The Abbott Government

[sydboy007]

The example I gave above is just a small sample.

What goes on overseas is major crime in many countries, Indonesia, Italy and on and on it goes.

Even in Sydney the police force was knee deep in corruption some time back and politicians likewise.

NSW is rotten to the core.

It seems to go with the territory..........I wish the media would go full bore into the real corruption and stop pussy footing around with what they're doing now, yes it's worth looking into but it's just hardly the tip of the iceberg.

From my perspective it's the top and their attitude - only have too look at Reith's comments to see what I mean - and that 'greying" of acceptable behaviour allows the next level down to get away with a bit more and so on.

All the claims of expense by politicians should be open to public scrutiny, but if what someone posted earlier is true then it seems the Coalition and Labor worked together to stop us from being able to see what they spend OUR money on any more.

Maybe we need something along the lines of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee with at least someone from every party in the lower and upper houses sitting on it. Quarterly reports, ALL information freely available to the public in a timely manner, with justification from the person claiming the expense.

I dare say just the extra exposure will kill off most of these dodgy claims.

Then hopefully the politicians will stop ASIC from being a wimp and set it up to vigorously weed out corruption at all levels of business.

We are so close to being a plutocracy with the way things stand it's not funny!

 

[overhang]

I don't know why the Labor Party and the media are pounding Abbotts expenses claim business when the Labor party should be explaining some of their own rorts like Simon Crean travelling at tax payers expense to attend Bob Hawkes 80th birthday party.

Wayne Swan is in Washington as we speak attending soem economic conference at tax payers expense....To what benifit will this be for Australia...OMG.


http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/...any_labor_mps_claimed_to_watch_bobs_stripper/

You need to stop reading that excuse for journalism that is Bolt noco, only good for kitty litter. How about all politicians have some explaining to do, this isn't a matter of left or right this is about blatant abuse of political perks from both sides and everyone of them should be exposed.
As to Wayne Swan well that would depend on the capacity that he is there for, is he representing Australia or representing himself?

 

[noco]

You need to stop reading that excuse for journalism that is Bolt noco, only good for kitty litter. How about all politicians have some explaining to do, this isn't a matter of left or right this is about blatant abuse of political perks from both sides and everyone of them should be exposed.
As to Wayne Swan well that would depend on the capacity that he is there for, is he representing Australia or representing himself?

Yes I agrre with you that it is happening on both sides of politics and why shouldn't they all come under scrutiny.

But I disagree with you that I should stop ready Bolt....why should I?....that is my perogative AND I DON'T HAVE TO TOLD BY YOU OR ANYONE ELSE what I can read. So please mind your own business.

 

[chiff]

On fraud and corruption.We bought a block of land in a Victorian shire.The land agent gave verbal assurances and provided extensive plans sited on the block that he claimed had been approved by the shire.Attempts to verify with the shire did not get a cogent response.It turned out that the neighbour worked for the shire as a planning officer and appealed against any applications to build on the block next door.Others including us, have been scammed by this fraud and corruption and probably never knew.We are going thru legal processes at the moment.
The planning officer has been moved on without penalty.An attempt at damage control from the shire,no doubt.Who knows what other corruption was going on ?Attempts were made to intimidate and harass us ,and no doubt do what everyone else that bought this block did.. sell and scam the next sucker.
We have got legal people from outside the area.We only found out the full tote odds when the shire inadvertently revealed more than they should have.

 

[overhang]

Yes I agrre with you that it is happening on both sides of politics and why shouldn't they all come under scrutiny.

But I disagree with you that I should stop ready Bolt....why should I?....that is my perogative AND I DON'T HAVE TO TOLD BY YOU OR ANYONE ELSE what I can read. So please mind your own business.

Fair enough but don't expect it to hold any credibility, Bolt lost that a long time ago. I guess some people like being fed propaganda...

 

[drsmith]

Andrew Bolt obviously has a bias and obviously needs considered in considering his view. to say though say he has no credibility is wrong.

While I don't always agree with what he says, Andrew Bolt does raise some good points. He has more credibility than the likes of David Marr in my view.

With political commentary, there's bias on both sides and the best we can hope for overall is a balance.

 

[overhang]

Andrew Bolt obviously has a bias and obviously needs considered in considering his view. to say though say he has no credibility is wrong.

While I don't always agree with what he says, Andrew Bolt does raise some good points. He has more credibility than the likes of David Marr in my view.

With political commentary, there's bias on both sides and the best we can hope for overall is a balance.

