47 comments

1. flohri1754May 10, 2016 at 9:34 am

   Precisely ……

2. Kaye LeeMay 10, 2016 at 10:15 am

   Back in 2012, amid calls to increase Newstart and other unemployment benefits by $50 a week (it is now $51 a week), one prominent lobby group wrote to a Senate inquiry, calling for more money for the dole.

   “The rate of Newstart no longer meets a reasonable standard of adequacy,” it said. “There is concern that the low rate of Newstart itself now presents a barrier to employment and risks entrenching poverty.”

   This wasn’t ACOSS, Vinnies or the Salvos. It was that well known bastion of heart bleeding, the Business Council of Australia.

   There is this crazy idea that the dole should provide enough to pay for things like rent, food, healthcare, clothing, transport and phone/internet needs. In other words, it should allow people to survive and give them the resources to get a job.

   Newstart has not been increased in real terms since 1994. It is estimated the $50 a week boost would cost about $2 billion a year.

   Considering how much tax concessions for the wealthy and subsidies for the fossil fuel industry cost the budget, lifting people out of poverty seems a much better and cheaper investment.

3. KlausMay 10, 2016 at 10:35 am

   Yes Kaye,

   very concise and correct. Hard to argue with. The actual plan is on the other side, with the Labor party. Negative gearing changes will lift pressure off housing prices and their is no need for Labor to hide this fact. It is healthy thing for the economy as is investing in only new homes.

   And in Malcolm words, if you want less of something, you tax it. I want lower Carbon Emissions, so I tax it. Labor should show some guts and say, ‘yes, I stand for lower Carbon Tax’. Nobody in the economy was actually hurt.

   Sometimes I think Bill is too careful in what he says. He needs to hammer the lies home from time to time. The Friday debate between Mal and Bill should show something interesting.

   I believe Mal is very bad at communicating if he doesn’t like the question. He is also always ill prepared as his ego does not allow him needing to prepare. But here we go.

4. KlausMay 10, 2016 at 10:37 am

   With lower and lower dole, I suspect crime will increase. And I have a gut feel, it is already happening. This is society destroying stuff what the libs do with us. And Bill needs to make the point clear and why that is.

5. jimhazMay 10, 2016 at 10:57 am

   They like the concept of trickle down economics because they imagine themselves as gods pissing on us. It is a convenient lie.

6. ShoganMay 10, 2016 at 10:58 am

   Yes last night on Q&A Mr Storrar proved that having a disability and a low education doesn’t mean you are not intelligent & Kelly O’Dwyer proved intelligence is definitely not a prerequisite to be a Liberal politician.

7. Backyard BobMay 10, 2016 at 11:07 am

   Well, they do sort of have a plan https://www.liberal.org.au/our-plan they just don’t have a pamphlet to go with it – yet…

8. Max GrossMay 10, 2016 at 11:16 am

   Where’s my $6000 toaster, Mal?

9. Michael TaylorMay 10, 2016 at 11:31 am

   Max, surely you could get your parents to by you one. That’s what Malcolm would want them to do.

10. Terry2May 10, 2016 at 11:53 am

    Joe Hockey in his farewell speech to the parliament :

    “We should be wiser and more consistent on tax concessions to help pay for that, in particular tax concessions on superannuation should be carefully pared back. In that framework, negative gearing should be skewed towards new housing so that there is an incentive to add to the housing stock rather than an incentive to speculate on existing property.”

    Malcom Turnbull in 2005 :

    “ Malcolm Turnbull described negative gearing as a ‘sheltering tax haven’ that is ‘skewing national investment away from wealth-creating pursuits, towards housing’ and has caused a ‘property bubble’.”

    Now even the Reserve Bank are concerned about the distortions in the economy created by negative gearing.

    This intransigence on the part of the coalition is shaping up to be one of the defining issues of this election

11. Miriam EnglishMay 10, 2016 at 12:00 pm

    We could also get some of the tax money from Australian companies hiding money offshore in tax shelters.

