Australian Federal Election 2016: Labor candidate for Page Janelle Saffin announces a Shorten Government will repair Coalition budget cuts to community legal centres

Labor Media Release, Friday 10 June 2016:

SAFFIN ANNOUNCES $300,000 FOR NORTHERN RIVERS COMMUNITY LEGAL CENTRE

Janelle Page, Federal Labor Candidate for Page, today said a Shorten Labor Government would provide $300,000 over three years to ensure the Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre has the funds to continue helping people in need.

The Federal Budget confirmed that the Liberal-National Government would cut funding for Community Legal Centres by 30 per cent, however Labor will inject a total of $43 million into the sector over three years from 1 July 2017.

Ms Saffin said Labor understood how important the Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre was to people in the seat of Page.

“Access to legal assistance when you need help is as important as access to Medicare when you’re sick. That’s why Community Legal Centres are such an important local service.

“The Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre helps local people deal with a wide range of legal issues – from tenants’ rights, to domestic violence and family law disputes.

“Labor will ensure that CLCs can continue their vital work helping people to navigate their way through our complex legal system.”

Ms Saffin said the Liberal-Nationals attack on Community Legal Centres was another example of how local MP Kevin Hogan had failed to needs of regional communities.

“Mr Hogan has been missing in action. He’s been too busy defending the city-centric Liberal-Nationals to defend local community legal services.

“Labor will ensure the Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre can keep its doors open and go on providing vital services to the people of the North Coast and Northern Rivers.”

Ms. Saffin told The Daily Examiner on the same day:

"Access to legal assistance when you need help is as important as access to Medicare when you're sick. That's why Community Legal Centres are such an important local service," Ms Saffin said.

"The Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre helps local people deal with a wide range of legal issues, from tenants' rights, to domestic violence and family law disputes.

"Labor will ensure that CLCs can continue their vital work helping people to navigate their way through our complex legal system."

Ken Beilby, the Principal Solicitor for the Northern Rivers Community Legal Centre in Lismore said the funding will mean they do not have to shut offices in the Richmond Valley in Casino and the Tweed Valley office in Murwillumbah.

"It's going to help us maintain front line services to disadvantaged clients in our region," Mr Beilby said.

"One of the main priorities of our centre is women experiencing domestic violence and providing early intervention.

"Our ability to continue assisting vulnerable clients will be greatly diminished without those funding cuts being restored."

Australian Federal Election 2016: recalling better times in the Page electorate

The public hospital system in the NSW Northern Rivers region has been attempting to deal with state and federal health funding cuts by Coalition governments for years now (including est.$730 million over ten years from the Northern NSW Local Hospital District) and the strain is beginning to show.

So it’s only natural that a good many regional voters look back fondly on the hard work then Labor MP for Page Janelle Saffin put in to securing health funding between 2007 to 2013.

This effort on the electorate’s behalf included:

$4 million for a community health centre in Yamba

$20 million for the upgrade of Grafton Base Hospital and 114,000 for new equipment for the Emergency Department

$487,000 to refurbish 10 student nurse accommodation rooms at Grafton Base Hospital

Federal grant to establish the Grafton Super Clinic

$60.25 million to redevelop Lismore Base Hospital, including new emergency department, an express community care clinic and a new renal dialysis unit

$7 million on top of the $8 million already committed for Lismore Base Hospital radiology services

Magnetic resonance Imaging (MRI) services for Lismore Base Hospital and North Coast radiology’s Clarence Valley Imaging in Grafton

$15 million to fast track the Lismore Integrated Cancer Centre

$2.7 million for a second linear accelerator at the Lismore Base Hospital Integrated Cancer Centre, providing cancer treatment for an extra 30 patients a day

$7 million for Lismore GP Super Clinic

$2.6 million for Our House Cancer Patient Accommodation in Lismore for cancer patients and families -150 construction jobs 

$2.53 million to St Vincent’s Private Hospital Lismore for two new operation theatres, $884,414for state-of-the-art teaching centre and $157,000 to purchase equipment to develop aUrological Centre of Excellence 

