Category: Politics

Julia says nothing relevant in todays Australian “If you look at the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister — at Kevin (Rudd) and I — education made us,” Ms Gillard said. “We are examples of the social mobility that is possible when you get a good-quality education system. These are the things Tony Abbott’s now determined to destroy.” So I guess what you are saying is that you and Kevin were educated under an already existing good quality education system. What then is your point? Seriously, Julia’s logic escapes me.Tony is not looking to destroy conditions that existed when “Kevin and I” were educated. He is simply looking for ways to pay back the enormous deficit the ALP is going to leave us. No one questions the value of education but some might question the cost. It may have been better to use some of the BER funds to pay teachers better salaries. They impact more on kids and their education than do canteens that cost more than ten times the going rate.

A CATHOLIC school has built a commercial-quality tuckshop and toilet block 10 times bigger than the cubby-house canteens public schools have received for the same price. The Catholic canteen, costing $2500 per square metre, includes a commercial kitchen with stainless-steel benchtops, shelving and a separate coolroom. The public school version, costing $25,000 a square metre, is not even big enough to fit a full-sized fridge, pie oven or meat slicer.

You can ignore the elephant in the room for only so long, Julia. You’d best be practicing your tortured logic on the BER rort as voters will want answers and you’d best hope that businesses that support the ALP haven’t banked the majority of the rip offs. Good luck on that one!

One of these is the PM Polls aren’t good for Kevin Rudd but many are quick to point out that the percentage point loss to Kevin hasn’t gone to the Libs. Fair enough but Abbot hasn’t had a chance to get a word in edge ways nor does he need to as Rudd bounces from bad press to bad news at a such a fast pace that you can almost hear the ALP Caucus muttering mutiny. If I was a stuck-on ALP supporter I wouldn’t take much comfort from the fact that all of the poll swing hasn’t gone to Abbott – he is simply keeping his powder dry for the real election campaign. I read somewhere this morning that some Libs are planning to hand out cut-up pink bats at the election booths with a suitable reminder of the ALP’s incompetence – good idea! With the ETS backdown now sitting in the Lib ‘get elected bin of facts’, already overflowing with Rudd’s broken promises, the Henry Review has taken the limelight. Adopting only a few of the 100 odd recommendations indicates to me that it more about being re elected and less about a revolution with a bit of politics of envy thrown in for good measure. Reading the press over the last couple of days you could be forgiven for thinking that the new tax on mining is intended to pay for the rise in superannuation but it isn’t. The increase in superannuation is to be borne by small business. Small business traditionally passes on these costs, as they should, so either we pay more for the goods they produce or the business pays their workers less or, pays less workers. I don’t think anyone could mount a good solid case for miners not to be taxed but 40%? So, if they do well they pay a huge tax but if the development fails, or commodity prices plummet then what do the government say then – “Piss of – we only want you when you are making billions so you can give almost half of it to us”. Seems to run contrary to exploration and the gamble that mining sometimes is. And we can make the first debit entry on Rudd’s scheme – already he owes the economy $9 billion.

AT least $9 billion was wiped off the sharemarket value of the nation’s resources companies yesterday amid investor fears of a severe downturn in earnings sparked by Kevin Rudd’s planned 40 per cent super tax on profits.

And check out this “he said – she said” routine.

Mr Rudd said BHP Billiton was 40 per cent foreign owned and Rio Tinto more than 70 per cent, which meant ”these massively increased profits … built on Australian resources are mostly in fact going overseas”

A spokeswoman for BHP hit back at Mr Rudd, pointing out the company was listed on both the Australian and London stock exchanges, had its headquarters in Melbourne, and was one of the country’s largest employers.

”We have 16,000 Australian employees and 24,500 Australian contractors working for us,” the spokeswoman said. The largest single proportion of the company’s shares was held in Australia. ”We’ve been in this country since the 1880s – we’re not exactly newcomers,” she said.

I wonder what happens to the size of that workforce when the company has to pay another large tax. Will there still be 16,000 workers and 25,000 contractors? Don’t think so. It’s no good saying that the mining companies will fight against it. Of course they will, but they will also cut costs to try and minimize their bottom line plummeting. Oh, as an aside, I did notice one of the Henry Tax Review recommendations was to lower the remuneration to the military. I can’t find any reference to it now but it was online over the weekend. It didn’t eventuate but is still on the books and backs up my claim that ALP types simply don’t like us. If any reader has the link please point me to it. Our current serving men and women need to know what Henry had in mind. UPDATE: Reader bh has provided the link to the final report for those interested. I can find little reference to the ADF other than this recommendation:

Defence and disciplined forces payments should be taxable and direct remuneration increased for affected personnel.

Thus my aside above seems to have been sourced on some reporter’s interpretation and could therefore be null and void. UPDATE2: Miners dump another $7 bn. Total now $16 bn lost from the mining sector subsequent to Rudd’s announcement.

