Who needs experts when we have Cory and George?
What are we paying the experts for?
Malcolm Turnbull has categorically refused to even consider an emissions intensity scheme because he wants to keep power prices lower and guarantee power security.
Barry Cassidy appeared on ABC Breakfast and made the following unequivocal statement:
All of the experts say an emissions intensity scheme would put downward pressure on power prices and add to power security. By the experts I mean you have the Chief Scientist, the CSIRO, you’ve got the modelling firms, Jacobs and Frontier. That’s what they say. Malcolm Turnbull says the opposite.
So it’s as simple as this: If you believe the politicians then Malcolm Turnbull has made the right call. If you believe the experts, then this is a fundamental failure in public policy. Now that’s not an opinion, that’s a fact. If you believe the experts, that’s a fact.
And made all the worse because they even refuse to consider the evidence from the experts.
That is the all too familiar pattern for this government.
They ignore the dire warnings from climate scientists and the coral reef experts.
They ignore the advice from all the experts that our overly generous property tax concessions are inflating house prices and skewing investment away from more productive initiatives.
They ignore the advice from human rights and health experts about abuses being inflicted on asylum seekers and seem content to deal with corrupt regimes even after they have been informed of the corruption.
They ignored the advice from Infrastructure Australia about the East-West link in Melbourne which was nowhere on their list of priorities as it had a less-than-parity return.
When education experts, after years of consultation and over 20,000 submissions considered, devised a curriculum that all State education departments agreed to, the government threw it out and gave two men a few months to rewrite it as they saw fit. Likewise with needs-based funding.
They completely ignore our intelligence experts who repeatedly tell them that demonising and marginalising the Muslim community compromises our greatest defence against terror and fosters radicalisation. Cory Bernardi and George Christensen are in fact raising funds for an anti-Islam group to defend a defamation case brought by a halal certifier.
They ignore the social services experts, the business lobby, and the Productivity Commission who all agree about the economic and social benefits of increasing welfare payments.
They ignore all the technology experts who agreed that FttP NBN was the best way to keep us competitive and increase productivity.
They ignore all the investment experts who say that the coal market is in structural decline with billions available for investment in renewable energy.
Barnaby Joyce paid hundreds of thousands for a report on moving a government department to his electorate only to ignore its findings.
They ignored the advice of experts on problem gambling.
They ignored the advice of those who help domestic violence victims, stripping funding and closing refuges and community support services.
They ignore the advice of experts on Indigenous disadvantage about the importance of self-determination to listen to Twiggy Forrest instead.
They ignored the legal advice of our very highly regarded Solicitor-General who obviously knows a lot more about the law than George Brandis.
They ignored the advice of unions that free trade agreements and cutting taxes would not lead to jobs and growth.
They ignored all expert advice about the value of the Safe Schools Programme.
This list could go on forever.
We may as well dissolve all government departments and statutory bodies and stop paying consultants to do modelling. Give the scientists and economists redundancy. No need to waste all that money.
Just ask Cory and George.
73 comments
Login here Register hereWho needs experts when we have Cory and George? In keeping with the theme, who needs a prime minister when we have Cory and George?
Good point….there’s millions saved right there.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
Kronomex, if you can, have a look at tonights Drum, very worthwhile watching.
Kronomex, maybe Turnbull gave them that power when they offered their vote. From that moment on he was putty in their hands.
Give them credit… they excel in ignorance
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????
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.
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.
@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.
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.
Great lineup of fails, Kaye. How they get even a 48% score on a 2PP is beyond me.
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.
Jaquix, they manage with a single word: “Murdoch”.
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.
they need to keep employing consultants at inflated cost! how else would some of their mates stay off the dole?
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.
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.
I am sick of your whining Kaye Lee. Just do something!
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
lolol Perhaps you could share with me what you are doing Jerry as an example for me to follow. I’m all for suggestions.
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
What are we paying the experts for? More to the point Kaye is what are we paying Malcolm Turnbull for?
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.
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.
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 😉
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
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.
“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?
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.
No link provided. Back door used.
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?
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.”
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.
That’s all very fine KAYE but worst of all is that they repeatedly ignore you and I.
Maybe you’re not being radical enough John Lord ?
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?
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.
The greatest Conman I ever met was an Indian.He was so good even I had to take my hat off to him.
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.
Jack Straw – you were lucky you still had a hat !
He was good I can tell you. It was around $600 30 odd years ago. Taught me a great lesson though .
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.
At their own peril, John.
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.
PS: The explanation is buried somewhere in my inbox. I can look for it if you like.
Thanks.
Who needs a SPINE and GUTS? Turnbull. Who doesn’t have them? Turnbull.
The pointless PM continues…
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.
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.
MN, can you take a screenshot and email it to us?
It happens occasionally when you click on a comment in the recent comments part. Mine said something about Attackers.
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.
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.
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.
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
“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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
Though I would definitely give him more cred than Annabell Crabb.
“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
Kyran,
you are a gentleman.
Kyran
It’s not like the ABC is owned by Newscorpse, or their minions. …well, not yet anyway. 🙁
I’m to depressed to write anything.
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.
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
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.
“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
Good article Kaye. If these guys resided in the US they would be wearing those funny white conical hats.