Fuck Tony has no clue :lol:

-PB

#putyourironsout :lol:

Thanks to Tony my missus doesn't have to buy expensive carbon anymore!

-PB

seriously guy has no clue. Whoever his media adviser oh wait .. he is letting them go due to having trouble with his chief of staff

Heat is on Abbott government over climate change as world turns

Date January 3, 2015 - 12:00AM

When the Baird government unveiled the first high-resolution mapping of how global warming is expected to shift the climate for NSW, Victoria and the ACT by 2070, officials were quizzed why they weren't using "climate variability", a term favoured by federal Coalition counterparts, to describe the outlook.

"This is the NSW government, we believe in climate change!" came the immediate response at the last month's media briefing.

In the next few weeks, 2014 will likely be declared the hottest year on record globally, beating 2005 and 2010.

So, it seems, does Victoria's new Labor premier Daniel Andrews. His minister for climate change – Lisa Neville – is expected to take a higher profile on the issue than her Liberal predecessor Ryan Smith. NewEnergy Minister Lily D'Ambrosio has also signalled a keen interest in energy efficiency and renewable energy - both areas largely stalled under the previous government.

Gone, too, is the Coalition preference of eschewing "climate change" in Victorian agencies, such as in 2011 when agriculture minister and now state Nationals leader, Peter Walsh, launched a Climate Challenges Centre at Melbourne University. The jointly funded research interests include how crops might adapt to rising carbon-dioxide levels in an "evolving climate".

At the federal level, meanwhile, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce in October outlined his department's paper on competitiveness in the sector without a single reference to climate change in its 111-page report. "Australian farmers, even more so than their global competitors, must adapt to climate variability," was about the closest it got.

Such an aversion to the topic – and for some Coalition MPs, outright dismissal global warming is at all a threat – may leave the Abbott government even more out of step with the electorate and the governments of its two most populous states.

If climate change was a liability for Prime Minister Tony Abbott in 2014 – witness how it dogged his visit to the United States and then dominated G20 coverage after President Barack Obama's "Save the Reef" speech – there are many reasons to think it will be an even bigger issue in 2015.

By the end of this year, almost 200 nations will gather in Paris to negotiate a global treaty aimed at keeping temperature increases to less than 2 degrees above pre-industrial times (versus about a 1-degree increase so far). Each meeting in the run-up will scrutinise pledges, including Australia's, for cutting greenhouse gas emissions beyond 2020.

Pope Francis will weigh in too, issuing the first-ever Vatican teachings to the world's 1.2 billion Catholics to act on climate change. He is also expected to bring together other religious leaders for a summit ahead of the Paris gathering.

At home, the government's centrepiece $2.55 billion pay-the-polluter Direct Action plan will finally be tested – just as power sector emissions start to climb in the wake of the carbon tax it replaced. Any rollback of the Renewable Energy Target – so far blocked in the Senate – will only add to the scheme's task.

Reminders Australia is vulnerable to climate change will also come in updates from the NSW government of its assessment of risks for south-eastern Australia to 2070, including for water availability and sea-level rise, and more data on Victoria. The release of CSIRO's Natural Resource Management report on climate risk – which the Abbott government is understood to be delaying – will add to concerns.

Polls suggest voter sentiment is starting to shift, such as the Lowy Institute's annual survey released mid-2014, which showed the first increase of climate concern in six years. Almost two-thirds of respondents said the federal government should be taking a leadership role in cutting emissions, with just 7 per cent saying it should do nothing.

Amanda McKenzie, chief executive of the Climate Council – which was scrapped by the Abbott government as its first act on taking office in September 2013 – said the mood will continue to move as people understand the link between extreme weather and climate, with recent heat a clear signal. "We've had two very extreme summers and this looks like it could be another."

In the next few weeks, 2014 will likely be declared the hottest year on record globally, beating 2005 and 2010. For Australia, it was the third-warmest behind 2013 and 2005, with only 2011 a below-average year this century.

El Ninos tend to result in relatively hot and dry years for most of Australia, and the current near-threshold conditions in the Pacific point to a tough couple of months ahead. This weekend's heatwave across south-eastern states will also likely elevate anxiety about bushfires.