$7.9 million to establish the University of Western Sydney's new Rural Clinical School in Lismore and Bathurst

$407,000 to expand McKid Medical Private General Practice in Kyogle under the Primary Care Infrastructure Grants Program and $295,455 to upgrade the Urbenville Medical Centre

$9.22 million to North Coast Medicare Local to establish its headquarters in Ballina and for operational funding

$1.45 million investment in dental funding for the Northern Rivers, announced this year as part of the Commonwealth Dental Health Program

Five new GP registrars to train in Lismore, Goonellabah, Ballina and Alstonville and four specialist doctors in Lismore area

$1.6million to Interrelate to boost mental health services in Ballina and Kyogle shires and the Richmond Valley

$640,000 to Local HACC services Home and Community Care Program funding

$1.45 million investment in dental funding for the Northern Rivers announced in 2013  as part of the Commonwealth Dental Health Program

Five new GP registrars to train in Lismore, Goonellabah, Ballina and Alstonville and four specialist doctors in Lismore area

$1.6million to Interrelate to boost mental health services in Ballina and Kyogle shires and the Richmond Valley

$700,000 to Clarence Valley Council under the Healthy Communities Initiative to combat obesity

A total of $522,000 to Bulgarr Ngaru Aboriginal Medical Service to expand its health service with new premises and practice manager

$1.9 million for local crisis intervention services.

A list of funding for a range of services within the Page electorate between August 2010 and September 2013:

Janelle Saffin Federal Labor MP for Page - Achievements since 2010 by clarencegirl

Ms. Saffin is standing as Labor's candidate in Page on 2 July 2016.

Even the Nationals know that Janelle Saffin is good value for the Page electorate

Labor Candidate for Page Janelle Saffin on Facebook, 29 May 2016:

Even the Nationals Geoff Provest acknowledges the significant funding I was able to secure for health in Page.

It's time that we get our fair share again.

Labor blots its copybook in Week 2 of the federal election campaign

Preselecting a 49 year-old candidate in West Australia who at nineteen assaulted a police officer could be seen as an unfortunate mistake easily rectified, but for this to be followed less than a week later by the discovery that one of Labor’s Victorian MPs seeking re-election had not declared an investment property for close to three years can only be called the first big blunder of the party’s federal election campaign.

To then find that the Member for Batman and Shadow Minister for Justice David Feeney is also one of those politicians who claims $271 a night while living in an apartment owned by a close family member – in this case his lawyer wife’s trust – only makes the situation worse.

This parliamentary entitlement claim places him is the same category as former treasurer Joe Hockey and current prime minister Malcolm Turnbull* and, is likely to alienate some voters in his electorate.

* Malcolm Turnbull’s last Summary of Parliamentary Expenditure show this multi-millionaire is still claiming the nightly allowance for living in a Canberra apartment owned by himself.

Action hero Scott Morrison of the Turnbull Coalition Team sends dispatch from Coalition Campaign Headquarters 2016 (CCHQ 2016)

This is what Labor’s Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen stated on 10 May 2016 as reported by SBS News:

The ritual election costings debate has begun with shadow treasurer Chris Bowen promising Labor will release four and 10-year costings of its policies.

But the bottom line won't be revealed until the latter part of the campaign, "after we've announced the last bulk of our policies", Mr Bowen told the National Press Club on Tuesday.

"That will enable us to say more about the trajectory back to budget balance," he said.

Labor would stick with the independent Parliamentary Budget Office for its costings, rather than submitting policies to Treasury, Mr Bowen said.

"They are well resourced, competent people and if there is a dispute between the Treasury and the Parliamentary Budget Office as to costings, that does not automatically mean that the PBO is in some way in error," he said.

Mr Bowen also said while Treasury was an arm of the government, its secretary was not a political play thing and he would work with the Abbott-appointed head John Fraser.

This is what Chris Bowen also clearly stated in 10 May 2016 media release:

Labor is the only party setting the economic agenda.

If elected, we will:

*Deliver an economic statement within three months of being elected to protect Australia’s AAA credit rating.

