Author: Kev

Retired infantry officer. Conservative by nature and politics; Happily married and father and grandfather of eight. Loves V8 powered Range Rovers, Golden Retrievers, good books and technology and think there should be open season on Greenies. Born in the mid forties and overdue for servicing but most parts still work.

Jill Meagher

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THE man who killed Jill Meagher was a serial rapist on parole for previous offences when he raped and murdered the young ABC employee. Chief Crown prosecutor Gavin Silbert SC said Bayley was a “sexual predator” who showed a modus operandi of exerting physical power over his victims and threatening to kill his victims.
The details of Bayley’s history have previously been suppressed, but can now be published after Justice Nettle today revoked his earlier suppression order. Mr Silbert said Bayley knew as he raped Meagher that he was likely to serve the maximum rape penalty of 25 years in prison if he was caught.

“Accordingly, he had no option but to kill her,” Mr Silbert said.

That’s like about 20 cases of rape – I wonder if the Parole Board members have any trouble sleeping at night?  
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General Musings

C’mon Tony Kevin – where are you?

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People die at sea looking for some sugar Rudd and Gillard left on the table and all they can do is argue over who is going to lead the party over the cliff. It makes me wonder what Tony Kevin’s take is on all this. He had strong opinions when a boat, SIEVE X, sank off Indonesian waters in 2001. I seem to recall he accused Howard of murder and wrote a book about it. I wonder further, how is book is going on the latest developments. I’m sure he is writing one :roll: UPDATE:  I found Tony on Twitter and asked him he was writing a book – haven’t heard yet.
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Border Control

Rudd campaigning for PM again

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The Rudd Brigade are in full campaign mode.   Polls commissioned by the ALP say that the loss of seats will be less under Rudd.  Working on the safe assumption that the only people who like Rudd have never met him, I would caution the ALP about doing anything to encourage the little snide marshmellow. The timing for this coup would surely be during the next and last sitting of parliament, leaving the electorate a full two months at least to remember why they hated him last time he sat in the chair.  And just in case they don’t recall the debacle of the Rudd government, the Libs will be cycling video clips of Swan, Gillard, Shorten et al saying why they can’t work with the little emperor. “Dysfunctional”, “a man of great weakness“, “Labor colleagues sick of…“type direct quotes of ALP politicians will be on TV all day every day. Does anyone remember who it was that started the Asylum seekers travesty?  Rudd! So, on the very day that the authorities are out in the ocean trying to save lives but in effect just collecting bodies, journalists and ALP politicians are actually canvassing bringing the little bastard back into power. The ALP must be aware by now that the country are furious with their open borders policy and still, all they do, is campaign for retention of power. Here’s a thought. DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE POOR ASYLUM SEEKERS ! But no,  the  first reaction of the ALP compliant media is to blame the Australian Border Protection Service.  From The Age;
Australia’s border protection service has been accused of causing lives to be lost by responding too slowly to the latest asylum seeker boat tragedy off Christmas Island. A former Australian ambassador has called for a coronial inquiry into the response by the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service. The Greens also want a more thorough inquiry than the standard internal review.
Tim Blair nails it:
That report from Fairfax (which campaigned for weaker border protection policies, causing hundreds of lives to be lost) cites the Greens (who campaigned for weaker border protection policies, causing hundreds of lives to be lost) and an ex-ambassador (who campaigned for weaker border protection policies, etc, etc). Now that weaker policies are in place and tens of thousands of asylum seekers are risking death at sea, they’re blaming … the border protection service. These people are incapable of shame.
Indeed they are!    
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Border Control, Politics

ALP tries to deflect blame to Egypt

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AUSTRALIAN security authorities will independently reassess the veracity of Egypt’s 1999 case against a convicted jihadist terrorist who was held in a minimum security detention centre for eight months. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said he would not pre-empt the case against the man, identified as Maksoud Abdel Latif, and the evidence brought against him in Egypt would be examined.

“There is no evidence that he has committed any offence here in Australia and the circumstances of what happened in Egypt in 1998-1999, they’ll all be examined, as is absolutely appropriate, in the course of examining claims that he is making and deciding what is to be his future,” Mr Dreyfus told Sky News.

“We have the rule of law in our country. We have proper investigative practices in our country.”