Farmers concerned

Two farmers well understand the impacts and risks of climate change – and also the difficulty of convincing others in their industry.

Bill Yates, a farmer from Garah in northern NSW, serves as a "Climate Champion" as part of the federally funded Managing Climate Variability R&D program and is unhappy with the body's title.

"You're allowed to talk about climate change in terms of variability but change is change," the 65-year-old, third-generation farmer said.

His region has been hard hit by drought but it is the rising temperatures, particularly in spring, that is most concerning. Wheat and other crops are flowering earlier, reducing their output for harvest even when the rains do come, he says.

"The really smart farmers are sowing earlier because it's warming up," he said, adding though that wheat may be unviable in his area within 30 years.

The NSW government's survey found northern and western parts of the state – including areas such as Garah – could endure maximum temperatures above 35 degrees for one-third of the year by 2070 if global emissions remain on a high-growth path.

Mark Wootton, a farmer almost 1500 km to the south, last year took in 520 black steers from northern NSW for agistment on his property near the Grampians in western Victoria.

The animals arrived by truck emaciated and blind from pink eye in "a scene like Gallipoli", Wootton said.

Wootton's farms, though, are now also extremely dry as the normally well-watered regions become parched.

As with Yates, Wootton is also outspoken on climate change. He helped found and continues to chair The Climate Institute, one of the country's leading non-government agencies on the issue.

Wootton said the most ardent climate change sceptics in his industry tend to be "male, over-70 and cranky", and that younger farmers – particularly the agronomy students he hosts from the Marcus Oldham College near Geelong – need much less persuasion that the matter is serious.

And it's not just the physics of climate change that is a threat. Wootton said Chinese customers alert to the positive branding opportunities in Europe and elsewhere now enquire about the carbon neutrality of his merino and cattle farms. "Who the hell would have thought they'd come and ask those sorts of questions?" he said.

Key issue for government

Doubts the Abbott government was about to give climate change greater urgency were fanned last month when the PM appointed Bob Baldwin to be the new parliamentary secretary for the environment – replacing Senator Simon Birmingham.

The affable NSW MP told Fairfax Media he sticks by comments he made to a Chinese audience in 2010 that without climate change the dinosaurs would still be around.

"Since the very beginning of time there has been climate change," he said, adding he was "neither a climate sceptic nor a denier".

Baldwin said, though, that the planet should be given the benefit of the doubt and that he was "strongly committed to Direct Action".

"We accept the science and we're going to do something," he said. "We as individuals can make a difference, as we did under Clean Up Australia."

Whether such a response is enough, or whether the electorate will start demanding a lot more of Australian governments at all levels, will be a key issue to watch in 2015 and beyond.


http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/heat-is-on-abbott-government-over-climate-change-as-world-turns-20150102-12ghrj.html

Shit is hitting the fan on social media.

I for one can't believe this is even a debate. Of course people shouldn't be pro-creating if they can't afford it.

Clearly the answer is to sterilise all poor people, or at least put them in camps during the times that they're not providing services for the non-bludgers.

I expected a response like that from you.

Do you think it's wise for people to have children on the dole? Is it socially responsible to do so?

No, I don't, but it's a large leap from there to take punitive measures against a group of people.

The answer is never the whip, but rather, the carrot.

make effective forms of contraception such as long-acting implantable progesterones free to Health care card owners (they are already subsidised) and improve the welfare payments to those women who are using the effective forms of contraception.

Don't increase welfare payments beyond, say having two dependent children, thus removing any incentive to have any further.

My experience with lower socio-economic people is they are willing to do anything if it means saving money.

Govt to tackle head-on claims it is unfair and say borrowing against our kids is the most unfair act of all

Date January 4, 2015 - 1:43AM
Latika Bourke

Former Howard government Minister Peter Reith has attacked Tony Abbott for "not lifting a finger" on industrial relations and job creation, as the federal government attempts to reset the economic debate about the fairness of its budget.

The Abbott government planned to meet head-on Labor's charge that its budget is unfair, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said, adding it was unfair to rob our children and grandchildren of their opportunities to pay for today's lifestyle.