Implement our productivity-enhancing economic agenda, including our plan to deliver once-in-a-generation school reforms, lifting educational outcomes and boosting GDP.  

*Deliver our $10 billion infrastructure facility which will create approximately 26,000 jobs and add around an extra $7.5 billion to Australia’s GDP every year.

*Reform negative gearing and Capital Gains Tax, stimulating new housing construction and putting the great Australian dream back within reach of working and middle-class  

 Australians.

* Making record investments in the renewable energy sector preparing our economy for a less carbon-intensive world.

As for any possibility of a minority government after 2 July 2016, SBS World News Radio reported on 10 May 2016:

Voting preferences dominated discussion across all major parties.

It stemmed from Greens MP Adam Bandt raising the prospect of forming an alliance with a minority coalition or Labor government in the event of a hung parliament.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, whose party has ruled out governing with the support of the Greens, used the occasion to warn of a return to a past political scenario.

"Why would we run the risk of having another Labor-Greens independent government, another hung parliament, which is plainly in contemplation of the Labor party, it is plainly in the enthusiastic contemplation of the Greens, and we know what the price will be: people smugglers back in business, much higher taxes even than those already contemplated by Labor and a much higher carbon tax even than that already contemplated by Labor."

Bill Shorten, too, appeared quick to quash the idea.

"Every time you see a Green politician saying they are against the Liberals, then why are they making it easier for the Liberals to get elected in the suburbs and regions of Australia. Or, can I put it another way to Mr Bandt and the Greens, tell them they are dreaming. No deals with Labor about forming a coalition."

This was Treasurer Scott Morrison of the Turnbull Coalition Team in a media release sent from Coalition Campaign Headquarters 2016 (CCHQ 2016):

Image @latingle

As journalist Laura Tingle observed on 11 May; Is the government just a little panicky here?

Australian Federal Election 2016: spot Amanda Vanstone's attempts at political deception in The Age newspaper

This was former Liberal Senator for South Australia and former minister in the Howard Government, Amanda Vanstone writing in The Age on 9 May 2016 in an article titled Turnbull or Shorten? The choice seems clear:

Let’s break that down a little.

Schooling

Yes, Malcolm Turnbull went to a public primary school at Vaucluse in Sydney’s affluent Eastern Suburbs for about three years and, yes he went to Sydney Grammar School from the age of eight with the assistance of a scholarship for at least part of that period. He graduated from university during the years when undergraduate and post-graduate tertiary education was free of course fees in Australia. He was the child of divorced parents. All this is on the public record.

Bill Shorten went to a local Catholic primary school before attending Xavier College’s junior & senior schools in the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne – his mother taught at Xavier and presumably there was some degree of discount on his school fees. So yes, he also had a private education in affluent suburbs. He graduated from university during the years when tertiary education was free of course fees and undertook a post-graduate degree during a period when course fees were re-instituted. His parents divorced when he was about 20 years of age. All of which is also on the public record.

Wealth

Malcolm Turnbull inherited assets worth an est. $2 million from his hotel-broker father before he turned 29 years of age according to one of his biographers Paddy Manning and, he and his wife independently and jointly went on to garner considerably greater wealth which was last estimated to be in the vicinity of $200 million. His last Statement of Registrable Interests lists a veritable slew of financial investments and an expensive property portfolio shared between he and his wife. It is not known if he inherited any money from his mother.

It is not known to the writer if Bill Shorten inherited any money to speak of from his dry-dock manager father or his mother, however his last Statement of Registrable Interests lists very little in assets held by either he or his wife beyond their mortgaged family home.

What essentially separates these two men are the differences in their personal and political philosophies and the wide gap between their different levels of personal wealth.

Although this is something Amanda Vanstone is trying hard to distort in this federal election campaign and something The Age appears to be so indifferent to that its editor is not reigning in her excesses.  

Australian Federal Election 2016: is Nationals MP Kevin Hogan in trouble in Page?

