The Australian Politics thread: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese


The Australian Politics thread: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese

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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/23/tasmania-forest-heritage-listing-comes-under-threat-from-coalition

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Tasmania forest heritage listing comes under threat from Coalition
Plan to roll back hard-won protection branded 'fundamentally irresponsible' by Wilderness Society

The federal government has decided to push ahead with a plan to remove world heritage listing from a swath of Tasmanian forest, potentially reopening bitter divisions over the state’s timber industry.

Richard Colbeck, parliamentary secretary for agriculture, said the government would write to Unesco’s world heritage committee to ask it to peel away about 170,000 hectares of forest from the protected region.

Colbeck told the Australian the protected listing was a “sham” because it locked up areas of plantation timber, as well as pristine old-growth forest. The Coalition has argued the listing threatens jobs and investment in a region that suffers from relatively high unemployment.

The extension to Tasmania’s world heritage region, which includes areas such as the Styx and Florentine, was approved by then environment minister Tony Burke earlier this year.

The decision to ask the world heritage committee to unwind its listing is opposed by conservationists and the timber industry itself, which has stated it supports the extension as part of the peace deal that promises to end decades of dispute over the use of Tasmania’s forests.

Glenn Walker, national campaigner at the Wilderness Society, told Guardian Australia he was “surprised and fearful” over the government’s move to delist the extension.

“There is a hell of a lot at risk here – not only the beautiful forests but also the ground-breaking agreement between environmentalists, industry and unions,” he said. “The federal Liberals are risking peace in the forests, seemingly for ideological reasons.”

Walker said there were fewer than 100 hectares, out of a total of 170,000 hectares, that were plantation forest, and they were included in the listing to provide vital habitat corridors for wildlife.

“The vast majority is spectacular, tall, old-growth Tasmanian forest,” he said. “We don’t know of any timber industry players interested in extracting wood from a heritage area because they know the future is sustainable, conflict-free timber. Tearing up this peace deal is a fundamentally irresponsible move by the government.”

Only two places – Oman and Dresden, in Germany – have previously had their world heritage listing stripped, neither at the behest of their respective governments.

“The world heritage committee will never have been confronted by this situation before,” said Walker. “The Abbott government will be in for a tough fight because there is a reason why we protect the most beautiful places on Earth. This is akin to removing part of the Great Barrier Reef’s protection for oil exploration.”

The Tasmanian government is also critical of the move, with the state environment minister, Brian Wightman, claiming the Coalition has a “lack of concern” for the Tasmanian forest industry.

"The Tasmanian forest agreement is paving the way for the establishment of a sustainable, long-term and successful forest industry,” he said. "But the federal and state Liberal parties are hell-bent on taking the industry backwards and removing any chance for Tasmania to market its products.

“Attempting to delist a world heritage area would undoubtedly bring Australia into disrepute,” he said.

Edited
9 Years Ago by notorganic
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Can't they be smart and find areas which have previously been logged already and replant with Pine? NZ has some genetically modified trees which only have branches from about 2m off the ground and grow incredibly fast. Tasmania is a similar climate also.

Edited by benelsmore: 29/1/2014 09:39:27 AM
Edited
9 Years Ago by BETHFC
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[size=7]Reviving Wind Turbine Syndrome is just what you’d expect from a PM without a Science Minister[/size]

Quote:
So it appears we are to be treated to another pointless examination of a manufactured controversy in the name of health science. One can only guess at the motivations for the Federal Government announcing a NHMRC-led review of the science around the purported health effects of wind farms, but you can be sure it’s not being driven by scientific curiosity.

In fact this review is probably the most futile bit of spending yet announced in the term of the Abbott administration and is exactly the sort of tomfoolery you might expect of a cabinet which has no room for science. Why? Because there is no controversy about the so-called Wind Turbine Syndrome. It doesn’t exist as a thing. It has not, as the philosophers might say, been reified.

Wind turbines have no health effects on the surrounding populations. That’s not just my personal opinion. It’s the overwhelming scientific consensus. The book is closed, the story is written, the circus has folded its tents and moved on.

