Are you Kevin Rudd in disguise?

In July 2009, the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, in Berlin for a five-day European tour challenged German translators with his "Rudd-speak".

While addressing German press and Chancellor Angela Merkel, Mr Rudd said it was unlikely any progress would emerge from the Major Economies Forum (MEF) "by way of detailed programmatic specificity".

The line had German translators scrambling for a meaning.

THE Prime Minister's calls for "detailed programmatic specificity" confuses more than German translators, the Australian Opposition Leader said.

When asked about the Prime Minister's choice of words in Perth today, the Opposition Leader said Mr Rudd would be better to use clear, plain English.

The Oppostion Leader admitted he personally had "no idea what (programmatic specificity) means".

Labor wins 20% swing in Stafford by-election

DateJuly 19, 2014 - 7:50PM

Cameron Atfield

Brisbane Times and Sun-Herald journalist

The Newman government has suffered its second by-election loss this year, with a massive swing towards Labor in Stafford.

With 68.6 per cent of the vote counted the Liberal National Party’s Bob Andersen had suffered a 17.3 per cent primary vote swing against the party.

The Greens’ vote was also up 1.3 per cent, but with Labor candidate Anthony Lynham attracting 50.4 per cent of the primary vote their preferences would not be needed to see the ALP increase its representation in Parliament from eight to nine.

The two-party preferred swing to Labor was just over 20 per cent, meaning maxillofacial surgeon Dr Lynham appeared likely to finish the night as the newly elected member for Stafford.



On a two-party preferred basis Dr Lynham led Mr Andersen 62.2 per cent to 37.8 per cent.

If such a swing was replicated across Queensland at next year’s state election, the LNP would lose 48 seats – and government.

The Stafford by-election was forced by the resignation of former assistant health minister Chris Davis after philosophical differences with the Newman government about doctors’ contracts and electoral donation laws.

The LNP also suffered a significant swing in February’s Redcliffe by-election, which saw former federal MP Yvette D’Ath swept into office with a 17.2 swing away from the Newman government.

While the stench of disgraced former LNP MP Scott Driscoll aided that result, the Driscoll factor could not be blamed for the party’s poor showing in Stafford.


Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/labor-wins-20-swing-in-stafford-byelection-20140719-zuvom.html#ixzz37vKZMVyZ

MH17 crash: Russia furious at 'unacceptable' Tony Abbott comments

DateJuly 19, 2014
Mark Kenny

Moscow has voiced anger over being blamed by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott for the downing of a Malaysia passenger jet over eastern Ukraine that killed all 298 people on board, calling his comments "unacceptable".

"Without bothering himself about evidence and operating only on speculation, Mr T. Abbott assigned guilt," the foreign ministry said in a statement. "Abbott's statements are unacceptable."

On Friday, Australia issued a blunt ultimatum to Moscow and was reconsidering Vladimir Putin's attendance at the G20 in November as the world reeled from the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17, killing 298 people - 28 of them Australians.

Declaring the tragedy was not an accident, Mr Abbott said Russia now faced a crucial test of its international citizenship, as he called on the international community to take the strongest possible action to ensure such an "appalling crime" can never be repeated.

The forceful comments came after Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop emerged from a meeting with Russia's ambassador to Australia Vladimir Morozov, to reveal Moscow had denied the involvement of pro-Russian rebels and attempted to lay the blame at Ukraine's feet.

Overnight, a US official in Washington said a preliminary US intelligence assessment indicated that MH17 was shot down by an anti-aircraft missile fired by pro-Russian separatists.

Meanwhile, commentary from China's state-owned Xinhua news agency described the reaction by Australia and the US as "rash", and warned Western nations against rushing to implicate Russia.

With the weight of the events clearly visible on his face, Mr Abbott on Friday said he was angry at the loss of innocent Australian lives and was deeply unsatisfied at Russia's denials of any culpability.

 

He said he took the dimmest possible view of countries that facilitated the killing of Australian citizens - a reference to the use of a sophisticated Russian-supplied surface-to-air missile system to shoot the airliner from the sky at its cruising altitude of 33,000 feet.