Echo NetDaily, 22 April 2016:

A ReachTel survey conducted in Page on Tuesday night shows sitting Nationals MP Kevin Hogan in serious trouble, with ALP contender and former incumbent Janelle Saffin ahead by 56 to 44 per cent on a two-party preferred basis.

But the news gets worse for Mr Hogan, with as many as 33 per cent of Page voters saying they would be more likely to vote against the Coalition if the parties don’t re-endorse the Gonski education reforms……

Australian Federal Election 2016: we'll all be rooned!

Ever since Labor released the outline of its negative gearing and capital gains tax reform policy, both the Prime Minister and the Treasurer have been thundering on about the catastrophic consequences which would result.

Apparently if implemented this policy will be like one of the seven plagues of Egypt sent to decimate the wealth of the chosen ones.

Malcolm Turnbull telling voters that “every homeowner in Australia has a lot to fear from Bill Shorten” and that removing negative gearing will “smash the residential housing market”. While Scott Morrison informed us that "It's bad news if you own a home, it's bad news if you're an investor in a home, and bad news if you're renting a home…That's three strikes and you're out."

Then the authors of the report Turnbull and Morrison relied on, BIS Shrapnel, came clean……

Financial Review, 3 March 2016:

The government's assault on Labor's negative gearing tax has suffered an embarrassing setback with the authors of a damning report saying it was written late last year and had nothing to do with Labor's policy released just a month ago.

Just hours after Treasurer Scott Morrison used the findings to slam Labor's policy for driving up rents and dragging the economy backwards, BIS Shrapnel associate director Kim Hawtrey made an urgent clarification.

"The assumptions were set several months ago, and the analysis done late last year, well before Labor announced its policy. Therefore the assumptions do not align with Labor's policy," he told The Australian Financial Review.

"The report makes no recommendations and does not purport to be an assessment of any particular policy."…..

This was followed a few days later by further embarrassment for Turnbull & Co…...

Peter Martin: Economics Editor, The Age, 7 March 2016:

Negative gearing encourages excessive use of debt, lifts overseas borrowings and raises real interest rates, according to the economist whose work on the subject has been lauded by the Treasurer Scott Morrison.

Kim Hawtrey, now with consultancy firm BIS Shrapnel, wrote the words more than 20 years ago when he was an academic at Macquarie University in an article in the journal Australian Tax Forum.

"Deductibility of interest payments on debt creates a tax advantage for debt over equity," he wrote. "Negative gearing ensues by way of combining debt interest deductibility with concessional tax treatment of capital gains, encouraging over-investment in property and related asset inflation sectors."

More than two decades on, Dr Hawtrey says he won't divulge his personal position on negative gearing, saying the work his firm released last week was "technical" and "dispassionate".

"I have not commented on my views and I am not going to comment on my personal views, from a policy point of view, or as a voter or whatever," he told Fairfax Media.

"We were simply given a task and we carried out that task, and no attribution or nothing should be read into that as to any policy preference."….

Then matters became a little worse for Liberal and Nationals MPs who were hoping to use the BIS Shrapnel report as strong talking points in their respective electorates – another report surfaced…..

ABC News, 7 March 2016:

A new report on the housing affordability crisis in Sydney and Melbourne calls for the Federal Government to urgently rethink its support of negative gearing.

The report, Sydney and Melbourne's Housing Affordability Crisis – No End in Sight, was written by Dr Bob Birrell and David McCloskey from Monash University's Centre for Population and Urban Research.

Dr Birrell said the report highlighted the seriousness of the problem.

"These governments have abandoned the current generation to a lifetime of rental properties," Dr Birrelll said.

"The situation is much worse than it was a couple of years ago. It is a social catastrophe."

He said governments have created the conditions for major concessions for investors.

"The result has been an enormous increase in investment but it has been primarily in established houses and that has caused these prices to reach levels in Sydney that are among the highest in the western world," Dr Birrell said.

The report revealed the record-high housing prices in Sydney and Melbourne would lead to social problems.

