Showing posts with label Federal Election 2013. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Federal Election 2013. Show all posts

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Australian Electoral Commission petitions Court of Disputed Returns to void the 2013 West Australian Senate Election


Australian Electoral Commission Media Release:
Updated: 15 November 2013

The three-person Australian Electoral Commission today authorised the Electoral Commissioner to lodge a petition with the Court of Disputed Returns in respect of the 2013 Western Australian Senate election.
The petition was lodged at approximately 2:30pm AEDT today.
The petition seeks an order from the Court that the WA Senate election of six senators be declared void.
Given the closeness of the margins that favoured the final two declared candidates, the petition is based on the premise that the inability to include 1370 missing ballot papers in the recount of the WA Senate election means that the election was likely to be affected for the purposes of s 362(3) of the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918.
As the matter is now before the Court the AEC will not be making any further comment.
The AEC recently appointed Mr Mick Keelty AO to conduct an inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the missing ballots.  Mr Keelty’s inquiries are continuing.
Editorial note: For copies of the petition, please contact the High Court Registry’s public information officer (Canberra) during their business hours. The AEC will not be posting or distributing the document.

National media contact:
Phil Diak | Director Media
AEC, Canberra
02 6271 4415
0413 452 539

Thursday 17 October 2013

Abbott Government: Mandate? What Mandate?


Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has challenged new Labor leader Bill Shorten to heed the verdict of voters by not opposing legislation to repeal the carbon tax.

Someone needs to remind Prime Minister Abbott that the combined first preference vote of all four political parties (Liberal, Liberal-National, Nationals, Country Liberals NT) which form the current Coalition Government only came to 42.85 per cent of all ballots cast at the 7 September 2013 federal election.

That leaves the bulk of the remaining 57.15 per cent of voters at that election with government policy aspirations which are highly likely to run counter to Abbott’s aspirations.

Any talk of a mandate is accepting myth as fact.


* Image from The Australian

Thursday 19 September 2013

Did Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott make doubly sure he received four particular votes in the 2013 Australian Federal Election?


Anyone who has watched the past televised coverage of Australian Prime Minister-elect Tony Abbott with his family in an interview situation will know that he has a habit of breathing down the necks of his wife and daughters when they speak to the media.


Tony Abbott quickly moving into frame when one of his daughters was asked to comment during the
ABC TV Kitchen Cabinet program on 4 September 2013

The troublesome question is; has Abbott carried this one step too far? 

Apparently all the family submitted sealed votes at the Freshwater Surf Life Saving Club on 7 September 2013, which may possibly have been silent votes lodged with the precautionary aim of concealing their (already widely publicised) main residential address on the public electoral rolls.

Certainly the photographs below show these sealed envelopes were lodged with the Australian Electoral Commission at the polling booth they attended for that last media bite played out for the attending press.

Which leaves one wondering - did the over controlling Abbott line up his wife and daughters at home and either direct or check that they had voted according to his wishes before the envelopes were sealed?



A far cry from the Abbott family queueing to vote sans sealed envelopes, in the election the Coalition lost in 2010
These election day photographs are courtesy of relentless self-promotion by the Abbott family found on Zimbio

Saturday 7 September 2013

State of Play in NSW North Coast Federal Electorates, 9 pm 7 September 2013






Right click on tables to enlarge
http://vtr.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionMenu-17496-NSW.htm

Australian Electoral Commission Virtual Tally Room 2013 & other links


Virtual Tally Room archive.


ABC News 24 ABC Election Centre live from 6.00pm AEST. Geoblock removed for election night.

ABC Radio 702 live stream from 6pm.

On election night, a quick update on the result in your electorate will be available by tweeting @abcelections and ABC Vote Robots will reply.
To get results, send a tweet to @abcelections in a format like: "What's the result in South Perth?" or "What's happening in Eden-Monaro?"

Friday 6 September 2013

The violent face of things to come under an Abbott government?


