# ***G20***



## noirua (31 March 2009)

Kevin Rudd had his first interview in the UK on Sunday 29th March 2009, before the G20 meeting on Thursday, with interviewer Andrew Marr:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/andrew_marr_show/7970580.stm

...and on video: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/andrew_marr_show/7970566.stm


----------



## noirua (31 March 2009)

George Soros speaks in an interview about the G20 meeting on Thursday:  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/in_depth/business/2009/g20/7970447.stm


----------



## doctorj (31 March 2009)

While I expect the media's reports of mass protests in London tomorrow are completely overblown, I've got to say, I'm looking forward to them. I've never seen a riot before and given I have a nice view of RBS' offices from my window, I've got a pretty good seat should things kick off. I've got a camera with me and will share any interesting shots I get.

Preparations for the events have been underway for a couple of weeks and have gathered pace in the past few days. Banks and other companies in the city have begun removing signage, expensive hotels (such as the Ritz Carlton) have boarded up windows and doors, there are large police vehicles (4wd, large armoured vans etc) lining Bishopsgate and most banks in the city have hired extra security and have advised employees to either dress down or not come in at all.

On the other side of the coin, maps of the city have been distributed with banks, oil companies, accounting firms etc labelled on them for would be protesters and rioters. Catch cries like 'burn a banker' are now the rallying cry of the disgruntled.

Tomorrow will be the bellwether to see whether the UK's so called winter of discontent makes way for a summer of rage.


----------



## doctorj (31 March 2009)

Copy of map mentioned in previous post.


----------



## Naked shorts (1 April 2009)

doctorj said:


> While I expect the media's reports of mass protests in London tomorrow are completely overblown, I've got to say, I'm looking forward to them. I've never seen a riot before and given I have a nice view of RBS' offices from my window, I've got a pretty good seat should things kick off. I've got a camera with me and will share any interesting shots I get.




Looking forward to seeing those photos.


----------



## doctorj (1 April 2009)

I've just heard a rumour that a 'tent city' will be set up in Exchange Square.

For the past several months, RBS have a sign in the foyer of their central London buildings with a 'threat level'.  Usually the sign is green... today it changed to amber.  I'll try to get a picture of it on my way past tomorrow.


----------



## doctorj (1 April 2009)

Tensions are definately high here. This was just published on the FT website



> *Explosives found near bank of England?*
> The below email forwarded to us from an employee at a building in the vicinity
> 
> Dear all,
> ...




City police have given the all clear. It appears to have came about as a result of an over-zealous and rather nervous security guard.


----------



## doctorj (1 April 2009)

doctorj said:


> there are large police vehicles (4wd, large armoured vans etc) lining Bishopsgate and most banks in the city have hired extra security and have advised employees to either dress down or not come in at all.



There are also a number of building sites being used as makeshift depots for marked and unmarked police vehicles around the city. This photo courtesy of twitter.

Edit: Eat the bankers photo added.  Taken by the Guardian outside RBS on Bishopsgate today.


----------



## doctorj (1 April 2009)

Great album of London preparing for the day...
http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/c.aspx?VP=XSpecific_MAG.StoryDetail_VPage&pid=29YL53FIELRQ


----------



## Happy (1 April 2009)

doctorj said:


> London preparing for the day...




I just don't see the point, with current economy state shouldn't money be rather spent on high speed internet connection between the G20 participants?


----------



## Aussiejeff (1 April 2009)

Happy said:


> I just don't see the point, with current economy state *shouldn't money be rather spent on high speed internet connection between the G20 participants?*




Remember when computers first arrived on the scene back in the Dark Ages and how this marvellous new invention would save millions of tons of paper every year via the "paperless office"? LOL

Gummints & pollies have yet to catch up with that fossilised idea, let alone the revolutionary concept of world-wide video conferencing for such matters. 

