Well the rorting Speaker and Deputy Speaker .... GAWN
And I’m led to believe there are at least 2 other ALP rorting members who represent Country regions but live full time in the city will be exposed soon
Where’s Dan?
Why are they rorting, when they are following the rules.
If anyone is cheating and committing fraud, then get the Police involved and charge them like they did with Peter Slipper and those others, like Kathy Jackson.
In my view the rules are too generous, but the Member for Melton has not lived in Melton for at least 5 years when his marriage dissolved and the Wife got the house. They can ask all they like for him to pay it back, but he doesn’t have the money; the joys of the Family Court.
Ah he’s one of those working poor politicians we hear about. FFS Fox, he’s on a base salary of about 150K & he’s been in politics since 1992. Did he buy up big in Pyramid, loves hookers, blow & the nags or are you trying to have a lend of us?
As I said JBomber, if anyone breaks the rules, commits fraud then call in the Police and lay charges and let the Law deal with it. Whether it be the Labor Member for Melton or a Liberal Federal Member taking private plane trips, or anyone else. This has always been my position and consistent every time it is raised.
I believe Politicians are underpayed, especially when they have to put up with blokes like me being in their face at every opportunity. These journalists love trolling through all the public records of parliament finances trying to create a story, playing on the envy of others.
Whether or not the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker showed good judgement is arguable, but as I understand there is no fraud, all was documented and disclosed appropriately.
I realize JBomber that you have a very different view of Politics and Politicians than me. I once aspired to seek office and could have won preselection, hence a gig in Parliament, but I declined, as I value my independence and decided it was not worth the sacrifices. I do admire those with the courage to have a go.
These media “revelations” just feed envy and are written to suggest the worst. Whether or not the Member for Melton spends his money on prostitution or gambling is none of my business. If he is using drugs, and I have no reason to think he is, then I would seek to help him.
Well the rorting Speaker and Deputy Speaker .... GAWN
And I’m led to believe there are at least 2 other ALP rorting members who represent Country regions but live full time in the city will be exposed soon
Where’s Dan?
Why are they rorting, when they are following the rules.
If anyone is cheating and committing fraud, then get the Police involved and charge them like they did with Peter Slipper and those others, like Kathy Jackson.
In my view the rules are too generous, but the Member for Melton has not lived in Melton for at least 5 years when his marriage dissolved and the Wife got the house. They can ask all they like for him to pay it back, but he doesn’t have the money; the joys of the Family Court.
Ah he’s one of those working poor politicians we hear about. FFS Fox, he’s on a base salary of about 150K & he’s been in politics since 1992. Did he buy up big in Pyramid, loves hookers, blow & the nags or are you trying to have a lend of us?
As I said JBomber, if anyone breaks the rules, commits fraud then call in the Police and lay charges and let the Law deal with it. Whether it be the Labor Member for Melton or a Liberal Federal Member taking private plane trips, or anyone else. This has always been my position and consistent every time it is raised.
I believe Politicians are underpayed, especially when they have to put up with blokes like me being in their face at every opportunity. These journalists love trolling through all the public records of parliament finances trying to create a story, playing on the envy of others.
Whether or not the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker showed good judgement is arguable, but as I understand there is no fraud, all was documented and disclosed appropriately.
I realize JBomber that you have a very different view of Politics and Politicians than me. I once aspired to seek office and could have won preselection, hence a gig in Parliament, but I declined, as I value my independence and decided it was not worth the sacrifices. I do admire those with the courage to have a go.
These media “revelations” just feed envy and are written to suggest the worst. Whether or not the Member for Melton spends his money on prostitution or gambling is none of my business. If he is using drugs, and I have no reason to think he is, then I would seek to help him.
Your belief that 150K plus generous entitlements is somehow underpaid doesn’t really address the issue of why he is living so far from the people he’s meant to be representing & why you believe he doesn’t have the money to pay it back if asked to. Do you believe their salaries make living in Melton unaffordable? The median house price is less than 300K, the prices where he is actually living are nearly double. This is clearly rorting. Sure we can agree that its not fraud but that doesn’t make it right no matter who does it. Its exactly this type of rorting which strengthens mine & the many others opinions that pollies are not necessarily people to be admired & certainly not worthy of being paid more as a collective. What I’m not sure of is why you have tried to somehow justify his decision to move from the place he’s meant to represent to a far more appealing suburb? What relevance does his divorce have to that decision? Again he is meant to represent the Melton area, do you believe that job isn’t compromised by living so far away, regardless of what the rules may be, can you at least recognise that the perception that pollies are out touch with their electorates is validated by these types of cases?
