Stand Up - Fight Back! #March4

On 4 March 2015 tens of thousands of worker and their supporters marched in Melbourne, Australia in defence of working conditions and government services. The rally against Tony Abbott's Coalition government was organised by the Victorian Trades Hall Council .

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Live tweeting @TonyAbbotMHR at the National Press Club

Live tweeting @TonyAbbotMHR at the National Press Club - haven’t had this much fun since watching Asian Cup final and Queensland elections on Saturday night!

.@GreenJ @Asher_Wolf Hope @TonyAbbottMHR gets some Qs he's not prepared for #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

Starts with fear @TonyAbbottMHR on song at #NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

PM @TonyAbbottMHR Usual tired economic line - how long before we get nonsense about govt budgets are like families #NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

#NBN somewhere over the rainbow #NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

Abbott friend of freedom of expression and foreign investment - where is unfriend button for @TonyAbbottMHR hypocrisy #NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

Tony playing the Margie and daughters card on Paid Parental Leave at #NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

At least the deputy PM #whatshisname is not one of the #blue tie brigade at #NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

Did I miss @TonyAbbottMHR's details about his new direction? #NPC #auspol Can he stop the boot?

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

So @Couriermail serves up Dorothy Dixer to @TonyAbbottMHR at #NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

Laura Tingle misses chance to expose @TonyAbbottMHR's economic ignorance #NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

.@farrm51 gives opening for @TonyAbbottMHR's industrial relations umpire cliche ##NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

Love to play pub pool with @TonyAbbottMHR Put him behind the 8 ball unlike the press club so far #NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

Mark Riley reminds @TonyAbbottMHR about broken promise to party & voters about being consultative and collaborative #NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

Should be: "You have to know when to fold 'em" from @TonyAbbottMHR #NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

.@TonyAbbottMHR is getting better all the time according to @TonyAbbottMHR #NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

.@TonyAbbottMHR has no fib deficit - lies in "good conscience" "keeping the faith" - time to visit the cardinal for confession NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

.@lenoretaylor let's TonyAbbottMHR be "part of the solution", a man on a "mission" #NPC #auspol #platitudes

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

.@TonyAbbottMHR rejects scare campaign HAHAHAHAHA! LOL - PM #fail at #NPC #auspol

— Kevin_Rennie (@Kevin_Rennie) February 2, 2015

Here endeth the sermon!

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Bronwyn Bishop Implicated in Dodgy Political Donations Slush Fund

The political donations money laundering scams have left more very dirty hands in New South Wales. In fact, revelations reach the heart of Tony Abbott's Liberal/National coalition government. The latest to be exposed is the Speaker of Australia's House of Representatives, Bronwyn Bishop.

Kate McClymont reported yesterday on the latest ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) hearings for the Sydney Morning Herald. First the connection to Abbott's chief of staff Peta Credlin:

Previously suppressed emails before a corruption inquiry raise serious concerns about a major donor to the Liberal Party being rewarded with extraordinary access to senior party figures.
The emails are from the former chief fund-raiser of the NSW Liberal Party Paul Nicolaou to Peta Credlin, one of the most powerful figures in the federal government.

The emails reveal that, in March 2011, while the Coalition was in opposition, Ms Credlin used a major donor to the Liberal Party, Brickworks, as part of Tony Abbott's campaign against the carbon tax.

...Brickworks was one of the largest corporate donors to the Liberal Party, giving $384,000 in a nine-month period from July 2010 to April 2011.

As well as its brand Austral Bricks, Brickworks also lists property development as a core business.

The ICAC has heard that Brickworks used the Free Enterprise Foundation, a shadowy Canberra-based organisation, to channel $125,000 in illicit donations to the NSW Liberals for the March 2011 state election.

Then the Bishop link:

[Bronwyn Bishop] was a director of the Dame Pattie Menzies Foundation Trust, which received $11,000 from the Free Enterprise Foundation on December 9, 2010, which it then directed to the NSW branch of the party for use in the 2011 state election.

EFA: Political Disclosures 2010-11
Dame Pattie Menzies Liberal Foundation

In fact $27,000 was passed on to the NSW Liberals, including a $2000 donation to the Dame Pattie foundation (DPMLF) from Australian Corporate Holdings, a company connected to Sydney property developer Sydney Fischer.

The tangled web spins even wider, as many of Dame Pattie Foundation's directors are key 'off-books' players, to use an ICAC phrase.

