It's about time the Indonesians took some action besides being offended all the time.
Find out where the smugglers are and shut them down BEFORE they sail.
It's about time the Indonesians took some action besides being offended all the time.
Find out where the smugglers are and shut them down BEFORE they sail.
The asylum seeker issue is a big deal for us, but it's just an annoyance to them, but from their more corrupt perspective, they do know where the smugglers are and have found a way to make some money out of it for their inconvenience.
The problem is that Aus is low down on the Indonesian totem pole, behind Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore at least. We are not high on their priority list of foreign affairs.
Secondly, their economy is growing faster than ours and becoming less dependant on aid handouts than years ago. So while we have been patronising them a bit in the past, they do likewise if there is something in it for them, such as aid or trade.
Gillard made a right royal mess of one of the trade arrangements that leaned them toward cooperating with Aus more, the live cattle exports about half a billion dollars worth a year to our economy. They went elsewhere to Brazil etc, while our cattle died because of forced overstocking or were sold at a loss before they died from starvation. We are also a drop in the ocean when it comes to their manufacturing and exports.
Hence, my main focus of more subtle negotiations, than taking a big stick to them. If you rile them too much, we and our much smaller population and slower growing country, probably needs them more than they need us... particularly regarding these boat arrivals.
One needs to be a careful not to cut off our nose to spite our face, like the live cattle fiasco, again.
Translation: The net effect/damage of our foreign affairs and trade relations goes much further than the damn boat people.
This Indonesian Foreign Minister is obviously pro Labor.
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/...ldsun/comments/yudhoyono_is_abbotts_good_cop/
This Indonesian Foreign Minister is obviously pro Labor.
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/...ldsun/comments/yudhoyono_is_abbotts_good_cop/
The asylum seeker issue is a big deal for us, but it's just an annoyance to them, but from their more corrupt perspective, they do know where the smugglers are and have found a way to make some money out of it for their inconvenience.
The problem is that Aus is low down on the Indonesian totem pole, behind Malaysia, the Philippines and Singapore at least. We are not high on their priority list of foreign affairs.
Secondly, their economy is growing faster than ours and becoming less dependant on aid handouts than years ago. So while we have been patronising them a bit in the past, they do likewise if there is something in it for them, such as aid or trade.
Gillard made a right royal mess of one of the trade arrangements that leaned them toward cooperating with Aus more, the live cattle exports about half a billion dollars worth a year to our economy. They went elsewhere to Brazil etc, while our cattle died because of forced overstocking or were sold at a loss before they died from starvation. We are also a drop in the ocean when it comes to their manufacturing and exports.
Hence, my main focus of more subtle negotiations, than taking a big stick to them. If you rile them too much, we and our much smaller population and slower growing country, probably needs them more than they need us... particularly regarding these boat arrivals.
One needs to be a careful not to cut off our nose to spite our face, like the live cattle fiasco, again.
Translation: The net effect/damage of our foreign affairs and trade relations goes much further than the damn boat people.
So four days before the election Abbott said: no infrastructure projects worth more than $100 million would be funded without a "published cost-benefit analysis".
But now he's providing $1.5B for the east-west link in Melbourne.
Mr Abbott told radio station 3AW that he trusts that the East West Link is a viable project despite not being provided with the full business case, which the state government has refused to make public.
He said he had accepted the judgment of those briefing him on the grounds that the project makes social and economic sense.
"I have given a commitment that we won't spend more than $100 million on any single infrastructure projects without a published cost benefit analysis."
So the Labor version of the NBN was BAD BAD BAD since no CBA done, but a Liberal toll road with no such CBA provided is GOOD GOOD GOOD.
I wonder how many more projects over the $100M threshold will get their funding without a CBA
That little analysis doesn't take into account the creative accounting of offloading costs from 2012/13 to 2011/12 so the original 2012/13 surplus could be forecast in the first place.
Even after stacking the deck, Labor still couldn't come close.
