73 comments

1. RoswellDecember 9, 2016 at 9:20 pm

   Who needs experts when we have Cory and George? In keeping with the theme, who needs a prime minister when we have Cory and George?

2. Kaye LeeDecember 9, 2016 at 9:23 pm

   Good point….there’s millions saved right there.

3. Jennifer Meyer-SmithDecember 9, 2016 at 9:26 pm

   Who needs Cory and George when we have corporate, church and landed gentry lobbyists?

   Cory and George want to watch their backs coz their fanfare will be after them next.

4. wamDecember 9, 2016 at 9:46 pm

   jesus wept, I am tempted not to read anything by Kaye because the insight is so depressingly excellent.
   If only you would offer your services to short on most things as an adviser or to the ABC as an editor

   ps cassidy is being provocative because insiders is over.

5. FreethinkerDecember 9, 2016 at 9:58 pm

   There is nothing new, science is crap therefore the experts talk crap.
   Malcolm (some times) do his job well in keeping his popularity above the leader of the opposition , and working together with the rest of his team they get away with what they want.
   Cassidy should know that, well he know it like many other journalist that are only interested in keeping their job.

6. jasonDecember 9, 2016 at 10:24 pm

   Wam it’s sad that we now call facts provocative. Shows how low they’ve dragged the discussion to not start with the facts a topic all times and argue about tweaking aspects around it like sensible people would. They just ignore the whole damn lot. It’s a f*cking disaster. Is this new or is it just that we have the Internet now that it’s so damn obvious? It’s treasonous and needs suitable punishment for behaviour like this is the only way I can see wiping this garbage out. Are we entering another dark ages?

7. KronomexDecember 9, 2016 at 10:48 pm

   That pair are the ugly, really ugly, vicious faces of Australia. I’m still trying to work out how a pair back bench non-entities appear to have so much power.

8. EllaDecember 9, 2016 at 10:58 pm

   Kronomex, if you can, have a look at tonights Drum, very worthwhile watching.

9. Michael TaylorDecember 9, 2016 at 11:02 pm

   Kronomex, maybe Turnbull gave them that power when they offered their vote. From that moment on he was putty in their hands.

10. pierre wilkinsonDecember 9, 2016 at 11:29 pm

    Give them credit… they excel in ignorance

11. wamDecember 9, 2016 at 11:57 pm

    sorry jason slight tongue in cheek slash at cassidy who has been a stalwart of the ABC plan when in doubt don’t mention labor. I rarely miss insiders and its penchant for commentators of the rabbottian right. So he doesn’t need to bring up trading and can be provocative on a channel where antigovernment truths are rare.
    I an getting senile but the only way it is cheaper is if price goes down how?? production goes up? profits and/or costs go down? Subsidies go up. Who pays????

12. Matters NotDecember 10, 2016 at 12:00 am

    By the experts I mean you have the Chief Scientist, the CSIRO

    Sorry but the CSIRO and the Chief Scientist ae not ‘policy’ experts. They engage in the ‘science’ (and do that very well) but ‘scientific findings’ do not automatically translate to policy imperatives – in a democratic society.

    For example, we could shoot the ‘polluters’ at dawn. Or imprison them? Or fine them? Or reward them? All policy options that result in emissions reduction.

    That we choose to reward polluters is a ‘policy’ option. And that’s a (political) fact.

    How we react to that policy option is down to us. Not he scientists.

13. RoswellDecember 10, 2016 at 1:41 am

    Matters Not, I can’t grasp your argument. It seems too conflicting, for want of a better word. Maybe it would make sense if they were in policy formation, which they aren’t. They’re simply experts, as stated.

14. Peter FDecember 10, 2016 at 3:36 am

    @Freethinker No, Malcomb does not keep his popularity above the leader of the opposition, Rupert does.

    Have you ever seen the Telegraph in NSW? This ‘news’ paper is lying ( pun possibly intended) around everywhere. Some people actually pay for it.

15. Kaye LeeDecember 10, 2016 at 7:20 am

    MN,

    The point is that the policy makers are entirely ignoring the experts in deciding which policy option to choose. In fact, they are doing the exact opposite of what the experts advise – the Bernardi/Christensen government doesn’t need no stinkin’ advice.

