The Coalition is scared of scrutiny
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You can tell how bad Tony Abbott’s evening press conference on negotiations with the independents was yesterday by two indicators: the transcript remains unreleased by his office, and Dennis Shanahan today issued News Limited’s ukase that a new election be held to put a stop all this nonsense. By the way, if you want conspiracy theories, why didn’t ABC News 24 broadcast it? Were they keen to ensure Abbott’s embarrassment, including his sudden departure under a hail of question from journalists, wasn’t publicly displayed? It’s extraordinary just how much the Charter of Budget Honesty, a mechanism developed by Peter Costello to undermine Labor, has come back to haunt the man Peter Costello rated so poorly on economics. The Coalition refused to provide its policies for costing by Treasury during the election campaign and now, remarkably, refuses to provide them to Treasury after the election to enable the independents to assess the impact of the parties’ policies on the Budget. Conservatives online have tried to portray Abbott as bravely holding out against the outrageous demands of the independents. In fact, Abbott has agreed to all the other demands of the independents, including surrendering the traditional prerogative of the prime minister to decide when an election will be held. It is only in refusing to adhere to the requirements of the Coalition’s own Charter of Budget Honesty that Abbott is making any sort of stand. His reasoning for doing so seems to be two-fold. Last night it was because the public service, somehow, wouldn’t “understand” the Coalition’s policies. Quite what that even means is a complete mystery. Who did the Coalition think was going to implement their policies? Were they intending to outsource delivery of their policies to accounting firms? This morning, talking to the ABC, Abbott had entirely changed his excuse, back to the claim that since there was a leak during the election campaign the Coalition couldn’t trust Treasury until the leaker was found and removed. This ‘Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Shinybum’ stuff is equally confusing. Even adopting the Coalition’s feigned outrage about the original leak (because it never leaked material to damage its opponents when in government, as Andrew Wilkie might be able to attest), what is there now to leak anyway? Isn’t the entire point to see what the Coalition’s policies would cost? “I can’t see why we cannot conclude anything other than that you are scared that Treasury will find gaping holes in your costings,” said The West Australian’s Andrew Probyn to Abbott last night. It was the money question in a press conference in which Abbott had few answers and was hammered by journalists before he fled. This can be spun all sorts of ways by the Coalition and its apologists but there’s a basic issue here: the Coalition is scared of having Treasury examine its policies and desperately reaching for any excuse as to why it shouldn’t. How on earth does that makes them a credible party to form a government? Treasury may well find errors in the costings that reflect the reality that oppositions can’t match the modelling firepower of the bureaucracy. Such errors are entirely understandable and are unlikely to be particularly large anyway. By my count, the Opposition was well ahead of Labor in terms of the fiscal impact of its commitments, which had Labor over $2 billion in the red by election day. But it appears the Coalition is worried there are bigger problems lurking in their policies. The fact that they took their costings to a private accounting firm many weeks before the leak that they allege was the reason for avoiding Treasury suggests that may indeed be the case. More to the point for where this interregnum is going to end up, Abbott continues to stumble in his handling of a hung parliament in which he must surely be strongly placed to obtain the support of the rural independents. While Julia Gillard is giving the independents anything they ask for in a desperate effort to cling to power, Abbott seems to think the prime ministership should fall to him by right. I’ve said before the problem is less Abbott’s grasp of economics than his temperament. Last night confirmed that. |
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136 Comments
Mr Rabbit is now being forced to eat his own sh*t in public. Oryctolagus cuniculus, the European rabbit, occasionally eats its own faeces—of which it produces two types, hard and soft—so that the soft pellets that contain bacteria critical to its upper digestive tract help it breakdown its grassy diet.
One wonders if even sh*teating grins, which admittedly Mr Abbott has previously shown specialized knowledge, can help with the soft mushy faecal pellets he dropped throughout the campaign, such as NBN policy, turning back boats and the Coalition’s Economic Action Plan which even Peter van Onselen called “a case of voodoo economics”.
That bad look on Wednesday night was Mr Rabbit caught in the headlights, soon to become roadkill then rabbit stew.
To save time for other ignoramuses and political naifs like me:
Ukase (Russian: указ, ukaz) in Imperial Russia was a proclamation of the tsar, government, or a religious leader (patriarch) that had the force of law. Adequate translations are “edict” or “decree” of Roman law.
After the Russian Revolution, a government proclamation of wide meaning was called a “decree” (Russian: декрет, dekret); more specific proclamations were called ukaz. Both terms are usually translated as “decree”.
According to the Russian Federation’s 1993 constitution, an ukaz is a Presidential decree. Such ukazes have the power of laws, but may not alter the regulations of existing laws, and may be superseded by laws passed by the Federal Assembly.
……………..
Don’t give Shanahan any ideas of being a Russian Imperialist, or maybe it is already too late for that? Rupert as the Tsar? Mad Monk as Rasputin? Hey, hell yes, Julia as Lenin……(I think I just broke my previous promise….too much coffee and excitement this morning, waiting for Brisbane to be declared.)
Having done some basic costing work on the proposed Direct Action Policy on Climate Change back in March when it was released, the effective $/tonne cost of emissions reduction in that paper was well in excess of $2,000 - and that was just on the “costable” numbers.
I wouldn’t want that held up to scrutiny when any form of carbon price = “great big new tax”, would you?
The voting public were supposed to understand the Libs policies and vote for them but Treasury officials wouldn’t understand them. Give us a break.
If Abbott does become PM I would expect a raft of resignations from Treasury as who would want to be giving serious advice to these clowns.
With the Libs freeze on public service recruitment those who do leave won’t be replaced. I expect the Libs would then continue to get advice on economic policy from private sector auditors.
Was it not Bernard who said Abbott, when he was promoted to Liberal leader, would reduce the Party to a “reactionary rump”? Abbott produced one of the finest performances against a first-term government, and Bernard’s judgement was confirmed erroneous. I fear Bernard is now underestimating Abbott — again. Does he want Abbott to fail? Could it be that Bernard’s emotional desire to see this happen is overwhelming his rational side?
The Coalition is an angry rabble, still upset at the result of the 2007 election and unable to move on. They’re still driven by ideological obsessions rather than common sense, and they’re desperate to get back into government without any scrutiny of what they intend to do. God only knows what they would do if they did get in.
Labor, on the other hand, has lost its way under the influence of the Arbibs and the Bittars, and it seems can’t be relied on to at least provide a competent, mildly progressive administration as long as the aforementioned hold sway. The current situation – a near-powerless caretaker government – is looking the best option.
By the way, if the voters in the independents’ electorates wanted a Coalition rather than a Labor government, as a Galaxy poll apparently indicates, why didn’t they vote for one?
Now, that’s a very good question and, if true, one that Media Watch ought to probe.
Troy dearest, like most other wing nuts you seem to find it extremely hard to be consistent when it comes to the relative value of leaks.
According to Troy, Toxic Tony and the right wing noise machine, leaks are a very good thing when Godwin Gretch is leaking to the Coalition but suddenly become the epitomy of evil when some other Treasury official leaks to the media to expose Coalition deceit.
But even more incredulous is that the Treasury never actually leaked anything prior to the election that wasn’t supposed to end up in the public domain before the election anyway.
The whole point of the Charter of budget honesty was to put in place a process whereby both parties figures would be submitted to Treasury prior to an election SPECIFICALLY so Treasury can then tell the public that whether said figures were accurate or not.
All that happened in this instance, was that someone in Treasury told someone in the media about the black hole in coalition figures a few days prior to the day which that information would have been released anyway, simply as a matter of course
What we also now know is that the Coalition never intended to submit their policies to their own Charter of budget honesty in the first place.
The West Australian accountancy firm has openly admitted that they were asked to start preparing these figures are the Coalition in June.
Long before any election was called, let alone before any so called leak gave them any reason to distrust Treasury
Toxic Tony and the Turramurra Tea Party simply could not be any more full of shit on this particular issue if they tried.
In fact, the only thing they have going for them right now is that the vast majority of swing voters in marginal seats are simply way too dim to understand they are being screwed
Oh dear Troy, if you tell the lie often enough it can sway votes.
It was only Qld who changed things, in the normal part of the country the peasants went towards the ALP because we want to move into the 21 st century knowing new and necessary infrastructure is needed.
All that dipstick Abbott ran on was a crime.
