Day to Day Politics: 8 days of political garbage.
Tuesday 18 April 2017
1 Whilst I enjoyed 8 days off from my day to day writings on matters of politics, I was burdened with the absurdity of it. No, not my writing, but the unadulterated nonsensical crap that invades the democratic process. Every time I tried to divorce myself from it something more incongruous would find itself into the media.
Malcolm Turnbull, for example, was shouting out that the Adani mine would create 10,000 or more jobs but Adani had told an Australian judge that the project would create 1464 direct and indirect jobs.
Someone tweeted:
@TurnbullMalcolm, could you please tell us how many ‘tens of thousands of jobs’ you think #adani mine will create. References wld be good.
At the same time the PM was meeting with the owner, scientists announced they were unable to keep up with the monitoring of major coral bleaching events on the Great Barrier Reef. Yes, Turnbull was in India meeting with the CEO of Adani to discuss the mining giant’s multi-billion dollar Carmichael coal mine in Queensland, inland from the reef.
2 I watched economist Chris Richardson speaking at the National Press Club last Wednesday and it occurred to me just how those outside of political parties, or without an allegiance to one, made so much so more sense of things. How much better they were at explanation without the choke of ideology.
3 John Howard once said that disunity was death in politics. This current mob won’t have it. They believe a bit of long-term internal biffo is good for one’s brand. Scott Morrison at this time last year, if you remember, had so many things on the table that the recipe for a good budget became a chef’s disaster. This time around he has decided that using this thing called ‘superannuation’ might be better used to ease housing affordability without considering that it was designed for one’s retirement. Then all the mad-hatter conservatives go blabbering off at the mouth even when the PM tells them it’s not on saying the issue had gone “round and round” and referring to his earlier criticism of the plan as a “thoroughly bad idea“. But who gives a stuff about what he thinks?
Morrison seems to be on the outer and all he seems to be doing is giving his mouth more exercise than it really needs. All and sundry know that something needs to be done about negative gearing but they will still have nothing to do with it. Mind you, if you were to take a peek at the property holdings on the government side even Blind Freddy could see why they don’t want to change the current set up.
4 “The release of the taxation statistics for 2014-15 reveals that, while the number of people negative gearing has levelled in the past three years as interest rates have fallen, the greatest share of the benefits of negative gearing goes to above average earners – and the biggest growth is to those owning multiple properties.”
5 The infighting must be very embarrassing and the interjections by senior members telling everyone to shut up, while expressing their own opinion, even more so. Christopher (The Fixer) Pyne joined the chorus of those telling everyone to shut up while allowing his own mouth to sing out of tune:
“It’s a great pity that colleagues are running these debates publicly.” Then he joined the debate.
Even Sydney shock jocks, namely Ray Hadley, has deserted the Treasurer. Their friendship seems to have fallen apart since the shock jock demanded Mr Morrison literally swear on a Bible that he hadn’t betrayed the former PM. Now the hopelessly out of touch former PM Tony Abbott will replace Morrison for their Monday morning chats. This will of course give Abbott the opportunity to open his mouth further than it was ever intended to do and create more disunity. My tip is for a leadership challenge later in the year.
6 Mobs tried to storm the compound on Manus Island according to reports from security personnel and refugees inside the centre. The deal between the US and Australia is not yet in place but the government has said it plans to resettle those remaining on Nauru. Presumably to rot or just go mad as a deterrent to others who might seek compassion on our shores.
7 The Acting Prime Minister was found to be acting more like a petulant child in shouting at Queensland to “FILL IN THE BLOODY FORMS” than a compassionate politician. I thought he was a champion of cutting red tape. Well he is if there’s a buck in it.
8 Donald Trump dropped the largest ever non-nuclear device it has ever unleashed on a network of caves and tunnels used by Islamic State in eastern Afghanistan. Then he said he was ”proud” of doing so. Like rust, madness seems to be insinuating itself on the minds of our mentally deficient leaders.
Then their acolytes are infiltrated by the same madness.
