Tuesday 30th of April 2024

the law in his wrong hands...

law in the wrong hands

George Brandis would no doubt like to be attorney-general, the first law officer of Australia, in the next Coalition government.

Senator Brandis is a barrister and a senior counsel, although the latter appointment was the subject of harsh criticism given it was awarded to him six years after he gave up active practice at the Queensland Bar.

But Senator Brandis's conduct in the Craig Thomson affair provides cause for concern about what sort of attorney-general he would be if the opportunity arose. Senator Brandis has pursed the ALP backbencher Thomson with a vigour that is disturbing on a number of levels.

Firstly, there are the telephone calls to ministers and police commissioners. Senator Brandis called New South Wales Attorney-General Greg Smith, a fellow Liberal, in early August. Smith says that Brandis was alerting him to a forthcoming media story which would reveal Brandis had asked the New South Wales DPP to look at the Thomson matter.

Then a couple of weeks later Brandis was on the phone again, this time to speak with New South Wales Police Minister Michael Gallacher to again alert him to the fact that Brandis would be sending a brief to the Police Commissioner Andrew Scipione. Gallacher himself alerted Scipione to look out for the Brandis brief.

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/2860776.html

brandis is guilty...

Senator Brandis, who provided documents to police on the earlier allegations, said the new claims were “very serious”.

“I am writing to you to request that, in accordance with your standard procedures, you make an assessment and, if appropriate, direct your officers to make an investigation into those allegations in order to determine whether an offence against the law of New South Wales has been committed by Thomson,” Senator Brandis said in his letter to Mr Scipione.

“This would appear to attract the operation of section 249B of the Crimes Act.”

Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese accused the opposition of acting like a “quasi police force” by referring the new allegations to police.

He said politicians should not interfere in the judicial process and the latest reports were simply allegations.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/coalitions-george-brandis-refers-second-set-of-craig-thomson-claims-to-nsw-police/story-fn59niix-1226133189475

be afraid of brandis......

"[The Government is] in effect condoning workplace sexual harassment, because that's what they've done by their flippant attitude to this case," he said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-24/gillard-fires-back-over-sexual-harassment/3968894?WT.svl=news1

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Beware. Brandis finds every one guilty of the worst crime, even if (denied) allegations of whatever have not been confirmed... As a would be atorney general, Brandis is the worst fantasist to vie for the job... He is a vindictive political dog with NO RESPECT FOR THE DUE PROCESSES of the law...

He should resign from parliament or be thrown out.

a "new" independent...

Embattled Labor MP Craig Thomson has announced he will leave the party and sit on the crossbenches as an independent.

The federal member for Dobell, on New South Wales' central coast, has been at the centre of scandal and controversy for years now regarding spending and credit card expenditure at the Health Services Union.

He has denied the allegations.

Last week the Government took the extreme step of seeking a Federal Court intervention to appoint an administrator to the Health Services Union (HSU)'s east branch.

Fair Work Australia has just completed an investigation into the HSU and Mr Thomson and it is due to make its report public soon.

Mr Thomson's resignation from the Labor Party today indicates he may be fearing the fallout from that report.

In terms of numbers, Mr Thomson's resignation leaves Labor and the Coalition effectively tied, however it is expected he will continue to vote with his former party.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-04-29/craig-thomson-leaves-labor-party/3978614

brandis, liberal (conservative) detritus and co...

 

6. If Peter Slipper was involved in an alleged improper incident with a staffer in 2003, someone from the Prime Minister’s office (John Howard’s) covered it up, only to bring it to Ashby’s attention in 2012 for political reasons.

7. James Ashby’s legal action is being funded pro bono by Harmer’s Workplace Lawyers, as well as a mystery donor from the Liberal Party, who has apparently given him $100,000 worth of legal work for $1. Why?

8. Why wasn’t this complaint handled under the normal procedures for workplace sexual harassment? If a normal (and not apparently politically motivated) procedure in these cases had been followed by Ashby, then there would have been a completely different outcome. This is demonstrated by a report called ‘Formal Complaints of Workplace Sexual Harassment Lodged with Australian Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commissions 1 July 2009 – 31 December 2009‘, which said that in 132 cases studied:

‘The lowest amount of compensation received was $364 and the largest was $114,128, with an average amount of $13,596.31 per complainant and a median compensation figure of $7,000. Some gender differences were noted regarding the amount of compensation received, with only female complainants receiving payments greater than $50,000.’

So, if this had been handled under the normal procedures which exist for sexual harassment complaints, the complaint would have already been resolved, the Government would not have had to pay $3/4 million in legal expenses.

Of course, if Slipper’s alleged 2003 behaviour had not apparently been covered up by Liberal Party staffers, Eric Abetz would not have any cause for complaint. That’s unless it is a politically motivated concoction dreamt up to smear and further defame Slipper and assist Ashby’s claims.

So, in conclusion, let me reiterate my agreement with Paul Sheehan on the one part of the article I agree with:

‘The political mischief in this case has never been in doubt.’

Finally, let’s look at what has happened politically.

Peter Slipper has been outed as having used vile text language.

He has resigned as Speaker.

He is probably very pissed off with his former colleagues in the Liberal party.

The Government still has a firm hold on power.

The people of Australia are $750,000 worse off, perhaps because of a cover-up by the Liberal Party in 2003.

Tony  Abbott is still Opposition Leader, not the Prime Minister.

Nicola Roxon is still Attorney-General. Having done nothing wrong.

And the bleaters are still bleating, but fewer and fewer people are listening.

read more: http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/the-alleged-peter-slipper-cover-up/

And a-Paul-ling Sheehan writes crap as usual... see toon at top.

 

brandis — a wedding and his funeral...

 

Senator George Brandis has paid back $1683.06 in taxpayer-funded entitlements he claimed after attending the wedding of a close friend, shock jock Michael Smith, despite saying he did nothing wrong.

Fairfax Media exclusively revealed the thousands of dollars in travel expenses the Attorney-General claimed after attending the wedding on the NSW central coast, which was also attended by Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce.
Mr Joyce claimed a lesser amount for a Comcar to the hotel he was staying at near the wedding reception venue.
In an unapologetic letter to the Department of Finance, Senator Brandis said he considered the costs were within parliamentary entitlements, "since they were incurred in the course of attendance at a function primarily for work-related purposes".

He added: "I remain of that view."
Senator Brandis said it was clear the relevant criterion for claiming entitlements was the purpose of the travel, not the nature of the event, but said that there could be "uncertainty" about the circumstances in which attendance at a private function for work-related purposes was within the entitlement.

He preferred to resolve that uncertainty in favour of the taxpayer and repay the money claimed, he said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/george-brandis-pays-back-wedding-expenses-20130929-2um4m.html#ixzz2gHAAEV2Z

As some people have mentioned, any public servants accepting this retrogradely paid money could be charged with collusion after the fact in a crime... Who knows, George Brandis at times does not seem to know the law of the land and plays dumb... except if he wants to announce someone is guilty (Thomson for having charged a few ice creams to his union credit card) even if no court case has proven guilt... Brandis is a disgrace to the attorney general position in this country. He should resign forthwith but he wont... He's too dishonest to do the right thing. 
See toon at top...