The campaign worker wearing a Liberal Party t-shirt carries a Stanley knife. Source: Supplied

POLICE are investigating allegations that a Liberal campaign worker threatened the sister of western Sydney Labor MP Ed Husic with a Stanley knife last night.
It is the second incident involving police and Liberal staff in the past two days.
The Daily Telegraph has learned that on Thursday, a group of Liberal Party campaign workers rushed Mr Husic's sister, Sabina Husic, with the knife yelling "you f..king dog".
The alleged incident occurred when Ms Husic and colleague were patrolling Labor posters in Mt Druitt, in the seat of Chifley on Thursday night, after reports they had been vandalised, when they were set upon by three cars.
A witness said four men, including the local Liberal campaign manager Jeremy Greenwood, the campaign director for Liberal candidate Isobel White, approached Ms Husic yelling abuse. One of them was holding a Stanley knife.

A complaint was made to Mt Druitt police and the NSW Liberal Party campaign head office.
It is believed Mr Greenwood has since been removed from the campaign, after photographic evidence - obtained by The Daily Telegraph on-line - was supplied to the Liberal HQ.
Ms Husic declined to comment claiming the matter was under police investigation.......
Read the rest of the 6 September 2013 Daily Telegraph article here.


I don't intend to censor the Internet - Abbott's last lie of the federal election campaign?


Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott on the subject of the Coalition’s internet censorship policy, as reported by news.com.au on 6 September 2013:

"We don't support Internet filtering, we have never supported Internet filtering...
I think there should be commercially available filters at the PC and mobile phone level for people to opt into if they wish.
I read the policy last night, quickly it has to be said, I thought it was a reference to the ability of people to get an Internet based filter. I am sorry it was poorly worded, that has been cleared up."

If reader’s take the time to peruse the Coalition’s original policy below (which has since been removed from its election campaign websites) they will quickly discover that a mandatory filter on all devices capable of accessing the Internet (with a user opt-out option) and the mandatory participation of all Internet Service Providers was not a case of poor wording or last minute addition.

If elected on 7 September Abbott and Coalition have plans to immediately push for coal seam gas industry expansion in NSW


So much for Nationals candidate Kevin Hogan’s assurances concerning coal seam gas exploration and mining on the NSW North Coast.....

Australian Mining 4 September 2013:

The Abbott government would also drive the expansion of NSW’s coal seam gas sector. Macfarlane would make the NSW domestic gas matter one of his top three concerns, The Australian reported.
Macfarlane has already set a Christmas deadline to resolve the issue, saying it may already be three months overdue.
He labelled the condition urgent “beyond belief”.
“It’s a massive problem and it’s going to cost jobs from Newcastle to Wollongong if we don’t get it sorted,” he said.
“The only situation short-term is to get the CSG industry going well enough to supply the domestic demand, which is going to start to exceed supply in 2015 and 2016 when they start turning on the LNG trains in Gladstone.
The Coalition government and Macfarlane also promised to bring in an exploration development incentive.
Under the scheme, junior mining companies with no taxable income can pass eligible exploration expenses on to their shareholders.
A Minerals Council of Australia spokesman said the pledge showed the Coalition understood the importance of exploration.
“The MCA has regularly highlighted the tax asymmetry in the treatment of exploration expenses for companies with no taxable income.”
The Australian Tax Office will decide on a part of the costs that investors can claim as tax credits.
It is aimed at junior mining companies with no taxable income and will be capped at $100 million over the forward estimates.
Association of Mining and Exploration Companies head Simon Bennison recently told Australian Mining juniors are operating without support and said if this continues, the future of the industry is in jeopardy.

Australian Federal Election 2013: National Rural Health Alliance gives Coalition fail mark on health policies

About Us - National Rural Health Alliance

Thursday 5 September 2013

Abbott and the Coalition refuse to release Parliamentary Budget Office advice on the limited number of policy commitments it submitted for costing


Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott and the Coalition released unsubstantiated policy commitment costing figures on the afternoon of 5 September 2013 which was less than two days before the federal election polling booths open.

Abbott refuses to release Parliamentary Budget Office advice on the limited number of policy commitments actually submitted for independent assessment.

The following document produced by Abbott, Hockey, Robb et al would be a rollicking eight-page farce or fractured fairy tale if the implications were not so serious for the country.

