Federal Minister for Home Affairs and Justice & Janelle Saffin MP announce additional Safer Communities funding for NSW Far North Coast

In July-August 2011, the Federal Minister for Home Affairs and Justice Brendan O’Connor & Member for Page Janelle Saffin jointly announced Safer Communities funding totalling $296,000 for projects in the Richmond Tweed and Kyogle local government areas.

The announcement follows grants under the same program in 2010 which saw NSW North Coast benefit.This new funding for NSW Far North Coast communities breaks down at follows…….

Richmond Valley Council is to receive:
$28,000 to go toward the development of a Youth Engagement Strategy to connect with young people in the community; and
$48,000 to fund a dedicated Graffiti Clean-Up Program.

Kyogle Council will get $70,000 for its Kyogle Memorial Project which will undertake:
the renovation of the Kyogle Youth Centre,
improved safety at the Memorial Park in Kyogle, and
the preparation of a shire-wide Crime Prevention Plan.

Lismore City Council had been awarded $100,000 for the Goonellabah Plan which will complement and expand upon the Changing the Tune - Goonellabah Youth Plaza initiative, which received $150,000 (spread over three years) from the Gillard Government last year.

Clarence Valley Council will be provided with an extra $50,000 towards its Youth Activities in Yamba (YAY) Project and will use these funds for a range of projects, including a dance, rap, music and video production program and an exhibition of art work produced by local young people.
Other activities such as mentoring camps will be run as part of this project to provide these young people with opportunities to develop life skills they can use in their community, and help them avoid crime and anti-social behaviour.
A mini bus will also be purchased to provide group transport for local young people to attend these and existing programs.

Saffin reminds business that false and misleading claims concerning 'carbon tax' price rises carry a penalty

NSW North Coast Federal Labor Member for Page, Janelle Saffin, on the subject of a potential for price gouging under the guise of impacts of the carbon price mechanism projected to come into effect in 2013:

The Gillard Government will provide new funding for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to crack down on any business that seeks to gouge its customers by making misleading claims about the impact of putting a price on carbon pollution.
Page MP Janelle Saffin said the ACCC will use its powers under the newly introduced Australian Consumer Law to investigate and prosecute any such business with the power to impose penalties of up to $1.1 million.
Ms Saffin said the Government will direct the ACCC to give the highest priority to:
• Investigating and taking action against any business that makes false or misleading representations about the impact of the carbon price on the price they charge consumers;
• Educating businesses on their obligation to accurately explain the reasons for any price rises that do occur for reasons unrelated to the introduction of a carbon price;
• Raising awareness amongst consumers by informing them that businesses are prohibited from making false statements about the impact of putting a price on pollution.
“The Government will give ACCC new funding of $12.8 million over 4 years to carry out this role.
“I’ve always been someone that stands up for fairness and making sure we don’t get ripped off, so it’s great the ACCC will be able to crack down on unfair price gouging” Ms Saffin said.
By providing new financial resources for the ACCC, the Government will ensure that businesses cannot take advantage of their customers with false and misleading claims about carbon pricing......[Media Release 13 July 2011]

Photograph found at ABC News online

LIVE EXPORT: The problem doesn't just belong to Government or Parliament - it belongs to YOU too

This is the Australian Senate Rural Affairs and Transport—References Committee composition:

Members
Senator Heffernan (Chair), Senator Sterle (Deputy Chair) and Senators O'Brien, McGauran, Milne and Nash

Substitute member
Senator Siewert to replace Senator Milne for the committee's inquiry into operational issues in export grain networks
Senator Siewert to replace Senator Milne for the committee's inquiry into live export markets

Participating members
Senators Abetz, Adams, Back, Barnett, Bernardi, Bilyk, Birmingham, Bishop, Boswell, Boyce, Brandis, Bob Brown, Carol Brown, Bushby, Cameron, Cash, Colbeck, Coonan, Cormann, Crossin, Eggleston, Faulkner, Ferguson, Fierravanti-Wells, Fielding, Fifield, Fisher, Forshaw, Furner, Hanson-Young, Heffernan, Humphries, Hurley, Hutchins, Johnston, Joyce, Kroger, Ludlam, Macdonald, McEwen, Marshall, Mason, Milne, Minchin, Moore, Parry, Payne, Polley, Pratt, Ronaldson, Ryan, Scullion, Siewert, Stephens, Troeth, Trood, Williams, Wortley and Xenophon

This is one of four inquiries the RAAT committee senators are conducting:

Improvements in animal welfare for Australian live exports.

