Abbott's Army blots its copybook yet again

If this is what the Liberal Party parliamentary machine is like in Opposition, then heaven help us if it wins government on 7 September 2013.

Email transcript found at Stevej on NBN:

From: stephen.ellis.aph@gmail.com

Steve,

I mark your emails 'junk' (like your copy) so didn't see your note until Grahame replied.

Nobody challenges your numbers because nobody takes your psychotic rantings seriously.  Nobody. Nevertheless they are all wrong.  All of them - you don't have a clue about the existing deal, much less how it might be modified.  Given what you write is a delusional fantasy that exists only in your own mind, you can get fucked.

Since the NBN stands to be greatly modified under whoever wins, your serial lies and distortions will be exposed in due course.  In the meantime do not contact me again.

Have a nice life.

--
Stephen Ellis / +61 403 411 898

The Guardian UK 7 August 2013:  

Malcolm Turnbull has expressed "regret" after one of his senior staffers sent an email to a popular technology blogger that told him to "get fucked".

Stephen Ellis, a policy adviser for Turnbull, told Steve Jenkin, who publishes a blog called Steviej on NBN, in an email that "no one takes your psychotic rantings seriously. Nobody."

Ellis added: "Given what you write is a delusional fantasy that exists only in your own mind, you can get fucked."

In a blogpost detailing the exchange, Jenkin said he had been seeking information from Ellis on the wholesale costs associated with the Coalition's alternative National Broadband Network…...

Australian Federal Election 2013: Battle of the Worms

The first televised and transcribed Leaders Debate of the Australian 2013 election campaign occurred on Sunday night 11 August 2013 and by Monday morning there was barely a ripple to be seen on the electoral pond.

Both leader's had said it all before in one guise or another and the only novel aspect was the wide disparity between the behaviour of the 'worms' responding to different studio/viewer audiences.

On 11 August ABC News reported:

Australians sent more than 75,000 tweets during Sunday night's leaders' debate between Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

The social networking service tracked 31 debate-related keywords and found the hottest topics in debate-related tweets were: energy and climate; the economy; and immigration….

The ABC conducted an experimental Twitter tug-o-war during the leaders' debate, asking people to vote for who they thought was winning using the hashtags #DebateRudd and #DebateAbbott.

More than 500 responses were received; half an hour after the debate ended 72 per cent of respondents said Mr Rudd had won, compared to 28 per cent for Mr Abbott.

That same night Channel 9 News reported:

Tony Abbott and Kevin Rudd have faced off in the first leaders' debate of the 2013 election campaign with the prime minister declared the winner, according to Nine Network's 'Worm'. Prime Minister Rudd claimed a significant victory over Opposition Leader Mr Abbott, scoring 59 percent of votes from the live studio audience….

Channel 10 journalist Sandra Sully's live tweets appear to support these assessments:

CLIMATE CHANGE - RUDD SPEAKING 60% #BelieveRudd 40% #BelieveAbbott

AGED CARE - RUDD SPEAKING 58% #BelieveRudd 42% #BelieveAbbott

NBN - ABBOTT SPEAKING 56% #BelieveRudd 44% #BelieveAbbott

TAXES - ABBOTT SPEAKING 54% #BelieveRudd 46% #BelieveAbbott

ASYLUM SEEKERS 54% #BelieveRudd 46% #BelieveAbbott

The next morning 12 August The Sydney Morning Herald explained what many had puzzled over the night before – the behaviour of the Channel 7 worm:

Seven opened its audience meter to all comers, and was taken over by partisans.

Liberal partisans outnumbered Labor two to one. It didn't matter what the subject was, it didn't matter what was said, their response was always the same. When Abbott spoke, Seven's audience loved it by a 2-1 margin. Whatever Rudd said, they opposed it similarly. No swinging voters there…..

The Roy Morgan Research Reactor worm appears to have crashed on the night – perhaps in part because the Liberal Party's Federal Director Brian Loughnane reportedly sent out emails to the party faithful asking them to download and use the mobile app.

The last word must go to a tweeter from Perth WA:

James Williamson  ‏@jimi8117h

If I had to choose, I'd pick Rudd, but I'm going to be spending Sept 7th praying for a giant asteroid to crush us all #debate #lizardwars

Cartoon from 123RF

Australian Federal Election 2013: the howling begins over caretaker period conventions

ABC News 9 August 2013:

The Opposition has lashed out at the Government's decision to continue an ad blitz about its asylum seeker policy, accusing it of trashing the caretaker conventions.