*Abbott photograph found at Google Images

48 hours until the federal election polling booths open and Abbott still hasn't released Coalition policy costings

NSW Nationals and Kevin Hogan act the political cowards yet again


Faced with more federal election campaign funding than they know what to do with and in the last week of the campaign, the NSW North Coast Nationals and their candidate in Page, Kevin Hogan, once more distribute attack advertising without either the word Nationals, the National Party logo or Kevin Hogan's name or photograph appearing on the flyer aimed at popular sitting MP Janelle Saffin.

This time campaign advisers have gone one step further and offered a little gratuitous young female flesh as a side order of nasty.



The previous attack flyer is here.

Dear 'Kevin Hogan For Page' - GO AWAAAAAY!


As the Nationals shift focus onto and election campaign money into the Page electorate, locals have not reacted favourably.

This selection of  voter comments concerning the advertising blitz appeared on their candidate, Kevin Hogan's, Facebook site.


Carly Woodstock With respect Kevin, may I ask how much was spent on your campaign and advertising? I'm sure that you are a great bloke - but in all honesty I really find it all a 'bit much'. I for one am finding it visually off putting seeing those signs and billboard banners plastered everywhere throughout our beautiful region...reminds me of Chairman Mao in the sense of it being quite suffocating. Best wishes, but as an upcoming voter - I would like to know the true cost $$$of your campaign.

Heidi Jones I totally agree Carly - what a waste of money and resources. They are everywhere - on the corner, in the shopfronts, on the telegraph poles, in windows - it is a visual assault!!

Tina Vitolins They are even leaking out down here in Grafton area too very much an eyesore and the amount of junk mail from you is horrendous lucky we can recycle !

Elena Nieuwenhof can you please stop sending me like 200000000000 letters in the mail every week it getting really annoying and its not helping the environment nor is it persuading me to vote for you ~*bye*~

David Hutton Yeah fuck off you moron

Bonnie Martin Dear Kevin Bogan, today I received yet another letter in the mail from you, making all these ridiculous claims about saving households money and miraculously lowering interest rates. And yet under a Labor government we have the lowest interest rates I can remember. You say the Carbon Tax increases pressures on households... What about the GST. I'd rather a tax on destroying the environment over a tax on living.
If your wasteful spending on this election campaign is anything to go by I would not call you a good money manager. Everywhere I go in Lismore I see your angry face leering out, billboards, on the side of buses, on cars and shop fronts. You have 3 ads on TV. I hope the tax payer isn't footing this bill 

Sonia Makings So today there were two girls that were in school uniform doing letter box drops in our street. Well I can assure you that not a lot if any were actually put IN letter boxes as there was a bundle of at least 45 dropped two houses away from ours. They were blowing down the street after they were dropped and myself and my two girls had to pick them all up. Not real happy at all!

Josh McMahon ok i have liked you. now fix my problems. you can start with that leaky tap in the backyard. and the cat litter needs changing.

Mickey House I guess the opportunity has been missed but, where are the indigenous and ethic people in your campaign or commercials?

Do their families count?

Do their families' worries matter?

Abbott's proposed Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) will see carbon abatement costings shortfall of est. $35 billion up to 2020


In order to achieve a 5 per cent cut in emissions, RepuTex modelling indicates that the ERF would require additional funding of $35 billion between 2015 and 2020, or $41 billion in total. [RepuTex,August 2013,EMISSIONS TRADING VERSUS DIRECT ACTION,p 17]


Posted on: 29.08.2013

RepuTex today released a research paper titled ‘Direct Action vs. Emissions Trading: Achieving Australia’s Emissions Reduction Objectives’.

In this report, commissioned by WWF-Australia, RepuTex analysed the ability of the Coalition’s Direct Action Plan and the government’s Emissions Trading policy to achieve Australia’s committed target to reduce emissions to 5-25% below 2000 levels by 2020. Research modelled the Marginal Abatement Cost (MAC) of each policy at the industry level, examining abatement potential and the associated cost of each scenario through to 2020.