16. JaquixDecember 10, 2016 at 7:33 am

    Great lineup of fails, Kaye. How they get even a 48% score on a 2PP is beyond me.

17. 2015terryDecember 10, 2016 at 7:55 am

    Interesting panel on The Drum last evening (Friday) including a former Liberal Party member who had resigned from the party so that she could speak out against the Far Right who she sees as destroying the party and Turnbull’s leadership.

    The thrust of the discussion was the way Turnbull has been held hostage by the conservative right to the point where the PM is prepared to backflip on all of his previously held principles merely to appease a right wing cabal who hate him and want to see him fail.

    Turnbull is now in a dilemma of his own making, illustrated by the knee-jerk reaction to the emissions trading issue, to instantly take it off the table without discussion or evaluation. At the moment the PM makes a fool of himself by publicly saying, on emissions trading, that “we have a policy” not to have a policy.

    If Turnbull doesn’t make a stand these people will kill-off his prime ministership and leave him with the ‘sock-puppet’ legacy that they have fashioned for him.

    His one strength is that the alternative leader that the right wing would nominate in place of Turnbull, will lose the Liberals government at the next election.

18. Miriam EnglishDecember 10, 2016 at 8:05 am

    Jaquix, they manage with a single word: “Murdoch”.

19. JaquixDecember 10, 2016 at 8:22 am

    Terry – that rather refreshing Mrs Photios on the Drum, when asked if she thought Turnbull was likely to be rolled, said “Why would they? He is giving them what they want”. That struck me as an angle nobody else has picked up on.

20. keertiDecember 10, 2016 at 9:40 am

    they need to keep employing consultants at inflated cost! how else would some of their mates stay off the dole?

21. Matters NotDecember 10, 2016 at 10:17 am

    Roswell, my original, much longer post wouldn’t ‘load’ so in frustration I attempted a precis. Much was lost in that effort, and then there were spelling errors. Sorry. A stuff up all round.

22. Kaye LeeDecember 10, 2016 at 10:18 am

    Another interesting thing said by Mrs Photios – why does no-one in the party help to rein in these loony tunes who are holding the party to ransom. When Russell Broadbent stood up to object to Christensen’s Islamophobia, why did no-one join him? When Abbott and Bernardi and Christensen and Abetz publicly criticise their leader, why are they not being pulled into line? Threaten them with disendorsement at the next election. Call their bluff. Call Barnaby’s bluff to rip up the Coalition agreement.

    But nobody has the ticker to stand with Malcolm (presuming he would prefer not to be in this squirrel grip of course, which is not entirely certain) . It’s sad.

23. JerryDecember 10, 2016 at 10:38 am

    I am sick of your whining Kaye Lee. Just do something!

24. Matters NotDecember 10, 2016 at 10:38 am

    Mr and Mrs Photios are the best examples of political insider, power brokers in the nation. Every action, decision and the like are extremely well calculated. A quick google will give any number of links but perhaps this one will give the flavour.

    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/malcolm-turnbull-and-lobbyist-michael-photios/news-story/93ec17aed6d6fb6facc2573bebff96cb

25. Kaye LeeDecember 10, 2016 at 10:43 am

    lolol Perhaps you could share with me what you are doing Jerry as an example for me to follow. I’m all for suggestions.

26. Matters NotDecember 10, 2016 at 10:45 am

    This link provides further insights. He’s a mover and shaker at any number of levels.

    http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/michael-photios-first-wife-served-bankruptcy-notice-over-unpaid-school-fees/news-story/e5bddb68d044cac9cdebf0d0fb9f6fdf

27. Lorraine StansfiewldDecember 10, 2016 at 10:54 am

    What are we paying the experts for? More to the point Kaye is what are we paying Malcolm Turnbull for?

28. Michael TaylorDecember 10, 2016 at 10:59 am

    The point is that the policy makers are entirely ignoring the experts in deciding which policy option to choose. In fact, they are doing the exact opposite of what the experts advise …

    Memories of Howard come flooding back.

