Day to Day Politics: Ley an amateur compared to Abbott.
Tuesday 10 January 2017
1 Further to my piece ‘Come on, Malcolm, confront the bastards’ comes the further revelation that Sussan Ley had secured finance ”several months” before she bought the $795,000 unit suggesting that it wasn’t, the spur of the moment decision she said it was. Her statement that she had ”not planned nor anticipated” the decision now cannot be believed. She was lying.
In addition she has made a number of trips to the Gold Coast (27 trips where there are unanswered questions, including two that took her to the Gold Coast on New Year’s Eve in 2013 and 2014.) that on the surface seem rather dodgy.
Then we find out that the trips were to attend functions run by Sarina Russo, who just happens to be one of Australia’s richest women, and that her companies won multimillion dollar contracts under the Abbott government.
Starting to stink a little. Oh, and she is a donor to the Liberal Party. No wonder politicians don’t want a national ICAC.
On the evidence thus far there seems to have been a deliberate attempt to make false travel claims and the matter will not be resolved until one, the Prime Minister sacks her or two, the rules are changed.
Such rorting of the system cannot be allowed to continue. Her answers so far have been totally inadequate and make a mockery of the PMs statement that he hopes that MPs “speak more plainly and with more candour to the Australian people in 2017?”
Labor’s Health spokeswoman, Catherine King said that:
”If Malcolm Turnbull is willing to turn a blind eye on this type of conduct, it shows exactly what type of leader he really is.”
Although both sided of politics have been doing it for yonks it is the right that have been the biggest abusers.
Tony Abbott flew around the country to promote his book and Pollie pedaled his way around the country at the taxpayer’s expense. The Drum married the dates of Abbott’s national book promotion tour with his travel expenses claims and guess what?
The taxpayer also paid his expenses to compete in the Port Macquarie Iron Man, and attend the weddings of former MPs Sophie Mirabella and Peter Slipper.
There was another time in Melbourne where he was late for a fundraiser and when he apologised it was because he had to visit a hospital to justify claiming overnight expenses.
If the Prime Minister now won’t confront those of the wacky right and start taking control of his party he never will.
Well as I write I’m interrupted by the ABC saying that ”Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced she was standing aside without ministerial pay while an enquiry into her travel expenses by the head of his department Martin ParkInson.”
”The secretary will thoroughly investigate the travel claims and the Minister has assured me that she will promptly provide all information and assistance sought by the secretary for the purpose of this investigation”.
“Australians expect the government to deal with these serious matters very thoroughly and in accordance with the Statement of Ministerial Standards”.
“I expect the highest standards from my Ministers in all aspects of their conduct, and especially the expenditure of public money.”
So then I had to re write most of it.
How it is at all possible that Ms Ley could possibly wrangle her way out of this is anyone’s guess. But the higher principle is how much longer it is going to be before a set of rules is instigated that will satisfy MPs that they are being treated fairly and at the same time placate the public. The parliamentary enquiry 12 months ago made 29 recommendations. None have been acted on.
See Kaye Lee’s post on this very subject.
And I wonder how you would be feeling waiting on one of those nasty Centerlink letters.
2 In the area in which I live we are due to switch to the new NBN on 13 January. Here are some Facebook comments from friends in my suburb. If I disappear after that date you will know why.
A Good old NBN disconnected my work number during preps in November then switched both lines around and patched my work number into home line 2 weeks if no work at home. ??
B Yep! Agree Pete. I’m at day 3. ?
C Aussie have been good Gav and can see the connection all the way to the green box around the corner, but where old mate from the nbn did the plug and play is where it stops. Common thing apparently fkn awesome. ?
D My connection is complete apparently… now I have to wait for an SMS to finalise it and “connect” the box … the kids HATE it!
E I’ve had that text and plugged in and bam no connection, I hope you have a win as my three are not happy Jan
F oh great … looking forward to that then… NOT!!
G I have Internet Peter Morris but have no home phone since they did it … it’s dead.
H I’ve heard it’s not much faster, but better than nothing Peter. Hope they get it sorted quickly
I Took us two months Pete and that was with contacting the ombudsman and Russel Northe’s office who stepped in on our behalf. Next door took 4 months (and they had no fixed phone line either) – plus we only get one bar of reception on our mobiles. Disgraceful. There was already NBN here when we moved, it just had to be switched on. There was a dispute about our address between NBN and our provider (not that we knew this because neither of them would talk to each other – until Russell North’s office stepped in) even then it was another 3 weeks before it was connected. Nightmare – I feel for you.