Its funny you should mention Marr, the only way to achieve balance would be to have Marr and Bolt feature on the same page of tabloids. Reading both is the equivalent to watching Today Tonight or ACA, just leaves you feeling concerned for the mental well being of those that watch it. I know most journalists do it but with those two you just know that they have cherry picked all around the facts to support their predisposition and its more pronounced than most.

 

[drsmith]

A tabloid journalist is what Andrew Bolt is.

I'm not sure what David Marr is, other than someone who just shows contempt to those who disagree with his own entrenched views.

Andrew does it too, but not to the same extent as David Marr.

http://australianconservative.com/2009/12/a-defining-moment-in-australian-journalism/

 

[sails]

News.com has a very good overview of the current state of play with travel claims by politicians. The article also includes the rules politicians are supposed to follow.

Apparently Tony Abbott has claimed at least $10,000 on travel trips with his family to sporting events, concerts ect.



http://www.news.com.au/national-new...y-travel-in-2012/story-fncynjr2-1226735051089

Bas, this is not limited to one side of politics as you are clearly trying to imply. If there is serious investigation, I would think some labor MPs would be worried. What About Gillard using the VIP jet to fly to a wedding? How on many social trips did Tim accompany Gillard? And what about Rudd's $800,000 photo op in Afghanistan with his wife just weeks before the election?

Yes, bring on an investigation and I think this might just come back to bite labor hard.


Like this... Swan blows $12,000 on a family trip in the VIP jet to ONE football game. Hmmm... I wonder how much he has run up in total.


"WAYNE Swan charged taxpayers more than $12,000 to fly him and his daughter to the AFL Grand final by VIP jet when he was acting prime minister in 2010."



Read more: Wayne Swan used VIP jet to fly to grand final with his daughter

 

[drsmith]

Yes, bring on an investigation and I think this might just come back to bite labor hard.

I wonder what David Marr is doing today.

Andrew Bolt is being a busy little beaver,

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/...e_have_paid_for_dreyfuss_family_to_go_skiing/

 

[McLovin]

Like this... Swan blows $12,000 on a family trip in the VIP jet to ONE football game. Hmmm... I wonder how much he has run up in total.


"WAYNE Swan charged taxpayers more than $12,000 to fly him and his daughter to the AFL Grand final by VIP jet when he was acting prime minister in 2010."



Read more: Wayne Swan used VIP jet to fly to grand final with his daughter

The actual cost of transporting Wayne Swan's daughter would have been virtually zero. Dreyfus' skiing trip is disgusting and just shows the level of disdain that both sides have for the public purse. Abbott isn't much better, I'm not sure why he feels the taxpayer should be left with the bill for his athletic pursuits. And no, tacking on visit to the local RSL to press the flesh doesn't make it a legitimate travel expense.

They all rort travel entitlements. How can 222 people spend $34m/year on travel? That's ~$155k/Parliamentarian.

 

[sails]

The actual cost of transporting Wayne Swan's daughter would have been virtually zero. Dreyfus' skiing trip is disgusting and just shows the level of disdain that both sides have for the public purse. Abbott isn't much better, I'm not sure why he feels the taxpayer should be left with the bill for his athletic pursuits. And no, tacking on visit to the local RSL to press the flesh doesn't make it a legitimate travel expense.

They all rort travel entitlements. How can 222 people spend $34m/year on travel? That's ~$155k/Parliamentarian.

Agree, it usually doesn't cost much more for family to accompany especially if Swan himself was running that expense up anyway on the VIP jet.

But why should he fleece $12,000 of taxpayers funds to go to a grand final? That was ONE trip. And what about all the other things I mentioned where Gillard and Rudd have used taxpayer funds seemingly on their whims?

I agree that the system needs to be tightened up and the rules made much clearer. But what gets up my nose is the self righteous carry-on of Fairfax, ABC and labor in trying to make Abbott look like the bad boy. They should check out the rubbish in labor's back yard first, imo.

Do you have no problem with Swan running up $12K to go to a football match?

 

[sydboy007]

I, Tony Abbott who earns at least 4 times the median wage love to do charity work and press the flesh at these events as it shows me to be a good guy while earning lots of kudos with the electorate.

I, Tony Abbott with a $200K+ income at taxpayers expense, feel that when I do charity work, it shouldn't cost me anything in financial terms, but rather tax payers should supplement my already high income to do these "good works."

Comparing this to a guy at work who participated in a charity bike ride last year, our employer paid 50% of his entry fee and also provided a company Jersey to ride in. Apart from that, all the costs involved were funded by himself.

