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The Abbott Government

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pixel said:
The private sector is interested in making money. Lots of it and in the shortest possible time.
Unless a forward-planning Government sets targets and legislates direction, the environment will be wrecked.
Conceded that taxpayer-funded "incentives" leave much room for rorts and stuff-ups, I don't believe that the private sector is sufficiently altruistic to forego the easy money, nb: burn coal and gas; increase consumption, no matter how irreplaceable and wasteful!
The example set by axing the CEFC is IMHO tantamount to environmental vandalism.
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Plus 10. IMO sums up the environmental madness of killing the CEFC.

There is no universe in which we don't have to migrate to clean, renewable energy sources if we are to survive. Doing it sooner rather than when we have exhausted our fossil fuels and ramped up greenhouse gas levels to dangerous heights seems totally sensible.
 
Boggo said:
Sorry Colin, there is more chance of me turning poofter and marrying a bloke in Canberra this weekend, with my golfing mates as bridesmaids.[/COLOR][/I]
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lol... cough, cough! :D

Pickering must have read my mind this morning. I wasn't game to say it though.

The perennial headache with Howard’s GST is the carve-up... there is only one cake (with unequal slices) and Barnett wants one of the bigger slices. That can only happen at the expense of other hungry Premiers.
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Quite true! I had a vision when Rudd started making noises about resource tax inequality between states (I commented then about how the states were manipulating investment decisions, federal grants and GST distribution via the state based mining taxes) leading into the botched mining tax decision, that if cleverly done it could integrate standardised state royalties with a formula for the GST and other grants/funding to the states. But it all blew up badly.

If Abbott either increases or broadens the base of the GST without first taking that proposal to an election, he will become the same subject of ridicule as Gillard and her, “There will be no carbon tax...”.
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Yeah... and his tenuous 1.5% election gain some 35ish seats, many on slim margins, could snap back just like that.

When is the first poll out?
 
pixel said:
The private sector is interested in making money. Lots of it and in the shortest possible time.
Unless a forward-planning Government sets targets and legislates direction, the environment will be wrecked.
Conceded that taxpayer-funded "incentives" leave much room for rorts and stuff-ups, I don't believe that the private sector is sufficiently altruistic to forego the easy money, nb: burn coal and gas; increase consumption, no matter how irreplaceable and wasteful!
The example set by axing the CEFC is IMHO tantamount to environmental vandalism.
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Pixel, what you say is pretty true, except I would have preferred that Labor let the CSIRO continue to be, and expand it's resources as our premier and well respected scientific research organisation and Abbott divert some of the split off functions back to the CSIRO to regenerate as our principle scientific research and development body.

It really needs to be fully funded and independently run again, without the need to seek private funding which compromises it's integrity. Labor, really stuffed things up by splitting aspects off and giving them a preconceived rule book on what they were supposed to accept as fact.
 
Whiskers said:
Yeah... and his tenuous 1.5% election gain some 35ish seats, many on slim margins, could snap back just like that.

When is the first poll out?
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Tony Abbott won't be slicing his own throat with the GST to save Colin Barnett's political neck and Colin knows it. This is just a distraction to take some of the WA electorate's focus off his own government's woes.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-...calls-from-states-for-increase-to-gst/4970916

If the Coalition does propose to change the GST rate or base in the future, it will be put it to an election as John Howard did with the GST itself. Having correctly described Julia Gillard's carbon tax as the longest political suicide note in history, Tony's hardly going to make the same mistake.
 
I know Tony has clearly said no the idea of changing the GST, but just the fact that one of his own brand had the audacity to propose the issue so early in Abbotts term has the potential to dent public confidence a bit... hence someone get over there and shove a ruddy, great sock in it! ;)

Today is the day, isn't it, close of counting?

We'll know, subject to any recounts, who Abbott has to work with, or take cover from, by tomorrow... Clive, the sport guy, the sex guy and a couple of motoring enthusiasts.
 
drsmith said:
David Suzuki isn't too happy we elected an Abbott government.



https://news.google.com/news?ncl=dc2VJwCPaz_fWCMrr6GbMDHjj5mqM&q=david+suzuki&lr=English&hl=en

I heard his full rant on ABC radio and he got stuck into Tony Abbott by name. He left it a bit late for a partisan entry into the election campaign.
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Dr Suzuki would be in strong defence of anyone in the "consultancy and research" game as he is.

Source of information ?
They did very little except parrot reports from overseas, nice work if you can get it.
 
drsmith said:
A lot of taxpayer money has been wasted by governments pouring large sums of money into various private sector support schemes over the years. Home insulation and forestry are two classic example and solar panels I feel will ultimately be judged in the same light.

Lending for this sort of stuff is best left to the private sector.
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I dare say home insulation will be judged pretty well, s it was a one off cost that generates quite significant savings for an extended period of time.

