I was just going to paste that. I left it too late to beat The Duck.
“The Department has nothing further to add.” Oh yes it bloody well does . The arrogance and contempt for the public interest is breathtaking. https://t.co/HqmHFdKHYh
When Cash is in Parliament, she won’t answer because of court proceedings. When she’s in court, she won’t answer because of Parliament. Total cover up. https://t.co/YI02PSvY96
Italy's Five Star Movement went from nothing to running a country in no time. Its mastermind was Gianroberto Casaleggio, a techno-utopian who dreamt of a global web-based direct democracy. Here's my deep-dive into Five Star & Casaleggio for @WIREDhttps://t.co/G7wxkZglYJ
While the government boasts about "stopping the boats", 7 News can tonight reveal that more than 64,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Australia by plane in just the last four years. @Riley7News#auspol#7Newspic.twitter.com/GjtkKpEOJl
#MyHealthRecord 'minor glitch' still generating thousands of pages of internal files. Agency in charge wants to charge $14,000 to release details of documents. https://t.co/oq1QHTDc39
David Rowe takes the cake with this masterpiece!
David Pope goes all the way to ridicule Morrison’s antics.
Alan Moir has them worked out!
Andrew Dyson and the Canberra bubble.
John Shakespeare and Dr Morrison.
From Matt Golding.
Mark David gets right into it with this Morrison prayer.
Zanetti takes aim at Porline
Sean Leahy on Turnbull’s upcoming memoir.
Jon Kudelka buries the big stick. https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/a3a6af41b8f13f542c6f863340df5eb1
From the US
Stop the planes!
So let me get this right. We have spent $16B on dealing with less than 2000 #Refugees who came by boat while 64,000 #asylumseekers arrived by plane and no body said a word. That's really weird #Auspol
Weird week, huh? The most disappointing aspect of it – and boy, do we have a lot to choose from – was the speed with which some media outlets rushed to declare victory for Morrison. On Tuesday night no less, the day he suffered multiple defeats on the floor, and demonstrated how close he was to losing control of Parliament. Some sensible and reasonably humane amendments were passed, the corss-benchers managed to align for once, and we saw for a moment our corridors of power reflecting the will of the people in some small way.
Morrison retorts with an hysterical, racist tirade that barely manages to address the substance of the amendments, and sections of the press gallery hoist him on their shoulders and start cheering ‘Victory!’. And this in the middle of polls showing the Coalition falling even further behind the ALP, into landslide territory. Weird.
I’m half-convinced Morrison thought his response to the proposed amendments on Tuesday afternoon was his equivalent of Gillard’s misogyny speech. He certainly attempted to give it similar gravitas. He understood the concept of a rhetorical fightback under siege. What he failed to understand was that Gillard was right, and that hers was a reaction to mindless bullying and personal slurs. His was simply impotent rage at losing political control.
And the rest of the week? It’s just been a litany of disasters for the Lib/Nats. Nothing’s gone right. Yet we have political commentators still calling it a win for Morrison, based on the presumption that the polls will turn for him. Nothing more than that. He’s doing fear, see? That worked once in the past, remember 2001? So it’s got to be a sure-fire thing now. That’s the level of political analysis we’re at. And they wonder why newspaper sales are falling.
I’m calling bullshit on that tripe about a mythical Pakistani people smuggler planning to send a flood of boats to test Shorten.
It’s the SMH, FFS! Surely the deluge of anti-Labor garbage the SMH has run since it was taken over by Nine gives us a few clues.
Michael Bachelard and James Massola (who has form for churning out anti-Labor fantasies) are just doing as they are told, trying to add to FauxMo’s ridiculous scare campaign.
Galaxy Poll: LNP faces election loss despite border support
Renee Viellaris, federal political editor, The Courier-Mail
February 16, 2019 7:05am
SCOTT Morrison has spectacularly lost crucial support in Queensland in a shock result that points to a cashed-up Clive Palmer as a kingmaker on election night.
And in the first opinion poll since Labor’s controversial new asylum seeker “medevac” laws, the exclusive YouGov Galaxy survey reaffirms that voters believe the Coalition is overwhelmingly better on border security.
In a stunning turn, the Coalition’s primary vote has plummeted in the state that the Morrison Government needs to hold to keep Bill Shorten out of The Lodge.
The LNP’s primary vote has fallen to 35 points, down from 38 per cent in November and 43.2 per cent in July 2016.
The two-party preferred result now favours Labor 52 to the LNP’s 48. If an election was held today, that would more than double Labor’s eight seats in Queensland.
The outcome will devastate the Prime Minister and Queensland’s 21 LNP MPs, who were yesterday celebrating a “cracker” week in Parliament.
The survey of 810 voters statewide was taken on Wednesday and Thursday at the height of Labor’s move to make it easier for asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru to get medical treatment in Australia.
But despite the LNP’s poor showing in today’s poll, Labor has again failed to benefit from the dissatisfaction, with the softened LNP vote moving to Mr Palmer’s United Australia Party.
Labor’s primary vote is at a stubborn 34 per cent and has remained at that figure in August and November polls.
The Greens, whose preferences generally flow to Labor, are up one point to 10 per cent.
One Nation’s vote slipped to 8 per cent, down 1 per cent from November. The party polled just 5.5 per cent in 2016.
I wouldn’t give too much hope to those Qld LNP MPs celebrating what they assessed as a “cracker” week in parliament. If that’s what they want to build their hopes on … they’re in for a bigger belting than the polls are indicatin.
I know people often wonder how a government as terrible as the current one is can still command around 46% support. A large part of the answer can be found here:
If you have an Australian audience that is actually still interested in politics and news, you should cherish them, and treat them with respect. There's not a lot of them out there, as @danilic shows here https://t.co/pduyn8Sw50 … pic.twitter.com/2mJA9VOwGK
A sizeable proportion of this country aren’t even engaged enough with politics to know who’s even running the county. If the history of polling is any guide, that number could be anything up to 80%, because it’s only even been about 20% that care enough to change their voting intentions from time to time.
So we poll-watchers here only represent a small engaged proportion of a small segment of society that even knows politics is happening. That’s a bit depressing when you think about it.
That doesn’t surprise me at all.
Few Australians take any interest in politics at all, they just turn up on voting day (if they can be bothered) and vote the way they always have. I’d say 90% (I’m being generous and probably under-estimating) of Australians know absolutely nothing about anything political.
This is why the media really push their favourite line about both sides being the same, and why they always refer to “politics”, when they are giving us rare criticism of the current government.
Bugger, I left my glasses at home when I did my morning constitutional and when I arrives at the newsagent to get a paper I couldn’t se clearly what was on the front page of the SMH, just mad out the Masthead and grabbed it. When I got home and saw the headline about Boats I vowed that would be the last SMH I buy!
Add to that the fluff pieces on D grade celebrities and dodgy property developers , you have nothing really left and the charge $4.20 for the privilege . Talk about fools and their money.
ANd end have pure own “Taking a knee”moment! I’m all for it I must admit
The PM has no “powers” to ask the GG to refuse royal assent to any bill. Technically it could be done, but it would take an extremely insane PM to try it. It’s never been done and no GG has ever refused assent either.
If it did happen it would bring down the government and destroy the GG as well.
This article explains it all. I’ll just quote the last paragraph.
Why a government would be mad to advise the refusal of royal assent to a bill passed against its will.
This is why it would be madness for a government to advise the head of state to refuse assent to a bill that has been passed against its wishes. Such action would not only raise a serious question about whether it can continue governing, but it would place the head of state in an invidious position by forcing him or her to reject either the advice of the houses of parliament or of ministers.
Added to this would be enormous public controversy about the constitutional propriety of the government’s action. This would undoubtedly be damaging for a government in a subsequent election.
