Author: Kev
Monday morning
THE Greens want people-smugglers to decide who comes to Australia, Kevin Rudd wants the Indonesians to decide and the Coalition wants Australians to decide. Hmm … spoilt for choice.
Jason Clare, who has had no real-life employment which apparently makes him qualified to be the Minister for Home Affairs, is fighting the good fight. I heard him on the ABC ratting on about the Coalition. Hat tip Jason, the country think the ALP are to blame for the problem – not the Coalition. Mr Clare said turning boats back didn’t work and that Mr Howard had only sent back a handful. Turning back boasts did work and Howard only turned back a couple because of that fact- it did work….they stopped coming. Admiral Barrie, relevant commander at the time says – “We didn’t have to turn any more back because they stopped coming” . Got that Jason? He warned turning boats back could lead to a repeat of the Siev 36 incident in which five people died when a vessel was sabotaged in 2009. Ah, so what you are saying is that if just one asylum seeker says – “I’ll top myself if you don’t let me in” you suggest the nation, the Navy and/or the rescuing ship’s Captain simply fold . Keeping in mind that these people have access to the internet they will all be talking among themselves right now as they wait for their boat. “All we have to do is threaten suicide and they’ll fold – quick, burn your papers and get on the boat – it’s our last chance before adults take over” He further adds that sometimes sailors have been hurt or were in a situation where they could be, and this is apparently another reason not to have a firm policy. Yes, sometimes sailors do get hurt while carrying out their duties. They are not public servants, bureaucrats, or god forbid, political ALP hacks or clerks. They are servicemen and women and sometimes a sailor has to do what a sailor has to do – ie, obey orders to the best of their ability. Poor plan Jason – you still need to work on it.Rudd’s early days
The Prime Minister last night joined his new Immigration Minister in admitting his government got things wrong in 2009 when it failed to stop the burgeoning people-smuggling trade.
No! You got things wrong when you cancelled Howard’s boat policy. Rudd goes on to maintain his “push” rather than “pull” excuse citing the Sri Lankan war as a new factor.But that promise (pre-election) had been offered at a time when the international refugee situation was more benign.
The Sri Lankans escaping the war had plenty of places to go but Australia’s open border policy offered far better financial benefits and they considered it well worth the risk. Rudd, Carr and Burke are politically gaming the refugee situation to try and convince the country it wasn’t really their fault – good luck with that fellows. And from Burke who says;“The points that (Bob Carr) has raised match what’s been said to me during briefings in terms of some of the key examples of people attempting to rort the system,” Mr Burke said.
Everyone other than the human rights industry have been saying that since 2007 Burke, how come you just heard it? The ALP are attacking Abbott’s turn back the boats” policy as if is the only string in his bow. It’s a small part of the Lib’s policy and may only be used a few times, just to make a point. TPVs will help and can I suggest if rorters arrive without papers then they have no entitlement tovisas nor should any boat person have access to legal aid. Legal aid should be restricted to Australians. I’m furious with the situation as it is right now whereby if someone is denied a visa a queue of human rights lawyers instantly forms with the cry ‘Pick Me’…’Pick me – I’ll fight the government for you’ Say some words about trade with Indonesia. Rudd is off to Indonesia tonight with a crew of nervous stewards looking after him. Tomorrow he is apparently going to bring up a trade agreement with Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono. I’m sure Yudhoyono would love to start the conversation with;“Just tell me that you have that idiot Ludwig under control and I might talk live cattle trade. Otherwise we’ll just wait until Abbott is in power – he’s someone we can believe.
The last time Live Export was in the news it was as a result of your party trashing our national strategic ability to feed ourselves – without any warning…on the basis of a left wing TV show.”