    The Panama Papers have now been put online as a giant database. If you go to
    https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/
    and type into the box on that page, “Australia”, you’ll see a surprising number of Australian companies that keep money offshore. Now, perhaps some of those are “legal” investments, but I’m willing to bet many of them are motivated purely by an unwillingness pay their due tax in Australia.

    And the Panama Papers are from just one offshore investment company. There are likely dozens of such investment companies, possibly hundreds. It makes you wonder, how much money is the country haemorrhaging? Instead of plugging these holes our wonderful government goes after the poor. Because that makes such good economic sense. Yeah, right.

    Never mind the fact that money invested in education, social security, and health remain in the country, circulating to lift and enrich businesses and come back to the government in taxes, but offshore investments leave the entire country poorer.

    You can also download a copy of the database to your own computer now, though you need to use a torrent program to do so as it is a very large database. They don’t say how big, unfortunately. Certainly it will be gigabytes. I’ve heard someone say, more than a terabyte. Holy moley!

12. KyranMay 10, 2016 at 12:03 pm

    It’s hard trying to work out what their Defence policy is.
    If the objective is to spend 2% of our $1.62 trillion GDP (the latest figure I could find, which has been going down since Swanny increased it whilst dealing with the GFC), you would imagine they have ‘specific intelligence’ on some very serious threat. They might even have some ‘general intelligence’. They would, presumably, have ‘some intelligence’ on where the threat is going to come from.
    It can’t be the Chinese, we just leased them the Port of Darwin. It can’t be the Americans, we’ve increased their ‘rotations’ in the top end and there is considerable ‘intelligence’ to suggest they may have some involvement in the upgrade of facilities on the Tiwi Islands. It can’t be the Singaporeans, who have just committed to spending billions on refurbishing military bases in Queensland to expand their training capacity and presence. It can’t be most of our neighbours, as we continue to increase ‘joint training exercises’ with them to assist with improving their military capacity, whilst promoting FTA’s with them, which obviously weaken our economy.
    Indeed, the threat is so serious, we are going to spend billions with a corrupt French company to deliver subs in 2030. So serious, we are going to spend billions on JSF capacity, the delivery date of which is not important as they will be good for nothing other than adorning a runway (as long as it doesn’t get too hot).
    They wish to invest in our kids with PaTH, yet destroy Gonski.
    There was a really good article on the ABC which pointed out a problem with PaTH;
    “it suffers from the same basic problem that makes their work-for-dole scheme next to useless: there aren’t enough jobs.”
    “That is to say, the presumption underpinning employment schemes like PaTH is that at some point in the future there will be decent, full-time jobs that will eventually lower unemployment.
    What I am saying is that no such future exists.”
    With regard to unemployment benefits, that same article suggests;
    “This will almost certainly mean adopting some form of basic income – a guaranteed minimum wage paid to everyone regardless of whether they “work” in the traditional sense or not – though we are a long way from that being a viable political option.”

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-05/dunlop-another-job-scheme-sham/7384338

    With regard to Gonski, an article was produced by the Australian Education Union detailing success stories from Gonski. It was not reported widely on MSM, not even once!
    http://www.aeufederal.org.au/application/files/8014/6276/4904/GonskiResults2016.pdf

    It’s not like the NBN, the real one (which doesn’t seem to be getting much attention so far in this campaign) would provide incredibly cost efficient outcomes in both health and education for all Australians, not just the ones in major capitals. Not to mention the enormous cost right now to our economy done by not spending the most modest of dollars on such things as DV, homelessness, legal support, etc.
    Yep, it’s kind of hard to assess their plan. Let alone their intelligence. At least without a microscope. Thank you, MsLee. Take care

13. KyranMay 10, 2016 at 12:18 pm

    Ms English, there was an interesting piece on PM yesterday.
    “JAMES HENRY: The global offshore slight wealth has increased from about $9 trillion in 2010 to $12.1 trillion in 2014, and the top 30 countries account for about 94 per cent of that with authoritarian regimes or kleptocracies account for you know, accounting for at least 80 per cent of it, so yeah, it’s still growing.