There is a reason why there is no precedent of a government in the UK or Australia advising the refusal of assent in such circumstances. It would not only be a constitutionally dubious thing to do, but would also be politically stupid
I would expect the AFR’s leading political journalist to understand the basics of our system of government. Clearly Phil Coorey has NFI. He is supposed to be informing and educating his readers, but clearly he is the one who could use a bit of education.
FauxMo should have told Coorey not to be a fool, should have asked why he was asking such a daft question, but he just let it go and responded with “I don’t believe there is an argument for us to actually advance on that front”. A lot of gobbledygook he hoped would give the impression he knew what he was talking about when actually he didn’t have a clue. Note the absolute confusion on his face while he answered the question.
The Prime Minister of Australia seems to know nothing about his own responsibilities, the constitution or our electoral laws. I get the impression it’s all a complete mystery to him. As it was to Abbott.
If the PM knows nothing and the political journalists know almost nothing then why expect the plebs to know anything.
This ignorance also goes back to my big gripe this week about the “medevac/medivac bill” that wasn’t a bill at all, but an amendment to a bill. It was easier for the media to write “medevac bill” instead of referring to “the amendment” so that’s what they did. I got the impression most of them were totally unaware the so-called “bill” was actually an amendment. Laura Tingle, to her credit, was about the only one to get it right.
For anyone waiting, I’m still trying to find a decent uncorrupted vid of Bill Maher so hand in there I’ll get something soon, I hope.
Hand!!!!! = hand
Must be my keyboard hand = hang, there! godit this time.
Most youngish people have absolutely no idea what is happening, not just politics but anywhere, they don’t buy newspapers, they don’t watch TV, they get all their information from Netflix or youtube. They don’t need anything else, ask them a question and the answer is to Google it. I am often blown away by just how much they have no idea at all about.
I don’t buy newspapers, I never watch TV news or current affairs shows and yet somehow I manage to stay well informed.
That’s because I have the time to spend online keeping up with what’s going on.
Most people would tell you they are just too busy to have time to spend on boring stuff (their opinion, not mine) like politics. They get a quick soundbite from somewhere and that becomes the basis for their opinion on everything and for their voting.
Not only youngish people. Only talking for myself, I didn’t pay any attention to politics until early 2000’s when I had finally had enough of howard and couldn’t understand why everyone else couldn’t see through him. I used to watch the news on a couple of different tv stations, the radio and read newspapers.
I don’t know what made me become more aware, but I have an idea it might have been Tampa. I couldn’t believe the media, all the world setups like nato and the Geneva convention, why they didn’t all stand up and shame howard for it.
This is the best I can find, no overtime this week –
FauxMo has been at it again, accusing Shorten of forcing him to open Christmas Island and not caring about Queensland flood victims.
Christmas Island Vs flooded Qld again. Scott Morrison says Labor doesn't care about north Qld and they forced him to open the detention centre. #qldpol#auspolpic.twitter.com/1vw1bc5NPC
He tried this stunt yesterday. Obviously it’s going to be repeated over and over for the next week or so, at least, along with the extra-annoying “Canberra Bubble” nonsense.
It’s going to be a long, wearisome election campaign. The constant stream of lies and dodgy slogans is going to be unbearable.
FuxMo’s lies are annoying, but even more annoying is his complete inability to remember the lies he has already told.
Sitting here with my back having major conniptions. Anyhoo this thought occurred to me.Katharine Murphy had a piece in the Guardian this week stating that Sir Moron is not Trump. No he’s not, he’s worse. Trump is a nutter and dangerous, Sir Moron is a religious nutter which makes him doubly dangerous. I wouldn’t trust the barsteward as far as I could throw him. I don’t know what is going to happen during the election campaign but I reckon it’s going to get ugly. Sir Moron will do and say anything to retain power, after all he was apparently chosen by his god to “lead” us.
And the MSM backs whoever Party is led by God.
I really want to know which god it is he follows. Obviously it’s not the Christian God because FaixMo is no Christian.
On Friday FauxMo made a quick visit to Queensland to inspect flood damage. He visited Cloncurry and Julia Creek.
During the trip he appeared in a range of new caps. Apparently it’s now all the rage to present the Interim Prime Minister with a cap when he turns up, and the idiot is only too happy to pop them on.
There was a green one with “Cloncurry” written across it.
There was a black one with a blue logo for Julia Creek, which he wore for the now essential photo of FauxMo sculling a beer.
This was my favourite – a cap from the Pratt cattle trucking business. He seemed totally unaware of the message this cap was sending. He even wore it to a filmed presser so we could all enjoy the very apt description of his nasty, lying self. .
FauxMo wandered around muddy paddocks and looked at dead cattle. He even commented on the stench and had to tie a bandanna over his nose to avoid it, looking for all the world like a fat, balding baddie in a cheap 1950s western.
He blathered on about rebuilding the north’s cattle industry, then he said he was sorry he couldn’t promise any flood relief funding because Bill Shorten had made him spend all his government’s spare money on re-opening the Christmas Island detention centre. Obviously the floods were all Labor’s fault too, because Bill Shorten made it rain too much when he, FauxMo Who Has The Ear Of God, had only prayed for rain, not a deluge.
Then he flew back south, happy to get away from the mud, the smell and the dead cattle, back to the safety of Kirribilli and the lovely fresh harbour breezes.
Looking at such a big tragedy and remaining cold. Nasty, heartless man.
He did hug a few flood victims, but nothing he does is ever sincere, it’s always posed for the cameras.
Peter Hannam, writer on environment issues for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, explains the national and international significance of the judicial verdict on the Rocky Hill open-cut coal minbe at Gloucester.
Here’s the National Party’s local member for that area. He really should be voted out of the NSW parliament next month, but there is not much hope of that happening.
He might lose, but if he does it might be to some other conservative nutter. Both One Nation and the Shooters and Fishers are running candidates so they will split both Labor and Nats votes.
There was a huge 20.8 2PP swing to Labor in 2015, but not enough to win the seat. It might be possible this time, with another swing, but i’m not confident.
The only thing going for Labor in this electorate, and in most other regional ones too, is anger at the total lack of attention from Macquarie Street. Country voters have been taken for granted and neglected for far too long. A Coalition government does nothing for Nats seats because they see them as safe no matter what. Labor in government ignores them because the powers that be in Sydney see these seats as not worth bothering about.
So, am I right in saying that Morrison, in response to the amendments passing:
– started off warning darkly about a flood of boats
– doubled down on it when it didn’t get the immediate reaction he was after, by announcing he would open Christmas Island
– tripled down on it by arguing with journalists over whether people smugglers only respond to ‘nuance’
– belatedly realised how bad that would look with respect to his Border Security credentials
– and is now claiming that there will be no boats thanks to him and Dutton, and that they will start up after the election if, God forbid – the ALP were to win
Does that sound about right?
Because not only does it come across as very messy, ad hoc and reactive, but it also leaves him with nothing substantial to point to, for ‘shock value’, if he wants to change voters’ minds. Just rhetoric. Rhetoric has been his main weapon all along, and it’s done him no good.
Certainly the greatest fear from those opposed to this government – and the greatest wet dream of those in support of it – was that a ‘Boat!’ appearing would be the game-changer. That was what it all hinged on. Sections of the media were smoothing the way for just that phenomenon. Those of us watching closely could see the holes in that proposal pretty quickly, vis a vis “How do you claim out borders are secure when people smugglers can simply breach them whenever they think it’s to their advantage?” You can’t address that objection without taking away the biggest selling point of your gambit.
He hugged a few flood victims but his church teachings would mean he was thinking their misfortune was the will of god, a ‘curse’ caused by their lack of faith.
