Ra’d, into DNA code, all the while asking himself: “Is it even possible to do this?”

    Locatelli switched every Hebrew character in the Book of Genesis with DNA code, made up of the letters “ACGT.” He did, however, exclude the certain passages he considered “controversial.”

    Using an online tool, the teenage biohacker was able to translate the nucleotide (building blocks of DNA and RNA) information into protein sequences which he then injected into each of his thighs.

    The high-school student had no idea what effect injecting the unknown proteins into his body might have in what he claimed it was a one-of-a-kind experiment. He experienced no adverse side-effects apart from a swollen leg, which lasted for several days. It is unclear whether the Bible or the Koran verse proteins induced the swelling.

    “Recent studies have shown that any information can be encrypted using DNA and stored in this form. I became the first living thing in which the text is stored. This is very symbolic, even if it does not bear any benefit,” Locatelli said in his published research.

    Locatelli was widely derided in the online scientific community, which was seemingly bemused as to his methodology and motivation for the utterly bizarre experiment.

    https://www.rt.com/news/447062-biohacker-injects-himself-bible-koran/

    • He’s lucky he didn’t end up with his legs re-enacting the Crusades, with one leg playing the Christians and the other the Muslims.

  47. Australia hates accepting refugees, but appears to love creating them

    Australia has for years employed a deterrence policy to disincentivize refugees from reaching its shores. However, a new report has found Canberra has played a major hand in creating the very asylum-seekers it despises.

    Just last week, Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) released a bombshell report ( https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-13/australias-secret-backing-for-nations-fighting-bloody-yemen-war/10600912 ), that showed the Australian government had approved the export of dozens of shipments of military equipment to the Saudi-led coalition, currently wreaking a deadly war of aggression in Yemen, the poorest, most impoverished nation in the Arab world.

    According to the report, Internal Defence Department documents, obtained under Freedom of information (FOI) requests, and from parliamentary hearings, have revealed that the government granted at least 37 export permits for military equipment to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and 20 to Saudi Arabia.

    In January this year, Canberra also announced it was seeking to become one of the world’s top ten arms exporters, unveiling a new loan scheme for defence companies who are willing to sell Australian products overseas. Before this, Australian defense exports amounted to about $2 billion a year, apparently a figure too low for the government as it is presently only the world’s 20th largest arms exporter.

    Australia projects it will spend $200 million between now and 2028 in order to reach that goal. At the time of its announcement, Australia’s Defence Industry Minister said that Australia would focus on boosting exports to its allies within the Five Eyes Alliance which includes New Zealand, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom.

    If ABC’s recent report is anything to go by, however, it appears that Australia has found a much more lucrative arms market in the Middle East.

    This year, Australia has contributed a mere $23 million in humanitarian assistance to Yemen. This is in comparison to more than $33 million in performance bonds that the government’s export credit agency has provided Electro Optic Systems (EOS), a rising Australian defence and space technology company. EOS is allegedly selling high-powered weapons systems to the UAE, a country whose role in the Yemen war has largely been masked by the mainstream media.

    Saudi Arabia and the UAE’s long list of war crimes in Yemen has been public information for years.

    https://www.rt.com/op-ed/446933-australia-arms-yemen-refugees/

  48. About the Border Force review –

    No wonder there’s a nasty culture in that organisation. Remeber who set it up in the first place? No, not Dutton. It was FauxMo.

    FauxMo and Abbott – no wonder it’s blokey, cowboy and full of chaps who just want to wear military -style uniforms and carry guns.

    The timeline goes like this –

    September 2013 – FauxMo, as Abbott’s Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs (what a joke of a title that turned out to be) set up Operation Sovereign Borders, a joint task force combining 16 agencies into a single task force that would coordinate a whole-of-government response to “illegal” (it’s not illegal to seek asylum) immigrants. As part of the new arrangements the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service was moved from the Attorney General’s Department to the newly formed Department of Immigration and Border Protection, giving the minister more control.

    May 2014 – FauxMo announced more changes. to border protection arrangements. All frontline immigration and customs functions would be amalgamated into a new, single organisation, the Australian Border Force. As a result, Regional Commands are established across Australia to provide local Command and Control functions. Each Regional Command became responsible for deployment of Border Force Officers in specified geographic areas to achieve strategic outcomes.

    July 2015 – The Australian Border Force was formally established on 1 July.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Border_Force

    September 2015 – Turnbull became PM and FauxMo was moved to a new portfolio, leaving Dutton to take over the powerful quasi-military organisation FauxMo had created as his own little empire. Dutton enlarged his department into a super-ministry. (FauxMo must have been jealous, that would have been his own next stage in gaining total control of us all.)