ASIC: Current & Historical Company Extract

Date/Time: 08 September 2014 AEST 01:56:50 PM

But let's start with the Secretary, Simon John McInnes. According to Kate McClymont:

In July 2010, Mr Nicolaou, who was getting a 6 per cent cut of all donations he collected, emailed Simon McInnes, the finance director of the NSW Liberal Party boasting: "Please note! Another $50k for us via Free Enterprise Foundation from Brickworks."

Coincidentally (or perhaps not), another $2000 donor to the DPMLF was John Donan, also mentioned in McClymont's article. John and Dick Donan (who also gave $2000), of the Manildra Group, have form as well:

Manildra, the only ethanol supplier in Australia which is set to make a motza from the mandate, has donated $1.2 million to NSW political parties over last 12 years, including $635,000 to Labor, $400,000 to the Liberal party and $132,000 to the Nationals.

The first named director, John Pegg, is obviously close to the new NSW Premier Mike Baird. He is part of the three-person '2015 Committee' set up in July 2014 by Baird to clean up party finances:

"Those three will operate and take responsibility for the financial affairs of the division, including fund-raising between now and the election – at least," Mr Baird said.

"We must have confidence in our processes. It's something we must not shy away from. We have to be determined to shine the light on ourselves."

Mr Pegg should start in his own backyard. Pegg is a former secretary of DPMLF so he should know about its operations.

Anyway, back to the Speaker. Bronwyn Bishop is still listed as a director and should have resigned from this slush fund years ago. Her role as Speaker of the House of Reps should have caused her to review her directorships, especially of conduits (or should that be sewers) like this foundation. They exist for one reason only - to circumvent transparency concerning political donations and to hide breaches of the law. Pegg, McInnes and Campbell have all been called before ICAC. Maybe it's Bishop's turn.

[Incidentally, the original address of the foundation was the same as the NSW Liberal office: Level 9 140 William St. Woolloomooloo NSW 2011. Hardly arms length!]

It seems the devil is in the detail of dodgy donations. Let's keep digging. What price good government?

Thanks to @kate_mcclymont and a very special hat tip to Clarencegirl at North Coast Voices for her help and encouragement.

This post is part of a series about political donations in Australia:

Foundation 51's Cosy Links with the Country Liberal Party

Dare We Call it Whitehousegate

In search of slush funds and off-books moneys in the NSW Liberal Party

Townsville Money Trail: Political Donors in Queensland's Deep North

Nathan Tinkler & Co: Political Donors Anonymous

Bronwyn Bishop Implicated in Dodgy Political Donations Slush Fund

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Dare We Call it Whitehousegate

The strange case of Prime Minister Tony Abbott's daughter and her scholarship to the Whitehouse Institute has all sorts of connections. [Disclaimer: No inference of wrongdoing should be drawn from any of this information.]

Some background from the Guardian Australia:

Tony Abbott’s daughter Frances received a “chairman’s scholarship” for a degree costing more than $60,000 from the Whitehouse Institute of Design where an Abbott donor sits as chairman on the board of governors, Guardian Australia can reveal.

The revelation raises questions for the prime minister over whether the scholarship should have been declared on his interests register.
Tony Abbott's daughter was given scholarship for $60,000 design degree

Les Taylor, the chairman of the Whitehouse Institute of Design who recommended Frances Abbott to be only the second recipient of the 'chairman's scholarship', has made donations of more than $20,000 to the Liberal party
Liberal donor personally recommended Tony Abbott's daughter for scholarship

The new New Matilda has also been doing some digging:

Assurances by the Prime Minister that a $60,000 scholarship awarded to his daughter Frances on the basis of merit have been contradicted by testimony and documents obtained by New Matilda.

I found these links with a web search or two:

On 7 September 2011 The Green’s Democracy4Sale project made a Supplementary submission to the inquiry into the funding of political parties and election campaigns claiming:

Tenko Management Pty Ltd made a $10,708 contribution to Tony Abbott’s Warringah FEC on 6 September 2004. This money included a total of $10,250 comprised of donations each over the NSW disclosure threshold current at the time from Gary Cohen using IBA Health’s Sydney address, John Roth using the address of Henroth Pty Ltd, Les Taylor of Manly, Mark Lochtenberg of Mosman and RC Corbett of Mosman.

