This Reprehensible Rabble
If anything was patently obvious from the events in Canberra last week, it is that Clive Palmer thinks he is running the country and the media seem to think so too. They are all over him, relegating Tony Abbott to the role of a bit-player. It is also patently obvious that the government’s negotiating skills sit somewhere between pitiable and non-existent.
The repeal of the carbon tax is only the beginning. There are still budget bills to be passed as well as the mining tax and Clive Palmer appears intent on maintaining the chaos. It is conceivable that Tony Abbott will soon be cornered into either giving Palmer everything he asks or calling a double dissolution. At the moment he is vacillating and his weakness on this issue will expose him for what he really is. His pre-election bluff and bluster has dissolved.
Last week’s circus in the senate was inevitable and it will happen again. The closer you get to your enemy, the sharper you need to be. Clive Palmer has been around long enough not to trust anyone and knows since the day Joe Hockey delivered the Budget that the Prime Minister’s word has little or no value.
Palmer probably remembered Abbott’s comments when interviewed by Kerry O Brien a few years back. “The statements that need to be taken absolutely as gospel truth are those carefully prepared scripted remarks,” Abbott said. In that interview Abbott revealed that he sometimes went further than he should when making a promise. I’m sure it was no surprise to Palmer when the wording to the amendment on the bill to repeal the carbon tax wasn’t quite what it was supposed to be.
If the Coalition think for one moment that they can put one over Clive Palmer, they are deluding themselves. But, given Abbott’s penchant for verbal dishonesty they will probably keep trying and in the process, expose themselves for the utterly reprehensible rabble that they are.
That is not to say that Palmer will not acquiesce when it suits him. He is unpredictable and, I suspect, delights in keeping the government, the opposition and the media guessing. But as time passes (and it can’t come too quickly for most of us), the interaction between him and the Prime Minister will further expose Abbott’s difficulty in negotiating to a point where even his most steadfast supporters will have had enough. The government couldn’t even get their amendments right. A double dissolution could see him lose office or at best see his lower house majority whittled down to one or two.
The senate result could be worse with a strong chance that both major parties would lose numbers to the PUP. If for some reason the people go against PUP and vote to restore some sanity the result will likely favour Labor and the Greens. Either way, Abbott is in trouble. Doubtless his party’s electoral engineers are doing their sums and would be weighing up the pros and cons. The advice given to them by outgoing senator Ron Boswell to stand up to Palmer is the right advice but they appear unwilling to take it.
For the electorate, the greater issue here is honesty, or lack of it. The budget exposed the Coalition to be utterly dishonest, something they brought on themselves; an own goal. They can no longer claim the moral high ground. Their claim to have a mandate is, and always was, spurious. There is just too much evidence out there to show that they have treated the electorate as fools. Clive Palmer has realised that as the self-appointed defender of the underdog, his political future has promise. He will not want to betray his image and backtrack on anything he has said to the pensioners and the battlers who have crossed over to his side.
By way of comparison the government is showing signs of cracking under the pressure. Tony Abbott’s speech to the LNP annual state conference in Brisbane on Saturday bordered on the bizarre. “You and we are rescuing our country … it is only us who can rescue our country right now,” he said. Rescue from what? His attack on Bill Shorten was equally weird and suggests he is beginning to lose the plot.
His upbeat display of confidence was in direct contrast to the events in Canberra and the reality of the situation as it unfolded. He referred to the events in the senate as “a lot of colour and movement.” It was chaotic. Under Abbott’s leadership thus far, the Coalition has lost all the support they had at the election and then some. Their only way forward is to replace their leader and try starting again. That is unlikely for now and things are only going to get worse.
Like what we do at The AIMN?
You’ll like it even more knowing that your donation will help us to keep up the good fight.
Chuck in a few bucks and see just how far it goes!
Your contribution to help with the running costs of this site will be gratefully accepted.