Can you imagine how much that would hurt their travel expenses & allowances? How boring it would be for them if they couldn't swan around the planet in droves, slapping each other on the back, staying in the best hotels, eating the finest food, quaffing the finest wines - all at taxpayer's expense!

Silly idea really, eh?


----------



## Naked shorts (1 April 2009)

Aussiejeff said:


> Can you imagine how much that would hurt their travel expenses & allowances? How boring it would be for them if they couldn't swan around the planet in droves, slapping each other on the back, staying in the best hotels, eating the finest food, quaffing the finest wines - all at taxpayer's expense!




You sound like the kind of person who would go to one of these rallies...what does you sign say?


----------



## Aussiejeff (1 April 2009)

Naked shorts said:


> You sound like the kind of person who would go to one of these rallies...what does you sign say?




[size=+2]**PAY POLLIES MORE!!**[/size]

:hide:


----------



## doctorj (1 April 2009)

It seems the protesters were either confused by the sudden decline in ties in the square mile (and the mysterious, if somehow linked sudden increase in chinos and brown shoes) or they just couldn’t be bothered getting out of bed early enough.

Aside from having to walk through layers of barricades and security to get into the office this morning, it was pretty much business as usual.

Disappointing really.


----------



## GumbyLearner (1 April 2009)

doctorj said:


> There are also a number of building sites being used as makeshift depots for marked and unmarked police vehicles around the city. This photo courtesy of twitter.
> 
> Edit: Eat the bankers photo added.  Taken by the Guardian outside RBS on Bishopsgate today.




Reminds me of that book by P.J.O'Rourke or the song by Motorhead.


----------



## doctorj (1 April 2009)

Riot police, a tank thing and a water cannon has arrived outside my building.

Still more journos than protesters.


----------



## GumbyLearner (1 April 2009)

Im listening to a Gordon Brown and Barack Obama wankathon ATM on CNN!

When are these guys going to get the balls to point the finger?

Point at the major players guys!

Who are they community building societies, regional lenders, localized pension 
funds..?


----------



## doctorj (1 April 2009)

Better photos of the tank across the road.


----------



## GumbyLearner (1 April 2009)

When Reality Hits

*Just like the pendulum of cycles*

'The rich want me to pay for their crisis'

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art.php?id=17520

Claudia Campbell (Pic: Pete Jackson)

 I'm a care worker on less than £7 an hour with no pension – but Brown and the G20 are doing nothing to help millions like me

Claudia Campbell is one of millions of people working in Britain forced to live on very low pay.

As a care worker in Birmingham she spends long hours helping people with learning disabilities.

Despite her work being both demanding and important Claudia earns just £6.56 an hour – that's just £838 a month.

"It's a struggle to survive on what I earn," she told Socialist Worker. "Rents, bills and food prices are all spiralling – but my pay is standing still. When I'm in the supermarket I have to think very carefully about the price of every item I buy."

There are no such worries for the G20 world leaders who are meeting in London this week. They are wining and dining on the best that Britain's restaurants have to offer, while the heads of industry talk of the need to cut costs.

But calls for "belt tightening" by Britain's bosses can only mean more pay cuts and more job losses for the rest of us.

Already two thirds of British manufacturers say they have frozen pay or are considering doing so in the future. Meanwhile millions of public sector workers have suffered from below inflation rises for years in a row.

The rich are determined to use the economic crisis to their advantage. They don't just want to slash pay – they want an assault on pensions and public spending too.

In every town in Britain there are thousands of people who spend sleepless nights worrying about their jobs, their homes and how to carry on putting food on their family's tables. And it's the lowest paid and the unemployed that are being hit the hardest.

"Gordon Brown won't do anything for people like me," says Claudia. "If he was serious about helping those at the sharp end of the recession he could increase the minimum wage from just £5.73 an hour. Or he could step in to stop the jobs losses round here."

The past four months has seen a jobs massacre in Claudia's home city of Birmingham. Some 450 people were made redundant at Jaguar Land Rover, 600 at nearby Aston Martin and 850 at van makers LDV.

