Author: Kev

CRAIG Thomson has pleaded to be left alone while a raft of inquiries into his conduct proceed, declaring “enough is enough”. No it isn’t. You are still in the House, you lying, thieving, whoring grub. Everybody who has an interest in the truth will pursue it until it is resolved. Get used to it.

I note some comments relate to how well Thomson spoke and in doing so fail to note that he didn’t answer the questions raised in the FWA findings. Good oratory abilities aren’t restricted to the honest folk alone – obviously! He went on the attack but did so sans ammo. No time and date of supposed conspiracies, no collaborating witnesses, no detail. No believable answer for the mobile phone calls to Escort agencies and no explanation of huge sums of HSU money sidelined to the Dobel campaign. And he has the temerity to say Abbott has damaged democracy….FFS! Windsor, fighting for his pension, said the parliament should not act as judge and jury against Mr Thomson. Yes it should. I can’t see how he isn’t in contempt of the House.

“I think due process should take place,” he said.

It has. The body set up by the ALP to vet this type of behaviour has investigated the matter and have found against him. Mr Wilkie said while the Thomson saga “stinks”, he should be considered innocent until proven guilty.

“So unless the findings against him have been tested in a properly constituted court, where he has the opportunity to defend himself, we must accord him the presumption of innocence no matter how much that grates,” he said.

He hasn’t been charged with breaking any laws yet so the properly constituted court and the presumption of innocence aren’t relevant. He had the opportunity to defend himself during the FWA investigation and his defence was found to be unbelievable. He had the chance to explain his case to the House and he didn’t The Coalition have no choice but to pursue the matter to the point of satisfactory resolution as while it festers, the country isn’t being governed. Albanese seeks moral equivalence between Thomson’s seemingly never ending litany of rorting union members funds and sordid dalliances with escorts and MP Craig Kelly’s accountant being tardy in notifying ASIC of Company changes. Kelly says the Accountant was sick and in hospital and I’m sure if the matter was pursued evidence would be forthcoming that that was the case. No evidence yet on any of Thomson’s claims and I doubt if there will be. Thomson tried the “It’s not just me” defence with claims Jackson drives a volvo and has been on trips overseas that didn’t tie in with Union business. And…? Senator Brandis said Mr Thomson could not be believed, and should be made accountable for misleading the House.

“If Mr Thomson misled the parliament, and it seems an almost irresistible conclusion that he does given the profound implausibility of his claims and the lack of evidence for them, then he committed the breach of privilege yesterday,” he told ABC radio. “Not by conduct which pre-dated his time as a member of parliament but yesterday, when he lied to the House of Representatives.”

But Mr Fitzgibbon said Mr Thomson’s statement had injected enough doubt into the allegations facing him that he should be allowed to await his day in court.

“I thought Craig Thomson gave a very persuasive case,” Mr Fitzgibbon told ABC Radio. “I thought he spoke with conviction. He gave plausible explanations as to the allegations and I think he proved these issues are complex.

I guess Joel has to say that but I ask you, how does he say it with a straight face? Meanwhile Gillard, who has already found him guilty by kicking him out of the Labor Party says she had been presented with a “summary” of Mr Thomson’s hour-long speech to parliament yesterday but declined to comment on the address.

“Mr Thomson put his statement to the parliament and that was a decision for him,” she said. “It’s not for the parliament to set itself up as a court or jury.”

I simply don’t believe Gillard when she says she was presented with a summary of his speech. Whatever Thomson was about to say in the House was of extreme importance to the ALP and I would say that his words were tested and pulled apart by lawyers and politicians for days to ensure it didn’t say anything that could be proven wrong which is why he failed to give any specific facts that could be checked. There is no way the government would just let Thomson write his own speech and deliver it without a tick from the ALP heavies. And the whole sorry saga just goes on and on. .

