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Saturday, October 4, 2014

Stupid, Stupid Government

How stupid is this Government.
They go and raise the security threat level for this country. This makes some people alarmed about the Muslims plus the right wing nut jobs have now got an excuse to demonise and threaten the Muslims.
The morons in the Coalition, Bishop, Bernardi etc have effectively banned the Burkha/Nicab from the viewing area except behind glass in the Federal Parliament. This has effectively demonised and isolated these women even more from Australian society.
They have played right into the Terrorists hands, morons.
What you do is increase the security in a quiet non obstructive way. Don't give the nut jobs an excuse to threaten and divide the Australian community. Don't allow the nut jobs in Federal Parliament a say in demonising a very small unobtrusive section of the Australian community.
This mob has to go.
I can honestly now say that this is the worst Government that we have ever had.

Sunday, September 21, 2014

'Take the Power Back' - Christine Milne National Press Club Address

http://youtu.be/YB_Wsv4WN9w

Saturday, September 6, 2014

Hooray

Hooray.
Just received a letter from my Energy Provider AGL.
I save approximately 7.8% on my electricity bill from the repeal of the carbon tax.
But.
Carbon emissions from the country's main electricity grid have risen since the end of the carbon tax by the largest amount in nearly eight years.
Data from the National Electricity Market, which covers about 80 per cent of Australia's population, shows that emissions from the sector rose by about 1 million tonnes, or 0.8 per cent, at an annualised rate last month compared with June.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/emissions-from-energy-generation-jump-most-in-eight-years-after-carbon-price-axed-20140903-10by8d.html#ixzz3CTt7NvCn

Thank you very much Mr Abbott.

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Hockey's Class Warfare

Treasurer Joe Hockey has accused those that are complaining of the budget’s unfairness of using “1970s class warfare lines”.
Well the only class warfare lines I can see is from the LNP. Their "Lifters and Leaners" analogy is a disgrace.
So if you are unemployed, disadvantaged for many reasons you are a leaner and must be demonised. But who are these leaners that Hockey and Abbott are talking about?
To me the leaners are the people who are on middle to upper salaries and getting welfare. The big corporations that get taxpayers money or are paying practically no tax.
Hockey goes on to say, "The average working Australian be they a cleaner, plumber or teacher - was working over one month full time each year just to pay for the welfare of another Australian, Hockey said." But of course it is the "dole bludgers" and poor, disabled, disadvantaged, all for many reasons are not working or can't get enough work that he is talking of I am sure, not the big corporations.
His talk of working one month a year by the average Australian to pay for welfare needs to be "Fact Checked" I am sure.
Maybe it will be right when Abbotts Paid Parental Leave scheme gets going.

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Increasing inequality brings high social cost: report

The following article is from The Conversation.
It is written by Michelle Grattan.
This is an important report, particularly with the dreadful budget that has been inflicted on us.
The article link.