    At ATSIC Howard had hundreds of policy advisers and experts at hand yet his policies were more in response to editorials in The Australian than to those experts. And oh how he jumped to appease the media instead of the stakeholders. The Australian would perceive a problem (that didn’t exist) and Howard would emerge as the white knight to fix it. Real problems, meanwhile, were ignored. I guess that the best way to fix a problem is by ignoring its existence in the first place. Conversely – and this was a Howard speciality – manufacture a problem that only you can fix.

29. Kaye LeeDecember 10, 2016 at 11:03 am

    Lorraine,

    I remember a late night rather cynical alcohol affected conversation with friends about what attributes our popular world leaders display

    Look good on a stamp
    Ability to wear a hat without looking silly (or the awareness not to try)
    Ability to dance without looking absolutely ridiculous (ditto the awareness thing)
    A deep voice with no accent

    ….and other such sad observations.

30. Kaye LeeDecember 10, 2016 at 11:11 am

    Further on the “Ability to wear a hat without looking silly (or the awareness not to try)”…..watch the Liberal Party visits to factories nowadays. Those shower cap type head coverings lead to silly photos so the Libs always put a baseball cap over them now. They know the power of the hat – as Barnaby the accountant/politican shows 😉

31. Winston SmytheDecember 10, 2016 at 11:22 am

    Michael That is called “Problem, Action, Solution” so well articulated by David Icke. This is what’s going on.

    Your dealing with Ideology Fundamentalism and its all subterfuge

32. Kaye LeeDecember 10, 2016 at 11:24 am

    MN, both of those stories are paywalled for me. But my own thoughts – Abbott is trying to stage a coup for the right in NSW under the guise of making the party more democratic. He is being assisted in this endeavour by some very quiet people like Lucy Wicks. Someone needs to be able to give Malcolm’s side publicly – to get him some sympathy and backing.

33. Kaye LeeDecember 10, 2016 at 11:30 am

    “so well articulated by David Icke”??

    Problem–reaction–solution

    Icke writes that the Brotherhood uses human anxiety as energy. “Thus we have the encouragement of wars,” he wrote in 1999, “human genocide, the mass slaughter of animals, sexual perversions which create highly charged negative energy, and black magic ritual and sacrifice which takes place on a scale that will stagger those who have not studied the subject.”

    In Tales From The Time Loop (2003), Icke argues that the reptilians create religious, racial, ethnic and sexual division to divide and conquer humanity. Incidents and issues he attributes to the Global Elite include the Oklahoma City bombing, Dunblane, Columbine, 9/11, 7/7, global warming, chemtrails, water fluoridation, and Agenda 21. The incidents allow the reptilians to respond in whatever way they intended to act in the first place, a concept Icke calls “order out of chaos” or “problem–reaction–solution”. One of their methods is to create fake opposites, or “opposames”, such as the Axis and Allied powers of World War II. The movement of societies toward totalitarianism because of these conflicts he calls “totalitarian tiptoe”.

    Is he being metaphysical here?

34. Matters NotDecember 10, 2016 at 11:59 am

    Sorry, they are paywalled for me now as well, but weren’t when I linked. It would seem that Photios is one hell of a political operator. Lots of Government contacts and a real power broker in the NSW Libs.

    It was a deal struck in the upstairs dining room of Woolloomooloo steakhouse Kingsleys late last year that delivered almost total control over the New South Wales Liberal Party to a single powerbroker.

    Gathered there were the heavyweights of the state party’s factional politics: acting president of the Liberal’s NSW Division Trent Zimmerman, conservative defectors led by state MPs Jai Rowell and Matthew Mason-Cox — and lobbyist Michael Photios, along with his business partner Nick Campbell.

    The agreement struck that night decided the fate of Bronwyn Bishop and Zimmerman, and nearly led to the rolling of Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, Angus Taylor and Craig Kelly.

    It dislodged a substantial portion of the party’s already-weakened right wing and delivered three state MPs and dozens of branches to the moderates, where Photios, who left state parliament in 1999, has long reigned as kingmaker.

    Now he is influencing the federal arena. No matter the outcome of this Saturday’s election, Photios’ influence over the Liberal Party will only grow.

    When Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull last year told a Liberal gathering the party had no factions, his audience laughed.

