Just ousting Morrison and his cronies alone improved the tone of our governance, but is it enough?
1 Albanese had said that how we conducted our business of politics needed its mouth washed. More respect, transparency, far less lying, and manners toward others were just a few of the things he thought needed attention.
Yet here we find the Prime Minister and the Treasurer taking credit for what are indexed rises in the pension. They would have been better off had they legislated reverting to the previous means of indexation, which was an accurate means for adjusting pensions.
The latest changes were devised by Scott Morrison for the Age Pension so that payment rates would adjust via movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The measure saved $449.0 million over five years.
Most pensions were indexed twice yearly (on March 20 and September 20) by the more significant movement in the CPI or the Pensioner and Beneficiary Living Cost Index (PBLCI). They were then ‘benchmarked’ against a percentage of “Male Total Average Weekly Earnings (MTAWE).”
Interest rate hikes, rising inflation and rising energy prices, what next? The rise in pensions will be the most significant indexation increase to payments in more than 30 years but will barely cover the price rises.
However, many commentators have said the rises are a stingy amount compared with the increase in prices. Tough times ahead with a recession likely mid-year in 2023. So sayeth the Lord.
Back to the subject of our governance: If Albanese continues these sorts of hypocrisy, then he will lose trust. After all, he made the promise, so he must set the example.
WORDS THAT MAKE YOU THINK
Albo taking credit for a long-standing indexation for rises in pensions is contrary to the virtue he espoused as being truthful, open and transparent.— john lord (@saint13333) September 5, 2022
2 Quoting Rachel Withers from The Monthly, Labor needs to do more about the climate.
“Those concerned about the fate of the planet breathed a sigh of relief on May 21. But the 100 days since have been peppered with disappointment, with Labor pushing blithely ahead with new coal and gas, regurgitating Coalition talking points, and steadfastly ignoring the electorate’s clear endorsement of greater climate urgency.”
3 Political affairs (of the sexual kind) are proving to be very costly for the taxpayer. Yes, $650,000 is a flirting sum for the former lover of Alan Tudge, who said she was bullied when in his employ. Just why the taxpayer is footing the bill instead of Tudge is somewhat of a mystery, given they were doing it in overtime.
With the Government set to pay Rachelle Miller’s legal fees, the total cost to the taxpayer will be approximately $900,000 by my calculations.
The injustice is that Tudge, during the marriage equality debate, said that same-sex marriage would weaken “traditional marriage.” He did not disclose the state of his own ‘traditional marriage’ with extras at the time.
4 The ABC web page reported that the Speaker of the House of Representatives Milton Dick has decided against referring former Prime Minister Scott Morrison to the Privileges Committee “over claims he mislead Parliament” about:
“… his secret self-appointment to jointly administer several portfolio.
“On the information available to me it does not seem that a prima facie case has been made out in terms of the detail that speakers have always required,” Mr Dick said.
It then follows that I did not refer the matter … nevertheless I understand the concern of the member and other members.”
5 According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Malcolm Turnbull was given a hard time in trying to deliver a speech at Sydney University.
“Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has decried “fascism” and challenged Sydney’s oldest university to protect free speech on campus after he was yelled and sworn at by student protesters during a function and escorted out by police.”
Eventually, Turnbull gave up and left the Sydney University Law Society event on Thursday, September 1, without spruiking a word. The Student Representative Council and student body members called him “ruling class scum” who “wouldn’t listen to anyone below” him.
In a democracy, the right to free speech is given to the people through the Government. Therefore, it should be incumbent on people to display decorum, moderation, truth, fact, balance, reason, tolerance, civility and respect for the other point of view. Sadly, this seems to have been forgotten here and in the United States.
People often demand free speech to compensate for the freedom of thought they rarely use.
6 Something about conventions, and worth remembering:
“Conventions underpin the operation of the Australian Constitution and the Executive Government.
A convention is an unwritten rule, not a law. It is an accepted way of doing something. The Westminster parliamentary system is built around these kinds of unwritten rules.
The Australian Constitution combines literal interpretation with convention. Whilst some sections are adhered to literally, others operate by accepted practices, often built up over centuries.”
7 The Governor General lobbies former PM Morrison for $18 million to support a charity called The Leadership Foundation. Its charitable purpose and the relationship between its directors and Governor-General David Hurley are, according to The New Daily, unknown. A public integrity expert reckons its merits must be established before public money is handed over.
Stop Press: Late last Wednesday, the Albanese Government withdrew the money.
8 Just when you think there is nothing more to read about polling, The Poll Bludger comes up with some excellent post-election analysis. Albanese is giving Dutton a thumping.
9 The Jobs and Skills Summit ended with great ideas we cannot afford. Or was the highlight when Ross Garnaut told the assembled gathering over dinner “that reform happens when vested interests are defeated“?
10 Sadly, I must finish on a low note. After many years of prosperity, Australia is about to come to a grinding halt. Not that I have any economics degrees to back up that statement. I only have a gut instinct from many years of following our politics. In my 80-plus years, I have felt both the financial hopelessness of depression and the benefits of affluence. I have seen good Government and bad – the scarcity of leadership – the drought of ideas.
Labor won a significant victory – the first 100 days without blemish. Soaring opinion polls have followed. The whiff of decay is slowly drifting from the corridors of Parliament House, but huge problems will have to be addressed; nothing can be done until inflation is under control. Petrol has to rise, as will interest rates. Increases to pensions won’t cover the cost of living rises. Hard times are ahead. The burden of correction must fall equally.
My thought for the day
The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything. They make the most of everything they have.