The Conversation

Increasing inequality brings high social cost: report

By Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The land of the fair go is disappearing, argues former Liberal leader John Hewson, on the release of a new report on wealth inequality.
The report warns inequality is increasing rapidly in Australia, posing dangers to community well-being, health, social stability, sustainable growth and long-term prosperity.
Entitled “Advance Australia Fair?”, the report finds that in the wake of a declining resources boom “there is a growing gulf between those in the top range and those in the lower ranges of wealth and income distributions”.
The wealthiest 20% of households now account for 61% of total household net worth, while the poorest 20% account for only 1%.
“In recent decades the income share of the top 1% has doubled, and the wealth share of the top 0.001% has more than tripled. At the same time, poverty is increasing and many of those dependent upon government benefits, including the unemployment benefit, have fallen well below the poverty line,” according the report.
“If we do not pay attention to the problem of financial inequality, current economic circumstances are likely to make it worse.”
Written by Bob Douglas, Sharon Friel, Richard Denniss and David Morawetz, the report from Australia21, in partnership with The Australia Institute and the Australian National University, follows a roundtable earlier this year.
It comes as the Abbott government’s first budget has been widely attacked for being unfair, with the burden falling on lower and middle income earners. It curbs the growth in pensions and family payments, and critics say it will increase inequality.
For most of the last century, Australia was a relatively egalitarian country “and proud of it,” according to the report.
In the half century after World War 1, incomes rose faster at the bottom of the income distribution than the top. “By the end of the 1970s Australia was one of the most egalitarian countries in the world.”
But from the mid-1970s, full time wages for the bottom tenth of the income distribution have grown only 15%, while full time earnings for the top tenth have increased by 59%.
Australia’s unemployment benefit is the lowest of OECD countries, and 20% below the poverty line, and many government benefits “have barely kept place with inflation over recent decades”, the report finds.
Australia is one of the lowest taxing countries in the industrialised world, and its welfare spending as a proportion of GDP is amongst the lowest in the OECD.
Large tax cuts and tax exemptions introduced by both sides of politics in recent decades that disproportionately favoured the rich is one factor contributing to the growing inequality of incomes and wealth the report identifies.
“Other factors include globalisation, asymmetric access to rapid technological change, changes in compensation practices for top executives (including use of bonuses and stock options) and the neoliberal economic policies that have prevailed since the 1980s.
“Another important contributor has been the increasing practice of ‘rent seeking’, whereby wealthy and powerful companies, organisations or individuals use their resources to obtain economic gain at the expense of others, without contributing to productivity.”
As remedial measures, the authors urge promoting “a national conversation” about inequality, taxation reforms, fairer funding for schools, more investment in early childhood development especially for the disadvantaged, and setting all pensions and benefits no lower than the poverty line and indexing them to average wages.
Other actions should include establishing more job creation programs in priority areas, developing new models of employee management and co-operative ownership of business, implementing the World Health Organisation recommendations on the social determinants of health, encouraging an inquiry by the Productivity Commission into the impact of inequality on economic efficiency and growth, and establishing a national research program to monitor progress of interventions.
The Conversation
Michelle Grattan does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Welcome to the brave new world of Malcolm Turnbulls Fraudband.

Welcome to the brave new world of Malcolm Turnbulls Fraudband.
A Fraudband that will be "sooner, cheaper and more afford ably".
Well read this

Quote:
"High-rise owners corporations are concerned about being locked out of the NBN due an aggressive fibre installation campaign by a TPG-owned company.
PIPE Networks (a TPG subsidiary) has told owners corporations (OC) in Docklands and in other high-density areas across Australia that it will be installing fibre facilities in their buildings.
Dock 5 OC committee member Tom Burt fears residents will miss out on the NBN roll out if PIPE Networks installs FTTB in the building first.
This view is backed up by Strata Title Lawyers’ Tom Bacon, who said Pipe Networks would enjoy a commercial advantage if is was first to install its infrastructure within buildings.
“A suburb, such as Docklands, which is home to a number of large residential towers, is an attractive target for telecommunications suppliers, and if most or all units in the building are forced to switch to one particular carrier for their internet and phone-line services, then the carrier stands to gain an increased market share and a substantial increase in revenue,” Mr Bacon said.
Mr Bacon said the installation of TPG infrastructure wouldn’t stop NBN or other telecommunications providers from installing similar infrastructure, but said the presence of two types of DSLAM systems could cause system interference and performance degradation."

One of the beauties of Labors NBN was that NBN Co. would install and own the fibre infrastructure and private enterprise ISPs would supply the service to the customers. This would create great competition between ISPs. The ISPs are using and dealing with only one wholesaler for tremendous ubiquity and conformity. Under Labor, TPG could not be a wholesaler and retailer, but with Fraudband this will happen with the customer missing out on competition.