But Mr Reith said unfair industrial relations laws were stopping young people from getting jobs and he criticised Prime Minister Tony Abbott for not doing anything to solve the problem.

With a $30 billion hangover from the last budget in unpassed measures, Senator Cormann has confirmed work on this year's budget had already begun.



Labor opposed a range of unpopular measures from last year's budget, such as uncapping university fees and the revised $5 tax to visit the doctor, saying they hit society's poorest unfairly.

But Senator Cormann warned of the unfairness of expecting the next generations to fund today's lifestyle and said they would face higher taxes and deeper spending cuts if the debt and deficit were not repaired.

"Bill Shorten wants our children and grandchildren to pay for our lifestyle today and lessen their future opportunities in the process. We think that's unfair," he said.

"No parent would keep putting a chunk of their grocery bill on to their credit card every week through their whole life and ask their kids to pay it off after they go.

"What is fair is for every generation to take responsibility for its own day-to-day living expenses and to do everything we can to leave our country in better, stronger shape than we found it."

It will be up to the new-look Expenditure Review Committee, or razor-gang as it is colloquially known, which now includes Coalition hardman Scott Morrison, to find new savings in the lead-up to the government's second budget, due in May.

But it is unlikely to be all bad news. The government will unveil a families package in the new year that is likely to include an overhaul of the childcare system and could involve sweeteners aimed at making it more flexible and modern for working parents. Savings from a pared-back version of Mr Abbott's internally loathed $5.5 billion paid parental leave scheme will be redirected into childcare.

When Labor left office the deficit for 2014-15 was predicted to be $24 billion, the pre-election economic outlook showed. But that figure had blown out to $40 billion at the time of the mid-year budget update, delivered in December. Treasury projects the budget will remain in deficit until the end of the decade.

Mr Reith said the government should also be looking at the fairness for younger people who couldn't find a job and attacked Mr Abbott for procrastinating.

"Tony was the one who said to the business community give me practical examples and he hasn't lifted a finger," he said.

The government had one shot to reform labour laws and the Abbott government's shot hadn't been a shot worth taking, he said.

He urged the Coalition to make youth unemployment a spearhead for a wider campaign on industrial relations reform and said the government had an obligation to address the issue, out of fairness to the country's youth.

Employment Minister Eric Abetz said he agreed that youth unemployment is "unacceptably high".

"The Government believes the best form of welfare is a job," he said.

Senator Abetz said the Government is working to "reboot the economy" to provide opportunities for young Australians, listing Work for the Dole and several training and relocation grants as practical ways the government was attempting to get young people into work.

Mr Abbott has promised repeatedly not to change penalty rates but has asked the Productivity Commission review to examine Australia's industrial relations laws and report back in November 2015.

Mr Reith accused Mr Abbott of having "sat on" the commission, which he said was obviously a ploy to put off the decision-making until the last moment.

http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/govt-to-tackle-headon-claims-it-is-unfair-and-say-borrowing-against-our-kids-is-the-most-unfair-act-of-all-20150103-12gtum.html

You can't force contraception, I think that's a stupid idea. The article writer is a dickhead.

There are concerns however, in that people have kids anyway even though we (the tax payer) foot the bill. I'm sure the amount of money is a drop in a bucket but its more of a social responsibility issue for me. I would never dream of having a kid if I couldn't support one. It worries me that people have no issue with this and just expect that the tax payer will help them have a family.

People have said (social media comments) that this is a violation of rights (if implemented). It's not, people are welcome to have children they pay for in my opinion. In saying that, there are many circumstances to consider. Women may lose jobs as a result of becoming pregnant.

Difficult issue.

I have seen this idea and think it's not bad. However, what if an 'accident' happens and they have say 4. The people already abusing the system are going to neglect their children to ensure they can still buy smokes and grog :lol: :lol: :lol:

Abbott government spends up big on media monitoring

Date January 5, 2015 - 12:15AM

Bevan Shields

Federal government departments are spending eye-watering sums to know what the public is thinking and what the media is saying about them, new documents show.

In some of the more surprising disclosures, the Department of Defence is spending more than $500,000 a year on pay TV and, between July and October 2014, splashed $454,125 - or about $5000 a day, on newspapers, magazines and other publications. Another department also spent nearly $90,000 on books over four months.

