Australian Politics General...

[SirRumpole]

So true -

“Enoch Powell once remarked, ‘For a politician to complain about the press is like a captain complaining about the sea’. These proceedings demonstrate a politician litigating over the barbs of a political adversary might be considered a similarly futile exercise,” he said.

 

[IFocus]

I don't know if anyone has noticed, but we do have an indigenous voice in parliament via the several indigenous MPs.

Think you will find they all will have their own agendas often for their own mobs plus given the power structures that operate in the Parliament unlikely they will have much impact.

As for the Voice I think its a good idea wont please all and wont carry much power but don't discount the symbolism and pride that it will carry hopefully for all Indigenous Australians.

You have to start some where its been a long time coming.

 

[mullokintyre]

When state premiers start to "lose" cabinet members, you know they are on the way out.
Andrews in Victoria, now Perotet in NSW.
Andrew Ayres has resigned after the com-lete debacle over appointing John Barrilaro to the position of US trade rep.
This follows the departure of Elini Petinos who was sacked over bullying claims.
When the third one gets sacked, it will confirm the demise of the NSW government.
A change federally often comes with a state changes.
There have been few occasions when the Federal Government and the State governments of all three of the Eastern States have been of the same political bias.
So, I am going to predict there will be change of governments in Victoria in November, NSW in June 2023, and Queensland in October 2024.
All of the three governments are tired, the smarter ones have left or been kicked out, and all have the stench of corruption hanging around them.
Mick

 

[SirRumpole]

now Perotet in NSW.
Andrew Ayres has resigned after the com-lete debacle over appointing John Barrilaro to the position of US trade rep.
This follows the departure of Elini Petinos who was sacked over bullying claims.

Not forgetting the big one, Gladys.

I'm in NSW and I don't think Labor has a big enough public face yet, they get very little media coverage and need to upgrade their profile.

QLD I'm not sure about either I think Anna will hang on.

VIC, who knows ? there has been enough manure flying around about Labor, but little seems to have stuck to Andrews, but I think Vic is the biggest chance for a change.

 

[moXJO]

Not forgetting the big one, Gladys.

I'm in NSW and I don't think Labor has a big enough public face yet, they get very little media coverage and need to upgrade their profile.

QLD I'm not sure about either I think Anna will hang on.

VIC, who knows ? there has been enough manure flying around about Labor, but little seems to have stuck to Andrews, but I think Vic is the biggest chance for a change.

The stench of NSW Labor corruption hasn't been erased yet imo. That coupled with labors high unemployment and generally sht times stains the memory still.

The current bunch of sht libs still haven't quite overtaken labors bunch of sht ministers in the race to the bottom.

In saying that, I'm not impressed with Perotet. Preferred Gladys or O'farrell.

 

[sptrawler]

Murdoch press and political interference, something should be done about it, it never happens with the other side of politics.
Just saying, ?

McGowan ‘doesn’t recall’ if he tried to influence Stokes’ anti-Palmer law coverage

The premier has finally answered questions about his relationship with media mogul Kerry Stokes after the Clive Palmer defamation case exposed a chummy text exchange.

www.watoday.com.au

West Australian Premier Mark McGowan has defended his relationship with billionaire Kerry Stokes while saying he could “not recall” whether he phoned him to influence the editorial direction of his media outlets to favour the government in August 2020.
As the McGowan-Palmer defamation verdict was handed down on Tuesday, the premier finally answered questions about his relationship with the media mogul since the case revealed a chummy text exchange between the pair.

 

[JohnDe]

Murdoch press and political interference, something should be done about it, it never happens with the other side of politics.
Just saying, ?

Examples please.

 

[JohnDe]

Finally something is being done -

Why ‘unfair contracts’ are finally set to be dumped by Labor

Many of Australia’s largest enterprises are set to be brought into the 21st century as the new ALP government vows to finally end the barbaric “unfair contracts” that have dominated dealings between large and small enterprises for two centuries. I have battled to end these contracts for more than 10 years.

The Liberal party in government knew these contracts were wrong but could not separate itself from the cocktail set and refused to honour its undertakings to ban the contracts.

New opposition leader Peter Dutton has to hope that the ALP does not use the banning of “unfair contracts” as a base to establish the ALP as the party of family business. If it does then Dutton is unlikely to ever be Prime Minister.