Confirming a total death toll of 298, Mr Abbott listed the nationalities as "Netherlands 155, Malaysia 43, Indonesia 12, United Kingdom 9, Germany 4, Belgium 4, Philippines 3, Canada 1." There are still 41 whose nationalities remain unconfirmed.

"The advice I have is that the final number of Australians aboard is 28," he said.

Of those, seven were from Queensland, 10 from Victoria, seven from Western Australia, three from NSW and one from the Australian Capital Territory. The Northern Territory's chief minister, Adam Giles, has also said three Territorians were aboard the plane. The final number of Australian deaths remains fluid and may exceed 28 because permanent residents may have been using passports from other countries.

He said a national day of mourning has been agreed to with a date to be fixed and announced that he and Governor-General Peter Cosgrove would attend church services on Saturday and Sunday.

Earlier, Mr Abbott had convened a snap meeting of the National Security Committee in Canberra after news broke that a Boeing 777 flight from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur had been shot down over east Ukraine.

It will also use its membership of the UN Security Council to push for absolute unfettered access to the crash site, the black box, and any witnesses, in a move already provoking Russian resistance.

The atrocity has sparked questions over why the Malaysian carrier was still using a flight path over the Ukrainian war zone, when other airlines, including Qantas, had changed their flight paths in recent months due to an increase in the intensity of fighting in the area.

But it has also brought harsh criticism of Russia's sponsorship of the bloody Ukrainian civil war. It has been widely speculated that Russian-backed rebels used a Russian-supplied missile to bring down the aircraft.

Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, one of at least three world leaders with whom Mr Abbott spoke on Friday, said his country was devastated.

"The whole of the Netherlands is in mourning ... this beautiful summer day has ended in the blackest possible way," he said.

Ukraine's Petro Poroshenko, whose country is being ripped apart by the Russian-backed rebels, described it bluntly as "a terrorist attack".

"I want to draw your attention to the fact the we call it neither accident nor catastrophe."

Shortly after the National Security Committee meeting, an ashen-faced Mr Abbott made a sombre but determined statement to the federal Parliament vowing to pursue those responsible and advising that Australia would use its membership of the United Nations Security Council - of which the Russian Federation is a permanent member - to secure full co-operation from the Russian government and rebels controlling the crash site.

"Australia will be working at the United Nations Security Council for a binding resolution calling for a full and impartial investigation with full access to the site, with full access to the debris, with full access to the black box and with full access to all individuals who might be in a position to shed light on this terrible event," Mr Abbott said.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten mirrored the comments pledging unconditional support for the government in whatever action it decides to take up to and including the option of revoking Mr Putin's invitation to the G20 in Brisbane in November.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a full and independent investigation into the atrocity as other world leaders also expressed profound sorrow for countries who lost nationals and used tough language to condemn the Russian-backed insurgency.

The West's response depends on whether Russia continues to deny the involvement of its secessionist supporters and obstructs the pursuit of justice.

One senior source said if that were to happen, things could get "messy" and the West would likely have to pursue significantly tighter sanctions aimed at Mr Putin.

Peter Jennings, executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said direct military action was unlikely, though the West could look at providing military equipment to the Ukrainians.

"It's a serious geopolitical issue. It lifts Russia back to being the bad boy threat of the Soviet days," he said.

"[But] neither NATO nor the US has an appetite to do anything on the ground. It would be a combination of tougher sanctions and more open support of Ukrainians, for example, providing them with their own military hardware."

One example might be to provide the Ukrainians with Patriot anti-missile batteries, as the the Ukrainian air force does not have strong self-defence capabilities.

The sophistication of the missile system that shot down the plane pointed to the possibility that Moscow was supplying the secessionists, he said, which also raised the question of whether tighter arms controls were needed.

And in the longer term, the West might have to look at more robust warning and alert rules for international aviation, given the Malaysia Airlines flight had passed through risky air space.

Mr Abbott said the perpetrators had to be brought to justice for the families and the world.

"Madam Speaker, we owe it to the dead and their families, we owe it to the peace and stability of the wider world to establish the facts and we will do all we humanly can to bring that about," he told Parliament.