And it's not just the manufacturers – many local suppliers have gone out of business too. Trade unions have at last woken up to the issue and are planning a massive demonstration over jobs in Birmingham on Saturday 16 May.

"There's got to be a fight over jobs," says Claudia. "But there should also be one about pay. Why should people like me be earning only the bare minimum when there are people like MPs who claim more in expenses than I will earn in a lifetime?" mean more pay cuts and more job losses for the rest of us.


----------



## doctorj (1 April 2009)

It's all a bit of a fizz really.  This is taken outside UBS, but in most parts there are more photographers than protesters.

Russel Brand has joined the protest, surrounded by a battalion of security guards.


----------



## doctorj (1 April 2009)

More photo fun


----------



## Glen48 (1 April 2009)

I figure this Gee 20? will be like the last one Wayne had to attend in a hurry and race back to give us money just another talk no agreeing but agreeing things are bad and agreeing to meet again soon.


----------



## GumbyLearner (1 April 2009)

Glen48 said:


> I figure this Gee 20? will be like the last one Wayne had to attend in a hurry and race back to give us money just another talk no agreeing but agreeing things are bad and agreeing to meet again soon.




Accurate analysis :


----------



## GumbyLearner (1 April 2009)

I think even a better hypotethical would be..

Will the French walk because of lack of agreement about the unregulated orgy-like behaviour of lenders such as Merill Lynch, Citi, RBS, TSB Lloyd's, Santander, Credit Suisse et al..  ?

Who ultimatley pays for incompetence?
Well someone who has recently graduated is on the dole. But really..

Should Mum & Dads pay for these peoples incompetence?

If the French do walk, WHY?


----------



## GumbyLearner (1 April 2009)

GumbyLearner said:


> I think even a better hypotethical would be..
> 
> Will the French walk because of lack of agreement about the unregulated orgy-like behaviour of lenders such as Merill Lynch, Citi, RBS, TSB Lloyd's, Santander, Credit Suisse et al..  ?
> 
> ...




I'm watching the masses trying to squash the police at the moment.
I wish the Police all the best but I think given the ridiculous imbalance of the system the people protesting have a right to say something.

How terrible that the BBC or ITV have NO-ONE to go in there and hear a different perspective?

I mean why would they, everything is going to be alright for the next decade right??

The bankers keep they're bonuses.

BAN protests! 

Live on BBC International now


----------



## GumbyLearner (1 April 2009)

Don't worry now people! No batons to be seen.
Bankers are not thieves!

The BBC has turned to an astrologer

http://www.tooncrib.com/southpark/wallpapers/barbrady1024x768.jpg


----------



## GumbyLearner (1 April 2009)

I'm watching a lunar eclipse on BBC International right now!

Thanks guys

The last sliver of the sun. Wow, how I love the most incredible sight...blah blah blah

Pussies


----------



## doctorj (2 April 2009)

Things are starting to get pretty nasty out there now.  Police have encircled protesters in the area in front of the bank of england and are keeping them in by using vans and lines of police.  Seeing a police baton charge is rather unpleasant.  

Protesters are working themselves up into a frenzy and police are getting more and more heavy handed in dealing with it.  

Will post photos tonight.


----------



## Naked shorts (2 April 2009)

Thanks for the photos doc, seeing that tank outside your office must have been a bit


----------



## GumbyLearner (2 April 2009)

doctorj said:


> Things are starting to get pretty nasty out there now.  Police have encircled protesters in the area in front of the bank of england and are keeping them in by using vans and lines of police.  Seeing a police baton charge is rather unpleasant.
> 
> Protesters are working themselves up into a frenzy and police are getting more and more heavy handed in dealing with it.
> 
> Will post photos tonight.




It would be great to post a realistic depiciton of whats going on. You have a birdseye view? So too speak, right?????