The big issue now is apparently whether Morrison is ‘authentic’ or ‘fair dinkum’ when he rants about asylum seekers. What’s that supposed to mean? At the risk of invoking Godwin’s Law, Hitler was about as ‘authentic’ as you get. It’s not necessarily a good thing. It’s much, much more important to know whether Morrison is fair, legal, rational, those sorts of things.
If we’re going to start abandoning analysis of the rightness of policy, in order to discuss the sincerity of held beliefs, we’re going to stray into some very dangerous territory. Vote for his madness because he believes in it? I don’t think so.
Sooner or later FauxMo is going to have to admit far more asylum seekers come by plane than have ever come by boat.
So far no journalist has been interested in asking him that question. They are too busy telling us Labor has lost the election by going soft on refugees. (They miss one little thing – Australians don’t really care now, they have other worries, thanks to five years of the aTM government.)
Eventually FauxMo will become so crazed and so unhinged that even most of his staunchest media supporters will start to waver and someone will have to ask.
When even the Channel 7 news brings up this inconvenient little fact you know things are only going to get worse for FauxMo and his government.
In case you missed it –
FauxMo and his government keep on telling us they have stopped the boats, they boast about it, but on Friday he was promising to stop them. If more boats come it will be Labor’s fault for allowing sick people to get medical treatment, if they don’t come it will be thanks to FauxMo and Dutton’s strong stance on border protection.
He is now so unhinged he can’t manage to remember the lies he told yesterday when he tells today’s lies.
Remember this?
So is he opening Christmas Island with the intent of transferring refugees from Manus and Nauru, so they can’t have the medical transfers some of they desperately need? Or is he opening it in the hopes more boats will arrive? What happens if the boats don’t come and we have spent all that money re-opening a facility that is no longer needed?
Obviously the detention camps on Manus Island and Nauru are not going to be closed, too many lucrative contracts are operating to allow that to happen. Some contracts are very recent.
FauxMo has made conflicting statements about his reasons for re-opening the Christmas Island detention centre.
First it was all Dutton’s idea, Home Affairs recommended the re-opening. By Friday it had become Bill Shorten’s fault, he claimed Shorten had forced him to re-open Christmas Island and the expense involved meant he did nor have funds to help Queensland flood victims.
Who knows what fantasy he will have invented by tomorrow? Shorten leading an alien invasion of Canberra, perhaps?
More waste of our money
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has recorded a secret video targeted at people smugglers, warning that those willing to make the dangerous journey “will not succeed”.
The two-minute video, recorded in Canberra late on Friday night, will be translated into 15 languages and aired in countries rife for asylum seekers including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan, The Daily Telegraph revealed.
It will also target popular transit countries including Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand.
Last week was a disaster for Faux Mo and his band of thieves.
Next week will be no better, starting with another royal commission he doesn’t want. Then there is this
Penny Wong has indicated Labor will target the Paladin offshore detention security contract in Senate estimates this week, accusing the government of failing to explain why the company was awarded $420m in contracts through closed tender.
The Australian Financial Review has reported that Paladin Group’s $420m of contracts to provide security to refugees on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea was extended by the home affairs department in January after a closed tender process.
On Sunday the attorney general, Christian Porter, defended the home affairs minister Peter Dutton, who has said he had “no sight” of the tender process. Porter told ABC’s Insiders that “standard procurement processes are often at arms-length from the minister”.
The host Barrie Cassidy put to him the contracts were unusual given it is a “little-known Singapore company with a registered address on Kangaroo Island” which is a beach shack at the end of a dirt road.
“This was the subject of a fund independent commonwealth procurement process and I’m sure that the claims will be investigated,” Porter replied.
Wong told reporters in Adelaide the Paladin contract had “a lot of questions around it” and it was “deeply concerning” a company with “such a poor track record” was awarded $420m.
Wong accused Porter of giving answers that were “not consistent” with Dutton’s because “this went to a closed tender – not an open tender, [it was] not an open competitive process”.
Scott the #SnakeOilSalesman pops up on #ABC 'Australia All Over' this morning Using the word "mate" umpteen times Got news for you "mate" I'm not your bloody "mate" Go peddle your fake Aussie image somewhere else OK Bonzer bewdy strewth stone the flamin' crows you drongo … pic.twitter.com/LFMYmnVkmR
— Rory – Christmas Island #UnionThug (@WittaTwitta) February 16, 2019
i’ll leave it to Peter Fitzsimons to respond to that.
All Melissa Price has done this year, as Pete says, is approve an unwanted coal mine on the NSW Central Coast, which will damage the area’s water supply.
Never forget where Price came from before she wormed her way into politics –
“Prior to entering Parliament, Price was Vice President of Legal and Business Development for Crosslands Resources, an entity of Mitsubishi Developments which control the major Western Australian Jack Hills Iron Ore Mine” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Price_(politician)
When she leaves parliament she will go back to a cushy job in the mining industry. Meanwhile she continues to serve the interests of that industry by making fruitloop statements about scientists being wrong about coal. https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/melissa-price-coal-climate-change/
This is an excellent thread, although most of us here know this, the actual numbers on boats versus planes is interesting too.
Facts and truth..something this government is incapable of delivering to the public. https://t.co/cp1KihQjCv
Hi 2gravel.
Do you know how to post that Roman Quaedvlieg thread onto Facebook? Its something that I think needs to be spread far and wide.
Thanks to you or anyone else in advance
Sorry, can’t help there, I don’t have facebook.
I looked into it, I don’t think it’s possible to link a whole thread, especially not one that is still in progress.
It’s possible to link your own Facebook and Twitter accounts, but that means all your tweets are automatically posted on Facebook, which I’d hate.
I don’t know anyone who does thi, but I don’t have hundreds of “friends” on Facebook, just family and some pages for issues I’m interested in.
Most Facebook users will just post a screenshot of someone’s tweet if they want it seen.
Shamed into passing legislation allowing the establishment of a royal commission to inquire into violence, abuse and neglect of people with a disability.
We know FauxMo had no intention of allowing this bill to pass the Reps because: –
(a) he deliberately delayed QT on Thursday to prevent debate in case the bill was sent from the Senate on Thursday afternoon, and
(b) Coalition senators all voted against it.
.@ScottMorrisonMP on a disability royal commission: Tomorrow, the motion that will come from the Senate will pass. It won’t be opposed by the government. This is another of the cruel lies that was put around last week.
The Ipsos poll was taken over the same period (late last week) that Galaxy showed a move to federal labor in Queensland. Can’t be both right, although they could be equally wrong in opposite ways.
Pffft!
It’s a follow-on form yesterday’s rubbish story about Pakistani people smugglers organising boatloads of asylum seekers to flood the country when Labor becomes the government.
Channel 9 has been running the same rubbish on their news.
They get an alleged fisherman, pay him the say whatever they want and promote it as “news”. Then Nine puts out a rigged poll to claim it’s all a disaster for Labor.
Amanda Hodge, reporter for The Australian, had this to say about the so-called “fisherman” –
I find this interesting because this reporter has tracked down a fisherman we spoke to last month and again this week. He told us this week; "I don't think (medivac law) will change anything because asylum seekers will only pay the smugglers if they make it to Aust." 1/2 https://t.co/Na3iBT26bB
2/2 The fisherman said if the boat turnback policy was scrapped he would be ready to try again but "we will wait until one is successful because we don't get paid if we don't make it to Aust. They might be friendly to asylum seekers but the boatmen are locked away a long time".
The government has pushed this nonsense too hard, too early. They cannot sustain this non-story for another couple of months. No-one really cares about “Boats!” now anyway, voters have bigger worries, as I keep saying.
Tomorrow a Senate inquiry into the Paladin affair begins. The media will probably ignore it, but Dutton must be worried, He refused an invitation to appear on Insiders this morning, Christian Porter was thrown in instead.
