Senior Federal Government ministers have played down backbench disquiet about the possibility of a GST increase, as several Liberal MPs publicly voiced their concerns.

The Prime Minister has left the prospect of a higher tax on the table, but after only a few days back in Canberra, MPs who are opposed to a 15 per cent GST have been talking to their colleagues and declare the sentiment is widely shared.

Liberal MP Russell Broadbent, who lost his Victorian seat at the GST elections of 1993 and 1998, said there was "no case being made so far" for a 15 per cent GST.

"There's been no argument raised that would convince me... there's been a number of arguments why we shouldn't," Mr Broadbent said.

"This is a very, very hard sell."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-04/gst-increase-talk-senior-ministers-play-down-backbench-unrest/7140072

 

Should the media do its job, the headlines of "GOVERNMENT INCOMPETENCE", HIGHWAY ROBBERY" "TURNBULLSHIT" would be prominent day in day out. But no, the MMMM (mediocre mass media de mierda) is pandering to the fudgers, the clowns, the idiots, who try to appear collectively as intelligent as a collection of gnats.

 

 

In response to the Trade Union Royal Commission report, Malcolm Turnbull identified himself with business and the political ‘right’ rather than the public interest or the middle ground. He is consistently taking an ambivalent approach whether it is on climate change, coal mining, gay marriage the republic or the NBN. In response to Heydon’s report, he was not as hectoring as the Employment Minister Michaelia Cash. That is not his way with words, but in substance he followed along.. It was the same on his visit to the US. The tone was different but not the substance. We could do with ’more matter and less art’

We have had a long list of royal commissions into trade unions. In 1976 the Fraser government had a Sweeney Royal Commission into the maritime unions. In 1982 the Fraser government received a report on bribery and corruption by the building unions. In 1984 the Costigan Royal Commission dealt with racketeering by the Ship Painters and Dockers Union. In 1989 Heydon and Meagher recommended that trade union officials should have the same fiduciary duties and responsibilities as company directors. In 2001 John Howard commissioned the Cole Royal Commission to investigate the conduct of industrial relations within the building industry.

Despite this plethora of royal commissions, very little resulted.

Perhaps aware of this record, Dyson Heydon in his final report decided that he had to call to his aid a former High Court Chief Justice, Sir Harry Gibbs. In his report, Heydon said

‘Sir Harry Gibbs was universally admired for probity. Near the end of his long life, much of which had been devoted to controversies about the meaning of the constitution, he concluded that it did not matter much for the health of the nation what the constitution meant, so long as one condition was satisfied. That was the inherent decency of the Australian people continued.’

Mystified as anyone would be by this comment about Sir Harry Gibbs. Richard Ackland in the Australian Guardian commented

‘The relevance is mystifying as is the decision to propel Sir Harry (Bill) Gibbs onto the field of battle in this context. Gibbs, while a judge in Queensland, conducted a royal commission into allegations that the National Hotel in Brisbane was the centre of a call-girl operation sanctioned by the Queensland Police. After ruling heaps of available information as inadmissible and accepting an amount of perjured testimony, he could find no evidence of police corruption. This finding was so disastrous that it is credited with empowering the rotten apples in the Queensland police for another 23 years – until the Fitzgerald Royal Commission came along. Why on earth would Heydon launch his trade union report by citing a conservative judge whose name is the kiss of death in the pantheon of royal commissions?’

 

Read more: http://johnmenadue.com/blog/?p=5502

 

 

et tu, brutus...

 

Don't be fooled... Turnbull only replaced Tony Abbott to save the Liberal (CONservative) Party. Not to improve Australia. He has no idea but to repackage the same shit as Tony Abbott's shit (neo-con, repackaged with elegance...)

.

 

Malcolm Turnbull has admitted that he complained directly to ABC management about the broadcaster’s coverage of the national broadband network, but said he made the same criticisms publicly as he did privately.

Turnbull held the communications portfolio in opposition and in government before becoming prime minister in September.

Under interrogation by Labor during question time on Thursday, Turnbull admitted that he had approached ABC management about the negative coverage the Coalition’s broadband policy was receiving.

“I have, on several occasions, complained very publicly and openly about the ABC’s coverage about the NBN issue, in particular and most notably in the lead up to the last election where I felt the ABC’s coverage of the issue was very poor and lacked balance,” he told the House of Representatives. “I‘ve said exactly the same things privately as I’ve said publicly.”