He also left little doubt as to the message he wanted understood in Moscow.

"Let me conclude with this, the bullying of small countries by big ones, the trampling of justice and decency in the pursuit of national aggrandisement and reckless indifference to human life should have no place in our world."

Ms Bishop called in Russia's ambassador talks in Sydney, emerging afterwards to reveal that Moscow denied that pro-Russian separatists were culpable.

Asked if she was satisfied with Russia's explanation that it had occurred in Ukrainian territory, Ms Bishop was blunt.

"I understand it came down in the eastern Ukraine, which is a separatist-held region, pro-Russian separatist area," she said.

"What we are calling for and what we intend to establish through the UN Security Council is an investigation that would get to the bottom of who was responsible for this unspeakable crime, and that they be brought to account and we seek the support and full cooperation of Russia, Ukraine, the international community."

With James Massola, Reuters



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/mh17-crash-russia-furious-at-unacceptable-tony-abbott-comments-20140719-zuq68.html#ixzz37vO5wL2r

Carn Tone, get stuck in lad.

-PB

I don't care for Abbot, but i support his statement fully.

I couldn't give a fuck if the Russians are offended, it's their proxy war and they fucked up. It's about time Putins ambitions where given a kick in the teeth and NATO and the USA must step up and condemn him and Russia.

If America steps up watch all the anti American sentiments around the world ark up , their dammed if they do dammed if they don't

Have you guys noticed how the strength of a country's criticism against Russia is directly proportionate to its distance from their missile range? And/or proximity to fossil fuels.

[youtube]3DjqtFlOrGg[/youtube]

-PB

Terror touches down

DateAugust 7, 2014

Nick McKenzie, Richard Baker

Hundreds of pages of leaked government documents reveal Australia's immigration department is in turmoil.

Rampant visa fraud and migration crime involving people flying into Australia are going unchecked while the government focuses on stopping boats, according to secret government files detailing entrenched Immigration Department failings.

Hundreds of pages of leaked confidential departmental documents obtained by Fairfax Media reveal that Australia's national security is being compromised by wide-scale visa rorting and migration rackets operating with impunity, including some with links to terrorism or organised crime.

The confidential Immigration Department files reveal repeated internal warnings over several years that widespread visa fraud is "business as usual yet remains largely untreated" because the department's investigation and enforcement capacity has collapsed.

Secret departmental operations have estimated that as many as nine in 10 skilled migrant visas may be fraudulent, while an internal inquiry into Afghan visa applicants in 2012 assessed that more than 90 per cent of cases contained "fraud of some type" and raised "people smuggling, identity fraud, suspected child trafficking and national security implications".

Also, a 2010 report reveals that immigration investigators had uncovered a Somali people-smuggling cell in Melbourne linked to terrorist suspect Hussein Hashi Farah, who "is believed to have links to the al-Qaeda offshoot al-Shabab" and who fled Kenyan counterterrorism officials using an Australian passport in 2010.

But the departmental file shows that a 2009 investigation into the cell's activities was "deemed low priority and ceased due to a lack of resources".

Another file details a migration crime network involving a facilitator with suspected Pakistan terrorist links, along with "migration agents, employers and education providers who are linked to a significant level of organised fraud and crime".

Fairfax Media has confirmed this network was never properly probed, allowing many of its members - including federal government licensed agents - to continue to operate.

The leaked files also reveal:

■ Tens of thousands of immigration fraudsters living freely after being assisted by migration crime networks exploiting weaknesses in working, student, family and humanitarian visa programs, including loopholes that have left the department sometimes ''generating the fraud''.

■ The department is ''responsible for granting a record number of student visas to people who may not be considered genuine students as well as granting permanent residence to skilled migration applicants who do not have the appropriate skills being claimed''.

■ In 2013, department chiefs were warned in a confidential report that the agency's investigations arm had collapsed, risking ''the integrity of its programs and ultimately national security''.

The February 2013 ''report relating to the agency's declining capacity to investigate fraud against its own programs'' was written by still-serving immigration official and former assistant director of investigations Wayne Sievers.

