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Post by caskur on Sept 24, 2015 15:41:14 GMT 10
We if people haven't learned by now the duplicity of politicians, they never will.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2015 18:10:03 GMT 10
Talking of duplicity...if not for feminism she wouldn't have her job...
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2015 18:41:51 GMT 10
The conservatives are more interested in the coal industry extracting as much resource and profit before essential services, health and education, still on track to be the worst government on record.
Josh Frydenberg says $5 billion northern Australia fund could be used to finance coalDate September 23, 2015 Lisa Cox National political reporter . Josh Frydenberg is sworn in as Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia. Photo: Andrew MearesAustralia's freshly minted Resources and Energy Minister Josh Frydenberg has signalled the government's intention to use taxpayer funds to help the coal mining industry establish new projects. It came as polling commissioned by progressive think-tank The Australia Institute found Australians would rather see government subsidies for fossil fuels invested in public services such as schools and hospitals. In an interview with Fairfax Media publication the Australian Financial Review, Mr Frydenberg, who is also the Minister for Northern Australia, said a $5 billion infrastructure fund announced in the May budget could contribute to infrastructure for mining projects in the Galilee Basin. The Adani mine is slated for the resources-rich Galilee Basin. Former treasurer Joe Hockey hinted last month that Indian company Adani, which plans to build Australia's largest coal mine, might receive taxpayer money from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility to help build a rail line from its Carmichael mine in Central Queensland to coal terminals at Abbot Point. Mr Frydernberg was more candid. Asked if the fund might be used for rail projects for Galilee coal, he said: "Yes, if there is a good case and state governments are willing to step up, then you would think that rail is one of the areas where it will go. A ReachTel poll for The Australia Institute polled 4300 voters across seven electorates - Newcastle, Eden Monaro, New England, North Sydney, Sturt, Wentworth and Wide Bay – on whether they would like to see government mining subsidies transferred to essential services. Support for such a measure across those electorates ranged from 65 per cent to 77 per cent. In new Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's electorate of Wentworth, 72.5 per cent of those surveyed said they would support such a move. In one of his first actions as minister, Mr Frydenberg spoke with Queensland's Natural Resources and Mines Minister Anthony Lynham and Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles. Adani's project has been at the centre of a battle between the government and environment groups after the Mackay Conservation Council used a federal court challenge to successfully highlight flaws in Environment Minister Greg Hunt's assessment of the project. Adani's environmental approval was set aside and the government launched an attack to repeal federal environment laws that allow green and community groups to mount legal challenges to big developments. Mr Hunt is reassessing the Carmichael project and is due to reach a decision shortly. Mr Frydenberg told the AFR that managing the conflict between environment groups and investors was "going to be a real challenge for me" and warned that "anti-development activism" could see Australia miss out on large projects. He said the Carmichael mine "a very important project, which will see significant investment in Australia and provide electricity to millions of people in the developing world." "Anti-development activism can create major delays in projects and send investment offshore, and you have to be very conscious of that when there are such large time frames involved and we are competing internationally for investment in this country," he said. "We are not the only nation in the world that produces iron ore or mines for coal." Read more: www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/josh-frydenberg-says-5-billion-northern-australia-fund-could-be-used-to-finance-coal-20150922-gjstnp.html#ixzz3mdvjQy00Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook
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Post by Deleted on Sept 24, 2015 18:45:24 GMT 10
Pollution and bombs.....what a record.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 27, 2015 17:42:02 GMT 10
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Post by pim on Sept 30, 2015 14:23:31 GMT 10
By George he hasn't got it!
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Post by caskur on Oct 4, 2015 3:57:52 GMT 10
Talking of duplicity...if not for feminism she wouldn't have her job... Did that idiot really say that? What a moron.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2015 4:43:35 GMT 10
"All quotes your read on the internet are always true".....Abraham Lincoln
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Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2015 16:45:16 GMT 10
Good Ol' Dick .... the peoples man....
