The Abbott Government

[McLovin]

I agree. At last he realises that he can't stop the boats. Only the Indonesians can do that. Any boat that pulls the plug after entering our waters will have it's cargo of illegals rescued by us and taken to Christmas Island. It has always been thus and will continue to be. Those who don't pull the plug will sail merrily on to be welcomed at the Island...to be on-forwarded to PNG/Nauru.

One thing that will not happen is that is that any of them will be returning to Indonesia. You have to give the Indonesians credit. They are playing with a stacked deck. Only they, can enable Abbott to keep his top priority election promise.

Hey we're agreeing.

 

[sptrawler]

As per usual, Abbott hasn't gone in guns blazing(contrary to Labor portraying him as the 'mad monk), he again is taking the steady,measured approach.

I find it refreshing, not seeing the prime minister, front and centre on the t.v making another stupid ill thought out announcement.

To me the government should be seen and only heard when there is a problem.
They aren't elected to be t.v personalities, they're elected to get on with the job of running the country.
Labor couldn't get their heads around that.IMO

 

[drsmith]

It's still early days yet, but since Tony Abbott's visit to Indonesia, there's been no boats.

We'll still get more yet I suspect, but the trend since the Coalition was sworn in is encouraging.

 

[Whiskers]

You're omitting his natural political philosophical bias which is to the right.
Yes, he's peeved that he was essentially thrown out of the LNP in Qld and like a kid whose toy has been taken away, will be wanting revenge. Mr Palmer might be rich, but I doubt he's particularly mature for a person of his age.

I'm thinking the main points are he's peeved and powerful and ambitious too... maybe part of the reason why he won support and Katter didn't, is he stated up front he wanted to be PM.

Looking through history that's a very volatile political combination that's often underestimated. Think people like Berlusconi in Italy and the turmoil he has caused over a long time.

I'm also thinking Palmer may be more mature than you give him credit for. He's not appearing as bad as Joh Bjelke-Petersen's rantings (yet) and Joh was very calculating and charismatic enough to stay in power for a long time albeit with a little help from a gerrymander.

 

[IFocus]

It's still early days yet, but since Tony Abbott's visit to Indonesia, there's been no boats.

We'll still get more yet I suspect, but the trend since the Coalition was sworn in is encouraging.

yep the Coalition are geniuses.

 

[bunyip]

yep the Coalition are geniuses.

I thought the real geniuses were your Labor heroes who inherited no debt and a big budget surplus and quickly turned them into a big debt and a big budget deficit, scrapped the Pacific Solution and let the boats come flooding in at a cost of 12 thousand million dollars, introduced new business-stifling taxes, shut down overnight an export trade worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the national economy, cut funding to essential services, and blew twenty thousand million dollars on stupid, wasteful projects.

Despite all that, not once did I hear you criticize them when they were in power. Not once. Yet since the Libs came to power you've never shut up with your criticism.

 

[drsmith]

yep the Coalition are geniuses.

One of the telling differences is the extent to which political news has declined in comparison to Labor in office.

Overall, this Coalition government is off to a good start.

 

[drsmith]

On the failure of the political tactics against Tony Abbott, the following article from The Australian's Chris Kenny is an interesting read.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opi...gs-of-love-media/story-fn8qlm5e-1226733191836

 

[Julia]

AEC just confirmed three PUP senators.

Cause & effect!

Que sera sera

Party back room deals came back to bite em all.

Labor paid their price and moved quickly to reform.

Abbott vacillating... political price = test of integrity = having to suffer that which he criticized Labor for, a minority government (in Senate) in the meantime and have to deal with product of LNP back room deals feud until he passes test.

I think you'll find that the new senate will be large right wing and will support the government on many issues.
So maybe reserve your crowing for a while.

Not crowing... just noting the irony and 'natural justice' that has settled out from the election.

Front page of today's "Weekend Australian", Whiskers, "Senators line up with PM to axe Taxes":
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...tt-to-axe-taxes/story-fn59niix-1226733284477#
As I'd thought, Mr Abbott will have the numbers in the new Senate to get his carbon and mining taxes repealed.
Still think it's natural justice, Whiskers?