We continue to monitor all departmental expenditure and will impose further cuts and further efficiencies in administrative expenditure where and as appropriate

A Fairfax Media analysis of the documents also shows seven departments splashed a combined $1.2 million on "market research" - in many cases focus groups and polling - in just four months. Dozens of government agencies are yet to respond to formal requests to reveal how much they also spent, suggesting the total bill is likely to be far higher.

For example, the Department of Defence refused to disclose how much it spent in market research between July and October but the bill for 2013/14 came in at $2.2 million.

Elsewhere, the health, industry, education, employment, defence and foreign affairs departments shelled out more than $1.43 million on media monitoring between July and October. Media monitoring involves departments and often their ministers being provided with article clippings and TV reports. It can also include scanning social media.

The government's latest media monitoring deal came into force on New Year's Day - a $170,000, six-month contract to monitor news for the media-sensitive Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Labor spent $110,000 for the same thing but the-then Coalition opposition listed it as one of "50 examples of Labor waste and mismanagement under the Gillard government" in it's so-called Little book of big Labor waste.

On Sunday, the chair of Labor's waste watch committee, Pat Conroy, accused the government of hypocrisy.

"In opposition the Liberals said too much money was being spent on media monitoring, but now they are spending vastly more themselves," he said. "It's this kind of hypocrisy from Tony Abbott and his ministers that is disgusting the Australian public."

But Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the May budget cut $43.3 million from public affairs and communications funding, spread over four years.

"This comes on top of the boosted efficiency divided, which also applies across most government agencies," Senator Cormann said. "We continue to monitor all departmental expenditure and will impose further cuts and further efficiencies in administrative expenditure where and as appropriate."

The documents, tabled in response to questioning at Senate estimates, also reveal the Department of Industry spent $83,394 on books between July and October. Defence spent more than $200,000 on pay TV over five months, bringing the potential yearly bill to more than $500,000.

Asked to justify the pay TV spend, Defence earlier this year said it provided "greater current awareness" of national and international events and parliamentary proceedings. It also helped to better respond to conflicts and natural disasters and even acted as a "Navy personnel retention initiative", Defence said.

Over four months, Defence also forked more than $100,000 for newspapers, nearly $100,000 for magazines and nearly $260,000 on 'other publications' - typically books and journals.

It also recently signed a $825,000 contract for media monitoring between November 2014 and August 2015. The Department of Environment plans to spend $400,000 on monitoring between September 2014 and June 2015. The Department of Employment will also spend $315,000 on market research early this year to evaluate Work for the Dole.

Late last year, the government forked out $395,000 to research company Orima Research to conduct more focus groups on university reforms, which the Senate rejected in December, on top of an earlier $163,000 contract.

On Sunday, Fairfax Media revealed government agencies are spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars a year on training programs covering topics including "lean thinking" and "clear conversations".

The health, human services, industry, education, employment, veterans affairs and foreign affairs and trade departments employ a total 217 spin doctors, event organisers, graphic designers and public relations experts.

The total of those seven major departments only just exceeds the mini-army of 197 permanent, part-time or "ongoing" PR staff employed by Defence.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/abbott-government-spends-up-big-on-media-monitoring-20150104-12hj88.html

Key Abbott government employment scheme struggles to meet target

Date January 2, 2015

Bevan Shields

'60 is the new 40': Julie Bishop

A key plank of the Abbott government's employment strategy is on the cusp of failure, with just over 500 job seekers so far joining a scheme meant to benefit 32,000.

The $10,000 Restart incentive was unveiled in Treasurer Joe Hockey's May 2014 budget, the latest bid to tackle a policy area that has long vexed both sides of politics: how to encourage employers to hire mature-age Australians.

Moments after the budget was handed down, Employment Minister Eric Abetz said Restart "more than delivers on the government's 2013 election policy commitment to lift workforce participation and improve quality of life".

It was projected to help up to 32,000 people annually.

However, Senate documents show employers have hired only 510 job seekers through the scheme in the five months since its July introduction.

There are nearly 175,000 Australians over 50 looking for work through Job Services Australia.

