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.

[Anonymous]

New Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has received an immediate mandate from Australian electors as Better PM: Malcolm Turnbull 70% cf. 24% Opposition Leader Bill Shorten with 6% of electors indicating either someone else, neither candidate or they couldn’t say according to a special Snap SMS Morgan Poll conducted this afternoon

[icyfroth]

---

@*julia*2010 wrote:

New Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has received an immediate mandate from Australian electors as Better PM: Malcolm Turnbull 70% cf. 24% Opposition Leader Bill Shorten with 6% of electors indicating either someone else, neither candidate or they couldn’t say according to a special Snap SMS Morgan Poll conducted this afternoon

---

Hahaaa yeah I laughed out loud when I heard that on the radio tonight!

Wouldn't surprise me if the ALP had their own leadership spill soon!

[Anonymous]

Bill Shorten's reaction to Malcolm Turnbull suggests Labor is in denial

If Bill Shorten actually believes what he is saying, he is in grave danger of underestimating Malcolm Turnbull and succumbing to the kind of hubris that helped bring down Tony Abbott.

Rather than dismiss the change as purely cosmetic and write Turnbull off as a shallow showman, Shorten and his deputy Tanya Plibersek would be far better off to recognise that the game has changed and outline how they intend to rise to the challenge.

Rather than claim credit for Abbott's demise, asserting they have "seen off one Liberal leader and will see off the next one", Labor would be wiser to concede that Abbott's fall was overwhelmingly his own work.

Rather than assert that the message will be the same under the new prime minister, they would be better advised to acknowledge Turnbull will pull the government toward the centre with a revamped cabinet and prepare to compete.

And rather than trash talk Turnbull as the rich, ego-driven former merchant banker who failed when he was last in the Liberal leadership, they would be better off recognising that he is a politician of substance and a formidable opponent.


http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/bill-shortens-reaction-to-malcolm-turnbull-sug...

[village_person]

Bill Shorten will fly 16,000km on a private jet to talk about climate change

OPPOSITION leader Bill Shorten hopes to tackle climate change by taking a 16,000km flying tour through the Pacific Islands on a private jet.

Mr Shorten flew into Papua New Guinea on a private plane owned by multi-millionaire entrepreneur and climate change activist Harold Mitchell on Sunday, with deputy Labor leader Tanya Plibersek and immigration spokesman Richard Marles in tow.

The trio met PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill to chat asylum policy and global warming. They landed in the Marshall Islands last night and will fly to the Republic of Kiribati tonight, before jetting back to Australia tomorrow. All up the, trip will cover about 16,400km.

“We are hoping that Australia will take a leadership role in stating our position to the global community,” Mr Shorten said.

“The Pacific Islands are at the front line of the harmful consequences of climate change. Rising water levels mean these people lose their food security.’’

Mr Shorten’s office defend the tour when asked if it was appropriate to create such a large carbon footprint, saying it was an “opportunity to see first-hand the impact of climate change on our Pacific neighbours.”

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/nsw/bill-shorten-will-fly-16000km-on-a-private-jet-to-talk-abo...

Mr Shorten placing his ample derriere in a private jet owned by one of those nasty capitalists. What next. I'll bet the seats on that private jet our covered in sumptuous Connolly leather, cut, tanned, shaped and stitched in some factory in the UK by underpaid workers. Mr Shorten, where are your principles? Joy flights around the islands burning avgas and spewing out polluting and warming exhaust gases...have you no shame Bill.

[debra9275]

that's paywalled to me- a private jet?? at least it didn't cost us tax- payers anything.

Speaking of the Marshall Islands, I came across this the other day

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/02/world/The-Marshall-Islands-Are-Disappearing.html?_r=0

fascinating the aerial shots

[village_person]

---

@debra9275 wrote:

that's paywalled to me- a private jet?? at least it didn't cost us tax- payers anything.

Speaking of the Marshall Islands, I came across this the other day

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/12/02/world/The-Marshall-Islands-Are-Disappearing.html?_r=0

fascinating the aerial shots

---

---

---

Facinating indeed. Then there is this:

So far, most atolls winning the sea level rise battle

An increasing number of atoll studies are not supporting claims of Pacific island leaders that “islands are sinking.” Scientific studies published this year show, for example, that land area in Tuvalu’s capital atoll of Funafuti grew seven percent over the past century despite significant sea level rise. Another study reported that 23 of 27 atoll islands across Kiribati, Tuvalu and the Federated States of Micronesia either increased in area or remained stable over recent decades.

Speaking about Kiribati, Canadian climatologist Simon Donner commented in the Scientific American: ‘Right now it is clear that no one needs to immediately wall in the islands or evacuate all the inhabitants. What the people of Kiribati and other low-lying countries need instead are well-thought-out, customized adaption plans and consistent international aid — not a breathless rush for a quick fix that makes the rest of the world feel good but obliges the island residents to play the part of helpless victim.’

These same climate scientists who are conducting ongoing research in Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands acknowledge the documented fact of sea level rise in the Pacific, and the potential threat this poses. But they are making the point, as articulated by Donner, that ‘the politicized public discourse on climate change is less nuanced than the science of reef islands.’

http://pacificpolicy.org/2015/05/so-far-most-atolls-winning-the-sea-level-rise-battle/

If there is any increase in the size of islands will we have a general panic by the hand-wringers under the banner of "GLOBAL OBESITY WILL KILL US"?

[moonflyte]

Funny how the truth gets lost in self aggrandisement when a world stage is there to strut on. All the rent seekers were there and the pacific mendicant states whinged the loudest.

[debra9275]

interesting .

also this from your post Scientific American

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/donner-the-kiribati-people-battle-sea-level-rise-slide-sho...

agree with these points from your post

What the people of Kiribati and other low-lying countries need instead are well-thought-out, customized adaption plans and consistent international aid — not a breathless rush for a quick fix that makes the rest of the world feel good but obliges the island residents to play the part of helpless victim.’

These same climate scientists who are conducting ongoing research in Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands acknowledge the documented fact of sea level rise in the Pacific, and the potential threat this poses. But they are making the point, as articulated by Donner, that ‘the politicized public discourse on climate change is less nuanced than the science of reef islands.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/as-pacific-islands-flood-a-climate-driven-exodus/

[village_person]

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten crashes car in Melbourne

Bill Shorten was involved in a car crash in Melbourne's inner north at the weekend.

The Opposition Leader's office confirmed Mr Shorten crashed his late mother's Mitsubishi into a number of cars on Pigdon Street in Carlton on Sunday morning.

A caller to radio station 3AW's Rumour File suggested the crash was caused by a coffee that spilt in Mr Shorten's lap.

Yet Mr Shorten's office could not comment on the culpability of the coffee.

Yet Mr Shorten's office could not comment on the culpability of the coffee.

A spokesman for the Opposition Leader said a number of parked cars were damaged in the incident, as was Mr Shorten's car, but no one was injured.

An hour later, Mr Shorten was giving a press conference at Treasury Place.

The crash was perhaps a forewarning of the disastrous poll results awaiting Mr Shorten two days later.

{...}

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/opposition-leader-bill-shorten-crashes-car-in-...

Perhaps the next time the ALP Dream Factory is casting about for a leader it might be prudent to pick someone with a driver's licence.