Let us pause for a moment to enjoy the majesty of Craig Thomson's magnificent gall, the gall on which Julia Gillard and her government have relied for the entire time Gillard has been Prime Minister.

The Thomson defence: Someone else misused his union credit card. They also misused his driver's licence. Then forged his signature on receipts. They misappropriated his phone and made calls near his home and from hotels where he was staying. The phone was used to call escort agencies. The $250,000 allegedly spent by Thomson to help get into Parliament but never declared was not spent on electoral matters.

He can also explain why his credit card, driver's licence and phone were never reported stolen. And why bills that included receipts from escort agencies and cash withdrawals were paid under his authorisation.

On Monday, Fair Work Australia finally released a report into the Thomson affair. It runs to 1100 pages. Thomson responded: ''This whole investigation has been nothing short of a joke.''

To appreciate the scale of the damage done to the reputation of the government, the Parliament, the Labor Party and the federal bureaucracy, the timeline is key. It is shocking.

FWA has a case to answer. The Australian Electoral Commission has a case to answer. So does the Prime Minister. And the Labor Party. And two independents, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, who have repeatedly voted to prolong this appalling charade.

More than three years have passed since Mark Davis broke a story in this newspaper on April 8, 2009, which began: ''The federal Labor MP and former union boss Craig Thomson faces allegations that his union credit cards were used to pay for escort services and to withdraw more than $100,000 in cash, as well as bankroll his election campaign for the central coast seat of Dobell.

''Documents provided to the Herald show that Health Services Union officials concluded last year that union credit cards issued to Mr Thomson - and other financial resources - were used for election campaign spending. These had not been disclosed under electoral law.''

Thomson initiated defamation proceedings against the Herald. In April 2011, shortly before the trial was to begin, Thomson's lawyers filed a notice of discontinuance. It was revealed the Labor Party had paid $150,000 to Thomson for his legal fees to keep the matter open for two years and stave off bankruptcy, which would have obliged Thomson to resign his seat.

On July 31 last year, in a radio interview, Thomson claimed he was a victim of fraud.

On August 16 last year, Gillard, by now Prime Minister, responded to a question in Parliament: ''I have complete confidence in the member for Dobell. I think he is doing a fine job … [and] I look forward to him continuing to do that job for a very long, long, long time to come.''

On December 14 last year, the Herald reported that Thomson had plagiarised various sources for a report tabled to Parliament after an overseas trip. It was also six months late.

FWA finally delivered a report on March 28. On April 4, a Senate standing committee asked when it would see the report. The general manager of FWA, Bernadette O'Neill, replied the next day: ''I consider that [providing] the report to the committee while I am considering these matters would not be in the public interest.'' She anticipated another four to six weeks.

On April 7, the leader of the opposition in the Senate, Eric Abetz, filed a Freedom of Information request asking for the report. FWA was obliged to respond within 28 days.

Gillard announced on April 29 that she had asked Thomson to remove himself to the cross benches, saying ''a line had been crossed''. She provided no specifics.

On May 7, the last possible day for responding to the FOI request without having to seek an extension, FWA released its report.

It found that Thomson's explanations were implausible: ''Mr Thomson claims that these transactions were incurred fraudulently by another person using his credit cards. However the [evidence] overwhelmingly support an inference that it was Mr Thomson who used his own credit cards to make these transactions.''

On Tuesday, in Parliament, the opposition proposed a motion that Thomson be suspended for 14 sitting days and provide a statement to Parliament in response to the adverse findings of the FWA report. The government defeated the motion with votes of Windsor and Oakeshott.

Yesterday, even though the FWA report concluded Thomson had spent up to $250,000 of union funds in undeclared campaign spending, the AEC said that, as the FWA report had taken three years to appear, the statute of limitations had expired.

The core revelations were placed in the public domain three years ago. The charade rolls on and the desperate buy more time.



Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/thomson-charade-still-going-as-the-players-await-a-final-curtain-20120509-1ycxr.html#ixzz1uQ1J0y3H

Julia cowardly and backwards on gay marriage. Obama courageous and progressive. Hmm.