Well the rorting Speaker and Deputy Speaker .... GAWN
And I’m led to believe there are at least 2 other ALP rorting members who represent Country regions but live full time in the city will be exposed soon
Where’s Dan?
Why are they rorting, when they are following the rules.
If anyone is cheating and committing fraud, then get the Police involved and charge them like they did with Peter Slipper and those others, like Kathy Jackson.
In my view the rules are too generous, but the Member for Melton has not lived in Melton for at least 5 years when his marriage dissolved and the Wife got the house. They can ask all they like for him to pay it back, but he doesn’t have the money; the joys of the Family Court.
Ah he’s one of those working poor politicians we hear about. FFS Fox, he’s on a base salary of about 150K & he’s been in politics since 1992. Did he buy up big in Pyramid, loves hookers, blow & the nags or are you trying to have a lend of us?
As I said JBomber, if anyone breaks the rules, commits fraud then call in the Police and lay charges and let the Law deal with it. Whether it be the Labor Member for Melton or a Liberal Federal Member taking private plane trips, or anyone else. This has always been my position and consistent every time it is raised.
I believe Politicians are underpayed, especially when they have to put up with blokes like me being in their face at every opportunity. These journalists love trolling through all the public records of parliament finances trying to create a story, playing on the envy of others.
Whether or not the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker showed good judgement is arguable, but as I understand there is no fraud, all was documented and disclosed appropriately.
I realize JBomber that you have a very different view of Politics and Politicians than me. I once aspired to seek office and could have won preselection, hence a gig in Parliament, but I declined, as I value my independence and decided it was not worth the sacrifices. I do admire those with the courage to have a go.
These media “revelations” just feed envy and are written to suggest the worst. Whether or not the Member for Melton spends his money on prostitution or gambling is none of my business. If he is using drugs, and I have no reason to think he is, then I would seek to help him.
Your belief that 150K plus generous entitlements is somehow underpaid doesn’t really address the issue of why he is living so far from the people he’s meant to be representing & why you believe he doesn’t have the money to pay it back if asked to. Do you believe their salaries make living in Melton unaffordable? The median house price is less than 300K, the prices where he is actually living are nearly double. This is clearly rorting. Sure we can agree that its not fraud but that doesn’t make it right no matter who does it. Its exactly this type of rorting which strengthens mine & the many others opinions that pollies are not necessarily people to be admired & certainly not worthy of being paid more as a collective. What I’m not sure of is why you have tried to somehow justify his decision to move from the place he’s meant to represent to a far more appealing suburb? What relevance does his divorce have to that decision? Again he is meant to represent the Melton area, do you believe that job isn’t compromised by living so far away, regardless of what the rules may be, can you at least recognise that the perception that pollies are out touch with their electorates is validated by these types of cases?
I am not trying to justify actions of any Pollie, and I offer no moral judgement either. As far as I know, no rules were broken, so why is it any of our business. Change the rules if they are wrong, but why abuse anyone for staying within them.
If I was the Member for Melton, I would live there. Mrs Fox would leave me and my family would never visit, but I would live there. I recall many years ago working for the Member for Maribyrnong at his Moonee Ponds office, and he lived in Kew. Whether he lives in Melton, or Ocean Grove makes no difference to doing his job. Actually Bacchus Marsh is in his patch and I have been suggesting for years that he move here, probably too close to me.
As I understand there is no compulsion to live in your electorate. At times when I was Mayor, living in the middle of Town suffering abuse and scorn, made me feel like moving.
I have known the Member for Melton for twenty years, he is a good friend. I am not going to judge his actions, especially on Blitz, friends don’t do that. And I am not defending him, just pointing out that no matter what you and I think, any money he received was within the entitlements of the job. For what is is worth, paying some-one an extra $40k a year to have to drive about an hour to get home is a relic of the past and is generous, but it is legally available in his package. I do not believe he needs to pay anything back.
Well the rorting Speaker and Deputy Speaker .... GAWN
And I’m led to believe there are at least 2 other ALP rorting members who represent Country regions but live full time in the city will be exposed soon
Where’s Dan?
Why are they rorting, when they are following the rules.
If anyone is cheating and committing fraud, then get the Police involved and charge them like they did with Peter Slipper and those others, like Kathy Jackson.