You can donate through PayPal or credit card via the button below, or donate via bank transfer: BSB: 062500; A/c no: 10495969
45 comments
Login here Register here-
Stephen -
Jeanette -
Kaye Lee -
Kaye Lee -
Matters -
Matthew Oborne -
corvus boreus -
Kaye Lee -
Möbius Ecko -
Dan Dark -
John Kelly -
Kaye Lee -
Kathy Lee -
my say -
Terry2 -
mars08 -
Peter Anson -
Sir ScotchMistery -
CMMC -
Larry Forbes -
mars08 -
M-R -
Edward Colclough -
Florence nee Fedup -
Christel Nathan -
Möbius Ecko -
donwreford -
corvus boreus -
Kaye Lee -
Dan Dark -
my say -
OzFenric -
Florence nee Fedup -
Florence nee Fedup -
John Kelly -
Kaye Lee -
Peter Lee -
Catriona Thoolen -
Dan Rowden -
DanDark -
Dan Rowden -
Graeme Henchel -
gorgeousdunny1 -
-
Bob
Return to home pageWell expressed John.
We live in interesting times.
Agree with all comments. Clive Palmer has the LNP in his sights. Havoc will rule, then there’s the other independants to deal with. Whilst I believe some changes need to be made, why is it those who have the least have to do all the heavy lifting. I would like to see those at the top of the ladder fall a few rungs with new tax imposts, family trusts and negative gearing for starters.
”There’s a commitment that I want to give you … There will not be deals done with independents and minor parties under any political movement that I lead,” he said from the Opposition party room at Parliament House.
Tony Abbott used to tell us that he would not lead a government “depending upon dodgy deals … or wayward independents”.
“There is no point in basing government on dishonest deals behind closed doors,” he said.
Well, it is true that Labor and the Greens did their deals over lengthy negotiations in rooms with lots of advisers and lawyers and with the doors closed.
But that is surely preferable to Thursday when the Senate leader, Eric Abetz, the environment minister, Greg Hunt, manager of government business in the Senate, Mitch Fifield, and their advisers were hammering out the fate of the carbon tax repeal bills with Clive Palmer, his senators and the other crossbenchers in a corridor with a posse of journalists watching.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jul/10/now-its-tony-abbotts-turn-to-do-dodgy-deals-with-minor-parties
Not really. As you point out further into your insightful piece, more than ever he’s denying the political realities. His problems are only starting with ‘key’ elements of the budget unlikely to pass and yet he’s still on the attack, ‘rescuing’ an economy that’s rated three star and the envy of the developed world.
But then again, such an approach worked in the past, albeit with unwavering support from the MSM.
Even if the Liberal Party told no lies during the election campaign, when people knowingly vote differently in the senate to provide balance, the makeup of the senate not only reflects deals but it also reflects the people not giving an outright mandate because the result is not overwhelming Liberal in the senate. However as you wrote the budget laid bare the actual intentions of the Liberal Party and they are so extreme public backlash has been enormous. Using the term Mandate outside of its original meaning politically is disturbing and shows utter contempt for the people of Australia. If Howard had a mandate for the gst then the democrats should have increased support for passing the gst when the reverse is true it actually destroyed them. so we have real examples of backlash when a mandate was declared but did not exist. The biggest problem we have in accepting the 2013 election results is the Liberal Party claimed a unity ticket on wedge issues and then backed out of every one of them. I have never seen a reporter argue that the Liberal party have a mandate to keep all the wedge issue promises.
Good article, John Kelly.
Unfortunately, when I got to the phrase “utterly represensible rabble”, I pictured Michael Palin as Pontius Pilate and lost my serious train of thought.
Sowwy.
Centuwion, Thwow him to the gwound, vewwy wuffly
Why do they titter so?
Classic.
Corvus ” utterly represensible rabble”
I believe you have lost your h somewhere, I think Cookie Monster ate it, or was that the Count ?
Geee you are not having a good day 🙂 might be time to let loose the tape worms lol
Oh dear! I’m off to join the peoples’ front for the liberwation of Judea.
Splitter!
he has a wife, you know..
Aint karma a bitch,If last week showed us anything it is the lack of skill this government has to run our country,Not one of them have a clue what they are doing, a complete shambles,
I don’t know what clive is doing is going to be good for our country.but i really am going to watch Abbott squirm as he has him by the short and curleys,
I had wondered, perhaps naively, why the government would try and process these 153 people at sea rather than sending them to a ready-made processing facility on Christmas Island that cost us many millions to build and outfit.
I heard on Insiders that it is a Morrison thing and that he wants to be able to continue to say that no boats have made it to ‘straya on his watch.
So, it has come to this, that we are pandering to the ego of this appalling man at the expense of our national humanity……..by the way what happened to the Sovereign Borders envoy, Major General Jim Molan (remember him) was he disappeared too ?