"The PM's stance reveals a monumental insensitivity to the social catastrophe flowing from record-high housing prices for the next generation of home seekers in Sydney and Melbourne," the report stated……

It comes as no surprise that the latest Newspoll reveals that the Coalition and Labor are still neck and neck on a two-party preferred basis, with Turnbull’s net satisfaction rating shrinking to three points. The Australian pointing out on 8 March 2016 that “It was 10 points a fortnight ago and 22 points in January. If it continues to slide on this trajectory, he will sink below zero.”

Nor is it any surprise that the Essential Research opinion poll released that same day also has Labor and the Coalition tied on a two-party preferred basis, with primary votes for Turnbull & Co down 2.6% since the September 2013 federal election and primary votes for Labor up 3.6% in the corresponding period and approval of Malcolm Turnbull's performance as prime minister standing at 45% - down 6% since its February 2016 poll.

Master Builders Association rather predictably bites back at Labor's negative gearing policy

 Labor's policy.....

ABC News, 13 February 2016:

Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has unveiled plans to change negative gearing rules for property purchases, in a move touted to "put the great Australian dream back within reach for the middle and working class".

Key points:

* Labor government would restrict negative gearing to "newly constructed homes"

* Capital gains tax discount reduced from 50 per cent to 25 per cent

* Both measures would come into force from July 2017

* All existing investments under the scheme would be fully "grandfathered" and protected against changes

With just months to go until a federal election is called, Mr Shorten used his speech to the NSW ALP conference to rally the party faithful for the battle ahead.

He said if Labor wins the election, from July next year negative gearing would only be available on newly-constructed homes.

The changes under a Shorten government would not affect the tax arrangements for investment properties purchased before July 2017.

Under costings released from the Parliamentary Budget Office, the measures could save the budget $32.1 billion over 10 years once they come into force.

Builders' snark.....

Medianet Release 13 February 2016:

“Labor’s policy announcement on negative gearing has squarely driven a marker not only in the housing debate but also in the broader debate about tax reform and the values we hold as a community,” Wilhelm Harnisch, CEO of Master Builders Australia said.

“Master Builders Australia is committed to tackling the underlying challenges that impact on housing affordability so that home ownership and the housing rental markets remain a cornerstone of Australia’s way of life. The ALP’S new policy position will be controversial by moving away from a long held bipartisan approach since the 1990s after the failed negative gearing policy experiment,” he said. 

“The quarantining of negative gearing to newly constructed residential buildings has certain attractions for the residential building sector but has a sting in the tail by reducing the Capital Gains Tax discount from 50% to 25%,” Wilhelm Harnisch said.

“Our concern is that Labor’s policy is a populist response to those who demonise housing and negative gearing as primary cause of our fiscal and social problems. Investing in new private rental housing is not evil,” he said.

“The private rental market is a critical supplement to the public and social housing rental sectors.

The private rental market also provides a valuable role in supplementing the retirement income strategy for mum and dads on low and middle incomes. Housing is an asset class just as shares and just as shares, interest deductibility in investment housing should remain as a tax feature,” he said.

“The ALP policy leaves important questions unanswered including how to overcome structural impediments to increasing housing supply which is the only effective way to truly tackle housing affordability for both homeowners and renters ” Wilhelm Harnisch said.

“Master Builders has called for the Federal Government to work with State and Territory Governments to use federal national competition policy payments for individually targeted and permanent structural reforms that can remove the current unnecessary blockages that inflate the cost of housing,” he said.

“Master Builders will continue its positive engagement with the ALP on this important area of public policy,” Wilhelm Harnisch said.

“But what we are looking for from both major parties in the lead up to the Federal Election are policies that add to economic growth, create jobs and enhances the positive role that housing can play and that will at the same time improve the ability of mums and dads make their contribution by providing rental housing and at the same time look after their own retirement strategies,” Wilhelm Harnisch said. 

Who negatively gears investment properties.....

The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 February 2015:

Exclusive analysis of the costs and take-up of negative gearing, the 50 per cent capital gains tax discount, and superannuation tax concessions, shows the combined revenue loss - or tax expenditure - will amount to some $50 billion annually within three years, although under 7 per cent of that benefit will flow to the under 30s.