Monday, June 9, 2014

Tony Abbott and the Institute of Public Affairs

Who can forget the Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) 75 changes to the Australian Society that they want Abbott to institute when he comes to power.
We now know how radical this Government is.
How it is intent on changing our society to a more greedy, brutal and unfair society.
Where a confected budget emergency was the only way to hopefully sway the minds of the Australian people into thinking what they have in mind for us is for our own good.
What mugs do they think they are dealing with.
What mugs would fall for this radical right wing agenda.
What mugs would believe their lies and broken promises.
I just hope there are not too many "mugs" in Australia to vote these Barbarians back in at the next election.
Abbott is just a puppet for these right wing ideologues, a puppet in the hands of the IPA, Murdoch and the dirty energy/mining lobby.
If you want our society to conform to the 75 points below, then vote Liberal.
I know I won't.
IPA 75 point plan.
1 Repeal the carbon tax, and don't replace it. It will be one thing to remove the burden of the carbon tax from the Australian economy. But if it is just replaced by another costly scheme, most of the benefits will be undone.
2 Abolish the Department of Climate Change
3 Abolish the Clean Energy Fund
4 Repeal Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act
5 Abandon Australia's bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council
6 Repeal the renewable energy target
7 Return income taxing powers to the states
8 Abolish the Commonwealth Grants Commission
9 Abolish the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
10 Withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol
11 Introduce fee competition to Australian universities
12 Repeal the National Curriculum
13 Introduce competing private secondary school curriculums
14 Abolish the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
15 Eliminate laws that require radio and television broadcasters to be 'balanced'
16 Abolish television spectrum licensing and devolve spectrum management to the common law
17 End local content requirements for Australian television stations
18 Eliminate family tax benefits
19 Abandon the paid parental leave scheme
20 Means-test Medicare
21 End all corporate welfare and subsidies by closing the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education
22 Introduce voluntary voting
23 End mandatory disclosures on political donations
24 End media blackout in final days of election campaigns
25 End public funding to political parties
26 Remove anti-dumping laws
27 Eliminate media ownership restrictions
28 Abolish the Foreign Investment Review Board
29 Eliminate the National Preventative Health Agency
30 Cease subsidising the car industry
31 Formalise a one-in, one-out approach to regulatory reduction
32 Rule out federal funding for 2018 Commonwealth Games
33 Deregulate the parallel importation of books
34 End preferences for Industry Super Funds in workplace relations laws
35 Legislate a cap on government spending and tax as a percentage of GDP
36 Legislate a balanced budget amendment which strictly limits the size of budget deficits and the period the federal government can be in deficit
37 Force government agencies to put all of their spending online in a searchable database
38 Repeal plain packaging for cigarettes and rule it out for all other products, including alcohol and fast food
39 Reintroduce voluntary student unionism at universities
40 Introduce a voucher scheme for secondary schools
41 Repeal the alcopops tax
42 Introduce a special economic zone in the north of Australia including:
a) Lower personal income tax for residents
b) Significantly expanded 457 Visa programs for workers
c) Encourage the construction of dams
43 Repeal the mining tax
44 Devolve environmental approvals for major projects to the states
45 Introduce a single rate of income tax with a generous tax-free threshold
46 Cut company tax to an internationally competitive rate of 25 per cent
47 Cease funding the Australia Network
48 Privatise Australia Post
49 Privatise Medibank
50 Break up the ABC and put out to tender each individual function                                                          51 Privatise SBS                                                                                                                                      52 Reduce the size of the public service from current levels of more than 260,000 to at least the 2001 low of 212,784
53 Repeal the Fair Work Act
54 Allow individuals and employers to negotiate directly terms of employment that suit them
55 Encourage independent contracting by overturning new regulations designed to punish contractors
56 Abolish the Baby Bonus
57 Abolish the First Home Owners' Grant
58 Allow the Northern Territory to become a state
59 Halve the size of the Coalition front bench from 32 to 16
60 Remove all remaining tariff and non-tariff barriers to international trade
61 Slash top public servant salaries to much lower international standards, like in the United States
62 End all public subsidies to sport and the arts
63 Privatise the Australian Institute of Sport
64 End all hidden protectionist measures, such as preferences for local manufacturers in government tendering
65 Abolish the Office for Film and Literature Classification
66 Rule out any government-supported or mandated internet censorship
67 Means test tertiary student loans
68 Allow people to opt out of superannuation in exchange for promising to forgo any government income support in retirement
69 Immediately halt construction of the National Broadband Network and privatise any sections that have already been built
70 End all government funded Nanny State advertising
71 Reject proposals for compulsory food and alcohol labelling
72 Privatise the CSIRO
73 Defund Harmony Day
74 Close the Office for Youth
75 Privatise the Snowy-Hydro Scheme

Friday, June 6, 2014

NBN 101

The NBN explained for the simple minded.
This is very funny, but sadly it is so true.
How come the Conservatives have buggered up a brilliant project and turned it into a very expensive white elephant.

Monday, June 2, 2014

Australia's Tea Party Government

Australia's Tea Party Government by Ron Ostrowski                                                                           Below is a YouTube video on the current Government of Tony Abbott.                                                           

    


Abbott busted deceiving the people once again.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has courted controversy by linking a commemoration of the 70th anniversary of D-Day to his government's policies.

The original press release can be seen here. 

This is not on the Government web site anymore.
Worst prime Minister ever.