In 2002 Tenko contributed $1,338 to the Liberal Party candidate for the Georges River State electorate, Joanne Maire McCafferty, in the 2003 New South Wales election.

In 2012 the Sydney Morning Herald had also come across the mysterious Tenko Management in a related context:

THE NSW Liberal Party has discovered more than $200,000 worth of donations received during the last financial year that it had not previously revealed to the Australian Electoral Commission.

…Also amending its records with the electoral commission is Servcorp, a strong supporter of the Liberal Party and the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott.

…In its original declaration, Servcorp listed donations to the Liberal Party itself in three states as well as to a company called Tenko Management Pty Ltd, based in Sydney, which was not listed as a donor or associated entity of the Liberal Party.

Incidentally, the Hon Mark Anthony James Vaile, former National Party leader and deputy prime minister is a non-executive director of Servcorp Limited.

Investigating the murky area of political donors and donations is difficult enough but is compounded when the paper trail involves handwritten documents. No wonder investigative journalism is a dying trade.

Update: It appears that the managing director of Tenko Management in 2009 worked for the NSW Liberal Party in Western Sydney. Finding out his name is your homework. He has a fine Tory pedigree.

This post is part of a series about political donations in Australia:

Foundation 51's Cosy Links with the Country Liberal Party

Dare We Call it Whitehousegate

In search of slush funds and off-books moneys in the NSW Liberal Party

Townsville Money Trail: Political Donors in Queensland's Deep North

Nathan Tinkler & Co: Political Donors Anonymous

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Faces in the crowd: Melbourne #MarchinMarch

The Marches in March continue to glow with controversy. Never did so few gather so many, without engaging the usual suspects of the old media, the political parties, NGOs, the unions and the activist groups. There had to be a dark side to these events. The people can’t have minds of their own! Or if they do they must be warped!

Tim Dunlop has joined the fray with a post at The Drum: Rage against the mainstream

The fact is, the media's lame response to an estimated 100,000 citizens showing up on the streets around the country is indicative of a deeper malaise: the rules of news have changed, and increasingly legacy media companies have neither the capacity nor the wit to operate in the new environment.

His target was the Sydney Morning Herald’s Jacqueline Maley.

Tim’s piece follows Lyndon Morley spirited offence at Independent Australia in support of his sign RESIGN DICKHEAD! He was replying to Andrew Bolt’s slanted reporting at the Herald Sun. Bolt was comparing the remarks about Abbott with those of Alan Jones about Julia Gillard. As usual he saw red: "But who will apologise for the parade of hatred in today’s March in March?" He found what he was looking for, of course.

I’ll leave jousting with the black knight of bigotry to Lyndon.

Matthew Donovan tackled The Daily Telegraph’s Tim Blair over what he called “delusions and blind or wilful ignorance” on AIMN on Wednesday. His message: “I will not let you smear the good people who marched”.

I’ll just stick to what I saw and heard in my hometown. To flip the record, I’ve compiled some offcuts that didn’t make my original video piece on the Melbourne #MarchinMarch, not for the signs of the times but for the faces of the people:

One of the more appealing aspects of the Melbourne march was the signs. By and large, they were not offensive. Some seemed to have gone to extremes to be polite:

Kindness matters!

Not Happy Tony.

We Can Do Better!

Cowdy Songs Not Cowboy Govt.

Careful Now!

Wake Up Australia!

In fact most were homemade and some appeared to be the handy work of people more accustomed to writing letters-to-the-editor, pamphleteers rather than sloganeers:

Human Dignity Is Independent of National Borders. We must Always Defend the Interests of the Poor and the Persecuted.

Arbitrary Governments Use Arbitrary Detention.

The longest read:

MR ABBOTT AHD HIS GOVERNMENT HAVE SAID
NO TO CLIMATE CHANGE AND SCIENCE
NO TO MORE WOMEN IN CABINET
NO TO THEIR OWN EDUCATION PROMISES
NO TO THEIR OWN NBN PROMISES
NO TO THEIR OWN HEALTHCARE PROMISES
NO TO REFUGEES
NOW WE SAY NO TO YOU MR. ABBOTT!!!

Many were decidedly to the point:

Tony Abbott Worst PM in Australia’s History.

Wanted for Crimes Against Humanity and Our Planet.

No More Racism, No More Bull, Australia’s Nowhere Near Full!b>Welcome Asylum Seekers and Refugees.

No Justice, No Peace.