Back 10 years ago there were about eight million of these contracts but over the last decade many large companies have abandoned them but there remain many millions still in existence that now face being outlawed.

In very simple terms an “unfair” standard form contract gives the large enterprise rights that the smaller enterprise does not have. These rights may include the ability to change the price, cancel the contract and alter most other terms. Most are presented to smaller enterprises on a “take it or leave it” basis. If the contract has been properly negotiated on a one-on-one basis then the legislation does not apply. But “sham” negotiations will no longer work.

About six years ago, the Coalition passed legislation that declared unfair clauses in contracts to be void but there were no penalties. The big legal firms found ways around the act for their large corporate clients and ignored the will of the Australian Parliament.

Thanks to the work of then ACCC chairman Rod Sims a tough set of proposed rules incorporated in new legislation were set out with strong penalties. In the halcyon days after the Morrison 2019 victory the Coalition believed it could follow Robert Menzies and John Howard and become the party of family business.

It brilliantly mobilised all the state governments to embrace the Sims recommendations which also involved gaining support from the ALP. The required Commonwealth legislation was prepared and would have passed both Houses of Parliament in record time but the Liberals were heavily lobbied and succumbed.

During the election campaign the ALP took advantage of the Liberals vulnerability to intense lobbying from large enterprises and so embraced most of the proposed Liberal “unfair contracts” legislation its signature small business policy in the election campaign.

Triumphantly eating the Liberal’s lunch, Small Business Minister Julie Collins and Assistant Minister for Treasury, Andrew Leigh declared:

“The government is delivering its election commitment to make unfair contract terms illegal, protecting small businesses and the hardworking Australians they employ”.

And on one front Collins and Leigh went further than the Liberals by extending “unfair contract” protection to a larger number of small business contracts. Their legislation will increase the small business eligibility threshold for protection from less than 20 employees to less than 100 employees, and introducing an annual turnover threshold of less than $10 million as an alternative threshold for determining eligibility.

They plan to introduce legislation in the current sitting period. It will include “civil penalty provisions” (fines) outlawing the use of, and reliance on, unfair terms in standard form contracts. This will enable a regulator to seek a civil penalty from a court. The previous Liberal legislation prescribed jail penalties but fines may be sufficient.

In office, the Liberals major small business achievement was to successfully speed payment to small enterprises. Part of that faster payment thrust was an arm of the Australian Building and Construction Commission which transformed payment speed on large building contracts. It is now in danger of being scrapped when the ABCC is dismantled.

It took the Liberals a long time but in their final months they finally realised that the current tax system was grossly unfair to small enterprises and was in danger of creating civil disobedience.

Sadly for the nation, the ALP member for Paramatta Julie Owens did not stand in the 2022 election. On an all party committee investigating aspects of the tax system she realised the system needed vast improvement.

But in 2022, and the Treasurer Jim Chalmers is short of money so understandably the ALP government is in no mood to listen to tax fairness arguments. But as civil disobedience spreads and impacts revenue it is possible that Chalmers and assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones will realise that Julie Owens and the Liberal’s Jason Falinski, who lost his seat in 2022, plus their Parliamentary Committee got it right.

If they introduce fairness to family business tax collection it is highly likely that revenue will rise but the ATO will protest strongly. But if later in the ALP’s first term of government they act on tax fairness it will also go a long way to enshrining the ALP as the party for family business.

ROBERT GOTTLIEBSEN
BUSINESS COLUMNIST

 

[sptrawler]

Examples please.

Exactly my thoughts, there is no doubt a political bent to all media, it is just that the only ones that ever get mentioned are Murdoch.

 

[PZ99]

The reason why the only ones that ever get mentioned are Murdoch is because Murdoch are the only ones that cut down Prime Ministers they don't like.

If anyone can point out another time when "other" media cut down a PM like Murdoch did with Turnbull then I'm happy to see it.

 

[JohnDe]

The reason why the only ones that ever get mentioned are Murdoch is because Murdoch are the only ones that cut down Prime Ministers they don't like.
.....cut down a PM like Murdoch did with Turnbull

Examples please.

 

[sptrawler]

Examples please.