Gave him the chance to come on to the program and discuss it with me. He refused. https://t.co/NDkQF3HU9J
Comments on #Ipsos added to recent Poll Roundup here: https://t.co/vRUx4DYL6K Of seven previous times #Ipsos has stuck its neck out this term, it's been predictive twice, bouncy four times and one will be forever inconclusive.
The Home Affairs department gave little-known security contractor Paladin Group just six days to submit a bid for the initial $90 million contract to provide security on Manus Island. https://t.co/6sKdWOoXMQ#auspol#auslaw#PaladinAffair
It’s worth mentioning, because the media won’t, that there is no difference between Labor’s asylum seeker/refugee/offshore detention policy and the government’s, except for two things.
! – Labor allowed medical transfers, but only for those already on Nauru and Manus Island, something Kerryn Phelps does not seem to understand. She was tweeting about “her” legislation applying to everyone in any offshore detention centre, a couple of days after the legislation had been passed. That’s what her legislation initially proposed, but she does not seem to know Labor insisted that be changed.
2. Labor, to the party’s great shame, supports off-shore detention, allegedly only until processing has taken place. Labor says it does not support indefinite off-shore detention. It talks up third country resettlement, but if no third country is willing then that detention will, of course, become indefinite.
That’s it. We have two almost identical policies.
If people smugglers really are stupid enough to start up their business again then their customers are not going to make it to Australia, they will either be sent back to Indonesia or wherever else they came from or will end up in permanent off-shore detention, no matter which side of politics is in government .
THE PUB 
https://www.tonyburke.com.au/view5and5/2019/2/15/5and5-longest-question-time-shortest-crisis
I was just going to paste that. I left it too late to beat The Duck.
Yep!
And when she does condescend to give an answer she lies.
Today she pushed her former staff under a very large bus.
“While the government boasts about “stopping the boats””
Stop the boasts!
Forty-four per day.
What do they mean “can reveal”? We have known about this for ages.
Good Grief!
I thought this was a joke, or satire, but it isn’t.
Former Nauru president seeks asylum in Australia
A former Nauru president in need of critical medical treatment is seeking asylum in Australia.
https://www.radionz.co.nz/international/pacific-news/382583/former-nauru-president-seeks-asylum-in-australia
Good morning Dawn Patrollers.
Nick O’Malley explains how the Greens have lost focus amid an internal brawl between the ‘Tree Tories’ and ‘Watermelons’.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/enemies-within-as-greens-caught-in-civil-war-20190215-p50xze.html
Here we go! Morrison’s megaphone is working. A former people smuggler now living in Pakistan has been asked by his former bosses to return to Indonesia and test a future Shorten government by finding passengers willing to travel on boats to Australia.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/people-smugglers-plot-to-find-chinks-in-a-shorten-government-s-armour-20190214-p50xxo.html
Peter Hartcher examines the science behind Morrison’s scare tactics.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-science-behind-morrison-s-scare-tactics-20190215-p50y5k.html
Michael West outlines Dutton’s visa backlog as a honeypot for spivs, carpetbaggers and people smugglers.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/duttons-visa-backlog-a-honeypot-for-spivs-carpetbaggers-people-smugglers/
Crispin Hull Says that captains of Australian naval vessels should take extreme care in the next three months – not the ordinary maritime care they always take, but the care about not being made political pawns.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/beware-the-scare-campaigns-as-the-election-nears-20190213-p50xmk.html
Pontificating Paul Kelly says his bit on the medivac legislation saying that Shorten cannot please everyone.
https://www.outline.com/RULmJs
Michael Bachelard says Morrison should remember the devastation this trade, this political turmoil, caused, and stop egging people smugglers on.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/i-was-there-the-last-time-australian-politics-encouraged-people-smuggling-let-s-not-do-it-again-20190214-p50xxh.html
Peter van Onselen tells us how the Great Boat Scare is gathering steam.
https://www.outline.com/kScqcj
Karen Middleton goes into the defeat Morrison hopes will save him.
https://www.outline.com/tMDgDX
And Paul Bongiorno says that Morrison is pinning his hopes on turning his defeat on sick refugees into a rerun of John Howard’s 2001 border security election.
https://www.outline.com/T2YDCW
Laura Tingle dives into the Paladin story.
https://www.outline.com/Bfg45m
Jack Waterford tells us how the silence of public service lambs is being used by a panicking government. A very good read.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/the-silence-of-public-service-lambs-used-by-a-panicking-government-20190215-p50y1g.html
Morrison faces another policy smackdown as Labor is ‘confident’ of passing a small business policy from the opposition in an alliance with Greens and independents.
https://www.outline.com/9rmzup
The SMH editorial says that the long federal election campaign is giving Gladys a bit of clear air for hers.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-gets-some-clear-air-for-its-campaign-20190215-p50y3r.html
Matt Wade writes that the past five years have been good to Sydney, but the economic outlook for the city, and the state, is shifting.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/nsw/nsw-will-probably-start-to-slow-down-sydney-and-the-state-s-dream-economic-run-may-be-over-20190215-p50y2m.html
ASIC has warned it will pursue “extremely harsh civil penalties and criminal sanctions against banks, their executives and others” after the Senate passed tough new rules for white-collar offences.
https://www.outline.com/UEdFZY
Unemployed Australians are finding work in spite of, not because the government’s $7.3 billion job-seeker program, a Senate committee has found. The Jobactive program, which has already been slated for overhaul by the government, was labelled “not fit for purpose” and “failing those it intended to serve”.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/federal/welfare-to-nowhere-senate-committee-slams-government-job-program-20190214-p50xwd.html
A court clerk, a legal secretary, a legal adviser and a gunned-down Mafia lawyer are among the seven people who have been referred to the Royal Commission into Management of Police Informants in addition to Informer 3838. The explosive first sitting of the royal commission on Friday has rattled the foundations of the Victorian legal system, revealing that police tentacles have reached every level.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/embarrassment-of-snitches-eight-legal-figures-worked-for-police-royal-commission-told-20190215-p50xzz.html
Mike Seccombe writes that while Resources Minister Matt Canavan insists Adani has the full support of the Wangan and Jagalingou people, the legitimacy of a land agreement with the mining giant is the subject of a Federal Court appeal.
https://www.outline.com/nRThpg
Michaelia Cash has denied her decision to write to the union watchdog about AWU donations to GetUp was motivated by Bill Shorten’s position as the union’s then-leader, the federal court has heard.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/15/michaelia-cash-denies-writing-to-union-watchdog-to-damage-shorten
Paula Mathewson tells us about the anti-Turnbull rebels who cut their own government’s throat.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2019/02/15/government-lost-paliament/
John Silvester looks closely at the relationship between police and lawyers as the royal commission get under way.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/3838-the-genie-they-want-back-in-the-bottle-20190214-p50xs1.html
Victoria’s royal commission into the use of police informants has revealed that at least three other lawyers were approached by police to work with them, including one who has since been murdered.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/state/vic/2019/02/15/vicpol-inquiry-kicks-off-with-bombshell-revelation/
Alex McKinnon gets inside the franking credits debate.
https://www.outline.com/HHpEM8
About 650,000 borrowers with loans totalling around $230 billion are ‘trapped’ in their interest-only loans and could struggle to refinance, according to investment bank Morgan Stanley.
https://www.outline.com/4BqRtP
Peter Hannam reports that the Morrison government will accelerate a review of the endangered status of the Murray cod and silver perch, two species hammered by the series of mass fish kills on the lower Darling River in the past two months.