I don't understand what she fears.

Losing power.

Of course, what I don't understand is why she thinks THIS issue, which would actually endear her to the general public, is such a hot potato.

Jobless rate in surprise fall

Chris Zappone
May 10, 2012 - 12:34PM


Australia's jobless rate surprisingly fell to the lowest in a year last month, reducing the likelihood that the Reserve Bank will cut interest rates again next month.

Australia's unemployment level in April came in at 4.9 per cent, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Economists had tipped the jobless rate to increase to 5.3 per cent from 5.2 per cent in March.

“It’s generally stronger than expected,” said RBC Capital Markets economist Su-Lin Ong. “You’ve got another reasonable gain in employment and while the previous month was revised down, the last couple of months have been decent.”

The economy added 15,500 jobs last month - better than the 5000 jobs analysts had been tipped companies would shed. The net gain, though, was entirely the result of 26,000 part-time positions being created, with employers actually cutting 10,500 full-time roles in April.

The unexpected drop in the jobless rate is likely to cheer Treasurer Wayne Swan as he continues efforts to promote this week's federal budget. The budget is based on a jobless rate of 5.3 per cent by the end of June, rising to 5.5 per cent by June 2013.

Australia's jobless rate remains among the lowest for a rich nation. The US has 8.3 per cent out work, while 10.9 per cent in the eurozone are looking for work as are 8.3 per cent in Britain.

The dollar jumped on the jobless rate reduction, adding half a US cent to trade to rise above the $US1.01 mark. Investors are betting that the better-than-forecast employment result reduces the need for the RBA to follow up with another interest rate cut when it meets on June 5. Stocks also rose modestly.

RBC's Ms Ong said the RBA would likely delay the next rate cut based on today’s jobs figures. She also said the market was anticipating too many rate cuts, prior to today's data release.

Financial markets, though, are still tipping the central bank will follow up last week's 50 basis-point rate cut next month. The chance of a further 25 basis-point reduction is about two-in-three, down from a 95 per cent likelihood before the jobs figures landed.

Ben Jarman, an economist with JPMorgan, expects the RBA won't cut rates again until August.

"The numbers continue to defy the broader vibe. We've been hearing about firms' uncertainty, difficult domestic conditions, and job shedding in a lot of sectors, but it's just not turning up in the unemployment rate," he said.

"I don't think the job market really turned upward in a dramatic way in April," Mr Jarman said. "But it does seem like the unemployment rate is proving hard to budge."
'Pinch of salt'

While the headline figures were surprisingly strong, some economists queried whether they reflect the strength of the underlying economy.

“It’s a monthly number so we have to take it with a pinch of salt,” said ANZ senior economist Justin Fabo.

“We still think overall labour market conditions are soft, the job ads are telling us that,” Mr Fabo said.

“The participation is rate is down over the year,” he said. “Some of the fall in unemployment rate is related to the structural change story.”

Companies reporting job cuts in recent months include ANZ, Westpac and Optus, while food producer Murray Goulburn today announced it plans to shed 301 positions.
Victoria leads

The state-by-state jobless rates may also baffle some commentators.

Despite a slew of job losses in the manufacturing sector lately, the unemployment rate in Victoria plunged last month to 5.3 per cent from 5.8 per cent in March, seasonally adjusted, the ABS said.

New South Wales, the most populous state, saw the jobless rate tick higher to 4.9 per cent from 4.8 per cent in March.

ANZ's Mr Fabo dubbed the 23,000 jobs created in Victoria ‘‘pretty unbelievable’’ given other reports on the health of the state’s economy.

In Western Australia, the jobless rate slid to 3.8 per cent from 4.1 per cent over that time, while in Queensland, it dropped to 5.1 per cent from 5.5 per cent, the ABS said.

In South Australia the unemployment rate was steady at 5.2 per cent over the two-month period, while in Tasmania it soared to 8.3 per cent in April from 7 per cent in March, the ABS said

Structural change

Citi chief economist Paul Brennan said structural changes in the economy are making it more difficult to grasp labour market dynamics.