I certainly know who I have more respect for in terms of their 'charitable" spirit.

 

[sails]

I, Tony Abbott who earns at least 4 times the median wage love to do charity work and press the flesh at these events as it shows me to be a good guy while earning lots of kudos with the electorate.

I, Tony Abbott with a $200K+ income at taxpayers expense, feel that when I do charity work, it shouldn't cost me anything in financial terms, but rather tax payers should supplement my already high income to do these "good works."

Comparing this to a guy at work who participated in a charity bike ride last year, our employer paid 50% of his entry fee and also provided a company Jersey to ride in. Apart from that, all the costs involved were funded by himself.

I certainly know who I have more respect for in terms of their 'charitable" spirit.

And what charity work does Swan do? The hypocrisy here is breathtaking...

 

[McLovin]

Do you have no problem with Swan running up $12K to go to a football match?

Not really. It seems reasonable in my opinion for the PM (or acting PM) to attend a grand final. John Howard used to always make sure there was important Commonwealth business in London during the Once you take into account advisers/security detail etc the actual cost is probably similar or even cheaper than flying commercial, especially on GF weekend when seats are rare as hen's teeth. I have a bigger problem with the fact that Qantas maintains a domestic business class service between Sydney and Canberra and Melbourne and Canberra because politicians only fly business class.

 

[Ijustnewit]

I, Tony Abbott who earns at least 4 times the median wage love to do charity work and press the flesh at these events as it shows me to be a good guy while earning lots of kudos with the electorate.

I, Tony Abbott with a $200K+ income at taxpayers expense, feel that when I do charity work, it shouldn't cost me anything in financial terms, but rather tax payers should supplement my already high income to do these "good works."

Comparing this to a guy at work who participated in a charity bike ride last year, our employer paid 50% of his entry fee and also provided a company Jersey to ride in. Apart from that, all the costs involved were funded by himself.

I certainly know who I have more respect for in terms of their 'charitable" spirit.

Does anyone know if the cost a Carbon framed bicycle and Carbon Fibre wheelset has gone up since the Carbon Tax was introduced ? Seems that Tony is actually really saving the environment by A. Riding and B. Locking up vast amounts of Carbon in that bike he uses. So really he is doing the planet and charity all a great favour. Good on him , keep pedaling Tony !!!

 

[sails]

I'm not excusing either side. Like I said before, there needs to be some system in place to prevent this sort of rorting. In any other job they'd be shown the door.



Not really. It seems reasonable in my opinion for the PM (or acting PM) to attend a grand final. John Howard used to always make sure there was important Commonwealth business in London during the Once you take into account advisers/security detail etc the actual cost is probably similar or even cheaper than flying commercial, especially on GF weekend when seats are rare as hen's teeth. I have a bigger problem with the fact that Qantas maintains a domestic business class service between Sydney and Canberra and Melbourne and Canberra because politicians only fly business class.

But it's not OK for Abbott to participate in the annual pollie pedal at a much lesser cost?

 

[McLovin]

But it's not OK for Abbott to participate in the annual pollie pedal at a much lesser cost?

Did I say that?

 

[sails]

And why does the taxpayer have to fork out for this? Surely this is a labor party event. Seems to me that labor have written the hand book on how to extract expenses from the taxpayer:

TAXPAYERS will fork out up to $200,000 to fly Labor MPs to Canberra so they can vote for a new parliamentary leader.

As the Opposition ramps up its attack on Tony Abbott over entitlements, News Corp can reveal the public will pay a high price for the ALP's bold leadership experiment.

And several Labor MPs have expressed disgust at the expense of flying around 80 Caucus members to the national capital - for two separate meetings within the space of a few days.

With some business class airfares costing around $5,000, Labor MPs will firstly fly to Canberra on Thursday where they will vote in a leadership ballot for Anthony Albanese or Bill Shorten.

They will then return to parliament on Sunday where the winner will be announced. Labor's new frontbench will then be elected by the Caucus on Monday.

ALP national secretary George Wright confirmed the Labor Party will not be footing the bill to fly MPs back to Canberra for the first time since the September 7 election.

Read more: Taxpayers slugged $200,000 to fly MPs to Canberra for ALP leadership meetings

 

[McLovin]

It seems you condemn Abbott for it and yet you said it's OK for Swan to travel in the VIP jet for a football game. My apologies if I got it wrong...

No it was the Iron Man event in Port Macquarie that he shouldn't have expensed, IMO.