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/sustainability/fish-kills-prompt-quickened-review-of-murray-cod-silver-perch-status-20190215-p50y5v.html
The Bureau of Meteorology has rewritten Australia’s temperature records for the second time in six years, greatly increasing the rate of warming since 1910 in its controversial homogenised data set.
https://www.outline.com/xDeWrz
Tensions between the Commonwealth and the states over national energy policy have reignited after Queensland accused the Morrison government of dumping a measure considered critical to lowering household power bills.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/coalition-at-odds-with-states-over-energy-savings-measure-20190215-p50y3b.html
Eliminating mortgage broker trail commissions will halve the average annual income of a broker to $40,000 and trigger an exodus from the industry, says Aussie Home Loans boss James Symond.
https://www.outline.com/qKZZAa
Trump has said he will declare a national emergency to fulfil his pledge to construct a wall along the US-Mexico border. He says he will use executive powers to bypass Congress.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/walls-work-trump-declares-national-emergency-to-build-border-wall-20190216-p50y7j.html
Matthew Knott says that the emergency declaration a shattering step, even for Trump.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/emergency-declaration-a-shattering-step-even-for-trump-20190215-p50y2b.html
How California has become the leader of the resistance against Trump.
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/feb/15/how-california-became-the-leader-of-the-resistance-against-trump
Meanwhile Trump has put on a little bit of weight and is now officially considered obese.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/trump-gains-weight-now-considered-obese-20190215-p50y4n.html
The Catholic Church is headed for another sex abuse scandal as #NunsToo speak up. Is there no end to it?
https://theconversation.com/the-catholic-church-is-headed-for-another-sex-abuse-scandal-as-nunstoo-speak-up-111539
Isabelle Lan explains how investors fuelled Australia’s historic property boom.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/money/property/2019/02/15/why-the-property-bubble-burst/
Environmental mismanagement runs deeper than the ecological tragedy gripping the Murray-Darling Basin. Recent policy decisions around native forest logging in NSW follow the same pattern of ignoring science and favouring extractive industry over the public interest, writes Dr Oisín Sweeney.
https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/lessons-from-the-murray-darling-disaster-run-deeper-than-water,12378
A second tobacco giant announces Formula 1 sponsorship deal ahead of Melbourne Grand Prix, sparking fears cigarette companies are trying to flout ad bans.
https://www.theage.com.au/national/big-tobacco-quietly-races-back-into-grand-prix-sponsorship-deals-20190215-p50xzh.html
Remember Bob Day? He’s now selling bags and soap for charity.
https://www.outline.com/zCVPBx
The privileges and loopholes that keep the royal family out of court.
https://thenewdaily.com.au/entertainment/celebrity/2019/02/15/royals-above-the-law/
This developer and the Parramatta Council have got themselves into a fine mess!
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/bodgy-builds-bubbles-and-a-big-lamborghini-parramatta-developer-hits-a-road-block-20190215-p50y62.html
Cartoon Corner
David Rowe takes the cake with this masterpiece!
David Pope goes all the way to ridicule Morrison’s antics.
Alan Moir has them worked out!
Andrew Dyson and the Canberra bubble.
John Shakespeare and Dr Morrison.
From Matt Golding.
Mark David gets right into it with this Morrison prayer.
Zanetti takes aim at Porline
Sean Leahy on Turnbull’s upcoming memoir.
Jon Kudelka buries the big stick.
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/a3a6af41b8f13f542c6f863340df5eb1
From the US
Stop the planes!
Dutton knew all along, I’m sure.
Weird week, huh? The most disappointing aspect of it – and boy, do we have a lot to choose from – was the speed with which some media outlets rushed to declare victory for Morrison. On Tuesday night no less, the day he suffered multiple defeats on the floor, and demonstrated how close he was to losing control of Parliament. Some sensible and reasonably humane amendments were passed, the corss-benchers managed to align for once, and we saw for a moment our corridors of power reflecting the will of the people in some small way.
Morrison retorts with an hysterical, racist tirade that barely manages to address the substance of the amendments, and sections of the press gallery hoist him on their shoulders and start cheering ‘Victory!’. And this in the middle of polls showing the Coalition falling even further behind the ALP, into landslide territory. Weird.
I’m half-convinced Morrison thought his response to the proposed amendments on Tuesday afternoon was his equivalent of Gillard’s misogyny speech. He certainly attempted to give it similar gravitas. He understood the concept of a rhetorical fightback under siege. What he failed to understand was that Gillard was right, and that hers was a reaction to mindless bullying and personal slurs. His was simply impotent rage at losing political control.
And the rest of the week? It’s just been a litany of disasters for the Lib/Nats. Nothing’s gone right. Yet we have political commentators still calling it a win for Morrison, based on the presumption that the polls will turn for him. Nothing more than that. He’s doing fear, see? That worked once in the past, remember 2001? So it’s got to be a sure-fire thing now. That’s the level of political analysis we’re at. And they wonder why newspaper sales are falling.
I’m calling bullshit on that tripe about a mythical Pakistani people smuggler planning to send a flood of boats to test Shorten.
It’s the SMH, FFS! Surely the deluge of anti-Labor garbage the SMH has run since it was taken over by Nine gives us a few clues.
Michael Bachelard and James Massola (who has form for churning out anti-Labor fantasies) are just doing as they are told, trying to add to FauxMo’s ridiculous scare campaign.
What about the planes, you idiots?
Galaxy Poll: LNP faces election loss despite border support
Renee Viellaris, federal political editor, The Courier-Mail
February 16, 2019 7:05am
SCOTT Morrison has spectacularly lost crucial support in Queensland in a shock result that points to a cashed-up Clive Palmer as a kingmaker on election night.
And in the first opinion poll since Labor’s controversial new asylum seeker “medevac” laws, the exclusive YouGov Galaxy survey reaffirms that voters believe the Coalition is overwhelmingly better on border security.
In a stunning turn, the Coalition’s primary vote has plummeted in the state that the Morrison Government needs to hold to keep Bill Shorten out of The Lodge.
The LNP’s primary vote has fallen to 35 points, down from 38 per cent in November and 43.2 per cent in July 2016.
The two-party preferred result now favours Labor 52 to the LNP’s 48. If an election was held today, that would more than double Labor’s eight seats in Queensland.
The outcome will devastate the Prime Minister and Queensland’s 21 LNP MPs, who were yesterday celebrating a “cracker” week in Parliament.
The survey of 810 voters statewide was taken on Wednesday and Thursday at the height of Labor’s move to make it easier for asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru to get medical treatment in Australia.
But despite the LNP’s poor showing in today’s poll, Labor has again failed to benefit from the dissatisfaction, with the softened LNP vote moving to Mr Palmer’s United Australia Party.
Labor’s primary vote is at a stubborn 34 per cent and has remained at that figure in August and November polls.
The Greens, whose preferences generally flow to Labor, are up one point to 10 per cent.
One Nation’s vote slipped to 8 per cent, down 1 per cent from November. The party polled just 5.5 per cent in 2016.
Also see the boats question here response here.
https://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/dab4cdb826fc31178a48d8f005928431
I wouldn’t give too much hope to those Qld LNP MPs celebrating what they assessed as a “cracker” week in parliament. If that’s what they want to build their hopes on … they’re in for a bigger belting than the polls are indicatin.
I know people often wonder how a government as terrible as the current one is can still command around 46% support. A large part of the answer can be found here:
A sizeable proportion of this country aren’t even engaged enough with politics to know who’s even running the county. If the history of polling is any guide, that number could be anything up to 80%, because it’s only even been about 20% that care enough to change their voting intentions from time to time.
So we poll-watchers here only represent a small engaged proportion of a small segment of society that even knows politics is happening. That’s a bit depressing when you think about it.
That doesn’t surprise me at all.
Few Australians take any interest in politics at all, they just turn up on voting day (if they can be bothered) and vote the way they always have. I’d say 90% (I’m being generous and probably under-estimating) of Australians know absolutely nothing about anything political.
This is why the media really push their favourite line about both sides being the same, and why they always refer to “politics”, when they are giving us rare criticism of the current government.