    We’re seeing an enormous amount of capital flight out of places like China in the last 18 months, more than a trillion moving out. Russia has been a big contributor. Even since the 2014 period that these numbers refer to there’s been a tremendous increase so that Russia now sits on more than $1.3 trillion.”

    http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2016/s4458847.htm

    Obviously, these would be ‘guestimates’ to a large degree. Just for context, when I was looking for Australia’s GDP ($1.62 trillion), the same article stated Australia’s total wealth is $6.4 trillion. Take care

14. eefteeuuMay 10, 2016 at 12:29 pm

    It is obvious that the LNP is split between Turnbull and Abbott supporters, and as such can not govern themselves, let alone govern the country.

    The ALP should run with this and suggest to the voters, elect us, a united party with serious policies, who will govern the country for the benefit of all, not just the top end of town.

    By putting the LNP into opposition it will in fact be doing them a favour by allowing them to really sort out their internal problems and if successful in that area, they can re-present themselves to the people as a viable alternative once again.

    If, in that time the ALP have done a good job, so be it, if not, the LNP will have their chance to prove to the electorate that they are once again fit to run the country as well as their (non-existent factions).

15. Steve Laing - makeourvoiceheard.comMay 10, 2016 at 12:54 pm

    Come on Kaye! Its well known that when you install a new toaster, customers will be simply rushing through the doors! There is NOTHING like toast from a new toaster, and I will gladly travel miles to visit any such cafe that is prepared to invest in one.

    But not only is it a new toaster, its a $6,000 toaster! Now that has got to be worth seeing!

16. Jennifer Meyer-SmithMay 10, 2016 at 12:59 pm

    Hear, hear Kaye Lee, especially your comment @ 10.15am.

    You too, Miriam English @ 12pm.

17. Adrianne HaddowMay 10, 2016 at 1:08 pm

    The innovation plan that we’ve been promised doesn’t appear to include a university degree for any one who doesn’t come from a wealthy family.

    My son tried to attain a uni degree in another city, reasoning there was more casual work available there. He saved his meagre (casual work) earnings for eight months and set off.
    He applied for Austudy in late January, He could not apply until he had found an address in the city where he chose to study. By the time he had paid a bond and 2 months rent in advance, his savings were decreasing rapidly. So a quick loan from mum and dad kept him afloat for the first few weeks of uni. Then came the cost of resources he needed to use in the course work.

    Casual work that he was able to attain did not suit the uni timetable, and Austudy was slow in coming.
    It arrived last week in May, by which time he had to defer his course to take on a full time ( meagrely paid) job in order to pay rent and eat, because his savings were depleted

    The LNP parasites obviously don’t have a plan for those of us without canny financial advisers, and the innovation push doesn’t include our kids.

18. Michael TaylorMay 10, 2016 at 2:02 pm

    One of the things we do as part of our admin is to remove all broken links from our articles or comments. Today, for reasons unexplained, dozens of links to the Liberal Party web site no longer work. Somebody at the Liberal Party has had a busy day taking down all the pages that contain something that might come back to haunt them.

19. Kaye LeeMay 10, 2016 at 2:33 pm

    There used to be a link to Tony Abbott saying “Over six years, Labor ran up a $667 billion debt on the nation’s credit card.”

    Luckily, whilst the Liberal party might like to erase things, there is usually a record somewhere.

    And then there is the truth.

    Just to be “absolutely crystal clear about this”, according to the Department of Finance, net debt a week before the election (August 31 2013) was $161.253 billion and gross debt was $269.978 billion.

    At March 31 2016, net debt had increased to $288.681 billion and, as of May 6, 2016, gross debt is now $425.887 billion

20. diannaartMay 10, 2016 at 3:17 pm

    Just to be “absolutely crystal clear about this”, according to the Department of Finance, net debt a week before the election (August 31 2013) was $161.253 billion and gross debt was $269.978 billion.