Dick Smith savages Malcolm Turnbull for shielding rich from tax transparency
October 4, 2015 - 8:05AM
Heath Aston Political reporterTreasurer Scott Morrison pushes for spending cuts in an interview with shock jock Ray Hadley. Dick Smith says Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will be "ratting on typical Australians who pay their tax" if the Coalition goes through with plans to shield large private companies from having to disclose how much tax they pay. The entrepreneur is incensed that the government has caved in to lobbying by wealthy business owners who argue that disclosing their tax affairs would place them at risk of kidnapping and ransom attempts. Fairfax Media revealed in June that the Abbott government had not requested or received any advice from security agencies, including the Australian Federal Police, to verify any threat before agreeing to repeal disclosure laws that were due to begin this year. Taxing times: Dick Smith says there's no threat to the rich. Taxing times: Dick Smith says there's no threat to the rich. Photo: James Brickwood Mr Smith, the 1986 Australian of the Year, said he was in "absolutely no doubt" the main motivation of businesses fighting the new rules was "tax avoidance" rather than any perceived security threat. "I'm really disappointed in the Coalition on this, I think it is very important they don't change this and I am asking the Prime Minister not to change this. Otherwise he will be ratting on typical Australians who pay their tax," he said. Mr Smith, who once donated $4 million to the Salvation Army, in part because he did not want to be on the BRW Rich List, said it was "absolute rubbish" that tax disclosure would reveal that the wealthy are in fact wealthy. "They do it themselves. They buy waterfront properties, big boats, and big planes. They show their wealth off," he said. "Everyone knows [property mogul] Harry Triguboff is worth $10 billion. A newspaper once said he had $6 billion and he rang up to put them straight." Mr Smith said he finds billionaires "disgusting" and believes there must be some responsibility that comes along with the lifestyle perks of being rich. "One is proof they pay their fair share of tax," he said. "If you have turnover of $100 million you should be proud to show you are paying your tax – and most are. The ones opposing this, I'm absolutely convinced, are basically cheating the system, avoiding their taxes and we should not let them get away with it." Mr Turnbull declined to comment but Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer said the Australian Taxation Office has "comprehensive powers" to make sure companies pay their tax. "The bill is currently before the Senate and the government will continue discussions with the crossbenchers to secure the passage of the bill," she said An estimated 700-1000 companies with turnover in excess of $100 million are due to disclose their tax affairs this year. They include James Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings, Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting, Lindsay Fox's Linfox and the scandal-plagued 7-Eleven convenience store empire of Russ Withers. But there is mystery around the lobbying push against the transparency rules. Meat processor Teys Australia, a major supplier to Coles and Woolworths, was the only private company to make a submission to the Senate inquiry scrutinising the bill. Teys is in a 50:50 partnership with US-based multinational, Cargill. In 2011, the government of Argentina accused Cargill and three other grain traders of "large-scale tax evasion". The Australian reported this week that documents held by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission show Teys' after-tax profit has risen from $21.3 million in 2012 to $195 million last year. Over those three years, the company's "tax expense" was $99.5 million, but its "cash tax paid" was just $33.7 million. A recent Senate hearing scrutinising the bill to exempt private companies from disclosure rules heard that one in five privately-owned companies with revenues in excess of $100 million paid no tax last year. The alarming figure was revealed by an Australian Tax Office official. If the government cannot pass its Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (Better Targeting the Income Tax Transparency Laws) Bill, the ATO will publish tax details in mid-December, it has said. Mr Smith has written to all Senate crossbenchers urging them to vote down the legislation, saying that transparency would encourage the wealthy to "do the right thing". Liberal Senator David Bushby has claimed there was a danger that companies could be "shamed into paying more tax than they are legally obliged to" if the tax transparency laws are not rescinded. He said Labor's law had set out to "demonise" companies to "get people excited about tax laws". Read more: www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/dick-smith-savages-malcolm-turnbull-for-shielding-rich-from-tax-transparency-20151003-gk0j90.html#ixzz3nZf9VfiyFollow us: @canberratimes on Twitter | CanberraTimes on Facebook
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Post by pim on Oct 6, 2015 15:10:04 GMT 10
I agree, that Moir cartoon is sheer genius.
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Post by caskur on Oct 23, 2015 0:41:17 GMT 10
Good Ol' Dick .... the peoples man....
