Diary of our stinking opposition

[village_person]

Labor frontbencher Andrew Leigh shifts position on previous support for a GP fee

Labor's shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh was once a strong supporter of a compulsory fee for visits to the doctor - a policy now slammed by the opposition as a “GP tax” that would hurt the community’s most vulnerable.

But in a 2003 Sydney Morning Herald article Dr Leigh, then a PhD student in economics at Harvard University, argued a Medicare co-payment was “hardly a radical idea”.

“As health researchers have shown, cost-less medical care means that people go to the doctor even when they don't need to, driving up the cost for all of us," Dr Leigh and co-author Richard Holden wrote.

“But there's a better way of operating a health system, and the change should hardly hurt at all.

“As economists have shown, the ideal model involves a small co-payment - not enough to put a dent in your weekly budget, but enough to make you think twice before you call the doc."

Dr Leigh argued the fee should be enough to deter “frivolous GP visits”, but not enough to limit genuine preventive care. The fee should apply to everyone, including pensioners, except those who are chronically ill, he wrote.

Dr Leigh, who has opposed the proposal in media appearances over recent weeks, told Fairfax Media: "Since 2003, a lot has changed in the health care system, and I've changed my view on co-payments.

 “A GP co-payment was originally a Hawke government proposal led by Brian Howe, a member of the Left faction,” he said.

“As long as it is applied fairly across the community, a co-payment is a perfectly valid policy measure. If Andrew Leigh, before he had to toe the party line, recognised that then I welcome his contribution to the debate. I respect Andrew Leigh as a sensible economist.”

On Saturday, Dr Leigh, a former professor of economics at the Australian National University, distanced himself from an article he wrote in 2004 supporting fee deregulation for universities – another policy opposed by Labor.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/labor-frontbencher-andrew-leigh-shifts-positio...

Yes, it’s the very well respected ALP whey-faced Dr Andrew Leigh who virtually declared his previous books and speeches as mere works of fiction. This brings into sharp focus Dr Leigh's economics degree.

[icyfroth]

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@tezza2844 wrote:

 icy quoted:

"It was smart of Labor to pack the parliament’s public galleries with trusting students, staffers and party members to cheer Bill Shorten’s Budget-in-reply speech on Thursday night — no thinking adult would have succumbed to his specious claims as readily"

Just the usual garbage from Piers Akerman of the Murdoch dynasty. Just as bias as Bolt and just as stupid.

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Ok. YOU don't get it, but THEY'RE stupid?

 No clothes either.

[idlewhile]

Wayne Swan is garnering his followers to get rid of Shorten.

Under the new rules Labor shackled themselves with by acquiescing to Rudd's  demand that he would only come back if they could "never" get rid of him, one wonders just how they will they achieve this?

After all Shorten cooked the ballot to attain the leadership even when Albo got over 60% of the votes.

Bill is fading (if that's even more possible for this man) and he's falling in the polls, the Labor party is sliding as well so the panic has set in.

Will be interesting to watch, will be an education in political maneuvers that Labor are so good at.

[icyfroth]

Bill Shorten Waiting For Perfect Moment To Start Role As Opposition Leader

Labor front man Bill Shorten will use the element of surprise as his main weapon against Tony Abbott and the Coalition Government, party insiders have revealed.

“Bill’s waiting very patiently, very strategically for precisely the right moment to reveal himself as Opposition Leader,” a party spokesperson said, labelling the strategy ‘opposition by stealth’.

“It’s like a cobra waiting for its prey. For the first 18-36 months you won’t see him at all, and then all of a sudden – BAM! there’s an attack on Government policy, BAM! there’s a coherent message to voters.

No-one will see it coming. It’s going to ruffle a lot of feathers”.

When asked how much longer it may be before Bill Shorten begins his Opposition Leader role, the spokesperson said, “Well, that’s under wraps, but soon. Possibly even before the next election”.

Mr Shorten was in a strategic hide-out and unavailable for comment.

http://www.theshovel.com.au/2015/05/18/bill-shorten-waiting-for-perfect-moment-to-start-role-as-oppo...

The coveted five laughy-face award

[cherry*135]

From that site, icy

Johnny Depp’s Dogs Claim They Didn’t See Government Advertising Campaign

Yorkshire Terriers Pistol and Boo Depp say they were unaware of an Australian Government campaign that explicitly warned dogs travelling on private jets not to come to Australia.

The two canines now face repatriation or indefinite detention.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said the advertising was very clear. “I’m not sure how they missed it. These ads are everywhere in Los Angeles”.