And of course there's the other question of where the "budget emergency" is, and why the Coalition isn't rushing to address it with a mini-budget to slash spending and bring Australia's debt under control.
Two of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's most high-profile ministers claimed thousands of dollars in taxpayer entitlements for attending the wedding of close friend and Sydney shock jock Michael Smith.
It was a little less than two years ago and Smith had just left 2UE after a falling out over his attempt to raise allegations about then prime minister Julia Gillard's relationship with a former union official and the misappropriation of funds.
How many times did Wayne Swan and Julia Gillard say they were going to deliver a surplus in 2012/13 ?True and its referred to in the article and the reasons why.
You seemed to have missed this point
George Brandis has promptly put out a media release advising he has refunded his claims from that weekend.http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/ministers-claimed-costs-for-wedding-trip-20130928-2ul6a.html
Two of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's most high-profile ministers claimed thousands of dollars in taxpayer entitlements for attending the wedding of close friend and Sydney shock jock Michael Smith.
According to travel expenses lodged with the Department of Finance, the duo collectively billed taxpayers nearly $3000 for flights, hire cars and incidental expenses incurred on the trip.
Advertisement
Senator Brandis claimed $1700, including more than $1000 on return flights, $143 on a hire car and the overnight ''official business'' allowance designed to cover accommodation and incidentals.
The federal Department of Finance's guidelines state MPs are allowed to claim travel and accommodation expenses for official business including ''meetings of a government advisory committee or taskforce'' or ''functions representing a minister or presiding officer''. Meeting with journalists is not a purpose sanctioned by the guidelines.
Mr Joyce claimed a flight to Moree the next day and about $500 worth of charges for the use of a Commonwealth car on the day of the wedding. He said he could not recall whether he had other meetings that day but defended the use of public resources to attend the wedding.
''There were, no doubt, lots of people there involved in politics,'' he said. ''It was one of these things where you're noted more by your absence than by your participation.''
Barnaby also attended my wedding that day. He didn't claim his accommodation expenses that night. He did have some Commonwealth Car expenses during that day and the next.
My wife and I paid for Senator Brandis and Senator Joyce's car transfers to and from the wedding - see the correspondence at the bottom of this post.
Senator Brandis has confirmed he claimed nearly $1,700 on flights, accommodation and a hire car, but says he attended the wedding primarily for work purposes.
He told Fairfax that he used the wedding as an opportunity to collaborate with Smith over his work covering the Health Services Union scandal involving former MP Craig Thomson.
Senator Brandis says to resolve any uncertainty he will pay the money back.
"It is clear that the relevant criterion is the purpose of the travel, not the nature of the event. However, I accept that there can be uncertainty about the circumstances in which attendance at a private function for work-related purposes is within the entitlement," he said.
Fairfax newspapers reported that the cost of flights, hire cars and incidental expenses were among travel expenses lodged with the Department of Finance.
Mr Joyce rejected the Fairfax report, saying he may have used a Commonwealth car on the day, but that he did not claim flights or accommodation.
"The only thing I can see in this, and it was two years ago, was the use of a COMCAR on the same day as the wedding," Mr Joyce said.
"I will now dig back and do what I can to find out about that and if there's some ambiguity I'll pay it back, but the idea I claimed thousands of dollars is just wrong."
My personal view is that I don't like to see this sort of snouts in troughs behaviour from our politicians regardless of whether it's within the guidelines or not, from any side.
Syd if you are going to 'maintain the rage', for the next three years, you will make yourself sick.
George Brandis has promptly put out a media release advising he has refunded his claims from that weekend.
My personal view is that I don't like to see this sort of snouts in troughs behaviour from our politicians regardless of whether it's within the guidelines or not, from any side.
Strange how some MP's get crucified for lying, I just don't understand why others can sweep their transgressions under the rug, and still hold their head up high for 'high' office.
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?
We use cookies and similar technologies for the following purposes:
Do you accept cookies and these technologies?