The ad campaign warns asylum seekers they no longer have the option of being settled in Australia if they arrive by boat.

Special Minister of State Mark Dreyfus has given approval for the ads to continue to run in Australia and overseas, despite the election campaign being in full swing…

Shadow attorney-general George Brandis says the Government has broken the "unwritten rules of the Constitution", and committed an "unprecedented and flagrant breach" of the caretaker convention.

He says Opposition Leader Tony Abbott wrote to Mr Dreyfus saying that while the Coalition agreed to most of the proposals, it did not agree to any onshore ads during the election campaign….

Mr Burke says there is a precedent for government advertising to continue during election campaigns.

As an example, he cited a 2004 ad campaign designed to encourage Australians to report signs of terrorism following a bombing near the Australian Embassy in Jakarta.

"On that occasion under the Howard government, the leader of the opposition put forward suggestions. Some of those suggestions were taken up, some were not and the campaign went ahead," Mr Burke said….

Opposition immigration spokesman Scott Morrison says the asylum seeker campaign is a "shameless and desperate" grab for votes….

According to Rupert Murdoch's News.com.au Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's formal response ran thus:

In a letter to the Prime Minister, Mr Abbott made clear he would not give the green light to such a campaign.

"We do not support the continuation of a multimillion-dollar taxpayer-funded campaign aimed at Australian voters, rather than people residing overseas," the Opposition leader wrote.

"If the government wants to stop people getting on boats overseas, then it should advertise overseas. But advertising in Australia, to Australians, in an election campaign is nothing more than a blatant misuse of taxpayer money for political purposes," he said.

"All asylum seeker advertising for Australian audiences and paid for by the taxpayer is opposed and under the caretaker conventions must cease immediately."

By 10 August, Murdoch's The Australian was reporting:

Opposition legal affairs spokesman George Brandis said the caretaker conventions were "part of the Constitution" and "it is unlawful to violate them".

So what are Scott Morrison and George Brandis howling about?

The general definition of the 'caretaker period' is a period which occurs when the House of Representatives expires or is dissolved ahead of a general election or there is a simultaneous dissolution of both the Senate and House ahead of a general election - a double dissolution. The period ends when the incumbent Government has been re‑elected or a new Government has been sworn in.

Practical implementation of this caretaker period is set out as a series of conventions which officially commence when election writs are issued. They are neither strict rules nor law but guidelines and, are not directly enforceable by the courts.

Such conventions do not form part of the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution. 

The first public record of caretaker conventions in Australia is in the form of a letter from the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, to his ministers at the outset of the 1951 double dissolution elections and The first detailed text of their intent and application was published in 1987 as a special article in the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet's Annual Report 1986-87. 

Excerpt from GUIDANCE ON CARETAKER CONVENTIONS DEPARTMENT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET 2013

6.1 Advertising and Information Campaigns

6.1.1 The Department of Finance and Deregulation and PM&C reviews all advertising campaigns at the beginning of the caretaker period and recommends whether those campaigns should continue or be deferred. Bipartisan agreement is sought for campaigns that are to continue. Campaigns that highlight the role of particular Ministers or address issues that are a matter of contention between the parties are normally discontinued. Campaigns that are of an operational nature, such as defence force recruiting campaigns or public health campaigns, usually continue.

Australian Federal Election Leaders Debate 6.30pm-7.30pm 11 August 2013 - online links

LEADERS DEBATE 2013 RULES AND INFORMATION

The Prime Minister Kevin Rudd will debate the Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott.

Location                National Press Club of Australia, Canberra

Broadcast Time      6:30 pm Sunday 11 August 2013

Duration                1 hour

The debate will be moderated by David Speers, Political Editor Sky News.

The leaders will be questioned by a panel of three (3) senior federal parliamentary journalists:

                               ·         Lyndal Curtis (ABC)

                               ·         Simon Benson (News Limited)

                               ·         Peter Hartcher (Fairfax)

The National Press Club National Room is being converted to a television studio for this event.

There will be a limited live audience made up of representatives of the political parties, the federal parliamentary press gallery and the National Press Club ONLY.

DEBATE RULES HERE

Roy Morgan Research Debate Reactor ‘Worm’ here for the duration of the leaders debate.

Leader Debate live online at ABC News24 here.

Leaders Debate live on ABC Radio Australia online here.

The Christian Democrats tread a strange path in the 2013 federal election campaign

Two banners from the timeline of the Fred Nile - Official Christian Democratic Party Facebook account:

By the end of Week One of the 2013 Australian Federal Election Campaign Opposition Leader Tony Abbott just hadn't been able to resist....