What do you want examples of? The Murdoch press being right wing biased, or that some posters on the forum believe they are right wing biased.
The former I can't, the latter is easy just use the search function, Murdoch and then one of the left leaning posters member name.
Actually easier still, put the question out there in general chat, "Is the Murdoch press biased?" you will get plenty of feedback.

 

[JohnDe]

What do you want examples of? The Murdoch press being right wing biased, or the that some posters on the forum believe they are right wing biased.
The former I can't the latter is easy just use the search function, Murdoch and then one of the left leaning posters member name.

For every person that points out a 'right wing' issue there is another person showing us a 'left wing' issue. Both are lazy people, because both sides did not take into account that they both see the other side as biased.

Give me someone that can look at both sides without prejudice and then show me the facts of what they found.

It's easy to yell at the clouds, doesn't make sense but it is easy.

 

[sptrawler]

As do the Guardian, the SMH, the AGE and the ABC, how do you differentiate between right and wrong?
The Murdoch press leans right, the ex Fairfax press, the Guardian and the ABC lean left, why condemn one side?
Like I've said over and over, the truth lies somewhere in the middle, if you shut down the Murdoch press, well you would probably be like China.

An old post of mine.
I agree 100% with you @JohnDe

 

[PZ99]

Examples please.

Malcolm Turnbull.

 

[JohnDe]

Malcolm Turnbull.

What about him?

Where are your examples that a news group has made it their mission to get a Prime Minster removed?

PZ99 said:
The reason why the only ones that ever get mentioned are Murdoch is because Murdoch are the only ones that cut down Prime Ministers they don't like.
.....cut down a PM like Murdoch did with Turnbull

 

[PZ99]

What about him?

Where are your examples that a news group has made it their mission to get a Prime Minster removed?

I have already given you the one example - Malcolm Turnbull. Cut down by the Murdoch media.

Can't give you "examples" as it's not possible to cut down the same Prime Minister more than once

 

[JohnDe]

An old post of mine.
I agree 100% with you @JohnDe

sptrawler said:
As do the Guardian, the SMH, the AGE and the ABC, how do you differentiate between right and wrong?
The Murdoch press leans right, the ex Fairfax press, the Guardian and the ABC lean left, why condemn one side?
Like I've said over and over, the truth lies somewhere in the middle, if you shut down the Murdoch press, well you would probably be like China.

True.

I don't get all these people calling out bias from the left, the right, extreme left, extreme right, and so on. I now appreciate my grandparents lessons, they taught me to look at all sides of a story, gather your own facts and be polite. My school taught me how to gather the facts and about balance.

As you say, take away one side and we end up with an unbalanced system. As everyone knows that anything that is unbalanced will vibrate until it self destructs.

Don't complain about the perceived bias of one source of information, gather multiple sources and use all the information. It's tat simple, teach it at schools.

 

[JohnDe]

I have already given you the one example - Malcolm Turnbull. Cut down by the Murdoch media.

Can't give you "examples" as it's not possible to cut down the same Prime Minister more than once

No, you gave no examples.

“Unbiased news doesn’t exist. Everyone has a bias: everyday people and journalists. And that’s OK,” Mastrine said. But it’s not OK for news organizations to hide those biases, she said.

Voters need more credit than most people care to give them, most people that vote are pretty smart and clued up.

 

[PZ99]

No, you gave no examples.

“Unbiased news doesn’t exist. Everyone has a bias: everyday people and journalists. And that’s OK,” Mastrine said. But it’s not OK for news organizations to hide those biases, she said.

Voters need more credit than most people care to give them, most people that vote are pretty smart and clued up.

Right... So a petition for a Royal Commission investigating News Corp raising more than half a million signatures says much about smart voters right ? (Despite the blatant lie on Sky News it was a vote harvesting exercise for which they were forced to apologise...)

The Murdoch media were actively campaigning against Turnbull and they printed that Peter Dutton would challenge the leadership of the Liberal Party before that challenge even took place. Why? Because they orchestrated it along with the conservative right of the party.

It's not an excuse to be obtuse or in denial by saying other forms of media lean the other way and therefore everything must be hunky dory because it's all balanced out. That is a massive cop out.

The truth doesn't lie somewhere in the middle - it lies on accurate reporting of events in an unbiased way.
Everything the Murdoch media are against.