----------



## doctorj (2 April 2009)

The Bank of England is a km or so away. Police are doing what they can to keep people in that area. Don't have a bird's eye view of festivities, but took photos and movies when I went for a walk at lunch. Unfortunately I got caught in it as police were forced to pull their lines back suddenly. Managed to get out unscatahed, but many press photographers around me weren't quite so lucky.

Apparently they've just sent in the mounted police and dog squads to clear certain areas of protesters and elsewhere, protesters have stormed some RBS offices and are now throwing office equipment out the windows.


----------



## GumbyLearner (2 April 2009)

doctorj said:


> The Bank of England is a km or so away. Police are doing what they can to keep people in that area. Don't have a bird's eye view of festivities, but took photos and movies when I went for a walk at lunch. Unfortunately I got caught in it as police were forced to pull their lines back suddenly. Managed to get out unscatahed, but many press photographers around me weren't quite so lucky.
> 
> Apparently they've just sent in the mounted police and dog squads to clear certain areas of protesters and elsewhere, protesters have stormed some RBS offices and are now throwing office equipment out the windows.




There couldn't be a better way to "rub the salt in" to the robbed, then to hit them with batons. But it might leave a bad taste in the mouths of some????

Inflation has been promised anyway.

Today is just a rehearsal! IMHO:


----------



## doctorj (2 April 2009)

It should also be said, there are large groups clearly looking for trouble.  There are several packs of about 10-20 people dressed head to toe in black and wearing ski masks moving about amongst the crowd.


----------



## sinner (2 April 2009)

Looks like the blue tank (or one that looked very similar, I just saw on BBC News) in doc photos was actually a fake one by a bunch of rioters called the "Space Hijackers" who were recently arrested by police!

They had painted it in cop colours and written "Riot Squad" on the side.

I assume their plan was to sneak behind police lines.


----------



## doctorj (2 April 2009)

Yea, apparently it was a 50 year old Armoured Personnel Carrier done up in police colours.


----------



## metric (2 April 2009)

i'll bet this is on the agenda for discussion at g20...

Hannity, Morris Agree with “Conspiracy People” About New World Order 

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars
March 31, 2009

In the video here, the former Clintonite Dick Morris, who is now a darling of Fox News, tells Sean Hannity the globalists will put the “American economy under international regulation” and “those people who have been yelling, oh, the UN is going to take over… they’ve been crazy, but now they’re right.”



“Those conspiracy people,” Sean Hannity interjects, “had suggested that for years… you’re not wrong.”

It’s the “international regulation of the financial institutions” we have to worry about, warns Dick Morris. It will happen under “IMF control… Remember, the IMF is run by the Europeans and backed by Americans.”



> It’s too bad Mr. Morris didn’t give us the rest of the story. The IMF is a loan sharking operation created by the bankers under the Bretton Woods scheme and its primary purpose to date has been to get third world nations into hock so they can be more effectively looted. It is now poised, as Morris eludes, to embark on a far more ambitious bankster scam ”” to initiate something called “global quantitative easing” by printing billions of dollars worth of a global “super-currency,” deceptively billed as a way to address the economic crisis manufactured by the global elite.




“Alistair Darling and senior figures in the US Treasury have been encouraging the Fund to issue hundreds of billions of dollars worth of so-called Special Drawing Rights (SDRs) in the coming months as part of its campaign to prevent the recession from turning into a global depression,” the Telegraph reported on March 16.

SDRs are now based on four currencies ”” the US dollar, the Japanese yen, the euro and the British pound. They are used largely as a unit of account by the IMF and other international organizations.

Read between the lines and you get to the bottom of the real reason for the issuance of SDRs ”” to push for a world currency. Recall a few days ago Zhou Xiaochuan, China’s central bank’s governor, calling for the IMF to forge a new world reserve currency.


----------



## noirua (2 April 2009)

"One is so pleased to meet you all"...  http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7977867.stm  PM Rudd seems to be at the back on the left, at the photo shoot at the end.