Dick Smith savages Malcolm Turnbull for shielding rich from tax transparency
October 4, 2015 - 8:05AM
Heath Aston Political reporterTreasurer Scott Morrison pushes for spending cuts in an interview with shock jock Ray Hadley. Dick Smith says Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will be "ratting on typical Australians who pay their tax" if the Coalition goes through with plans to shield large private companies from having to disclose how much tax they pay. The entrepreneur is incensed that the government has caved in to lobbying by wealthy business owners who argue that disclosing their tax affairs would place them at risk of kidnapping and ransom attempts. Fairfax Media revealed in June that the Abbott government had not requested or received any advice from security agencies, including the Australian Federal Police, to verify any threat before agreeing to repeal disclosure laws that were due to begin this year. Taxing times: Dick Smith says there's no threat to the rich. Taxing times: Dick Smith says there's no threat to the rich. Photo: James Brickwood Mr Smith, the 1986 Australian of the Year, said he was in "absolutely no doubt" the main motivation of businesses fighting the new rules was "tax avoidance" rather than any perceived security threat. "I'm really disappointed in the Coalition on this, I think it is very important they don't change this and I am asking the Prime Minister not to change this. Otherwise he will be ratting on typical Australians who pay their tax," he said. Mr Smith, who once donated $4 million to the Salvation Army, in part because he did not want to be on the BRW Rich List, said it was "absolute rubbish" that tax disclosure would reveal that the wealthy are in fact wealthy. "They do it themselves. They buy waterfront properties, big boats, and big planes. They show their wealth off," he said. "Everyone knows [property mogul] Harry Triguboff is worth $10 billion. A newspaper once said he had $6 billion and he rang up to put them straight." Mr Smith said he finds billionaires "disgusting" and believes there must be some responsibility that comes along with the lifestyle perks of being rich. "One is proof they pay their fair share of tax," he said. "If you have turnover of $100 million you should be proud to show you are paying your tax – and most are. The ones opposing this, I'm absolutely convinced, are basically cheating the system, avoiding their taxes and we should not let them get away with it." Mr Turnbull declined to comment but Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer said the Australian Taxation Office has "comprehensive powers" to make sure companies pay their tax. "The bill is currently before the Senate and the government will continue discussions with the crossbenchers to secure the passage of the bill," she said An estimated 700-1000 companies with turnover in excess of $100 million are due to disclose their tax affairs this year. They include James Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings, Gina Rinehart's Hancock Prospecting, Lindsay Fox's Linfox and the scandal-plagued 7-Eleven convenience store empire of Russ Withers. But there is mystery around the lobbying push against the transparency rules. Meat processor Teys Australia, a major supplier to Coles and Woolworths, was the only private company to make a submission to the Senate inquiry scrutinising the bill. Teys is in a 50:50 partnership with US-based multinational, Cargill. In 2011, the government of Argentina accused Cargill and three other grain traders of "large-scale tax evasion". The Australian reported this week that documents held by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission show Teys' after-tax profit has risen from $21.3 million in 2012 to $195 million last year. Over those three years, the company's "tax expense" was $99.5 million, but its "cash tax paid" was just $33.7 million. A recent Senate hearing scrutinising the bill to exempt private companies from disclosure rules heard that one in five privately-owned companies with revenues in excess of $100 million paid no tax last year. The alarming figure was revealed by an Australian Tax Office official. If the government cannot pass its Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (Better Targeting the Income Tax Transparency Laws) Bill, the ATO will publish tax details in mid-December, it has said. Mr Smith has written to all Senate crossbenchers urging them to vote down the legislation, saying that transparency would encourage the wealthy to "do the right thing". Liberal Senator David Bushby has claimed there was a danger that companies could be "shamed into paying more tax than they are legally obliged to" if the tax transparency laws are not rescinded. He said Labor's law had set out to "demonise" companies to "get people excited about tax laws". Read more: www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/dick-smith-savages-malcolm-turnbull-for-shielding-rich-from-tax-transparency-20151003-gk0j90.html#ixzz3nZf9VfiyFollow us: @canberratimes on Twitter | CanberraTimes on Facebook Isn't Turnbullshitters wealth tied up off shore? Let's start with a scrutiny of his affairs.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 23, 2015 9:23:37 GMT 10
You can bet they are scrutinizing....and they will find fokkall the people will care about...unlike Shorto's racketeering.