It would, however, potentially suit the Abbott Government politically to keep this manufactroversy going. The conservative side of politics in this country has a well-documented preference for fossil fuel production, largely based on economic arguments and the hope of carbon capture technology to reduce carbon emissions from current coal-fired power stations. Using fringe science to advance political ends is nothing new, but this is not a political comment column so I don’t propose to stray too far from discussing that science.

The proverbial musty tomes of medical history are full of such exotic diagnoses as Railway Spine or the Vapours) not to mention Fan Death in South Korea. Why not investigate those as well? After all, it has been a long time since the NHMRC had a look at them as well.

This facetious rhetorical question has a serious answer. Why does it seem ridiculous to have a Government enquiry into Fan Death, which is after all reported as the 5th most common cause of serious injury during summer in Korea, according to the Korean Consumer Protection Board?

I submit that there is no scientific justification for any further investigation of ‘Wind Turbine Syndrome’ just as there is no reason to investigate Fan Death or Railway Spine, because they are not real diagnoses. They are cultural responses to new or unfamiliar technology. I would support an academic investigation into the sociological aspects of the phenomenon as it may help us understand how to prevent useful and essential renewable energy technology from being hindered by groups of sincerely deluded activists. But a scientific investigation? A complete and utter waste of my tax dollars, as it will not alter either the scientific consensus or the tiny, one-track minds of the denialists.

And as for the Chief Scientist’s report on assessing the ‘evidence’ supporting homeopathy and other implausible treatments, don’t get me started. The UK parliament produced the defintive smackdown on homeopathy in 2010, but for some reason the Government is stalling the report which many (including myself) hope will stop these treatment being paid for with funds from the 30% Private Health Rebate (ie tax dollars). The delay in implementation is meant to allow for more ‘consultation with industry’. Again, it’s certainly not to allow for any more scientific input, as the supporting evidence consisted of tumbleweeds 2 years ago when it started, and it’s tumbleweeds all the way down still.

The most unsavoury aspect of this announcement is more subtle. The younger Bush administration in the USA became notorious for its disregard for the scientific process. They forced policy to drive evidence, rather than the other way around. They purportedly dictated the preferred outcomes of major environmental studies using funding threats to hold the scientists hostage. They cut funding from scientific programs that seemed ‘pointless’ to scientifically illiterate pollies and bureaucrats. The ideologically-driven ban on stem-cell research by the Bush administration set the USA back a decade in major biotech research, which also meant that the industry created by this innovation left their shores.

Mr Abbott clearly signalled his intentions prior to the election to curb free enquiry and direct research funds to ‘useful’ areas. Now he has commissioned a large scientifically futile project at his own behest, so we would be naive not to expect more of the same.

Australia cannot afford the luxury of a scientifcally illiterate body politic for very long. From the stump-jump plough and Coolgardie safe to the invention of WiFi, we have had to use technological solutions to the difficulties of living in this country. We have punched well above our weight for a very long time thanks to our outstanding record of scientific innovation, which has been enabled by solid support from Governments which have always judged it (rightly in my view) to be a critical path to keeping and improving our quality of life.

Until now, it seems. When junk science can be used as a prop in a political debate, and jobs in outdated and harmful industries are valued more highly than jobs in the industries of the future. It’s not too late for the PM to reverse this apparent willingness to use bad science as a political tool, and to unwind his Government’s disregard for the proud track record of Australian scientific innovation but until then we will pay the price for his War on Smart.



Edited
9 Years Ago by notorganic
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Fuck me Abetz sounds like a snakey little fuck.

-PB

https://i.imgur.com/batge7K.jpg

Edited
9 Years Ago by paulbagzFC
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ABC wrote:
Prime Minister Tony Abbott says ABC not on Australia's side in interview with 2GB
By political reporter Latika Bourke


Prime Minister Tony Abbott has stepped up his criticism of the ABC, accusing the national broadcaster of being unpatriotic in its coverage of the Edward Snowden leaks and asylum seeker abuse claims.