I'd say those who were using 20+ kWh / day would have seen more significant reductions in energy use.
 
drsmith said:
David Suzuki isn't too happy we elected an Abbott government.



https://news.google.com/news?ncl=dc2VJwCPaz_fWCMrr6GbMDHjj5mqM&q=david+suzuki&lr=English&hl=en

I heard his full rant on ABC radio and he got stuck into Tony Abbott by name. He left it a bit late for a partisan entry into the election campaign.
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I can actually tolerate Prof Suzuki and his right to bring a different view point, controversial as he is sometimes ... BUT, I would rework his commentary a bit.

"What the hell kind of government is it that comes into office and the first symbolic act is to shut down a source of information?" Professor Suzuki told AAP.

"The minute you shut down solid scientific information then you can run it on your ideology.
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There is no doubt Labor takes the prize hands down for 'running on ideology' when they set up organisations in the name of science, mandated with a preconception... in this case, that global warming and climate change is entirely man made (and a catastrophic crisis that we must fix) and it's therefore biased starting reference point and whole agenda, forbids it from even considering, let alone presenting any facts that conflicted with their mandated mantra.

I just hope when all the dust settles, Tony doesn't over compensate while slashing and burning.

He would come across more appealing to main stream people if he presented more in terms of 'sustainability' and 'recycling' of some of these assets ( Equipment, funding etc) back from whence they originated and are urgently needed. He will obviously, by necessity have to slash and burn the human resources to decontaminate the scientific knowledge base environment.

A not so large (head count wise) part of his party support, but critical part of the 1.9% strand connecting him to power is rural based and much more savvy of the importance of high quality unbiased local scientific resources like the CSIRO who historically has been probably singularly more responsible than anyone else for our countries rise to strength on the back of agriculture in particular.

Contrary to popular misconception in the city, almost every primary producer now utilises Land Care 'sustainability' practises and many are active members of the Land Care organisation. I personally was in the leading end of the facilitation of the spread of the then popularly labelled 'greenie' organisation into main stream agricultural areas.

The big 'L' Libs (and the oft misinformed and or ignorant 'city-ites') would do well to remember the rural sector is very prone to favour moderate Labor and green philosophy in the context that farmers and rural communities generaly are more acutely aware they depend on the long term sustainability of their practices for their lifestyle and financial survival... contrary to the laissez faire Big L liberals who see everything as a financial resource, to exploit, slash and burn and move on to the next place... which brings me back to the CSG (and recourses generally) issue that Abbott should not cut and slash red and green tape too severely to appease his Big L extremists or he'll soon find himself off side with his minority but critical National party, coalition... and pop goes his tenuous thread on power.
 
wayneL said:
David Suzuki is a category A hypocrite and a toxic left wing poiltical advocate, not worthy of bandwidth. He has no place in Australian political discussion.

http://www.ipolitics.ca/2013/07/12/david-suzuki-eco-hypocrite/
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That article is a shocker.

- - - Updated - - -

Well at least Abbott has stopped the boats.

Labor attacks Government's move to end announcements of asylum seeker boat arrivals

A spokesman for the Immigration Minister Scott Morrison would not say if any boats had arrived
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http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-21/labor-attacks-changes-to-announcements-of-asylum-seeker-arrivals/4972760
 
Argh. If Tony truly believes the below - have to think he does since he's said it in his book Battlelines - maybe he needs to get off his bike and out of his Comm Car and onto some public transport in a big city

“In Australia’s big cities, public transport is generally slow, expensive, not especially reliable and still a hideous drain on the *public purse. Mostly, there just aren’t enough people wanting to go from a particular place to a particular destination at a *particular time to justify any vehicle larger than a car, and cars need roads,” he writes.

I'm amazed at how many people are on the trains at 5am going into the Sydney CBD. I was amazed that a bus barely a few stops from the beginning of it's route last night on George St going out of the city around 1045 pm was already nearly full. Weekends the trains are probably 70%+ full most of the day.

Shut down the buses or the trains for a day and lets see how reliable road travel is. Yes public transport can be a drain on the public purse, especially in a country with cities of low density like Australia, but I bet it's still cheaper than forcing most families to have 2 cars and pay the exorbitant tolls because our state Govts have abrogated their responsibility for providing infrastructure.
 
sydboy007 said:
Argh. If Tony truly believes the below - have to think he does since he's said it in his book Battlelines - maybe he needs to get off his bike and out of his Comm Car and onto some public transport in a big city

“In Australia’s big cities, public transport is generally slow, expensive, not especially reliable and still a hideous drain on the *public purse. Mostly, there just aren’t enough people wanting to go from a particular place to a particular destination at a *particular time to justify any vehicle larger than a car, and cars need roads,” he writes.

I'm amazed at how many people are on the trains at 5am going into the Sydney CBD. I was amazed that a bus barely a few stops from the beginning of it's route last night on George St going out of the city around 1045 pm was already nearly full. Weekends the trains are probably 70%+ full most of the day.