3 You would hardly think that Cory Bernardi would ever be a chance of joining One Nation now that it appears they have done a backflip and banned homophobia.
My thought for the day.
”Wouldn’t it be good if in our parliament, regardless of ideology, we had politician’s whose first interest was the people’s welfare and not their own”.
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Return to home pageanother LNP donor with an Order of Australia no less, this one has scored 10 mil from the Feds http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/australasian-college-broadway-teenagers-left-devastated-by-collapse-and-in-thousands-of-dollars-of-debt-20170106-gtmzmh.html
With this lot we need 6 monthly elections. They are to immature and dishonest for any longer.
John, you’ve got a link to the Drum article on Abbott’s “Battlelines: promotion in the tenth paragraph, but the article linking The Pollie Pedals to his expenses is just plain text “Read it Here”. Did you miss putting it in?
It is now starting to gather momentum as more details on expense rorting come to light.
In 2015 Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, Attorney-General George Brandis, Communications Minister Mitch Fifield and Education Minister Simon Birmingham – charged taxpayers almost $7000 to attend Mr Turnbull’s New Years drinks in sydney.
I think it’s nice to catch up with friends and colleagues for a drink at New Years but these blokes charged their travel and accommodation expenses to you and me. That’s outrageous !
We – that is ‘we the people’ who employ these jokers – must, immediately introduce clear rules governing the spending of our money for personal junkets and we must impose penalties for any breaches to these rules.
Start with Nick Xenphon’s legislation : http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Finance_and_Public_Administration/Expenses_Amendment/Report/d01
One further point, remembering that Ley’s electorate of Farrer is in Southern NSW :
“ABC News has analysed three years’ worth of the minister’s travel reports and found she travelled to the Gold Coast 20 times.
Questions were put to Ms Ley’s office about 18 trips, worth $53,877.
The most expensive flight was a $12,365 charter flight taken in March 2015.”
Just a thought,
make politicians pay their own travel expenses FIRST, out of their own pockets.
Then put in a claim to an oversight body, who could pick up patterns as those mentioned above ,
and TA trips when promoting his books.
“There was another time in Melbourne where he was late for a fundraiser and when he apologised it was because he had to visit a hospital to justify claiming overnight expenses.”
It was even worse than that John. Tony had been to the function the night before. In order to claim for it he popped in to have his photo taken at a cancer clinic the next morning. Trouble was, he was supposed to be in Canberra for a party meeting. He kept everyone waiting.
“Last August, Mr Abbott was criticised after he told Coalition MPs he was running late because he had to schedule a last-minute visit to the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne to justify taking the VIP plane down for a Liberal Party fundraiser.”
And then there was this….
“PRIME Minister Tony Abbott used a taxpayer-funded RAAF plane to fly to Melbourne, where he attended the birthday party of mining millionaire and big Liberal donor Paul Marks.
His office defended the use of the VIP plane, with a spokesman advising: “The Prime Minister had other work-related engagements in Melbourne on Sunday. All travel was undertaken within the rules.’’
He did not answer questions on what the work engagements were.”
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/pm-tony-abbott-flies-on-taxpayerfunded-jet-to-liberal-donors-birthday-bash-at-huntingdale-golf-club/news-story/b63c0a91e24685bb8a6ec00cd4a03e17
Ley doesn’t seem to get it at all. She has not apologised, except for causing a “distraction”, and still asserts she has done absolutely nothing wrong.
“There were also some new details about the spontaneous apartment purchase, including the revelation that she arrived at the auction in the Comcar that had driven her from Brisbane to her Gold Coast hotel. “I should have just got out at the hotel,” she said.”
Oh right. If you had just got out of the comcar at the hotel everything would have been just fine because there wouldn’t have been the record to trace?
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/sussan-ley-steps-down-and-dont-bet-on-her-coming-back-20170109-gto4b6.html
The bustopher. I must have.
Let the fox build the henhouse, and this what you get. Stating….independent folks make the rules is bunkum.
“Under every stone lurks a politician.” — Aristophanes in Thesmophoriazusae 410 BC
What about Julie Bishop http://imputeation.blogspot.com.au/2013/12/julie-bishop-what-coincidence.html
I’d like the money- hungry pair of $u$$an and $inodino$ to read Kaye’s top-class article “It is time for us all to start caring about something more than money”, or is it too late in the day for that…
After all the two latest Liberal leaders, Tony and Mal are hardly good role models, and pretty please , do not tell me that high-flying Ms Julie would be a good choice to be our next PM… Enough is enough…
Harquebus, Aristophanes was correct, there’s something unsavoury under those stones, if not Liberal politicians, then paedophiles…
Let’s hope Mr Parkinson is as efficacious for Truffles as Jane Halton was for both Little Johnny and Later Rabid-the-Hun is making the bleeding obvious appear miniscule.
the media back up in deep ‘indignative’ frenzy stirring the troops:
the rabbott lies his arse off and the autocuists destroy juliar
the rabbott lies his arse off and trounces the lemon
the rabbott rorts his arse off and the autocuists destroy suss on everything
at least they are consistent?
michael chamberlain dies and is praised for his efforts in clearing his name. oops it was lindy who did all the lifting and she never forgave the man.