Sean Spicer: “Hitler didn’t even sink to using chemical weapons.”
Ah yes, the Von Trump family and the presidency now seem to be running the world. The President’s son tells Moscow not to play funny buggers with his “tough” dad and Presidential daughter it seems was so outraged by the Syrian chemical strikes that she told Daddy to bomb ’em.
9 Thousands of hard-working Australians this Easter gave up time with friends and family to work on public holidays to make ends meet, yet Malcolm Turnbull wants to cut their wages.
10 One Nation and its leader Pauline Hanson seem determined to put beyond doubt any pretence to the fact that they are a mob of (I don’t know how to put it politely) unconscionable buffoons with fallacious individual dispositions.
Yes, Malcolm Roberts is at it again. This time he is accusing the ABC of colluding with the Islamic State:
“Their ABC put our digger’s lives at risk so as to execute a political hit on Senator Hanson. The ABC have declared Jihad on Aussie diggers. They have a fatwa on Pauline Hanson,” Senator Roberts posted to Facebook on Wednesday.
Not to be content with the above absurdity, One Nation then threatened to reconsider all legislation unless the Government withdrew $600 million from the ABCs budget.
Really, there should be a proof of sanity test before entering Parliament.
11 Then I read in the Guardian that:
”The OECD’s latest rankings show Australia slipping another spot to 17th out of 29 countries – meaning small countries like Switzerland and Luxembourg are contributing a greater portion of their budgets to helping the world’s neediest compared to Australia.”
12 Then over breakfast one morning I read that forty-eight Australians who earned more than $1m in the 2014-15 financial year paid no income tax. Nineteen reduced their taxable income to zero by claiming a combined $20.2m for the ”cost of managing tax affairs” – nearly $1.1m each. Gee that’s a laugh.
Remember what Tony said:
“I just want to give you this assurance: no member of the Coalition comes into Parliament to raise taxes. Coalition members come into public life because we want to see taxes go down”.
He wasn’t kidding, was he?
Meanwhile the government plans an attack in the budget on those of a lessor earning capacity who take some cash in hand. You know those small business people who they purport some fondness for.
While I’m on the budget, am I to assume that because the Conservatives have doubled the debt that Labor left and that given the Treasurer’s repeated and repeated assertions that our problem is one entirely of overspending he must be planning one of two things? He is going to hit us with the biggest economic sledge-hammer of all time, or he will walk into a Hillsong Sunday service and ask for a miracle.
13 The performance of this excuse for a Government has yet again come under fire with the Onbudsman saying that Centrelink’s robo-debt scheme was not “Not reasonable or fair”. It makes one wonder what will be next on their list of appalling decisions.
Well at least Abbott’s Green Army has gone and Work for the Dole seems set to follow.
14 I suppose I should finish less you think I have more to say than the Treasurer. Mind you that would be difficult. Anyway, when you ask a reasonable question I have always been of the view that you should get a reasonable answer in return. So on the matter of ”jobs and growth” when Malcolm Turnbull and Scott Morrison are asked for estimates of the growth and jobs dividends (how bloody many) from the company tax cuts passed by the Senate last week, the response is always bullshit, not numbers.
Morrison is usually egregious.in a “What’s it got to do with you?” attitude:
“The Labor Party needs to be convinced about that,” he started, before adding that Labor had been putting around the press gallery the need for econometric modelling”
15 Just one more. An analysis of the last quarter’s Newspoll results show that “older Australians are deserting Malcolm Turnbull’s government in a powerful swing that is fuelling the rise of Pauline Hanson’s One Nation, with the federal Coalition suffering a 10 per cent fall in support among voters older than 50 since the last election”. There you go. I knew I had some good news to share. Or is it?
26 comments
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jagman48
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Terry2
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Harquebus
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helvityni
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Roswell
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helvityni
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Kaye Lee
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stephentardrew
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Terry2
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helvityni
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Dan
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Jaquix
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Nato
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james mason
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John Lord
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Nato
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John Lord
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Kaye Lee
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Kaye Lee
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Kaye Lee
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leighton8
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Kaye Lee
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Roswell
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Kaye Lee
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Kronomex
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helvityni
Return to home pageHi John and good morning.