Key Findings:
  • The retention of the ETS would deliver the full 146 Mt CO2-e of abatement necessary to meet Australia’s 5 per cent emissions reduction target, with approximately 55 per cent coming from domestic abatement and 45 per cent from international abatement. This would be achieved at an average carbon price of A$22 from FY15-20.
  • Assuming the setting of ‘emissions intensity’ baselines and current funding, the Direct Action Plan is projected to lead to emissions growth of 16% on 2000 levels, driven by higher Power and Industrial sector emissions.
  • Additional funding of A$6 bn is required per year for the Emissions Reduction Fund to achieve enough abatement for Australia to meet its 5% emissions reduction target.
  • Alternatively, the setting of an ‘absolute emissions’ baseline could lead to significant domestic abatement and the meeting of Australia’s 5% emissions reduction target, however this would require a penalty price of $54 per tonne, and additional funding of A$3.3 bn per year.
  • Regardless of the policy mechanism, the Power and Industrial sectors – notably the Mining, Energy and Chemicals industries – will pay for the achievement of Australia’s abatement objectives, either passing that cost to customers (under the ETS) or to government (under Direct Action).
  • Under the latter, businesses will be required to outlay capital and other resources to deliver the abatement. It is then unclear if businesses will be guaranteed payment for abatement under the reverse auction mechanism.
  • To limit emissions growth or drive emissions reductions, a penalty price under Direct Action must be set at A$54 to encourage companies to directly invest in abatement activities.
Download the full report via the link below (automatic download).  

A reprise of Abbott's campaign bloopers, bias & tasteless pandering


The Guardian UK 5 August 2013:

Tony Abbott’s first election campaign photo opportunity was at a Queensland meat packing company the opposition leader claimed was “under direct threat” from carbon tax costs of $5m, but which would actually face a bill of one-tenth that amount next year if Labor is re-elected.
JBS Australia’s Ipswich plant has a current annual carbon tax liability of about $1.9m for its 80,000 tonnes of emissions at the $24 carbon price.
As reporters at the scene reminded Abbott, the company received $4.8m from Labor’s Clean Technology Food and Foundries Investment Program to pay for half the cost of improvements that will cut emissions – at its current production levels – to 35,000 tonnes.
So if Labor is re-elected, in the first six months of next year the company’s liability would be half of an annual bill of about $840,000, or about $420,000. And if Labor then floats the carbon price – as it has promised – in the second half of the year, its bill would fall further. At a carbon price of about $6 the annual bill would be $210,000. That takes the total 2014 liability to about $525,000 – or about a tenth of Abbott’s estimate….

Brisbane Times 9 August 2013:

The Coalition campaign has been left red-faced by a bungle in which it urged journalists to quiz Kevin Rudd on the death of a young tradesman during the home insulation scheme - only to get the man's family name wrong.
The email from Liberal Campaign Headquarters to reporters travelling with Mr Rudd recommends five questions, including: "When will Mr Rudd meet with Kevin and Christine Foster to personally apologise for his bungled pink batts scheme?"
The name "Foster" should have read "Fuller". Kevin and Christine Fuller's son Matthew was one of four installers who died during the government-sponsored roof installation program.

The Guardian 27 August 2013:

Coalition leader Tony Abbott’s comment that those “walking down the street at 2am in Kings Cross in Sydney” who are assaulted “maybe shouldn’t be there” has been branded offensive and irresponsible by the father of an 18-year-old who was killed in a “king hit” assault in that location last year.
Thomas Kelly was killed in an unprovoked attack in July 2012 as he walked through Kings Cross with his girlfriend after 10pm.
Ralph Kelly, Thomas’s father, told Guardian Australia that Abbott’s comments were “throwaway” and “offensive”.
“Someone being king hit, by the very nature of the term, it is a coward’s hit, to hit someone who never sees it coming,” he said.
“To walk through Kings Cross at 2 o’clock in the morning is all of our right. We’re allowed to be there; it’s our democratic right to be there.”