    Photios is one reason why.

    Aged 55, he is a deeply divisive figure, charged by some with alienating the party’s conservative base and, as party member and monarchist David Flint puts it, transforming the state branch into “an organisation run by a cabal of powerbrokers”.

    The party’s backroom machinations have also caught the eye of former prime minister John Howard who has said the party was “too heavily influenced by factions” and risked losing members if they were marginalised.

    Photios and his factional allies have taken almost total control over the powerful state executive committee, exploiting divisions and partnering with elements of the party’s fractured right wing.

    Factional rivals allege much worse: the wholesale misuse of special powers conferred upon the executive to create regional fiefdoms and hinder the Right.

    A successful lobbyist, Photios and his business partners have a lengthy list of clients. A recent addition is S. Kidman & Co, the country’s largest agricultural holding which is in the middle of a contentious sales process to Chinese suitors which requires sign-off from the federal government.

    The Australian spoke to almost two dozen federal and state ministers, factional allies, backroom operators, rivals and friends, almost all of whom only agreed to speak on condition of anonymity, citing party rules, the looming election and the dilemma of commenting on a man of such influence.

    Most, however, agree on one thing — Photios is a charismatic operator who has managed to drag the moderates from impotence to dominance in less than a decade. Lavish parties thrown by his lobbying outfits at Sydney’s Ivy complex, owned by hospitality tsar Justin Hemmes, whose company is also a client, are well documented

    No link provided. Back door used.

35. Winston SmytheDecember 10, 2016 at 12:00 pm

    Kaye Iv’e not read his books. Though I can only agree with him on a his political standpoint.His Big Picture view on how politicians are the puppets and that power and money pulls the strings is undeniable based on my life experience.His slogan Problem, Reaction, Solution is a good one despite what you think of him.

    Though; so many quote Orwell’s 1984 or the Bible and place their slant on it’s meaning from the Left or Right.So we must always ask ourselves; what is their true motivation for using their example?So he’s actually defined a slogan for good rather than evil; so cut him some slack for that at least?

36. KeithDecember 10, 2016 at 12:02 pm

    The IPCC’s suggested safe progress for the future is to extract CO2 from the atmosphere (BECCS), a technology not developed when such a solution was provided. BECCS has still not been developed to any degree. My premise is that politicians are still undecided about what to do; decision making is halted by ideological views, ignorance, or opinion being determined by vested interests.

    My views are confirmed by two reports which have been made public in the last week. The report provided by CSIRO CEO Finkel has received most attention. The reports very clearly show that the LNP’s “policy” on climate change is a sham; goals made for COP21 will not be reached. Turnbull virtually contradicted CSIRO’s CEO Finkel through being disparaging of the solutions suggested. Turnbull’s view amounts to opinion being truth, and facts are irrelevant. In other words, we still have to push science to change political views; as well as promote solutions. Below a very well written article by Ian Dunlop: “Ian Dunlop was formerly an international oil, gas and coal industry executive, chair of the Australian Coal Association and CEO of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. He is a Member of the Club of Rome.”

    Enough is enough! Time for honesty on climate and energy policy

    Ian Dunlop did not mention the Crowther et al paper which studied a powerful positive feedback…greater activity of soil microbes creating more CO2 as soils around the Earth warm. A very recently released paper, involving a number of scientists making observations in different environments. We need real policies, not the pseudo policy that the LNP have been promoting.
    As time progresses the LNP pseudo policy provides for increasingly dangerous consequences.

37. John LordDecember 10, 2016 at 12:14 pm

    That’s all very fine KAYE but worst of all is that they repeatedly ignore you and I.

38. Lord JohnDecember 10, 2016 at 12:19 pm

    Maybe you’re not being radical enough John Lord ?

39. townsvilleblogDecember 10, 2016 at 12:28 pm

    Cory and George are the same political animal, extreme right wing living in a delusional world and knowing full well that if they push an issue and a fight erupts then the government will be lost as they only have a majority of one in the House of Reps. Ironically Turnbull’s moderate faction within the Liberal Party has the majority, but they too don’t want any more tension than already exists.