Mr Abbott also questioned the ABC's newly established Fact Check unit, saying he wanted the corporation to focus on straight news gathering and reporting.

"A lot of people feel at the moment that the ABC instinctively takes everyone's side but Australia's," he said in an interview with Ray Hadley on Sydney radio station 2GB.

"I think it dismays Australians when the national broadcaster appears to take everyone's side but its own and I think it is a problem."

Asked if he shared those sentiments, Mr Abbott said he was "worried and concerned" by the ABC taking a lead in reporting leaks from Snowden, a former US National Security Agency contractor.

The NSA leaks revealed Australia's spy agencies tapped the phones of Indonesian president Susilo Bambang Yudohoyono and his wife in 2009.

The revelations caused a rift in the Australia-Indonesia relationship early in Mr Abbott's prime ministership.

"The ABC seemed to delight in broadcasting allegations by a traitor," Mr Abbott said.

"The ABC didn't just report what he said, they took the lead in advertising what he said, and that was a deep concern."

Abbott says ABC should give Navy 'benefit of the doubt'

Mr Abbott's attention was also drawn to a Facebook post published by an ABC researcher seeking off-the-record discussions with Navy personnel.

In the post, the researcher said her "boss" doubted asylum seekers' claims they were mistreated during a boat turn-back operation.

The asylum seekers say they suffered burns when Navy personnel forced them to hold onto hot pipes coming out of the boat's engine.

The Navy has denied the allegations and the Government has strongly defended the military, without confirming or denying the operation took place.

"You can't leap to be critical of your own country and you certainly ought to be prepared to give the Australian Navy and its hard-working personnel the benefit of the doubt," Mr Abbott said.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said the ABC should apologise for casting doubt on the reputation of Royal Australian Navy sailors if the organisation felt it was wrong.

"If the ABC now finds that these allegations were utterly unsubstantiated then it should come out and say so," Ms Bishop told reporters in Brisbane.

"Meanwhile, people's reputations are under question because of the ABC's reporting of this matter, so I trust that the ABC will do the right thing."

Mr Abbott also raised questions about the cost and necessity of the ABC's new Fact Check unit, saying "surely that should come naturally to any media organisation?".

PM empathises with complaints about ABC self-regulation

Mr Abbott also empathised with Hadley, who complained that he and fellow host Alan Jones "who lean a bit to the right" were "belted over the head" "on a regular basis" by the media regulator, the Australian Communications Media Authority, while the ABC was left to its "own devices" and "self-regulation".

"I can understand your frustration," Mr Abbott told the radio presenter.

"At times there does appear to be a double standard in large swathes of our national life."

Critics within the Government have been pressuring the Prime Minister to rein in the ABC ever since the Coalition won power.

The issue was raised in the partyroom last year, with Liberal senator Cory Bernardi calling on the Government to partly alleviate its budget crisis by slashing the broadcaster's budget.

Senator Bernardi's colleague Ian Macdonald has previously told the ABC there are many government MPs who feel the ABC's charter should be made legally enforceable to address concerns of left-wing bias.

'Governments should welcome close scrutiny'

The Federal Opposition has leapt to the defence of the ABC, describing it as a longstanding part of Australia's cultural fabric.

Acting Opposition Leader Tanya Plibersek says every Government has been subject to the close scrutiny of the ABC, and all parties should all welcome that.

"Tony Abbott's comments today show he'll blame everyone – including the media - for the promises he continues to break," she said.

"He should stop complaining about media coverage and start behaving like a Prime Minister.

"From emergency broadcasts in times of trouble to coverage of the events that shape our nation, the ABC is there, free for all Australians.

"Since it began, every government has been subject to the close scrutiny of the ABC, and we should all welcome that."

The Greens have also seized on Mr Abbott's remarks, warning the Federal Government is "coming after" the national broadcaster.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the Government is obsessed with secrecy and does not want journalists doing their job.

"I think we should be very aware that Tony Abbott is coming after the ABC," she said.

"He’s never liked the ABC; he'll do everything he can to undermine it and that's why we need strong voices in Parliament to stand up for the public's right to an independent national broadcaster."