Dont forget Bernard, last year the Liberals thought nothing of “leaking” a fake document by Gordon Grech - a Treasury man (maybe he was the only one they trusted!) and used that man to lie and manipulate a made up allegation about Wayne Swan. It suited their purposes then. Also Ken Henry was in charge of Treasury with the Howard Govt…didn’t they trust him then either???? This claim that they dont trust Treasury is a slight on all Treasury workers even to the point of defaming them by accusing them them of being unable to trust. This is appalling behaviour from a man who wants to be PM. If he cant trust Treasury now - how the hell will he work with them if he gets the gong??? Answer is: he won’t. The other problem he has is that the Nationals loathe the independents…how long will stable Govt last if they independents go with them??? Abbott will just use the hatred and mistrust among them to go to polls early in the hope to get the independent seats and a desperate attempt to get a majority.
Bernard you were making good sense until this…” Abbott continues to stumble in his handling of a hung parliament in which he must surely be strongly placed to obtain the support of the rural independents. While Julia Gillard is giving the independents anything they ask for in a desperate effort to cling to power”. …
Why do you not sub your own copy? You praise Abbott for giving the Independ’s 6 of 7 requests, but when Gillard agrees to all 7 she is in a desperate effort to cling to power!!!
Talk about writing nonsense, you win every time.
Incidentally, I wasn’t aware the independents had decided either way who they are going to support. Obviously you have inside information or just filling up the spaces, when you write…he must surely be strongly placed to obtain the support of the rural independents. Why? because a Galaxy poll says so. Get with it BK, you can do better than that, or can you?
Here’s an idea. Pick up the phone and call the Accounting firm who have costed the Coalition policies and get some substrance in the information, that would be good investigative journalism.
People also voted on the memory of Costello as Treasurer…thinking they would get the same economic stability from the current Libs. Costello is gone…now the wankers that are left have to prove their economic credentials and are failing miserably.
re “why didn’t ABC News 24 broadcast it”
I’ve been railing about this issue for weeks. The ABC have more often than not completely vacated the field when it has come to holding Tony Abbott properly accountable during this election.
Admittedly, they did take a serious beating from the right-wing noise machine (particularly Sky News) during the first week of the campaign after a technical glitch prevented ABC 24 covering one of Tony Abbott’s press conferences in Perth that first weekend. This only exacerbated the heat the ABC was already taking from the lunar right for allowing Chris Uhlmann to continue covering the election even though his wife was running as a candidate for Labour down in Canberra. Actually I actually submitted a piece to the Drum laying out the reasons why it might be in the public interest that Uhlmann take a sabbatical during the election campaign to firewall the ABC from this very obvious possible line of attack. Of course, the ABC being the ABC, my criticism was never published
Thus in order to protect his own sorry ass from being continually spanked by the right for perceived left-wing bias, Mark Scott has been pulling strings all the way to ensure that no one at the ABC did or said anything that might make his own position more tenuous should toxic Tony ultimately come to power
TroyC - so… you are okay with Abbott NOT submitting his promises to Treasury for costing?
Can you imagine what the coalition would be saying if the shoe was on the other foot? What would you think TroyC if it had been Gillard refusing?
With each new day a new reason for not submitting. How sweet it is to watch the Libs-Coalition and Abbott twist and turn to avoid scrutiny. They were looking like a shoe-in against Rudd. Then the earth shifted on its axis and it suited them to become Rudd supporters, condemning his assassination. And whatever happened to Labor, Abbott didn’t win!
And now as things are in flux they are in panic mode. Best line of all was Abbott in full cringeing mode telling the independents, “I’ve always loved the bush”. It was like watching the hangers on when a kid comes out of a lolly shop. “I’ve always liked you!”. Utterly pathetic and childish.
And after all the barracking and coaching what a disappointment for “The Australian” and Shanahan. Not since the republic debacle have they had such a shock to their own sense of their own power. And I hope it’s followed by subscribers dumping them all over the shop. Young Dennis should have the guts of Maxine McKew and actually put his name down, instead of attempting to shoot from the safety of the sidelines.
Wonderful times!
Excellent point and I am reposting it here just so people like Troy get to read it twice.
Acidic muse…couldn’t agree more…the ABC were certainly left wanting and if you analyse their reports across the spectrum TV/radio - they nearly always led with an Abbott story for longer than Gillard and the tone of the story was sugar sweet compared the aggressive tone to Gillard stories. Not one media outlet put anything Abbott did or said under any form of scrutiny- except for Kerry O’Brien. With Abbott’s refusal to allow Treasury to assess his election policy costings proves he loathes any form of scrutiny and thinks the media will let him off lightly like they did during the election. Well they better bloody not.
I don’t know what the big deal is, “it” couldn’t go on indefinitely, after 2 months, isn’t this “Real Tony” exhaling, “Uncle Nick” having slipped him his leash?
ABC radio ran a show yesterday morning on the current plight of journalists as the employment pool shrinks.
Apart from the ABC (anyone seen Glen Milne?) the limited news and Fairfax are it for the printed news and there are new young journos freshly minted being turned out by the Unis.
So that kind of explains why journalists that previously had your respect for their tell it as it is honesty now peddle right wing agendas, even becoming ridiculous.
I reckon that if I worked in the ABC as a journalist under the fierce janet albrech’n I’d do the same as all these others and sell out to put food on the table and keep sweet with private enterprise.
If she gets tired of newspapering she has a career ahead in dominatrix employment should she want it.
Btw anyone else enjoy Fiel dingaling’s embarrassment when he tried to queue jump at the polling booth.
“Do you know who I am?” got him sent back to the end of the line, most likely because they did know who he was.
“Shanahanagans” - “Australia Network”-wise, and other “influence”, who, besides “Murdoch”, stands to lose more from an “independent” parliament/government?
Clearly this is all part of a greater Liberal master plan to let Labor form Government, at which point Tony Abbott takes the fall for his inability to add-up and Malcolm Turnbull is put in place to lead the Liberals to an overwhelming victory at the next election, where an ineffective Government - hamstrung by 3 yokel independents - will be cast aside for Malcolm to ride in and save us all.
It’s ok, nobody actually expected Tony Abbott to ever become Prime Minister anyway.
The simple solution is for the media to do its job for once: demand an answer from Mark Scott, and if he doesn’t respond keep running the story until he does.
Least of all himself.
And spare us from another round of Turnbull. He should sit on the cross benches.
What leak? It’s like a sieve out there. Tony Abbott is displaying very limited imagination as to the possible circumstances in which a leak could occur, keeping in mind the Liberal Party’s fervent participation in the Godwin Gretch affair.
Why is it assumed that the leak must be from Treasury or Wayne’s Swanns office via the Treasury? I can think of at four other possible sources of this alleged “leak”.
1.From an employee of the accountancy firm itself.
2.From the Liberal Party Shadow Treasurer’s office by an employee for financial gain or with malice.
3.From Liberal Party itself as a strategic ploy to “justify” a refusal to have the promises costed by Treasury.
4.Educated and informed guesswork by the newspaper journalist working from a multitude of sources, such as paying cleaners to hunt through rubbish bins. Added to that journalists have been known to embellish, distort, plagiarise or even create news.
If it is true that the accounting firm had been employed on the costings in June we must assume that the Liberal Party never intended observing “Budget Honesty” and option number 3 is the obvious assumption.
I still hold out hope, that under “these particular circumstances” Abbott does succeed - if “it is better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to open ones mouth and remove all doubt”, then a few months in the spotlight, and between the shafts, should remove all doubt as to his and his “bollock team’s” “potential”!
Since I couldn’t put it better myself, I’ll just quote the best Twitter insight on this:
RT @geeksrulz: RT @im_myk: Tony Abbott needs to grow some Katters & get his costings out…#alot #ausvotes #bobkatterfacts
It really does scare me that it takes a hung Parliament for any kind of scrutiny to be cast on Abbott’s economic credentials. How gullible is the Australian public to swallow the one liners the coalition repeatedly tossed up in answering questions put to them throughout the campaign.
I look forward to another election because this time there is no campaign money for all the glitzy adds. The war chests are spent and even in the red so how will they get their messages through? Through public debate and scrutiny one would hope. I can only pray the people will demand all politicians to provide answers with substance and with true conviction this time around.
Mr Robb who has been strangely silent last few days, has spoken. The Coalition do not agree with giving the Independents the information in the red and/or blue books from treasury. He said it was for the eyes of the winner only. More obstacles…these wangers DO have something to hide and it is becoming more obvious by the hour. In my book the Indies are the winners.
If it’s worth anything, Lateline was all over the Abbott presser, showing the awkward walk-out at least twice.