    At March 31 2016, net debt had increased to $288.681 billion and, as of May 6, 2016, gross debt is now $425.887 billion

    …and they’re STILL blaming Labor – I think it was Scott Morrision, or Mathias Cormann, or Josh Frydenberg, on ABC radio recently, it was one of them – they’re interchangeable – stating that if Labor hadn’t had soooooo much debt in 2013, we would not have the increase in debt…. something like that…. because all debt leads to Labor, whatever.

    It woz Labor wot dun it. Unless all this debt is really, really good, then it was the economic brilliance of the Liberal Party – like when interest rates go up or down.

21. JohnMay 10, 2016 at 3:19 pm

    Michael you might be able to find the pages on the internet archive at https://archive.org/web/web.php

22. AnomanderMay 10, 2016 at 3:33 pm

    One would question the need for all this military hardware.

    In a very short space of time the Chinese will own all our land and assets, they will never have to invade us, they will simply repossess us.

23. SGBMay 10, 2016 at 4:08 pm

    I am always impressed with the articles presented on AIMN, and I believe that the writers are telling the truth as opposed to the misnformation and often downroght loes that comes out of the MSM.
    In addtion those that make commentary often make very pertinant and well thought out points to add to the articles.

    With this in mind I would like to add my thoughts

    1. I note the very disparaging remarks and comments toward AIMN as a ‘lefty’ rag so I doubt that any of the Right supporters would read ot, and on fact zi know thos to be true.
    Which is a pity, but it means that the good work by the many controbutors to AIMN in particular Kaye Lee and John Lord does not get exposure to perhaps those who need educating?
    I appreciate that articles are theor under the mame of AIMN for the Right tomview bit I fear that much is discarded as just Lefty propaganda.

    2. I have said this before bit I would like see smaller commentary from AIMN contributors on facebook because facebook has a serious following among the Left the Right and even the other Lefts and Rights.
    I am saying this because whilst I and most other progressives read AIMN, and AIMN does provide the whole article, the non pgressives seem to prefer smaller sound bites when it comes to giving their reason to vote LNP or any other Right politician, meaning theor preference for the 3 word slogan indicates to me that rational evidence based argument is wasted.

    3. In short can you Kaye Lee, et al, please reduce your facts down to short sound bites that migh resonate with the swinging voters on facebook so that at least there is a remote chance that they can put two and two together?

    4. As for the many who comment on the AIMN articles – will you do the same – often your commentary adds even more depth to the excellent articles on AIMN, such that I personnally get as much out of the commentary following the articles.

    5. Last but not least
    I have left out John Kelly because does already do the small sound bites on Facebook and perhaps others do also.
    So please accept my comment as it is intended – not as criticism – but as a suggestion. I just can’t bare the thought of this dismall excuse for government getting another three years to swing its bloody great wrecking ball.

    S G B

24. SGBMay 10, 2016 at 4:14 pm

    Sorry it went passed the 4 minutes before I finished editing the errors, but I still think it is readable.

    ps Kaye Lee
    May I cut and paste from your articles (I will acknowledge your authorship)

25. Kaye LeeMay 10, 2016 at 5:27 pm

    Of course SGB. The whole point is to inform the public of the facts.

26. OlddWomBatMay 10, 2016 at 5:30 pm

    Scott Morrison didn’t release a budget – it was a plan! Mr Turnbull asked: “Well, Baldrick, is it a cunning plan?” “Oh yes Mr T.,” he replied, “it’s a very cunning plan.”

27. Miriam EnglishMay 10, 2016 at 7:03 pm

    Michael, it might be worth seeing if the pages have been stored on the Internet Archive. If so you could redirect the links to there.

    Edit: heheheh 🙂 I just noticed John said it too.

    I used the Internet Archive some years back to catch out the Queensland government on lies when they were trying to make the case for building a nuclear power plant here. They’d previously commissioned a report on costs of various forms of energy in which nuclear power turned out to be either the most expensive, or nearly the most expensive, I can’t remember. Anyway they quietly took down the old study results and published a new, faked report which made nuclear power look cheap. I was horrified at this Orwellian move, so found the original report on the Internet Archive, published it on my blogs, and told everybody I could about the dishonesty. In a little while the whole thing went away. I’m sure many other people noticed the lies too. The Internet Archive is a great resource for substantiating them.