“I certainly did complain and felt that their coverage could have been more comprehensive,” Turnbull said.

 

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/04/malcolm-turnbull-says-he-complained-to-abc-heads-about-nbn-coverage

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More comprehensive?... The industry is reeling about the slow as snails Malcolm inspired copper NBN under instructions for Abbott the NBN illiterate... What else does he want? A pat on the back for screwing up what could have been a great project? And no matter what, it's not for him, EVEN AS A MINISTER TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THE ABC "actually too balanced" coverage of his ningnongerry of a communication network. 

 

Meanwhile, little lackey Pyney is whining at the mouth for labor asking legitimate questions in parliamentary question time...  

Malcolm Turnbull's carefully cultivated illusion of moral superiority to Tony Abbott continues to unravel with his failure to protect refugee babies and children, writes David Tyler.

PEOPLE SMUGGLERS are no threat to our sovereignty postured Malcolm Turnbull in Question Time, Tuesday, as a beleaguered PM, beset by internal division and a continuing decline in global economic news, resorts to the old Liberal line that cruelty to asylum seekers is an effective and worthy deterrent of demon people smugglers. It is an unworthy and unwelcome decline in his leadership.

Of course it helps when heading into an election year if you can engender a sense of national crisis and pose as your nation’s saviour, but when babies and children must suffer as a result of your need to appear "tough on people smuggling", you tread thin ice.

What does this do to “brand Turnbull”? What damage will this cause to his carefully cultivated illusion of a superior moral tone? What price his slogan-less government now?

Does the PM really need to appease his party’s disaffected right wingers by channelling Tony Abbott’s apparent cavalier disregard for humanity; his apparent contempt for our international obligations to refugees and asylum seekers?

The new parliamentary term has not begun well. Economic indicators are all heading south. AGL has pulled out of coal-seam gas. There is back-biting from the backbench about the GST hike, despite Douglas Robb’s denial.

Worse, the government’s game plan, which featured killing Bill Shorten with union smears is all over the media. A rat in the ranks has leaked the very first Cabinet meeting’s talking points.

The gauntlet is down. By Wednesday, the PM seems all out to win at all costs in a race to the bottom. He uses parliament's Question Time to pose as guardian of our national security, apparently happy to grandstand on the High Court 6:1 verdict in favour of the legality of Manus and Nauru.

https://independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/pms-cultivated-illusion-of-moral-superiority-over-abbott-unravels-over-refugee-children,8647

Tony Abbott announced the review of the boundaries of Labor’s marine parks, counted by the former government as one of its greatest environmental achievements, during the 2013 election campaign, and said he would scrap the just-finished management plans so that the fishing industry could be given a greater say.

The leading scientists understand the review, now finally completed, recommends a sizeable reduction in some areas previously designated as closed to fishing and trawling, particularly in the Coral Sea, and say it has ignored expert scientific advice.

“If the government winds back what was already just partial environmental protection it would be terrible for the environment and send a terrible message to the world,” said West Australian marine science professor Jessica Meeuwig.

“We have no faith in this process. They haven’t spoken to marine scientists, despite our best efforts. They spent a lot of time talking to the extractive industries. If Malcolm Turnbull is serious about being guided by science and by evidence he will reject recommendations to reduce marine sanctuary zones,” she said.

Meeuwig is one of 10 leading marine researchers who have formed the Ocean Science Council of Australia and have published benchmarks against which the review should be judged, including:

• No further diminishment of marine national park zoning in bioregions and key ecological features should occur as these are already significantly under-represented in the 2012 plans
• The international standard for ocean protection of a minimum of 30% of each marine habitat in highly protected no-take marine national parks should be met;
• Very large marine national parks such as that proposed for the Coral Sea should be preserved
• read more: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/feb/06/dont-shrink-australias-ocean-sanctuaries-scientists-urge-ministers

With the decimation of the CSIRO by the Turnbullshit government, one can still live in despair Malcolm will do the wrong thing again... Your chickens are disappearing by sheer right-wing stupidity...

Moments in a political week. Snapshots of a dilemma.