Saturday, May 31, 2014

More lies

Quote:
"In an interview with The Australian Financial Review today, Shadow Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull said that he has the Coalition’s ubiquitous high-speed broadband plan ready to go that will give high-speed fibre internet access that will satisfy most users.
That’s right. Most users."
http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2012/08/tu...roadband-plan/

Yes, that was 21/08/2012. More than 1 year before the elections.
As "Blind Freddie" can see, a blatant lie.
The A.F.R. article URL is below.
http://www.afr.com/p/technology/turn...eEYk6G1E5KrCDM
Oh, how the public was deceived by these bunch of blatant liers.

Saturday, May 24, 2014

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Is this what Tony has reduced our country to.

With the lies and deception to get into Government.
With the confected budget emergency, and the kick in the teeth to the poor and pensioners Budget.
Is this what Tony has reduced us to.
Is this Tony when he realises his lies and deceptions are not working?
 
Well, I'm as mad as hell.

Friday, May 16, 2014

Abbott Government

This is my thoughts on what is happening in politics at the moment.
I have no qualifications or experience in economics or finances. So probably anyone could drive Mack trucks through my defence.
Abbott came to power on the back of a very dysfunctional Labor party with massive in fighting (why the hell did I vote for them?)
He talked of the financial mess and debt that Labor had. They also talked up their broadband policy and were totally negative towards Labor’s very popular and affordable NBN. They talked of a budget emergency and how they were going to right it, in general terms, no plans mind you, and they got away with it.
Abbott said,
no new taxes,
no surprises,
no excuses,
Can’t tax yourself to prosperity
grown ups in charge.
They talked of believing in climate change but rejected the market way of combating it with a ETS. They instead have this direct action policy of paying tax payers money to big polluters with no idea of the outcome or any penalties if it did not work. To me they are climate change deniers, well at least Abbott and some of his crew are, maybe not all.
They said they would accept GONSKi, NDIS, no cuts to education, health ABC etc.
Abbott was a great Opposition leader, very negative and obstructionist. He did a good job. He should have gone and handed over the reins to a real leader once he destroyed Labor.
We now know very starkly what we have voted in.
A Government of deceit and lies. A right wing ideology driven government of small government, virtually no safety net. Governing for the rich and bugger the poor.
They went to the last election with a completely confected budget emergency.
The real problem is the structural deficit in the budget.
Labor’s deficit of billions from the GFC to me can be eventually clawed back, it is a once off debt.
The structural deficit is the middle class welfare and 8 tax cuts from John Howard.
The private health insurance rebate
Paid parental leave scheme
Negative gearing
Diesel rebate to miners
Superannuation rebates
The Superannuation rebates more than $13 billion. What a saving to the budget.
Superannuation concessions are unfair ... the top 5 per cent of income earners get a third of the benefit, and the bottom 20 per cent get literally nothing.
Bring back the mining tax.
It is anything but "adult" to create a problem, pass responsibility for it to someone else, and then refuse to talk to them about it. This has to be one of the biggest instances of "buck passing" in Australian history. Of course this is the juvenile and cowardly act of taking 80 Billion from the states for education and health, then telling them to suck eggs and we won't talk about it, unbelievable.
Why the hell did I vote Labor for the first time since 1983 in the last election?
Mad, maybe. But Tony Abbott was the big reason plus Labor's "real" NBN, and of course climate change.
I did not think this Abbott Government would be this extreme and attempt to dismantle Medicare, Public Health, Public Education, have a society of haves and have nots.
I am glad I did not vote for them.

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Malcolm Turnbull accused of Lying

Malcolm Turnbull accused of blatantly lying.
He has been accused by Delimiter of lying to radio station Triple J and to that great paragon of virtue Alan Jones on 2GB.
From Delimiter.

Quote:
Malcolm Turnbull earlier this week made several statements on Alan Jones’ breakfast show on 2GB radio which the Communications Minister is aware are false, repeating incorrect information he had previously broadcast on the ABC’s Triple J several weeks ago and failing to correct incorrect information broadcast by Jones himself.
Renai from Delimiter continues.
Quote:
I remind you of the Australian Government’s Standards of Ministerial Ethics document, which is published on line here in PDF format. This document states:
“Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries hold high public office and are entrusted with considerable privilege and power. The people of Australia are entitled to expect that, in the discharge of their duties, they will act in a manner that is consistent with the highest standards of integrity and propriety.”
The document further states:
“Ministers are expected to be honest in the conduct of public office and take all reasonable steps to ensure that they do not mislead the public or the Parliament. It is a Minister’s personal responsibility to ensure that any error or misconception in relation to such a matter is corrected or clarified, as soon as practicable and in a manner appropriate to the issues and interests involved.”
Renai has pointed out on a number of occasions Turnbull's misleading comments. It is unfortunate that this will not be aired in the Murdoch press or the ABC.
The ABC had Malcolm Turnbull on Q&A this week and Tony Jones the moderator went out of his way to shut down NBN questions to Turnbull.
I cannot believe that Turnbull was not asked any questions on the NBN considering he is the Communications Minister responsible for this huge infrastructure build.
Something is fishy there.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Brandis repealing section 18C, unravelling.