The older generation are leaving the coalition in vast numbers and going to one notion. Surely these people, (and I am one) like blind freddy, can see what PHON have been doing to them in the Senate.
She is merely Liberal Party stooge who would like to see the ABC gone.
Seems that President Erdogan in Turkey has scraped in with 51.4% of the referendum vote – 48.6% of the population voted against – and will make himself President for life and change the democratic map in Turkey, not for the better.
He achieved this Turnbull style win by by putting political opponents, journalists and political commentators in gaol and denying his opposition access to media : it worked, but only just – Tony Abbott would be most impressed with Erdogan’s political savvy.
The political rhetoric justifying the absurd growth ideology has become more absurd than the ideology itself.
Expect more of this and worse.
Cheers.
Yes, poor Turkey, poor USA, and things aren’t going too well here either, and let’s hope they choose carefully in France…no more Brexits.
At least the sensible, pragmatic Dutch did not give more importance to Geert Wilders.
Good to see you back, John Lord.
Welcome back, John.
Not much happened while you were gone. Just that the world’s glaciers are melting, an estimated 20 million people are expected to starve to death due to the droughts in Africa, and Trump is trying to start WW3.
Like I said. Not much happened.
LOL, Roswell,
I still think far too many overly sweet Easter eggs were consumed… 🙂
Hey, our government is getting on with the important stuff Roswell. At least they defunded the Safe Schools program. Gotta get your priorities straight here.
The real kicker in the long run is Shorten and Turnbull supporting the insane Von Trump family who are intent on running the US middle class and poor into the ground while saving themselves by joining the inner circle of US war mongers driven by an out of control Military Industrial Complex. He is not simply “Clinton Light” he is now Clinton’s clone.
Morality? What is that while left and right are fawning to the Gods of neoliberalism and neoconservatism driven by insane religious magical and mythical fantasy. The masters of redistribution and inequality are not winning they have won as progressives fall into a morass of despair driven by the most bias government and private media this country has ever seen.
The fact that the gas attack in Syria mirrors the WMD Iraq fiasco demonstrates the media has learned nothing, in fact, they have been paid to unlearn how to get at the facts. The Middle East in in ruins simply to satiate the Zionist apartheid right wing fanaticism in Israel.
Make no mistake about it Australia is complicit in the most brutal cause of global military hegemony that is geared to one thing and one thing alone War and Full Spectrum Dominance. Do we really want to be dominated by this insanity. Over one thousand US bases world wide. Give me a break then they call it a defence budget. How more offensive can you get?
Malcolm Fraser warned us to disengage from the US. What we are seeing is a reflection of irrational unscientific insanity driven by a bunch of scientifically illiterate narcissists and war mongers as ordinary citizens live in a media bubble of lies and disinformation. Now they have turned real news into fake news as Murdoch and IPA infiltrate the ABC.
I have seen nothing as disturbing as the current trend since the Vietnam War and rather than learn we have gone further down the rabbit hole.
John I admire your and Kaye Lee’s continual effort to make sense of these circumstances and lead us out of this morass with common sense and objective critique however the dogs of inequity, immorality, environmental degradation and war are still well and truly upon us.
Don’t get me wrong I always have hope however when things are rotten to the core the fight becomes more pressing and urgent. Thank you both for you excellent contributions.
Helviyni
Actually a Frexit could be quite good in dismantling the hegemony of Brussels. I think many Europeans are happy to return to the Common Market as originally intended with the free movement of goods & services but not so much the unfettered movement of people.
My own relatives have said that Brexit will work provided Brussels doesn’t try to sabotage the British economy for purely spiteful reasons, they quite accept the movement of labour and people but with visas and work permits.
I understand that one of the reasons the Australia/India free trade agreement will not proceed is because India wants easier access for labour which is not necessarily in Australia’s interests.