The Inquiry is taking submissions until 15 July 2011.

This is senators’ problem:

THE Australian meat industry was warned of gross animal welfare abuses in Indonesian abattoirs long before shocking footage of the inhumane treatment of Australian cattle surfaced last month.

Meat and Livestock Australia and LiveCorp have repeatedly claimed that both bodies were unaware of the extent of animal welfare problems in Indonesia before the airing of a Four Corners program on May 30.

How much they knew is now the subject of a Senate inquiry.

Yet a report, commissioned by MLA and LiveCorp and handed to the bodies early last year, extensively documents every aspect of the abuse revealed last month.

The report makes repeated references to the shortcomings of the Australian-made restraining boxes, warns about the non-compliance with World Organisation for Animal Health standards, and says only four abattoirs in Indonesia had stun guns.

Most damning are accounts of slaughtering fully conscious animals, which suffered protracted, agonising deaths.

''At an abattoir in Sumatra the neck was struck with a knife using a hard impact to sever the skin above the larynx and then up to 18 cuts were made to severe the neck and both arteries,'' the report says.

''Bleeding was impaired in 10 per cent of cattle … possibly resulting in extended consciousness … In some instances where stunning was not used, the delay between restraint and slaughter was significant.''

On the performance of the restraining box, ''finding better methods of restraint with higher animal welfare outcomes is essential'', the report concludes. The ''mark 2'' box, designed to solve the problems, makes the plight of the animals even worse, the report says, to the point of being ''not acceptable''.

Thrashing, prostrate animals bashed their heads on the box's concrete plinth an average of 3.5 times before death. The report says: ''Where the severity of the fall was severe and head slapping occurred, significant animal welfare issues were identified that should be addressed.''

The halal practice of dousing the thrashing animal with water requires ''revision'', as ''disturbed behaviour … was particularly apparent when buckets of water were thrown over the animal before slaughter''……

[The Sydney Morning Herald 25 June 2011]

It is your problem also. Get involved.

Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) response 24 June 2011

UPDATE:

From the Macedon Ranges Weekly 22 June 2011:

LARGE cattle could suffer protracted deaths from throat cutting in Australian abattoirs, a government report investigating animal welfare issues surrounding ritual slaughter has found.
Animal welfare groups, Greens, independent MPS and some Labor backbenchers have criticised the absence of mandatory stunning in the proposal the Australian Government has taken to Indonesia to reopen the live cattle export trade. Yet government-approved slaughter without stunning continues daily in Australian abattoirs.
The 2008 report, commissioned by the Primary Industries standing committee and written by the Department of Agriculture's animal welfare branch, recommended that the practice of allowing traditional Halal and Kosher slaughter, which requires the throat of a beast to be slit while it is still sentient, be discontinued for large animals such as fully grown cattle because research showed it could take more than two minutes for such animals to lose consciousness.
However, state and federal governments have failed to adopt the report's recommendations that a size limit be set on animals fit for slaughter without stunning and that alternative methods - which would render an animal unconscious before having its throat cut but still be acceptable to specific religious practices - should be investigated.
In 2009, a concerned member of the public, Harry Roden, from Newtown, wrote to the then minister for agriculture, Tony Burke, requesting the practice cease on grounds of cruelty.
Mr Roden received a response from Allen Grant, the executive manager of the department's Agricultural Productivity Division.
The letter, obtained by the Herald, dismissed Mr Roden's concerns and stated that ''the slaughter of livestock without stunning is a longstanding practice to meet the stated requirements of particular religious groups. Australia's management and control of this practice is consistent with the World Organisation for Animal Health's animal welfare guidelines.''
The Herald asked the Department of Agriculture for a list of the abattoirs granted exemptions of the stun-before-slaughter rule but it refused, saying that most approved arrangements were held by state and territory regulators. South Australia has nine and Victoria three abattoirs that were government-approved for ritual slaughter.