Another brick for feminism?
ps Lord it was not unusual to be so different in that a film we thought pathetic took gold.
pps At least my darling and I are consistent in that nearly 50 years ago we walked out shaking our head when strauss waltzed in space.
Then believing the hype of our friends tried again the next night but giggled at Hal and left.
Bronwyn Bishop has got to the nub of the problem of expense rorting by coalition politicians, on Sky :
“I do know that there are socialists out there who want to attack free enterprise and anyone who sticks up for it. And I know that socialists, like alcoholics, will blame anyone but themselves. And whereas alcoholics can damage their own families, socialists can destroy the whole country.”
So, there you go !
I’ve decided to give the NBN a miss for the time being. From what I can see, it will cost me big bucks to get connected and then the monthly rate is no better than my current one. John’s Facebook friends’ comments are enough to affirm my thinking.
H’, growing up on the farm on Kangaroo Island, under every stone I would find a scorpion. (Well, not every stone). Scorpions sting. So do politicians.
That’s a blinder, Harquebus.
I was living in a new estate complex in Mooroolbark, outer eastern Melbourne.
Blue wires for ‘net and (we all thought) nbn etc everywhere. Wrong.
We ALL ,85 units of us, had to get wireless internet, and NO home phones.
Telstra didn’t run their bit the 50 meters from the boxy thing out the front to the pit before the concrete went down, and the builders didn’t run wires from the pit to the sub boards either. Bummer.
My daughter has NBN. She reckons it’s amazing. (Spelt like Tim and Debbie even) She lives in Seddon. That’s over the other side of the Westgate bridge.
The boys next door reckon we should just go and get some strand from Olex in Lilydale, and a ladder, and between the 5 of us run the cable ourselves. Between us all we have all of the qualifications except 457’s, so its not like we haven’t got the time.
We could get mikey sukkhead to come and open it. Hes our local mp, and one of ta’s brown nosed boys. He only lives in Ringwood though, so there wouldn’t be too big a claim, unless the lads from next door can sneak their beer onto your tab. (Just joking. None of you have got that much money.)
Let’s see where the news leaves us this evening.
Have a fun one.
Our fearless leader had only one job – to do the only one thing for the good of ALL Australians – an national infrastructure project to leap-frog us as an agile and innovative nation – couldn’t get over his ego to put us behind – f*cking useless.
After being given a bursary for his daughter when the other students didn’t even know it existed what else do you expect?
Well, we shall wait with bated breath for the Sir Humphrey Appleby style investigation into the travel claims rorting… meanwhile… “operation integrity taskforce” is all dodgy systems go
” She was lying.” !!!
Now there’s a revelation !
A LieNP politician actually lying !
Who would have thought it !
With apologies to the Nobel prize winner for literature.
Lie, lady Ley, spread across the internet
Lie, lady Ley, an impulse buy you can sublet
Whatever rorts you have in your mind
Marc will show you and you’ll make them shine
Lie, lady Ley, lies that cause a rise of bile
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your Malc awhile
Until the break of day, let me see you make him smile
His plans are dirty but his hands are clean
And you’re the best thing that he’s ever seen
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your Malc awhile
Why wait any longer for the rorts to begin
You can have your cake and eat it too
Why wait any longer for the cash you love
When he’s standing in front of you
Lie, lady Ley, the media will be warned today
Stay, lady, stay, it may all just blow away
Malc longs to see you in the morning light
Your vote he needs to keep him in the fight
Stay, lady, stay, you’ll still sleep sound at night
I just had a thought.
I’ve been sitting here writing ANOTHER job application for yet ANOTHER job that I wont get because I haven’t got quite the right certification, namely a 457 and the correct pidgin inglish. De nada. There’ll be another job to go for tomorrow. They are a bit like trams.
Anyway.
I got stung by this ”averageing” out my claims and earnings stuff a month or so ago, and just quietly I don’t have the paperwork any more to prove that I really am un employed an that I am not just leaning. Honest.
Getting back to Averages.