The data-crunching has been undertaken by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling using its own database of Australian households as well as the latest information released by the Australian Tax Office.

It was commissioned by the progressive think tank, The Australia Institute.

Executive Director Ben Oquist said the findings showed conclusively that keeping the current concession regime in place is neither in the national interest nor fair.

"In total, these concessions are worth more than $37 billion, yet the young receive only $2.4 billion of their value," he said.

"The capital gains tax discount and negative gearing are particularly unfair for the young, with the under 30s taking approximately 1 per cent of the benefit of tax breaks worth $7.7 billion a year and climbing.

The NATSEM research also shows that 73 per cent of the benefits of the capital gains tax discount, flows to the top 10 per cent of income earners.

All up, it says the under 30s share of the three concessions combined is just 6.4 per cent, whereas those over 50 years of age receive 53 per cent of the benefits. That works out to $2.4 billion versus $19 billion for those over 50 - many of whom are already well-off......

ABC The Drum, 24 September 2014:

When I crunched the numbers, over 60,000 people with investment properties whose taxable income was $80,000 or less had total incomes above that $80,000 threshold ...

The very reason that many housing investors fall below the $80,000 threshold is because they have used negative gearing to slash their tax bill...

Graphs found at  

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-24/janda-the-myth-of-mum-and-dad-negative-gearers/5766724

When humanity trumps base politics

Australian Federal Election 2016: campaign humour

Excerpt from email sent by australianlabor.org.au, 6 February 2016:

Victory was declared this week. Punctuation was defeated and the Government’s semi-annual skirmishes against hyphens and semi-colons came to an end. After two years the Government decided to stop their so-called "red tape repeal days". We can all congratulate the Government on successfully removing from legislation 40 hyphens, one comma and one inverted comma; changing two full stops to semi-colons, one semi-colon to a full stop; and inserting two commas, one full stop, one colon and one hyphen. They also abolished state navies, which hadn't existed since 1913, and decided you no longer need to register your mule or bullock for military purposes. #Victory

Two national political opinion polls begun one day apart - two markedly different results

Two national political opinion telephone polls begun one day apart with two markedly different results made for some confusing headlines this week.

The clue may be in the mix of days of the week on which each poll was conducted, the fact that the first poll would possibly have included a higher number of younger voters due to the inclusion of mobile phone users and, the narrow question range in the second published poll.

POLL 1: FAIRFAX/IPSOS POLL, THURSDAY TO SATURDAY  9-11 APRIL 2015, 1404 RESPONDENTS, LANDLINE & MOBILE PHONES, MARGIN OF ERROR +/-2.6%

Financial Review 13 April 2015:

A promise to spare households more budget cuts, a focus on the economy and a raft of national security announcements has failed to help the Abbott government, with the latest poll showing Labor once more forging a strong lead over the Coalition.

The Ipsos/Fairfax media poll shows Labor leading the Coalition by 54 per cent to 46 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis, an increase from the 51-49 lead Labor held in the last such poll in early March.

Since that poll, the Coalition's primary vote has fallen 3 percentage points to 39 per cent and Labor's has risen 2 points to 38 per cent. The Greens are relatively steady on 13 per cent.

Labor leader Bill Shorten arrested a decline in his own personal ratings that showed up in the last poll. His approval rating was down a point to 42 per cent and his disapproval rating up a point to 44 per cent.

Mr Abbott's approval rating rose 2 points to 34 per cent and his disapproval rating fell 2 points to 60 per cent.

Mr Shorten has stretched his lead over Mr Abbott as preferred prime minister by 3 points. He now leads by 48 per cent to 38 per cent.

The telephone poll of 1404 voters was taken from Thursday night to Saturday night. It follows a busy period in which Mr Abbott has shrugged off the leadership insurrection that dogged him in February and embarked on a blitz of policy announcements and policy launches.

There has been a heavy emphasis on national security as well as the release of the intergenerational report, the tax discussion paper and a focus on multinational tax evasion, an issue on which Labor has seized the initiative..……

...support for the Coalition is greatest among higher-income households. Among voters with household incomes over $100,000, 49 per cent back Coalition policies and 29 per cent back Labor.