In my view the rules are too generous, but the Member for Melton has not lived in Melton for at least 5 years when his marriage dissolved and the Wife got the house. They can ask all they like for him to pay it back, but he doesn’t have the money; the joys of the Family Court.
Ah he’s one of those working poor politicians we hear about. FFS Fox, he’s on a base salary of about 150K & he’s been in politics since 1992. Did he buy up big in Pyramid, loves hookers, blow & the nags or are you trying to have a lend of us?
As I said JBomber, if anyone breaks the rules, commits fraud then call in the Police and lay charges and let the Law deal with it. Whether it be the Labor Member for Melton or a Liberal Federal Member taking private plane trips, or anyone else. This has always been my position and consistent every time it is raised.
I believe Politicians are underpayed, especially when they have to put up with blokes like me being in their face at every opportunity. These journalists love trolling through all the public records of parliament finances trying to create a story, playing on the envy of others.
Whether or not the Speaker or the Deputy Speaker showed good judgement is arguable, but as I understand there is no fraud, all was documented and disclosed appropriately.
I realize JBomber that you have a very different view of Politics and Politicians than me. I once aspired to seek office and could have won preselection, hence a gig in Parliament, but I declined, as I value my independence and decided it was not worth the sacrifices. I do admire those with the courage to have a go.
These media “revelations” just feed envy and are written to suggest the worst. Whether or not the Member for Melton spends his money on prostitution or gambling is none of my business. If he is using drugs, and I have no reason to think he is, then I would seek to help him.
Your belief that 150K plus generous entitlements is somehow underpaid doesn’t really address the issue of why he is living so far from the people he’s meant to be representing & why you believe he doesn’t have the money to pay it back if asked to. Do you believe their salaries make living in Melton unaffordable? The median house price is less than 300K, the prices where he is actually living are nearly double. This is clearly rorting. Sure we can agree that its not fraud but that doesn’t make it right no matter who does it. Its exactly this type of rorting which strengthens mine & the many others opinions that pollies are not necessarily people to be admired & certainly not worthy of being paid more as a collective. What I’m not sure of is why you have tried to somehow justify his decision to move from the place he’s meant to represent to a far more appealing suburb? What relevance does his divorce have to that decision? Again he is meant to represent the Melton area, do you believe that job isn’t compromised by living so far away, regardless of what the rules may be, can you at least recognise that the perception that pollies are out touch with their electorates is validated by these types of cases?
I am not trying to justify actions of any Pollie, and I offer no moral judgement either. As far as I know, no rules were broken, so why is it any of our business. Change the rules if they are wrong, but why abuse anyone for staying within them.
If I was the Member for Melton, I would live there. Mrs Fox would leave me and my family would never visit, but I would live there. I recall many years ago working for the Member for Maribyrnong at his Moonee Ponds office, and he lived in Kew. Whether he lives in Melton, or Ocean Grove makes no difference to doing his job. Actually Bacchus Marsh is in his patch and I have been suggesting for years that he move here, probably too close to me.
As I understand there is no compulsion to live in your electorate. At times when I was Mayor, living in the middle of Town suffering abuse and scorn, made me feel like moving.
I have known the Member for Melton for twenty years, he is a good friend. I am not going to judge his actions, especially on Blitz, friends don’t do that. And I am not defending him, just pointing out that no matter what you and I think, any money he received was within the entitlements of the job. For what is is worth, paying some-one an extra $40k a year to have to drive about an hour to get home is a relic of the past and is generous, but it is legally available in his package. I do not believe he needs to pay anything back.
I think not living anywhere near the area he represents absolutely effects his job & at a minimum it contributes to the poor perception of pollies as a whole. As for why is it “our business”, I think you know why - he’s rorted over 100K from taxpayers. Again I know its not fraud, I know he hasn’t broken any specific rules but can you at least recognise its a clear as day rort & he deserves to be scrutinised for it. The allowance isn’t necessarily the problem, it was set up for legitimate claims where representatives come from regional areas. In those cases the pollies live in the areas they represent & have no choice but to commute long distances to attend Parliament. The alternative is simply have a group of inner city pollies who are somehow meant to represent the whole state - do you really think not living in the area isn’t an issue in that scenario? In this case Nardella has chosen to leave his electorate & move to an area completely detached from his electorate & its issues. Did he choose to do that only to exploit the allowances - is that not a question that should be asked? I don’t think spending his time in his electorate rather than working out ways to extort extra money is an un reasonable expectation to have on pollies. Again his actions highlight why many people are disillusioned with politics - if you can’t understand why then you IMHO are also out of touch with expectations. Just as certain as Bishop was rorting her entitlements, Nardella is very clearly rorting his & I think the expectation from the majority would be that he should pay it back & either move back to he electorate or be removed from office.