Some were a tad obscure:

Viva la Evolucion!

This one had two sides:

Dirty Coal. Clean Wind

Very few signs that I saw were truly offensive or in bad taste. This exception was timeless and certainly open to the charge of not being focussed:

Fuck the Police

It probably wouldn’t resonate with Bolt quite like ‘Fuck Tony Abbott’ T-shirts did.

Monday's Media Watch looked at a coverage paradox, namely how the old media both ignored and condemned the marches. Paul Barry picked up the threads:

A bevy of right-wing columnists have accused the ABC and Fairfax of failing to condemn some vicious anti-Abbott placards, carried by a handful of marchers.

But it was not just the Right that was unhappy with the way the March in March was covered.

Many protesters felt that 31 marches and tens of thousands of people deserved far more attention.

[This is a crosspost with the Australian Independent Media Network.]

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VIDEO: Melbourne's Massive March in March

Australians took to the streets on the weekend of 15 - 16 March 2014 to protest against the Tony Abbott's Federal government just six months after its election. Melbourne's crowd of approximately 50,000 was the largest.

One of the most remarkable aspects of this phenomenon is that it is a grassroots movement, not driven by the usual suspects in the progressive forces.

It showed the power of social media in spreading the word, as the old media gave the marches little or no coverage beforehand.

March in March's Facebook page banner proclaims: Decency, Transparency, Accountability. Its call:

March In March Australia 2014 will be three days of peaceful assemblies, non-partisan citizens’ marches and rallies at Federal Parliament and around Australia to protest against government decisions that are against the common good of our nation.

This signifies a 'people’s vote of no confidence' in government policies and decisions that go against common principles of humanity, decency, fairness, social justice and equity, democratic governance, responsible global citizenship and conserving our natural heritage.

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Criteria for Selecting a Liberal Party Leader

In the spirit of balance the following is a list of Selection Criteria for a Liberal Party leader:

Liberal Leader - Selection Criteria

• Quick as a wink
• Complete faith in the trickle-up theory of economics
• Bowed when being duchessed
• Looks good in lycra
• Not suppository of all knowledge
• Can tell the baddies from the goodies
• Not-bad-looking daughters
• Friends in high (media) places
• Master of monosyllabic catch phrases
• Fetching in orange safety vest and hardhat or butcher’s apron
• Tunnel and rear vision
• Parrots platitudes perfectly
• A touch of homophobia and misogyny
• Avoids in depth media events
• Attends weddings and sporting events on taxpayers
• Invisibility: Answer no questions, tell no lies
• Agility to keep an election promise without meaning to

Any resemblance to Tony Abbott is purely intentional.

Please add your thoughts on criteria in comments.

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Anthony Albanese's Campaign Speech a Bottler

In case you missed it, here's Anthony Albanese's Campaign Speech at the official launch today.

Star quality!

Transcript of Anthony Albanese's Campaign Launch Speech

1 SEPTEMBER 2013

Good morning and welcome to the Australian Labor Party 2013 Federal Campaign Launch.

I would like to welcome Lara Watson and her daughter Shania to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land.

[Lara Watson Acknowledgement of Country]

Thank you Lara.

Please welcome Jessica O'Bryan, who will sing the National Anthem.

[Jessica O'Bryan sings the National Anthem]

Thank you Jessica and it’s great to be here.

Today is Father’s Day.

So I begin with a big shout out to all the fathers in the audience and at home.

And a special shout out to my son and mate Nathan, and of course his wonderful mum Carmel who are here.

Thank you for your support today and every day.

It’s certainly a Father’s Day to remember.

One of the motivations of the labour movement has always been to provide the next generation with a greater quality of life than the current one.

It’s why Labor seeks to both create and anticipate the long term future, whilst at the same time dealing with more immediate issues.

It is great to be part of a modern Labor Government that is building the jobs, the schools, the infrastructure and the hospitals of the future.

I’ve come a long way from Camperdown.

I never imagined when I was Nathan’s age that I would one day be standing here as the Deputy Labor Leader and Deputy Prime Minister of Australia.

Labor seeks to govern because we understand that government can enhance opportunity and improve peoples’ lives.

Our opponents seek government because they believe it is what they are entitled to.

For Labor, government is never the end in itself. We govern so that we can build for the future. It’s the Labor way.

We built the age pension.

We built the trans-continental railway.

We built the Snowy Mountains scheme.

We opened up universities.