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Post by geopol on Nov 5, 2015 9:20:45 GMT 10
Just three years ago the Liberal National Party said, "Your cost of living is unnecessarily higher because of the carbon tax. Average families will be $550 better off next year alone under the Coalition." Curtin University calculates a 15 per cent GST would cost the average household budget an extra $3987 a year. Perhaps Malcolm Turnbull could explain to this highly confused member of the public, how a hit of $550 a year for each household was economic suicide but a hit of $3987 is good economic policy? Julian Brown Manly Vale Read more: www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-letters/tax-reform-in-australia-do-we-need-it-20151104-gkqeuo.html#ixzz3qZGbIAM6 Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook
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Post by geopol on Nov 6, 2015 8:08:33 GMT 10
The purpose of raising the GST by 5 per cent is to raise additional revenue and reduce the budget deficit ("GST rise shown to hit poorest families hardest", November 5). So no matter how a hike in the GST is sweetened within a tax and pension "reform" package, by necessity most people will not receive adequate compensation. In order for a GST hike to work properly, most people need to end up worse off. Otherwise, why increase the GST at all? However, the wealthy, the cunning and the dishonest are unlikely to be paying more tax. The wealthy Canberra parliamentarians who are in control won't want to pay more tax. Malcolm Turnbull, for one, won't want to "hold back" wealthy businesspeople who create wealth and jobs. So as part of any tax changes, we shouldn't expect decent reforms in negative gearing, super tax, capital gains tax and other legal tax dodges for the wealthy. Nor should we expect any serious move towards a cashless society that would help kill off much of the "black economy" of tax evasion......Letter in today's SMH. <i>Illustration: Cathy Wilcox.</i> Illustration: Cathy Wilcox. The "fairness" of any changes will depend, as always, on who you talk to. But after the dust settles, it will be the average decent, honest citizen who will be hardest hit by any GST increase. Advertisement Geoff Black Caves Beach Read more: www.smh.com.au/comment/smh-letters/evasion-the-only-constant-in-tax-changes-20151105-gkrdlm.html#ixzz3qeot83V7 Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook
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Post by Lord Stockton on Nov 7, 2015 21:54:10 GMT 10
Just three years ago the Liberal National Party said, "Your cost of living is unnecessarily higher because of the carbon tax. Average families will be $550 better off next year alone under the Coalition." Curtin University calculates a 15 per cent GST would cost the average household budget an extra $3987 a year. Perhaps Malcolm Turnbull could explain to this highly confused member of the public, how a hit of $550 a year for each household was economic suicide but a hit of $3987 is good economic policy? Julian Brown Manly Vale I have a problem with this comment or more correctly the Curtin Uni summary. If the average family is paying $7974 now in GST something is wrong. Being twice the so called increase of $3987 as a result of a 50% increased being talked about.. GST $7974 means the goods acquired were $87,714 If we add (that is- not currently subject to GST ) items such as food say $75 per week = $3500 pa If we add Medical benefits of $3000pa (singles) Education (for me NIL) Water /council rates $3000pa (for me) Rent or interest on your mortgage (for me NIL) Say $97200 pa for me of AFTER tax expenditure. That relates to pretax income of $140,000pa (tax on this is $39,747) NB the above figures are approximate, but they prove my point- That $140,000 is hardly average family income. Even mum & dad couple working (say 2 teachers or police officers) would be only around this family income figure. Out of which they would in most cases have kids education & a mortgage- costs that come out of the after tax income that I don't have to pay for. I don't believe the average family pays any thing like $7974 in GST today.
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Post by pim on Nov 10, 2015 16:10:19 GMT 10
You mean a lay down misère - quelle misère pour les travaillistes!
e + consonant + silent e rule: first e takes a grave accent
But ... no worries! The French stuff that one up too.
