Bahnisch: Liberals fight over their own soulThe CPRS battles within the Liberal party have nothing to do with good public policy or climate change, says Mark Bahnisch — it’s a contest over the spoils of opposition and the ideological direction of the party itself.
Politics / Australia / Federal
Crikey Says: Where was the protest over the Forgotten Generation Apology?
Why was there no protest over the Apology to the Forgotten Generation, as there was over last year’s Apology to the Stolen Generation?
Turnbull’s climate crunch is coming
Malcolm Turnbull’s only real option is to reject Rudd’s CPRS and hand victory to Minchin and his colleagues.
Rudd’s divorced from reality when it comes to gay marriage
The Religious Right are gathering in Canberra this weekend and Kevin Rudd is the guest speaker. There is only one thing this audience want to hear from him: that he will strike down the ACT’s recently amended Civil Partnerships Act, writes Brian Greig.
To those who say “beaudy nuke”: why should taxpayers suffer?
Why should taxpayers fund the most expensive and slowest energy option when so many alternatives are significantly cheaper and pose less financial risk?
You can’t moralise on climate change unless you’re a monk
Hamilton and the rest of the Australian Greens are political opportunists of the first order, but pretend to be above all that by cloaking themselves in the Colors of Giaa, writes Simon Mansfield.
Bottles off to you, Nick Xzennophone!
Nick Xzennophone may come across as a bit of a mug, but at least he’s switched on enough to see a conspiracy when he sees one, writes Fake Stephen Fielding.
Crabb: Kate “the Trellis” Ellis vs. Hulk Hogan
Yesterday, Sports Minister Kate Ellis arm-wrestled with pro-wrestler Hulk Hogan. No really; it was for charity. And the undercard bout between Nick ”the Refrigerator” Minchin and Malcolm “the Merchant Banker” Turnbull was just as vicious, reports Annabel Crabb.
Ackland: Lessons from 25 years of the Sex Discrimination Act
Last month marked 25 years since the passage of the Sex Discrimination Act, says Richard Ackland, and contrary to fears at the time, the courts have not been clogged, power has not shifted from government, and Bibles have not been burnt. Someone tell the fearmongers of today.
Asking some big questions on school league tables
Is it good for Australian society if schools compete for students on the basis of academic performance and standardised exams? asks James Farrell. Will parents actually be more informed, or just more obsessed with test scores?
Tanner: “Paranoid” Minchin’s conspiracy theories need to end
Senator Nick Minchin’s suggestion that climate change is all some global left-wing communist conspiracy is undermining serious negotiations between the Government and Opposition on emissions trading, writes MP Lindsay Tanner.
Minchin won’t cross the floor on emissions
Senator Nick Minchin may be the Coalition’s most outspoken critic of emissions trading emissions trading, but he will vote for it if it’s that is the party room’s decision.
Coalition at war
The Coalition has descended into new levels of chaos over emissions trading, with a pack of 17 rebels getting behind Senator Nick Minchin as he slammed the scheme in Parliament yesterday, and even Tony Abbott now reneging his support.
How will the CPRS Carnival end?
In the next week or so, the carnival of climate carpetbaggers is about to fold its tents on the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. How it will all end up is still anyone’s guess, writes John Connor.
A compromise on Crawford: change the KPIs
The Crawford report has succeeded, at the very least, in opening up for debate whether the government gets “value” out of the money spent on sports programs, writes John Orchard.
Sinodinos: The environment is too important to be left to The Greens
The environment is no longer a niche issue that should remain solely in the hands of socialist Greens, says Arthur Sinodinos. Major parties can advocate for the environment without giving up on capitalism.
Coates: Australia should not strive for mediocrity
AOC President John Coates argues against the findings of the Crawford Review in today’s Oz: Australians won’t settle for second (or tenth) best: we need and want our elite athletes.
Joyce: Why I’m still voting no on the CPRS
The Nationals’ Barnaby Joyce outlines the reasons he won’t be won over on emissions trading: “the CPRS will change the air we breathe by 0.0000000978 of 1%.”
Either way, Turnbull’s on eggshells
Malcolm Turnbull is caught in a pincer movement between Liberal conservatives and Kevin Rudd — and both appear determined to destroy him.
Xenophon didn’t go far enough: no religion should be tax free
Nick Xenophon’s attack on the tax free status Church of Scientology last night was laudable, and long overdue, but did not go nearly far enough, writes Jane Shaw.
Any sport in a storm: Coates and Co cop a reality check
At a moment when we’ve just emerged from recession, when childhood obesity in Australia is at an all-time high and when some state schools have little or no sporting equipment — let alone PE teachers — David Crawford’s report into Olympic funding couldn’t have come at a better time.
Olympic establishment mobilises to shout down Crawford Report
It didn’t take long for the Olympic establishment to respond to the clear and present threat posed by yesterday’s Crawford Report. Behold the fury of a parasitic industry facing the threat that taxpayers might stop handing them money.
Australia grows sceptical about global warming
A new Morgan poll has found a growing level of scepticism towards global warming by Australians over the past 12 months, says Possum Comitatus — especially amongst regional and rural voters.
Crabb: Combet turns comedian while the Coalition clowns around
Greg Combet isn’t usually Parliament’s resident comedian, says Annabel Crabb, but he had them rolling in the aisles yesterday. Punchlines are a-dime-a-dozen with the Coalition’s climate sceptics around.
Costello: Publishing protectionism is bad — just as Farnsie
The Howard government’s decision to lift parallel import restrictions on CDs didn’t kill the Australian music industry, says Peter Costello, and the local public industry could survive just as well without protectionism.
