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- 9 July 2006
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This Government has no balls.
Bend over.....
Bend over.....
Reef safeguard sacrificed secretly for US, Singapore
Leaked US embassy cables published by WikiLeaks have revealed that the government has "weakened" the compulsory pilotage regime for large vessels, including oil tankers, chemical tankers and liquefied gas carriers, sailing through the sensitive maritime environment of the Torres Strait.
The cables reveal that the US and Singaporean governments reacted strongly against the Howard government's October 2006 announcement of a compulsory pilotage regime in the Torres Strait designed to reduce the risk of oil and chemical spills in the northern end of the Great Barrier Reef.
The Howard government was unmoved. In early 2008 the new Labor government under Kevin Rudd would not change its position either.
However, in July 2008, the head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's international law branch, assistant secretary Adam McCarthy, told the US embassy in Canberra that "Australia recognises that it has not handled the Torres Strait pilotage issue particularly well" and indicated Canberra was prepared "to explore ways to address US concerns".
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/c...s-singapore-20110911-1k48j.html#ixzz2F6S2Jjwz
This has to take the cake, doesn't it?
http://news.yahoo.com/exit-polls-conservative-ldp-wins-japan-election-111803898.html
TOKYO (AP) ”” Japan's conservative Liberal Democratic Party stormed back to power in parliamentary elections Sunday after three years in opposition, exit polls showed, signaling a rightward shift in the government that could further heighten tensions with rival China.
The victory means that the hawkish former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will almost certainly get a second chance to lead the nation after a one-year stint in 2006-2007. He would be Japan's seventh prime minister in six-and-a-half years.
Public broadcaster NHK's exit polls projected that the LDP, which ruled Japan for most of the post-World War II era until it was dumped in 2009, won between 275 and 300 seats in the 480-seat lower house of parliament. Official results were not expected until Monday morning. Before the election, it had 118 seats.
The results were a sharp rebuke for Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's ruling Democratic Party of Japan, reflecting widespread unhappiness for its failure to keep campaign promises and get the stagnant economy going...
The Gillard government plans to divert 375 million dollars from our foreign aid program to help pay for the increasing costs of the illegal immigrants flooding our country.
That brilliant strategist Rudd, supported by Gillard and the rest of the goon club, got rid of a policy that was working well in stemming the flow of boat people.
Result – total loss of control of our borders.
Cost – many billions of dollars so far, and climbing.
Solution – they have none, or at least none that they have the brains to put in place.
Not that I’m in favor of the billions of dollars we hand out in foreign aid while our own country is desperately short of funding in so many vitally important areas. But to give another 375 million to people who engage in criminal activity to come here, while the government just will not take the hard decisions necessary to stop them, is downright pathetic.
It almost beggars belief that some people will vote for these incompetent clowns at the next election.
Isn't that better than directing new money at it? Of course they should have left in place the arrangement that had pretty much stopped the boats, but as long as they're still pouring in (and why wouldn't they given it's now straight into the community with what to most of them would be a lot of money each week?) wouldn't you rather they didn't e.g. strip funds from hospital or education funding to pay for them, instead reducing the overseas aid budget?The Gillard government plans to divert 375 million dollars from our foreign aid program to help pay for the increasing costs of the illegal immigrants flooding our country.
Over $1 billion cut today from private health insurance has confirmed another lie by Prime Minister Julie Gillard to rival the carbon tax.
$700 million will be cut by not paying the rebate on premium increases above CPI. $390 million will be cut by completely removing rebates from Lifetime Health Cover loading.
Julia Gillard gave an ‘iron clad guarantee’ that she would never touch the private health insurance rebate. Labor has told a succession of lies on this issue (See below)
It is, but to me, that's not the point.Isn't that better than directing new money at it?
That was in their mid-year financial update.Yet another labor backflip that was not taken to the people? With a labor/green friendly senate and independents to give the numbers in the house of reps, do we have any idea how much legislation Gillard has pushed through that suits her agenda but might not be in the best interests of the country?
Read more:
Gillard lie: There will be no private health insurance cuts under a Government I lead
However, without some explanation from her as to what occurred, there is, in my opinion, a prima facie case that she could have been charged along with Blewitt as she drafted the rules of the association for Blewitt knowing that the rules did not disclose the purpose for which the association was being incorporated.
Even Blind Freddie would conclude that Gillard has a prima facie case to answer on the AWU Wilson/Blewitt scam. This is a QC's opinion.
Read this and form your own opinion.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...to-answer-on-awu/story-e6frgd0x-1226539989208
Interest rates will always be lower under Labor LOL
Personally I want to see Abbott's / Hockeys fiscal cliff implemented
Another Gillard lie -- No Surplus.
What a surprise.
And what about the timing of this little announcement, less than a week before Christmas when they think people will be too preoccupied with other things to give it too much attention
But not interest payments on the massive debts Gillard/Swan have run up in such a short time with very little to show for it. How many more billions will tax payers have to fund to just pay interest on this massive debt?
Even IF interest rates are low, what's the point when people will be hit with higher taxes to pay for Gillard/Swan's massive spendings?
Weren't the highest interest rates of around 18% when labor was in government (around 1988-89)?
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