He won’t of course and I figure not much will come out of the talks, other than when Rudd exaggerates the outcome for public consumption, as the Indonesians can read polls as well as we can and they will see Rudd as a hologram like Rimmer in Red Dwarf – hollow and pointless but noisy. They know what he is like and like most Australians, small business, all of the large business and Corporate community, the mining industry and a host of other bodies that have been impacted by six years of Union controlled government, are all just waiting ’till we can start getting the country moving again.Recycled Rudd
In 2007 you voted for Kevin and got Julia. In 2010 you voted for Julia and got Kevin. If you vote for the Labor Party in 2013 who knows who you will end up with.
It’s a good question. Has Rudd changed his spots…is he now a leader or still just a bureaucrat wielding unearned power far beyond his competence? Should Rudd lose the election, as is still likely, who will lead afterwards. Likewise, if Rudd wins, which is still unlikely, how long will it be before his troops mutiny? The 40,000 odd illegal asylum seekers and the subsequent hundreds of deaths are directly attributable to him as is the earlier pink bats and overpriced school halls. Will the new recycled Rudd be any better with his policies? Can’t see it!Rudd PM again
Finally they get it
In the meeting on Thursday, Senator Carr told the leaders of more than 40 organisations that the old rhetoric about human rights and asylum-seekers no longer described the reality of Australia’s situation.
Instead, Sri Lankans, Iranians and people of many nationalities with no genuine claims to refugee status were coming to Australia by boat. This, he said, was now a sophisticated and well-financed illegal immigration issue. The numbers, at 3000 a month, were intolerably high, Senator Carr said.
This is amazing – finally, after 6 years someone from the ALP has finally stated publicly what us conservative pundits and most of the public have known for all of that time. What Carr didn’t say is we, the ALP are responsible for the whole sorry mess, for the death of hundreds and hundreds of illegal immigrants and we apologise profusely to the Australian people for our inept management. Failing that he could try and do something about the problem but I guess the ALP are too busy playing “pick the Leader” with brief cross-overs to “Abbott will ruin the country” to do anything the public expect ofthem. 82 days to go – how much more damage can they do?General becomes feminist pinup
But Lieutenant-General David Morrison has also won praise from feminist groups for campaigning for the Australian Defence Force to treat women with respect.
The praise across social media for the father-of-three included observations that he should be deployed to train the nation’s politicians on leadership and gender issues before the federal election.
I actually think that last statement is a bad reference for a man commanding an infantry based Army. The Army don’t treat women with disrespect. Sometimes individual soldiers do cross the line driven by alcohol and testosterone but, I would suggest, a whole lot less than in the rest of the community. The Army is about Infantry. They couldn’t operate without all the other Arms and Services but these others are there to support us in what we do.The role of Infantry is to seek out and close with the enemy, to kill or capture him, to seize and hold ground and to repel attack, by day or night, regardless of season, weather or terrain.
Nothing more, nothing less. No manouvre room for feminists there. The role does not include the rider “whilst observing politically correct interpretations as seen by armchair warriors”. There is no mention of celibacy nor behaving like a paragon of virtue when on leave. Soldiers, warriors, by the nature of their testosterone driven employment are not, as a rule, the most gentle and introverted members of society. I read often enough that the Army is supposed to be representative of the culture of the country. Not really. We wouldn’t want a bunch of hippies, Greenies, human rights activists, artists, gentle souls, whistle blowers, ideological warriors or beaurocrats serving in the platoons of a battalion. Nothing would ever get done. We need to weed out a good part of the society from whence we choose soldiers to make sure we end up with soldiers prepared to fight so that the rest of society can exist happily in their little worlds. The men we end up with are men writ large. Which is why, over my long career in the military, I didn’t demand my troops be angels. I did demand toughness – both physical and mental, a high level of skills and a comittment to the country expressed at it’s prime level – comittment to the unit. Where am I going with this? Well I think the General is being a bit harsh on his troops. Three guys out of about 50,000 have transgressed. The were on leave drinking and having sex – so far so good. They then filmed the deeds and transmitted them, apparently through defence means. If the are guilty of the last two acts then charge them, front them to a court and if the court so decides then dismiss them. If the women involved didn’t know about the transmission then the charges against the perps should reflect that. I read no mention that the sex wasn’t consensual and as the accusations are months old I’m inclined to say charge them all with an offence or shut up. That’s it. The General has said told the Army that anyone not willing to work with women and accept them as equals, then “There is no place for you amongst this band of brothers and sisters. There is certainly no place for them among theseHis frontal attack on discrimination also includes help for enlisted men who become enlisted women.
