Diary of our stinking Govt.

[boris1gary]

As it's more than 100 days now, it has been suggested that a new thread was needed.  The current govt has been breaking promises and telling lies at a rate so fast it's hard to keep up.

This below is worrying, "independent" pffft, as if your own doctor is somehow what? biased, it's ridiculous. So far there is talk of only including people under a certain age 30-35, for now. Remember that if your injured in a car, injured at work or get ill, you too might need to go on the DSP. They have done a similar think in the UK with devastating consequences.

and this is the 2nd time recently where the Govt has referred to work as welfare???? So when you go to work tomorrow (or tuesday), just remember that's welfare.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-20/disability-pensioners-may-be-reassessed-kevin-andrews/5400598

Independent doctors could be called in to reassess disability pensioners, Federal Government says

The Federal Government is considering using independent doctors to examine disability pensioners and assess whether they should continue to receive payments.

Currently family doctors provide reports supporting claims for the Disability Support Pension (DSP).

But Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews is considering a measure that would see independent doctors reassess eligibility.

"We are concerned that where people can work, the best form of welfare is work," Mr Andrews said at a press conference.

[cherry*135]

Poll: Did Gillian Triggs leave the Human Rights Commission open to accusations of bias due to the timing of its report on children in detention?

Yes

21%

No

74%

Not sure

5%

Total votes: 17725.

Poll closes in 20 hours.

Canberra Times/Fairfax

[myoclon1cjerk]

I watched a speech by Julian Burnside a while back where he asserted certain witnesses (detainees) were offered privileges to keep quiet on what they saw.

[cherry*135]

Tony Abbott angers backbench with dismissive 'slap-down'

February 24, 2015 - 5:56pm

Tony Abbott has done nothing to salve discontent on his backbench with a dismissive party-room "slap-down" of MPs who advocated a less combative approach to the issue of children in immigration detention, by telling voters how successful the Coalition had been in reducing the number of minors locked up.

On the same day as government senators eviscerated Human Rights Commission President Gillian Triggs for the commission's Forgotten Children report which criticised successive Australian governments for detaining children, Mr Abbott slammed Professor Triggs, telling Parliament she had lost the confidence of the government.

He had earlier told Liberal MPs his uncompromising approach would not change, rejecting their advice to go positive and telling them he would always call out a political "stitch-up" when he saw it.

Mr Abbott also faced strong criticism from his backbench over the broken promise of future submarine construction in South Australia and on the "captain's call" decision to dump Philip Ruddock as chief whip.

In a further sign of the internal discontent now gripping the government, Mr Abbott weathered what one MP called a "cavalcade of complaints" in the meeting with MPs continuing to push back against his "aggressive" style, his method of decision making, and his public presentation.

An MP present at the meeting confirmed that two Liberals, Craig Laundy (NSW) and Andrew Laming (Qld), suggested to Mr Abbott that he concentrate on getting the remaining children out of detention rather than attacking Ms Triggs.

The MP described Mr Abbott's response as "a complete slap-down", noting that it surprised others at the meeting, and had only fuelled concerns over Mr Abbott's tendency to put "politics over policy".

Fairfax Media has been told by several MPs that Don Randall - the WA MP who seconded the spill motion against Mr Abbott two weeks ago - repeatedly questioned the Prime Minister about the sacking of former chief whip.

An MP said it had been "tense" with another calling it "an ugly moment".

Mr Abbott was also pressed by South Australian MPs on submarines with Rowan Ramsey warning him he would be breaking an election promise "if the hulls aren't welded" in South Australia.

Andrew Southcott adopted a more conciliatory tone, asking for better communication of the Commonwealth's considerable defence acquisition budget being spent in South Australia.

But tensions within the Liberal Party show no sign of abating.

One day after a damaging leaked email from the party's honorary treasurer Phil Higginson to executive members, there are claims that federal executive members could "rise up" against Richard Alston, the party's president, and federal director Brian Loughnane unless they implement governance changes recommended by Mr Higginson.

A prominent member of the executive said there was a strong feeling of frustration at the "lack of accountability, openness and fairness" within the Liberal's organisational wing.

Although the federal Liberal Party's 2013-14 accounts were belatedly signed off by Mr Higginson last week, the executive member said excessive secrecy around the spending of funds remained a big concern.