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Post by pim on Nov 21, 2015 7:26:44 GMT 10
You're correct about it being a lay down misère for the Turnbull Government. The hapless Bill Shorten can't take a trick and in fact it's probably a waste of time even considering Shorten Labor right now as a serious political force. That's for the future when the Turnbull lustre starts to look shopsoiled and a reinvigorated post-Shorten Labor Party finds its political mojo. But right now Shorten Labor is the least of Turnbull’s concerns. Enough said about Shorten Labor. Moving on ...
Of greater concern for Turnbull is the conservative rump of 30 rednecks within his own ranks who view him as the Antichrist. These are the ones who can't contain themselves and whose hysterical outbursts over the Paris atrocities are in marked contradiction to Turnbull’s measured, sensible and indeed reassuring responses. My God, how long has it been since this country has had a prime minister who responds to grave events like the recent Paris atrocity not by pressing the panic/fear button but with a reassuring calmness! No wonder the shock jocks like Andrew Bolt and the tea party rednecks - the Cory Bernardi's and the Eric Abetzes of this world - hate his guts.
The challenge for Turnbull is to keep the Coalition together at least until the election. If he goes into the election leading a united Coalition with the rednecks under a tight leash then he wins in a canter. My money's on precisely that scenario. But what about the medium to long term? The state and structure of Queensland conservative politics shows us a possible scenario and indeed the future crisis of the Turnbull Government could well originate from Queensland. I'm referring to the shotgun merger of the Libs and the Nats in Queensland as the LNP. Remember the Joh-for-Canberra push of the late 1980s? The one that almost blew John Howard out of the water? At the time we thought this was a crazy flight of fancy on the part of the white shoe brigade on the Gold Coast and in a way that's what it was. But there’s another take on this. You can view the Joh-for-Canberra push as a type of false dawn, something that happened before its time. A type of political Operation Market Garden (google it, the analogy is quite apt).
So if the Joh-for-Canberra push was a false dawn, what would be the real dawn? Consider this scenario: the redneck rump of 30 Liberal intractables whose most prominent members are Bernardi and Abetz break away to join with the Nationals, led by Barnaby Joyce, to form a new hard-edge conservative party, thus destroying the old Menzies Liberal Party and causing an upheaval in conservative politics. In that scenario a reinvigorated and renewed post-Shorten Labor Party could seize its opportunity (the Greens being an unknown factor which I'll leave to one side) and the country could enter another Labor decade.
What would the Turnbull-led forces do in that scenario? They'd be urban-based. You know I think the possibilities would be wide open. You think the Greens would never do deals with the Liberals? Think again! How about the Greens finding they have things they could discuss with a more progressive Turnbull-led remnant of the Liberal Party shorn of its rednecks? Australian politics would be turned on its head.
Chew on that one, gentle reader!
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Post by pim on Nov 21, 2015 9:23:12 GMT 10
I have to go out shortly to my granddaughter's 4th b'day jamboree so I can't get heavily into this exchange of scenarios. The real elephant in the room is the fact that Turnbull is 60 years old. Ten years as PM? Eminently possible and, as a Labor man I hate saying this damnit!, maybe even desirable. But beyond age 70? John Howard started losing his mojo after age 70 and successful Australian prime ministerships seem to have a shelf life of 10 years, give or take ... A lot can happen in 10 years and if the Labor Party succeeds in becoming relevant again it'll happen within those ten years. The Greens are an enigma. The era of the Tasmanian tree huggers is over and the Greens are now led by a suburban GP. Impressive guy and Labor missed the boat when they failed to recruit that guy when they had the chance. But whither the Greens? They’re at the crossroads. I can see them talking to Turnbull, especially an empowered Turnbull with an election under his belt and his own mandate. Gotta go! My granddad role awaits!
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Post by geopol on Nov 22, 2015 14:44:37 GMT 10
Malcolm Turnbull’s handling of the Darwin port controversy and his appointment of Mal Brough to the ministry are symptoms of the prime minister’s flawed political judgment, the Labor frontbencher Anthony Albanese says.
Malcolm Turnbull preferred by 69% of voters, poll says
Read more Albanese sought to sharpen the opposition’s political attack on Turnbull on the eve of parliament resuming for the final sitting fortnight of the year.
