Andrew shoots his bolt

Andrew Bolt produces a WTF moment over at The Telegraph:

“Meanwhile, the Greens confirm they are indeed the new haven of the fashionable anti-Semite”
Apparently carrying on in a similar vein, the televised Bolt Report is now receiving some flak.
It doesn't take a crystal ball to foretell more court time for Teh Bolta if he keeps on like this.

John Xavier Berlin jailed for fraud - history of child sex-offences revealed in court

THERE is no way John Xavier Berlin could have been a police officer, after being convicted of child-sex offences and spending two years in a Queensland jail.

That was the conclusion drawn by magistrate David Heilpern when he sentenced Berlin to 12 months behind bars at Grafton local court yesterday.

“Mr Berlin, you have never been a police officer,” he said.

“That is the source of all these problems.” Source: The Daily Examiner, 24/8/11

Today's Examiner gives Berlin much more attention than he'd ever like. Berlin is front-page material, gets more coverage on page 5 and is also the subject of an opinion piece written by the paper's chief-of-staff. Topping things off is a front page photograph of Berlin.

Read The Daily Examiner's report here.

Sick and tired of the NSW Government continuing to drag its feet when it comes to the northern section of the Pacific Highway?

If the answer is yes then Federal Labor MP for Page Janelle Saffin has an online Pacific Highway Community Petition which anyone can sign at http://www.janellesaffin.com.au/ :

TO THE Premier of New South Wales, The Honourable Barry O’Farrell MP; the Deputy Premier of New South Wales, The Honourable Andrew Stoner MP; and the NSW Minister for Roads, The Honourable Duncan Gay MP.

This Petition of residents of the Federal electorates of Page and Richmond draws to the attention of the O’Farrell-Stoner Government its pre-election commitments to making the Pacific Highway safer for all motorists.

The Petitioners therefore request that the NSW Government allocates significant funding in its first Budget on September 6, 2011, to ensure that the highway can be fully duplicated by the 2016 deadline, as agreed.

It is important not to let the issue of the Pacific Highway upgrade slip on to any Macquarie Street backburner, as this exchange in Federal Parliament last Tuesday demonstrates:

ROB OAKESHOTT (Member for Lyne) – My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport. As the minister responsible on behalf of the Commonwealth and following ongoing negotiations with the state of New South Wales, can you confirm that election promises from both levels of government and both political persuasions will be upheld—that is, the joint promise of completion of dual carriageway of the Pacific Highway by 2016, just five years away?

ANTHONY ALBANESE – I thank the member for Lyne for his question and for his commitment to representing constituents on the Pacific Highway up the NSW coast. He would be aware that we have committed some $4.1 billion to the Pacific Highway, more than any government has ever committed to any road in Australia's history over such a period of time.

The fact is that work is proceeding apace.  The Ballina bypass will be open early.  It will be open by Christmas, six months ahead of schedule and on budget.  Work has also commenced on the longest bridge ever constructed in Australia, which is a part of the Kempsey bypass.  The builders for the Devils Pulpit upgrade have been selected and work will commence by the end of the year.

The building contract for Tintenbar to Ewingsdale in the electorate of Page was also awarded in the last fortnight. Work is forging ahead on the Bulahdelah bypass, the Banora Point upgrade and the Sapphire to Woolgoolga duplication.

All up, today there are more than a thousand Australians at work upgrading the Pacific Highway.  Our last budget saw an additional billion dollars injected into the Pacific Highway so we could meet that objective.  I was there with the member for Lyne and the member for Page [Janelle Saffin] with the Deputy Premier of NSW [Andrew Stoner], following our commitment announcement in May, and I was encouraged by the very direct commitment that the Deputy Premier gave on behalf of the NSW government to meet our shared objective on the full duplication of the highway.

Just last month he said the date “remained plausible as long as both governments commit to it”.

There is no doubt this is a big challenge.  All of the planning work had not been completed, which is why we needed to put that extra funding into the budget.  I look forward to the NSW government on 6 September stumping up its share of the money in the $750 million that it has committed.

NSW Minister for Roads Duncan Gay has “staked his reputation on securing a major funding boost for the Pacific Highway in this year's state budget”.  He said:

“My first target and task is to fulfil that commitment in this year’s budget … unless we can keep with them—the federal government—we are falling out of the game.”

This is a vital upgrade.  That is why we have contributed $4.1 billion, which stands in stark contrast to the $1.3 billion committed over 12 long years by the former government.  We have committed more than triple the money in half the time because we are absolutely committed to delivering on this project.

I look forward to working with the NSW government to meet our shared objective.

NB. Thanks to the North Coast Voices reader who sent me the Oakeshott-Albanese remarks.

Are the wheels falling off Tony's little red fear truck?

Federal Opposition Tony Abbott is a becoming a classic example of how to cast aside political momentum.
After managing to dominate the Australian news cycle for months on end, he then decides to take a short holiday overseas.
Just in time to be out of camera and microphone range when America's credit rating is downgraded, European sovereign debt becomes an even bigger global issue than before and international stock markets panic.
Big mistake.
Not only did the Australian media largely forget to play his favourite fear cards to the max; journalists also forgot to be hypercritical of the Labor Government's economic record and is some cases actually talked up the nation's balance sheet.
Then Tones arrives back in the country without anything novel to say and the news cycle all but ignores him for days.
Even usually gullible butchers began to reject his stunts.
Help seemed to be at hand when the Convoy of No Confidence drove onto the scene, but alas, this wasn't to be the Opposition Leader's life line.
Shaping up as it did to be an expensive embarrassment ACT taxpayers have to fork out for.
Not only did truck, ute, car and trailer numbers arriving in Canberra fall far short of the mooted mob supposedly calling for Gillard's blood and Tony's sainthood - some of the state convoys were nothing more than a handful of vehicles driven by people with a mistaken idea of the Australian constitution, no common complaints or coherent political agenda.
Indeed the first 'wave' of trucks due to hit Canberra early on Monday 22nd August failed to materialise due to lack of interest, the grand trek route map (above) proudly drawn by those faceless convoy organisers was shown to be just so much political mythology and the Canberra rally figures fell far, far short of the previous week's hyped 10,000 angry voters.
The turnout must have left Abbott and the rest of the 11am rally speakers, Barnaby Joyce, Warren Truss and Bazza Haase sorely disappointed - as well as totally confusing the climate change denialists contrarians, conspiracy theorists and one egotistic demagogue scheduled to share the podium.
After all, they thought they were the vanguard of a grassroots movement.
Even Tones practiced spin couldn't disguise the non-event:
"Now, ladies and gentlemen, there are hundreds of you here, there are thousands of you who would like to be here and there are millions of you who are sick of being ripped off by a bad government."
Haven't laughed so hard in years.