The documents warn it is difficult to predict the take-up rate for the $10,000 incentive but it was "likely" demand would grow. If it does not, it's possible the program could fall 95 per cent short of the government's target.

Job seekers aged 50 or over who have been receiving income support for at least six months are eligible. Employers who hire them receive up to $10,000 depending on whether milestones are met.

The government has budgeted $524.8 million to fund the project over four years.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Senator Abetz point to the scheme as an important component of the government's so-called Economic Action Strategy.

"As our population ages it's more important than ever that we try to ensure older people are contributors economically as well as simply culturally and that's what will happen under an incoming Coalition government," Mr Abbott said during the 2013 election campaign.

Senator Abetz on Thursday said the government "expects that take-up will increase as employers become aware of the programme".

"As it stands, there are more than 600 mature-aged workers in jobs today that weren't as a result of this programme," he said, suggesting the total number has grown slightly since the 510 figure was reported in the Senate documents.

"The government is focused on building a stronger and more prosperous economy which will see more employment opportunities as employers gain confidence."

Luring more mature-age Australians into the workforce is a potential boon for the economy but finding the right policy settings to make it happen has vexed both sides of politics for many years.

Under questioning at Parliament House earlier this year, Department of Employment deputy secretary Martin Hehir said programs targeting mature-age workers had proven to be "quite intractable".

Just 230 employers took advantage of a $1000 annual subsidy under the two-year life of the Gillard/Rudd government's Jobs Bonus scheme. That program was also meant to benefit up to 10,000 employers.

"So in one sense we know what has not worked in the past, and it has been quite an intractable area," Mr Hehir said.

"So while the days are very early and the numbers are probably still low to begin with, you would probably have to say that it [Restart] is making faster progress than the previous work in this area."

The Abbott government's Commission of Audit noted that the effectiveness of wage subsidies "is open to question" because they may displace other job seekers and jobs may be lost once incentives expire.

Meanwhile, another job-creation scheme has also struggled to gain traction. The Tasmanian Jobs Programme, which offers $3250 to employers in an effort to revive the state's sluggish labour market, has created 114 jobs in its first year. The government said it would employ 2000 Tasmanians over two years.

Opposition employment services spokeswoman Julie Collins said wage subsidies were "not enough" to support older Australians.

"We have Tony Abbott telling Australians they need to work longer – but in what jobs? People aren't taking up wage subsidies because the jobs aren't there," she said.

The government has pledged to re-evaluate Restart in mid-2016.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/key-abbott-government-employment-scheme-struggles-to-meet-target-20150101-12gdb3.html

Even in absentia, Tony Abbott a factor in Queensland poll

Date January 6, 2015 - 4:00PM
Michael Gordon

Political editor, The Age

Big swing tipped against LNP

Parties scramble as Newman calls election

When Coalition spinners were insisting that Tony Abbott had nothing to do with the Napthine government being swept from office in Victoria in November, after just one term, they pointed north for evidence.

"When you look around the country - I mean, in NSW, here, the Baird government is 10 points ahead," Scott Morrison remarked. "The Newman government [in Queensland] is eight points ahead."

The argument was weak then, not least because the Labor brand had been trashed in New South Wales and Queensland, while this was not the case in Victoria, where the Coalition secured a narrow, surprise victory in 2010.

Voters north of the Murray expressed their displeasure at the Abbott government's performance in the polls, but their memories of discredited state Labor governments were still very fresh. That wasn't so in Victoria.

But the argument is much weaker now. Mike Baird is even more firmly entrenched in NSW, but Campbell Newman enters his race for re-election on level pegging in the polls with the mob that could not even field a cricket team in 2012.

Back then, Newman's endorsement was so emphatic that his Liberal National Party won 78 of the 89 seats on offer. Now, there is doubt about whether he will hold his seat.

Overwhelmingly, this is a reflection of the unpopular decisions his government has taken on several fronts, including the controversies over anti-bikie laws and clashes with the judiciary. But continuing antipathy toward the Coalition at a federal level is also a factor.

The common denominator, and the key to Labor's hopes of recovering from the annihilation of 2012 in Queensland and the walloping in the 2013 federal election, is the willingness of both Newman and Abbott to inflict pain without a mandate.