Edited
9 Years Ago by paladisious
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Abbot wrote:
The ABC seemed to delight in broadcasting allegations by a traitor


But wasn't it, y'know... the news?
Edited
9 Years Ago by paladisious
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paladisious wrote:
Abbot wrote:
The ABC seemed to delight in broadcasting allegations by a traitor


But wasn't it, y'know... the news?


Only allowed to report the stuff that makes Straya look good.

Can't go reporting dat naughty stuff.

-PB

https://i.imgur.com/batge7K.jpg

Edited
9 Years Ago by paulbagzFC
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paulbagzFC wrote:
paladisious wrote:
Abbot wrote:
The ABC seemed to delight in broadcasting allegations by a traitor


But wasn't it, y'know... the news?


Only allowed to report the stuff that makes Straya look good.

Can't go reporting dat naughty stuff.

-PB


We should come down on Fairfax for hurting the building industry by exposing comanchero involvement.
Edited
9 Years Ago by notorganic
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notorganic wrote:
paulbagzFC wrote:
paladisious wrote:
Abbot wrote:
The ABC seemed to delight in broadcasting allegations by a traitor


But wasn't it, y'know... the news?


Only allowed to report the stuff that makes Straya look good.

Can't go reporting dat naughty stuff.

-PB


We should come down on Fairfax for hurting the building industry by exposing comanchero involvement.


This.

-PB

https://i.imgur.com/batge7K.jpg

Edited
9 Years Ago by paulbagzFC
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http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/jan/29/jobs-risk-renewable-target-scrapped-solar

Quote:
Jobs at risk if Australia scraps renewable target, says solar lobby
Industry says 7,000 people could be made unemployed if energy policy is changed by Abbott government

[quote]Thousands of jobs and businesses could be at risk if the Abbott government scraps the renewable energy target (RET), the solar industry has warned.

The target - which requires 20 per cent of all electricity by 2020 to come from renewable sources - will be reviewed this year but details are yet to be announced.

The government insists it remains committed to the RET but many in the renewables sector are nervous the scheme will be watered down or abolished.

The solar photovoltaic (PV) industry is particularly worried, with new analysis showing 2,000 PV jobs could vanish next year if the RET was scrapped.

The study by Solar Business Services claims by 2018 that figure could have grown to 7,000 jobs lost or foregone - halving the entire PV sector.

"In the worst case scenario, this is going to really have a very serious consequence on the industry," solar industry analyst Nigel Morris told AAP.

Around 600 solar PV jobs were forecast to go if the 20 per cent target was reduced.

It is the latest in a spate of bad news for the solar sector.

Mr Morris said the sector had seen scheme after scheme scrapped in recent years, stopping growth in its tracks last year for the first time in more than a decade.

The suspension of loans from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, funding cuts to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency and the windback of subsidies had taken its toll, he said.

"If all of those things and the RET goes away, it has a combined phenomenal impact on the propensity of people to proceed with solar," Mr Morris said.

There is strong evidence the 20 per cent RET will be well exceeded and critics, including within the government, warn renewable power is already unnecessarily driving up retail power bills.

Prime minister Tony Abbott late last year said the RET had caused significant price pressure on domestic electricity costs.

Mr Morris said these "pessimistic" statements made the industry skittish about the future and confused consumers.

"The cost of the RET is minuscule and it is declining already," he said.

"The RET has virtually no cost to government."

Edited
9 Years Ago by notorganic
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Dis gon be gud

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/turnbull-backs-abc-after-pms-attack-20140129-31n7b.html

Quote:
Turnbull backs ABC after PM's attack
January 30, 2014

Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has defended the ABC's independence in the face of an attack by Tony Abbott on the national broadcaster, which the Prime Minister said ''instinctively takes everyone's side but Australia's''.

In comments that could be interpreted as a push back against Mr Abbott, Mr Turnbull said the ABC was rightly accountable to its board of directors and not politicians. ''What's the alternative? The [ABC] editor-in-chief becomes the prime minister?'' he said.