Lets take ms ley. ( I wouldn’t if she was nailed across the bar, bur I’m a bit picky like that.)
She has claimed a lot of dollars for travel. For sanity’s sake lets just call it $365 grand per year.
How come Centerlink and the AFP don’t average out the dollars concerned, and nail her backside to a tree for claiming $1000 for each day she was sitting in Parliament. Plus 10%. Plus 25% for being a lying bitch.
If they started art the top end, and worked their way down to me,
A) they would get a buttload more money,
B) they would give me a chance to find my paperwork.
C) I might get a job with either the tax office or Centerlink, (or even the AFP)
D) the resultant screams from the poor dear ripoff bastards who are getting stung would make them fix their fluck-up pdq, and we wouldn’t have a succession of wankers on the telly bleating about how lucky those of us on Centerlink were to have any money to pay back at all.
I mean let’s face it, If aunty bronny had her way we would all be somewhere else so that she and her mates didn’t have to put up with the sweaty folk. Ya do have to admit, we battlers on the dole are only bringing Australia to its knees by trying to hold the upper crust out of the swill they keep trying to drown us with.
Jennifer, I hate to tell you but I read an article saying that you have x time to take up the NBN or incur penalties. The government introduced this because in some areas there has been only a 40% take up rate..I wonder why? Perhaps something along the lines of…hardly better than what I’ve already got and I can’t afford it.
Ms. Ley lives in Albury, flies to Brisbane which has to be via Sydney there being no direct flights until last year then travels some 80+km (a good 2-3 hr round trip drive depending on the traffic getting out of Brisbane into Surfer’s) to “visit patients”. What? Weren’t there any in Brisbane?
It has also been reported that Ms. Ley had previously inspected other potential investment properties on her trips to the Gold Coast including one in the hinterland, so her surprise at suddenly and spontaneously finding herself at an auction wasn’t that much of a shock to her after all. As Ms. Ley said, her problem wasn’t that she was there at an auction, her problem arose because she was the successful bidder. I don’t think she quite gets it…..
Don’t know what happened to your comment, Gregory, but it got caught up in the system somehow.
There is nothing like TRANSPARENCY to underpin HONESTY – it’s either self-correcting or gets corrected much much sooner – wonder what the world would be like if privacy laws did not apply to politicians?
Geeezus….now we’ve got 2 problems, and 2017 is only begun. Centrelink and suz……..it’s so unfair.
In my opinion, travel allowances should only apply where ;1 ; the job could only be done face to face or 2; was manifestly necessary for the particular duties of the job. I suspect these sort if rules apply in industry. Visiting patients in hospital, going to parties for your own party are way out of line. In any case , in times of ‘austerity’ a reduced and very strict budget should apply. Instant transparency might be a good start.
Quote – “…an enquiry into her travel expenses by the head of his department Martin ParkInson.”
Ley, and all other such ‘entitlment’ rorters – and that is what they always are – bloody rorters – should be billed the salary of every public servant for the time each spends on the rorters enquiry. Justified because our public servants have important work to do in the public interest not to police the trash that sees itself as the privileged and elite political class.
We have had decades of political parrots squawking “it’s within the rules” followed by an enquiry that produces numerous recommendations, every single one of which is gleefully ignored – and then the wheel turns again as a new coterie of rancid tax trough feeders arrives to join snouts with the survivors of past rorting enquiries. F*ck, how I now hate this putrid political class.
C’mom you Independants – turn this hapless circus inside out and shake these trough feeding bastard down.
What reallymakes me mad ,is the way this government went after Peter Slipper,they hounded him over $900 ,he lost his job and almost his life,He offered to pay the amount back and was refused to do so,because it was reported to police that he had misused public money,and that it had become a police matter,After the reporting of all these ministers rorting the taxpayers which amounts to fraud WHY can’t charges be made against them to the police,WHat is good for the goose is good for the gander
spot on steve our voice is heard at Sunrise Today and for a few more, when slimy X makes his point (ou est the dixxxbransoms)
As you point out, a lady is on show.,
Suss cannot be treated by any media as is a gentleman like the Fabbott or even donald Randall?
Wonder what Ley thinks of Abbott and the art of leaking in private. All the world’s a chessboard for Tony and we, just the pieces.
Where did all this kerfuffle originally come from? Sussan Ley bought the apartment nearly two years ago. Someone has briefed the media on this as it has been sitting there all this time. It would be hard to believe that it didn’t emanate from the office of one Tony Abbott, who would have much to gain from embarrassing the ‘Prime Minister’, and having a Cabinet minister resign in disgrace. Wouldn’t it. Abbott – the gift that just keeps on giving.