I can understand Federal pollies not living in their electorates as they are hardly ever home anyway.
No excuse for state pollies.
On another note, why am I not surprised that Shorten lives in Kew.
Again though, do we really want a bunch of people who live in Canberra representing the entire country? I believe that would be fundamentally against the whole idea of a representative democracy. I agree its more an issue at state level. I’m not THAT fussed that Shorten doesn’t live directly in his electorate but I think the people of that electorate have every right to be disappointed & point out it might appear hypocritical of him to play the working class champion while choosing to live in upper class areas. My main point is that once again pollies actions do not fit with public expectations & its why they have such a poor image.
The thing about Nardella and Languiller is they have both resigned when found out…and not been defended for their actions by Andrews (compared to how Shaw was handled by Napthine, when first discovered).
All lower house reps are elected to a constituency seat. They are gaming the system by living down the Bellarine peninsula. That is what is wrong, irrespective of it being within the rules and any financial hardship and the relevant cost compared to what the taxpayer forked out for Sussan Ley chartering aircraft to keep her pilot licence.
A person in financial hardship on that sort of salary who tries to supplement their salary by gaming the system could be a candidate for corruption. That is why it does not meet community expectations.
There is nothing wrong with having more than one residence, the allowance relates to designated primary place of residence.
BTW, Gillard's primary place of residence - Altona - was in her seat. Some sneered at the modesty of her house, .others could relate to her modest lifestyle.
It should be a condition for preselection that the candidate lives - and continues to live- in the electorate.
I understand with the ALP it was a condition of Labor preselection, but this caused issues when electoral boundaries changed, and especially when they wanted to find “safe” seats for blokes like RJ Hawke who didn’t live in Coburg, but in Sandringham.
He was NOT entitled to these payments hence why he chose to move to an area where he could exploit the rules. There's a very very big difference & its why he's had to resign. Its got nothing at all to do with envy & everything to do with standards. I get that he's your friend & socialist left comrade but if you can't at least see where he's strayed a long way from whats expected of pollies then I genuinely believe your moral compass is off. There are loads of entitlements pollies can access & the massive majority of these legitimate claims do not warrant investigation let alone resignations when exposed. This particular entitlement was introduced for rural pollies, not people who can't stand to live anywhere near the people they claim to represent. Again its a clear as day rort, you say you don't want to defend him but you are.
Like you say once upon a time you went to your local member, now your local member is 80km away & is removed from all the local issues. Seeing any problem at all yet?
It seems he was entitled to the payments, whether he deserved them or not may be the question I will ask him tomorrow. I am surprised he resigned, but if you read the press release from Daniel Andrews, he seems pretty cool towards the Melton MP which suggests to me he was pushed.
There is a fully staffed electorate office in Melton and the local Member is very active in the area whenever he is not in Parliament. I do have it on good authority that he will not stand again for preselection.
My moral compass works very well for me. I really do not have the same moral indignation that you do for this media beat-up. I save my disgust for real issues, like taking welfare off the poor and disabled, and total disregard for environmental challenges, and of course priests raping children.
The Liberals will lose the next election then. No way does Dutton improve their standing, I’m guessing the Liberals will be focusing on One Nation to get their base back which means they will lose the middle.
It means this government is a lame duck government 6 months into the term. 6 years of Liberal government were they have achieved nothing of note for Australia. We all lose out of that.
Back in 2015, the electorate wanted Turnbull but a majority of the Libs wanted Abbott policies.
The Libs got rid of Abbot, but bound Turnbull to Abbott’s policies.
Now the electorate has Turnbull with Abbott’s policies, but have made it clear they’re not happy with that.
The Libs seem to have decided that the solution to their problem is to get rid of Turnbull (who was implementing Abbott’s policies), and replace him with someone more like Abbott, who will implement policies very close to Abbott’s.
Do you think it’s ever occurred to them that it’s the policies that are the problem?
The below is why the Liberals are abandoning the middle and desperately cling to Abott’s policies.
A ReachTEL poll of George Christensen’s seat of Dawson, conducted for The Australia Institute, has Christensen neck and neck with One Nation, at 30.4% and 30.0% respectively, with Labor on 25.2%, the Greens on 2.6% and 7.4% undecided. A two-party split of 57.7-42.3 on a LNP-versus-Labor basis is provided, but on those numbers it would be Labor preferences deciding the result between Christensen and One Nation. Other findings from the poll relate to company tax and renewable energy. The poll was conducted last Monday from a sample of 863.