But Labor is more popular among medium and lower-income earners. Among voters from households with between $40,000 and $100,000 in annual income, 36 per cent back the Coalition and 34 per cent back Labor.

Among voters from households with annual income below $40,000, 39 per cent back the Coalition and 41 per cent back Labor.

POLL 2: NEWSPOLL, FRIDAY TO SUNDAY 10-12 APRIL, 1172 RESPONDENTS, LANDLINE PHONES, MARGIN OF ERROR +/- 3%

Channel 9 News 13 April 2015:

Labor continues to hold a two-party preferred lead over the Abbott government but opposition leader Bill Shorten has suffered a slump in ratings, the latest Newspoll shows.

With preferences from the Greens based on the last election, the ALP has a two-party lead of 51 per cent to 49 per cent, the poll conducted for News Corp at the weekend showed.

The Coalition has meanwhile opened a five-point margin over Labor on primary vote to be ahead by 41 per cent to 36 per cent.

The survey of 1172 voters found Mr Shorten's satisfaction fell three points to a 12-month low of 33 per cent while Prime Minister Tony Abbott's satisfaction climbed four points to also sit at 33 per cent……

UPDATE

Essential Research released an opinion poll on 14 April 2015. This survey was conducted online from the 9 to 12 March and is based on 1,002 respondents drawn from a self-managed consumer online panel of over 100,000 members 18 years of age and older. The majority of panel members have been recruited using off line methodologies, effectively ruling out concerns associated with online self-selection.

In which Australian Education Minister Christopher Pyne's nose grows longer and longer.....

The Australian depiction of Christopher Pyne and his deregulated university course fees

This was the Australian Education Minister Christopher Pyne being interviewed by The Insiders program on 15 March 2015:

Labor of course are the only reason why the crossbenchers are where the action is because Labor's taken themselves out of the conversation by being political opportunists, except of course we now see that they represent an existential threat to universities because of Kim Carr's policy of putting caps back on, paying on outcomes and shutting out low socioeconomic status students from university.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics Education and Work, Australia, May 2014 clearly states that:

Of those engaged in formal study, approximately 1.2 million (40%) were attending a higher education institution….

More than one third (39%) of people aged 15–64 years who were enrolled in a non-school qualification were studying for a Bachelor Degree….

Leaving aside the fact that is was past Labor federal governments which introduced first free university education then later low, no-interest loans to meet the shortfall between government funding of university places and course costs and, even adjusting this attendance figure for overseas students studying in this country, that still leaves an est. 1 million domestic university students of which an est 17.5% are from low socio-economic backgrounds.

In fact, the reason that the percentage stands nationally at an est. 17.5 is because the former Gillard Labor Government uncapped Commonwealth supported student places at Australian universities under the demand-driven system in 2012 and, this led to an immediate 0.5% enrolment increase within twelve months of low socio-economic students [Socio-economic Status of Schools and University Academic Performance: Implications for Australia’s Higher Education Expansion, December 2014]

Some universities can now boast 20% or more students from low-income family backgrounds.

When comparing the percentage of such students in the final years of the Gillard Government with percentages during the Howard Coalition Government, it is clear that numbers being admitted to university from this group were lower during the Howard years – in the first three years the percentage never rose above 14.7% [Socioeconomic Background and Higher Education Participation, 2002] and didn’t reach 16% until the early 2000s.

Mr. Pyne appears to have offered up his strange claims to voters before this.

As Labor’s higher education policy, the Shadow Minister for Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Industry Kim Carr pointed out at a Universities Australia conference on 12 March 2015.

The Minister and some supporters of deregulation have chosen to wilfully misinterpret my past remarks as a signal that Labor intends to impose an enrolment freeze.

Let me categorically reject that claim.

Mr Pyne’s so-called analysis of these claims is based on a lie.

Under Labor, the number of student places will continue to grow. Under Labor, universities will be properly funded.

