In lay language, the Senate inquiry into pilot training and airline safety has made a set of recommendations that would put Australia on the same page as American lawmakers in resisting the dangerous things desperate airlines have been doing to cut corners.
Bill Heffernan
Parliamentary Privilege’s Greatest Hits
Parliamentarians have a long history of using parliamentary privilege to say whatever they desire, writes Crikey intern Esther Ooi.
Pilot training, air safety inquiry to recall industry heavyweights
fter the shocks that emerged in a Senate committee hearing last Friday concerning pilot training and airline safety in Australia, the inquiry has been extended to May 4.
murray darling Come in Spinner: What the Basin Authority should have done
The frightening thing about the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s current efforts is that they apparently spent about $60 million getting to where they are while ignoring almost every lesson about how to undertake consultation.
Patenting: why is it left to advocacy groups to take up the fight?
The awarding of monopoly power is an expensive gift that should not be reduced to simply following key intellectual property rich countries, writesAnna George.
Cubbie won’t wash away govt water woes
The government is doing too little too late with water allocation in the Murray Darling Basin. Buying the controversial Cubbie Station will not improve the water woes, writes Ben Eltham.
Guy Rundle: Stay tuned for the Argonauts
The Liberal preselection process is really fielding the A-team, with Senator Bill Heffernan making an appearance on Lateline.
Cubbie Station out to con the taxpayer, says Heffernan
Senator Bill Heffernan opposes a Commonwealth purchase of Cubbie Station, the vast water cotton farm, and instead calls for it to be scaled back to a sustainable level.
Canberra, the holy grail of groupthink
“… for sheer lunar madness, he was beaten to a standing start by Bill Heffernan …” Guy Rundle samples budget day.
Trouble is that Turnbull’s dead wood is right
Malcolm Turnbull didn’t become a multimillionaire by being a stranger to big business, writes Irfan Yusuf.
Pot and kettle trade blows in Neal affair
In pursuing Belinda Neal, the opposition has raised the bar on parliamentary perfoamance, writes Bernard Keane.
Things you shouldn’t sniff
Including…
Nats up for conquest, not suicide
The ongoing drama over a Liberal-National Party merger reveals a great deal about the relationship between the two parties and the fundamental nature of the Nationals, writes Charles Richardson.
Tips and rumours
Is FIFA holding serious discussions with Australian soccer reps to hold the 2010 World Cup? South Africa’s electricity supply is not up to scratch, and is not expected to be fixed in time for kick-off. John Howard’s former chief of staff Tony Nutt is shaping up as a credible candidate for Bill Heffernan’s Senate spot. […]
Is Janet a Heffer?
The Liberal post mortems may have only just begun, but it’s never too early to start thinking of the next election, writes Christian Kerr.
People’s Choice: The 20 most appalling people of 2007
Votes % John Howard 100 8.75% Tony Abbott 70 6.12% Kevin Andrews 64 5.60% Philip Ruddock 52 4.55% George W Bush 43 3.76% Alexander Downer 38 3.32% Peter Costello 31 2.71% Jackie Kelly 31 2.71% Janette Howard 26 2.27% Richard Pratt 20 1.75% Bill Heffernan 19 1.66% Marcus Einfeld 18 1.57% Ben Cousins 17 […]
Crikey Says: Crikey Says
The Jackie Kelly pamphlet affair gives context to the behaviour of another John Howard favourite, Senator Bill Heffernan, making it all the more relevant in the last moments of this federal election campaign.
Bill Heffernan: air safety guardian
It’s not a good day for favourites of the Prime Minister. First Jackie Kelly – and now there’s more on Bill Heffernan and his rough flight into Brisbane on Tuesday. Christian Kerr reports.
The PM’s special agent goes on a solo mission?
Earlier this year it was revealed Senator Bill Heffernan phoned John Grabbe, the general manager of Cubbie Station, and introduced himself as an ASIO agent, writes Christian Kerr.
Nothing happened in Canberra this morning: Beckett on the Hill
Nothing happened in Canberra this morning. Nothing in the Samuel Beckett sort of way. Nothing means plenty. Nothing that is quite profound.
Heffernan owes Mt Theo an apology
Bill Heffernan knows a fair bit about the program at MT Theo, writes Bob Gosford.
Coppers back blackfellas while federal Labor sells out
Given the history of sometimes strained relations between Aboriginal people and coppers in the Northern Territory, there has been a remarkable confluence of interest between the two groups in recent weeks.
Drug testing MPs and the Shultz defence
On Sunday, Senator Bill Heffernan called for random testing of politicians for illegal drugs. Heffernan claimed that the tests would send a message “that we are fair dinkum serious about stamping out drug use”.