 

[wayneL]

Still think it's natural justice, Whiskers?

I don't know whether justice is ever natural, but it has been at least poetic in the last little bit

 

[drsmith]

On the carbon tax, the Coalition will be looking to tighten the screws on Labor.

Coalition frontbencher Jamie Briggs says his party does not want to wait until next year to scrap the tax.

"This is a major turning point for the Australian Labor Party," he told Sky News.

"If they back the inner city Greens against their traditional base again on this issue, they are going to face an increasing problem as a political movement.

"We are going to force them to make these decisions before July next year."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-05/government-pushes-for-carbon-tax-repeal-by-july/5000692

 

[noco]

I thought the real geniuses were your Labor heroes who inherited no debt and a big budget surplus and quickly turned them into a big debt and a big budget deficit, scrapped the Pacific Solution and let the boats come flooding in at a cost of 12 thousand million dollars, introduced new business-stifling taxes, shut down overnight an export trade worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the national economy, cut funding to essential services, and blew twenty thousand million dollars on stupid, wasteful projects.

Despite all that, not once did I hear you criticize them when they were in power. Not once. Yet since the Libs came to power you've never shut up with your criticism.

Well bunyip, it did not take long for the grubs to come out of the woodwork after the election.

They have all been to sleep for the past 6 years.

- - - Updated - - -

On the carbon tax, the Coalition will be looking to tighten the screws on Labor.



http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-05/government-pushes-for-carbon-tax-repeal-by-july/5000692

Doc, both Sorten and Albo have both said if the carbon tax is scrapped, they will reintruduce it as a policy at the next election.

I think they are "DUMB AND DUMBER"

I believed it was one of the many reason why they lost the 2013 election.

 

[sydboy007]

Front page of today's "Weekend Australian", Whiskers, "Senators line up with PM to axe Taxes":
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...tt-to-axe-taxes/story-fn59niix-1226733284477#
As I'd thought, Mr Abbott will have the numbers in the new Senate to get his carbon and mining taxes repealed.
Still think it's natural justice, Whiskers?

Does this mean all the subsidies for coal and other fossil fuels will also be removed? Will wind farms / solar PV and other low emissions technologies get the same level of Govt support as the fossil fuel industry?

http://www.marketforces.org.au/where-your-taxes-go.html

Admittedly not all about the resource industry, but a fair chunk is. A level playing field is a good start to seeing which industries have a long term future without the need for never ending subsidies.

http://www.acfonline.org.au/sites/default/files/resources/G20_fossil_fuel_subsidies_25-6-10.pdf shows a more direct level of subsidies to around the $7B a year mark. I never knew that aircraft attract no import tax, but trains and buses do, so the highest polluting means of transport is tax free. Why

All these subsidies mean other taxes are higher than they need to be. $7B is a decent income tax cut, or funding for metro rail systems on the east cost over a few years.

 

[IFocus]

On the failure of the political tactics against Tony Abbott, the following article from The Australian's Chris Kenny is an interesting read.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/opi...gs-of-love-media/story-fn8qlm5e-1226733191836

Its convoluted and bias with a complete disregard of historical fact the usual Murdoch sycophant speal.

- - - Updated - - -

Front page of today's "Weekend Australian", Whiskers, "Senators line up with PM to axe Taxes":
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...tt-to-axe-taxes/story-fn59niix-1226733284477#
As I'd thought, Mr Abbott will have the numbers in the new Senate to get his carbon and mining taxes repealed.
Still think it's natural justice, Whiskers?

I read a few opinions now from the Labor camp saying Labor should stand aside so that Abbott gets to repeal the Carbon tax so he gets the full effect of the issues surrounding its removal.

- - - Updated - - -

Despite all that, not once did I hear you criticize them when they were in power. Not once. Yet since the Libs came to power you've never shut up with your criticism.

Yep and I'll be ripping it up them at every opportunity, given the Coalition front bench was not formed on merit I'll have endless material so toughen up princess's.

 

[sptrawler]

Yep and I'll be ripping it up them at every opportunity, given the Coalition front bench was not formed on merit I'll have endless material so toughen up princess's.