Back in 2015, the electorate wanted Turnbull but a majority of the Libs wanted Abbott policies.
The Libs got rid of Abbot, but bound Turnbull to Abbott's policies.
Now the electorate has Turnbull with Abbott's policies, but have made it clear they're not happy with that.
The Libs seem to have decided that the solution to their problem is to get rid of Turnbull (who was implementing Abbott's policies), and replace him with someone more like Abbott, who will implement policies very close to Abbott's.
Do you think it’s ever occurred to them that it’s the policies that are the problem?
The ‘electorate’ has never wanted Turnbull - ■■■■■■ hell, the election results make it blatantly obvious. Not sure if people want pictures or something drawn for them.
One (Abbott) led the Liberals to a decisive victory. The other (Turnbull) managed to squander this lead and fall over the line against an opposition leader who has the personality and charisma of an inanimate carbon rod.
The problem is (and you guys won’t understand this) that the Liberal Party has been listening to the media and the chattering classes and ignoring the swinging voter- which is middle class suburbia, ie Howard’s battlers.
Instead it has stupidly been focusing on inner city issues that matter only to about 5% of the population and who would never vote Liberal anyway.
The Liberals need to grow some balls and start being decisive Trump style. Will never happen under Turnbull. He is a ditherer who has nothing in common with suburbia. And its embarrassing when he attempts it.
Dutton is basically the only senior Liberal who has the strength to withstand the attacks and push back against them.
The 'electorate' has never wanted Turnbull - ■■■■■■ hell, the election results make it blatantly obvious. Not sure if people want pictures or something drawn for them.
One (Abbott) led the Liberals to a decisive victory. The other (Turnbull) managed to squander this lead and fall over the line against an opposition leader who has the personality and charisma of an inanimate carbon rod.
The problem is (and you guys won’t understand this) that the Liberal Party has been listening to the media and the chattering classes and ignoring the swinging voter- which is middle class suburbia, ie Howard’s battlers.
Instead it has stupidly been focusing on inner city issues that matter only to about 5% of the population and who would never vote Liberal anyway.
The Liberals need to grow some balls and start being decisive Trump style. Will never happen under Turnbull. He is a ditherer who has nothing in common with suburbia. And its embarrassing when he attempts it.
Dutton is basically the only senior Liberal who has the strength to withstand the attacks and push back against them.
No other choice in my opinion.
When you reach voting age, then you may get to be involved
If Abbott had still have been PM at last years election, then Bill shorten would be PM now.
It is over two years until the next election is due; no need to shaft Turnbull yet and Labor is more than capable of shafting itself. I just hope they bring back Abbott so we can have some real interesting news, and PM Tony would get on so well POTUS Drump.
The 'electorate' has never wanted Turnbull - ■■■■■■ hell, the election results make it blatantly obvious. Not sure if people want pictures or something drawn for them.
One (Abbott) led the Liberals to a decisive victory. The other (Turnbull) managed to squander this lead and fall over the line against an opposition leader who has the personality and charisma of an inanimate carbon rod.
The problem is (and you guys won’t understand this) that the Liberal Party has been listening to the media and the chattering classes and ignoring the swinging voter- which is middle class suburbia, ie Howard’s battlers.
Instead it has stupidly been focusing on inner city issues that matter only to about 5% of the population and who would never vote Liberal anyway.
The Liberals need to grow some balls and start being decisive Trump style. Will never happen under Turnbull. He is a ditherer who has nothing in common with suburbia. And its embarrassing when he attempts it.
Dutton is basically the only senior Liberal who has the strength to withstand the attacks and push back against them.
No other choice in my opinion.
When you reach voting age, then you may get to be involved
If Abbott had still have been PM at last years election, then Bill shorten would be PM now.
It is over two years until the next election is due; no need to shaft Turnbull yet and Labor is more than capable of shafting itself. I just hope they bring back Abbott so we can have some real interesting news, and PM Tony would get on so well POTUS Drump.
Well, we will never know the answer to that question. I for one think Abbott would have lost seats but still won the election reasonably comfortably.
As has been shown, nobody thought Brexit would get over the line or that Trump would be President. The history of pundits getting recent election results right has been hopelessly embarrassing so taking a contrary position is usually the right position.