Shut down the buses or the trains for a day and lets see how reliable road travel is. Yes public transport can be a drain on the public purse, especially in a country with cities of low density like Australia, but I bet it's still cheaper than forcing most families to have 2 cars and pay the exorbitant tolls because our state Govts have abrogated their responsibility for providing infrastructure.
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I have been doing a bit of work in the middle of Sydney and have found it easier then 5 years ago. Public transport was a nightmare 20 years ago, you would think it would be sorted out by now.
 
I think the Abbott's government's policy is to fund a greater proportion of major road projects (80%) thereby leaving states with a greater proportion of their transport infrastructure budget for projects such as urban rail.
 
wayneL said:
David Suzuki is a category A hypocrite and a toxic left wing poiltical advocate, not worthy of bandwidth. He has no place in Australian political discussion.

http://www.ipolitics.ca/2013/07/12/david-suzuki-eco-hypocrite/
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While not knowing Suzuki's beliefs extremely well, I tend to agree with IFocus, that article is a shocker.

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't the author, Tasha Kheiriddin, our equivalent of a laissez faire Big L liberal I mentioned in previous post?

Is she not also a "toxic" but right "wing political advocate"? Despite the limited disclosure at bottom of story her political color is better gleaned elsewhere such as http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tasha_Kheiriddin.

I won't go so far as to say "not worthy of bandwith"... because for the reason I said "I can actually tolerate Prof Suzuki and his right to bring a different view point, controversial as he is sometimes", one needs to entertain all the extremes to appreciate the moderate (in a sociological context) and scientifically, where the fact is not conclusive in it's own right, to eliminate other possibilities.

Suzuki was born in 1936, Tasha Kheiriddin in 1970. Suzuki had his children in the 1960's when the typical dogma was proliferate in population for the economic good of the country, just the Dogma that Big L Liberals pretty much still advocate today.

While age is not the sole province of wisdom, Suzuki at least has considerable more and much more extreme life experience to draw from.

Kheiriddin does her own critical analytical credentials a great disservice with...

Of course, some Canadians are having lots of kids, including … David Suzuki. He has fathered five children who are both beneficiaries of and (one hopes) future contributors to our social safety net. The hypocrisy of preaching population control while having such a large family is galling, but not unique in his eco-conscious crowd...​

If you cannot see the obvious extreme misuse of context and fact... read again until you do. It's the attention to detail that we all need to learn to pick up on by instinct to be able to more quickly find the nugget of gold in all the muddy water out there.
 
IFocus said:
Well at least Abbott has stopped the boats.

Labor attacks Government's move to end announcements of asylum seeker boat arrivals


http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-...nouncements-of-asylum-seeker-arrivals/4972760
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When public perception is sooo important to maintain the momentum of LNP voter approval, this is another NOT A GOOD LOOK.

It might be another tactic to stop the boats by depriving traffickers and prospective clients of information of arrivals... but it is just as dumb as the going to Indonesia to buy potential smuggling boats idea.

C'mon Tony... you ought to know 'prohibition', state withholding of information and secrecy of stuff that is reasonably not 'secret in the national interest, but political interest, is seed for erosion of trust and credibility.

It may be embarrassing to admit the PNG solution actually put a significant brake on boat arrivals and arrivals actually rose a bit immediately after the election... BUT have the ba!!s to trust the people with the raw facts.
 
Elsewhere I posted for those people who were not aware of "Emily's List"

Country Lad said:
Emily's List is a movements started to encourage and assist more Labor women to stand for parliament.

Probably a good idea at the time but as happens in the Labor movement personal agendas get in the way. Once Gillard became deputy Labor leader she and a few others hijacked it for the campaign of personal attacks on Abbott to make him appear "unelectable".

The Canberra division of this movement is known as "the handbag brigade".
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The handbag brigade and the Labor movement has spent 3 years trying to demonise Abbott as some sort of neanderthal trying to make him unelectable.

In my past life I, and a board I chaired, met with Tony Abbott twice, the first time time was when he was Minister for Workplace Relations and Employment and again about 4 years later when he was Minister for Health. Included in our board at those meetings were 2 women and everybody's opinion of him was the dead opposite to that image the handbag brigade was trying to project, rather he was more engaging, forthright, open and a decent bloke than a demon.

In fact, to me he came across more as the character portrayed by a friend of his in the "Conversations with Richard Fidler" program of a few days ago.

The extract where Cate talks about Abbott's reaction is on Michael Smith's website.

Cheers
Country Lad
 
drsmith said:
I think the Abbott's government's policy is to fund a greater proportion of major road projects (80%) thereby leaving states with a greater proportion of their transport infrastructure budget for projects such as urban rail.
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Wouldn't it be better to listen to Infrastructure Australia and see what they have determined to give the best bang for buck?

So far none of the road projects Abbott wants to fund have rated as particularly well spent tax payer funds.

If rail provides the best economic return then shouldn't that be where scarce funds are used?
 
It looks like information will still be given but it may not be immediate. From what I have heard today they want to limit information for the smugglers. If that helps stop the boats and free up room for the genuinely needy refugees, so be it.

Here's a screenshot I took while watching sky news on the ipad today of a statement by Scott Morrison:

image.jpg
 
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