The Coalition has enjoyed a surge in the polls after Turnbull ousted Tony Abbott in September, and the prime minister secured a 51-point lead over Labor’s Bill Shorten as the country’s preferred leader in the Fairfax Ipsos poll published last week.
Albanese attributed the Coalition’s boost to Turnbull being “a shiny new thing for people to look at” but maintained that the government’s numbers would decline when voters examined the substance.
He argued the prime minister was facing the same sorts of problems with his political judgment that emerged when Turnbull served as the Liberal opposition leader.
Malcolm Turnbull defends Mal Brough over investigation into Slipper leaks
Read more “Just like he trusted [Treasury staffer] Godwin Grech last time, already, early on in his prime ministership we saw him appoint Mal Brough to the position in charge of ministerial responsibility for the integrity of the parliamentary process and yet Mal Brough is under investigation from the AFP about the Peter Slipper and James Ashby affairs and, indeed, there was a raid just this week on Mal Brough’s house,” Albanese told The Bolt Report on the Ten Network.
“Malcolm Turnbull should have been aware of that, and should have avoided that potential conflict.”
Guardian Australia revealed in September – a day after Brough was sworn in as the special minister of state – that the Australian federal police were actively investigating the alleged unauthorised disclosure of Slipper’s diaries in 2012.
Search warrants indicate the investigation is examining Brough’s contact with Ashby, a former staffer to the then Speaker of the House of Representatives.
Turnbull cautiously expressed confidence in the minister after it emerged Brough’s home was one of the Sunshine Coast properties covered in search warrants the Australian federal police executed on Tuesday.
Federal police say inquiry into leaking of Peter Slipper's diary is still active
Read more Brough, a key backer of Turnbull’s challenge against Abbott, said he was happy to assist the AFP and indicated he had handed over the same material he had previously provided to the federal court.
Turnbull said on Thursday there was nothing to suggest Brough should stand aside from his ministerial position “at this stage” – but added that the Queensland-based MP should continue to provide “complete cooperation with the investigation”.
Shorten stopped short of calling for Brough to stand aside but demanded an explanation.
In the interview on Sunday, Albanese also cited Turnbull’s response to concerns about the Darwin port sale as
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Post by geopol on Nov 22, 2015 15:03:23 GMT 10
Neighbours to S. Kidman & Co's properties in western Queensland are divided on foreign ownership.
It follows news that the Federal Government has blocked the sale of Australia's largest cattle property portfolio to foreign investors.
S. Kidman and Co holds 10 properties across Australia, half of which are in far south western Queensland and three of those lie in within the Diamantina shire.
The Mayor Geoff Morton said he supported the Government's decision but said its message on foreign ownership was inconsistent.
Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek.
00:00
00:00 Audio: Neighbours to S Kidman & Co's properties in western Queensland are divided on foreign ownership (ABC Rural)
"That decision is very correct in that I firmly believe that Australia should not be selling any of its soil to any foreign investor of any sort," Mr Morton said.
"So I fully support the blanket ban of the Kidman sale.
"But at the same time, I believe blocking the sale on the single issue of Anna Creek Station being close to the Woomera rocket range [defence weapons testing site] is probably skating on very thin ice, given that they have sold the Darwin Harbour to the Chinese, which would be of more national importance than Woomera, one would have thought From the ABC....... These idiots have no policy so they make up decisions on the run which satisfy no-one. The Darwin ports fiasco is an outrage to decent citizens but the way Turnbull is carrying on he is showing us one reason at least as to why he is fking failure as a sustainable PM.
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Post by KTJ on Dec 10, 2015 20:58:09 GMT 10
There is an interesting article about Malcolm Turnbull in this week's NZ Listener magazine, although unfortunately you can only read the summary online unless you have a subscription (online or print) and they have a bloody “tough nut to crack” paywall. However, the article is accompanied by a brilliant cartoon from Chris Slane. Unfortunately it is only online in a very small size (shown below), so I might have to scan the cartoon directly from the magazine sometime over the next few days and post it here in all its glory. Here is the small online version....