Bugger, I left my glasses at home when I did my morning constitutional and when I arrives at the newsagent to get a paper I couldn’t se clearly what was on the front page of the SMH, just mad out the Masthead and grabbed it. When I got home and saw the headline about Boats I vowed that would be the last SMH I buy!
Add to that the fluff pieces on D grade celebrities and dodgy property developers , you have nothing really left and the charge $4.20 for the privilege . Talk about fools and their money.
ANd end have pure own “Taking a knee”moment! I’m all for it I must admit
Should have added this…https://www.news.com.au/sport/nrl/fans-tuning-in-to-the-nrl-all-star-game-have-been-split-over-the-national-anthem/news-story/8c8e622401fae754d4145d1586633f17
On the no-one knows the name of the PM thing –
It’s no wonder your average Aussie is so ill-informed when even the members of the Canberra Press Gallery know so little.
Last night I saw this tweet –
I responded to that by asking what powers.
The PM has no “powers” to ask the GG to refuse royal assent to any bill. Technically it could be done, but it would take an extremely insane PM to try it. It’s never been done and no GG has ever refused assent either.
If it did happen it would bring down the government and destroy the GG as well.
This article explains it all. I’ll just quote the last paragraph.
Why a government would be mad to advise the refusal of royal assent to a bill passed against its will.
https://theconversation.com/why-a-government-would-be-mad-to-advise-the-refusal-of-royal-assent-to-a-bill-passed-against-its-will-110501
I would expect the AFR’s leading political journalist to understand the basics of our system of government. Clearly Phil Coorey has NFI. He is supposed to be informing and educating his readers, but clearly he is the one who could use a bit of education.
FauxMo should have told Coorey not to be a fool, should have asked why he was asking such a daft question, but he just let it go and responded with “I don’t believe there is an argument for us to actually advance on that front”. A lot of gobbledygook he hoped would give the impression he knew what he was talking about when actually he didn’t have a clue. Note the absolute confusion on his face while he answered the question.
The Prime Minister of Australia seems to know nothing about his own responsibilities, the constitution or our electoral laws. I get the impression it’s all a complete mystery to him. As it was to Abbott.
If the PM knows nothing and the political journalists know almost nothing then why expect the plebs to know anything.
This ignorance also goes back to my big gripe this week about the “medevac/medivac bill” that wasn’t a bill at all, but an amendment to a bill. It was easier for the media to write “medevac bill” instead of referring to “the amendment” so that’s what they did. I got the impression most of them were totally unaware the so-called “bill” was actually an amendment. Laura Tingle, to her credit, was about the only one to get it right.
For anyone waiting, I’m still trying to find a decent uncorrupted vid of Bill Maher so hand in there I’ll get something soon, I hope.
Hand!!!!! = hand
Must be my keyboard hand = hang, there! godit this time.
Most youngish people have absolutely no idea what is happening, not just politics but anywhere, they don’t buy newspapers, they don’t watch TV, they get all their information from Netflix or youtube. They don’t need anything else, ask them a question and the answer is to Google it. I am often blown away by just how much they have no idea at all about.
I don’t buy newspapers, I never watch TV news or current affairs shows and yet somehow I manage to stay well informed.
That’s because I have the time to spend online keeping up with what’s going on.
Most people would tell you they are just too busy to have time to spend on boring stuff (their opinion, not mine) like politics. They get a quick soundbite from somewhere and that becomes the basis for their opinion on everything and for their voting.
Not only youngish people. Only talking for myself, I didn’t pay any attention to politics until early 2000’s when I had finally had enough of howard and couldn’t understand why everyone else couldn’t see through him. I used to watch the news on a couple of different tv stations, the radio and read newspapers.
I don’t know what made me become more aware, but I have an idea it might have been Tampa. I couldn’t believe the media, all the world setups like nato and the Geneva convention, why they didn’t all stand up and shame howard for it.
This is the best I can find, no overtime this week –
New rules 44:30
One for you class clowns
.
.
Captain Scott lost race to South Pole because he didn’t have ‘class clown’ in his team, scientists say.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/02/15/captain-scott-lost-race-south-pole-didnt-have-class-clown-team/
FauxMo has been at it again, accusing Shorten of forcing him to open Christmas Island and not caring about Queensland flood victims.
He tried this stunt yesterday. Obviously it’s going to be repeated over and over for the next week or so, at least, along with the extra-annoying “Canberra Bubble” nonsense.
It’s going to be a long, wearisome election campaign. The constant stream of lies and dodgy slogans is going to be unbearable.
And then there was this admission –
FuxMo’s lies are annoying, but even more annoying is his complete inability to remember the lies he has already told.
Sitting here with my back having major conniptions. Anyhoo this thought occurred to me.Katharine Murphy had a piece in the Guardian this week stating that Sir Moron is not Trump. No he’s not, he’s worse. Trump is a nutter and dangerous, Sir Moron is a religious nutter which makes him doubly dangerous. I wouldn’t trust the barsteward as far as I could throw him. I don’t know what is going to happen during the election campaign but I reckon it’s going to get ugly. Sir Moron will do and say anything to retain power, after all he was apparently chosen by his god to “lead” us.
And the MSM backs whoever Party is led by God.
I really want to know which god it is he follows. Obviously it’s not the Christian God because FaixMo is no Christian.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers.
The London Daily Telegraph says that Trump is gearing up for the next hammer blow to global trade. He’s barking mad!
https://www.smh.com.au/business/markets/trump-is-gearing-up-for-the-next-hammer-blow-to-global-trade-20190216-p50y7o.html
Meanwhile Angela Merkel has turned her fire on America’s “home alone” policies, saying multilateral bodies cannot simply be smashed up, and warned the US president, Donald Trump, that Europe must not be excluded from discussions on future nuclear disarmament, Syria or trade.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/16/angela-merkel-criticises-us-isolationism-urging-win-win-solutions
Rick Goodman tells us that Bill Shorten has questioned the sincerity of Senator Michaelia Cash’s court evidence about an investigation into alleged union wrongdoings.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/i-m-sure-she-believes-it-shorten-questions-sincerity-of-cash-s-awu-evidence-20190216-p50ya6.html
Katharine Murphy says that It may be risky for Labor to open up a point of difference on asylum seekers – but it’s time to call out self-serving bullshit. She’s plainly had enough!
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/16/without-facts-we-slide-into-trumpism-the-truth-matters-here
This week, John Wren catches up on Tony Abbott, gives us the details on Tim Wilson’s corruption and also the Medevac Bill passing.
https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/wrens-week-abbotts-fantasy-world-wilsons-corruption-and-medevac,12380
Ross Gittins examines our current state of “secular stagnation” and reaches the conclusion that a new kind of micro reform that, by increasing the income to those likely to spend a higher proportion of it, is needed.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/the-economy/stagnation-spanner-in-the-works-the-tradesman-you-need-to-call-is-keynes-20190215-p50y06.html
“Just when you think politics can’t get any lower, someone introduces a bodily fluid”, says Jacqui Maley.
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/just-when-you-think-politics-can-t-get-any-lower-someone-introduces-a-bodily-fluid-20190215-p50y2h.html
Ian Warden has a tongue in cheek look at what the future might hold for Morrison after a lost election.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/will-heathens-see-scomo-s-missionary-zeal-20190215-p50y27.html
Out-of-work Australians have complained that private job service providers offered them cash and petrol to lie about their employment status to help falsely claim incentive payments. Ain’t privatisation grand!
