Pot, kettle – There’s no missing the government’s glaring hypocrisy
The Coalition’s current explosion of self-righteous outrage is something to behold.
Compared to the excesses of, say, Bronwyn Bishop, or the personal gifts bestowed on Foreign Minister Julie Bishop by Chinese companies, not to mention the hundreds of thousands donated to her branch of the WA Liberal party by Chinese who have business interests in that state, Labor Senator Sam Dastyari’s few thousand dollars seem fairly insignificant.
The argument that Dastyari’s gift was “personal” does not hold water: so are Julie Bishop’s iPad, airfares and accommodation, and so were the $250,000 of Rolexes given to former Prime Minister Tony Abbott and others by a Chinese business man. You don’t gift a Rolex to a party, you gift it to an individual. It’s personal.
Then there’s the South China Sea. This is what Dastyari actually said about the situation in the South China Sea, as quoted by Sydney-based Chinese media: “The South China Sea is China’s own affair. On this issue, Australia should remain neutral and respect China’s decision.”
This is not the position of either the government or the opposition, and left the Senator open to charges of “cash for comment.”
There’s no doubt Dastyari should have kept his trap shut on the South China Sea: nobody was likely to take notice of his views on this matter anyway. The chap can be a tad too ebullient, though I dare say he’s been cured of that characteristic for the foreseeable future.
Whatever benefits the Foreign Minister may bestow on those who’ve showered her with personal gifts and her party with money may not, at first blush, be as apparent as Dastyari’s allegedly paid support for China. That she will bestow benefits of some kind is certain: this is the way things work, interested parties donate and expect favours in return.
There’s no missing the government’s glaring hypocrisy. It’s now up to the media to hound the government as they have hounded Dastyari. Why is the Foreign Minister accepting personal gifts from the Chinese, or anyone else for that matter? In so doing, she is not meeting her PrimeMinister’s expectations, or at least the expectations he has of Sam Dastyari, and why should they be different?
Or is it one rule for the Coalition, and another, much harsher rule for everyone else? Because, you know, entitlement?
This article was originally published on No Place For Sheep as ‘Pot, Kettle’.
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Plee
Return to home pageAnd yet the LNP’s glaring hypocrisy remains sight unseen on the front – or inner – pages of Fairfax and News Corpse…
The moral values of some of our politicians are high questionable.
Now in the news: George Brandis must explain $370,000 appointment of Liberal donor.
Another example of how the MSM are the promotional wing of the LNP,and ruined our so called democracy aka we are a mediaocracy.
By the MSM NOT pointing out the LNP’s hypocrisy.For example this morning on right wing channel 7 they mentioned Albo from Labor going to some AFL matches at taxpayers expense.Yet ignored all the LNP that do the samething.Or in Abbott’s case has been worse,cause he charges us for his daughters to go too.
It stinks.
The mediaocracy and LNPee’s blatant abuses and self-righteousness harbour another nasty little predilection that they share.
They enjoy our outrage and frustration, presumably thinking we can’t do anything about it.
I can’t wait for the day when they get a very rude awakening.
Small beer compared to Dastyari, of course:
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/george-brandis-must-explain-370000-appointment-of-liberal-donor-says-labor-20160909-grch72.html
What is Tony Dumb-Dumb’s opinion ? He seems to be the go to man with Malfunction away
A Fairfax Media investigation has revealed the Wentworth Forum, a fundraising vehicle that raised $1.4 million during Mr Turnbull’s first stint as Liberal Party leader, appears still to be active, despite claims by a spokesman for the Prime Minster “the forum ceased to operate in 2009”.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/pm-malcolm-turnbulls-links-to-secretive-fundraising-20160617-gplhmg.html
“Regarded as the country’s most sophisticated political fund-raising machine, the forum offers membership packages that give the most generous supporters more opportunities to gain access to Mr Turnbull.” “It costs $5500 to be a “member”, $11,000 to be a “sponsor”, $16,500 to be a “patron”, $25,500 to be a “benefactor” and $55,000 to be a “governor”.”
Links and last quote from http://www.thebattler.com/index.htm#savesam
Thanks for the link John,.. more from the battler;…..The hysterical campaign against Sam Dastyari by the Murdoch Wormtongues tells you everything you need to understand how democracy works in Australia. He is being smeared by Turdball of all people!!!! Sam Dastyari is being smeared because he is standing up and telling Australians the truth about the Corporate Cartel which is driving this nation into poverty. PM Turnbull from Goldman smears people like this because he knows Murdoch’s Wormtongues will make a campaign out of it.
They are scared of Dastyari because he is an honest man and looking like the Sanders/Corbyn the Australians desperately need. When they smear People like Sam Dastyari Australians have to say no more of this bullshit and look at the reality of what is happening.
Australia, IMOO, would be a very very very great country if it were not for the greed and corruption thats going on with the Murdoch media and the other right wing assholes, when will this crime be stopped.
Bernadi’s Conservative Leadership Foundation
http://www.clf.org.au/shop – consists of 5 Bernardi books and 1 Tshirt (which could still be a Bernadi enterprise)
Public servants are of course allowed to sell books, but what they are not allowed to do is to use their public position to do so. I find it to be a conflict of interest for a currently serving senator to use his position to advance her personal financial interests.
Forget Grand Finals – whenever Julie Bishop’s AFL team was playing in Sydney or Melbourne, she always seemed to be in that city “for official reasons”, so once again the mug taxpayer forks out for her travel, meals and accommodation to subsidise her personal interests.
I hope it all comes out and for both sides.
It must be a very deep trough to accommodate all those hypocritical snouts.
What’s that saying about living in glass houses?
I don’t think the coalition realise what a can of worms they have opened up regarding Sam.
This is going to backfire on them big time when the labor party start digging for dirt…
It could backfire of them, but they are confident that media and press have been “tamed” enough for the politicians in favour to be got out strife through suppression or spin.
Yesterday’s story about David Dungay’s dreadful death at Long Bay should have been throughout the press and meeja but is nowhere to be seen, for example.
Great post Jim – All of yours. This part especially stood out to me: –
“Australia, IMOO, would be a very very very great country if it were not for the greed and corruption thats going on with the Murdoch media and the other right wing assholes, when will this crime be stopped.”
If ONLY most of the public would just “open their eyes”.
Abbott shamelessdly accepted a $60,000 gift of waived tuition for his daughter from an art school keen to receive looming lucrative government contracts. Stuart Robert was feted in China posing as a government representative, whereas he was there purely to further personal business interests.
The only way that this hypocrocy can be brought to the public’s attention is through Question time in parliament. Labor should spend time asking individual ministers to explain the so-called gifts,they have received,and what was expected of them. And,if questions can be asked of back-benchers,one whole session should be devoted to the former PM,and his many rorts.
Slapsy, they had little chance of that when Bishop was Speaker. She’d shut Labor up as soon as someone opened their mouth. No excuses now though. They should go hard on this.
I wish the commentators would be more specific and state that it was liberal politicians have more to hide than labor politicians, Sam’s faux pas pales into insignificance compared to glaring amounts monies obtained in donations from the Chinese generous hands.