The Coalition’s decision to protect a global arms manufacturer’s commercial interests by suppressing criticism of a $1.3bn military deal risks setting a dangerous precedent that limits independent scrutiny of government, the auditor general has warned.

Late last year, the French multinational defence contractor, Thales, was staring down the barrel of an as-yet unpublished auditor general’s report, which made serious criticisms of its deal to provide Australia with 1,100 locally built Hawkei light protected vehicles.

Thales sought to thwart the report’s release, asking the federal attorney general, Christian Porter, to intervene in January, while simultaneously launching legal action against the auditor general in the federal court.

Thales wanted Porter to use his powers to suppress sensitive information from the report because its release was contrary to the public interest and would “unfairly prejudice the commercial interests” of the company.

Those powers, typically considered a last resort, have never been used in such a way before.

Porter eventually granted Thales’ request in late June, and went further, issuing a certificate to suppress parts of the audit not only because it jeopardised Thales’ commercial interests, but also threatened Australia’s national security, defence or international relations.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/18/coalition-hiding-...

Cartoon here and at top doing the email rounds...

"Whatever you do, don’t call it pork-barrelling in Wentworth!” warned a political operative working with one of the candidates running in this Saturday’s byelection. “Maybe bagel-barrelling is better.”

One of the great perks of running in an election for the government side is actually being able to make things happen and splash a little cash around.

In the lead-up to polling day on Saturday, the Liberals have been doing just that, assisting their newly minted Wentworth candidate, Dave Sharma, to win favour with key communities in an electorate that he is still getting to know, having been preselected just six weeks ago from outside the area.

Read more:

https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/18/dont-call-it-pork...

See also:

Should you be a voter in the Wentworth electorate you should know by now that global warming is the key issue that will determine your (and that of your descendants) survival. I write this as a massive "unusual" storm has hit Sydney. Lightning, rain possibly hail are peltering the place. At this stage one has to know that a single degree of warming increase  — as has been acknowledged by the scientific serious community — can add an enormous amount of "differential energy" in the atmosphere. This differential energy potential has created the intensity of the latest Michael hurricane in Florida and other weather disturbances. It's quite simple: NOT ALL THE LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE WARM UP AT THE SAME RATIO, thus creating some increased tensions. 

See:

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/33287

Speaking on the eve of the vote, Scott Morrison was repeatedly pressed about Mr Sharma's chances against high-profile independent Kerryn Phelps.

As Prince Harry and Meghan made a jubilant arrival on the sands at Bondi, two beaches away the mood was more awkward at Bronte, where Mr Morrison's press conference was interupted by hecklers. 

The Coalition hold a one-seat majority in the House of Representatives and while losing Saturday's by-election would not bring down the Government, it would make passing legislation much more difficult.

The Liberal Party and its predecessors have held Wentworth since Federation and their current buffer is 17.7 per cent.

Mr Morrison said the seat was likely to change hands this weekend.

Q: Is he the underdog in this race?
Morrison: I've always said that.
Q: Do you expect that on balance he will lose?
Morrison: I've been saying that for the last couple of weeks.
Q: Do you expect that on balance he will lose?
Morrison: I think the expectation are clearly set in this direction.

The by-election was sparked after former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull resigned from Parliament, following an August leadership spill.

While he has remained abroad for the duration of the campaign, yesterday the Liberals wheeled out another former PM, John Howard, to campaign with Mr Sharma.

"As John Howard said yesterday, the events of a couple of months ago would have caused a great deal of anger and outrage here in Wentworth," Mr Morrison said.

"I know, I was in the Parliament."

That statement sparked an awkward exchange with a heckler, who told the Prime Minister that voters were "still" angry.

A dozen members of the public gathered to hear the press conference on Friday morning, with a number of people interrupting the Prime Minister yelling: "What about climate change?"

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-19/scott-morrison-says-dave-sharma-likely-to-lose-wentworth/

See also: mad as hell and maldoror (1868)... 

Next was the bridge climb.

The Duke of Sussex and Prime Minister Scott Morrison then climbed Sydney Harbour Bridge to mark the start of  the Invictus Games.