There is another parallel, too: the failure to admit to mistakes or breaches of trust. This was apparent when Newman was asked after calling the election why, having secured the biggest win in Australian history in 2012, he was in danger of losing in 2015. "That's one for the political commentators," he replied.

Newman says he is going early to ensure stability, but clearly sees his best hope of minimising the carnage is to call a short, sharp election when his opponents are unprepared, his constituents are at the beach and Abbott is out of the country or otherwise engaged.

He says he wants Queenslanders to think longer and harder about this election than any poll in recent times, but demands their attention in the midst of the holiday season. A big ask.

He remains favourite, of course, not least because his majority is so huge, but he is facing the prospect of heavy losses.

One certainty is that Abbott will be as inconspicuous in this campaign as he was in Victoria, notwithstanding the assurance by Newman on Tuesday that he is welcome any time. But that won't spare the Prime Minister from a share of the blame if the LNP does badly, or the need the absorb some hard lessons in a hurry.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/even-in-absentia-tony-abbott-a-factor-in-queensland-poll-20150106-12islk.html

If the people of qld vote newman in again then they cant complain .

Queensland Election: Clive Palmer comes out swinging

Date January 6, 2015 - 4:16PM

Clive Palmer says the Palmer United Party (PUP) wants to give voters the chance to send Premier Campbell Newman into "the oblivions of history".

Speaking on the Gold Coast, the PUP federal leader said his party members would move to repeal any legislation of the Newman government and slammed the timing of the Premier's decision to call a January 31 state election.

"We want to give Queensland the chance to send Campbell Newman into the oblivions of history," he said.

"If we have any members of our party in the legislative assembly, they will move to repeal every single act that's ever been introduced by the Newman government.

Mr Palmer also dismissed Mr Newman's reasoning for the early election announcement.

"The excuses about the economy are just rubbish,"he said.

"We know the real reason and we'll announce that in a short time."

With just over three weeks until the election, Mr Palmer said his party would spare no expense in its campaign.

"We'll spend all we can," he said.

Mr Palmer was confident his party would field 50 candidates across the state and at least one in every region, to be announced at the PUP campaign launch on January 18 in Coolum.

"We've got over 50 candidates, we're looking in that sort of region," he said.

"We'll have candidates in every region but not necessarily in every particular seat."

Asked why state leader John Bjelke-Peterson was not appearing, Mr Palmer shifted the blame back on to Mr Newman.

"John is holidaying with his family like most Queenslanders right now," he said.

"Campbell Newman wanted to upset everybody's holiday. He's got no concern about family or the sanctity of this time of year.

"But he's (John) certainly working and he's getting ready."

While he said Mr Bjelke-Peterson was still finessing some of the party's policies, Mr Palmer flagged some of their stances including the reintroduction of an upper house to Queensland.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/queensland-election-clive-palmer-comes-out-swinging-20150106-12iw21.html

lol these are the same people that voted him in and then complained when he axed their jobs.

-PB

Sad innit . But also funny as they have made their bed

LNP will retain anyway, just a matter of which knob is the Premier.

-PB

I will literally laugh if some how by a minor miracle its a new labour government . Just to reaf the moaning that the courier's will do .

Nah, if anything the minor parties will probably sweep up a lot of seats.

Can see Katter snagging a lot of regional ones imo.

It'll be a wonkey shit sty of a parliament all over again.

-PB

could be worse you could be under sir joh again ;)

Was wondering the why the previous day's front page was "Bikies support Labor". The earlier the election the less time they have to stuff it up. Sad to know it's another 3 years

really? How low can the murdoch press go ? Bad enough that the daily terror used death cult for the sydney shootings

To be fair though government doesn't exist to employ people.

How so?

You're referring to the public sector?

-PB

Yeah. Of course if people are needed, they should obviously be hired.

But as I've said the function of government isn't to hire people for the sake of being hired. If there's no need for people there, what's the point?

Except there was a need for those people to be there lol.

Cutting Nurses was not a good idea at all, not too mention the pay issues for Health employees that plagued them for 6+ months.

-PB