Dr Harvey M Tarvydas
Excellent BK and thanks for having the guts to say it so straight.
The rest of our glorious media have run off to do something more important, fart controlling classes I am told.
Please finish this BK ….. “His reasoning for doing so seems to be two-fold. Last night it was because the public service, somehow, wouldn’t “understand” the Coalition’s policies. Quite what that even means is a complete mystery. Who did the Coalition think was going to implement their policies? Were they intending to outsource delivery of their policies to accounting firms?”…….. with a spell it out explanation as the media play so dumb and the less intellectually endowed public that need to understand it to protect themselves ……….. like this ….
…..hey, the public service actually carry out the processes of administering and actioning government policy because they employ the very smart and educated (University – often more educated than government ministers or even prime ministers) Australians and train them how to do these things so that they understand it, the policy and the operation of it all and have been doing so for decades….. While I don’t need you to do so, so much media and ordinary population do especially since the pollies when they think the people are getting it will start to lie like idiots gone crazy. I am writing this so, so ‘media’ can understand me also without going into a panic.
“why didn’t ABC News 24 broadcast it?”
Indeed.
Why has the ABC along with the usual media suspects given Abbott such a dream run through the entire election?
Even Fran Kelly has seemed charmed by Dr No.
It has taken until a week after the election for someone to actually grill Abbott’s costings, but even then we get the likes of Lyndal Curtis wet-lettucing him while he argues about leaks (Grech, anyone?) with presumably a straight radio face.
It’s good to see even Bernard now get onto this major gotcha - the only one in the entire election campaign - along with others. Hopefully there are a few Chris Uhlmanns who can put this unclothed emperor properly on the spot.
Can you imagine a labor politician making the complete arse of himself Abbott made yesterday and getting away with it?
Can you imagine Labor putting up a leader of Abbotts calibre and getting away with it?
What he said about Treasury automatically disqualifies him from Office. This is the bureacracy that he has to work with if, god forbid, he ever gets his hands on the levers of government.
Clearly the coalitions budget costings and their ‘we’ve got a bigger surplus than yours’ blather amounted to nothing other than electoral fraud.
The only thing thats stopping him from becoming a complete object of ridicule is News limited grim and relentless cheerleading and an ABC that has been politically nuetered by a decade of tory harrassment.
What has this country come to…
Dr Harvey Tarvydas
@DAVID, 1.47
I am with you but you did say BK was doing well until …..
The rest of the media really need your help.
BK was playing that new media game for ethical journo’s called ‘constant measuring of bias and levelling it out even when its not there - ‘balancing’.
BERNARDK “”It’s extraordinary just how much the Charter of Budget Honesty, a mechanism developed by Peter Costello to undermine Labor, has come back to haunt the man Peter Costello rated so poorly on economics. The Coalition refused to provide its policies for costing.”“
Could this be the same Peter Costello-ex- Member for Higgins (Liberal)? Say not so!
The same man who raised a million dollars from his constituents for campaign funds? The man who invested the money so well that when Tony Abbott asked him to hand it over for the purpose it was originally intended for. Peter Costello refused to do so, sagaciously considering the constituents to be far happier getting the dividends-they did get them, I take it-rather than wasting the money on an ultra-blue ribbon Liberal seat, which was there for the taking.
Well done Pete.
@Denise and Mack
We seem to agree that all of this is contributing to a serious dilution and dumbing down of our democracy. The question is what can be done about it.
It’s no accident that there are no contrary left of centre voices given a similar degree of prominence within the Australian media to counter the relentless right-wing activism of Bolt, Henderson, Shanahan, Albrechtson, Ackerman, Devine et al. The commercial mainstream media which employs all these colourful individuals is ultimately reliant upon advertising income streams derived from other large commercial entities whose political and economic interests more often than not diverge greatly from those of the average working stiff. It’s therefore hardly surprising that 90% of political coverage is either skewed to the economic right or political spectrum or emanates from a more objective centrist point of view inevitably filtered through the “prism of market expectations”
I’m sure I’m not the only one who has noticed that people with $300 haircuts are now invited onto virtually every news broadcast to tell us what that most venerable of all focus group, “the Markets” think about any given political issue
Yes, there are plenty of upstart start-ups like Crikey and New Matilda (RIP) who do what they can to redress this huge imbalance, but ultimately I suspect, if they last long enough to grow big enough, they too will be cowed into compliance in much the same way the ABC has been of late.
No one who’s watched the mining companies flex their corporate muscles in order to avoid having to pay the MRT can deny the degree of power these extremely self-serving market forces wield over our nation’s political destiny
PS: To no one in particular:
How long do the hapless voters of Oz have to put up with the Mad Hatter? Only a man from the Deep North could have soaked his constituents for all his new threads in which to come to the big smoke and thus clad do an impersonation of oil man from a soap c. 1960, from the USA, called Dynasty, I think.
Oh yes, the MSM are loving this folksy bullshot, but they’ll stop loving it ASAP when another story hits the cybersphere. And BS is what it is, even if I do agree that the NBN is of vital importance to the future of Oz.
Much as I despise the Mad Monk, I have a horrible intuition that the independents are going to back him, shonky policies and all. I just don’t believe that Messrs Oakeshott, Windsor and Katter (especially the latter) are going to feel comfortable about handing power to a PM who owes her job to the loathsome cabal of Arbib, Bittar and co.
I don’t see this as all bad though - I cannot see an Abbott regime going the distance and in the mean time, a purge of the faceless men of Sussex Street is badly needed. Once Labor rediscovers its soul, it will be fit to govern.
I change my mind each day as to who will win this slow and agonisng election… (or at least, who will head up a minority govt). Today I fear it might still be Abbott. Tomorrow I want to hope it will be Gillard…
Sean is right: what has this country come to? I am saddened to think that the spin, the one liners, the hype, the exaggurations, the dirt, the slander, the lies, the racism, and the fear-mongering of Abbott could actually get a swing in his favour - let alone win office. Are so many Australian voters so easily manipulated and led? Are so many really that shallow and gullible?
I know I know, hard liners for the Liberal party will say just maybe people are smart and heard the message and saw the truth, and my comments are just sour grapes. Sure guys… believe what you must. (I am not really in a state of sour grapes: the Greens did really well in this very tight election. That is a big plus. And even if Abbott wins, he will be at least partly help on a tight reign with the 3 independents in the lower house, and the greens and labor in the upper.)
I am still just a little freaked out by the whole process… since multinationals and media giants helped overthrow a sitting Prime Minister, to a largely politically ignorant population just maybe voting in a fraud. Democracy in the modern world is a strange animal - an endangered species in fact.
If, despite his latest almighty faux pas, Abbott does become Prime Minister what would it mean for the relationship between a Coalition government and the Australian Treasury? Abbott and Robb have indicated they do not trust Treasury’s public servants nor think them sufficiently competent to assess costings.
This does not augur well. There is no department more important than Treasury - without it no other government departments could exist as money controls our entire system. In my opinion, a fragile relationship between a Coalition government and Treasury undermines stability of government. If I was an independent this would be the deciding factor.
Death of Keynesian Economics —
1936 - 2010
It is with great sadness that we announce the death of Keynesian economics. Born in 1936, Keynes¬ian theory enjoyed an exciting and influential life during most of the 20th Century. It was a particularly important ideology during the Great Depression, World War II and the post-war economic expansion that lasted from 1945-1973. Keynesian economics enjoyed a strong revival following the 2007 credit crisis and financial meltdown. It succumbed to death by sound reason during the G20 Summit in Toronto in July 2010, after world leaders looked at their respective balance sheets and the poor returns from their massive stimulus programs. Keynesian theory will be dearly missed by its numerous followers, including Paul Krugman, Joseph Stiglitz, Robert Solow, and other Nobel Prize winning economists who never saw the recession coming. In lieu of flowers, donations can be sent to the IMF in memory of Keynesian Thought.
Australia is full of all types of people Jim; the educated, the uneducated, the religious, the atheist, the money chasers, the bludgers, the rich, the poor etc. Is it so hard to believe that some of these people don’t like the left ideology? That these people want to live their lives with minimal change and the least possible interference by the government. It’s not an uncommon view. You might call it uncultured or ignorant, but it’s still valid.
As for your lament about the state of our democracy, I don’t think you have to worry. The fact that a hung parliament exists is a testimony to our democracy. If we were in Pakistan or Thailand at the moment, the tanks would already be in the streets.