Brexit, Grexit, Frexit… I wonder what we would call it if Finland decided to exit the EU? Maybe Finexit or for short Fexit, as they would pronounce it NZ… 🙂
Ah a leadership challenge later this year is almost certainly on the cards & one can only hope so. Followed by a double dissolution election & that would be such a Sweet Dream come true. The country is going to the crappers with these morons in charge of the asylum
And now big excitement over Turnbull announcement re abolishing 457 visas. Replacing them with “temporary work visas”. So, Abolish and Replace, like Continuity and Change?
You make it very easy not to take you seriously.
Point number 1 included a devastating blast at the PM (no sarc) on Adani’s statements vs his statements… “References wld be good.”
I’ll flip that one back on you. Please try not to fail so hard in your next D2DP.
The usually interesting read John .. what concerns me is the MSM (as always) ignores/twist relevant news about overseas events .. so we turn to the likes of AIM for a more ‘honest’ view .. However .. not much is written about Syria’s side of the stories which are abounding from US ‘lips’ .. are you and your fellow writers not allowed/afraid or uninformed of what is really happening over there??? I would have thought that if CNN air the piece below (see link) it surely would be worth investigating ..
NATO. Both statements have been so widely reported that I hardly felt it necessary. A simple google search might have saved you a bit of typing. Is there anything else I can help you with?
Thanks for your response and a chance for me to explain at length, but can I just start by pointing out it’s not an acronym. Just Nato. I’ve read in a previously published article by Rossleigh Brisbane that he goes through the same thing on-line. Something we have to get used to in order to avoid going mad over.
2. “explanation without the choke of ideology.” A reference wld be good. That only describes a person without a mother.
3. “They believe a bit of long-term internal biffo is good for one’s brand.” A reference wld be good. That only describes political argy-bargy endemic to every party.
4. 1 with a reference. Greg Jericho slogs through the primary documents. Vair nahrss (is there a better way to write Borat’s accent?).
.
5. “the interjections by senior members telling everyone to shut up” A reference wld be good. Pyne’s quote only described the embarrassment you have also described.
6. “Presumably…” Hardly a primary document.
7. “FILL IN THE BLOODY FORMS” A reference wld be good. Especially for a direct quote .
8. “Like rust, madness seems to be insinuating itself on the minds of our mentally deficient leaders.” A grammatical dog’s breakfast. Rust does not insinuate. Insinuate into. The rust simile would be more apt for a ‘brain’ than a ‘mind’…Psychology vs Psychiatry…Neurosis vs Psychosis
A critical reader might conclude that you think a man taking an action that he believes to be morally justified is evidence of some mental illness. A reference wld be good.
9. “To make ends meet” A reference wld be good. In the words of Ronnie (http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/g/get-shorty-script-transcript-travolta.html) “I wanna see [the] books, [the] f*ckin’ bank statements”
10. “seem determined to ” Hardly a primary document. A facebook post? Not quite at the level of a policy statement. Saying they seem determined to cut $600m from the ABC budget is verifiable.
11. “I read in the Guardian” A source wld be good. How does a Fairfax article prove you read the Gruaniad?
12. OK, so this one is a bit of bias confirmation for me (Full disclosure: I am a former member of that particular organization of rat commie bastards) I especially like “Gee that’s a laugh.” because I lold4reelz reading it. See “bias confirmation”
13. “Onbudsman saying…” I hate grammar nazis. Your finger slipped, I get it, this isn’t like point 8. Or the many shock jocks that is Ray Hadley in 5.
This is a serious claim about an organization that takes itself infinitely seriously with sweeping powers and therefore claims about a position they have taken need, need, need a verifiable source document . I don’t know whether you’re watering it down to protect a governmental body that is over-reaching it’s place or amping it up to inflict more suffering on single mothers on the minimum wage already being taxed into foreclosure to prop up these useless wastes of breath or if, maybe, I should take you seriously.