The majesty of (what passes for) our democracy in action…!
A lucid and considered article as usual John.I think that you are being a little over generous in saying….”Clive Palmer has realised that as the self-appointed defender of the underdog, his political future has promise. He will not want to betray his image and backtrack on anything he has said to the pensioners and the battlers who have crossed over to his side.” I doubt that Clive Palmer gives one shred of consideration to anyone but Clive Palmer. His “defender of the underdog” status is, I think, expedience and nothing more.
Tony Abbott used to tell us that he would not lead a government “depending upon dodgy deals … or wayward independents”.
Interesting days indeed.
He is not dependent on dodgy deals. He is dependent on what he can raise for his muscley and available arse.
Sins of omission, did anyone see any video of Abbott congratulating the young tennis player Kyrgios?
I understand there were some tweets emanating from the Abbott bunker, but not even a doorstop utterance caught on film?
Well, you see, the dude clearly is a Wog, not a True Blue Aussie.
That is how they pander to that ‘One Nation’ voting bloc.
Excellent article, if sad. We need two things to happen:
1. The Liberal Party to replace Abbott and MorriSSon, Hockey and Pyne with genuine Liberal sensible moderates.
2. The Labor party to return to the Centre ground; apologize for building the Manos Island Concentration Camp, commit to on-shore processing of Asylum Seekers with transparency, dignity and decency, and commit to a responsible inclusive budget that ends the current Class War while seeking to reduce the GFC-related budget deficit within, say 10 years.
CMMC
Ah…. but he did make a big play for the bigots in his response to suicide attempts by nine distressed mothers held on Christmas Island…
“I don’t believe any Australian, any thinking Australian, would want us to capitulate to moral blackmail”
I love that he thought dropping “thinking” into the statement somehow made it less dickish!
I’ve been calling them ‘TROWC’* for many months: this is the first time I’ve read of someone else using the R word.
*The Rabble Of Wicked Children
TROWC can’t replace this moron: not even they could live through the ensuing catcalling that followed their doing what the ALP lost the last election for doing. So they’re stuck with him; and they’ll all go down with the ship. But very unwillingly.
It is with mixed emotions of amusement and degrees of dismay that I read/ watch the comments posted.
An ongoing steady vitriolic stream of he said, she said.. he did, she did.. no more than a social duplicate of the pathetic and inept cabal and its actions, that is rather euphemistically referred to as, the Australian Federal parliament.
This parliament and its sitting members, are one of the most pathetic, that this nation of gullible retards has ever voted into public office as their national servants.
It seems to be the norm, rather than exception, that most are NOW from a legal background, a corporate environment or some other privileged and safe avenue. And, as such, they may know how to primp and prance like ‘show ponies’, to present flowery rhetoric to bamboozle the electorate, and sweet talk moneyed political funders.. but as ‘leaders’ and servants of a nation and her citizens, they fall woefully short, time and time again.
Australians will often stridently declare we are independent, and as such, will make our own mistakes.
With equal arrogance and stubbornness, we refuse to observe, and learn from the ‘mistakes’ of others.. instead, we’ll steadfastly duplicate and repeat the same bloody mess, that we could have so easily avoided.
Stupidity is repeating the same exercise, with the expectation that the outcome will be different.
Want an indication of the potential chaos ?? You have no need to look any further than the ongoing political maelstroms that ‘govern’ The United Kingdom, and The United States of America.
BOTH ‘ships of state’ more closely resemble the Titanic in a high speed frantic search of an iceberg.. one with a Rhodesian Scholar’s Mad Hatter tea party at the helm, and the other, where the ‘crew’ stridently ignore the ‘captain’, and are far more intent on fighting amongst themselves; because, their captain is a Black man.
No matter that he has far more brains and intellect in his wee pinkie, than many representatives and senators, have in their whole body, and maybe in their whole ‘collective’ !!
It is a common misconception that we are ‘governed’ by elected officials that serve the Australian nation and her people, in a democratic and proportional representative form of government.
Greece, and more correctly, the city state of Athens, was the last social, communal ‘gathering’ to truly have such a truly democratic form of government, and THAT, was over 2000 years ago.
Greece, also gave ‘birth’ to our present form of ‘democratic’ government.. in reality, an oligarchical form of governance.. either by two ‘families’, OR two groups of individuals of similar collective aims and or persuasion.