* Photographs sourced from Google Images

Weighing up the poll-driven media

Sometimes it is hard to decide whether media reporting driven by opinion polls represents solid fact or ephemeral fancy………

On 18 April 2011 The Age published an article based on the results of Nielsen survey from 14-16 April 2011 based on 1,400 respondents:

a carbon price has become steadily more unpopular

On the same day The New Zealand Herald told the world that:

Prime Minister Julia Gillard's fragile minority Government continues to sink in the polls as Australians increasingly turn against her proposed carbon tax.

While ABC Radio AM online echoed these reports with:

Criticism of Julia Gillard's carbon tax has broadened, with the latest Sydney Morning Herald/Age AC Nielsen poll showing that opposition to a price on carbon has jumped three points to 59 per cent…..

Based on the same Nielsen poll used by the mainstream media, Crikey opined:

opposition has mounted

Then the BusinessGreen news site on 18 April decided to muddy waters by mentioning a second survey taken in March 2011:

The Australian government's flagship plans for a new carbon tax and emissions trading scheme are facing growing opposition, according to two new polls suggesting that public and business support for the proposals is wavering. A survey of 1,400 people commissioned by Fairfax newspapers and published earlier today found that 59 per cent of respondents opposed the government's proposals, up three points on the last survey in March. Another Essential Media poll of just over 1,000 people carried out late last month reported that 51 per cent of respondents opposed the plan while only 34 per cent supported it.

However on the very same day all of the above articles were published, Essential Research released results of an online survey from 13-17 April 2011 based on 1,002 respondents showing another way of gauging support:

With compensation for low and middle income earners and small businesses, support for the Government’s carbon pricing scheme increased to 51% and opposition dropped to 33%. This is a slight fall in support since this question was last asked in mid-March.

With compensation, support among Labor voters increases 15% to 78% and for Liberal/National voters increases 13% to 34%.

Support among men increased from 39% to 47% and for women increases from 38% to 55%.

It will be interesting to see how the media responds to this particular Essential Research survey, given that it runs somewhat counter to the main narrative when compensation for any price rise is factored into the equation. At the time of writing only Crikey had bothered to mention this second survey.

So what does one believe with regard to the Australian electorate’s sentiment concerning placing a price on carbon pollution?

I suspect that, faced with conflicting information, we all believe that the majority agrees with whatever is our own personal position.

At last! The Alstonville bypass delivered to the people of the NSW North Coast

Hard working Federal MP for Page Janelle Saffin's media release on 4 April 2011 announced the federally funded NSW North Coast bypass at Alstonville is finally operative - well done to community groups, local governments and politicians involved :

Community prepares for Bypass celebrations

Page MP Janelle Saffin has announced that community celebrations to mark the end of work on the Alstonville Bypass will be held on Saturday 7 May.

“This is something the people of Alstonville community have waited decades for, so they are certainly ready to celebrate, and I look forward to joining the party.

“In particular I want to mention the role played by Bob Wilson and members of the Alstonville Bypass committee who lobbied so hard for so long for this bypass.

“Bob has played a key role in community consultations on the bypass and also chairs the organising committee for the community celebrations on May 7.

“It is very rewarding for me to see this project through to completion - from my 2007 election commitment of $90 million for the Alstonville Bypass, to delivering the funding, to the start of works and now celebrating the end of the project.

“The celebrations will be held at the Kay’s Lane end of the bypass, and many community organisations are coming together for this mini-festival.

“On the day, people will also have the opportunity to take a bus tour of the completed bypass route - a sneak preview before the road is officially opened to traffic shortly afterwards.”

4 April, 2011 Media contact: Lee Duncan 0448 158 150

What Julia Gillard really said about pricing carbon

Listening to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott lay into Prime Minister Gillard over the announcement that her government was moving towards setting an interim price on carbon from 1 July 2012 as a precursor to an national emissions trading scheme by 2017 and, then hearing knuckle-dragging radio ‘personality’ Alan Jones’ near hysterical rant on the same subject (full transcript here) one could be forgiven for thinking that Ms. Gillard had never let the Australian electorate know her thinking before the last federal election held on 21 August 2010.

Both of these gentleman forget the enduring convenience of Google when it comes to checking if one’s memory is correct or not.

Yes, she did say that there would not be a carbon tax and, despite Abbott and Jones trying to rewrite history, a stand alone, permanent carbon tax is not what is being planned for now.

However, Gillard did go to some pains to let us all know that carbon pricing was going to occur if Labor was re-elected.