It states: ''The investigation network is now in a far worse condition than at any time in its history.

''Major organisers of fraud on Australia's immigration and citizenship programs realistically need have little fear of detection, arrest and prosecution.''

Fairfax Media has also obtained new departmental data that suggests weaknesses in the skilled worker visa programs are increasingly being exploited, with thousands of foreign cooks and accountants being given visas despite an excess of local candidates.

Monash University immigration expert Bob Birrell, who has reviewed the data, said the revelations exposed a ''massive double standard'' involving successive governments cracking down on boat arrivals while ignoring migration fraud and rorting involving plane arrivals.

''The debate has been dominated by the boat people issue,'' he said. ''It's about time it turned to what really is an even more serious issue, which is this vastly excessive overall [visa] program, and lack of attention to managing it.''

Migration lawyer Nigel Dobbie said the Immigration Department needed an urgent injection of at least $500 million to enable it to operate effectively.

A spokeswoman for Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said the allegations about administration under the previous government were serious and went to the integrity of Australia's immigration program.

The minister would seek an urgent report from his department on the issues raised and consider further action.

Immigration Department insiders have warned that investigation failures are set to worsen with the merger of the Immigration and Customs departments into a ''border force'' in 2015 because of corresponding budget cuts, and uncertainty as the new agency ''finds its feet''.

The leaked documents cover a period between 2008 and 2013 and consistently show far greater rates of migration fraud than has been publicly revealed, along with warnings that the department was failing to combat it.

A 2010 report states that ''evidence uncovered to date indicates that fraud within the General Skilled Migration program is extensive with estimates at around 90 per cent [or] more than 40,000 suspect visa applications lodged per year for the last three years''.

The report warns that ''resourcing constraints presently restrict'' the department's ''ability to adequately address these issues''.

In 2012, immigration officials assessing Afghan applications noted that ''fraud is now 'business as usual' ''. They also noted the ''considerable concern'' about the department's inability to counter it.

A 2010 report into a Somali people-smuggling network stated that despite evidence pointing to multiple breaches of the Criminal Code Act and the Migration Act, the department had secured ''only one minor prosecution''. ''Media attention and three PMQ's [prime minister briefings] on this issue have not been enough for the government to address this situation,'' the immigration file states.

A 2009 report reveals that the ''student visa program is failing'', ''the general skilled migration program is failing'' and the falsifying of qualifications was ''prolific''.

Sources said although policy changes - including an overhaul of the student visa system in 2010 and new anti-fraud rules - made it harder to rort some visa types, there has been no effort to repair the decline in the investigation arm.


Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/terror-touches-down-20140806-3d8wj.html#ixzz39eNJnMCQ

Fantastic, more ammunition for that prick Morrison to scream and lecture about. One of the most annoying god bothering torries I've seen in my lifetime.

In Newcastle the corruption scandal has apparently increased, the mayor Tim Owen is expected to stand down, McCloy (an absolute rich prick btw) is being investigated and Peta Credland's husband has been implicated.

http://www.theherald.com.au/story/2469224/icac-the-bentley-and-the-bag-of-money-poll/?cs=305

Edited by marconi101: 7/8/2014 09:13:54 AM

Fucking Brandis and his fail interview about metadata.

Fuck me, why can't they just put up people who know what the fuck they're talking about when it comes to shit like this and the NBN?

Can't wait until all of these useless kunts are gone from politics.

-PB

Because misinformation is the name of the game. If the truth about what they're asking ISPs to store, that it will do little to prevent terrorism, the fact it's going to cost us money and that there are easy ways to circumvent it came out, it would never fly.

Classic m8s r8s

-PB

Ask Tone if they're imposing sanctions like the US and Europe over this if he's so offended.

What's that? He's not implementing sanctions!?

Oh, so all talk, no action then.

What a cock.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/mh17-australia-cool-on-expanding-sanctions-against-russia-as-access-to-crash-site-thwarted-again-20140730-3csxv.html

Probably impose sanctions on Thailand because of Gammy.

So I just happened to be at a CPA rally the other day. Not intentionally, however my intrigue meant that I was unable to stay away.