"Great to meet you guys"... "WE are also pleased"... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7975851.stm


----------



## Aussiejeff (2 April 2009)

metric said:


> .. Recall a few days ago Zhou Xiaochuan, China’s central bank’s governor, calling for the IMF to forge a new world reserve currency...




Based on the Yuan?


----------



## Aussiejeff (2 April 2009)

doctorj said:


> Yea, apparently it was a 50 year old Armoured Personnel Carrier done up in police colours.




** GASP**

A Trojan!!


----------



## noirua (2 April 2009)

Australians can hold their heads high as PM Kevin Rudd moves towards the meeting this Thursday, yep today. Nicely wedged between Saudi Arabia and China. 

Why you may ask? Well, look thee here at the "percentage of debt figures compared to GDP":

Dmitry Medvedev - Russia ****** 6.8%
King Abdullah - Saudi Arabia **** 13.5%
Kevin Rudd - Australia ******** 15.4%
Hu Jintao - China ************ 15.7%
Felipe Calderon - Mexico ******* 20.3%
Kgalema Motlanthe - South Africa * 29.9%
Susilo Yudhoyono - Indonesia *** 30.1%
Lee Myung-Bak - South korea *** 32.7%
Abdullah Gul - Turkey ********* 37.1%
Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva - Mexico * 40.7%
Gordon Brown - United Kingdom ** 47.2%
Christina Fernandez - Argentina ** 51%
Mirek Topolanek - European Union * 58.7%
Barack Obama - United States *** 60.8%
Stephen Harper - Canada ******* 62.3%
Angela Merkel - Germany ******* 62.6%
Nicolas Sarkozy - France ******* 67.0%
Manmohan Singh - India ******** 78.0%
Silvio Berlusconi - Italy ******** 103.7%
Taro Aso - Japan ************ 170.4%


----------



## Aussiejeff (2 April 2009)

noirua said:


> Australians can hold their heads high as PM Kevin Rudd moves towards the meeting this Thursday, yep today. Nicely wedged between Saudi Arabia and China.
> 
> Why you may ask? Well, look thee here at the "percentage of debt figures compared to GDP":
> 
> ...




I couldn't get to the last country on the list. I had to avert my eyes or experience overwhelming nausea... a misprint, shurley?


----------



## noirua (2 April 2009)

Aussiejeff said:


> I couldn't get to the last country on the list. I had to avert my eyes or experience overwhelming nausea... a misprint, shurley?



Not a misprint, as Japans decline is one of the most rapid, as they teeter near the cliff edge.


----------



## noirua (2 April 2009)

List of countries by public debt:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_public_debt


----------



## investorpaul (2 April 2009)

That Japanese figure is amazing. I knew the situation in Japan was bad, but i didn't know it was that bad. Its going to take a long time to dig themselves out of that hole


----------



## doctorj (2 April 2009)

Some of my photos from yesterday...


----------



## doctorj (2 April 2009)

A couple more...


----------



## doctorj (2 April 2009)

Last one.


----------



## overit (2 April 2009)

Great pic...Thanks!


----------



## doctorj (3 April 2009)

One of my favourite photos from yesterday, a broker joins the masses to win a bet for a case of Veuve Clicquot


----------



## Aussiejeff (3 April 2009)

The "Big Protest" was a "Big Fizzer".

***G20*** wins.


----------



## metric (3 April 2009)

doctorj said:


> One of my favourite photos from yesterday, a broker joins the masses to win a bet for a case of Veuve Clicquot




"one currency
one country
one world"

seems someone else won a bet......


----------



## Temjin (3 April 2009)

metric said:


> "one currency
> one country
> one world"
> 
> seems someone else won a bet......




And we shall name this new world, the

United Earth Sphere Federation! 

Damn, too much Gundam laterly...


----------



## noirua (3 April 2009)

Interesting now to see who gets what and whether countries, like the UK, can raise so many billions needed to bolster up all their bank rescues. 
China pumped in the most they say, and it seems PM Kevin Rudd was the main linchpin in bringing them to an agreement. This mans strength is underestimated by Aussies at home who look more to their own financial positions.