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Post by pim on Jan 22, 2016 11:47:35 GMT 10
Moir touches on the most profound existential crisis that Australia will face ever since the Unpleasantness with the Japanese in 1942-45 when Australia was severely rattled in its British Empire comfort zone as the fall of Singapore sounded the death knell not just of the British presence in the Asia Pacific but of other Western powers such as the French and the Dutch. What used to be called the Far East was in reality our Near North.
We tried to compensate by engaging with the Americans. A sensible and entirely rational policy framework for Australia and it did provide us, if not the actual reality of security - which was shown to be more smoke and mirrors than actual substance in the case of Sukarno's Indonesia, its "konfrontasi" with Malaysia and its aggressive expansionism into West Papua and, under Sukarno's successor Suharto, Timor l'Este, the Americans under several Administrations both Democratic and Republican have let us know that when it comes to Indonesia we're on our own - at least it made us feel secure. It was all clouded by the Cold War and it was framed in Cold War terms and that obscured geopolitical realities that didn't really come to the surface until the end of the Cold War nearly 25 years ago. But now they are bubbling to the surface and as the Moir cartoon pithily sums up, we are heading towards a most uncomfortable paradox in our existence as an English-speaking Western democracy in the Asia Pacific region. We don't want to have to choose between our alliance with the United States and our trade relationship with China. It's the last choice we'd ever want to have to make and we need very very clever, astute and knowledgeable (did I hear someone add "nimble and agile"?) leadership to navigate through the uncharted waters ahead. Perhaps in our economic dealings with the Chinese we've been as childlike and as unsophisticated as in our defence/security dealing with the Americans. Beginning with the Menzies government we spent the 1950s and 1960 putting all our defence eggs in the US basket when we could have been more sophisticated, "nimble & agile" by going for a mix of relationships particularly in our own region. A concord of regional powers with the combined weight and heft of Australia and Indonesia at its core would be a force to be reckoned with and act as a potential buffer as India expands its influence in the Indian Ocean and inevitably meets Chinese expansionism in the Pacific. With China we may be about to pay the price for treating our trading relationship with them in the same way that we've treated our strategic relationship with the US. Too many of our eggs in the one basket. The New Zealanders on the other hand could teach us a thing or two about "nimble & agile" with their ongoing trade relationship with the European Union in addition to their other economic linkages.
Basically the chips are down and we're on our own in the big bad world. So what's it going to be? Under Tony Abbott and, yes to a lesser extent but in an important sense Tony Abbott was Hyde to her Jekyll, Julia Gillard, we were in danger of becoming Antipodes Adrift. I suspect that I'll probably end up agreeing with the broad thrust of Malcolm Turnbull’s foreign policy. And so, I suspect, will Paul Keating.
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Post by pim on Jan 22, 2016 12:27:03 GMT 10
So we need "nimble & agile" more than ever. The country needs Turnbull to deal with the troglodytes in his own ranks.
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Post by pim on Jan 22, 2016 13:55:14 GMT 10
Interesting ... for a while there over the past few months you were giving me the impression you thought Turnbull was indestructible. An irresistible force. I think he'd like to be but he's got a couple of immovable objects to deal with ... Turns out Tony Windsor was right about the NBN - do it once, do it with fibre and go households. Who knew? More to the point: who didn't? Remember the brief that Tony Abbott publicly gave Malcolm Turnbull when he appointed him Opposition Communications Shadow? Abbott said he'd put Turnbull in that shadow portfolio to "do a demolition job on Labor’s NBN". I think it was about that time that cartoonists started to add to the budgie smugglers a hairy Abbott chest with the chest hairs arranged together to show a big NO. By the time of the 2013 elections various columnists were giving Turnbull credit for actually salvaging at least a version of the NBN - with a lot less fibre and a lot more copper as well as a lot less accessibility. We know how it went. The narrative now is that Turnbull curbed Abbott’s vandalism so we ended up with what we've got. Half a loaf is better than no bread etc etc. Believe it or disbelieve it. I blame Telstra's bloody mindedness in not coming on board at the beginning. I think the original Rudd idea was of a public/private partnership.
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Post by pim on Jan 22, 2016 17:15:15 GMT 10
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