It is fair to say that I am a far left wing supporter, however what I saw at this rally was a disgrace and showed why there will not be a viable socialist alternative any time soon. Disorganised, no coherent idea, too many conspiracy theories, no direction.

I would never have considered the CPA a viable alternative anyway seeing as many of them think that North Korea, USSR, China style Socialism is actually how it is supposed to work, of course not realising that it is more akin to Facism not Socialism. Many of those I spoke to on the day would have made decent Liberal voters which is a tad ironic.

could also be the size of it's military and the size of it'a allies military??

The fringes on both sides are bizarre.

Eric Abetz draws link between abortion and breast cancer before World Congress of Families



This guy is such a worm. His voice is the kind that makes your skin crawl.

Literally a rapey voice.

-PB

Nothing worse than authoritarianism. Left or right wing.

So in response to Abbott's comments towards Russia and Putin himself, Russia's put a ban on all Australian Imports.

Looks like Paladisious won't be able to spread Vegemite on his toast in a morning. Stock up while you can. :lol:

the far left are nuts and useful idiots however I agree that many of them that identify as left wing socialists actually support more tenets of fascism

its hardly surprising given they're both flavours of collectivism aka socialism

Russia has banned all EU, American and Australian products.

:lol: Thanks for your concern.

John Hewson says Joe Hockey’s unpopular budget won’t fix soaring unemployment figures

This story was published: 15 hours ago August 08, 2014 8:08PM

AUSTRALIA now has an unemployment rate higher than the US. Is it time we accepted Joe Hockey’s unpopular budget measures? Not according to one former Liberal leader.

John Hewson, who led the Liberal party between 1990 and 1994, said Australia’s economy needed reform but told news.com.au “there’s none of that in (Mr Hockey’s) budget”.

The Treasurer is using the soaring jobless rate to justify the need for reforms contained in the budget, including a new fund to spur investment in construction projects.

“Doing nothing about the budget position is not an option, the status quo is not an option. ‘She’ll be right’ is not a policy,” he told The Australian.

“And it’s as much a call to the independents in the Senate as it is to the Labor Party and the Greens. If you care about job creation and employment, then back the budget, and back the budget now.”

But Mr Hewson, who is an economist who has worked for the Australian Treasury, the Reserve Bank and the International Monetary Fund, does not believe backing the budget will improve unemployment.

“It’s not good economic policy, it’s not a good budget strategy and it will probably prove not to be a good political strategy,” he told news.com.au.

Mr Hewson, who tried to push through GST reform but lost the 1993 election, said the budget had been an opportunity for the government to set out Australia’s transition away from a resource-based economy, reliant on mining profits, but it had failed to put forward a vision.

“To what? I couldn’t see anything (to indicate) what we are moving to.”

Instead, Mr Hewson said there were a lot of mixed messages that just confused consumers and businesses at a time when confidence was fragile.

“It’s been a lot of political pain for little gain,” he said.

Mr Hewson said that the budget had been “visibly inequitable” and no overall strategy was put forward that helped people to understand things such as the doctor co-payment and changes to university fees.

He also believes that the Abbott Government underestimated how flat the economy was, and that it had now used up so much of its political capital that it would struggle to get voters to trust it to deliver tough reforms in the future.

Data released on Thursday showed that Australia’s unemployment rate spiked to a 12-year high of 6.4 per cent in July, and the figures seem to have caught the government unawares.

It exceeds the 6.25 per cent rate Mr Hockey pencilled in the budget for the 2014-15 financial year, a level he said he inherited from the previous Labor government.

Mr Hockey said the results were disappointing, but the government had a plan to lift employment through new infrastructure projects, mature-age wage subsidies and tighter “learn or earn” eligibility for the dole.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott told the Australian Industry Group lunch today that there was a lot of hard work being done behind the scenes.

Mr Abbott said Australia now had free trade agreements (FTAs) with seven of its top 10 trading partners, and he hoped to reach a new agreement with China later this year. He said lowering tax, cutting regulation, concluding FTAs and investing in Australian skills were all part of the desire to make it easier to grow businesses.