The Advertiser News online 29 August 2013:



OPPOSITION leader Tony Abbott has quipped that a "bit of body contact never hurt anyone" while entering a huddle for a photo opportunity with a group of netball players. Remarking that he "wished he was younger", Mr Abbott went on to promise $6 million for a Netball Centre of Excellence...The comment follows criticism of earlier "jokes" by Mr Abbott.
While the netballers were posing for photographs OL Tony Abbott told them ‘a little body contact’ never hurt anyone.

News.com.au 31 August 2013:

BURQAS are confronting and should never be widespread on the streets of Australia, Tony Abbott says.
The Opposition Leader was responding to comments reportedly made by McMahon Liberal candidate Ray King that burqas are a "sign of oppression" and can be linked to criminality. Mr Abbott described Mr Ray as a decorated police officer and "outstanding" candidate.

Abbott addressing housemates in the Big Brother House:

"If you want to know who to vote for, I'm the guy with the not bad looking daughters . ."

http://youtu.be/j9ohwkNTixY

http://youtu.be/aJ5qaZvqO-w

http://youtu.be/67Q4kyTeMNo

Wednesday 4 September 2013

NSW North Coast Nationals and Kevin Hogan deliberately conceal their association with political attack flyer




Readers living in the Page electorate on the NSW North Coast may have had this flyer turn up in their letter box sometime before  25 August 2013.

No authorship admitted, just an authorisation in fine print along the bottom of one side:

B. Franklin, Level 8, 130 Elizabeth St, Sydney 2000.

Recipients of this flyer may be forgiven for thinking that Mr. Franklin might be acting here as a private citizen.

Except Ben Franklin of Level 8, 130 Elizabeth St, Sydney 2000 has been State Director of the NSW National Party since July 2008 and In that role he oversees all aspects of the Party’s procedure including election campaigning, strategic direction, membership, fundraising, publications and fulfilling all relevant legal and regulatory requirements for the Party’s operation.

The lack of any Nationals logo on the flyer and the omission of the name of their candidate in Page, Kevin Hogan, is highly likely to be a deliberate strategy - possibly in the hope that many voters will blame other political parties for the direct attack on a popular sitting MP.

Abbott will move against workers' rights after the federal election if he wins government?


ABC News 29 August 2013:

The Liberal candidate for Gilmore Ann Sudmalis has told an election forum she can't respond to a question about workplace policy until after the September election.
When quizzed, Ms Sudmalis reacted angrily and wouldn't say whether a Coalition government would re-introduce the controversial 'Work Choices' legislation.
Ms Sudmalis likened the question to fiction and archaeology.
"We are actually not talking about a Stephen King fiction here, we're not digging up bones," she said.
"Any workplace relations legislation is on the table after the election not before, so sorry I can't answer your question.
"It is exactly as it is right now right through to the election and it will be reviewed after the election and that has been made perfectly clear to everybody."….

* Photograph found at Google Images

Australian Federal Election 2013: Tony Abbott rejects the idea of well-rounded and informed students?


The Australian 3 September 2013:

TONY Abbott has urged a rethink of the national history curriculum, saying it underplays the heritage of Western civilisation, gives too much focus to trade unions and overlooks conservative prime ministers.
The Opposition Leader said while he would not dictate changes, the Coalition believed it was "possible to do better" and was entitled to say "maybe you ought to have a rethink".
Asked whether the national curriculum had become "politicised" under Labor, Mr Abbott said it was "mostly" to do with history.
"Lack of references to our heritage, other than an indigenous heritage, too great a focus on issues which are the predominant concern of one side of politics," he said at the National Press Club in Canberra. "I think the unions are mentioned far more than business. I think there are a couple of Labor prime ministers who get a mention, from memory, not a single Coalition prime minister."....

Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has a somewhat strange idea about the history curriculum which forms part of the national Foundation to Year 12 Australian Curriculum.

Rather like a modern American Tea Party 'patriot' he apparently wants a sanitized, markedly right-wing and white bread version of history to be taught in our schools.

This is what the national history curriculum actually covers between Years 6 and 12 in order to produce a well-rounded student:

The Year 6 curriculum moves from colonial Australia to the development of Australia as a nation, particularly after 1900. Students explore the factors that led to Federation and experiences of democracy and citizenship over time. Students understand the significance of Australia’s British heritage, the Westminster system, and other models that influenced the development of Australia’s system of government. Students learn about the way of life of people who migrated to Australia and their contributions to Australia’s economic and social development.