In June 2010 The Australian reported:

Julia Gillard will pursue a carbon price if she wins the next election…

In July 2010 The Herald Sun also reported the Prime Minister’s position:

"We will have that price on carbon when we have a deep community consensus."
Today, Ms Gillard emphatically ruled out a price on carbon before 2012 as she prepares to release a new policy on climate change.
That means no ETS, no carbon tax and no interim carbon levy until then.

The Business Spectator in July 2010:

The federal government has agreed new policies on climate change, including a commitment to set an interim price on carbon, the Australian Financial Review reports.

On the day before we all went to the polls Gillard was reported at news.com.au:

Julia Gillard says she is prepared to legislate a carbon price in the next term as part of a bold series of reforms

In The Australian on the same day:

In an election-eve interview with The Australian, the Prime Minister revealed she would view victory tomorrow as a mandate for a carbon price, provided the community was ready for this step.

Even Tony Abbott was aware of Gillard’s commitment to pricing carbon. His own website contained this post almost two months before the last federal election:

If she is serious about putting a price on carbon she shouldn’t wait until after the election, she should sit down with Bob Brown now, come up with something, tell us now what she’s going to do rather than just fudge this until after the election. But it’s typical of the new Prime Minister that she wants to get credit for wanting to do something without getting the blame for actually doing something and this is a Prime Minister who will tell people what she thinks they want to hear but she won’t then put the policies in place to deliver on that.

Albanese sends out a parliamentary wrap up on legislation passed

Federal Minister for Infrastructure & Transport and Leader of the House, Anthony Albanese, is quite pleased with how the Gillard minority government is coping so far according to his 29 October 2010 media release:

After three full sitting weeks the evidence is clear: the new, reformed Parliament is functioning well and getting on with the job of passing legislation, providing new opportunities for MPs to express the views of their local communities and keeping the Government accountable.

Yesterday the Government supported the first Private Member's Bill to be passed by the House of Representatives in more than a decade, Andrew Wilkie's Evidence Amendment (Journalists' Privilege) Bill 2010.

As well as giving individual members more opportunities to raise issues and put forward legislation of their own, the new Parliament has also been busy debating and passing the Government's ambitious reform agenda.

In just three sitting weeks, the House of Representatives has passed 29 government bills, with 11 of them having passed both the House and Senate and on the way to becoming law – see below........

Bills passed House, Senate and both houses

(as at 28 October 2010)

Passed the house (29 bills):

· Airports Amendment;

· National Health and Hospitals Network;

· Sex and Age Discrimination Amendment;

· Australian National Preventive Health Agency;

· Radiocommunications Amendment;

· Social Security Legislation Amendment (Connecting People with Jobs);

· Autonomous Sanctions;

· Australian Civilian Corps;

· Corporations Amendment (No. 1);

· Defence Legislation Amendment (Security of Defence Premises);

· Fisheries Legislation Amendment (No. 2);

· Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Weekly Payments) Bill;

· Therapeutic Goods Amendment (2010 Measures No. 1);

· National Health Amendment (Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme);

· Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measure) Bill;

· Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety Levies) Amendment Bill;

· Superannuation Legislation Amendment;

· Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Amendment;

· Protection of the Sea Legislation Amendment;

· National Security Legislation Amendment Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement;

· International Tax Agreements Amendment (No. 2);

· Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Amendment;

· Tradex Scheme Amendment;

· Carer Recognition;

· Civil Dispute Resolution;

· Food Standards Australia New Zealand Amendment;

· Telecommunications Interception and Intelligence Services Legislation Amendment;

· Veterans' Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures).

Passed the senate (16 bills):

· Superannuation Legislation Amendment Bill 2010;

· International Tax Agreements Amendment Bill 2010;

· National Measurement Amendment Bill 2010;

· Service and Execution of Process Amendment (Interstate Fine Enforcement) Bill 2010;

· Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards Amendment Bill 2010;

· Protection of the Sea Legislation Amendment Bill 2010;

· Native Title Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2010;

· Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2010;

· Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety Levies) Amendment Bill 2010;

· Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Amendment Bill 2010;

· Veterans' Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2010;

· Food Standards Australia New Zealand Amendment Bill 2010;

· Carer Recognition Bill 2010;

· Tradex Scheme Amendment Bill 2010;

· Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Amendment Bill 2010;

· Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (Identity Crimes and Other Measures) Bill 2010.