''Politicians, whether prime ministers or communications ministers, will often be unhappy with the ABC … but you can't tell them what to write.''

Mr Abbott said on Sydney radio that Australians wanted ''some basic affection for the home team''.

Mr Turnbull said the ABC was more constrained by rules around editorial fairness than its competitors in the commercial media.

''The ABC has to play it straight down the middle. The ABC has a bargain with the Australian people. They have to be rigorously balanced in their coverage. Remember, if it wasn't for the ABC and Fairfax we might not know of the latest round of union corruption.''

Former ABC managing director David Hill savaged Mr Abbott's comments against the ABC's perceived lack of patriotism. ''It's an absurd proposition, laughable if it wasn't so dangerous,'' he said.

''This is the first serious suggestion I know of, certainly in the last half a century, where a prime minister of the country is suggesting the Australian public be denied access to the truth, and the first time that a prime minister has seriously intimated that the ABC should censor and withhold information from the Australian public.''

Labor communications spokesman Jason Clare said Mr Abbott was laying the groundwork to cut back the ABC's $1 billion annual funding.

ABC managing director Mark Scott declined to comment.

Mr Scott has spoken to Mr Turnbull about coverage of asylum seeker claims that they suffered burns to their hands due to mistreatment by navy personnel.

The minister said, in his view, criticism was justified and unfounded allegations had been given too much weight. ''I thought the allegations were beyond implausible, I thought they bordered on inconceivable,'' he said.

Mr Hill, who led the ABC from 1986 to 1995, dismissed Mr Abbott's view the ABC should have had more ''basic affection for the home team'' when it joined with the Guardian to release leaked intelligence on Australian spying on Indonesia.

''Is it really being suggested that the ABC, in possession of information, should keep the public in the dark?'' he said.

The furore was sparked by emergence of a note by an ABC reporter who disclosed in her pursuit of more facts on the burns incident: ''My boss believes the allegations are likely to be untrue …''

ABC communications director Michael Millett said the email ''could have been better worded'' but it did not indicate the ABC had second thoughts about its original report. Rather, it was further ''interrogating'' the claims, not taking a position one way or the other.

Mr Abbott said: ''If there's credible evidence, the ABC, like all other news organisations, is entitled to report it, but you can't leap to be critical - you should not leap to be critical of your own country. And you ought to be prepared to give the Australian navy and its hard-working personnel the benefit of the doubt.'' Mr Abbott told 2GB radio that he wanted the ABC to focus on being a ''straight news gathering and news reporting organisation''.

Edited
9 Years Ago by notorganic
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Yeah, I don't see anything wrong with WFTD personally.

As long as the person can prove they were going to an interview/whatever for a prospective job, the benefits shouldn't be taken off them (which it sounds like it used to).

This day in age where I can bet 75% or more of the unemployed people have smart phones with emails etc, I don't see how it can take up a huge amount of someones day around working in some format to email/google/etc prospective jobs either.

If I was an employer and had the chance to recruit one of two people, one of which was on WFTD and the other who was 6months out of work and doing nothing, I'd pick the WFTD guy because at least he/she has shown an amount of motivation and evidence of getting off their butt each day.

Getting people to work/contribute for benefits which are given to them, to make them appreciate what they're getting for "nothing", is only a step forward IMO.
Edited
9 Years Ago by pv4
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Quote:
If I was an employer and had the chance to recruit one of two people, one of which was on WFTD and the other who was 6months out of work and doing nothing, I'd pick the WFTD guy because at least he/she has shown an amount of motivation and evidence of getting off their butt each day.

It's not "motivation" if it's mandatory. And as previously stated, the previous WFTD scheme had the opposite of the desired effect.

It's all well and good to force people into these positions but you're not achieving anything if the work just isn't out there. The government needs to put more into clearly defined training and development pathways and ensuring that the necessary jobs and industry exist.
Edited
9 Years Ago by afromanGT
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^^^ whole heartedly agree . I did wftd whilst I was working casually ,I don't know why but It was a government mandate for some strange reason. I got hassled by centre link because I wouldn't turn up to the job they got for me . Even when I rang them and said I was working .They didn't listen and the only time they did is when I had the boss of the company that I was working
Edited
9 Years Ago by MvFCArsenal16.8
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People keep raising the point about "If it's part time there's still plenty of time to job hunt" but that's not the real issue.