"This issue has been swept under the carpet for years by the previous president (Alan Stockdale) and by the current president (Richard Alston)," the executive member said. "I think Phil Higginson was very polite in what he wrote. If he is not taken seriously, then who knows what else could happen? The executive could get a backbone and rise up."

Another executive member described the mood within the party's organisational wing as restless and frustrated. The member said it was obvious to all on the executive that the party's system for managing finances was inadequate and non-transparent.

The member said it was difficult to fathom how the Liberal's federal executive had yet to meet in 2015 given the multitude of problems being faced by the Abbott Government.

"The upcoming meeting on March 6 should be very lively," the member said.

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-angers-backbench-with-di...

[gleee58]

http://parlview.aph.gov.au/mediaPlayer.php?videoID=253226&operation_mode=parlview

There is a few minutes of introductory fluff before Triggs speaks and addresses the issues of timing of the report and the obligations of her role and the commission.

[cherry*135]

Does anyone like the PM?  

The Abbott doctrine: crash through or crash

Australian Financial Review

Coalition MPs returned to Parliament after a one-week hiatus increasingly certain they cannot win the next election under Tony Abbott and equally fearful of a public backlash should they oust him.

Mr Abbott, conscious he is surviving from poll to poll, has embarked on a strategy of crash or crash through, telling those close to him his only option is to keep governing and hope he can re-engage with voters.  !!!

Even when, as part of this strategy, the Prime Minister unveiled a new national security pitch on Monday, he provoked fresh concern from his one-time libertarian support base when he flagged "stronger prohibitions on vilifying, intimidating or inciting hatred".

John Roskam, the executive director of the libertarian think tank, the Institute of Public Affairs, said he had been contacted by several like-minded Liberal MPs who believed this statement was a complete reversal from Mr Abbott's previous promise to water-down section 18c of the Racial Discrimination Act, which makes it illegal to vilify people on the basis of race.

Mr Abbott dumped the pursuit of 18c last year, believing it would make the domestic fight against terrorism harder because it was alienating the Islamic communities that he wanted to be part of "team Australia".

"You can't 18 months ago try and repeal 18c and then 18 months later say we are going to toughen it up," Mr Roskam said.

MPs concerned with more bread-and-butter issues complained the shift towards national security creates the impression the government is ceding ground to Labor on the budget.

Since Parliament sat the week before last, MPs are reporting, on one hand, a growing hostility towards Mr Abbott from voters, especially Liberal voters and donors, who are angry at what they believe has been a disappointing government which has opened the door to a return to a Labor government.

[cherry*135]

[debra9275]

thanks for that artiicle Am and it doesn't surprise me. I had a look at the IPA wish list regarding metadata storage yesterday  and i was wondering about it.     no's  66 and 81

https://thesnipertakesaim.wordpress.com/2013/03/02/ipa-agenda-to-re-shape-australia/

[debra9275]

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/feb/24/tony-abbott-maintains-attack-on-gillian-triggs...

Labor asks AFP to investigate whether Triggs job offer was 'corrupt conduct'

Labor has formally asked the Australian federal police to investigate whether the job offer made on behalf of the attorney general, George Brandis, to the Human Rights Commission president, Gillian Triggs, was an inducement that constitutes “corrupt and unlawful conduct.”

The shadow attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, wrote to the police on Tuesday after Triggs publicly confirmed she had been asked to resign and offered another senior position in a way that was “clearly linked” by the secretary of the attorney general’s department, on behalf on Brandis.

“The attorney general’s offer to an independent statutory officer of an inducement to resign her position as president, with the object of affecting the leadership of the Australian Human Rights Commission to avoid political damage to the Abbott government may constitute corrupt and unlawful conduct,” Dreyfus wrote.

[tezza2844]

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@vicr3000 wrote:

Jerk

By the way, it wasn't murder.

No one gives a carp about Reza's death.

To use Sarah Hanson Youngs words, "Tragedies happen, accidents happen"

Move on, nothing important to see here.

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Or as Toxic Tony would say....**bleep** HAPPENS

[vicr3000]

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@*julia*2010 wrote:

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@polksaladallie wrote:

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@polksaladallie wrote:

You prove it.

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Still waiting.................

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i would like to know who it is that you have

accused of doing the following:

Reza was using a computer, he was dragged out of the room and had his neck broken and his skull fractured

and if you have any proof to support 

that.

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Interesting that Polks has provided no proof at all to support the post which proves that it was an outright ........

As well as the fact that 2 people have proved the opposite.