We built Medicare and now we’re building DisabilityCare.

Over the past six years, both Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard have led good nation building governments that saw us through tough global economic times.

We created almost one million jobs.

We have low inflation.

We have low interest rates.

We have higher workforce participation.

We have lower industrial disputes.

And we’ve achieved all this with a triple A credit rating.

We returned fairness to the workplace.

We are increasing the superannuation guarantee from nine to 12 percent.

We introduced the largest pension increase in Australia’s history.

We took a million of the poorest paid Australian workers out of the tax system by tripling the tax free threshold, something that I know my friend and passionate advocate for the disadvantaged Wayne Swan is particularly proud of.

We’ve taken action on climate change.

We’ve supported the development of renewable energy – and to give you just one example, more than one million solar panels have been installed across Australia on our watch.

We are delivering sustainability for the Murray Darling Basin, talked about for decades, delivered by Labor.

In infrastructure, we’ve doubled the roads budget, rebuilt one third of the interstate rail freight network and, something I’m particularly proud of, invested more in urban public transport since 2007 than all previous governments combined since Federation.

The Howard Government spent not a single cent, the same amount that Mr Abbott has promised to spend.

And of course our most important visionary infrastructure project is the National Broadband Network. The NBN will transform the way we work and the way we live.

If any single issue defines the failure of the Coalition to build for the future, it is their support for the out-dated, unreliable copper network of last century.

All these gains are at risk on September 7.

Remember Medibank – introduced by Whitlam, removed by the conservatives.

It took the great Bob Hawke to deliver and entrench Medicare, along with other social and economic reforms through the Accord.

I pay tribute today to Australia’s longest-serving Labor Prime Minister, Bob Hawke.

And I welcome Bob and Blanche here today.

Bob worked with this nation’s greatest Treasurer, who went on to become Australia’s 24th Prime Minister.

Paul Keating transformed our economy, laying the foundation for 22 years of consecutive economic growth.

He delivered the best superannuation system in the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’d like you to welcome Paul Keating.

I say to Bob Hawke and Paul Keating that John Howard may have become Prime Minister in 1996 but much of your tremendous legacy is intact today because you gave us long term Labor government.

Ladies and Gentlemen, I’ve had a bit to do with John Howard.

Whatever you say about John Howard, he was a man of intellect, who had a vision for his country.

Not my vision, but a vision nonetheless.

But let there be no doubt: Tony Abbott is no John Howard.

Mr Abbott is a man mired in pessimism and stuck in the past.

He just sits in the Parliament and says no, no, no.

He’s sharp when it comes to three-word slogans, but dull when it comes to new ideas.

He’s energetic when it comes to running around Lake Burley Griffin, but he’s lazy when it comes to policy development.

If you want a bloke who can jump through tyres, you can vote for Tony Abbott.

If you want a bloke who can guide you through the next financial crisis, vote for Kevin Rudd.

Mr Abbott is a true blue conservative in every single sense of the word.

He finds comfort in the status quo. He struggles with change and because of that he offers no progress.

In today’s fast moving world, if you are standing still, the world goes straight past you.

He’ll tell you what he thinks you want to hear, but he won’t tell you what you need to know.

What you need to know is whose jobs will be destroyed by Mr Abbott’s cuts if he wins next Saturday.

While we build for the future, Mr Abbott lives in the past. He talks down our economy and he talks down our nation.

He doesn’t have a plan for next week, let alone a plan for next month, next year or a decade from now.

Where is Tony Abbott’s vision? What are his priorities?

During the debate about action on climate change, Mr Abbott described the science around the issue as “absolute crap’’.

His policy response is to plant trees – a laudable aim on its own but no answer to a problem so profound that it requires the sophistication of a market-based solution in the form of an emissions trading scheme.

It is one thing to be a climate sceptic but it is another thing altogether to be a market sceptic.

Mr Abbott is both.

When Labor asked Parliament to consider what has been recognised as the world’s best-targeted economic stimulus package to save the jobs of Australians during the global financial crisis – where was Mr Abbott?

He was snoozing in his office.

When Labor moved to wire Australia to the world via the National Broadband Network, an economic game-changer that will create jobs and revolutionise communication, Mr Abbott said he had appointed Malcolm Turnbull to “destroy’’ the project.

His words, not mine.

At least it shows Mr Abbott have does a perverse sense of humour.