    The Murdoch press is pushing the Carmichael Mine like crazy up here in Townsville, they are pushing the ‘jobs’ aspect. Adani says they will be operating remotely so there will be very few dump truck driver jobs, but Townsville has an unemployment rate of 10.6% currently as Clive Palmer’s Queensland Nickel folded early in the year with the loss of 878 jobs, still why would you approve a coal mine when already the top of the Great Barrier Reef is dead, more coal burning will only claim more of this wonderful place, it makes no sense to me, but then, what do I know?

40. JaquixDecember 10, 2016 at 12:37 pm

    Townsvilleblog – Clive Palmer has a stunning 76 hectare (c180 acre) property up for sale near me on the Gold Coast, which he bought under Qld Nickel’s name a few years ago, and made a bit splash about it at the time, proclaiming it to be Qld Nickel’s HQ – yet four years ago he quietly transferred it to his own name. Corporate thief, always a thief. Re Adani and their claimed 10,000 jobs. Surely Palaszczuk doesnt intend to take his word for that? I believe someone did realistic figures and it was more like 1000. I know it must be very tempting to a government to have the money rolling in, but surely there are other ways to get things going. As for Turnbull lending Adani $1 billion , that is a total disgrace. Adani strikes me as an Indian Trump, and of course he may turn out to be an Indian Giver as well.

41. Jack StrawDecember 10, 2016 at 12:44 pm

    The greatest Conman I ever met was an Indian.He was so good even I had to take my hat off to him.

42. RoswellDecember 10, 2016 at 12:45 pm

    I listened to an interview with David Icke a few days before the Brexit vote in which he put forward a dozen conspiracies as to why the ‘No’ was already home and hosed. According to Icke the vote was a farce as the powers that be had already decided that ‘No’ was the predetermined result. Not only was he stark raving mad but his arrogance towards the interviewer was overwhelmingly disgraceful. I switched off before he segued to ‘the Queen is a reptilian’ rubbish.

43. JaquixDecember 10, 2016 at 12:50 pm

    Jack Straw – you were lucky you still had a hat !

44. Jack StrawDecember 10, 2016 at 12:54 pm

    He was good I can tell you. It was around $600 30 odd years ago. Taught me a great lesson though .

45. RoswellDecember 10, 2016 at 1:14 pm

    Does anybody else get a message saying that “this form is not secure, are you sure you want to submit it?” when they go to post a comment? I’ve noticed it over the last couple of days.

46. Michael TaylorDecember 10, 2016 at 1:14 pm

    That’s all very fine KAYE but worst of all is that they repeatedly ignore you and I.

    At their own peril, John.

47. Michael TaylorDecember 10, 2016 at 1:23 pm

    Roswell, you are probably commenting from an Apple mobile device or tablet. It happens on my Apple devices too, but it’s nothing to worry about. It only started happening after a WordPress plugin was updated, and when I followed up as to why it was happening the explanation was that it had something to do with Apple not upgrading a whatever (‘whatever’ meaning that it went straight over my head). However, the main thing is that it’s not an issue to worry about or have any concerns over your device or the site.

48. Michael TaylorDecember 10, 2016 at 1:25 pm

    PS: The explanation is buried somewhere in my inbox. I can look for it if you like.

49. RoswellDecember 10, 2016 at 1:31 pm

    Thanks.

50. Wayne TurnerDecember 10, 2016 at 1:38 pm

    Who needs a SPINE and GUTS? Turnbull. Who doesn’t have them? Turnbull.

    The pointless PM continues…

51. Matters NotDecember 10, 2016 at 2:10 pm

    Roswell I get the same message – from time to time over the last few days and I am not using an Apple mobile or tablet – just a Dell desk top computer. There doesn’t seem to be any pattern. Just sayin ..

    The wonders and mysteries of technology.

52. Matters NotDecember 10, 2016 at 2:44 pm

    Correction. The message I get is not quite the same. My message warns me that the site I am accessing doesn’t have a security certificate and – not recommended to continue. I just continue anyway and without ill effects to date.

    Mysterious forces at work. Probably Muslims. And Sunni to boot, because there’s many more of them.