Publicly accusing another nation of not having the rule of law nor proper investigating practices is not a good look for an Attorney General of a first world country even if he is a member of a third rate government.   Dreyfus is only trying  to deflect attention away from the debacle occasioned by the ALP’s open border policy and budget restraints on Customs, ASIO and the AFP. Anyone with skin in the game or an interest in Australia’s security have been warning all and sundry that to let people into the country when they come via boats, having destroyed identity papers en route,  is dangerous.  These boat people are not all they make themselves out to be. Afganis fleeing military service while Diggers are dying in Afghanistan;  Tamils (who invented the suicide bomber) looking for a better life on our social security, and, as is apparent in this case, terrorists escaping justice, are all among the mix. And, do you really think there is only one terrorist among the tens of thousands of illegal arrivals since Rudd opened the borders? Unlikely. There are hundreds of questions to be asked about the ALP’s handling of the illegal entries.  With authorities swamped and budgets tightened it must be almost impossible to vet each arrival.  With the government overwhelmed by their own incompetence they have folded and have released thousands of unknown people into the community. There isn’t even a semblance of control. Julia Gillard announcement of a probe of the case is tantamount to offering a bandaid to double amputee.  It wont help and by the time the results are out we will most probably have another government.  Still, considering all she wants to do is get the matter off the front page then it will likely work for her in the winter of her political life. One hundred days to go – what else can go wrong?
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Politics

You need to read more Julia

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JULIA Gillard has been warned that the government’s strategy to win votes through its big-picture education and disability policies is being swamped by community anger over asylum-seekers, as senior Labor figures all but write off enough seats in three states to guarantee Tony Abbott a comfortable victory. If NDIS is ever funded then it will be a plus for the country but if it is,  it will be by the Libs and I still believe Gonski is a sop to the Teachers Union. To me, it typifies Labor’s propensity to just throw borrowed money at  problems.  There is a lot more to education than more dollars. With the exception of left wingers, the human rights push, the ABC and a good proportion of their viewers, the country is outraged over the asylum seekers.  This represents a huge majority and I would suggest that even a good proportion of rusted on ALP voters are angry as well. Now her own people are telling her and that is being reported in the press – not a good look.  Why on earth should she need to be told it is a problem?   The ALP heavyweights must be rolling their eyes at her lack of political acumen.   Doesn’t someone brief her every morning on what the people are saying or thinking? Maybe she only gets her news from the ABC. If you just watch the ABC you would be largely unaware of the extent of the boat arrivals.  After the election, and presuming Abbott wins, you will know of every boat that comes near our coastline under the byline of “Abbott fails to stop the boats”
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Politics

Waleed thinks war should be fair

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Waleed Ali complains about drones and pontificates;

War is a kind of contract. Each side confronts the other, with the risk of death and defeat. In short, war should come at a cost. That contract is shredded when you’re attacked by something that cannot itself be killed. It’s not remotely a fair fight.

War is not supposed to be a fair fight and if it is it’s a pain in the arse.  As David Hackworth once said “If you find yourself in a fair fight, you didn’t plan your mission properly”. As further evidence Waleed is a military illiterate he says;

A US drone costs anywhere from $5 million to $10 million. Depending on who you believe, China can build them for less than $1 million. If that’s true, you can forget any idea of an American monopoly on the drone market. Now consider China’s customers: countries who want cheap weapons, and who’d rather not buy them from America or Israel. Really, anyone in the developing world is a candidate. It’s hard to resist the conclusion that we’re staring at the future of warfare.

Waleed, the reason drones are so good at clobbering your mates is that Islamic terrorists generally, Al Quaida and the Taliban have a notable shortage of jet fighters to kill the drones.  Do you think for one moment that if a terrorist organization brought a drone from China that the US and/or other western powers wouldn’t have a F18 waiting to meet said drone on it’s inaugeral flight and another to sever the hand on the joystick. Still, if you believe all that stuff then encourage your mates to fork out a million dollars for a 30 second flight – any drain on their budget is a win for the good guys.
45
War on Terror

Good call Tony!

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LABOR says Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s decision to go back on a written promise to back electoral law reforms casts doubt on other coalition pre-election pledges

The federal government decided on Thursday not to go ahead with the laws, which would have delivered around $58 million in extra public funding for political parties now preparing for the September poll.