14. “I suppose I should finish…” That there is a point 15 calls you a fool who is not to be taken seriously. Unless it’s an in-joke and you are deliberately excluding outsiders not already in agreement with you in which case you are a fool who is not to be taken seriously.
15. I’m commending this point for the confirmation bias admitted already in 12, and for the fact that it is actually sourced.
“Every experience is a mountain with a peak to climb, a decent to safely navigate and a lesson or two to learn on route”. I had a decent scratch of my nutsack reading this line, but didn’t get any lessons out of that experience, just a whole stinking heap *metaphor* of good vibes.
Your response about “Both statements” in a 15 point soliloquy? I could understand if I had at least directly referenced more than one of them, but it’s not grammar nazi nagging for me to pull you up on that.
Anyway, I’m just about up to my quota of tAIMN comments for the second half of the ’16-’17 financial year and I want to keep a few in reserve for just in case. Love the blog, keep on publishing and I’ll keep on reading, but to finish off on the topic….
1. I’m calling bullshit that that unsourced tweet was ever posted because I don’t take you seriously.
Nato. You must be the most unread person I have ever experienced. Are you really that blind to everything written or just ignorant of it.
Nato,
Paragraph 68
Over the life of the Project it is projected that on average around 1,464 employee years of full time equivalent direct and indirect jobs will be created. More specifically, it is projected that the Project will increase employment in:
the Local MIW Region by 15,943 employee years (average annual increase of 483 FTE jobs)
Queensland as a whole by 39,796 employee years (average annual increase of 1,206 FTE jobs)
Australia as a whole by 48,324 employee years (average annual increase of 1,464 FTE jobs)
http://envlaw.com.au/wp-content/uploads/carmichael43A.pdf
The Finished Product
“We will be utilizing at least 45, 400-tonne driverless trucks. All the vehicles will be capable of automation. When we ramp up the mine, everything will be autonomous from mine to port. In our eyes, this is the mine of the future,” said Adani Mining CEO Jeyakumar “JJ” Janakaraj.
http://www.businessreviewaustralia.com/Adani-Mining-Pty-Ltd/profiles/137/Adani-Mining:-Investing-in-Queensland
And then there is the Abbott Point expansion
“annual operating economic impacts of the Project are estimated at 2.1 FTEs, comprising one direct FTE and 1.1 indirect FTE”
page 62 http://statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/resources/project/abbot-point-apx/abbot-pt-eis-appendix-s-economic-impact-assessment.pdf
Whew, perhaps NATO is actually obsolete (as djt said at one point … before he thought otherwise) ….
Regarding the Ombudsman investigating the Centrelink debt debacle….
3.22 Many complaints to our office were from people who had problems collecting evidence about their employment to challenge the ATO data and ensure DHS had accurate earnings information. Under the OCI, DHS does not use its powers to collect information directly from employers to verify the customer’s earnings. The effect in practice, is to place greater emphasis on the customer’s responsibility to either accept the debt or provide further information.
3.23 In our view, this is not reasonable or fair in situations where customers have to collect evidence from several years ago, or where the customer does not have the capacity to obtain the evidence
p12 http://www.ombudsman.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0022/43528/Report-Centrelinks-automated-debt-raising-and-recovery-system-April-2017.pdf
I googled for that tweet, and it’s all over the place. Not that I thought John was bullshitting (as was the charge), I just wanted to prove that he wasn’t.
Richard Denniss
@RDNS_TAI
.@TurnbullMalcolm ,could you please tell us how many ‘tens of thousands of jobs’ you think #adani mine will create. References wld be good
2:36 pm – 11 Apr 2017
I am expecting Nato’s apology to John any time now. That was Dr Richard Denniss from The Australia Institute btw.
Looking at the photo at the top of the article and, “Darn it, if only these cameras weren’t on us we could have a kiss and a cuddle.”
Kronomex, my take of the photo at the top is ; they don’t look like happy campers: ‘ that silly Billy is ahead of us in the polls…again…’