News bulletin on their ABC minutes has Coalitions Robb now saying they will hand over all their costings to Treasury, depending on a satisfactory outcome of the enquiry into the supposed “leak”. The operative word of course is ’ satisfactory ‘. Mr Robb did not enlarge on it and of course the ABC didn’t ask him to. But then I suppose why should they? We all know what satisfactory means, don’t we?
woops should have been “minutes ago”, sorry.
@Zut Alors:
The Libs have never disguised their dislike of Ken Henry, so he’d be shown the door by them as soon as they could engineer it.
@Scott:
True, but then they have enough tanks to muster.
So, Robb is finally in damage control mode.
Bernard you were making good sense until this…” Abbott continues to stumble in his handling of a hung parliament in which he must surely be strongly placed to obtain the support of the rural independents. While Julia Gillard is giving the independents anything they ask for in a desperate effort to cling to power”. …
Why do you not sub your own copy? You praise Abbott for giving the Independ’s 6 of 7 requests, but when Gillard agrees to all 7 she is in a desperate effort to cling to power!!!
Talk about writing nonsense, you win every time.
So well put that I do believe that you should read it again Bernard.
It is fairly obvious that someone is putting pressure on you to put balance into your stories. That someone should be told that balance is not required where fairness and honesty are practised. Otherwise it just demeans your stories and in the end both you and your faceless man will loose your jobs. Why come here for balance when we already get the same tripe from the abc for free?
I think the equations simple. The independents will go with the libs if they win the most seats. There’s no way around it. At the moment labor need to win both of the remaining two seats in doubt- corangamite and Brisbane. If that happens we’ll get a final tally of lab 73 and libs 72. If Libs win one then we’ll get the opposite, Libs 73 labour 72 (with the qulatification that one of those coalitions seats counted is for the national guy in WA whose said he’ll sit ont the cross benches. Why he continues to be counted iwht he coalition I don’t know.
Labor are currently approx 800 ahead in corangamite and 800 behind in Brisbane.
If labor dont win both these seats I can’t see the independents going with them when the libs would have more seats. It would be a bridge too far.
Things are hotting up Tricky Tony’s Nixon-like(as in Richard) reasons for not submitting costings to Treasury defy logic and is unfair to voters Treasury are the final Arbitor not (To Get the FACTS Straight) the Perth based Howarths accountants who did not AUDIT the costings as Hockey claimed,they were instructed to add up the assumptions (numbers) provided by Robb/Hockey/Tricky Tony, Howarths to their credit added the priviso they could NOT Guarantee the numbers they were given were correct. Howarths interestingly started life as Hendry,Rae and COURT founding member Sir Charles Court father of Richard Court both Liberal ex premiers of WA in the interests of the voting public on both sides these FACTS need to be given Bandwidth
The key point here David is also the time frame. They know that any investigation is gonna take far longer than the process of installing the next government.
@Sean:
Despite what he says, I don’t think Wilkie can remain seated on the fence once it really gets down to wire.
And in Oz it’s Labor (no ‘u’)
Socratease (4.22pm)
I am completely baffled by the Coalition’s anti-Ken Henry stance. Henry was appointed by them, the Coalition (with Costello as Treasurer), and then, re-appointed in 2006. Surely, if Henry was an ALP stooge, the Coalition would’ve cottoned-on to it before renewing his contract. Even John Howard used to speak in glowing terms of Ken Henry - unless, of course, The Lying Rodent was hard at it (lying) at the time.
Can anyone please explain the Coalition’s anti-Ken Henry fixation to me? They appointed him!
^
Beats me, too. I guess he is seen as too independent.
With all the assurances from the more conservative pundits that Tony (the Abbott one, that is) is such a paragon of virtue and honesty, I though it would be instructive to use a Famous Web Search Engine to search out his inevitable condemnation of the leaks of one Godwin Grech in 2009. I used the combination of ‘2009’, ‘Grech’, and ‘Abbott’ and was rewarded with lots of hits (approximately 18200 of them). “Goody”, I thought, “there must be plenty of juicy condemnations in this lot”. However, after looking at the first 30 hits … not a trace.
I then tried adding ‘political bastardry’ to the search mix. Surely, I thought, he must have used such a colourful expression previously and not just come up with it for the pre-election Treasury leak. This time the FWSE came back with 6 hits. Eureka! I thought - this must be it!
But no, not one instance of Mr Grech coming under fire from Tony. This seems to leave me with an inescapable conclusion about the character of Mr Abbott.
‘hypocrite’ - (inter alia) dissembler, pretender; one who falsely professes to be virtuously or religiously inclined; one who pretends to be other and better than he is.
The irretrieveably parlous condition of ABC journalism is highlighted by the fact that ordinary Australians can do a better job of asking questions, as the quote below from this thread shows:
News bulletin on their ABC minutes has Coalitions Robb now saying they will hand over all their costings to Treasury, depending on a satisfactory outcome of the enquiry into the supposed “leak”. The operative word of course is ’ satisfactory ‘. Mr Robb did not enlarge on it and of course the ABC didn’t ask him to. But then I suppose why should they? We all know what satisfactory means, don’t we?
PS: I suggest the only leaks going on at the moment is the aware voting public pissing themselves laughing ,Costello included at Abbott and his Grab Bag of Finance Failures.
Socratease
Thanks for the correction - if youll notice I use the word ‘Labor’ with correct spelling about 5 other times. True pedents would have noticed that and not bothered with the correction.
Also Wilkie doesn’t matter on the above scenario. If the libs finish with 73 then they only need the 3 independents to take government. Labor would be left with 72 plus wilkie and bandt.
As I said the only variable to that would be the WA nat, but even if he sits on the cross bench he’ll no doubt support the coalition.
True pedants also spell pedant correctly! LOL!
And it ain’t over until the recounts of the recounts have been conducted.
Mr. Abbot seems to have tried many things: from religious education, boxing, riding bikes, swimming and running; he has tried politics. Would he ever have time to represent anybody else but himself and his narcisism?
Perhaps it’s time to try meditation?
After the Rudd’s assasination by the Brute, (as in: Senatores boni viri sed Senatus bestiam) the Liberals should have won any election with a majority of seats..
SOCRATEASE: Brilliant remark re the tanks.
Tanks for that Venise.
I am enjoying seeing the bastards fry.
If, when all the counts and the recounts, and the counts of the recounts amount to a draw, why can’t we demand a caretaker government, until such time as all the Parties have articulated, written, and signed, their philosophy.
This should tie them down for the next five years, and by then the electorate will have had ample time to discover exactly what they should be demanding from a government.
SOCRATEASE:
Venise:
The only provision for a caretaker government that I’m aware of is the one we have at the moment with Gillard as caretaker PM, and that situation stands until we get a result by one means or another.
… although I expect some people are getting to the point where they wish an Administrator could be appointed — like we do with errant local councils.
@ Socratease
And obviously I’m not claiming to be a pendant you prat. Detail is not your strong point is it (LOL)
Hi Venise
I recognise your disdain for the vociferous one but I’m reserving judgement on Mr Katter. I’m not fence sitting, just watching, quietly watching.
Fascinated
@SOCRATEASE - No, Gillard remains PM until the GG withdraws her Commission.
@FASCINATED - I’m watching Katter too! I was not aware of many of the stats he’s given since Sunday night - I’m pretty shocked by most of them. For example, how much food we import? How much suitable land is available for agriculture; how much is taken or would be taken over for mining coal etc; dangers to aquifers in relation to mining, and why on earth are we importing bananas? How is that good for our farmers? Free trade? Free for all, and doesn’t include us???I hope the Independents are successful, because I want to hear more from all of them, and I include Bandt and Wilke? We just might really find out what has been going on; we might hear some good resolutions debated before the House - now I’d love to see that!
I think Julia Gillard is to be commended for her compliance, whatever the motivation. If it means we all benefit, then bring it on! As for Abbott, none of his carry on surprises me. The conservatives always believe that they have the god given right to hold power - they get real narky when that doesn’t come about! I think they’re pretty disgusting picking on public servants who can’t answer back! Gutless bastards!
As for those who carry on about the ‘faceless men’ or handful of Labor machine people. Only Karl Bitar isn’t a member of Parliament. Who and what do people think are behind the Coalition? Just politicians? Even then, who was behind the Gretchen affair? Turnbull and Abetz, and I bet Minchin had his hands all over it too! They told lies; set up two senior govt people including the PM on lies! Lies! I find the one sided rubbish about Labor just that - rubbish! The Coalition are no better. Do people think that their senior strategists aren’t behind everything Abbott does and says? He’d have all sorts of people pulling his every ‘string’?