CONCERNS are growing within the federal government that Kevin Rudd is losing control of the political agenda after a series of policy reversals capped off by the dumping of Labor’s key climate change policy. The Prime Minister’s decision to delay the ETS will save billions in the May 11 federal budget, while the NSW government immediately said consumers would no longer face the massive electricity price rises – up to 46 per cent – that had been predicted. NSW Energy Minister John Robertson said energy price increases would be significantly smalled over the next three years in NSW because of the delay of the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. Significantly smalled! If that’s a direct quote then God help the people of NSW. They are being led by a pretty face and at least one illiterate Minister. I wonder if that statement has “significantly bigged” the chances of the NSW Government’s re election. Back to Rudd and his answers to Australia’s problems. Boat People. Open Door (door actually off hinges) brings 100s of boatloads..has had to find the door and put it back on its hinges. Fuel Watch, Virtually still-born. Grocery Watch Too hard Whaling – all talk no real action…threats…misuse of Customs ship – sent hundreds of miles to sea to photograph Japs. Photos already existed but ‘Whale huggers’ were initially placated. Legal threats every two months to keep Greenies quiet and now it looks like Japan will be given licence to hunt whales. Home insulation 1.5bn cost…1.5bn to fix and how many millions went to China for the pink bats? Super Clinics. 260 promised now program halted at 38 – “they cost more than we thought!” says Rudd BER program At this stage looks like a complete rort. ETS The “biggest moral challenge in our time” has morphed to “politically inexpedient” National Broadband. Could be good for business except it is hugely expensive and the domestic household networks are looking more and more to the ever developing wireless networks. I expect the stuck on ALP voters will ignore the unraveling but with the ABC (Four Corners) and one tabloid Channel doing exposes the swinging voters must be starting to jump ship.

THE captain and watch officer of the Chinese ship blamed for causing unprecedented damage to a coral shoal on the Great Barrier Reef will face court today on federal charges that attract heavy fines and jail. I guess unprecedented damage refers to ship-caused damage only and not damage from tens of thousands of cyclones that have battered the reef over its long existence. Even that must be considered an iffy statement but then considering that seemingly a full 50% of a journalist’s tertiary education must be ‘Hyperbole 101‘ then maybe the story fits. OK, get up the idle Chinese Captain and First Mate and slap a fine on them but can we have less Doomsday prophesies.

The ABC website reports that O’Brien found Obama to be “quite expansive and quite genuine on what he saw as the commonality and connections” between himself and the Australian Prime Minister, “one of which was humility.” Sometimes I amaze myself – how could I get it so wrong. It simply didn’t occur to me to think it through and arrive at the obvious conclusion that Kevin Rudd is humble. When I think of it, he’s simply wrapped in humility. Isn’t he?

The Australian just keeps on pointing out problems with Julia Gillard’s BER programme and she just keeps on ignoring it. The frightening thing is NSW is the only state providing detailed costings. All the other state governments could be just as bad. At the very least it looks like Queensland is;

Nine months after Education Minister Julia Gillard told federal parliament that Holland Park State School was “delighted” with the “once-in-a-lifetime enhancement of its facilities”, her department has quietly agreed to let the school swap the unneeded buildings for eight new classrooms.

P&C president Craig Mayne – who has since quit the post – blew the whistle on cost blowouts last year in two letters to Mr Rudd and five phone calls to his Griffith electorate office.

“My issue is not with the program but how it is being implemented,” he wrote in June. “We have a situation where the Queensland Public Works Department is proposing and implementing a system that is open to massive rorting.”

And that’s my point: My issue is not with the program but how it is being implemented. In the land of amazing circumstances nine schools in NSW have identical costings for different projects in different areas with different site considerations. The link is to a .pdf but worth having a quick look. Rudd and Gillard ignore this problem at their peril. They really need to get on top of it and convince the electorate that the program is being managed. It’s one thing to say school principals are ecstatic about their new buildings but of course they will be. Their responsibility is to their school, not to the fiscal management of tax payers money. And in the centuries old advice of follow the money I’m reliably informed by insiders that the flow of money is to the large companies and middle men, not the worker. The ute guys are picking up work but I bet they aren’t picking up millions for jam. Someone is but I wonder if we’ll ever know exactly who. Most probably not.

I have to say I’m disappointed about the weekend election results. South Australia’s Mike Rann seems to have fallen over the line and in Tasmania the Libs may have to negotiate with the Greens to form a coalition. Sure, there was 12.1% swing away from Labor in Tasmania and 7.4% in South Australia but that’s simply not enough. Anthony Green’s piece on why the ALP won in SA has some hope for us anti-labor types with mostly double digit swings against the ALP in all but two seats. A part of those stats has to be as a result of Australians waking up to Rudd’s shallowness and fiscal “throw another few billion at ’em” policies.

The back door to Australia remains open or, seemingly off its hinges, as illegal boats, line astern, queue up for berthing at Christmas Island. Only two boats of Life Style Seekers this weekend. Is anyone paying attention? Kevin…are you there?