53. Michael TaylorDecember 10, 2016 at 2:48 pm

    MN, can you take a screenshot and email it to us?

54. Kaye LeeDecember 10, 2016 at 2:50 pm

    It happens occasionally when you click on a comment in the recent comments part. Mine said something about Attackers.

55. Michael TaylorDecember 10, 2016 at 2:57 pm

    You shouldn’t get that one anymore, Kaye. Our developer is taking care of that one. Again, a simple procedure. The warnings came up coinciding with the expiration of/and renewal of our domain name.

56. Matters NotDecember 10, 2016 at 2:58 pm

    No. Way above my technical skill level. But when it happens again, I will write down every word and Email you.

    As I said, it’s completely random.

    But with a Google search I found this site.

    https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/ie/forum/ie8-windows_xp/constant-security-certificate-error-warnings-on/e15f4cc9-49c9-42be-b649-833ef4497a61

    Maybe it’s Norton taking revenge for not renewing my subscription.

57. Michael TaylorDecember 10, 2016 at 3:05 pm

    Thanks for the link, MN. I also got that warning when trying to open a page, which also coincided with our developer doing some security work at that very moment and again with the renewal of our domain name. I haven’t seen the warning since.

58. KyranDecember 10, 2016 at 5:07 pm

    Hmm, Barrie Cassidy. For my way of thinking, he hasn’t been the same since 2013. It’s a long time ago, but do you remember?
    “ABC political commentator Barrie Cassidy has resigned from his chairman position on the Old Parliament House Advisory Council after being asked by Attorney-General George Brandis to stand down.
    Prime Minister Tony Abbott had earlier raised concerns about Labor appointing “friends to all sorts of positions” in the dying days of the Rudd government.
    The council advises the Government on matters related to Old Parliament House, which is now the Museum of Australian Democracy.”
    My observation is that he hasn’t been the same since. Happy to be corrected, but I don’t recall reading any of his articles criticizing brandy for heavying the likes of Ms Triggs or Mr Gleeson. Or brandy’s assaults on all manner of things associated with human rights and intimidation of any of those wishing to protect them.
    Just on that banana’s thing, “Barnaby Joyce paid hundreds of thousands for a report on moving a government department to his electorate only to ignore its findings.”
    “Only about 10 to 15 of the APVMA’s 100 staff members have agreed to move to Armidale, while about 85 per cent have said they will take redundancies.
    Farmers, chemical companies and vets have repeatedly warned that the inevitable staff losses would lead to costly delays in chemical regulation and approval.”
    An expensive ‘centre of excellence’, devoid of excellence. What could go wrong?
    “She also said that the APVMA was “understaffed at present in the pesticides, health assessment, environment and chemical review areas due to key staff being on long term leave, others departing the agency and difficulties recruiting suitably skilled and experienced people”.
    Nothing to see here, move along. There is, however, good news. The nationals, banana’s bunch, have extolled the virtue of action based on evidence.
    “Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie has been scathing of the heavy restrictions on the Adler shotgun, saying they are not based on evidence.
    “There’s no evidence to suggest that this is a rational decision based in evidence, in common sense,” she said.
    “If you look at the guns of choice for criminals, gangs, for organised crime, there is not a lever action shotgun among them and that is what makes the decision by the premiers so ridiculous, as they seek to be tough on crime,” she said.”
    As an observation, laws are made for the law abiding. Criminals don’t generally observe them. Hence the label, ‘criminal’.
    It has been a long time since I went ‘shooting’. A shotgun is a ‘close quarter’ weapon. Professional shooters use things like a .222 or 303, from hundreds of metres away. Criminals use things like shotguns. Short range. Close quarters. They used to use ‘two barrel’s’. Now we need to give them a five, seven, plus magazine.
    Who needs experts? Thank your god for the nats.
    Thank you, Ms Lee and commenters. Take care

59. Kaye LeeDecember 10, 2016 at 5:22 pm

    “If you look at the guns of choice for criminals, gangs, for organised crime, there is not a lever action shotgun among them and that is what makes the decision by the premiers so ridiculous, as they seek to be tough on crime,” she said.

    Could that be because the rapid fire multiple shot ones are banned????