Senator Brandis' attempt at repealing section 18C of the Race Discrimination act is unravelling with members of his own party against such a move.
The attempt to appease their mate Andrew Bolt may yet back fire on them.

Coalition MPs are secretly defying Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Attorney-General George Brandis by drafting an alternative proposal for changes to the race hate laws.NSW backbencher David Coleman, who has a law degree, is understood to be drafting the alternative proposal. Senator Brandis' proposal to loosen the race hate laws – which was inspired by a legal case against the conservative commentator Andrew Bolt – involves repealing section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
SMH Article

 This is what happens when you try and wind back legislation that was put in place to protect the minority and marginalised sections of our community. The very people that have little power and voice to fight back at well connected right wing media personalities.

Saturday, January 11, 2014

How is the Abbott Government Going V?

And it gets worse.

Quote:
Asylum seekers boat push-backs may breach international laws, UN warns.
The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) is warning such actions may place Australia in breach of its obligations under international law.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-01-1...ts-bac/5195328
What sticks in my craw is how Abbott has politicised the Navy.




Well how are they going. Is it going well?
Is it a steady hand, no surprises Government with the adults in charge?
Or are they flaying around without a clue on what they are doing?

How is the Abbott Government Going IV?

Quote:
The federal government's new green paper reveals many practical problems with its policy to combat climate change.
I don't think they have thought this out very well.
They are too concerned with "Stop The Carbon Tax" to be thinking in a rational way.

How is the Abbott Government Going III?


Quote:
The cost of seeing a doctor would soar if private health insurers were allowed to cover GP fees, a health economist has warned.
Get rid of Medicare and put all of the fees up. User pay, that will teach the poor to be poor.

Quote:
As a GP, when I prescribe a drug, I need to know its likely benefits and risks, and I need to base my decision-making on the best available evidence. I’d like to think the same principle applies to the world of policy, but a recent proposal leaves me scratching my head.





How is the Abbott Government Going II?

Quote:
Former Liberal Party leader John Hewson says Tony Abbott should be less secretive about his asylum seeker policies, suggesting the Prime Minister give proper briefings to the public and to MPs from other parties.
Dr Hewson suggested Mr Abbott had gone too far in his efforts to suppress information.
Even the faithful are questioning Abbott and his tactics.
How long is it going to take for average Joe to wake up to Abbott?

How is the Abbott Government Going?

How is the Abbott Government going now that we have gone 4 months into the new Government.
We were promised a steady hand, no surprises Government with the adults in charge.
Lets see then.
Fraudband unraveling as the days tick on from the election date. TIC TIC TIC.
From Delimiter.

Quote:
In its broadband policy released in April 2013 (PDF), the Coalition made the following pledge: “Within 90 days the department of Broadband Communications and the digital economy, with the assistance of NBN Co and private carriers, will provide Parliament with a ranking of broadband quality and availability in all areas of Australia. This ranking will be published for comment and review and will guide prioritisation of the rollout.”
The report was brought out but is a joke of a report not promising what Turnbull said it would.
Quote:
However, the report released by the Minister appears to be little more than three pages of extremely high-level summary overview material. It does not consist of a “ranking of broadband quality and availability in all areas of Australia” as the Coalition had promised would be delivered within 90 days of it taking office.
The promise of faster, cheaper broadband was poo, pooed by most Telecommunication Techies, but Turnbull kept going.
Quote:
This approach has meant that the Coalition has admitted — just several months after the Federal Election — that it will no longer be able to keep its election promise of giving all Australians access to 25Mbps broadband speeds by 2016.
Quote:
I really have no idea how anyone at NBN Co — with that company’s deep engineering expertise — is supposed to take it seriously. It is a farcical effort that the Government should be ashamed of, and reflects a new broken election promise for the Coalition, if a minor one.
The Coalition has sold us a "pup", a very expensive and out of date pup at that.
Their broadband policy is a shambles, we were all warned.
They should bite the bullet and do the proper thing and apologise to the Australian people and continue with Labor's "Real NBN".