Robb is just stirring up bs now! The so-called “leak” happened what, a day or so before the Treasury figures would’ve been released anyway. The bs about the Westminster system is being usurped or damaged or ??? is a nonsense. The fact is, that all monies to be spent belong to us - our taxes, service fees etc - OUR money, not the Libs or Labor or Treasury! As long as state secrets aren’t divulged; or other sensitive matters that could negatively injure others, then what is all the fuss about? Now Robb is worried about getting “frank and fearless” advice in the future? Honestly Robb, as far as I’m concerned, you’ve never been interested in getting “frank and fearless” advice, otherwise you wouldn’t have trashed the reputation of the people in Treasury!
As for the people in the Independents’ electorates wanting them to side with the Coalition - I bet they change their tune if the Gillard Govt benefits the people in those electorates, they just might be silenced? Interesting times indeed! Perhaps it would be better if the final decision was made by the GG? That might get those 3 off the hook!
@Sean:
No, I am the pedant, so that makes you the prat. LOL!
I think I feel a leadership challenge coming on, sooner than usual after an election. Hang on folks, I’m going to hit you with a conspiracy theory. A failed conspiracy, with unintended consequences.
The incredible polling approval of Kevin Rudd during the Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership of the Liberal Party was partly due to his own success. But it was also partly a gift from the News Ltd papers, which imposed almost a blackout on Malcolm Turnbull during his leadership of the Liberal Party from September 2008 to November 2009.
The purpose for this blackout was easy to guess from constant speculation in the Australian, particularly from News Ltd political editor Dennis Shanahan, that Turnbull’s leadership was in trouble and under threat from Peter Costello. Costello had not publicly indicated any such intention, and in October last year settled the matter by announcing his resignation.
This came too late to save Turnbull, who became known chiefly for his poor handling of the Godwin Grech affair, and who polled incredibly poorly without the usual support of the Australian for the Liberals. The only Liberal name appearing in a positive light in the papers at that time was Costello, writing commentary under his own column.
Turnbull submitted some articles for publication in the Australian. These were buried in inside pages, on one occasion almost impossible to find, on another occasion juxtaposed against an old file photograph of Turnbull in a context which implied - absurdly - that he had cohorted with criminals in the 1980s. Were these articles accepted for publication just in order to bury or discredit them? Political staffers normally check these things through a clipping service, not in newsstand copies, so these sort of editorial subtleties could easily go undetected.
Some of the best advice to the government on stimulus came from Turnbull, much of which the government quietly followed, without any recognition in the newspapers.
On 30 November, an article on page 4 of the Australian by Lenore Taylor reported that Liberal powerbroker Nick Minchin had supported an ETS (along with Turnbull and others) for the sake of “business certainty” in the course of bringing down the leadership of Brendan Nelson (who had opposed an ETS) in July 2008. And that Minchin had then changed his mind about an ETS, opposing it in the course of trying to end Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership. The article appeared only in the print edition; it vanished almost without trace from the Australian’s website, although references to it still appear in Parliamentary clippings. An error of fact, or just inconvenient? I note that Taylor writes mainly for Fairfax since then.
Turnbull lost the leadership to Tony Abbott on 1 December. With Costello having announced his resignation on 7 October, there was nothing for News Ltd figures to do except throw their full support behind Abbott.
After that, the long Rudd honeymoon went into decline, and Coalition polling improved immensely, although Abbott never received a net positive rating as preferred PM.
Did Dennis Shanahan use the News Ltd stable of papers to strangle Turnbull’s leadership in an attempt to promote Costello, who didn’t even want it? Did this contribute to Rudd’s extraordinary popularity through 2009, and make Abbott look like a roaring success by comparison after Costello’s resignation last October?
If so, then all things being equal, Turnbull might have polled at least as well as Abbott, and conceivably much better. In which case the outcome of the 2010 election — a loss by both sides — should have been a decisive win by a Turnbull-led Coalition. Complete with an exceptionally high level of economic literacy, and bipartisan support for an ETS, subject to Turnbull’s built-in protection for farmers and financial rewards for carbon sequestration in their soil.
ABCnews24 is currently doing its best to portray the Gillard gov’t as unstable, re Maxine Mckew’s presser after she lost Bennelong, in-fighting about the Labor right etc etc, no mention of Abbott’s squirming over his costings, not being able to work with Treasury, walking out on a number of pressers, ducking scrutiny, the Godwin Grech hypocrisy, the knives waiting for Abbott should he fail, Turnbull sitting on the sidelines biding his time, the problems the neo-cons will have working with the greens, nope, not a one.
Liz45:
I don’t disagree, however it’s a caretaker PM that she be at present.
From “Guidance On Caretaker Conventions” published by Department Of The Prime Minister And Cabinet:
1.1 Successive governments have accepted that, during the period preceding an election for the House of Representatives, the government assumes a ‘caretaker role’. This practice recognises that, with the dissolution of the House, the Executive cannot be held accountable for its decisions in the normal manner, and that every general election carries the possibility of a change of government.
1.2 The caretaker period begins at the time the House of Representatives is dissolved and continues until the election result is clear or, if there is a change of government, until the new government is appointed.
1.3 During the caretaker period, the business of government continues and ordinary matters of administration still need to be addressed. However, successive governments have followed a series of practices, known as the ‘caretaker conventions’, which aim to ensure that their actions do not bind an incoming government and limit its freedom of action. In summary, the conventions are that the government avoids:
• making major policy decisions that are likely to commit an incoming government;
• making significant appointments; and
• entering major contracts or undertakings.
For all the crystal ball gazers here that are so certain the three indies will automatically go with the Coalition – I caution you – there is well-documented, serious bad blood between all three and the federal Nationals.
It is by no way certain, and in fact if Wilkie, Bandt and the Katter mob go with Labor, it would mean a bigger majority government than the Coalition could offer (read: more stable).
Don’t count your chickens yet. No-one can actually see the future, not even youse.
To elaborate on my previous post, the Coalition look like getting max 73 seats if Brisbane goes there way. Add the Katter mob and it’s 76 – a one seat majority. Appoint a speaker and it’s 75… Just one by-election favouring Labor during the next parliamentary term means a successful no-confidence motion against the Coalition is all it would take to force another election.?
If the Katter mob, Brandt and Wilkie go with Labor (assuming Labor lose Brisbane) there are then 77 seats to Labor, giving them a two-seat majority.
More stable for the full term than the Abbott option, and no voodoo economics from Labor either.
Sorry, Labor 76 seats after they appoint the Speaker…
@SOCRATEASE - But apparently, while these are conventions, there’s nothing in the Constitution that says Gillard can’t hand over economic information to three elected Members is there? I have to admit to not having read the Constitution, but the media and Opposition aren’t painting an accurate picture either???Fancy that?
I wish a journalist would ask Robb on what basis he believes that JG shouldn’t liase as she has with the Independents - 3, 4 or 5 of them? They all take an oath of secrecy re ‘sensitive’ matters etc. I wish the Coalition would show us some respect? We’re not stupid, and we’re entitled to be treated as such!
Bernard, you still don’t get it. You write that Abbott “must surely be strongly placed to obtain the support of the rural independents.” No, you’re very, very, wrong. The rural independents loath the Coalition - if you were paying attention you’d have noticed that.
Putting my tin-foil hat on here :- it wouldn’t surprise me if the Treasury ‘leak’ was from the coalition themselves! After all, what better excuse they then/now have to avoid scrutiny from the very same Charter of Budget Honesty they introduced!
ps: …knowing they’d already lined up weeks prior to this event the ‘independent’ accounting firm to do the costings analysis!
@Puff
It’s less that the ABC are trying to make the Gillard Government seem unstable than they are assiduously avoiding being accused of criticizing the Coalition too harshly. Not because they favour the Coalition but because a few gutless individuals in ABC management have succumbed to relentless accusations of “left wing bias” from Rupert’s Right Wing Noise Machine and other Coalition backers.
This means their often valid criticisms of Labor end up looking extremely harsh in comparison to the soft treatment they are giving Toxic Tony and the Turramurra Taliban are getting.
Tonight’s Drum program was an interesting example of what now happens all the time on shows like The Insiders. The panel was made up by two conservatives - an editor from the Punch (News Corp) a former Peter Costello advisor and a more objective third panel member, who in this instance was a Latelines journalists.