DATA RETENTION. Abbott v Shorten. Fascism versus the rights of the citizen?

Fascism versus the rights of the citizen? Take the time to read up on the many concerns expressed about the Abbott Government's legislation, TELECOMMUNICATIONS (INTERCEPTION AND ACCESS) AMENDMENT (DATA RETENTION) BILL 2014, which will allow it to spy on Australian citizens regardless or whether or not they are suspected of committing a crime. Then you decide whether this is a huge step too far.

Australian Prime Minster Tony Abbott's attempt to place pressure on the Opposition and the Opposition's response:

Letter to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten from Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, 22 January 2015

Letter to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott from Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, 9 February 2015

Northern Rivers communities welcome new Labor Party policy on Coal Seam Gas which now includes the Clarence Valley

The NSW Labor Party realised that it had blundered in excising the Clarence Valley from its ‘CSG Free’ Northern Rivers policy and, yesterday corrected this new policy to include the valley, its water catchment, bio-diverse environment, vibrant communities and local economy.

MEDIA RELEASE 29^TH OCTOBER 2014

Northern Rivers communities welcome new Labor Party policy on CSG

Community groups in the Northern Rivers have applauded today’s policy announcement from the NSW Labor Party that adds the Clarence LGA to their proposed ban on CSG mining in the Northern Rivers.

“This is a very welcome announcement from the NSW Labor Party and brings the Northern Rivers one step closer to being gasfield free,” said Gasfield Free spokesperson Dean Draper.

“We congratulate John Robertson and the ALP for showing leadership and foresight on this issue and responding to the concerns of communities across the region.”

“We would also like to acknowledge the efforts of Janelle Saffin and Justine Elliot who have put considerable effort into representing the community’s concerns on this issue over the last few years,” he said.

“The communities of the Clarence will be delighted to be added to the proposed protection zone in the Northern Rivers,” said Lynette Eggins of Clarence Alliance Against CSG.

“We are united with other communities in the region in our opposition to unconventional gas extraction and will be joining people from across the region at the big rally in Lismore on Saturday.”

“With both Labor and the Greens supporting protection for our region it is now clear that the National Party are out on a limb.”

“It is high time our local Nationals MP’s took decisive action to support the community and advocate within government for the gas licences across the region to be cancelled,” she said.

Media release courtesy of Gasfield Free Northern Rivers and Yuraygir Coast and Range Alliance.

Echo Netdaily 29 October 2014:

Under the policy, Labor will not allow new CSG exploration licenses, will refuse to grant CSG extraction licenses, reject renewals of existing licenses and refuse any applications to expand existing operations in the Northern Rivers.

Labor leader John Robertson – who copped a stern talking to from Knitting Nannas in Lismore for forgetting the Clarence – said the inclusion of the Clarence Valley local government area brought Labor’s policy in line with the decision of the NSW Labor conference in July this year.

Mr Robertson was joined by Shadow Minister for the North Coast Walt Secord and Labor’s candidate for Clarence Trent Gilbert in Grafton to make the formal announcement.

‘Last month I announced that Labor would ensure that the northern rivers region would be CSG and unconventional gas-free – and now the Clarence Valley will be included,’ Mr Robertson said.

‘The Northern Rivers is a unique region that is underpinned by its reputation as a pristine environment – and the Clarence Valley will now receive the same protections as the rest of the region under Labor.’

The Daily Examiner, 30 October 2014, Page 3:

COALDALE farmer Allan Reardon is not a man you would normally find anywhere near a Labor Party gathering.

But when it's about coal seam gas mining, his passions are ignited

Mr Reardon made the long trip from his farm at Coaldale, north of Grafton, to hear NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson announce the Clarence Valley had been included in the opposition's Gas Free Northern River declaration.

"I'm not a Labor man," was all he said of his political allegiance.

"But I'm pleased to hear the Labor Party is against allowing coal seam gas mining in the area. I would like to see the Nationals and Liberal Party do the same thing.

"The region's landowners are doing it tough enough without the stress of having the threat of gas mining thrust on them."