Every voter in Australia needs to listen to this 2GB broadcast. Former Fairfax radio host Michael Smith joins Ben Fordhamto talk about the ongoing HSU saga. Gillard’s protestations of presumption of innocence are just delaying tactics. Thomson is not facing a court of law, he has been found to have misused members monies by the ALP established FWA inquiry. He has abused his privileges as a Union leader and he has stolen the members money for nefarious and illegal uses, thus I am of the opinion that he lacks the moral tone and ethics to sit in parliament and represent his electorate. The interview with Laurie Oakes was painful to watch as it leaves more questions than answers. If he believes he has been set up how is that he has only mentioned this years after allegations surfaced. If I believe I had been set up then I would be bashing down police doors to get them to pursue the matter. If he has a name of whoever set him up, why is it that we haven’t heard it yet and will he drop the name in Parliament next week? If it was a set up then one would expect the villain to also approve the expenditure when the credit card bills come in. Not so, according to the above linked 2GB broadcast. Thomson admits signing off on the expenditure. And through all of this he refuses to cooperate with the police. I would say he is about to lose the right to refuse and the police will be reading him his rights in an interview room. Can’t come quick enough Windsor’s delaying tactics include calling for a possible referendum on rule changes that would allow MPs to be banned from parliament for civil offences while Gillard’s welcomes any debate on a clearer code of conduct for MPs. Codes of conduct are very clear to the electorate and they are saying ‘get rid of him’ The stench is damaging the ALP. Reading comments at other sites I note turkeys never, ever, ever, ever, ever vote for Christmas to arrive, never. And that simple fact belongs to both Windsor and Oakeshott, who are making noises about parliament expulsion on civil cases that are found condemning, are just that, noise. When will we be done with this man….when will the government acknowledge the damage he is doing to the ALP and the country and take remedial steps? How long can Gillard ignore the issue?

I can only imagine the timing of the release of the FWA report on Thomson’s litany of abuse of trust and power and simple theft of members funds was deliberate. I can just see Gillard thinking…. release it on Budget eve and everyone will be talking about the budget and forget about Thompson. Ain’t going to happen sweetheart! Tomorrow, everyone will be thinking – typical budget of a government in trouble and get back to the troubles. Gillard and the ALP have a hell of a problem with Slipper and Thomson. If Thomson resigns, as he should, then she will be vulnerable with the subsequent by election unlikely to favour the ALP. If he stays then she will be subject to questions all day, every day up to the election and the Independents will be under constant pressure to back a no-confidence motion. How long can they maintain support of the ALP while Thomson is in the House? If the ALP change leaders and reinstall Rudd then they will have their opinions of Rudd thrown at them all day every day up to the election so I can’t see that happening. Makes you wonder how Gillard can front up every morning and spend the day ignoring the herd of elephants she has in the room. Oh, and the budget… Defence down $5.4b; boat people up $1b; debt ceiling to hit $300b; tax the rich and give to the poor; attack wealth creators… ALP in a nutshell…nothing to see here – move along.

Defence Minister Stephen Smith flippantly mentioned on radio today that no-one is lining up to invade us. With such deep thought and careful consideration the government look to rationalizing cutting the defence budget by $4 billion. Defer the F35 contract, cancel the long range artillery and invent $240m worth of procrastination over what we want in the way of submarines to replace the Collins class boats. That takes all that boring defence stuff out of the budget so Wayne can talk about his blessed surplus. Peter Costello muses on the problem of deficits

I suggest a new tactic for the government when it comes to selling this year’s budget: to level with the public and tell the facts rather than weave the spin. This would involve admitting it was costly and unnecessary to ramp up spending by 36 per cent in the last four budgets. It would mean admitting that if a budget surplus takes pressure off interest rates now (as the government is claiming), then more careful budget policy would have helped over the last four years when we returned budget deficits of $27 billion, $55 billion, $48 billion and $37 billion – in total $167 billion. And, further, it would mean admitting the 2012-13 budget would not be a surplus at all if the government included its spending on the national broadband network (up to $43 billion), which it has taken off the budget.

So Wayne argues that a few billion surplus this year will balance the last four year’s deficits and let’s ignore the $43b NBN. Are we supposed to believe that the ALP are good economic managers. I don’t think so. To help defray any debate Defence Media have been flat out issuing emails telling us what a great job the ALP are doing. I’ve received four seven just today. And another defence matter; Watch for the Royal Australian Regiment to be gutted once Afghanistan is finished.