In today’s political climate, it is VERY, VERY rare to encounter a political electoral representative, that is beholding solely to their electorate, and its voting constituents.
This present crop of uninspiring national, AND, come to think on it, state ‘leaders’ too, are grossly overindulged, pampered, overpaid and woefully underworked.
Do you truly want to quickly find a huge gaggle of ‘fat cat welfare bludgers’, and ‘leaners’ ?? .. Ones’ eyes don’t have to stray too far from the well lit halls and shadowy corridors of power and government.
How did this happen ??
Quite simply, for far too many Australians are want to regard “politics” as boring, and irrelevant.
There is a major ‘bitch fest’, when we are forced to vote in our ‘democratic elections’, and especially if it might conflict with our social life, or heaven forbid a major sporting fixture !!
Far too many have no inkling whatsoever of the fight and sacrifices endured by our forefathers to gain such a right, and the many other social benefits and rights, we as Australians, presently enjoy and take for granted in our country. A status envied by many, who have no such ‘rights’.
This lack of knowledge, mindlessness, and stupidity, has seen the Australian people blithely entrust the wellbeing of this nation to successive ‘silver tongued’ shysters and rogues, who have then systematically set about rorting the system and the public purse.. In that regard, neither political party is lily white.
Simply put, these ‘elected’ political bastards, are OUR public servants.
They came to us, the people of Australia, and asked us for OUR vote of faith and confidence in them, and to entrust them with the welfare and wellbeing of us all, and our nation.
Then, as they are acting as our ‘servant’, we pay them for that service.
As a ’employer’, it then behoves us to monitor and oversee, the actions of our servants regularly too.
In a truly democratic system of government, the people could censure, and if needs be, replace their elected official for failing to represent them. And the actions of government would be open and transparent. For such a government to exist and survive, it would require an ongoing awareness and participation of ALL the nation’s citizens.
Public posturing and rhetoric is cheap and easy, and more often than not, it is just a ‘performance’ for gullible public consumption.
It is, the everyday words and actions, and the actual “actions” following the public utterances, that truly define the person.
To date.. our incumbent Prime Minister, Anthony John Abbott, has very little to recommend him to The Australian, the Australian people, OR humanity.. AND neither do ANY of the pathetic cabal of self serving wannabes slithering around in the halls and corridors of government.
For our lack of commitment to ourselves, our family, our community, our nation and its environment, and ultimately the rest of humanity.. we truly have the government WE deserve.
A professional political cesspit, brimming with bloated egos, full of self indulgent avarice, and yellow, self effacing lying cane toads.
They are not servants, guides and leaders of a nation and her peoples.. they are a deadly parasitical blight upon this nation, its people, and its future and wellbeing.. AND the result of our own complacency, lack of fortitude and social spinelessness.
Time to wake up Australia, and set about cleaning out our political Augean stables.
We can continue, to blithely point the finger, and say, it is his or her fault, that this nation is like a rudderless ship.. However, in truth, the real fault lies at your own feet and nowhere else.
Time is long overdue, in taking your electoral ‘representatives’ to task, and demand a full accounting to validate, the stipend they collect.
Replacing Abbott would be the sensible answer. The trouble is, who do they replace him with?
It would be a simple matter, withal the baggage Abbott carries, to force him to resign behind the scene.
Well said John, Abbott has lost all creditablety we need same sanity back in Australien Politics,DD would be great or at least a different PM,Clive is playing with the PM.
Edward Colclough. Man did you hit it and put into words what I so often think about the state of politics and government in this country. The only thing that brings me back down is telling myself to come up with a better system, and I never can. What I think of are an unrealistic utopia that have one major flaw for each and every model. Humans.
Abbott, has become the all powerful Father, the worst, militant non bending, authoritarian, pedantic, a reminder of the ghost of Margaret Thatcher, a simple system of mind control, of himself and others, in brief a bore, when he comes on TV, this is when I reach for the fast change channel controller.
What you do know is more of the repressive dictatorial regime.
Edward Colclough,
Logical conclusions flawlessly expressed.
As to the filthy stables, I see the prospect of a first step to a clean-out in a federal ICAC. One was proposed earlier this year, but quagmired in quibbling. Another member’s bill should be tabled. Greens, Labor or left-field, just do it, table it and pass it. Corruption is a curse that drags society down.