    You can bet FauxMo did all the ABF set-up work and branding himself. The name “Australian Border Force” was copied from the UK Border Force. The design of the uniforms was deliberately military, with lots of badges, stars, coats of arms and gold braid, perfect for a wanna-be dictator. I’m surprised FauxMo never got around to designing a uniform for his own use. Maybe he did, maybe there are sketches and photos in a wish-book tucked away in a bottom drawer in his office, maybe he dreams about wearing such a uniform after he wins the next election, when he finally gets to use Border Force for the purpose he always intended – controlling us. No-one ever said FauxMo was sane, rational and not at all deluded, did they?

    Meanwhile Dutton has carried on in the way FauxMo would have, if he had been allowed to stay in that portfolio. Dutton’s latest exploit involves a pre-Christmas game of Musical Chairs, only there’s no music and no chairs. He has been very busy moving male refugees around the country from one detention centre to another as the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre in Victoria and the Blaxland Compound (part of Villawood Immigration Detention Centre) in NSW are preparing for closure.

    Pamela Curr, staunch campaigner for refugees and human rights, explains what has been happening.

    • Leonetwo, I almost certain that Morriscum, Dutton and Abbott will either be kicked out or will resign from Parliament after the next elections. I’m prepared to be patient for a few months so that I can delight in their political demise and bask in the fact that they will not be part of our political future.

    • Dutton will most likely lose his seat, Abbott probably won’t, FauxMo’s seat is ultra-safe. If he loses his seat then the Liberal Party will have been wiped out.

      Resignation is possible for all of them, (Dutton if he survives the election). They will not like being in opposition and they will find it hard to cope on their reduced incomes. Abbott will get far more as a former PM than he would as a backbencher. When he was kicked out from the PM’s job it was estimated his payment would be $307,542 a year, payable when he leaves parliament because he’s not subject to Howard’s 2004 restrictions on pensions.
      https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/liberal-leadership-spill-tony-abbotts-annual-pension-to-top-300000-plus-extras-20150914-gjmigj.html

      Plus perks, of course.

      FauxMo won’t have that advantage because he was elected after 2004, he’ll have to wait for his superannuation. If he resigned from parliament he’d have to find a job. As he failed in everything he attempted before entering parliament that won’t be easy, unless his former mentor, Bruce Baird, can find him a well-paying sinecure.

      Another reason for resignations – there will be a lot of scandal top be revealed about all three once they do not have protection from a Coalition government.

  49. Syria Troop Pullout has caused Hollywood “Liberals” to go “bananas”.

    Hollywood “Progressives” see no contradiction between Trumps immigration and racist policies and the illegal US occupation of Syrian land.

  50. Continued American Occupation of the Middle East Does Not Suppress Terrorism, It Causes It

    Even the neo-con warmongers’ house journal The Guardian, furious at Trump’s attempts to pull US troops out of Syria, in producing a map to illustrate its point, could only produce one single, uncertain, very short pen stroke to describe the minute strip of territory it claims ISIS still control on the Iraqi border.

    Of course, the Guardian produces the argument that continued US military presence is necessary to ensure that ISIS does not spring back to life in Syria. The fallacy of that argument can be easily demonstrated. In Afghanistan, the USA has managed to drag out the long process of humiliating defeat in war even further than it did in Vietnam. It is plain as a pikestaff that the presence of US occupation troops is itself the best recruiting sergeant for resistance. In Sikunder Burnes I trace how the battle lines of tribal alliances there today are precisely the same ones the British faced in 1841. We just attach labels like Taliban to hide the fact that invaders face national resistance.

    The secret to ending the strength of ISIS in Syria is not the continued presence of American troops. It is for America’s ever closer allies in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf to cut off the major artery of money and arms, which we should never forget in origin and for a long time had a strong US component. The US/Saudi/Israeli alliance against Iran is the most important geo-political factor in the region today. It is high time this alliance stopped both funding ISIS and pretending to fight it; schizophrenia is not a foreign policy stance.

    There has been no significant Shia Islamic terrorist or other threat against the West in recent years. 9/11 was carried out by Saudi Sunni militants. Al Qaida, ISIS, Al Nusra, Boko Haram, these are all Sunni groups, and all Saudi sponsored. It is a matter of lunacy that the West has adopted the posture that it is Iran – which has sponsored not one attack on the West in recent memory – which is the threat in the Middle East.

    The origin of this stance appears to lie in the fact that the Shia group Hezbollah proved to have the only military force among Israel’s neighbours capable of halting an Israeli invasion. After the disastrous invasion of Iraq resulted in an Iran friendly regime in Baghdad, the US decided for balance of power reasons to back Saudi regional power plays, only for Saudi Arabia to fall into the hands of the psychopathic warmonger Mohammed Bin Salman who escalated an already flawed policy to breaking point.

    https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2018/12/continued-american-occupation-of-the-middle-east-does-not-suppress-terrorism-it-causes-it/

Comments are closed.