Tuesday, question time. Malcolm Turnbull says extra Commonwealth funding will make no real difference to schools, in almost the same words Tony Abbott used to say the same thing; that “teacher quality” and “school autonomy” are more important than money – as if these things are either/or propositions. It’s a claim that relies on the electorate forgetting that his friend David Gonski was ever asked to report on the school system, forgetting what the Coalition said during the last election andforgetting all the evidence that disadvantaged schools and students are, indeed, falling further behind. People don’t easily forget things that bear upon the wellbeing of their children.

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/05/democratic-innovation-malcolm-in-the-middle-of-a-rock-and-hard-place

 

Before becoming Prime Minister, Turnbull insisted that our treatment of asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island was "harsh, but not cruel." Now that there is no purpose to be served by maintaining the facilities on Nauru and Manus Island, the treatment of those persons is cruel as well as harsh.

A prompt resolution of the matter is required unless Australia is to be left with a legacy of shame which will be sure to be disclosed at a future royal commission with plaintive cries from our past leaders and retired public servants: "We didn't know the trauma caused to children and others fleeing persecution by being placed in such uncertain, isolated hell holes."

There is no joy to be found in our High Court applying a Constitution even more bereft of human rights protections than the Nauruan Constitution. It's time for our politicians to address the political and moral question: what purpose is actually served by sending this mother and her baby back to Nauru, given that the boats have stopped and will stay stopped regardless of where we now place this mother and child and others like them?

It's time to walk and chew gum at the same time. It's not an either/or proposition. There is no longer any need for a circuit breaker. The circuit is permanently cut. We can prevent people smuggling, save lives at sea, maintain the integrity of our borders and deal decently with the residual caseload of asylum seekers, including this mother and her child.

Father Frank Brennan, S.J. is Professor of Law at the Australian Catholic University.

 

read more: http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2016/02/04/4400032.htm

 

Father Frank Brennan is a good guy despite his religious attachments. He has fought the good fights against the Pells of this world. He should be the next in line for popehood...

Gus is a fierce new atheist.

 

 

... revoking the knights and dames honour system... (very little cash involved in this massive feat).

 

meanwhile disappointment is an option:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/picture/2016/feb/08/first-dog-on-the-moons-list-of-ways-in-which-malcolm-turnbull-has-disappointed-us

 

If there was ever a valid argument for MSM (mainstream media) bias, these last few months have cemented that argument in the minds of many. The result of this should be a big wakeup call that we are being misled, and even downright lied to by a majority of those that call themselves ‘journalists’ and ‘newspapers/outlets’.

The truth is that if a Labor government showed even half the level of dysfunction, disunity, dishonesty, incompetence and, in some cases, corruption, that Malcolm Turnbull and his mendacious rabble have shown, the MSM would have been screaming it from the rooftops ad-infinitum.

Now to be fair, blatant media support for the rabid right is nothing new, as all truth seekers would be well aware, but in my opinion they seem to have taken their sycophancy to dizzying new heights, with their positively sickening, almost obsessive  love affair with everything ‘Turnbull’.

Again, to be fair to them, it must have been very hard work for them to find positive spins to put on the Abbott stupidities, so Turnbull, with his smarmy smile, fine suits and positive spin on his mendacious ramblings, must be like a walk in the park, by comparison.

But I digress.

Tellingly, the fact remains that in the five months since he ‘knifed’ Abbott, Turnbull and his mob have done absolutely nothing, other than two major reshuffles and reinforce the failures of the Abbott debacle.

The truth is that the Abbott/Turnbull governments have been plagued with scandals, waste, rorting and mismanagement of epic proportions. The hallmark of both (and I use the term loosely) ‘leaders’, being terrible personal and political judgement, resulting in disastrous ‘Captains calls’, any one of which, from a Labor leader, would be seen by the MSM as ‘a hanging offence’.

And with a cloud still hanging over Christopher Pyne and Wyatt Roy over the ‘Ashbygate’ affair, and rumours persisting of a “Cabinet Minister” who is allegedly guilty of a serious and sackable offence, Turnbull’s ‘new’ ministry seems already to be on shaky ground . . . and it hasn’t even been sworn in yet!

So the question that we all should be asking of our mendacious and misleading MSM is:

“Where are the real headlines?” 

read more: http://theaimn.com/where-are-the-real-headline/

 

See image at top.