He was posing in lycra again.

From The Australian  Editor's choice- election week one

Australian Federal Election 2013: Opposition Leader Tony Abbott caught out in another political lie

 

PoliFactAustralia 9 July 2013:

 

We asked Abbott’s office to provide us with further examples of where the world is moving away from carbon pricing, but did not get a response. 

TheFinnigans take Murdoch's measure

Thefinnigans Murdoch's Law #AusVotes pic.twitter.com/HVuAYl2Z92

What on earth is Abbott doing?

This is Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott allegedly aiming a kiss at a baby and missing the mark this week.

On seeing the photograph I immediately recalled this report in the First Nations Telegraph earlier this year:

On March 6 the mulit-award-winning author was having a working breakfast with two work colleagues at Borcellis Café in Adelaide when she alleged the Federal Opposition Leader approached her table and without making eye contact inappropriately rubbed his finger up and down her bare arm. 

You be the judge.

* Photograph from The Sydney Morning Herald

The shallow end of the Liberal Party pool

Opposition Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey might mistake the ethnic background* of one of the Liberal Party candidates during a press conference, but another candidate James Diaz doesn’t even know the contents of that shallow party document Real Solutions.

http://bit.ly/186805i

* The original transcript of Joe Hockey’s 3 August 2013 press conference has disappeared from the Liberal party’s webpage but could still be found as a Google cache for a short time.
Now this press conference transcript can be found on Scribd. Hat tip to politicalalert.

The Greens candidate in Cowper throws down the gauntlet in front of Luke Hartsuyker

The Greens candidate in Cowper, Carol Vernon, has sent out this letter to the media.

Letter to Editor

Dear Mr Hartsuyker

It appears that you will not debate your fellow candidates in Cowper, anywhere or at any time.

Are you so sure of being elected that you can't even be bothered to defend your National Party policies, policies I presume you enthusiastically believe and therefore want your electorate to know?

For example do the Nationals have costed policies on schools, workers rights, affordable housing, job creation from a renewable energy industry and climate change? Perhaps you just completely follow the secretively costed and deliberately sketchy policies of your big brother Liberals?

We would like to hear what you think about the coal seam gas mining that threatens the farms and water in the north of Cowper.

We wait with baited breath to hear if you believe the short term 'jobs ' of minerals mining in our rivers' headwaters will justify the pollution of our rivers and the ensuing shock to our tourism, dairying, beef, fishing and food production industries, let alone the poisoning of our water supplies. And yes, we have seen too many broken promises about mining safeguards to believe your reassurances. Too many National Party politicians move on to safe jobs in the mining industry for us to swallow environmental platitudes.

Are you concerned that your children and grandchildren will be living in a much warmer climate in a land devastated by fires, droughts, flood and storms or do you believe climate change is 'crap' like your coalition leader?

If the candidate for Richmond can debate the Prime Minister surely you are not reluctant to debate a sixty-eight year old female retired educator?

Yours sincerely

Carol Vernon

Greens candidate for Cowper

The Liberal Party's 'white bread' campaign advertisement

This official Liberal Party of Australia advertisement was uploaded to YouTube the day after the 2013 Federal Election date was announced.

Not a good look for a party historically perceived as representing Australia’s white upper and middleclass men and their business interests.

So few images of the traditional owners of this country or people from non-English speaking backgrounds and no specific policy details.

Full of blondes and hype……

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_profilepage&v=nk0E3lyx4EU

A little fact checking of claims made by NSW Nationals candidate for Page Kevin Hogan

Kevin Hogan For Page 31 July 2013

So unemployment has risen in the Northern Rivers since Federal Labor gained government in 2007?

The Northern Rivers Regional Profile 2011 Update states that in 2006 the Northern Rivers unemployment rate was between 7.9 and 20.1 per cent and, this occurred when there was a Federal Coalition Government.

According to the NSW Regional Labour Force Trends: Statistical Indicators 3/2013:

In January 2013 the combined unemployment rate for the Northern Rivers and Mid-North Coast (from Tweed Heads down to Taree) was 6.8 per cent.

Which meant that there had been a 9 per cent increase in the number of people in the working age population who were employed compared to a 6.6 per cent increase for New South Wales generally.

The overall unemployment rate for the Northern Rivers and Mid-North Coast between 2008-2013 was 0.5 per cent.