Passage completed through both houses (11 bills):

· Superannuation Legislation Amendment Bill 2010;

· International Tax Agreements Amendment Bill 2010;

· Protection of the Sea Legislation Amendment Bill 2010;

· Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2010;

· Offshore Petroleum and Greenhouse Gas Storage (Safety Levies) Amendment Bill 2010;

· Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Amendment Bill 2010;

· Veterans' Affairs and Other Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2010;

· Food Standards Australia New Zealand Amendment Bill 2010;

· Carer Recognition Bill 2010;

· Tradex Scheme Amendment Bill 2010;

· Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Amendment Bill 2010.

Part of Teh Great Unhinging 2010

 

Well Pastor Nalliah's been at it again. Apparently the godbotherers are a mite upset down his way after the creation of a "wicked Government" this week:

 

Dear family & friends in Christ,
 
I know many of you would be very sad and disappointed at the outcome of the Australian Election. Please take some time to read through this email as I am sure it will encourage and challenge you to continue to stand for righteousness.
 
Who would have ever dreamed that one day we would have 2 atheists at the top job of running our government in Australia?
 
I too felt very sad for a few hours, but as I prayed to the Lord, I felt strongly in my spirit that this is not the time to mourn, but to rise up and fight the devil and his demonic powers of darkness even more, so that's exactly what I intend to do in the mighty Name of our Lord Jesus Christ!
 
There is a famous saying, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."  In Matthew 11:12 the Word of God says, "The Kingdom of God has suffered much violence, but the violent shall rise up and take it by force.".
 
So dear prayer warriors in our Lord Jesus Christ, we might have lost this spiritual battle, but remember we will definitely win the war in Jesus Name, as the ultimate battle and victory belongs to the Lord of Hosts! Truly, He has won it for us 2000 years ago on the Cross through His death and resurrection, by triumphing over death, hell, and the grave!

When we initially lost the court case with the Islamic Council of Victoria at VCAT in 2005, there were many who were very sad and many others who mocked and laughed at us, but I knew that God would give us the final laugh & victory, "not by might, not by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of Hosts!" (Zechariah 4:6)  All glory to God as we did win the court case 2 years later in Supreme Court in 2007, securing Freedom of Speech and Religion in Australia. God will never put His children who stand for Him to shame!
 
You got to be fighting continually in spiritual warfare for the God of heaven to manifest His ultimate victory over the enemy on earth! Never ever give up!
 
I was shocked when I heard that the 2 Independents Tony Windsor & Rob Oakshott were supporting Labor. Hats off to Bob Katter for standing his ground. I suppose that Tony & Rob will soon find out the very big mistake they have made. I wonder whether they will ever get re-elected to Parliament in their electorate??
 
However, the fact is that we in Australia once again have Ms Julia Gillard as our PM, with her right hand man now being Bob Brown, the outspoken homosexual leader of the Greens. It is a very very sad day for Australia.
 
I personally want to apologise to anyone whom I might have disappointed by my dream regarding Julia Gillard conceding defeat. I always speak what is in my heart and get into trouble for doing so, but I am sure you will appreciate that I will not say one thing to your face and do something else behind your back.
 
I honestly thought that the dream I had was from the Lord and so I have not given up hope on it as yet.  It is very likely that the current Gillard Labor Green Government could collapse anytime.  As the American saying goes, "it ain't over until the fat lady sings!"
 
However, what I hoped for did not come to pass in this election at this time, so I am very, very sorry.
 
Let me take this opportunity to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart who supported the major prayer assault and sent many emails. Please do not lose heart. Your prayer and action did definitely produce great results. We have definitely taken the backbone out of the Labor party. They definitely now will find it very difficult to get legislation through Parliament as it is a minority Government.
 
There is another famous saying, "It only takes good men to do nothing for evil to triumph". It is so sad that so many church leaders did not speak up against the ungodly alliance of Labor's Julia Gillard and the Green's Bob Brown, but choose to remain silent because of political correctness. Unfortunately, they are equally to be blamed for putting in place such a wicked Government.
 
I believe if this current Government continues for 3 years (although I hope not), the true Church of Jesus Christ in Australia will come under severe politcal and social persecution. We as a nation, supported by many church leaders have chosen the path of persecution rather than peace and blessing.
 