We know Mr Turnbull believes in his fraudband policy of fibre to 40,000 fridge type cabinets about as much as he does in direct action on climate change – which he called “a recipe for fiscal recklessness on a grand scale”.

Let’s be clear: The Coalition’s plan is like building a four-lane bridge to a dirt road. You won’t get any benefit from that bridge unless you also widen and upgrade the road.

And it will cost you more when you have to go back and do it again later.

On Broadband we will do it once, do it right and do it with fibre.

Today Australia took over the presidency of the United Nations’ Security Council in New York. This puts our nation at the centre of global power at a critical time.

When Mr Abbott heard Australia was seeking this role in 2011 - what was his response?

He said: “I don’t think we should be spending money we don’t have to promote a cause which is unlikely to come to anything.’’

No issue is too big for Tony Abbott to show exactly how small he is.

He’s got something to offer if want someone to join you on your morning run.

But running the country? He’s not just up to it.

His ideas are too narrow, his world view is too restricted and his ambition is just too small.

The problem isn’t that Mr Abbott is stuck in the past. The problem is that he wants everyone in Australia to stay back there to keep him company.

He doesn’t like public transport.

He doesn’t like public schools.

He doesn’t like public health.

He doesn’t like public delivery of broadband.

I sense a pattern here.

Mr Abbott just doesn’t like the public.

Ladies and gentlemen, elections are about choices and in this election, the choice could not be more stark.

I've worked with Kevin Rudd for 15 years.

I have never met anyone more focused on his vision for our country.

His ambition for Australia is as big as this great country itself.

His enthusiasm for serious, ground-breaking reform in the grand Labor tradition is extraordinary.

Kevin has had his critics but one thing we know about him is that he cares about our country and he really is here to help.

Is Kevin Rudd a bit of a nerd?

You bet.

Would I pick him in a rugby team or in a boxing match ahead of Tony Abbott – no way.

But he is the right man to lead this country:

He’s the right man to build the schools and hospitals of the future.

He’s the right man to build the NBN.

He’s the right man to continue to deliver economic growth, jobs and prosperity.

He’s the right man to deliver the better schools plan.

He’s the right man to take action on climate change for this and future generations.

Kevin Rudd cares about your job, your family and your future and when he says that we all know he means it.

Kevin is going to come on stage soon and tell you about his plans.

But to introduce him, let’s hear from someone who knows him better than anyone.

Please welcome Therese Rein.


My score:

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The Budget: What's in it for...

Labor's 2013-14 Federal budget deserves a close look.

First, an ALP video for the true believers: The Federal Budget in 3 minutes

Next is the usual calm economic analysis from Greg Jericho (Grogs Gamut). For fans of Greg's graphs, this post has six:

The coverage of budgets is invariably an attempt to find the narrative - some overreaching story which apparently explains what has happened and what is coming in the next year or more.

Some stories can be written without even paying heed to the innards of the budget papers. Take the Treasurer's speech which began:

Tonight this Labor Government makes the choice to keep our economy strong and invest in our future. To support jobs and growth in an uncertain world.

This could be cut and pasted and used in any future (or past) budget speech regardless of party, year or state of the economy.

For the most part the political narrative has been written as well. This is the final Swan budget, the Swan song, the attempt to lock in Labor's legacy. No budget is ever really a political game changer, and for the Government this budget comes very much in the shadow of last year's.

A year ago the narrative was about a surplus - the path to surplus was clear and it was also writ in stone as a holy good.

This year, if there is any real narrative beyond the usual humdrum, it is that we might finally be facing up to the reality of the post-GFC world.
Budget faces up to Australia's economic reality

Religious-based Overseas Aid NGO Micah Challenge expressed concerns that the foreign aid target of 0.5% of Gross National Income has been delayed a year and funds diverted to asylum seeker programs within Australia. However, its response contained a strong plus side:

The aid budget will grow by $518 million from last year, reaching almost $5.7 billion dollars, or 0.37% of Gross National Income (GNI).

...the Foreign Minister went out of his way to note the strength of the community campaigning, and Parliamentary lobbying, that led to foreign aid being increased, when many other Government programs are being cut.

...Second, there was a bigger than expected increase in funding to Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WaSH) programs – a 70% increase from $164 million last year to $279 million in this budget.