If you get called up for a group job interview the same time you're meant to be doing WFTD you can't be like "no, sorry, I have WTFD can you schedule it another time?" you just miss out on the job or forfeit your dole payments.
Edited
9 Years Ago by afromanGT
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Sadly people don't see that point . They would rather people be glad they get to work for the dole and be glad you are getting a minimum wage
Edited
9 Years Ago by MvFCArsenal16.8
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afromanGT wrote:
People keep raising the point about "If it's part time there's still plenty of time to job hunt" but that's not the real issue.

If you get called up for a group job interview the same time you're meant to be doing WFTD you can't be like "no, sorry, I have WTFD can you schedule it another time?" you just miss out on the job or forfeit your dole payments.


Uuhh what. That's not what happens at all. You contact your WFTD place, or your JSA, and you say you have a Job Interview, and then you go to the interview. Then you can just make up the WFTD hours later. Had this exact situation occur a couple of weeks ago. The idea they'd cut your dole payments for trying to get work :lol:.
Edited
9 Years Ago by Funky Munky
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Funky Munky wrote:
afromanGT wrote:
People keep raising the point about "If it's part time there's still plenty of time to job hunt" but that's not the real issue.

If you get called up for a group job interview the same time you're meant to be doing WFTD you can't be like "no, sorry, I have WTFD can you schedule it another time?" you just miss out on the job or forfeit your dole payments.


Uuhh what. That's not what happens at all. You contact your WFTD place, or your JSA, and you say you have a Job Interview, and then you go to the interview. Then you can just make up the WFTD hours later. Had this exact situation occur a couple of weeks ago. The idea they'd cut your dole payments for trying to get work :lol:.


Centrelink is am underfunded, understaffed bureaucracy. My wife and I recently had our FTB cut because someone in an office somewhere forgot to tick a check box that we had done a tax return 4 years ago when we updated our info, and it took 4 weeks of bureaucratic bullshit to restore it.
Edited
9 Years Ago by notorganic
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Of course it's not possible that End Of Fashion was just a shitty band that couldn't maintain the ruse of non-shittiness despite getting massive airtime on Channel V, MTV, ARIA Charts as well as Triple J.
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9 Years Ago by notorganic
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[youtube]j6gouUO0Klw[/youtube]
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9 Years Ago by notorganic
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From 2011:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-21/abbott-on-news-ltd-hard-questions/2804430

Quote:
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has attacked Prime Minister Julia Gillard's suggestions that the Murdoch-owned News Limited has "hard questions to answer" saying they are a "thinly veiled attempt to intimidate the press".

Yesterday, Ms Gillard demanded that News Limited answer questions about its conduct in Australia in the wake of the British phone-hacking scandal.

But Mr Abbott says Ms Gillard's comments have nothing to do with the News of the World phone-hacking scandal and are instead a bid by the Government to avoid scrutiny.

"Frankly it demeans our polity for this kind of thing to go on. Prime ministers of Australia should be better than that and I call on the Prime Minister to put up or shut up when it comes to those sorts of issues," he said.

Two Government ministers, Treasurer Wayne Swan and Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, have accused News Limited's Daily Telegraph of bias, saying it is following an anti-Labor agenda.

"Let’s not have more attempts by ministers to bluff media organisations out of proper reporting of the Government's carbon tax disaster," Mr Abbott told reporters in Melbourne this morning.

"We've been very well served by the media in Australia. Yes, politicians don't always like the coverage that they get, but if you are in public life you've got to take the rough with the smooth.

"A vigorous, critical media is an important part of a healthy democracy and I think the Prime Minister should accept that."


'People are disturbed'

Ms Gillard said yesterday that people are "disturbed" by what they have seen happen in the UK "with phone hacking and the like".