Obviously the Greens weren’t backing it either otherwise it would have been tabled. Personally, I think the ALP brought it up to stave of imminent bankruptcy as their membership and donations plummet as they are redirected to the adults in the game – the Libs. I don’t think his changing his mind casts doubt on other pledges as I doubt these other pledges will stir up so much angst among the voting public.  With the country’s economy in intensive care until after the election, now is not the time to tell the voters we are taking more money out of the pile of debt the ALP are about to leave us with. I was disappointed when I read he had agreed to it,  now he’s changed his opinion,  I think – good call! People will see it as a continuation of trying to curb spending rather than Abbott has reneged. John Birmingham is is beside himself with rage as he writes in the Age;

Are you complete idiots? Do you know how much it costs to run an election campaign these days? And they have to be run, you know. There’s no avoiding them unless you want to turn over the keys of the joint to Gillard or Abbott and pronounce them dictator for life. You want democracy? You pay for it.

Elections cost money.

Well, yes John we know Elections coat money and I guess that’s why the Electoral Commission already compensates the parties for their expenses during an election campaign.

The amount of election funding payable is calculated by multiplying the number of formal first preference votes received by the rate of payment applicable at the time. This rate is indexed every six months in line with increases in the Consumer Price Index.

The current election funding rate from 1 January 2013 to 30 June 2013 is 247.316 cents per eligible vote.

Which is why, after the 2010 election the ALP received $21 225 869.96 (scroll down) in electoral funding. So what’s the problem.  Well, you have to have money before the election as the Electoral Commission pay after the event on votes received. I can see why the ALP are cranky as Abbott, sniffing the wind, has deprived them of upfront money and we all know they won’t get enough votes to make $21 mil this year. If they received all that money just three years ago you’d think they’d have some put aside for the next election – wouldn’t you. Oh, that’s right, it’s the ALP we are talking about.
13
Politics

BDS activists want us to pay

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THREE eminent Jewish Australian academics have condemned the Coalition’s promise to cut off federal grants for individuals and institutions who support the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions campaign against Israel. The BDS campaign spends all it’s energy attacking Israel which is fine,  free speech and all that, but I fail to understand why they should do so on the public purse. The professors, Benjamin, Grossman and Goodman oppose BDS,  but they all described Ms Bishop’s proposal to cut off funding for those who support it as a fundamental attack on academic independence, free speech and democracy. What are we talking about guys,  free speech or funding? Friends of Israel in WA say its all about Jake Lynch who has spend his life in Peace activism.  Its been my experience from serving during the Cold War that as soon as the word ‘Peace’ gets a run in the title of any organization it becomes synonymous with ‘Anti-West’.   Ms Bishop told The Weekend Australian.

…The Coalition policy is most immediately directed at [University of Sydney‘s] Jake Lynch who, along with the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies that he directs, is a vocal supporter of BDS.

Associate Professor Lynch drew the ire of Jewish groups when he rejected a request for help from Israeli academic Dan Avnon, who developed Israel’s only civics curriculum for both Jewish and Arab school students.

“It is inappropriate for Associate Professor Lynch to use his role as director of the taxpayer-funded CPACS . . . in support of the anti-Semitic BDS campaign.”…

If you want to subvert Australia’s foreign policy then do it on your own dollar!  
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Politics

There there, precious

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In the heat of the moment a 13 year old girl tells Sydney Swans Goode “You’re an ape” and the world goes ballistic.  Goode point her out to MCG Security and she is removed from her family and apparently grilled for two hours. She is 13. COLLINGWOOD president Eddie McGuire has vowed to seek out the fan who allegedly racially abused Sydney Swans champion Adam Goodes on Friday night and ban her from the club. The mother of the 13 year old girl isn’t happy;

Ms Looney is upset by the treatment her daughter had received from MCG security – who told her family to remain seated as they ejected Julia – and police detaining her for what she said was two hours.

Eddie Maguire and everyone screaming “racist!” need to settle down and Goode needs a few testosterone injections to stop him being so precious.  UPDATE:  (Quote from Bolt) On ABC radio this morning a woman says Aborigines at the same game slashed an Australian flag, replaced the Union Jack with an Aboriginal one and were abusive. Security was called but removed no one. I wonder if Eddie Maguire is looking for these guys.  
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Indigenous Affairs
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