...The Government also announced a commitment to invest $391 million over the next for years to accelerate progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Asia and the Pacific – targeting, particularly, MDG 1 on hunger, MDG 2 on education and MDG 5 on maternal mortality.
AUSTRALIA'S AID BUDGET 2013-14: DELAYED, DIVERTED BUT STILL DOING GOOD

Finance commentator Michael Pascoe has had this to say to the scaremongers:

After all the rather mindless carry on about having a surplus or not having a surplus and then just how big a deficit it might be, we can at last breathe easy with the knowledge that the federal government will finish this financial year with a deficit of about $19 billion. And that’s actually a fine thing.

And so is a deficit of about $18 billion for the next financial year. Substantially smaller deficits this year or next really wouldn’t be worth the economic cost.
Thanks for the deficit, really

Finally, the expenditure about which Julia Gillard's government, indeed all Australians, should be justly proud - the National Disability Insurance Scheme (DisabilityCare). From Julia's speech to parliament:

Much of the mainstream media have chorused that none of this matters because the election result is in the bag for Abbott's austerity Coalition. They seem to acknowledge that the Liberal National razor will cut most worthwhile initiatives if they win. For the rest of us, there are votes to cast in four months time - a chance to vote for meaningful progressive programs.

A chance to vote against the cynicism and negativity bred of self-interest and greed.

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Disability Funding Triumph: Progressive Blogosphere Abdicates

This week we saw a major achievement in Australian policy - the bi-partisan acceptance of an increase in the Medicare levy to help fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme (DisabilityCare). There was considerable activity on social media before Tony Abbott's concession but there has been a deadening silence in the progressive blogosphere since.

When you google Oz blogs for the last four days, there are no posts heralding this policy triumph. In fact it seems that many have just accepted it as a political victory for Abbott, not a policy win for Julia Gillard's government. A lone voice has been Gary Sauer-Thompson at Public Opinion but even his post was titled Perhaps:

The disability people got what they wanted: a secure funding source that will partially pay for the NDIS and bipartisan support. That means the Coalition will find it hard to renege at a later date because they are publicly committed to the national disability insurance scheme.

If the conservatives keep their word, the NDIS will be a major legacy of the Labor government, whether it is reelected or not. Abbott's "conditional" support of the levy contained his usual dissembling but once the legislation is passed, he should be locked in.

Yesterday Victoria signed up to NDIS, just as we are abandoning the field to the Liberal National Party policy void. Despondency over the polls and government policy failures must not make Abbott's austerity a fait accompli.

Schools, climate change and the NBN are just a few reasons to keep up the political fight. If progressive bloggers cannot step up, then it is probably time to archive their blogs and retreat into the twitter ether or a subscription to Foxtel.

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From Watergate to Ashbygate: how the press makes sausages

From Watergate to Ashbygate. Thanks to the Geek Institute @geeksrulz for this timely video.

"Front Pages on Slipper Scandal. Our esteemed media at work. From Watergate to Ashbygate. A study in how the press makes sausages. Our own Australian Watergate."

Anyone who is not very concerned about the Australian media's coverage of Federal politics, is not paying attention.

If you've been offline for a few days, as I was earlier in the week, or have been relying on my usual sources/suspects The Age and The ABC, then here are a couple of new media analyses that may help:

From Mr. Denmore (Jim Parker) who looks at the general malaise - The Failed Estate: Send in the Clowns

From Sortius is a Geek exploring Tony Abbott's spin about the strange time gap in the publication of his first media release: 10 HOURS OF BULLSHIT

Anyway it doesn't matter because Michelle Gratttan, Chris Uhlmann and the press gallery have told us that it's a no-win situation politically. In fact, if you watched Friday night's ABCTV 7.30 program, you'd know that the real villain of the the week is not James Ashby, Mal Brough, the shonky lawyer or one of the many Liberal party dissemblers. It's the Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. How dare she ask for the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, to be held accountable. Or even just to tell the truth.

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Oz blogosphere on Gillard's fightback

What is the Oz blogosphere saying about Gillard's fightback? My post for Global Voices:

There have been very mixed reactions to Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s decisive victory over former PM Kevin Rudd in the leadership challenge. The vote amongst Australian Labor Party parliamentarians (the caucus) was 71 – 31, despite opinions polls showing Rudd having much higher popularity with voters.

Can she unite the party and make sure that her only opponent is Opposition leader Tony Abbott?