On a stunning Sydney afternoon, the flags billowing in the brisk breeze for all to see, the NSW standard was lowered to be replaced with the 50sqm black, white and yellow of the Invictus Games flag.

The Prince, dressed in beige trousers and a black shirt, and the PM in black cap (which he removed for photos) and grey T-shirt, chatted to the athletes for several minutes before setting off on the climb.

They ascended the east top arch of the bridge, and at 3.17pm crossed over the central summit transverse 134 metres above the water, the PM appearing unable to keep up the quick pace set by the fit former Army officer, Harry.

Read more:

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/sco-mo-replaces-duch-suss-for-br...

Here, we need to chastise PM ScoMo FOR WEARING AN UNSECURED CAP on his head to the top of the bridge. It appears  that all the specs wearers had their glasses secured, while ScoMo's cap does not have the regulatory safety device. A cap flying off from his hands (for the photo op) and falling on traffic below could create a major accident. 

cap of scomo...

Read from top.

..

Following the August 2018 resignation of former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull,[25] Sharma was selected as the Liberal Party candidate for the resulting Wentworth by-election.[26] After his preselection, Sharma apologised for an opinion piece published the previous June in the Sydney Morning Herald where he argued that school infrastructure was underused and teachers worked only three-quarters the hours of a full-time job.[27]

On 24 September 2018 he was interviewed on ABC Radio National where he stated that he did not believe that the Liberal Party should have quotas for female representation.[28]

On 26 September 2018, Sharma's campaign team was accused by other candidates in the by-election of removing their campaign posters and replacing them with Sharma's posters.[29]

In response to criticism from John Hewson, Sharma has stated that the Liberal Party has a "good record" on climate change, and is "doing enough" to meet the Paris Agreement.[30]

Read more:

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

And please note that despite what some of the boffins of the Koal Koalition Krap, or CONservative Royalists And Scomo Sods (CRASS) party, said, Dave Sharma is not Jewish, but he is fully dedicated to the Konservative causes of the KKK on all issues including Koal Krap "good record" (abysmal).

As well, From 2004 to 2006, Dave served as the legal adviser to Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer... Remenber the shit between Downer's office and Timor Leste... Was Sharma involved?

See also: 

Top officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) were not consulted by the Prime Minister before he announced he was contemplating moving Australia's embassy in Israel. 

Last week, Scott Morrison stoked anger in Indonesia and Middle Eastern countries when he said he was reviewing the long-standing policy which keeps Australia's embassy in Tel Aviv, rather than Jerusalem. 

Labor accused the Government of undermining the Middle East peace process in a last-ditch attempt to hold the seat of Wentworth, which has a substantial Jewish-Australian population, ahead of a by-election.

During Senate estimates hearings in Canberra today, Shadow Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong grilled Foreign Minister Marise Payne and DFAT's Secretary Frances Adamson about the decision-making process. 

Senator Payne said she first learned the Prime Minister wanted to review the policy when he rang her on Sunday, two days before the announcement.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-25/dfat-told-of-jerusalem-consideration-day-before-announcement/

Scummo Trumpdumbdumb should be sacked for making his decisions off the cuff, without any value nor any ethics for this country.

Read from top.

The Australian Government will recognise West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel but will not immediately move its embassy from Tel Aviv.

• The Federal Government has ended a long-standing policy of recognising Tel Aviv as the capital of Israel
• Prime Morrison Scott Morrison is expected to acknowledge the aspirations of Palestinians for a future state with its capital in East Jerusalem
• Palestinians reacted with dismay when Mr Morrison first floated moving the embassy

It is understood Prime Minister Scott Morrison will announce the decision during a speech in Sydney today.

He is also expected to acknowledge the aspirations of Palestinians for a future state with its capital in East Jerusalem.

Mr Morrison, in the final days of the Wentworth by-election, announced he was reviewing Australia's long-standing policy of recognising Tel Aviv as the capital, where the embassy is located.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-12-15/government-recognises-west-jerusa...

Read from the top.

Did I say Scummo was an idiot? Well, he is a deceitful forceful idiot... West Jerusalem has absorbed a lot of East Jerusalem and with Netanyahu at the helm, soon East Jerusalem will cease to exist... Scummo Con trick...