28. Jennifer Meyer-SmithMay 10, 2016 at 7:09 pm

    Excellent work, Miriam.

29. jimMay 10, 2016 at 8:13 pm

    Great post again,who’s the economic vandals ? eh, is Malcom on medication as IMO he was Blabbering “when I was a boy I worked at a fruit mart ” ….AND……thats it…. just like his slogans is thats all they’ve got ?.

30. Miriam EnglishMay 11, 2016 at 9:22 am

    I downloaded the offshore leaks database. It probably isn’t the whole Panama Papers information because it is only 36 MB in size, as a zip file. It unzips to 210 MB, which is still pretty small, all things considered. It consists of 5 comma-separated values (csv) format files:

    Addresses.csv
    all_edges.csv
    Entities.csv
    Intermediaries.csv
    Officers.csv

    Which can be opened in any spreadsheet program (Excel, OpenOfficeCalc, LibreOfficeCalc, Gnumeric, and so on) and probably most database programs (though I don’t have much experience with database programs so I can’t say authoritatively).

    Being csv files they can also be opened in any text editor or wordprocessor, though they may be a bit tedious to read in those. If you really want to use a text editor I’d advise loading into a spreadsheet program first and resaving the data as csv format but as the tab-separated variant. That makes it much easier to read as ordinary text.

    So, open your torrent downloader program and grab the files. They could make very interesting reading.
    https://offshoreleaks.icij.org/

    Let me know if you can’t get to use a torrent program and I’ll upload the leaks to my website for easy download.

31. Jennifer Meyer-SmithMay 11, 2016 at 9:49 am

    Thanks Miriam.

32. Sir Bill InternationalMay 11, 2016 at 9:52 am

    They don’t need to be force fed the low tax ideology. It’s quite simple : less tax , more money for me. They are most likely to end up in the tax bracket where less tax means a lot.

33. JeffJLMay 11, 2016 at 7:32 pm

    Love your work Kaye.

34. Miriam EnglishMay 12, 2016 at 9:57 am

    Woah! It turns out our dear prime minister Malcolm Turnbull is in the Panama Papers!

    If you check line 190134 of the Entities.csv file you will find Star Mining (it will take a minute or two to load as Entities.csv is a big file). Malcolm Turnbull was a director of Star Mining. Of course that fox found among the chickens may have a perfectly harmless reason for being there, though given the nature of foxes it is a little difficult to imagine one.

    I can’t lay out tables on AIMN, unfortunately, so I’ll give the data from that line with field+definition on separate lines:

    name: STAR MINING LIMITED
    original_name: STAR MINING LIMITED
    former_name:
    jurisdiction: BVI
    jurisdiction_description: British Virgin Islands
    company_type:
    address: LIC. ANDRE ZOLTY 8C; AVENUE DE CHAMPEL 1206; GENEVA SWITZERLAND
    internal_id: 534534
    incorporation_date: 05-JAN-2000
    inactivation_date: 01-NOV-2007
    struck_off_date: 31-OCT-2007
    dorm_date:
    status: Defaulted
    service_provider: Mossack Fonseca
    ibcRUC: 361078
    country_codes: CHE
    countries: Switzerland
    note:
    valid_until: The Panama Papers data is current through 2015
    node_id: 10083715
    sourceID: Panama Papers

    Perhaps Mr Turnbull should clarify to the Australian people exactly how much money he has, what tax he pays, and how much he has hidden offshore. Perhaps the Australian Tax Office should look more closely into his affairs. (I can almost see them getting out their knives after he slashed their budget so mercilessly.)

35. Miriam EnglishMay 12, 2016 at 10:02 am

    There is a petition at:
    https://actions.sumofus.org/a/turnbull-come-clean/
    calling for Malcolm Turnbull to open up his finances to let people know he is not a tax cheat.

    Sign it.