This same document stated:

The number of employed persons in regional NSW grew by 7.2% (85,000 persons) between 2008 and 2013. Newcastle experienced the largest growth (22,600 persons) followed closely by the Richmond-Tweed and Mid-North Coast region (19,700 persons).

Here is a graph showing the percentage of the Northern Rivers population of workforce age who were unemployed between September 2008 and March 2012 according to Regional Development Australia: Northern Rivers (2013) and, one can clearly see that this figure fell after peaking during the Global Financial Crisis

What about Kevin Hogan’s claim that Northern Rivers regional economy is not doing as well as it could?

It would appear that, contrary to his claim, the Northern Rivers is not doing too badly compared with the rest of regional New South Wales.

Lawrence Consulting and Regional Development Australia: Northern Rivers documents show that the Northern Rivers Gross Regional Product (GRP) has continued to grow annually. In 2008/9 it was $7.8 billion, in 2009/10 it was $11.1 billion and, by 2011/12 the annual growth of GRP was 11.4 per cent compared with overall NSW GRP growth at 2.2 per cent.

As to the Kevin Hogan’s claims that the Northern Rivers families are struggling with the costs?

Here is a 2012 table showing the weekly personal incomes of the entire population across the Northern Rivers (from dependent children through to those aged 65 years and older) according to Regional Development Australia: Northern Rivers:

Click on image to enlarge

As for Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) determinations regarding the cost of living - it can be seen that cost increases are not generally rising sharply and in some categories appear to be falling over time.

ABS figures for the end of 2011:

The CPI rose 3.1% through the year to the December quarter 2011, compared with a rise of 3.5% through the year to the September quarter 2011.

Selected Living Cost Indexes, Australia, Jun 2013 

The living cost index for employee households rose 0.2% for the June quarter 2013. The main contributor to the rise was alcohol and tobacco (+1.3%), partially due to the flow–on effects of the federal excise tax increase on 1 February 2013. Clothing and footwear (+2.6%) and health (+1.8%) also contributed to the rise.
The most significant partially offsetting fall was recorded for insurance and financial services (–0.9%), driven by a fall in interest charges. Transport (–0.9%) and recreation and culture (–0.8%) also recorded falls this quarter.
The LCI for employee households recorded a smaller rise than the CPI (+0.4%) for the June quarter 2013. Employee households have a relatively lower proportion of expenditure on housing than the CPI population, which recorded a rise this quarter. This was further offset by the fall in interest charges, which for conceptual reasons is not included in the CPI.
The LCI for employee households rose 1.4% through the year to the June quarter 2013 compared to the CPI which rose 2.4% through the year to the June quarter 2013.

While the  Living Cost Index and Consumer Price Index comparisons for independent retirees and those receiving government pensions, benefits and allowances show that the percentage change has fallen from between June-September Quarters 2012 and March-June Quarters 2013:

What about Hogan’s claim that Northern Rivers debt is at record levels?

He does not indicate whether he means public or private debt which makes this assertion difficult to check.

If it is public debt, then The Australian has reported that under the O'Farrell Coalition Government the state debt projections (based on NSW Treasury figures) are as follows:

As for local government debt, one has to acknowledge that all Northern Rivers local government would carry some degree of operating debt and all would have a backlog of infrastructure maintenance/upgrade requirements. As local government is a creature of state government, one can hardly sheet home blame for its structural/funding inadequacies to the federal government  - especially since the Australian Constitution presently makes no mention of a direct funding relationship between the Commonwealth and local governments.

To place council debt into some sort of perspective, here are tables covering revenue sources for local government across the Northern Rivers in 2011-12.

Independent Local Government Review Panel:

Clarence Valley Council:

The Liberals gear up to flood social media during Australian federal election campaign

According to the Liberal Party of Australia it has more than 80,000 members in more than 2000 branches and now it’s looking for reinforcement…...

https://www.nsw.liberal.org.au/home

Deadline to enrol as a voter in the 7 September 2013 federal election is 8pm Monday 12 August

 

Enrol to vote now for the 2013 federal election

Updated: 4 August 2013

 

The federal election has been announced and Australians must act now to ensure they are enrolled to vote by the deadline of 8pm on 12 August 2013, the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) said today.

 

Electoral Commissioner Ed Killesteyn said all Australian citizens aged 18 years and over are required by law to enrol and vote in the Saturday 7 September federal election.

 

"To enrol, go online at www.aec.gov.au/enrol. Enrolments can also be completed by tablet or smartphone," Mr Killesteyn said.

"It's important that you enrol now, because if you are not enrolled by the deadline you won't be able to vote in the 2013 federal election."