This is a carefully crafted means of ensuring that even on a really bad news day for Tony Abbott, no one from the Right Wing Noise Machine will be able to successfully lay a glove on the ABC with accusations of “left wing bias”
Aside from Kerry O’Brien and occasionally Tony Jones, you now rarely see any ABC journo going after the Coalition even when the justification for doing so is blatantly obvious.
Everyone says the Coalition has something to hide by refusing to submit their costings.
But nobody will answer the question: Why?
Answer:
Because it will expose their whole campaign against debt and deficit as a complete fraud. If they were exposed by Treasury in the coming days and then it was decided that another election was required, the Coalition’s whole campaign strategy would be exposed for what it is – lies and spin.
Please, let’s expose them for the frauds they all are – the past-use-by-date coat-tailers of the Howard era, that never had a clue to begin with.
@Liz45:
Rather than the Constitution, Abbott’s mob appear to be claiming that what the Three Amigos have asked (demanded) of them and Labor contravenes the provisions of the caretaker government convention. I can’t see how, but that’s for them to explain.
The leverage wielded by the independents depends, for the time being, on being able to play both sides down the middle. Abbott’s stance on Treasury analysis makes this very difficult.
Perhaps the independents are negotiating with the wrong Coalition leader.
Please see above for the reasons why. Apologies for the length of that post; it’s a complex story, and I abbreviated it as much as I could.
In short: a Turnbull-led Coalition could very likely have won the election, if News Ltd editors had not done a snow job on him in a failed attempt to install Costello as leader. And this could be a solution to the problems of the rural independents.
The Drum and ABC Online remind me of the Truth of the 70s. All they need is Heart Balm. It really is gutter media at its worst
Couldn’t agree more,Bernard. More posturing and smoke from Mr 44%.
(Not that much)Shorter Abbott : I’m the legitimate leader because I tick all the boxes: I got a (TINY) swing….I’m Tough…I have a ‘Steely Look’…there is no other way but That of The Past… I have been Chosen by Great Men of the Past…. I’m terrified of losing control of The Narrative…Julia’s Desperate,isn’t that a terrible look…I will do anything to get My Way [except what Julia’s doing].. vote for me and you get Pride [and little else]
I am utterly sick of people like Tony Abbott and their sluggish journeys to self-awareness at the public’s expense.
@FreeCountry
I totally agree a Turnball lead coalition would have been not only more electable but also far more credible. Unfortunately for the wing nuts (heartless men) who run the party, his progressive views on various issues including Health, Education and Climate Change made that untenable. The very same people snuffed out John Brogden’s leadership here in NSW because he didn’t measure up to their preferred right wing nutbag benchmark.
Anyone else ever wonder wonder why there is so little media discussion of the Coalitions own faceless men?
It was interesting to hear Oakeshot’s analogy about the Red Team/Blue Team nature of the two-party political system in Australia. I have been using that analogy for a couple of years now.
Isn’t it funny how it dovetails so nicely with our gladiatorial preoccupation with sport – over all other achievements. Just look at jogging John the Cricket Fan, or now Phoney Tony the Iron Man for examples of sport/physical fitness’ repeated, recent melding with politics, in order to present a carefully cultured media image of strength and durability.
IMHO after over 20 years of adversorial (two for Christ’s sake) Party politics a return to the grass roots of the political process is so long overdue.
People like Bob Katter are the real face of politics. We all pay taxes and our local member’s job is to ensure the development and progress of our electorate.
This Executive Government/Red/Blue team ‘50% disenfranchised each time’ shit needs to be dispensed with.
@ ACIDIC MUSE
Why because Murdoch controls a huge amount of the print media in the capital cities that the most disinterested voters read and are easily manipulated ah la the News Corp sponsered Galaxy Poll showing the voters in the Indies seats dont want a Labor Govt! Headlines are very important tools in the Murdoch amory when he wants a particular party to win and ATM its the LNP and his papers will do almost anything to deigrate ther ALP.
ACIDIC MUSE,
It’s true there was considerable internal dissent during Turnbull’s leadership, but that’s normal - and healthy - on the right wing. When all is said and done, they would have followed Ben Cousins if they thought he could lead them to an election victory.
That looked impossible with the atrocious polling results the Coalition received under Turnbull. So he had to go.
My suggestion is that this very low polling result - and the accompanying deification of Rudd in the polls at that time - had nothing to do with the real electability of Turnbull. Rather, it was a distortion of the political process, caused by players in News Ltd trying to be clever.
The end of that game - caused by the finality of Costello’s resignation - returned things to normal. It gave Abbott an appearance of polling success, which in reality had nothing to do with him and everything to do with that game coming to an end.
The unintended outcome of that game, then, has been (1) the wrong Liberal leader, (2) the failure of that wrong leader to win the election, and (3) a hung parliament.
@Go
As someone who has spent considerable time in the United States of Amnesia over the past decade, I’m abundantly aware of the myriad tactics Rupert Murdoch’s right-wing noise machine apply in pursuit of their political goals. I find it shocking that here in Australia, there is little discussion about the ramifications of his growing presence by other media players Yes, he has to some extent deftly bought off his free to air competitors by inviting them to participate in his various cable ventures like the Sky New consortium etc.
Nonetheless, surely someone other than the ABC’s Media Watch , must have an interest in engendering greater public debate about his growing market power.
A cynical person might think that he has most of his competition living in the same kind of abject fear that now keeps the ABC from playing its traditional role as Australia’s honest broker’
Murdoch? Meh!
I am one of the growing band who last read a Murdoch publication years ago. We may soon be outnumbered by people who have never read a Murdoch publication.
Thread hijacked
@Free
I agree that NewCorp worked feverishly to undermine Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership, but IMO this had nothing to do with his poll numbers which were in effect, a function of both Kevin Rudd’s early honeymoon and the endless agitation that was going against Turnbull from within his own party.
Like John Brogden, Turnball was simply to moderate and culturally sophisticated to appease the parties wing nuts.
The faceless men who both control and fund the Liberal Party in Australia are a bizarre combination of right-wing Libertarian narcissists and wacky Christian conservatives who both fully embrace the kind of Reaganite supply-side voodoo economics that would see the big miners (and other big businesses) pay a good deal less taxes than what they do now. They know they can’t get away with the same kind of divisive culture war politics that has been so successful in the USA, but rest assured, that is undoubtedly where we’re heading if Australians don’t wake up to themselves. All the noise about asylum seekers and nonwhite migration is just the start of a very slippery slope indeed.
They know that religion will never be the kind of potent hot button here in Australia that it is in the USA, but given the right circumstances, racism definitely can be.
It was no accident that they preselected that human barage balloon in Chifley knowing full well he had absolutely no chance of winning, but would inevitably attack the Labor candidates Muslim background during the election - feeding right into the xenophobic whispering campaign against “towelheads” they ran all over western Sydney.
One extra seat may not be the death to Labors chances,The 1999 Victorian election lead to
a seat breakdown of Labor 42 Coalition 43.Bracks done a deal with 3 independents and went
full term.In the following 2003 election Labor gave a right caning to the opposition.
@Socratease
You seem blissfully unaware of “mX”, the free afternoon daily newspaper produced by News Corporation in Melbourne , Sydney and Brisbane and handed out to Gen Y and Xers as they mill around during rush hour. Pretty much a dumbed down version (imagine that) of the Telecrap full of celebrity gossip, new product lines, controversial events, rumours and other populist garbage … like pics of Tony Abbott flexing his muscles on the beach
It’s pretty much the media equivalent of a drug dealer giving children a first few shots of heroin for free. Rupert Murdoch is nowhere near as green as you obviously think he is cabbage looking.
His online stats are none too shabby either ..he’s merely pissed at how little revenue all that traffic generates thus far…. butdon’t go misunderestimating our Rupert now yall hear
You could be right, it could all be in my imagination. Then again …
You suggested earlier that advertising revenue distorts editorial policy in News Ltd. And of course there’s a widespread belief that Murdoch himself has nothing better to do than pick winners in Australian politics.
I find both claims quite unlikely. Particularly the advertising angle, which would arouse so much whistleblowing that we would all be deafened.
Editors who are also columnists are a different matter. As a rule, political journalists are political groupies, and there’s a very fine line dividing groupies from active players. Bias driven by advertisers or proprietors would cause a sh*tstorm of indignant reporters. On the other hand, bias on the part of journalists themselves is a perfectly normal part of telling it honestly as they see it. Normally, the free market balances one bias against another.