Soldiers who switch gender are being helped stay in the Army under Lieutenant General David Morrison’s campaign to rout all forms of discrimination in the military.
There currently are 10 Army members who have transferred gender while still in uniform, and have received the support of their most senior officer, General Morrison.
Two of them are women who now live as men, and eight are men who now identify as women.
Shudder. So the Army is now a social experiment. Dwarfs, hermaphrodites, Drag Queens….roll up, we’ll take you all! The case has morphed from soldiers on leave having consensual sex and filming it then distributing the film, which may or may not be consensual, to the Army being accused of not accepting women as equals. There are only a few soldiers stood down and has the case has been around since at least April then the rest of the media’s so called ‘hundreds’ are most probably recipients of emails or have viewed the clips. I understand these types of transgressions are happening daily among all walks of life but few if any get such media space. I have no issues with soldiers, or officers (and I wish the media would learn the difference) drinking on leave, fornicating, or indeed filming the deed and I have no problems with putting the deed up on the internet if that is what floats your boat, providing both parties are in agreement. I wouldn’t film and transmit myself but I’ve long known forcing your own moral standards on others simply doesn’t work. If it ain’t illegal its legal. If it is illegal then charge them and get on with it and don’t try and feminise the Army while you’re doing it. It is apparent to me that Defence Minister Smith has a bunch of these type of revelations and I expect him to drip feed them as a distraction from the ALP’s disasters over the next ninety days and I can’t help but think that Chief of Army is helping him to do it. In my time I was taught by my combat experienced superiors, to never, ever abuse soldiers in front of their peers nor NCOs in front of the soldiers. Always take them aside. General Morrison has publicly abused everyone in the Army from Major General down with his ‘feminise or get out message’ The entire world bloody knows. It is an in-house matter and the international dissemination of the General’s spray to the troops has brought the Australian Army into disrepute. A situation occasioned by it’s commander, no less! Poor form in my opinion.C’mon Andrew, think about it.
“I think Julia Gillard is better than that. She doesn’t need to go there. She doesn’t need to run a campaign based on smear and fear,” he said
Well she can hardly run a campaign on ALP achievements Andrew – smear and fear is all she has.Quick, we need a distraction
…. he said the Australian Defence Force Investigative Service (ADFIS) told ADF chief David Hurley about the matter on April 10.
General Morrison was overseas at the time but was told when he returned soon after. Defence Minister Stephen Smith was also informed at the time.
I presume we have been sitting on this for two months waiting for an ideal time to announce the torrid details and today was definitely an ideal time to change the subject after yesterday’s ALP embarrassment over a derogatory menu. Based on Tweets from a lib hater who would “rather be raped by a pitbull with aids than live in Abbott’s Australia” it all went pear-shape after the author stated the menu never left the kitchen and it was a joke between himself and his son. This became known last night but fully ninety minutes later the ABC were still on the case reveling in Pilbersec going on and on about that terrible Abbott and his team. She had to know by that time so she was simply lying and the ABC, who also would have known there was nothing in the story, encouraged her. I still haven’t heard any apologies or withdrawal from the ALP desparates or the ABC and I don’t expect any. Catallaxy Files has a pretty good coverage of the affair – be sure to read the comments if you haven’t seen them yet. You can just see them at ALP HQ…. “quickly we need a distraction – Defence Minister isn’t there a report you have been sitting on for two months? – let’s announce that! And Defence saves the day again. It makes sense, doesn’t it?