The scandal has lead to the closure of the 168-year-old News of the World Sunday paper, the first masthead Rupert Murdoch bought in Britain.

"I do believe Australians, watching all of that happening overseas with News Corp, are looking at News Limited here and wanting to see News Limited answer some hard questions," Ms Gillard said.

News Limited chief executive John Hartigan says News journalists in Australia do not use phone hacking and he is "hugely confident" there is no improper conduct in his newsrooms.

"I've worked in newspapers for 45 years, a lot of that as an editor. I know the newsrooms, I know how cultures develop, and I'm hugely confident that there is no improper or unethical behaviour in our newsrooms," he told the ABC's 7.30.

Today, Ms Gillard said that she "notes" Mr Hartigan has ordered a review into the conduct of News Limited newspapers in Australia.

"So the CEO of News Limited [is] asking some questions himself. It's not surprising Australians are asking themselves the question too, 'What does this mean for Australia?'," she said.

Greens leader Bob Brown, who has had some celebrated run-ins with News Limited journalists, has called for an inquiry into the ownership and ethics of the Australian media.

Senator Brown wants "fit and proper" character tests for newspaper proprietors and a review of ownership regulation in light of News Limited's domination of the capital city newspaper market.

Ms Gillard has said she is open to the suggestion of an inquiry.

Mr Abbott drew the distinction between the Government's new push for a tightening of privacy laws - which may lead to restrictions on what the media can publish - and the suggested media inquiry.

"I'm happy to look at proposals for greater privacy protection, but what I will never support is any attempt to try to bluff the media out of doing its job which is to hold bad governments to account."

Edited
9 Years Ago by notorganic
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Funky Munky wrote:
afromanGT wrote:
People keep raising the point about "If it's part time there's still plenty of time to job hunt" but that's not the real issue.

If you get called up for a group job interview the same time you're meant to be doing WFTD you can't be like "no, sorry, I have WTFD can you schedule it another time?" you just miss out on the job or forfeit your dole payments.


Uuhh what. That's not what happens at all. You contact your WFTD place, or your JSA, and you say you have a Job Interview, and then you go to the interview. Then you can just make up the WFTD hours later. Had this exact situation occur a couple of weeks ago. The idea they'd cut your dole payments for trying to get work :lol:.

The last time I had to deal with centerlink I had to spend over 2 hours on the phone just waiting to talk to a person. Then I get told that the person I'm talking to doesn't have the power to reschedule my appointment. I go back into the queue. Another hour later and I finally talk to another person, only to be told I can't reschedule. Granted this was 5 years ago when I'd just started at Crown, but being a government organisation I doubt much has changed.

I know standard response is "It's not like they have anything else to do" when they're unemployed but nobody wants to spend three hours on the phone.
Edited
9 Years Ago by afromanGT
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afromanGT wrote:
Funky Munky wrote:
afromanGT wrote:
People keep raising the point about "If it's part time there's still plenty of time to job hunt" but that's not the real issue.

If you get called up for a group job interview the same time you're meant to be doing WFTD you can't be like "no, sorry, I have WTFD can you schedule it another time?" you just miss out on the job or forfeit your dole payments.


Uuhh what. That's not what happens at all. You contact your WFTD place, or your JSA, and you say you have a Job Interview, and then you go to the interview. Then you can just make up the WFTD hours later. Had this exact situation occur a couple of weeks ago. The idea they'd cut your dole payments for trying to get work :lol:.

The last time I had to deal with centerlink I had to spend over 2 hours on the phone just waiting to talk to a person. Then I get told that the person I'm talking to doesn't have the power to reschedule my appointment. I go back into the queue. Another hour later and I finally talk to another person, only to be told I can't reschedule. Granted this was 5 years ago when I'd just started at Crown, but being a government organisation I doubt much has changed.

I know standard response is "It's not like they have anything else to do" when they're unemployed but nobody wants to spend three hours on the phone.


Don't get me wrong, I'm not defending Centrelink in anyway, but I don't see what any of that has to do with your original point re; Job Interview clashing with WFTD.
Edited
9 Years Ago by Funky Munky
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afromanGT wrote:
People keep raising the point about "If it's part time there's still plenty of time to job hunt" but that's not the real issue.

