Australian Politics, Mark II

#381

Toll clouds.

#382

As it stands, farmers don’t own the water that flows through their property, or on a border.

Currently in most places, farming property can have water rights that belong to the property, which farmers can use or sell both water and these rights.

It can be farcical though, as in times of water shortage, a farmer will pay a fee per megalitre for these rights each year even if they do not receive the water due to shortage if flows. Never seemed fair to me.

And of course because we are a capitalist nation, water as a commodity means in times if drought the cost per megalitre can go up, often ten times base cost or more. Farmers go broke, not because there is no water, but due to the cost of it being unsustainable, especially if they have fixed supply contracts with Coles or Woolies.

Places like Cubbie are just dumb, using scarce water resources for a water hungry activity, denying flows downstream for others and the environment.

There has to be a better way, perhaps no ownership or rights, and a fixed supply price totally regulated.

#383

‘Weak Turnbull up to his eyeballs in orange dye’

Michael Pascoe

“Just because preferences are directed to a party doesn’t mean that you support them, quite the contrary,” said Malcolm Turnbull in February, displaying all of a barrister’s skill in portraying white as black if it suits his case.

The occasion was a weak attempt to distance himself from the odour of the Liberal Party preferencing One Nation ahead of the Nationals, let alone Labor, in the WA state election.

Now, with Liberal Party preferencing One Nation ahead of Labor in the federal seat of Longman, there is no distancing. Mr Turnbull is up to his eyeballs in orange hair dye.

In Longman, the Liberals have told their supporters to put One Nation at No.7 and Labor at No.9, with One Nation returning the favour by putting the Liberals No.7 and Labor No.10.

This means “One Hanson” is now to the Liberal Party what the Greens are to Labor – fellow travellers walking arm-in-arm along a generally common road.

Or perhaps more accurately, One Hanson is the new Democratic Labor Party – Vince Gair’s DLP that delivered preferences to the Coalition for decades.

There’s no surprise. Federal Finance Minister Mathias Cormann was one of the architects of the WA state deal.

When what was left of the liberal Liberal Party was voicing disquiet, Senator Cormann was happy to defend the relationship – one that has continued to strengthen as he duchesses Ms Hanson through her Senate flip-flopping.

“If we wanted to minimise losses [and] maximise our chances of holding onto seats, we needed to be able to source preferences,” Senator Cormann said at the time.

“And clearly, these weren’t going to come from Labor and the Greens.”

For the Coalition’s more conservative elements, there’s no problem with One Hanson’s erratic, sectarian, racist populism, or its loopy economic fantasies.

For Mr Turnbull though, there’s no longer a possibility of denying the stink. It’s his. It’s the smell of lost hopes.

The Liberal Party’s defacto coalition with One Nation finishes whatever pretence of principled leadership Mr Turnbull once sought to portray. It’s purely about the keys to The Lodge, whatever it takes to keep his job.

Once you’ve kowtowed to Pauline Hanson, there’s nothing left.

Somewhere, an empty leather jacket.

#384

Best laugh I’ve had today, thanks

#385

People cheat the welfare system.
People cheat the Workcover system.
People cheat on their taxes.
People cheat on insurance probably.

Everyone cheats. When there’s money involved, people can’t help themselves.

It’s way easier to dehumanise and punch down on poor people because they can’t fight back.

#386

Shame around 55% of the electorate have no olfactory senses.

#387

Gough Whitlam was born 102 yrs ago today. Here’s what he did:

  • Introduced universal healthcare
  • & no-fault divorce
  • & Racial Discimination Act
  • & Trade Practices Act
  • & Family Court
  • & Legal Aid
  • Made unis free
  • Sewered poor suburbs
  • Ended (Cth) death penalty
  • Scrapped the draft
  • Started relations with China
  • Forbid ‘whites only’ sports teams
  • Voted for sanctions on apartheid South Africa at UN
  • Scrapped White Australia policy
  • Established Multiculturalism policy
  • Got France to stop Nuclear tests nearby
  • Reopened the women’s equal pay case at the Arbitration Commission
  • Set up women’s shelters
  • Made The Pill easier to get
  • Introduced single-mum welfare support
  • Established a “Women’s Adviser” to the PM (first in the world!)
  • Raised minimum local content standards meaning more Aussie stuff on TV/movies/radio/etc
  • Established Triple J, multicultural radio stations and FM radio
  • & Australian Film Commission
  • & Australian Council for the Arts
  • & National Gallery
  • Established Department of Aboriginal Affairs
  • Funded existing Aboriginal Legal Services
  • Set up new ones
  • Gave the Gurindji people deeds to part of their land
  • Pushed for more ATSI land
  • Introduced environmental protection laws
  • Ratified World Heritage Convention
  • Established protections for the Great Barrier Reef
  • Established Australian Heritage Commission

And more. That isn’t even all of it.

And Turnbull has done?

#388

He got rid of Tony Abbott

Never forget.

It was one of the greatest contributions to Australia.

#389

Ok, agreed. That’s a tick.

#390

He’s still with us and having an influence.

Half tick.

#391

NEG policy is close. Everything before this has been avoiding splitting the Liberal party over coal (see lack of leadership over energy causing all sorts of problems for years). The ACCC recommendations on energy have been reported as endorsements to building new coal fired capacity in Rupe’s rags and as endorsing a mix of renewables, gas and storage on the other side of the spectrum. Malc must be feeling the heat. If he doesn’t start playing the game his “Monash Forum” buddies want we could end up with a leadership spill on the eve of an election. If he stops trying to sit on the fence and does make concessions to coal thermal it’ll be a circus in the media with two thirds of it furiously turd polishing, the other calling it out as sheer economic and environmental vandalism and the public who are overwhelmingly in favour of renewables hopefully not losing their minds over propaganda again.

#392

Reckon Turnbull thinks he’ll stare down a challenge which will be the thing he needs to propel him into another term.

#393

I’m honestly surprised the Nationals haven’t gone hard at the Liberals, over the last 12 months.
The Free market and Small Government which LNP are putting into practice is destroying rural Australia. Farmers cannot compete in a free market. Country people rely on governement support and government employment to keep country towns a float.

The Free Market and ‘trickle down effect’ doesn’t cut it.

#394

That would be because the Nationals just blame everything on “greenies” and then kick back and let the donations and junkets roll in while doing SFA.

#395

Doesn’t help when the leader puts all the focus on himself and his days of our life private life. I reckon most of the Nationals just wanted to keep their heads down and hoe Barnaby would go away,

#396

Not for the rest of them who just sleep at their desks hoping no one notices and roll out the posters at election time, no.

#397

What a fantastic ‘sport’.

#398

All of that in less than three years.

#399

The Nationals don’t give a toss about rural Australia.

#400

That’s preposterous. How could we have possibly managed to pay for all of that?