But when one groupie - not just any groupie, but one who happens to be political editor of an entire stable of newspapers - starts acting as a player, this can throw the entire political process off course.
Whatever you think of BK’s article you have to admit that “bring me the head of Alfredo shinybum” is a cracking good line. Well done, Bernard, you are a danger to work-shy crikey readers in open-planned offices everywhere.
That would be Alfredo Garcia - with a shiny bum
Abbott should also explain what he has promised the WA Nat. On the weekend the WA Nat said he was going to sit on the cross benches, that he was a WA Nat not a “Truss National”. Now he is counted as one of Abbott’s 73 seats. He said he wanted a Federal Government to match the $850 Million Rural Slush Fund set up in WA. Has Abbott signed up to this already? What does that do to his bottom line?
The WA NAT’s fake cries of independence have never been taken seriously. Antony Green said last night that when put with the proposition that the WA NAT’s 40,000 votes be removed and not included in the Coalition’s overall vote tally, they baulked and decided they “weren’t that independent after all”.
As for costings, expect Abbott to hold out until a result in Brisbane is declared. If Brisbane falls to Labor, the independents will virtually have no choice but to back Labor… meaning Abbott concedes defeat and avoids any hairy costings issues.
@Acid Muse:
I am aware — although not blissfully — of MX. When I commuted daily, on the way home I set myself the challenge of completing the cross word and the jumble word puzzles between getting on the train and getting off again.
I pulled out the puzzle page and left the rest on the seat for somebody who cared. Somebody must have complained about the missing page because suddenly they began to staple the pages together, causing me to have to tear the puzzle page out.
(My morning trip read was the Fin Review.)
@Jeremy,
I prefer it to “bring me the bum of Alfredo Shinyhead”.
I’m reduced to poetry ,
such is the bizarre nature of current events.
Tae a Pollie
The oracle hath spoken, the bell hath tolled,
All must accede to what’s been polled,
By Jock of Shock and Gutter Press,
The verdict’s not of what’s expect.
- Expected by the editor,
Who’s laboured daily to ignore,
the ardour of the Labor whore.
While he of Howard and Bishop’s whelp,
With monkish madness and simian gait,
Creeps stealthily to lie in wait,
To claim the throne that must his own,
A just deserts, with some bastards’ help.
Reborn “he says” a “gentle, adult, patriot”.
While those of sounder, wiser minds
Who hold their tongues as things unwinds,
And watch as budgies once unfurled,
Do curse their captor’s cruel world
Of spirit mean.
I don’t understand why Abbott doesn’t simply tell the truth which is that he doesn’t trust Treasury to do an unbiased job on the costings. Treasury is after all hardly impartial, given their oh-so-convenient (and somewhat foolhardy, it would seem) reestimation of commodity prices at near record highs, the very moment Julia Gillard was desperate to fix the mining tax row. If he were to make that argument, perhaps a lot of the critics would have to find something else to focus on.
@Free
I suspect like most Australians, you have a fairly naive view of how the media operates generally and how corporate power underpins the nexus between media and public relations specifically.
Most Australian’s would find it extremely shocking in the extreme if they knew just how much of what is served up to them as “news” begins as a press release or a conversation between corporate mavens over breakfast at Balmoral Beach. One hand washes the other and I’m not referring to mutual masturbation here:)
The recent Mining Tax debate was a case in point. Why do you think it was that Mining company execs, paid PR’s and market analysts with vested interests got almost unfettered access to both our print and broadcast media to regale us with their opinions. Even Laura Tingle (Fin Review) felt compelled to write an article decrying the level of uncritical access the miners and their proxies got. She went on to explain how dozens of senior mining executives were ringing counterparts in other industries across the country, reflecting on their long, happy commercial relationships with an eye to coercing them into leveraging other relationships in the interests of stopping the mining tax.
Not bad, EE. Not bad at all. These are the musings of a serious poet here … A column for the man!
@LaLau
Speaking the truth brings Tony Abbott out in a rash and you obviously don’t follow the commodity markets or you would know virtually every reputable analyst predicted exactly the same upswing in prices Treasure did
Nice job, Eel!
ACIDIC MUSE, find me one single Australian over the age of 12 who would be shocked by that explanation of “how things work,” and who hasn’t heard it a thousand times before. The reality is somewhat more complex and more interesting. But I find people who say “nexus” and “mutual masturbation” tend to be fairly set in their views, so I’ll leave it. I’ve said my piece.
One of Abbott’s stated ‘savings’ was to come from closing the Christmas Island immigration facilities, on the grounds that the Libs would somehow, magically, stop the boats.
Considering that, the Lib’s other costings could be just as fanciful.
If you really wanted to sort out the immigration status of boat arrivals with less cost, you’d do it on the mainland.
I heard on ABC radio Andrew Robb say that the election was all about debt and deficit. Well why won’t the liberals put forward their projections.
Mr. Abbott today you said that you won’t submit your policy costing to treasury.
Hmm, Only because treasury won’t understand what we understand from opposition.
But Mr Abbott surely if you get into government then they have to?
They will understand our position when we win and until then, well no.
But Mr Abbott won,t this make you like your trying to hide your credentials.
No no no (What is that Robbie. Oh, yeah yeah.)
The leak from treasury was just awful and that’s why we can’t disclose any thing about our costing.
But Mr Abbott what about about about about…
We are going back to the polls folks. Oakeshott is in dream land (must be a lefty) Hatter wants 2 more state Governments, Windsor at least appears to be reasonably rational.
Gillard and Swan are at the point of bowing to the 3 bozos and giving in to any demand they want. Bob Brown doesn’t want another election, perhaps he fears the yuppies in the seat of Melbourne might actually vote for a proper political party with rational policies! Whoever gains government will find an unworakable parliament awaiting them. It’s going to be a fun 3 years or 3 months…take your pick!
I want to know WHERE IS WARREN TRUSS? who will be Deputy PM in an Abbott govt?
Its about time the media started asking these sort of hard questions of phoney Tony.
Better keep the First Dog on the Moon away from Tony. I can just see him coming up with “It ate my homework” as the next excuse on costings!
Their publicly-stated policies are rubbish. The only “policy” to which they are committed is WorkChoices with a name-change. Though they would deny that on a stack of Bibles. They wasted the past three years sulking, spinning and sloganeering - no effort into developing policies. They went to the election empty-handed and seeking to hide their incompetence. After the election they’ve still got things they are desperate to hide.
Lazy, born-to-rule, spinning misfits - deserve to spend a generation on the Opposition benches.
Bernard wrote:
Hmmmmm. Their ABC normally falls over itself to broadcast every word that drips like glittering perals from their boy’s lips. Even to the extent that radio news bulletins for the past three years have been dominated by the phrase:
“THE FEDERAL OPPOSITION SAYS…”
So when they conspiculously fail to broadcast his aborted, embarrassing press conference, it is logical to assume that their ABC, like the Coalition, have something they would prefer to hide.
I don’t see any evidence of a right-wing conspiracy on the ABC.
If you check out this MediaWatch story, ABC News 24 was criticised for not crossing live to an Abbott press conference when other channels did so half way through. ABC News 24 said they’d prefer to play it in full later, rather than play half of it live.
As for Abbott’s short-but-sweet press conference about Treasury not being qualified to examine opposition policy, I saw it later on ABC, several action replays in a row actually. Maybe they just didn’t have the same sense of urgency about what Abbott had to say as some of the networks did.
The ABC has a history of slight left-wing bias — nothing dishonest, just the way they see the world. It’s given rise to some anti-catholic witch hunts and so on. But they’ve tried to correct it of late. Bias is in the eye of the beholder, so this aim for more balance has been seen as a sinister swing to the right, in the eyes of a lot of raving left-wing loonies. Just goes to show you can’t please everybody.
As for the Coalition’s shyness on costings, there are some saying Abbott wants to trigger another election.
Occam’s razor suggests a simpler explanation. Measures to “stop the boats,” especially the Nuaru deal, are probably so expensive that they require cutting some social welfare that people think they can’t live without. Or to put that more simply, “cutting some social welfare.”
@Freecountry…I know that, which I see and hear.
@Free Country
The fact that you would attempt to characterised how others think on the basis of their use of a few words or phrases may be indicative of an intellectual deficit on your part.
No one is asserting there is any kind of right wing conspiracy going on at the ABC
What we are saying is that ABC management has been running an editorial risk management strategy that makes them less vulnerable to the baseless yet relentless right wing campaign to paint them as left leaning.