“We are opening the door — so you can walk through it,” Mr Abbott told attendees of the business conference. “We aren’t providing you with corporate welfare. But we will give you a fair go so you feel more confident to have a go.”

The surprise jump in the jobless rate, which was up from the decade-high of 6.0 per cent in June, saw 300 positions lost from the economy.

Economists said the figures, which were well above consensus forecasts of 6.1 per cent, were worse than expected. The latest data also meant Australia’s jobless rate was above the United States’ for the first time since 2007.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has switched to a new survey method but it does not believe this had a significant bearing on the outcome.

ANZ senior economist Justin Fabo said the headline figure could be overstating the weakness of the labour market, pointing to other employment indicators that have suggested that companies’ hiring intentions were improving.

“Most other labour market indicators are improving, at least slowly, so the jump in the unemployment rate does look odd in that regard,” Mr Fabo said.

“We’ll need the August report to confirm that view.”

However, Australia’s central bank cut its growth forecasts today as it reinforced a “period of stability” in interest rates and highlighted the challenges the economy faces as it moves away from mining-led expansion.

The Reserve Bank of Australia lowered its GDP forecasts for 2014 and 2015 by 25 percentage points, and said the “key uncertainties” facing the economy included when and how large the fall-off in resources investment would be.

“The key uncertainties for the domestic economy continue to be centred on the timing and extent of the decline in mining investment and how this is balanced by the expansion of resource exports and the recovery in non-mining activity,” the RBA said.

“Mining investment could decline more sharply than anticipated. On the other hand, it is possible that consumption and non-mining business investment could, in time, be stronger than expected.”

In its quarterly Statement on Monetary Policy, the central bank projected economic growth to be about 2.5 per cent in the year to December 2014, down from 2.75 per cent forecast in May.

The Australian dollar also lost more than half a cent after the unemployment data was released, falling from 93.55 US cents to 92.96 US cents.

Employment Minister Eric Abetz pointed the finger at the opposition for holding up budget measures in the Senate.

“Literally hundreds of thousands of our fellow Australians ... have been denied a job because of the recalcitrance of (Opposition Leader Bill) Shorten and the Greens,” he told reporters in Wollongong, NSW.

Full-time positions in Australia increased by 14,500 but 14,800 part-time roles were shed. Analysts had expected 12,000 jobs to be added in the month.

The participation rate, which measures the proportion of adults in work or looking for it, lifted by 0.1 percentage points to 64.8 per cent.

Labor’s employment spokesman, Brendan O’Connor, noted Australia now had a higher unemployment rate than the US for the first time since 2007.

“There’s no doubt that (the government’s) unfair budget has hurt business and consumer confidence,” Mr O’Connor said.

ACTU president Ged Kearney agreed, saying the budget was not just a political failure but an economic failure. Acting Greens leader Adam Bandt described it as a “wrecking ball”.

The figures also somewhat contradict comments by Reserve Bank governor Glenn Stevens this week that the outlook for the labour market had improved, albeit conceding it would probably be some time before unemployment declined consistently.

The RBA will release its quarterly monetary policy statement on Friday.

David Lane, a director at business consultants Pitcher Partners, does not believe the jobs data will affect interest rates.

“The latest (unemployment) rise is likely to quieten anyone who has been suggesting the RBA may raise interest rates to curb inflation,” Mr Lane told AAP.

Commonwealth Securities economist Savanth Sebastian said: “There is no question that the economy went through a lull period following the federal budget, but it has since lifted”.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive Kate Carnell urged opposition parties and independents to work constructively with the government.

While shadow treasurer Chris Bowen advised the treasurer to “just stop whingeing”.

http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/john-hewson-says-joe-hockeys-unpopular-budget-wont-fix-soaring-unemployment-figures/story-fnda1bsz-1227018278096

It's all about the rose in every cheek!

http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/treasurer-joe-hockey-tells-low-income-households-they-would-not-be-bothered-by-petrol-excise-rises-because-rich-will-pay-them/story-fn84fgcm-1227023274589

You've lost my vote Joe come the next election on this quote alone.

The Labor Party literally has to do nothing, the torries are doing a fine job of working themselves out of office