----------



## Aussiejeff (5 April 2009)

investcdn said:


> In advance of the G20, analysts claim that more than “ritual support” is needed to avoid a “damaging retreat to protectionism.” This is a frankly unrealistic hope. In times of grave danger, countries will be protectionist “where they believe they must do that to protect the well-being of their citizens. It will surprise me if things turn out otherwise.”




Well, KRudd is straight into it - re-guaranteeing with his manipulated Big-4 that no-one with a house mortgage will have to meet any payments if they are sacked this year, thus "protecting" them from foreclosure in that time.

Gee. I hope he is going to extend that largesse to paying a whole 12 months rent for each and every one of the estimated 200,000 households that are predicted to face eviction from rental properties if Oz unemployment reaches a conservative 7.5%! 

Hey, has anyone got the total debt borrowings tally thus far for the looming monster deficit budget? Anyway, there's bound to be some more significant and politically feel-good "cash bonuses" before 30 June, eh? 

With an approval rating of 74% and an almost godlike  propensity to splash cash to the hoi-poloi, I think KRudd is odd's-on to beat Ol' Hawke's all-time high approval rating of 75%. I reckon he will smash through 80% before a somewhat predictable fall from grace after the Creditors Bills start to sprinkle like confetti into the Government House mailbox towards the end of 2009 and on into 2010-2011.


----------



## Conza88 (6 April 2009)

*Anti-Capitalists protesting Anti-Capitalists...*


----------



## Aussiejeff (28 June 2010)

... and here we are again, more than a year later. I *sniff* the pungent odour of Dejavu #9!

Apparently, gummints around the world have been saying over the last 12 months or so that gummint stimulus & growth in world trade, especially with China, will save us all. 

If this is so, then how come almost overnight these same so-called "developed" world's governments can agree to slash gummint stimulus & deficits by 50% over 3 years without kicking this economic recovery in the guts?

China doesn't seem too happy about these developments either.... http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/br...sm-at-g20-summit/story-e6frf7ko-1225885025629

Oh well.

Let the Money Merry-Go-Round spin, spin, spin....


----------



## Aussiejeff (28 June 2010)

> "After years of taking on too much debt, _*Americans cannot - and will not - borrow and buy the world's way to lasting prosperity,"*_* Obama said* at the end of G20 talks focused on shoring up the world's fragile economic recovery.



http://www.news.com.au/world/americ...-president-obama/story-e6frfkyi-1225885114774

LOL

Mutually exclusive remarks there, I'd say. How, pray tell, can the World "shore up it's fragile economic recovery" if the US will NOT resume fundamental rampant capitalism ie BORROW & BUY. Let's face it, the main reason there has been booming world financial markets from the late 1970's till 2007 was on the back of voracious US consumer borrowing & buying, buying, BUYING all the world's toys and cool stuff they could get their hands on!

If that is the new mantra of Obama, there is little hope....


----------



## Calliope (14 November 2014)

As Brisbane's temperature is expected to soar to 35 tomorrow and 39 on Sunday I am sure that the protesters would welcome the use of the borrowed water cannon to cool them off.

Brisbane residents are fleeing the city in their thousands to try and escape the double menace of the heat and the disruption and nuisance caused by the unwelcome G2 invasion.


----------



## CanOz (15 November 2014)

Calliope said:


> As Brisbane's temperature is expected to soar to 35 tomorrow and 39 on Sunday I am sure that the protesters would welcome the use of the borrowed water cannon to cool them off.
> 
> Brisbane residents are fleeing the city in their thousands to try and escape the double menace of the heat and the disruption and nuisance caused by the unwelcome G2 invasion.




I'm happy if it puts Brissy on the map


----------



## Ves (15 November 2014)

Calliope said:


> As Brisbane's temperature is expected to soar to 35 tomorrow and 39 on Sunday I am sure that the protesters would welcome the use of the borrowed water cannon to cool them off.
> 
> Brisbane residents are fleeing the city in their thousands to try and escape the double menace of the heat and the disruption and nuisance caused by the unwelcome G2 invasion.