It much more a case of bureaucratic ass covering cowardice than any kind of conspiracy. The ABC in reality has no history of left wing bias at all, only a history of being continually accused of it, generally by people who think anyone to the left of Attila the Hun is a communist. Outside the often emptyheaded echo chamber of right wing rhetoric, the ABC is widely regarded as having the highest standards of journalism of any Australian media organisation - by any objective measure.
The fact that Media Watch so regularly criticizes it’s own organizations faux pas is a function of this
The major black holes in Tony Abbott’s costings have relatively little to do with his Pacific Solution but giving Treasury the chance to find further proof of them may seriously undermine his credibility should he manage to get us back to the polls within a year.
It’s therefore not surprizing he’d therefore rather eat his own liver live on television than submit them to the kind of Treasury scrutiny that might see his rubbery figures take centre stage in any future election. Hence all the smoke and mirrors
Yeah, meanwhile AM I’ve actually done some real detective work which someone could run with and possibly influence outcomes here. You’ve buried much chance of anyone noticing by arguing your own world view, which seems to see the entire right wing as conspiracy almost by definition. It’s not surprising, if that’s how you see things, that my story was far too subtle for you to grasp. However you’re not the only reader out there and there may be other readers taking a bit longer to reach a conclusion. They could do so more easily without more noise from you on things we’ve heard a thousand times before.
I’m going to run through it one more time, and although you are within your rights to bury it in more noise, I humbly request you to give others a chance to assess it before you do so.
It is perfectly normal, even healthy, for journalists to push their own barrow, and even for that barrow to become influenced by their sources in a sort of Stockholm Syndrome effect.
An ethical line gets crossed however, when journalists push that barrow by using their position to intercept information given in good faith, in order to obscure it rather than to reveal it as expected.
And this can become a game-changer when the journalist in question is the chief political editor of the biggest newspaper stable in the country. Acting no doubt for what he believes are noble reasons, using what he believes to be a superior insight to the public interest, trying to save the country from itself.
And my claim is that he did so by burying Turnbull’s leadership. His replacement, Abbott, appeared to be a far better performer going by polling results. But this polling result had nothing to do with Abbott’s performance. It was caused by Dennis Shanahan no longer trying to bury the opposition leader in order to install Costello, because Costello had resigned shortly before Abbott replaced Turnbull.
Which means:
(1) Dennis Shanahan of News Ltd is largely responsible for the Coalition losing the election;
(2) Tony Abbott has not earned any particular right to lead the party;
(3) The independents need to be able to negotiate with both sides at this stage, or else they’re doomed - they know it, Abbott knows it, and Gillard knows it;
(4) A possible solution to their problem is to commence talks with an alternative leader of the Liberals, namely Malcolm Turnbull.
Does this mean that Tony Abbotts significance is that he is insignificant and is aware of it.”
The employment prospects for journalists are like those geographic videos of fish dying in the near dried up Serengeti river pools, gasping for water.
Glen Milne, famous drunk, is a product spat out of the MSM. Having sucked on media magnate’s teat for most of his life, he is one of those lonely few who can never sing that song ‘I did it my way’.
Discarded, despite his Comrades Rudd and Julia prostitution of himself and producing plenty more right out there at the edge articles damning Labor, he is like an old cat that someone feeds milk to (in this case their ABC) and turns out occasional media stabs at the hearts of phoney and the fibs.
Strangely, his expose on phoney using public funds to promote his book just faded away quietly.
From what I’ve seen, he and the booze should not keep company.
@Free Country
Your analysis just doesn’t bear scrutiny.
Costello desperately wanted the leadership PRIOR to the 2007 election. What he sadly lacked was the testicular fortitude to actually challenge John Howard for it. Unlike Julia Gillard and Paul Keating before her, Peter Costello simply lacked the moral courage to bring on a leadership spill in the broader interests of his own party. He wanted to be annointed by Howard
Once the 2007 election was over, Peter Costello simply walked away from the leadership - not because he no longer wanted to be Prime Minister, but because at that time, it looks like he would have to spend at least two terms as opposition leader before he would have a reasonable chance of obtaining that goal.
Even when Tony Abbott was elevated to the leadership, no one in the Liberal party seriously thought they could win the next election.
The last Coalition leadership change was primarily about blocking the ETS on behalf of the Coalitions corporate sponsors.
Peter Costello have long decided he didn’t want to leave his fingerprints all over that kind of cynical political reversal as his final political legacy. Or have you forgotten Costello like Joe Hockey, supported an ETS prior to Tony Abbott knifing Mr Turnball?
Back then no one could have predicted Kevin Rudd dropping the plot completely post Copenhagen, caving into the NSW right and backing away from the ETS.
If not for this act of gross stupidity, Abbott would never have gotten back into the race to begin with
On a positive note, Toxic Tony is seemingly now finally agreeing to give the Independents access to his rubbery figures
Yawn … Yes, we know all this. Thank you ACIDIC MUSE once again, for more irrelevant noise. Your skepticism is noted. I’m sure everyone will conclude from this exchange that I am mistaken and that you are the one who is wise in the ways of the world. Please give them a chance to do so.
Mean while , Turnball is going to ditch the Fiberals and join The Greens as their Treasurer and when Bob stands down at the next election , Turnball can take on leader ship and wait for his real prize President of Australia. But keep this to your self.
ACIDIC MUSIC: The reason the ABC has become so right wing is because John Howard stacked the board with his personal buddies. Who, of course, stayed on in their jobs when John Howard was arsed out of power.
In the beginning QandA had a lively bunch of free thinkers in the audience. Of so quickly the word came down to dis-encourage left wing people, but to encourage right-wing people.
OOOPS: ACIDIC MUSE, not Acidic Music.
ACIDIC MUSE: Perhaps you are a recent arrival? In Oz we say A R S E, not the American ass.
ACIDIC MUSE: You really are a recent arrival. Have you been working in the USA-for too long.
“”Most Australian’s would find it extremely shocking in the extreme if they knew just how much of what is served up to them as “news” begins as a press release or a conversation between corporate mavens over breakfast at Balmoral Beach. One hand washes the other and I’m not referring to mutual masturbation here.”“
Just how bloody naïve do you think Australians are?
ACIDIC, as in vinegar, works best with an excellent understanding of one’s subject matter, sprinkled with a modicum of humour. A hint of self-mockery is another vital ingredient.
“”Ass”” Whatever next? A R S E H O L E!
ABC has turned a Abbott back-flip into a win ??? He is allowing 3 ? to look at the dodgy figures , what about Wilkie ??
Venise, your sphincter obsession is showing, LOL!
@Venise
I can’t imagine what kind of 1/4 wit someone has to be in order to get themselves in such a knot over the spelling of ass
SOCRATEASE: Hi there. You could be right, I’ve been in a foul mood this past week, LOL.
ACIDIC MUSE: “”I can’t imagine what kind of 1/4 wit someone has to be in order to get themselves in such a knot over the spelling of ass”“.
Perhaps you hadn’t noticed the words are A) spelled differently B) They are different animals-one being a mule, and the other being a horse C) I resent all forms of cultural imperialism. Especially the American form.
Once again your observation powers appear to have failed you. American spelling of English is phonetic.
Thank you for calling me a quarter wit. I was tempted to offer a similar riposte.
However, in your own posts you delineate your own deficiencies so brilliantly, that I am lost with admiration.
Keep up the good work and in four years time you could turn out to be an adequate writer.
BTW, ACIDIC MUSE: Peter Costello is essentially a very lazy person. He had four shots at getting the top job but faced with the fact he would have to work very hard ate into his soul.
It was far easier to make a huge to do about what a bastard John Howard was for denying Costello the job than to really have to slog it out yard by yard. *
I’ve lived in the electoral seat of Higgins all my life. Not once have I ever noticed PC actually doing something for his constituents. He was terrific at making old ladies feel blessed by his presence. And very good at producing expensive pamphlets come election time. If you feel these achievements are two positives, then good luck to you. I happen to believe the man was a useless waste of space.
Yes, everyone rabbits on about Peter Costello’s marvellous work as Treasurer. In fact he was so relentlessly work-shy that when Wayne Swann took over, half the bureaucrats in the treasury wanted to resign because of work over-load.
Of course Peter Costello had no balls. Nor did any of John Howard’s claque have any balls. People who work for tyrants seldom do.
*Remarkably few people seem to realise we are not a heredity democracy even if we are so stupid to be lumbered with that tenth century ideal of heredity rule which is so beloved of the English/