36. Miriam EnglishMay 12, 2016 at 10:12 am

    Sorry, I think it was the Abbott government that slashed the ATO’s budget. It’s almost irrelevant whether it was the Abbott govt or the Turnbull govt though. In reality it was the IPA who did the dirty deed. Hmmm… I wonder if any of those bastards in the IPA are hiding funds offshore.

37. Jennifer Meyer-SmithMay 12, 2016 at 10:29 am

    I just signed the petition calling for Turnbull to prove he is not a tax cheat. Thanks Miriam.

38. Terry2May 12, 2016 at 12:43 pm

    Turnbull is protecting George Christensen LNP member for Dawson in North Queensland . Christensen is a bigot and has tried to generate fear and hatred and is cynically playing the race card by saying that he will not tolerate Syrian refugees being settled in his electorate,

    Turnbull should be calling him out as a racist but instead is saying that Christensen is merely pointing out that there is a high level of unemployment in Dawson – although there is a lot of seasonal work available – and that he has the right to his opinion.

    Interesting that Tony Abbott has flown to Mackay to support Christensen.

39. Miriam EnglishMay 12, 2016 at 1:40 pm

    I wonder if that idiot Christensen uses a Mac, or an iPad, or iPod, or iPhone. If he does, perhaps he sees some value in people like Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple computers… that is, Steve Jobs, the son of a Syrian political refugee.

    Clearly Christensen doesn’t. He is much more worthy than any lowly Syrian refugee’s son. Christensen has contributed so much to the world… like hate, racism, misogyny… I’m sure there must be something else… surely the repellent twerp must be worth something positive… ummm… uh… maybe not.

    (It figures that Abbott would be joining up with him. Let them worship their hateful god together, though I feel sorry for the people of Dawson.)

40. Kaye LeeMay 12, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    George Christensen’s address to the Heartland Institute is worth reading. This is an excerpt:

    “I am an elected representative in the Australian Parliament so I would prefer to talk about my constituents – what they think, how they live, and how policy around climate change has an impact on their daily lives.

    I am also a fan of the television series – Star Trek.

    Now I am talking about original Trek – where Captain Kirk knew how to deal with destructive green beasts long before the show went all liberal and the enterprise started saving whales.

    So I know good science fiction when I see it.

    And that is what I have seen in the climate change debate – a lot of fiction dressed up as science.

    Most great works of fiction end up on the silver screen so it was inevitable that climate change would become a “major motion picture”.

    But a screenwriter has several angles to work with and which one they choose depends on whereabouts on the climate change timeline they pick up the story.

    Early on in the piece, it is a disaster-cum-thriller plot as prophets warn of the impending doom of mankind and the planet.

    The story then lurches towards a slasher-style horror flick as ever more graphic descriptions are used to scare people into submission.

    Finally, the plot descends into a farcical comedy as government and environmental terrorists make ridiculous suggestions about how mankind will control the planet.

    In Australia, we have crossed that point where the horror genre is descending into a comedy.

    The Australian political scene has been dominated – for the past seven years – by the global warming debate and the political response to hysteria.

    Global Warming and its new incarnation, Climate Change, claimed one Opposition Leader and then two consecutive Prime Ministers in the Australian Parliament.

    Australia is the obvious location for filming when the next blockbuster goes into production – Climate Change: The Movie.”

    George Christensen’s Climate Change Speech To The Heartland Institute

41. KyranMay 12, 2016 at 3:43 pm

    Soooo, wait a minute. The sitting member for Dawson is saying that unemployment is so high in his electorate, he can’t tolerate more people coming into his electorate.
    My word, what a champion. It is not about who is coming in, but that he has failed his electorate. Surely?
    Ms English, I would love to have the money to do an historical ASIC search (directorship’s and shareholding’s) on talcum. I don’t think there is much in the Panama Papers against him.
    It seems ironic that some whistleblowers in Luxembourg, pre Panama, are on trial.
    “Frenchmen Antoine Deltour and Raphael Halet, both former employees of auditing firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), are accused of leaking thousands of documents to journalist Edouard Perrin.
    The documents showed how Luxembourg granted huge tax breaks that saved firms including Apple, IKEA and Pepsi billions of dollars in taxes, at a time when Jean-Claude Juncker — now head of the European Commission — was prime minister.”