I'd be more than happy if they bought the water cannon out into the suburbs.   But since I'm just a lowly pleb, they won't notice me hiding out here with a fridge full of beer doing what I normally do.


----------



## Calliope (15 November 2014)

CanOz said:


> I'm happy if it puts Brissy on the map




As a Canadian I am sure you remember how the G20 put Toronto on the map in 2000.


----------



## Calliope (15 November 2014)

Why does America go to such extraordinary lengths to protect the person of their president?  Surely this pathetic little guy would be as easily replaced as any soldier kiilled in Afghanistan.





Actually it is just symbolism, as a demonstration of America's might and power. It cuts no ice with Russia or China.


----------



## Julia (15 November 2014)

Cost to Australia of hosting the G20 is around $450 million.   One would have to hope that the resulting policies, if any, will represent value for money.

The actual event is very brief, you'd have to think largely a photo op, and presumably much of the actual work is already done by public servants behind the scenes.

How important is it for these world leaders to actually be physically together, bearing in mind the massive security and general inconvenience involved?


----------



## SirRumpole (15 November 2014)

Julia said:


> Cost to Australia of hosting the G20 is around $450 million.   One would have to hope that the resulting policies, if any, will represent value for money.
> 
> The actual event is very brief, you'd have to think largely a photo op, and presumably much of the actual work is already done by public servants behind the scenes.
> 
> How important is it for these world leaders to actually be physically together, bearing in mind the massive security and general inconvenience involved?




They could have a teleconference on Skype and achieve as much as they will in this silly shambles.


----------



## noco (15 November 2014)

One thing I hope comes out of this G20 meeting is to plug the hole of large corporate tax evasion.


----------



## SirRumpole (15 November 2014)

noco said:


> One thing I hope comes out of this G20 meeting is to plug the hole of large corporate tax evasion.




Would be good if they did.

Agreement to reduce worldwide arms levels would also be good, but that is in the world of fantasy.


----------



## luutzu (15 November 2014)

Julia said:


> Cost to Australia of hosting the G20 is around $450 million.   One would have to hope that the resulting policies, if any, will represent value for money.
> 
> The actual event is very brief, you'd have to think largely a photo op, and presumably much of the actual work is already done by public servants behind the scenes.
> 
> How important is it for these world leaders to actually be physically together, bearing in mind the massive security and general inconvenience involved?




Yea, scanning the headlines and I noticed there's the APEC, ASEAN, G20, all in November, all within two weeks or so.
There's the G8, soon the TPP, the BRICS, Davos... Whatever happen to them just getting together in a parliament house or something.


----------



## Wysiwyg (15 November 2014)

Julia said:


> How important is it for these world leaders to actually be physically together, bearing in mind the massive security and general inconvenience involved?



Body language indicated to me that some of them will be glad when it's all over. Security procedures, set itinerary, hotel beds, other country leaders you don't like, english not native tongue, Tony Abbott, policies your country doesn't agree with, media cameras (fans okay), cold shoulder treatment (Vlad) and  stinking hot weather (must be anthropomorphic).

Favourite leader - Angela Merkel for her openness shown by walking Caxton street.


----------



## Calliope (15 November 2014)

Wysiwyg said:


> Body language indicated to me that some of them will be glad when it's all over. Security procedures, set itinerary, hotel beds, other country leaders you don't like, english not native tongue, Tony Abbott, policies your country doesn't agree with, media cameras (fans okay), cold shoulder treatment (Vlad) and  stinking hot weather (must be anthropomorphic).
> 
> Favourite leader - Angela Merkel for her openness shown by walking Caxton street.