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/16/job-seekers-allegedly-offered-cash-to-lie-by-private-employment-service-providers
In an email to the Liberal party’s administrative committee, conservative warrior Karina Okotel has been accused of “malicious” behaviour by some sections of the Young Liberal movement, who also warned that having “middle-aged activists” politicking in such a manner could drive away membership and undercut the party’s chances at the federal election.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/young-libs-accuse-party-vice-president-of-malicious-behaviour-20190216-p50y98.html
Meanwhile four Young Liberals have been kicked out of the NSW Liberal Party for making lewd comments about women in an online chat group meant for election campaigning. That organisation certainly attracts some nice types.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/nsw/young-liberals-booted-from-party-for-lewd-comments-about-women-20190216-p50y8f.html
Jacob Saulwick says that the NSW government seems to have abandoned the prospect of principled reform – the promise it made at the last election.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/gobbledygook-and-doublespeak-how-gladys-gang-is-failing-sydney-on-planning-20190214-p50xto.html
A former press secretary of Tony Abbott writes that voters know the PM is fair dinkum about boats. A good breakfast purgative.
https://www.smh.com.au/national/the-authenticity-factor-voters-know-pm-is-fair-dinkum-about-boats-20190215-p50y3j.html
Morrison has sent out a fresh message on border security, saying “people smugglers know they won’t get through me and Peter Dutton” but would “have a crack” if Bill Shorten became prime minister.
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/16/scott-morrison-says-people-smugglers-will-have-a-crack-if-labor-is-elected
Bridget McKenzie was photographed puffing out her face and rubbing her stomach next to a banner advertising the obesity summit. Great effort Bridget!
https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/sport-minister-sorry-for-appearing-to-make-fun-of-overweight-people-20190216-p50yat.html
Sally Whyte reports that A private company tasked with security vetting government officials has four foreign-born directors, raising concerns about government oversight of its vetting program.
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/federal/foreign-born-directors-of-security-vetting-companies-cause-concern-20190215-p50xz3.html
An expedited canonical process found the former cardinal and archbishop of Washington guilty of sexually abusing minors and adult seminarians over decades. See, it CAN be done!
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/world/europe/pope-defrocks-theodore-mccarrick-ex-cardinal-accused-of-sexual-abuse-20190217-p50ybf.html
John Elder asks, “Has Donald Trump proved himself to be the glove puppet of America’s biggest loudmouth media star, Sean Hannity?”
https://thenewdaily.com.au/news/2019/02/16/trump-puppet-of-fox-star/
The former lord mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle, has withdrawn his Supreme Court injunction blocking Melbourne City Council from releasing its investigation into allegations he sexually harassed a woman at a 2016 event. But the council is now claiming it cannot release its investigation report because of a complaint by the woman to Victoria Police over Mr Doyle’s behaviour.
https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/doyle-withdraws-injunction-on-second-harassment-report-20190215-p50y6k.html
Customer service failed to get a guernsey in Commissioner Hayne’s Final Report and herein lies the problem, says Kim Wingerei. In the competitive landscape of tomorrow, being accountable only to shareholders leaves the customer stranded. In Part 2, he calls on the next federal government to abandon the policies of the past, including the “four pillars”.
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/haynes-final-impressive-tinkering-but-big-banking-flaws-remain-part-2/
Melissa Price is being called the “invisible minister”, the cabinet member responsible for the environment who is accused of “disinterest” during Australia’s summer of natural disasters and record-breaking heatwaves. One of the worst ministerial appointments ever!
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/16/the-invisible-minister-melissa-price-accused-of-going-missing-on-the-environment
ANZ is investigating a multi-million-dollar fraud against its travel-card business, much of which is outsourced to troubled payments processor Wirecard, amid fears the swindle could be an inside job.
https://www.outline.com/8hFS8g
Why is abortion such a rime in South Australia?
https://www.outline.com/NCbRKa
Yet another mass shooting in the Land of the Free.
https://www.smh.com.au/world/north-america/man-guns-down-five-shortly-after-being-fired-illinois-police-say-20190217-p50ybh.html
Cartoon Corner
From Matt Golding.
Mark David and Mr Shouty.
Reg Lynch and the One Nation blood feud.
Zanetti goes to Queensland.
From the US.
The Many Caps of FauxMo.
On Friday FauxMo made a quick visit to Queensland to inspect flood damage. He visited Cloncurry and Julia Creek.
During the trip he appeared in a range of new caps. Apparently it’s now all the rage to present the Interim Prime Minister with a cap when he turns up, and the idiot is only too happy to pop them on.
There was a green one with “Cloncurry” written across it.
There was a black one with a blue logo for Julia Creek, which he wore for the now essential photo of FauxMo sculling a beer.
This was my favourite – a cap from the Pratt cattle trucking business. He seemed totally unaware of the message this cap was sending. He even wore it to a filmed presser so we could all enjoy the very apt description of his nasty, lying self. .
FauxMo wandered around muddy paddocks and looked at dead cattle. He even commented on the stench and had to tie a bandanna over his nose to avoid it, looking for all the world like a fat, balding baddie in a cheap 1950s western.
He blathered on about rebuilding the north’s cattle industry, then he said he was sorry he couldn’t promise any flood relief funding because Bill Shorten had made him spend all his government’s spare money on re-opening the Christmas Island detention centre. Obviously the floods were all Labor’s fault too, because Bill Shorten made it rain too much when he, FauxMo Who Has The Ear Of God, had only prayed for rain, not a deluge.
Then he flew back south, happy to get away from the mud, the smell and the dead cattle, back to the safety of Kirribilli and the lovely fresh harbour breezes.
Looking at such a big tragedy and remaining cold. Nasty, heartless man.
He did hug a few flood victims, but nothing he does is ever sincere, it’s always posed for the cameras.
Peter Hannam, writer on environment issues for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, explains the national and international significance of the judicial verdict on the Rocky Hill open-cut coal minbe at Gloucester.
These residents stopped a coal mine, made history and sent ripples through boardrooms around the world
The Rocky Hill coal mine case is being hailed as a landmark in “climate litigation” – and not just in Australia. So what is climate litigation? And what impact is it having on companies and governments around the world?
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/these-residents-stopped-a-coal-mine-made-history-and-sent-ripples-through-boardrooms-around-the-world-20190214-p50xw9.html
Here’s the National Party’s local member for that area. He really should be voted out of the NSW parliament next month, but there is not much hope of that happening.
‘Smacks of judicial activism’: Nationals MP accused of contempt of court after Rocky Hill decision
https://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/smacks-of-judicial-activism-nationals-mps-accused-of-contempt-of-court-after-rocky-hill-decision-20190209-p50wp7.html
He might be though, his seat only has a 2.2 percent margin
https://www.abc.net.au/news/elections/nsw/2019/guide/uppe/
He might lose, but if he does it might be to some other conservative nutter. Both One Nation and the Shooters and Fishers are running candidates so they will split both Labor and Nats votes.
There was a huge 20.8 2PP swing to Labor in 2015, but not enough to win the seat. It might be possible this time, with another swing, but i’m not confident.
The only thing going for Labor in this electorate, and in most other regional ones too, is anger at the total lack of attention from Macquarie Street. Country voters have been taken for granted and neglected for far too long. A Coalition government does nothing for Nats seats because they see them as safe no matter what. Labor in government ignores them because the powers that be in Sydney see these seats as not worth bothering about.
So, am I right in saying that Morrison, in response to the amendments passing:
– started off warning darkly about a flood of boats
– doubled down on it when it didn’t get the immediate reaction he was after, by announcing he would open Christmas Island
– tripled down on it by arguing with journalists over whether people smugglers only respond to ‘nuance’
– belatedly realised how bad that would look with respect to his Border Security credentials
– and is now claiming that there will be no boats thanks to him and Dutton, and that they will start up after the election if, God forbid – the ALP were to win
Does that sound about right?
Because not only does it come across as very messy, ad hoc and reactive, but it also leaves him with nothing substantial to point to, for ‘shock value’, if he wants to change voters’ minds. Just rhetoric. Rhetoric has been his main weapon all along, and it’s done him no good.