Like in China and other nations where the onfire churches are persecuted, the churches which compromise will be free to operate, but those who stand up for righteousness will be persecuted.  Who knows, we might have to start underground house churches soon in Australia, like in China & Saudi Arabia. Oh, how exciting that will be as I have personally experienced many of them, since I served the Lord in Saudi Arabia with the underground house church movement.
 
One thing is for sure, under persecution the Church definitely will grow in quality and quantity. So come what may, the Lord's plans for Australia will be fulfilled through the remnant He has in this Great South Land of the Holy Spirit! Glory to God!
 
I am ready for the fight and I hope you are. Together, united as the Body of Christ, we will see our nation fulfil her destiny in our time in this generation.
 
It is very clear that our nation's government leaders from both sides of politics are not willing or are too scared to mention the name of Almighty God because of political correctness. We desperately need some men and women in Parliament who are honest and upright in the Lord.

In closing let me ask you a very, very important question. If given the opportunity, would you support a political party which will take Australia back to the historic roots of its Founding Fathers, the Ten Commandments, and that will protect our Judeo-Christian heritage??

I really believe that it is time for a true voice of righteousness in our Parliament. If the current trend continues, the Greens will become a major hindrance for Godly values in Government which will affect our nation and all Christians in a very negative way.

Your feedback on this would be greatly appreciated. Please take some time to write at least one line letting us know what you think about it.  
 
Australia for Jesus!
 
May God Bless You Mightily in Your Service to Him,
 
Your Brother In Christ,
 
Pr Daniel Nalliah

A ''kinder, gentler polity": it was always going to be a fool's errand

Click on image to enlarge

Editor David Bancroft hazarded a guess that it might only be a day before the Coalition turned against the Independents it had been "courting so earnestly for the last 18 days". However, the speed at which the Lib-Nat tiger turned and attacked fast outran publication of Bancroft's opinion piece in The Daily Examiner yesterday.

In The Australian yesterday:

Senator Joyce told The Australian Online that Mr Windsor's decision to back Labor on the basis that the Coalition would be more likely to win another election was a "complete departure from the fundamentals of the democratic principle".
"In the most primary of political requests, the decision to form a government, the independents [Mr Oakeshott and Mr Windsor] have departed from delivering what their constituents wanted with the conceited claim that they know best," Senator Joyce said.

Some Coalition MPs have taken to Twitter to vent, with Liberal MP Bob Baldwin writing: "To think Windsor & Oakshot [sic] were going to vote any other way was a folly, the 17 days was nothing more than grandstanding to say the least."
"Did Oakshot sell out for the job of Speaker, surely not!"

Senator Richard Colbeck wrote: "How is a party that didn't even put out an Agriculture policy best for regional Australia?".

Tasmanian Eric Abetz warned Mr Oakeshott that he needed to "watch out" as Labor MP Sid Sidebottom had made a bid for a regional affairs portfolio - the same portfolio the independent may take up.
"Labor will do anything and say anything but when you get into bed with Labor make sure you know exactly who else is sharing the pillow," Senator Abetz said.

Queensland MP Steve Ciobo wrote: "Hard to take them seriously. Claim they're about their constituents, but back Labor/Greens. ALP/Greens polled 11.5% & 17.8% in their seats!"

And Liberal Sussan Ley cryptically quoted Sigmund Freud, writing: "Windsor and Oakeshott: the narcissism of the small differences - feeling negative towards the people who are most like you (Freud)."....

In The Sydney Morning Herald on the same day:

Mr Pyne singled out Mr Windsor and Mr Oakeshott - whose support tipped Labor into office - saying their decision offended commonsense.

Prominent Nationals Senator Ron Boswell also took a swipe at Mr Windsor, claiming his decision could be seen as "payback" for years of enmity towards his former party.

ABC News yesterday:

A Tasmanian Liberal Senator has condemned the Independent Member for Denison's deal with Federal Labor.

Andrew Wilkie has secured $340 million dollars to refurbish the Royal Hobart Hospital, in return for backing Julia Gillard's Labor minority government.
Liberals Senator Eric Abetz says it is nowhere near the multi-billion dollar deal secured by the other Independents for regional infrastructure projects.
"And I dare say Andrew Wilkie in Denison is scratching his head," he said.