The Year 7 curriculum provides a study of history from the time of the earliest human communities to the end of the ancient period, approximately 60 000 BC (BCE) – c.650 AD (CE). It was a period defined by the development of cultural practices and organised societies. The study of the ancient world includes the discoveries (the remains of the past and what we know) and the mysteries (what we do not know) about this period of history, in a range of societies including Australia, Egypt, Greece, Rome, China and India.

The Year 8 curriculum provides study of history from the end of the ancient period to the beginning of the modern period, c.650 AD (CE) – 1750. This was when major civilisations around the world came into contact with each other. Social, economic, religious, and political beliefs were often challenged and significantly changed. It was the period when the modern world began to take shape.

The Year 9 curriculum provides a study of the history of the making of the modern world from 1750 to 1918. It was a period of industrialisation and rapid change in the ways people lived, worked and thought. It was an era of nationalism and imperialism, and the colonisation of Australia was part of the expansion of European power. The period culminated in World War I 1914-1918, the ‘war to end all wars’.

The Year 10 curriculum provides a study of the history of the modern world and Australia from 1918 to the present, with an emphasis on Australia in its global context. The twentieth century became a critical period in Australia’s social, cultural, economic and political development. The transformation of the modern world during a time of political turmoil, global conflict and international cooperation provides a necessary context for understanding Australia’s development, its place within the Asia-Pacific region, and its global standing.

In Years 11 and 12 the curriculum allows students to do in depth study of either  modern or ancient history.

Tuesday 3 September 2013

What the three major political parties are promising voters in Page


In the last three years the Federal Labor Member for Page Janelle Saffin has delivered over $505 million in federal funding across the electorate and if re-elected this coming Saturday further promises:

$10 million for new Outpatient (Ambulatory Care) Unit, Grafton Base Hospital
$3 million for Community Dental Care Fund
Better Schools Plan fully funded for all Clarence Valley schools
$282.3 million for pre-construction of the Pacific Hwy upgrade Woolgoolga to Ballina
$3 million for Casino Hospital emergency department upgrade
$3.5 million towards Casino Regional Livestock Exchange upgrade
Disability Care roll-out to Clarence Valley with regional office (70 staff) in Lismore
$14 billion in addition to existing Commonwealth funding for the National Disability Insurance Scheme by 2019
$500,000 to expand Kyogle Community Gym
Keep the Federal 'water trigger' protections
Keep the Clarence Valley and Northern Rivers CSG-free

This is what the Nationals candidate Kevin Hogan is offering:

$2.1 billion extra for the Pacific Hwy upgrade
Commitment to the rollout of the $300million Wooden Bridges Program
$463,969 for 55 CCTV cameras in Casino CBD
$13,750 for new goalposts for Grafton Rugby League Club
$560,000 for development of Grafton Hockey Complex
$23,253 for a new kitchen at Mid Richmond Neighbourhood Centre
$13,000 for Woombah/Iluka Men's Shed
$115,500 for Bunjum Aboriginal Co-op in Ballina to upgrade the premises to an education centre
Joint Green Army Project for Rekindling the Spirit and Jubulum Land Council creating 10 full-time trainee places for 25 weeks
Joint Green Army Project for EnvITE and National Parks and Wildlife in the Clarence Valley creating 10 full-time trainee places for 25 weeks.
A local share of the $200 million a year Stronger Regions Fund

The Greens candidate in Page Desley Banks is offering:

Ban CSG and unconventional gas mining
$30 billion over 10 years to secure clean energy
Mining tax as a central element of tax system
Invest in public education, including early childhood and TAFE
Increase Newstart payment by $50 per week
Reverse cuts to the Single Parent payment
Create universal Denticare under Medicare

* Election promises above are as published in The Daily Examiner 3 September 2013.
* It is noted that the Nationals candidate is the only one not promising to to keep the Northern Rivers CSG free.