I'm looking forward to something of substance in your posts, no doubt the opportunity will eventuate.

 

[drsmith]

A new avatar for IF now his lot are in the wilderness.

 

[sails]

I thought the real geniuses were your Labor heroes who inherited no debt and a big budget surplus and quickly turned them into a big debt and a big budget deficit, scrapped the Pacific Solution and let the boats come flooding in at a cost of 12 thousand million dollars, introduced new business-stifling taxes, shut down overnight an export trade worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the national economy, cut funding to essential services, and blew twenty thousand million dollars on stupid, wasteful projects.

Despite all that, not once did I hear you criticize them when they were in power. Not once. Yet since the Libs came to power you've never shut up with your criticism.

Well said, Bunyip!

Yep and I'll be ripping it up them at every opportunity, given the Coalition front bench was not formed on merit I'll have endless material so toughen up princess's.

Whatever rocks your boat, IF, but I doubt many are listening. While Abbott performs so well you will only come across like a sore loser spewing hot air...

Why are you opposing the will of the majority?

Why are you opposed to having our borders secured again? Why are you opposed to repeal a tax the majority never wanted? Why are you opposed to bring our debt under control? These issues are of concern to Australia. Or are your political opinions more important than the best interests of this country?

 

[Whiskers]

Front page of today's "Weekend Australian", Whiskers, "Senators line up with PM to axe Taxes":
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...tt-to-axe-taxes/story-fn59niix-1226733284477#
As I'd thought, Mr Abbott will have the numbers in the new Senate to get his carbon and mining taxes repealed.
Still think it's natural justice, Whiskers?

Absolutely! That's a very superficial and short sighted interpretation, Julia.

It's "natural" and should be of no surprise that Palmer would want to dump these taxes, BUT the "justice" part has a long way to go yet.

You don't think Palmer is going to want something in return for his support as the greens did? You think he's going to just be a yes man for the man he openly wants to remove as PM!? and...

There are still problems with some states being accused of fiddling their royalties and other charges too high to capitalise on the botched Labor systems and the consequences of it all to fall out in COAG negotiations.

If you read my other posts, I promoted the abolition of the Carbon and mining tax in its present form.

While I've supported the notion of redesigning the whole tax distribution to states and state levied royalties system for a long time, Labor botched up an opportunity for reform of the much exploited state based royalty system to lure mining to their state by lower royalties and state based taxes and claim higher Fed redistribution of and apportionment of taxes. It's all in the way the formulas are operated.

But it doesn't change the fact of

"having to suffer that which he criticized Labor for, a minority government (in Senate) in the meantime and have to deal with product of LNP back room deals feud until he passes test."​

In English law, natural justice is technical terminology for the rule against bias and the right to a fair hearing. While the term natural justice is often retained as a general concept, it has largely been replaced and extended by the more general "duty to act fairly".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_justice​

The horse trading has not started yet. People have just signalled what they want... wait until we hear or just see (in the event of back room deals) the cost (trade offs) of doing business in a minority government... whether that cost will be more or less than Labor's effort.

The real test will come with new initiatives Abbott unveils as time goes by.

 

[Whiskers]

I don't know whether justice is ever natural, but it has been at least poetic in the last little bit

Yeah, a bit more jumping to conclusions from shadows... as in the "ABC is political thread" argument... virtue (a foundation of principle) is a bit more substantial than the vice (a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhealthy habit) of bias.

As mentioned above, all we are seeing atm is a bit of preliminary shadow boxing. The game (ultimately test) of natural justice has yet to come.

Poetic justice is a literary device in which virtue is ultimately rewarded or vice punished, often in modern literature by an ironic twist of fate intimately related to the character's own conduct.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poetic_justice[1]​

 

[sydboy007]

seems the Coalition certainly know how to milk the tax payers

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...r-mps-bollywood-adventure-20131005-2v0wf.html

I do love the knowledge boom boom Barnaby gained from his single day in Malaysia. Certainly you couldn't have googled all that he found out within 30 minutes

It was terrible the way the Labor Minister for Resources didn't think it was appropriate to attend.

Let the justifications begin