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13 comments
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Terence Mills -
Matt Synnott -
Gangey1959 -
leefe -
Michael Taylor -
Terence Mills -
paul walter -
andy56 -
Terence Mills -
wam -
CoralieN -
paul walter -
GL
Return to home pageYes, I too was surprised that when Alan Tudge’s sexual relationship with his media adviser went pear shaped and she alleged physical harm and mental stress – evidently he pushed her out of bed on one occasion for taking a phone call – the damages are paid by you and me.
How does that work ?
Terence, I was unsurprised, the only rule when it came to the misgovernment of the last nine years, was that they obeyed no rules. Why should they suddenly become virtuous? What a blessing and relief they are sniffing the leather of opposition benches, long may it be the case. Let’s all hope they reckon they are on a winner with P. Dutton and keep him as leader for the long term, I may never again suffer under a Tory misgovernment, then again I am 76.
“The Jobs and Skills Summit ended with great ideas we cannot afford.” Yeah, NAH.
The two days of bullshitandbluster ended with some great admissions from everyone in any position of responsibility or with a practical method of achieving what we ALL know needs to be remedied that said people are not willing to make the necessary political and/or financial decisions.
“We can’t afford to fix the skills shortage” is akin to declaring that the new, bigger and better Bunnings is now open, but it cost so much to build that the shelves are bare until the crap from offshore finally gets here. Shite that is being held up by a ship stuck in the sewerz, or by a conflict in Europe, or by the lying dragon putting a cork in our supply pipe is no excuse for Australia not doing what we are good at, and creating decent makers is one of the things we are good at.
All that is neccessary is the funding, which has to come from the corporations which have benefitted from Australia’s generosity in the past. That may seem like a electoral hurdle, but we mere mortals would love to see some of the mineral and energy and other mega-corps pay some tax.
I’d vote for it.
Total agreement, Gangey.
The increases to the cost of living have gone nuts.
To keep our power bills – and carbon footprint – down we invested in 25 solar panels and two solar batteries. It was a hefty investment at the time but we were encouraged that the initial cost would pay for itself within ten years.
The savings were evident immediately: monthly power bills from around $7. It would jump up, of course, during the summer months when the air-con was over-worked, but it was still around a quarter of what we used to pay.
In the last couple of months our bill has been around $240, which is higher than our pre-solar costs. This price hike is inexplainable.
Our neighbours – a family of four – who have no solar panels are paying $28 a month.
It’s obvious that some power companies are now on the take, and for this they should be held accountable.
BTW, if anybody here lives in Victoria I highly recommend they get the free “Powerpal”, which is provided by the state government. A small unit is attached to your metre and when connected to an app on your phone you can see when you are gobbling up energy, and make adjustments to your energy consumption accordingly.
It’s a real money-saver.
Gangey1959
After a decade of TAFE being gutted and skills training being gifted to private operators, many of whom were crooks, it was gratifying to see an extra 180,000 fee-free TAFE places will be created across the country from next year, as part of an agreement between the federal, state and territory governments as a result of the jobs summit.
I see that as an achievement !
Terence Mills, our subject a dud root in addition to any everything else?
Gangney the oligarchy wont help. It is still thinking of ways to get its mothers, sistas, wives and daughters out working the streets.
John Lord, “free speech” has me roflma after two days of utter bilge from the National broadcaster. It will take a long time to get the parasites out and…”not in our time, or our children’s time, or their childrens time”.
We as australians are past the point of major restructuring for the good. Restructuring for the bad has put paid to that. What makes anyone think that changes will happen in parliament or how politicians behave?
Until a polly’s salary is reduced to the average wage, i wont believe in miracles. They are over paid and incompetent people with a gift of the gab. The last real intellectual giant was Whitlam, and the system cut him down alright. Just look at the opposition and what do we see? Self serving idiots without a single idea between them.
Interesting to watch the developing situation with Morrison and his seat of Cook.
Morrison would dearly like to quit politics and who can lame him : from a rooster to a feather duster in a spectacular transition brought about by his own ego and his duplicity.
Whilst he may wish to slip away quietly there are heavyweights in the Liberal Party who don’t want a by-election in Cook for fear that it will go to a so called TEAL (defined as a person of independent thought with a passionate commitment to her [or his] country and electorate). In a master understatement of the bleeding obvious, John Howard has noted that I don’t see the Liberal party at the moment would want a by-election, it would be very unhelpful.
So, will Morrison hang around parliament until after the NSW election in March 2023 or does the state election have no bearing on his situation or will he linger in the corridors of power like the ghost of Christmas’ past, reliving former glories – telling those passers by willing to listen, of the triumphs of yesteryear – until the next federal election in 2025 ?
What do you think ?
Your “Sadly, I must finish on a low note.” made me jump to the queen which I had a slash about the extremists. But you fooled me with your ‘intelligent economic guess’.
The retired pensioners in my family and friends are happy with the increase but over the moon at being able to earn $4000 without penalty. Is that not a HIGH note???
ps
Michael the meters are not called ‘smart’ for nothing. We don’t have them and my neighbour has an annoying spotlight on all night and sometimes forgets and leaves it on all day. Wow if she was a vic?
Have we traded our broken down race horse for a wild brumby who is being culled in our national parks?
Sorry fellow Aussies but getting rid of that smirking face and corrupt government doesn’t seem to make a difference to who’s running the country.
Large corporations will stay in charge as usual.
Terence Mills, again.
Yes they have their claws onto the real levers, as ever, judging by the last week.
For fuck sake! Just when I thought the ABC couldn’t sink any lower into the Mire of Murdoch Mediocrity along comes:
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-09-11/wa-proclamation-new-sovereign-king-charles/101427258
Personally, I’ll be glad when all this bloody royal bullshit finally sinks into the sunset.