Certainly the greatest fear from those opposed to this government – and the greatest wet dream of those in support of it – was that a ‘Boat!’ appearing would be the game-changer. That was what it all hinged on. Sections of the media were smoothing the way for just that phenomenon. Those of us watching closely could see the holes in that proposal pretty quickly, vis a vis “How do you claim out borders are secure when people smugglers can simply breach them whenever they think it’s to their advantage?” You can’t address that objection without taking away the biggest selling point of your gambit.
He hugged a few flood victims but his church teachings would mean he was thinking their misfortune was the will of god, a ‘curse’ caused by their lack of faith.
The big issue now is apparently whether Morrison is ‘authentic’ or ‘fair dinkum’ when he rants about asylum seekers. What’s that supposed to mean? At the risk of invoking Godwin’s Law, Hitler was about as ‘authentic’ as you get. It’s not necessarily a good thing. It’s much, much more important to know whether Morrison is fair, legal, rational, those sorts of things.
If we’re going to start abandoning analysis of the rightness of policy, in order to discuss the sincerity of held beliefs, we’re going to stray into some very dangerous territory. Vote for his madness because he believes in it? I don’t think so.
Sooner or later FauxMo is going to have to admit far more asylum seekers come by plane than have ever come by boat.
So far no journalist has been interested in asking him that question. They are too busy telling us Labor has lost the election by going soft on refugees. (They miss one little thing – Australians don’t really care now, they have other worries, thanks to five years of the aTM government.)
Eventually FauxMo will become so crazed and so unhinged that even most of his staunchest media supporters will start to waver and someone will have to ask.
When even the Channel 7 news brings up this inconvenient little fact you know things are only going to get worse for FauxMo and his government.
In case you missed it –
FauxMo and his government keep on telling us they have stopped the boats, they boast about it, but on Friday he was promising to stop them. If more boats come it will be Labor’s fault for allowing sick people to get medical treatment, if they don’t come it will be thanks to FauxMo and Dutton’s strong stance on border protection.
He is now so unhinged he can’t manage to remember the lies he told yesterday when he tells today’s lies.
Remember this?
So is he opening Christmas Island with the intent of transferring refugees from Manus and Nauru, so they can’t have the medical transfers some of they desperately need? Or is he opening it in the hopes more boats will arrive? What happens if the boats don’t come and we have spent all that money re-opening a facility that is no longer needed?
Obviously the detention camps on Manus Island and Nauru are not going to be closed, too many lucrative contracts are operating to allow that to happen. Some contracts are very recent.
FauxMo has made conflicting statements about his reasons for re-opening the Christmas Island detention centre.
First it was all Dutton’s idea, Home Affairs recommended the re-opening. By Friday it had become Bill Shorten’s fault, he claimed Shorten had forced him to re-open Christmas Island and the expense involved meant he did nor have funds to help Queensland flood victims.
Who knows what fantasy he will have invented by tomorrow? Shorten leading an alien invasion of Canberra, perhaps?
More waste of our money
https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/you-will-not-succeed-scott-morrisons-secret-video-to-deter-people-smugglers/news-story/a235abe244d6e6a3c196d8917463f808
Now, what’s the meaning of “secret” again?
Last week was a disaster for Faux Mo and his band of thieves.
Next week will be no better, starting with another royal commission he doesn’t want. Then there is this
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2019/feb/17/coalition-argues-future-labor-government-could-soften-rules-on-medevac
I wonder just what he says in his prayers.
I wonder who he prays to.
i’ll leave it to Peter Fitzsimons to respond to that.
All Melissa Price has done this year, as Pete says, is approve an unwanted coal mine on the NSW Central Coast, which will damage the area’s water supply.
Never forget where Price came from before she wormed her way into politics –
“Prior to entering Parliament, Price was Vice President of Legal and Business Development for Crosslands Resources, an entity of Mitsubishi Developments which control the major Western Australian Jack Hills Iron Ore Mine”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melissa_Price_(politician)
When she leaves parliament she will go back to a cushy job in the mining industry. Meanwhile she continues to serve the interests of that industry by making fruitloop statements about scientists being wrong about coal.
https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/melissa-price-coal-climate-change/
This is an excellent thread, although most of us here know this, the actual numbers on boats versus planes is interesting too.
Hi 2gravel.
Do you know how to post that Roman Quaedvlieg thread onto Facebook? Its something that I think needs to be spread far and wide.
Thanks to you or anyone else in advance
Sorry, can’t help there, I don’t have facebook.
I looked into it, I don’t think it’s possible to link a whole thread, especially not one that is still in progress.
It’s possible to link your own Facebook and Twitter accounts, but that means all your tweets are automatically posted on Facebook, which I’d hate.
I don’t know anyone who does thi, but I don’t have hundreds of “friends” on Facebook, just family and some pages for issues I’m interested in.
Most Facebook users will just post a screenshot of someone’s tweet if they want it seen.
Shamed into passing legislation allowing the establishment of a royal commission to inquire into violence, abuse and neglect of people with a disability.
We know FauxMo had no intention of allowing this bill to pass the Reps because: –
(a) he deliberately delayed QT on Thursday to prevent debate in case the bill was sent from the Senate on Thursday afternoon, and
(b) Coalition senators all voted against it.
We know who has been telling porkies about the government’s intentions on this bill. It wasn’t Labor.
Ipsos poll: Support for Labor falls after clash over refugees and border security
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/federal/ipsos-poll-support-for-labor-falls-after-clash-over-refugees-and-border-security-20190217-p50ycu.html
Financial Review-Ipsos poll: Coalition closes in on Labor 51:49
https://www.afr.com/news/politics/financial-reviewipsos-poll-coalition-closes-in-on-labor-5149-20190217-h1bcqo
The Ipsos poll was taken over the same period (late last week) that Galaxy showed a move to federal labor in Queensland. Can’t be both right, although they could be equally wrong in opposite ways.
Pffft!
It’s a follow-on form yesterday’s rubbish story about Pakistani people smugglers organising boatloads of asylum seekers to flood the country when Labor becomes the government.
Channel 9 has been running the same rubbish on their news.
They get an alleged fisherman, pay him the say whatever they want and promote it as “news”. Then Nine puts out a rigged poll to claim it’s all a disaster for Labor.
Amanda Hodge, reporter for The Australian, had this to say about the so-called “fisherman” –
Someone is making up crap.
On the other hand, there’s this, from the ABC, giving a very different view.
https://www.abc.net.au/radio/adelaide/programs/am/im-afraid-of-the-ocean-refugees-not-swayed-by-medevac-bill/10815378
The government has pushed this nonsense too hard, too early. They cannot sustain this non-story for another couple of months. No-one really cares about “Boats!” now anyway, voters have bigger worries, as I keep saying.
Tomorrow a Senate inquiry into the Paladin affair begins. The media will probably ignore it, but Dutton must be worried, He refused an invitation to appear on Insiders this morning, Christian Porter was thrown in instead.
It’s worth mentioning, because the media won’t, that there is no difference between Labor’s asylum seeker/refugee/offshore detention policy and the government’s, except for two things.
! – Labor allowed medical transfers, but only for those already on Nauru and Manus Island, something Kerryn Phelps does not seem to understand. She was tweeting about “her” legislation applying to everyone in any offshore detention centre, a couple of days after the legislation had been passed. That’s what her legislation initially proposed, but she does not seem to know Labor insisted that be changed.
2. Labor, to the party’s great shame, supports off-shore detention, allegedly only until processing has taken place. Labor says it does not support indefinite off-shore detention. It talks up third country resettlement, but if no third country is willing then that detention will, of course, become indefinite.
That’s it. We have two almost identical policies.
If people smugglers really are stupid enough to start up their business again then their customers are not going to make it to Australia, they will either be sent back to Indonesia or wherever else they came from or will end up in permanent off-shore detention, no matter which side of politics is in government .
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