Also useful to restrain the apparent contempt which some elected officials display toward their roles would be to institute mandatory alco-drug testing for sitting members prior to voting sessions, since they are making complicated decisions with serious consequences.
These measures would both make some of their demands for social discipline less hypocritically risible, and reduce levels of public contempt.
They might also rid us of some crooks, shonks, drunks and dopes from our chambers and surrounds.
An investigation into corruption, and substance testing for voting pollies. Any reasonable objections to be made?
A limit on what can be spent on elections with free air time given to all parties/candidates on the ABC. A ban on political advertising. Get rid of political donations. It is the rot of politics. They ban donations from gambling so Ros Packer donates half a million as an “individual”. Whoopty do Barangaroo. Just ban them. It can’t be that hard. Mike Baird is making Ministers publish their diaries but ima guessing dinners like Malcolm and Clive’s don’t have to make it into a diary.
Public service department heads should not be political appointments. There should be an apolitical board…though that’s not working so well for us at the ABC…Neil Brown and Janet Albrechtesen? Give me a break! It gives me hope that I could grow up to be a ballerina regardless of talent whilst feeding my benevolent despot tendencies.
If our police force have to be drug tested now on a random basis now who uphold the law, so should all politicians who make the laws 🙂
As Paul Keating said ,i am going to do you slowly,that is exactly what Palmer is doing to Abbott
You write: “The government couldn’t even get their amendments right.” But that’s exactly the point. They weren’t government amendments; they were three successive amendments from the Palmer party, presented in quick succession. Saith Greg Hunt: “We accepted all their amendments”. Sight unseen? Seems like it. If, as is reported, Palmer withdrew the final version because it was probably unconstitutional, then the Coalition has accepted and supported an amendment that is likely unconstitutional, for the sake of getting the repeal through on their self-imposed deadline, the deadline they had to fight to impose. If, as Palmer has said, the final amendment was not circulated within the Coalition in time for it to be presented to the Senate, then the government is guilty of either trying to pull a swifty, or of incompetence. The latter seems far more likely.
I think it’s Christopher Pyne who has explained that he expected the Clerk of the Senate would have done his job and appropriately advised the Palmer party of the likely failings of the amendment. According to Palmer, this is exactly what happened, and he withdrew the amendment as a result; there wasn’t time to come back with a fourth version and the party was unwilling to pass the government’s unamended legislation. Again, the government’s unseemly haste in trying to ram the vote through is at fault here, and they have nobody to blame but themselves.
One possible reading of events that I quite enjoy is that this was a form of reverse bartering. Palmer came back with a new amendment in hand three times in quick succession, each time earning the government’s approval, when what he really wanted was to provide an ultimatum the government could not accept. When he couldn’t find a way to push the government far enough quickly enough, he had to withdraw his own amendment in case it got through by accident. Under this explanation, one wonders what excesses Palmer will bring to the bargaining table next week? 🙂
Quite aside from the sheer stupidity and narrow-minded arrogance of the Coalition’s ideological position on the ETS, what I find most disturbing is that they’ve gone from “We will never make deals with minor parties and independents” to “You can have anything you want, except probably my a***e (and even that’s negotiable)” in one lurching step. You thought the minor parties and independents had too much power in the last senate? What kind of fringe policies and pork-barrelling might be possible with a government desperate to meet its “mandate” and willing to accept the first piece of proposed legislation you bring to it?
my say, not slowly, more like a very hot oven. Heard a saying from a older teacher this morning. “boys will be boys? girls will be women” Yes time for many of our politicians, especially those Freon the government side to progress from boys to men. Wood be nice to see a adult government that takes responsibility for their own actions. Last week fiasco was fully the responsibility of the duly elected government, They are still more I interested in playing politics, than is delivering good governance, I suspect they lack the ability to do so.
We have a new book coming out, by someone named Henderson, white washing the history of Menzies pre-war. NO not related to his daughter. One could say it is a white arm band view of Menzies.
Kaye Lee, they do not seem to be doing deals with Palmer. They are giving him all he wants. They are even mucking that up, in Abbott’s haste for the photo op. It its still all about stunts.
Ozfenric, I accept your description of the sequence of events. The government were very sloppy and Pyne has again demonstrated a careless approach to procedure. But, there was also the problem in some of the wording where Palmer wanted “may” altered to “must”. The government appeared to be trying to sneak the former through.