“A lot of people in hospitality in retail are working multiple jobs,” he said. “They will be working a couple of hours with one employer and a couple of hours with another employer.’’

‘‘It’s getting harder to read exactly where the labour market is,’’ he said.

“But looking at recipients on Newstart Allowances, that hasn’t deteriorated in a meaningful way,” Mr Brennan said. “There is no indication of a massive groundswell of people coming on to unemployment benefits.”

Hours, participation

The ABS report also showed aggregate hours worked by employed people in Australia rose by 0.4 per cent in April, seasonally adjusted, after a fall of 0.7 per cent in March.

Aggregate hours worked in April 2012 were 2.6 per cent higher than in April 2011, after a rise of 1.4 per cent between April 2010 and April 2011.

Helping the unemployment rate drop was a fall in the ratio of people of working age actually looking for work.

The April participation rate was 65.2 per cent, compared with a downwardly revised 65.3 per cent in March.The participation rate was forecast to be 65.4 per cent.

The revisions by the ABS to March figures do not help explain part of the drop in the headline unemployment rate.

For instance, the net job creation in March was trimmed to 37,600 from 44, 000. Most of that reduction was accounted for a drop in the number of full-time positions created to 10,600 from an inital report of 15,800.

More to come


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/business/jobless-rate-in-surprise-fall-20120510-1ye84.html#ixzz1uQn8ux00

Prime Minister Julia Gillard says she is still opposed to same-sex marriage, despite Barack Obama becoming the first United States president to declare his backing.

In what supporters have hailed as an historic moment in civil rights history, Mr Obama reversed his position on the controversial social issue just six months before the November election.


AUDIO: Obama backs gay marriage (AM)
"I've just concluded, for me, personally, it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married," Mr Obama said in an interview with ABC News America.

However, Ms Gillard says her views have not changed and she remains opposed to gay marriage in Australia.

"My view's not changing," she said.

"It reinforces this is a matter that people form their own views on, [a] deeply personal question, people will work their way through it.

"Obviously President Obama has, and he announced a decision."

There is currently same-sex marriage legislation before Parliament, to which both Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and Ms Gillard have signalled their opposition.

But Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says if Mr Obama can support marriage equality, then so should Ms Gillard.

"The majority of people in the United States support marriage equality. Their president does," Senator Hanson-Young said.

"The majority of Australians support marriage equality, yet our Prime Minister doesn't.

"It's time for our political leaders to accept that the Australian people have it right on this one, and currently Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott are on the wrong side of history."

Former Greens leader Bob Brown said it took enormous courage for a political leader to say they have changed their mind.

"His statement is just brilliant and it's going to light the candle for those who are still back in the darkness of wanting this discrimination, and help them to make the change as he's done," Senator Brown said.

Mr Obama, who had previously backed strong protections for gay and lesbian couples, said his position had evolved partly after talking to his daughters, Malia and Sasha, who had some friends with same-sex parents.

"There have been times where Michelle and I have been sitting around the dinner table and we're talking about their friends and their parents, and Malia and Sasha, it wouldn't dawn on them that somehow their friends' parents would be treated differently," he said in the interview.

"It doesn't make sense to them, and frankly, that's the kind of thing that prompts a change in perspective."

To both of those articles =d>

I miss Paul :cry:

Such as?

Charlie Pickering?

not going there through fear of recrimination,

all i can say is that when he was PM i was working on the residence of a very hi profile developer who had keating stay at his house regularly and had dinner parties with many Leading Labor members of the time......what i saw,heard and witnessed was beyond belief and i'm certain ALL sides of politics are guilty of similar behaviour.....just mind boggling.......

yeah i miss paul as well the 17.5% interest rates....the recession we had to have.....the arrogance.......

Edited by batfink: 11/5/2012 07:48:20 AM

I would never have expected someone as obviously interested in politics as you to make such a blatantly ignorant comments

You can't be that new to this thread, surely.

just wondering if you being serious or taking the piss...?????

LOL......so your telling me Australia has been in an economic boom the entire time since and during the Hawke and keating governments took office, and it's down to their policy?????