    http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-10/prosecutors-ask-for-18-months-jail-for-luxleaks-whistleblowers/7402960

    Both matters are all about the scam. Look over there.
    Take care

42. Miriam EnglishMay 12, 2016 at 4:27 pm

    Wow, Kaye. That’s pretty amazing. He really has no idea what he’s talking about. It is difficult to make much sense at all from what he said there. It is all innuendo. No facts. That’s appalling. Does he really understand so little of the world he lives in?

    Speaking as someone who has spent their lifetime immersed in both science fact and science fiction, I’m not much of a fan of Star Trek. It was never great science fiction. Sometimes it was good, and occasionally came out with real gems, but mostly it was not good science fiction. The idea of living in a military culture is thoroughly repugnant to me, and I seriously doubt that’s what the future holds for us (I certainly hope not), also it is incredibly unlikely that any intelligent aliens will look exactly like us except for bumpy foreheads and different shaped ears. Star Trek’s real beauty lay in the allegories it laid out. It attempted to give moral lessons. Often those lessons degenerated to “might makes right”, but many times it genuinely tried to pose important life lessons, and in that, it did well. That’s understandable, as Gene Roddenberry was an idealistic ex-cop who wanted the world to be a better place, where people go along regardless of race and other petty differences. George Christensen obviously missed all that, but then George probably just liked the tight, skimpy, women’s costumes, and shiny things, especially if they moved fast or exploded.

    George Christensen should perhaps read some truly good science fiction, for example, Damon Knight’s Cabin Boy, where the aliens live in space, travelling inside the body of their captain, who is not only their space vessel, but also their father, and their speech is conducted by emitting puffs of scent; or the Australian, A. Bertram Chandler’s Giant Killer, in which the hero is a mutated rat that lives in the walls of a space ship; or E. Clayton McCarty’s Small One about an apparently ferocious giant monster which is actually a young child who takes pity on the man he’s encountered and protects him; or Fredric Brown’s The Weapon which has no aliens at all, but is about a man interviewing a researcher who has developed the ultimate weapon and tries to reason with him that mankind is not ready for it. That is great science fiction. It expands the mind and plays with preconceptions and prejudices. George Christensen’s mind could do with a little expanding.

    As for the science, George Christensen could do well to at least glance at the science he sneers so much about. It is awfully real, as virtually all the scientists on the planet could tell him. Unfortunately, it is he who is playing out a tragi-comedic fantasy. Sadly, his delusions cause lasting damage in the real world.

43. Miriam EnglishMay 12, 2016 at 4:33 pm

    Good point, Kyran. He is almost admitting he is a complete failure.

    I wonder who his opponent in Dawson is. It might be worth suggesting to them that this is how he might be brought down. As well as reminding people that he’s a bigoted, racist, misogynist, Trumpy pig, that is.

44. Miriam EnglishMay 12, 2016 at 5:30 pm

    I’ve just finished reading Christensen’s entire speech. In it he does use a couple facts, carefully cherry-picked, of course. But the lies! OMG the lies and distortions! He just shamelessly rattles them off. The speech before the Heartland Institute made me think of those stories I’ve heard of where adolescent boys would gather in a circle and wank in a contest to see who could climax first. All those horrible people wanking about climate change being wrong, with repellent George leading. Ugh!

45. KyranMay 12, 2016 at 5:33 pm

    “Kara told Jamal that things were not going well.”
    You are a prophet, apparently without profit. He is not admitting he is a complete failure. He is saying “Look over there.” Bringing him down may cause a richter scale incident, given his size. If he needs tiny to advocate for him, which one is Kara and which one is Jamal?
    Take care

46. Jennifer Meyer-SmithMay 12, 2016 at 6:07 pm

    You’ve just turned me off my dinner, Miriam! 🙂

47. Jennifer Meyer-SmithMay 12, 2016 at 6:48 pm

    😛