Ozfenric,
It is the same haste and incompetence as is being shown with the free trade agreements. Abbott said we want them signed before the end of the year so Robb caves in. Hello ISDS. Basically all concessions we earned are to be phased in over so long that we will hardly notice a difference and some industries were just ignored.
Tony If you interfere with the ABC or its budget in any way, you can forget my vote.
A message from Clive Palmer MP to members 14-Jul-14
I thought it might be helpful and in the public interest to explain the important matters that took place in and around the Australian Senate last week.
During last Wednesday night (9 July), Palmer United senators considered a draft amendment for the repeal of the carbon tax.
The draft amendment was one which the government and the Palmer United team had negotiated. Based on advice the Palmer United Senate team received on the Wednesday night the position was clear. Any saving brought about by the repeal of the carbon tax would not be mandatorily passed on to the consumers of natural gas and electricity.
This was not what the Palmer United team wanted.
If Australian families, industry and citizens were not going to receive a reduction in their electricity and natural gas bills, then the Palmer United Senate team resolved it could not in moral conscience vote to repeal the carbon tax.
The Palmer United team took a positive approach. We redrafted the amendment to deliver reductions to electricity and natural gas consumers from benefits the repeal of the carbon tax would deliver to generators of electricity and producers of natural gas.
The amendment was delivered to the clerk of the Senate office around 8.30am last Thursday morning (10 July), with instructions to circulate the amendment. I personally informed a government minister of the changes. Palmer United senators entered the Senate Chamber believing the amendment would be circulated by the clerk of the Senate office. It wasn’t.
This meant the previous draft was listed as the Palmer United amendment and as the government moved quickly to secure the passage of the amendment and the repeal of the carbon tax without the Palmer United senators’ most recent amendment.
The situation was discovered by my office in the House of Representatives. I ran from my office to the Senate Chamber and informed Palmer United Senate team of the situation. Why wasn’t our 8.30am amendment circulated by the clerk of the senate? I went to find out with members of our team. On encountering representatives of the clerk of the Senate office, I was informed that their view was our amendment was not in accordance with the constitution, so they had decided not to circulate it.
To me it seemed incredible that a public servant would form such a view and not carry out responsibilities to circulate the amendment, and had made no attempt to advise Senator Lazarus that such amendment had not been circulated. This meant the Palmer United team would be voting for a different amendment than the one they thought they were voting for.
In Australia, our democracy benefits from the separation of powers between the executive, the parliament and the courts. If a public servant can make a declaration that a proposal by an elected representative of the Australian people cannot be discussed in the Senate, the separation of powers and democracy itself is threatened.
I made this clear to the person I encountered and advised them in no uncertain terms that this matter would be referred to the High Court without delay if the amendment was not circulated. I understand a draft was subsequently circulated. I was then told the clerk’s office would advise the President of the Senate to rule it out of order. I took independent advice and based on that advice, and my own legal knowledge and experience, I was able to conclude what the clerk of the Senate office had said and the allegation itself was untrue.
The President of the Senate, to whom the clerk of the Senate reports, is a member of the Liberal Party of Australia. I took the view that the clerk’s office was being manipulated by the Liberal Party, or through time had assumed power it does not have to veto laws before they have been proposed by elected representative of the Australian people.
I then went back to the Senate to discuss the matter with our senators and on arriving I was confronted with the government’s leaders in the Senate who were taking the line of the clerk’s office.
I pointed out to them that regardless of the clerk’s advice and any ruling from the Liberal Party President of the Senate, the Senate had the power to move a dissent motion from any ruling the president may make.
They also confirmed to me that irrespective of the clerk’s advice, they had agreed that once the matter was referred back to the House of Representatives there could be no issue. So why not proceed and allow our amendment to be put and supported by the government?
I concluded that the reason was the government did not actually support the amendment and only wanted to appear to do so.
I could see no reason why Australian manufacturers should be forced to pay higher costs for power just to give the generators a higher profit, or to save them from poor investment decisions. I could not understand why Australians should be expected to continue to pay higher electricity charges just to make some failing enterprises appear profitable when they lacked the ability to compete in the market.
I suggested the amendment be adopted and I was advised that the Liberal Party would not vote against the proposed ruling of the President of the Senate. I was advised by the government’s leadership in the Senate that Palmer United should vote for the repeal of the carbon tax and the government could consider amendments in the House next week. This was unsatisfactory. I concluded that sincerity is always subject to proof.