Mr Joyce said he had no qualms in unsettling dogs. “I unsettle humans all the time, so this is no different really”.

But Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said he was open to letting Pistol and Boo stay if theyinvested $5 million into Australia. “There are ways around everything,” he said.

The dogs are now considering their options.

[village_person]

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@idlewhile wrote:

Under the new rules Labor shackled themselves with by acquiescing to Rudd's  demand that he would only come back if they could "never" get rid of him, one wonders just how they will they achieve this?

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Very interesting. The majority of Australians are wondering the same thing: Why is it we can 'never' get rid of him.

Any suggestions?

[idlewhile]

A little off topic but why is it that just about  every comment seems to elicit a long unwanted c&p explaining what a poster posted.

Are we to  be lectured by c&p when we all know what a member is talking about and referring to?

I dont know how others feel about this activity but to me it seems rude and also intimates that we are ignorant and uneducated as to  what is being discussed therefore we must need this c&p to enlighten us.

Is it attention seeking in the extreme?

[idlewhile]

Tony Soprano perhaps?

[gleee58]

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@idlewhile wrote:

A little off topic but why is it that just about  every comment seems to elicit a long unwanted c&p explaining what a poster posted.

Are we to  be lectured by c&p when we all know what a member is talking about and referring to?

I dont know how others feel about this activity but to me it seems rude and also intimates that we are ignorant and uneducated as to  what is being discussed therefore we must need this c&p to enlighten us.

Is it attention seeking in the extreme?

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Where are all these long explanatory C&Ps.

Most posts are but a few sentences.

[icyfroth]

'Labor dysfunction' fears: Bill Shorten fails to cut through with middle-Australia

Tony Abbott may be personally unpopular among middle-ground voters but the group that broke from the ALP at the 2013 election is not coming back to Bill Shorten, with many regarding him as a ranting puppet obsessed with political point scoring, and lacking in charisma.

Exclusive focus group testing of the two leaders' standing among former Labor voters who switched to Tony Abbott in 2013 has found Mr Shorten is regarded with disdain among the very electors he must win back but who currently see him as unknown, wishy-washy, and unable to cut through.

The confronting findings are among those gleaned from focus groups convened for Fairfax Media by the experienced political market researcher, Tony Mitchelmore.

Entire Article Here

According to Mr Mitchelmore, the main attribute voters want out of Canberra after the global financial crisis and the disastrous internal manoeuvrings that dogged the Labor years, is stability.

"If the question is, 'Who is your preferred leader out of Bishop, Turnbull, or Abbott?', then Abbott is a long way last," Mr Mitchelmore reported.

"[However] if the question is 'who do you want, Turnbull, Bishop, or stability?' stability wins."

That finding is a double-blow for Mr Shorten because it shows voters favour keeping Mr Abbott in place – even though he is not well liked – and because it stems from still-powerful voter associations between the Labor leader and the toxic rivalry of the Kevin Rudd/Julia Gillard years.

[icyfroth]

Bill Shorten’s Parliamentary Sec Michael Danby helped principal accused of molesting kids get visa

A Melbourne court heard last week that Bill Shorten’s Parliamentary Secretary Michael Danby wrote two letters in support of Malka Leifer, a school principal accused of molesting children.

The letters were used by Mrs Leifer to obtain a working visa in Australia which allowed her to work at the Adass Israel School in Melbourne.

Mr Danby did not write one letter but two which suggests he knows Malka Leifer well. A lot of politicians have been caught making the mistake of supporting people they shouldn’t but Mr Danby has a history of writing support letters for crooks and criminals he knows.

Malka Leifer

The current court matter is a civil case were one of Mrs Leifer’s victims is suing Leifer and the School where she was abused.

Mrs Leifer is currently in Israel under house arrest as the Victoria Police have started extradition proceedings to have her returned to Australia to also face criminal proceedings.

“The trial has heard Mrs Leifer, who is not defending the action against her, also abused two of the woman’s sisters and a string of other students.” (Click here to read more)

The School is also not defending the abuse “Adass Israel school will not contest allegations of sexual abuse by its former principal, the Supreme Court of Victoria heard today.”

But “the school will argue that it is not liable for the conduct of Malka Leifer” because she was not employed by the School but was employed by the “congregation” the School says. (Click here to read more)

How the School is avoiding its responsibility is a familiar theme heard daily at the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse currently afoot.

Mr Danby needs to explain exactly why he wrote the two letters of support for Malka Leifer. If the Victoria Police do manage to extradite Mrs Leifer back to Australia for criminal charges the full story might then be revealed whether or not Danby says anything now.

Entire Article Here

So it's not just the catholic priests.