The Coalition's most prominent advocate of gay marriage, Queensland backbencher Warren Entsch, wants the current Parliament to introduce and pass legislation which would legalise gay marriage but only be triggered by public approval in a plebiscite. Mr Entsch has discussed his idea, which includes mandating a plebiscite within 100 days of the next federal election, with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who is considering the proposal.

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"I have said to him that I think we need to be looking at progressing this issue," Mr Entsch told the ABC.

"Generally a plebiscite was not generally binding. In this case, it would be binding and that would become law."

Under the leadership of former prime minister Tony Abbott, the Liberal Party decided in a marathon partyroom meeting to retain the traditional definition of marriage until the next election and hold a plebiscite after that, possibly in 2017. 

Senator Abetz was dumped from his cabinet position and role as leader of the government in the Senate following Mr Turnbull's ascension to the prime ministership.

In an interview with the ABC on Thursday, Senator Abetz said pre-empting the result of the plebiscite was an attempt to override the partyroom's decision to maintain the Coalition's support for traditional marriage until the next election.

"It seems a bit of a thought bubble and an ambush to boot," he said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/coalition-samesex-marriage-plan-an-ambush-and-thought-bubble-eric-abetz-20151021-gkf99w.html#ixzz3pFIGP3XW
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Get on with it. Pass the legislation and let's get on with our life... Meanwhile at Pinocchio Central:

 

Now he tells us. Hockey wanted to wind back super tax concessions all along.

"We should be wiser and more consistent on tax concessions," the former treasurer told Parliament in his farewell speech. "In particular, tax concessions on superannuation should be carefully pared back."

It wasn't what he said while he had the job.

 

When Labor put forward rather mild measures that would have reduced super tax concessions Hockey said only Labor wanted "to introduce new taxes and have new changes on superannuation".

"The last thing you would want to do to people relying on investment income is to hit them with a new tax," he said.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/now-joe-hockey-says-he-wanted-to-tax-the-rich-all-along-20151021-gkeqpc.html#ixzz3pFJj6bil
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

 

Joe Hockey in his time as treasurer certainly received his share of kicks – including by me (for example, here, here, here, here, here, here and here). He would have been within his rights to have concluded his final parliamentary speech on Wednesday by paraphrasing Richard Nixon and suggesting to the media that you won’t have Joe Hockey to kick around anymore. Departing politicians usually go out in style with a speech full of dignity and magnanimity for all, but Hockey’s speech contained so much partisan argument that it allows one final shove to his political funeral barge as it drifts over the Pacific towards his expected new role as ambassador to the USA.

 

His speech contained all the usual platitudes and gushiness about colleagues and staff that come with all such speeches. But having got through the usual guff, Hockey turned his speech into a partisan rant that attempted to defend his work as treasurer. Mostly however, it served to remind listeners of all that was wrong with his time in charge of Australia’s budget.

The crux of Hockey’s argument was that “the Abbott government was good at policy but struggled with politics”. And he suggested that “nothing illustrated this better than the 2014 budget where the government had more courage than the parliament”.

 

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/business/grogonomics/2015/oct/22/hockey-the-fantasy-economist-may-as-well-have-farewelled-middle-earth

 

Let's see how far Joe's "the end of entitlements" is stretched a bit to give him a cushy job... Meanwhile I believe that Tony Abbott is not leaving parliament because he has not been made ANY offer of a cushy job anywhere, except one of garbage collector in Antarctica.

 

 

Joe Hockey has been warned against “double dipping” after it emerged that he could potentially access his generous parliamentary pension while getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars as a diplomat.

The former treasurer resigned from parliament last week after losing the job of treasurer when Malcolm Turnbull rolled Tony Abbott in September. He is widely tipped to become Australia’s next ambassador to the US, though no formal announcement has been made.

 

The independent senator for South Australia, Nick Xenophon, has said he will introduce legislation to stop former politicians who have been given a diplomatic post from accessing their pensions on top of their salaries.

 

“If the you’re going to be an ambassador earning a quarter of a million dollars a year representing Australia’s interests with all the benefits, why should you be able to double dip with a parliamentary pension as well?” Xenophon asked reporters on Sunday.

“It’s untenable, it’s offensive to ordinary Australians who can’t access that sort of benefit. If Joe Hockey reckons the age of entitlement is over, he can lead by example.”

His statement came after News Corp reported that Hockey could access his parliamentary pension and ambassador’s salary concurrently.

Hockey took a strong stand against parents who access paid parental leave schemes from both their employer and the government, labelling them “double dippers”.

“I think it is unfair that someone can be receiving from the taxpayers a paid parental leave scheme, such as an employee of the government, and then they can go to Centrelink and get another paid parental leave scheme paid for by taxpayers,” he told the ABC on the night of this year’s federal budget. “We think that double dipping is unfair.”

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/oct/25/joe-hockey-is-warned-against-pension-double-dipping-while-in-diplomat-post

 

During his valedictory speech to the House of Representatives, Hockey praised his own efforts at ending the age of entitlement.

“I challenge all and sundry to name a speech in the last 20 years that has influenced the national debate in the way that the end of the age of entitlement speech did,” he said. “Finding the solutions to the social challenges and the financial threats of today, it can’t be postponed to another time, it can’t be left to another generation. Intergenerational theft and betrayal is not the Australian way.”

But news that Hockey might be able to access his generous parliamentary pension while getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars as a diplomat prompted outrage from users of social media.

The base pension for a backbencher who has been in parliament for the amount of time Hockey has is nearly $139,000. Hockey will receive additional loading for every year he held a ministerial position, boosting the overall figure.

The highest public service band, which would take in ambassadors for large countries like the US, has an average salary of $310,600 a year.

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/dec/07/former-treasurer-joe-hockey-set-to-be-named-us-ambassador

 

Full of his own importance... A drover's dog could do a better job.