I then consulted with my Senate team. It was decided to withdraw the amendment which was now being circulated so as not to waste the Senate’s time and to vote against the government proposal to repeal the carbon tax.
In so doing we noted the legislation had a start date of the 1st July 2014 and this would not change if the bill was introduced in the lower house the following week. It was too important to the rights and fairness for 23 million Australians to allow them to be forgotten in the rush for cash.
This crisis was brought on by the government. A government which has refused to recognise Palmer United as a political party, despite the fact that Palmer United received 5.6% of the national vote at the last election, while the Deputy Prime Minister’s party, the National Party, only managed 4%.
This was despite the fact that the Prime Minister only became Prime Minister because he received the Palmer United preferences. This was despite the fact that the Palmer United Party holds the balance of power in the Australian Senate and is the nation’s fourth largest political party. The Prime Minister has the discretion to recognise Palmer United Party as a political party in the parliament, but refuses to do it.
This means the Palmer United Party members have no party room at Parliament House and have been forced to set up a parliamentary office at the Press Club in Canberra, just so they can meet to discuss proposed bills.
The Greens have around 14 staff attached to the Greens Leader Christine Milne’s office who are able to consider government bills and legislation prior to it being introduced to the Senate. Palmer United has zero staff attached to my office to consider such matters.
The Greens have a party room at Parliament House and the staff attached to their leader include senior advisors, advisor level classifications and rights to travel across Australia. I have no such staff. I do however occupy the smallest office in the parliament.
The government has the support of many thousands of officers and can swamp senators with detail and endeavour to rob from them of the rights bestowed upon them by the Australian people, which is to exercise their vote in an informed and considered manner.
Be assured, Palmer United senators will stay true to the people who elected them regardless of any pressure the government or foreign media owners may seek to place upon them.
Australians must work together so that man can be as he was meant to be; free and independent.
Kind regards,
Clive Palmer
Dear Clive,
Thanks a bunch. You’ve saved us a few measly dollars – potentially – whilst acting to destroy the only meaningful action on Climate Change we’ve instituted and leaving us with nothing in its stead. Bravo. You the man.
DanR, He the fool, he only got into politics for his own self serving ends, but is a great actor, should be on Home and Away, he overacts and loves the attention of the cameras, he should not be trusted, but I got a feeling he is going to bring this gov down and delight in doing so, but what happens then, its too scary to think about, he is TNT old Clive…..
Palmer’s populist carbon tax ploy won’t cut power bills
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/palmers-populist-carbon-tax-ploy-wont-cut-power-bills-20140711-zt3qj.html#ixzz37PIdOcjA
Another day, another lie
Situation normal
From a Tory dick, in a bogus blue tie
Situation normal
Another day, another stupid slogan
Situation Normal
A racist dog whistle for xenophobic bogans
Situation normal
Clive throws bombs into the house
Situation normal
Abbott just shows he’s got no nouse
Situation normal
Cut education and cuts to health
Situation normal
Flog of assets from the commonwealth
Situation normal
Change the laws for bigots and bankers
Situation normal
Get your policies from those IPA wankers
Situation Normal
Get into bed with Rupert and Gina
Situation normal
A Koch or two will make it obscener
Situation normal
Poke the pensioners in the eye
Situation normal
Polls go down and you don’t know why
Situation normal
Bash the disabled and the unemployed
Situation normal
Slap each other’s back like your over joyed
Situation normal
Murdoch press protects their man
Situation normal
Soon the shit will hit the fan
Situation normal
It’s about the only thing the MSM/Press gallery have finally twigged to. Big Clive is calling the shots, but that’s mainly because the appalling incompetence of the government, and the lack of curiosity of the MSM/Press Gallery.
http://andrewelder.blogspot.com.au/2014/07/poor-journalism-is-crime.html
Palmer has made monkeys of them all. And he’s on a win-win whether the Repeal becomes law or not. If it does, all Abbott’s lies come home to roost. If it doesn’t, well they’ll just look like the unprepared donkeys we’ve known them to be. And they’ve still got to get that Bum Budget through without too many things disallowed. Clive is populist but they left him room to steer his Titanic through.
Pingback: This Reprehensible Rabble | THE VIEW FROM MY GARDEN
Clive is populist but they (the unprepared donkeys) left him room to steer his Titanic through.
That is pure gold.