...the inevitable sports satire came from the White Maggot (the name refers to umpires who traditionally wore white) in Rudd set to challenge Gillard as Bulldogs Number 1 Ticket Holder. The Western Bulldogs is an Australian Football League club located in Footscray, part of Julia Gillard’s electorate. The prime minister will be hoping that her bark is at least the equal of her bite.
Australia: Prime Minister Julia Gillard Wins Big in Leadership Dogfight

More

Now also available in French.

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Cartoonists Capture Oz Politics

A couple of cartoons reflecting on Oz party politics this week: The first is from Laberal: Coalition plan to slash $70bn from budget

The second, from Fiona Katauskas, is posted at Eureka Street: A Lack of Opposition

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Perfect Timing: Tony & Julia Get Feedback

If you missed the TV news, this may brighten up your day:

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There's No Denying It Tony!

CMFEU ad: The Great Deniers in History

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Climate Action: Let’s Swap Fear for Facts

Thank goodness the carbon price phoney war is nearly over. Hopefully fear will be replaced with facts after the government’s Sunday announcement of their carbon emissions scheme.

The Federal Opposition has a lot to answer for. Tony Abbott’s partisan performance over carbon pricing reflects the quality of his leadership, rather than that of the economists he attacked recently. He has been busy bad mouthing them in a manner reminiscent of his calling climate science ‘crap’. He has been prepared to say and do whatever will help him to gain power.

Fortunately, the real work has continued. With perfect timing, Melbourne University hosts a major 3-day conference next week about the implications of global warming: Four Degrees or More? – Australia in a Hot World.

It is a great shame that Australia’s response to the climate change challenge has become centred on ideological positioning by opportunist Abbott and populists such as Barnaby Joyce and Alan Jones.

The same is not the case in the United Kingdom where both sides of politics accept that the science is in and urgent action is necessary. The Department of Energy and Climate Change website has an unequivocal warning about greenhouse gas emissions: ‘Unless action is taken to reduce GHG emissions, there is a high risk of global warming well beyond a 2°C increase since pre-industrial times. This would have significant impact and could lead to severe, and possibly irreversible, damage to ecosystems and natural processes’.

The world is in the process of choosing its climate future and all governments must be held accountable for real, substantial action not just rationalisations that can be sold to the voters. That includes our own governments, including the State level. The choices we make should not be based on misinformation, deliberate sowing of confusion or economic fear mongering.

Our current situation is beyond reasonable doubt: the world is warming, humans are major contributors through greenhouse gas emissions, the consequences will be serious and for some catastrophic, the international community is taking action. In addition a low carbon economy, rather than being a drag on Australia’s prosperity, promises a more healthy nation in many senses of the word.

Ross Garnaut, who recently attacked the mainstream media for their ‘crude’ and ‘distorting’ coverage, is one of the presenters. It will be interesting to see what coverage they give his and other contributions to the ongoing policy debate. Keynote speaker Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, Chair of the German Government's Advisory Council on Global Change and other international contributors, should bring some very welcome sober and rational perspectives.

Let’s hope that Garnaut and his fellow presenters get the amount of coverage that the Lord Monckton generates with his attention-seeking travelling circus. It’s more hope than expectation based on the last couple of years of media mischief.

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Please help to fund my Climate Change citizen journalism project - Climate Change: Facing the Fourth Degree

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Tony Abbott: Populism's Stunted Master

Let's get Australia back from Tony Abbott's claptrap.

Enter the trihardothon budgie/bumper sticker competition at  Café Whispers.

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Tony Abbott: Master of Simplicity

Tony Abbott: In his own words...

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Taking a Step to the Right with Tony

Thanks to Crikey for the link. The Tony Abbott Time Warp:

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Abbott-Truss Government No Laughing Matter

Oz Politcs as Standup Comedy

Glib one liners are no substitute for political ideas. Punchlines don't replace policies. Tony Abbott has the gall to accuse Labor of "gutless spin". Campaigning should not be a reality show, mixing nastiness with big new lies or slick distortions.

It's the child of the advertising ethos: repeat the mantra often enough and people will change brands.

Tony Abbott and Warren Truss (he's the alternative Prime Minister) have turned political debate into farce.

Their idea of government is cutting programs: national broadband, e-Health, schools and infra-structure. Truss' roads promise is a perfect example. It mocks their 11 year inaction in this area and their opposition to the mining tax that would help to pay for it.

Do we want another decade of wasted opportunities? An Abbott/Truss government would be no laughing matter.

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