 

Paper enrolment forms are available at any AEC office, Australia Post, Centrelink or Medicare outlet, and must be completed and returned to the AEC by the 8pm 12 August deadline.

Mr Killesteyn urged all Australians to take the time to check that their address details were up-to-date on the electoral roll.

 

"Every time you move, you must update your address on the electoral roll. You can do this online at www.aec.gov.au," Mr Killesteyn said.

"If you haven't kept your enrolment details up-to-date, you could have been removed from the electoral roll. If you're unsure if you are on the roll, check your details now at www.aec.gov.au/check or call the AEC on 13 23 26.

"Don't leave it to the last minute to enrol and risk missing out on your vote. It only takes a few minutes to enrol or update your details online."

 

Seventeen year old Australians turning eighteen on or before 7 September 2013 can also enrol and vote in the federal election.

 

Key dates for the 2013 federal election
Announcement of election	Sunday 4 August 2013
Issue of writ	Monday 5 August 2013
Close of rolls	8pm Monday 12 August 2013
Close of candidate nominations	12 midday Thursday 15 August 2013
Declaration of candidate nominations	12 midday Friday 16 August 2013
Election day	Saturday 7 September 2013
Return of writs (latest date)	Wednesday 13 November 2013

State, Northern Territory and ACT media contacts:

NSW Keith Eaton Ph. 02 9375 6313 Mob. 0411 148 608	SA Paul Langtry Ph. 08 8237 6582 Mob. 0413 452 532	VIC Dan Doherty Ph. 03 9285 7128	TAS Sandra Riordan Ph. 03 6235 0501 Mob. 0438 425 730
QLD Caroline D'Allura Ph. 07 3834 3428 Mob. 0400 270 660	NT Robert Pugsley Ph. 08 8982 8001 Mob. 0418 253 357	WA Brendon Barlow Ph. 08 6363 8026 Mob. 0413 271 869	ACT Evan Ekin-Smyth Ph. 02 6271 4419 Mob. 0401 963 909

National media spokesperson:

Phil Diak
Ph. 02 6271 4419
Mob. 0413 452 539

 

What the New Zealand Herald is telling its readers about Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott

Having a wife who hails from New Zealand does not confer an advantage on British-born Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

The New Zealand Herald 3 August 2013:

…derided as the Mad Monk for his Jesuit past and moral conservatism, and parodied for elephantine ears and his red surf lifesaving budgie smugglers, Abbott remains one of the most unpopular leaders in the polling history of federal politics.

Even many Liberal supporters do not like him. Most, like the rest of the nation's voting public, would far prefer Malcolm Turnbull, ousted by Abbott by a single vote in a bitterly contested 2009 challenge.

He trailed former Prime Minister Julia Gillard in both popularity and as preferred prime minister for much of her time in office, despite the Opposition's all but unshakable ascendancy over the Government. He is now a distant second to Rudd…

…Abbott's portrait is one of a shallow and ruthlessly ambitious politician, lacking in conviction and policy….

Voters have trouble deciding how Abbott would emerge as prime minister. In Opposition he has been contradictory, divisive and ruthless, his style marked by negativity, simplistic sloganeering and a policy vacuum.

His knifing of Turnbull was every bit as nasty as Gillard's assassination of Rudd. And, like Gillard, he has backflipped on policy ranging from parental leave to public funding and parliamentary pairing.

He relentlessly pursued former Labor MP Craig Thomson over allegations of fraud. But he refused similar condemnation of Liberal trangressors….

How far Abbott's moral and social values would influence government policy concerns many voters. He refuses to allow his MPs a conscience vote on gay marriage, for example, and has a historical list of radically conservative quotes on issues such as the monarchy, climate change, premarital sex, and women's rights, roles and employment….

It is the uncertainty that hurts Abbott - and the reality that, to paraphrase the late disgraced US President Richard Nixon, he doesn't have Julia Gillard to kick around any more.

Australian Federal Election 7 September 2013: Will it be neck and neck to the ballot box?

As Australia prepares to go to the 2013 federal general election on Saturday 7 September, Andrew Catsaras, Polling Analyst, on ABC TV The Insiders on 4 August 2013 was presenting these July predictive polling graphics:

Confirmation of election date here.

Nats candidate Kevin Hogan is going to pay your bills at the click of a mouse?

This Facebook snapshot and comment turned up in my Inbox……….

Is liking Hogan’s page really going to help me pay my bills, really?

Hat tip to a certain pen-wielding young woman.