I'm afraid the G20 is a minus for Tony Abbott. He was flipped off today by a lame-duck President Obama on climate change before a very compliant audience of U of Q students. To Abbott's dismay and the ABC's delight Obama put GW firmly back on the agenda, with help from Ban Ki-moon of course.


----------



## IFocus (16 November 2014)

Calliope said:


> I'm afraid the G20 is a minus for Tony Abbott. He was flipped off today by a lame-duck President Obama on climate change before a very compliant audience of U of Q students. To Abbott's dismay and the ABC's delight Obama put GW firmly back on the agenda, with help from Ban Ki-moon of course.




Couldn't disagree more I think Abbott be-dazzled them all by talking about the $7 co-payment amongst other domestic issues


----------



## drsmith (16 November 2014)

IFocus said:


> Couldn't disagree more I think Abbott be-dazzled them all by talking about the $7 co-payment amongst other domestic issues



What I find interesting is that if we had a progressive government touting domestic social policies as an example to the world at such a forum, the reception from the ABC and Fairfax at least would be far warmer.

Measures to balance the books from a conservative government however receive a far cooler response despite the lessons Europe post GFC has to offer.


----------



## Calliope (16 November 2014)

IFocus said:


> Couldn't disagree more I think Abbott be-dazzled them all by talking about the $7 co-payment amongst other domestic issues




On the other hand our silly Billy would take a different tack;



> Speaking at a media conference in Melbourne, Mr Shorten was asked what he would say to Mr Putin if he met him at the G20 in Brisbane this weekend.
> 
> "Nothing," Mr Shorten responded.




Billy never misses an opportunity to say something inane. He is the guy who once said he would believe anything Gillard said, even if he didn't know what she said.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...ay-nothing-20141112-11kv6b.html#ixzz3JBgnW5oq


----------



## Smurf1976 (16 November 2014)

drsmith said:


> Measures to balance the books from a conservative government however receive a far cooler response despite the lessons Europe post GFC has to offer.




We just spent $450 million, plus the impact on businesses and individuals of the disruption, on a meeting for a handful of elites. 

If there's money to throw around like that then it's no wonder there's opposition to measures to "balance the books", particularly when doing so is being achieved by harming those already in less fortunate situations.


----------



## drsmith (16 November 2014)

Smurf1976 said:


> We just spent $450 million, plus the impact on businesses and individuals of the disruption, on a meeting for a handful of elites.



The cost of the G20 is excessive in my view but if we want to make comparisons, we spent $12bn and condemned over 1000 to drown at sea by Labor and the Greens handing asylum policy to illegal people smuggling operations and it is still costing billions to deal with the legacy.

The G20 at least has the potential to deliver something more positive than that. 



Smurf1976 said:


> If there's money to throw around like that then it's no wonder there's opposition to measures to "balance the books", particularly when doing so is being achieved by harming those already in less fortunate situations.



There's nothing wrong with debating the nature of measures that need to be taken but of the many fronts Labor weakens its position, one is not even adopting the cuts it took to the lase election.

The Libs have their weakness to but not to the same extent as Labor.


----------



## Calliope (16 November 2014)

Smurf1976 said:


> We just spent $450 million, plus the impact on businesses and individuals of the disruption, on a meeting for a handful of elites.




It was Gillard who foisted this expensive fiasco on Brisbane. Wasting taxpayer's money is what she did best.


----------



## Tisme (20 November 2014)

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has praised the Australian government for the atmosphere at the G20 summit in Brisbane.

“(Our) Australian partners created an extraordinarily welcoming atmosphere for work. I was surprised by the warmth with which normal Australian citizens received our delegation,” Mr Putin told a forum of supporters in Moscow, according to an official transcript.

Mr Putin also added praise for Prime Minister Tony Abbott.


Perth Times


----------



## dutchie (20 November 2014)

Rare footage of Putin in his teenage years playing table tennis (he is in blue).

[video]http://www.news.com.au/sport/teenage-russian-table-tennis-player-loses-it-after-losing-game/story-fnaqgujp-1227129479020#[/video]


----------