If you get called up for a group job interview the same time you're meant to be doing WFTD you can't be like "no, sorry, I have WTFD can you schedule it another time?" you just miss out on the job or forfeit your dole payments.


I recognise that this was and/or could be an issue, but like I attempted to say above - if these sorts of things can be sorted out easily/quickly, with no benefits removed for job interviewing or work experience, then I'm all for it.
Edited
9 Years Ago by pv4
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pv4 wrote:
afromanGT wrote:
People keep raising the point about "If it's part time there's still plenty of time to job hunt" but that's not the real issue.

If you get called up for a group job interview the same time you're meant to be doing WFTD you can't be like "no, sorry, I have WTFD can you schedule it another time?" you just miss out on the job or forfeit your dole payments.


I recognise that this was and/or could be an issue, but like I attempted to say above - if these sorts of things can be sorted out easily/quickly, with no benefits removed for job interviewing or work experience, then I'm all for it.

There's so many conflicting issues that you have to resolve before this can even be close to being implemented and we all know that the Abbott Government has fudged just about everything they've tried their hand at thus far so it doesn't exactly fill one with confidence.
Edited
9 Years Ago by afromanGT
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ITT: Irrational Abbot bashing based on anecdotal evidence.
Edited
9 Years Ago by 433
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433 wrote:
ITT: Irrational Abbot bashing based on anecdotal evidence.

ITT: Abbot fucks up almost everything he puts his hands to. Says he's going to implement a plan with visible flaws to a system people have already had negative experiences with. So 433 runs off his mouth with his usual world of experience.
Edited
9 Years Ago by afromanGT
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Morrison was in his fine euphemistic and smug nature at the Senate inquiry today, amazing how you can dodge so many issues with language, secretaries and political rulings

He was a man of specific quirks. He believed that all meals should be earned through physical effort. He also contended, zealously like a drunk with a political point, that the third dimension would not be possible if it werent for the existence of water.

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9 Years Ago by marconi101
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afromanGT wrote:
People keep raising the point about "If it's part time there's still plenty of time to job hunt" but that's not the real issue.

If you get called up for a group job interview the same time you're meant to be doing WFTD you can't be like "no, sorry, I have WTFD can you schedule it another time?" you just miss out on the job or forfeit your dole payments.


What if WFTD becomes flexible. As in say work 20 hours a week? Interviewers don't ring up demanding an interview within 24 hours, its unprofessional.
Edited
9 Years Ago by BETHFC
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afromanGT wrote:
Funky Munky wrote:
afromanGT wrote:
People keep raising the point about "If it's part time there's still plenty of time to job hunt" but that's not the real issue.

If you get called up for a group job interview the same time you're meant to be doing WFTD you can't be like "no, sorry, I have WTFD can you schedule it another time?" you just miss out on the job or forfeit your dole payments.


Uuhh what. That's not what happens at all. You contact your WFTD place, or your JSA, and you say you have a Job Interview, and then you go to the interview. Then you can just make up the WFTD hours later. Had this exact situation occur a couple of weeks ago. The idea they'd cut your dole payments for trying to get work :lol:.

The last time I had to deal with centerlink I had to spend over 2 hours on the phone just waiting to talk to a person. Then I get told that the person I'm talking to doesn't have the power to reschedule my appointment. I go back into the queue. Another hour later and I finally talk to another person, only to be told I can't reschedule. Granted this was 5 years ago when I'd just started at Crown, but being a government organisation I doubt much has changed.

I know standard response is "It's not like they have anything else to do" when they're unemployed but nobody wants to spend three hours on the phone.


No offence but ANYONE who complains about their free money deserves f*cking nothing.

People bitch about centrelink all the time on my Facebook saying their child payments didn't come through or they had to wait on the phone for too long. Suck it up delicate beings. They tend to get shitty at my response of "if you needed centrelink to raise a child why did you have one?"
Edited
9 Years Ago by BETHFC
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