    Bridget McKenzie is not the sharpest tool in the shed as evinced by her humiliating performance when toild she had to speak for half an hour because the Senate had nothing to do.

    She is a silly person who is ripe for manipulation by an increasingly powerful gun lobby.

60. jerryDecember 10, 2016 at 5:24 pm

    Good pick up on Barry Kyran. Barry has really got a better head for radio so maybe he understands how lucky he is. So maybe he is just playing it safe for awhile.

61. Jennifer Meyer-SmithDecember 10, 2016 at 5:51 pm

    Unfortunately, Barry is drifting onwards to retirement by not ruffling any feathers. He’s not doing us any great service with that attitude.

    I don’t pretend to know his personal business but I would think he and his wife, Heather Ewart, would have a tidy retirement set up, so what is his problem to set a few truths free to the viewing public?

62. Kaye LeeDecember 10, 2016 at 5:53 pm

    Personally I couldn’t care less what he looks like and I do not understand what you mean by “that attitude” JMS. I thought his words on ABC breakfast were very true and necessary.

63. Jennifer Meyer-SmithDecember 10, 2016 at 6:11 pm

    Each to their own, KL.

    Cassidy could be one of the last bastions of defence against the LNP Degenerates but he is proving not to be on Insiders.

    However, I do hear him on abc774 for a short few moments per week, and he does sound knowledgeable and insightful.

64. jerryDecember 10, 2016 at 6:22 pm

    Though I would definitely give him more cred than Annabell Crabb.

65. KyranDecember 10, 2016 at 6:29 pm

    “Could that be because the rapid fire multiple shot ones are banned????”
    Darn it, Ms Lee. You keep trying to introduce evidence.
    “not the sharpest tool in the shed ”
    If ‘the shed’ is parliament, she’s not the dullest tool. The shed is full of dullards. So many blunt tools.
    Without wishing to put words in Ms Meyer-Smith’s mouth, ‘that attitude’ was qualified by his desire to not ruffle any feathers.
    For the record, jerry, it’s just a theory. It’s not like the ABC is owned by Newscorpse, or their minions.
    Take care

66. Jennifer Meyer-SmithDecember 10, 2016 at 6:34 pm

    Kyran,

    you are a gentleman.

67. Miriam EnglishDecember 10, 2016 at 7:27 pm

    Kyran
    It’s not like the ABC is owned by Newscorpse, or their minions. …well, not yet anyway. 🙁

68. MichaelWDecember 10, 2016 at 8:20 pm

    I’m to depressed to write anything.

69. Kaye LeeDecember 10, 2016 at 8:35 pm

    MichaelW,

    I definitely empathise with that feeling….and then I remind myself that achievable solutions, or at least steps forward, are at our fingertips. Our politicians lack, in some instances, the courage, in most, the comprehension, to adopt them. We must give them direction. We must convince enough of the electorate so the cowardy custards who currently quiver in parliament are more worried about us than backbench backlash from a few anachronistic barnyard bullies.

70. Jennifer Meyer-SmithDecember 10, 2016 at 8:52 pm

    Amen to that,

    KL.

    Might we also remember that redemptive unification when we see differences in our allies we don’t understand but need anyway to forge the way forward for true, progressive reform in diverse policy areas.

    Go The ALLiance

71. MichaelWDecember 10, 2016 at 11:31 pm

    Kaye,
    There are achievable solutions there are steps forward, but the chances of our present government achieving anything positive for the people of Australia are zilch. All they care about is making the rich richer and the poor can get stuffed.

    Company tax cuts? give me a break, I once owned a small company. Tax, what’s that? Earlier I read a piece in the Guardian that listed all the companies that actually pay tax, or should I say companies that don’t pay tax interesting (or should I say depressing ) reading, well worth a look. Surprisingly Murdoch paid bugger all.

    Keep up the good work.
    Michael.

    PS. I feel better after a few cardboard dry whites.

72. Kaye LeeDecember 11, 2016 at 6:04 am

    “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance”. – Robert Kennedy

73. John BrameDecember 11, 2016 at 7:09 am

    Good article Kaye. If these guys resided in the US they would be wearing those funny white conical hats.