AGL Energy Limited a supplier of gas & coal based electricity is behaving badly yet again

AGL Energy Limited (AGL) sells and markets gas and electricity. It owns a number thermal stations, has an operational gas plant in the Camden area and approvals for exploration and production of coal seam gas in the Gloucester district in New South Wales. 

On 11 May 2015 Smart Company reported that:

The Australian Energy Regulator has penalised energy retailer AGL for disconnecting customers in hardship or on payment plans, with AGL South Australia and AGL Sales both receiving a $20,000 fine from the regulator.

Energy retailers are prohibited from disconnecting customers under certain circumstances, including when they are participating in a hardship program or a payment plan.

However the Australian Energy Regulator said in a statement this morning, it was notified by AGL of incidents in which nine of the company’s customers were wrongfully disconnected from their electricity supply.

This is not the first time that AGL has been in the news for behaving badly.

A quick Internet search brings up this disturbing timeline: 

* August 2003

Australia's largest energy retailer was today fined $100,000 on workplace safety breaches over the electrocution of a 36-year-old Melbourne carpenter.

AGL Electricity Ltd had faced a maximum fine of $250,000 over the man's death in February 1999.

The court heard that carpenter Paul Psaila suffered a fatal electric shock on the roof of a suburban Rosanna unit when he touched guttering carrying a 240-volt current coming from a live electricity cable attached to the home.

County Court judge Michael Strong said the work on installing the cable had been carried out by two linesmen seven weeks before.

It was a straightforward job which they had done many times before "but on this occasion the job was done incompetently, resulting in insulation on the cable being damaged".

A metal bracket "charged with electricity became a death trap", the judge said.

In sentencing, Judge Strong said: "The court must respond to the jury's verdict by sending a clear message to this industry that more-rigorous scrutiny is required of work by linesmen."

AGL was convicted by a jury of failing to ensure that people other than its employees were not exposed to health and safety risks.

* September 2004

Following NGE's intervention, I received a phone call from AGL's Victorian manager of Residential Marketing on 27/08/04. He apologized for the "misrepresentations of the sales staff", assured me the switching fee would not apply, and that the last $50 rebate would be paid. He gave me his mobile number to call direct if there were any problems.
On 02/09/04 I received another phone call from a different person presumeably from the same department. She said that the entire bill for the quarter would be waived because the new total ($14.67) was such a small amount, the next bill was due soon, and I'd been unhappy with the service.
The amended bill arrived on 06/09/04. Thanks to some creative accounting, the new invoice was for $29.34 (twice what it should have been after applying the rebate).
I've made two phone calls to the person I spoke to in August (unanswered - I left a message both times), and received one back from one of his colleagues. She said he was on a business trip, and offered to help in his stead. I explained that my invoice was wrong, and asked for a new one. She said she'd look into it, and would call back later. That was on Monday 13/09/04. Not surprisingly, I haven't heard anything since.
Given that "AGL prides itself [on] the ethics and honesty of [its] organisation" it would appear that that pride is undeserved. [Matter finally resolved in customers favour after six months of seeking redress]

* July 2005

AGL Gas Networks Ltd has been fined $325,000 following two gas explosions at a Kogarah shopping centre in 1995, in which two people died and 17 others were injured.
The company, based at North Sydney, was found guilty under the Occupational Health and Safety Act in the NSW Industrial Relations Commission sitting in Court Session for failing to ensure the health and safety of its employees and others not in its employ.
In November 1995 a gas pipeline at Railway Parade, Kogarah, was cut and capped by AGL in preparation for the demolition of four nearby shops.
The pipeline remained connected to the mains, and on 4 December the line severed, with the resulting gas leak causing explosions and fires.
An AGL Gas Networks Ltd maintenance crew sent to the scene after the first explosion did not have the necessary valve location map to enable them to find and shutdown the escaping gas.
While the maintenance crew searched for the shutdown valve and fire crews fought to extinguish the blaze, a second explosion occurred.
In imposing the penalty, Justice Monika Schmidt said: "I am satisfied that the risks to safety were foreseeable. They included the risk of death and injury, which must be reflected in the penalty imposed."

* August 2006

The Australian Energy Regulator has imposed a civil penalty of $20,000 on AGL Hydro Partnership over its use of the inflexibility and rebidding provisions of the National Electricity Rules with respect to its MCKAY1 generating unit on 22 March 2006. The AER issued an infringement notice alleging that AGL Hydro breached clause 3.8.22(c)(2)(i) of the rules by failing to provide a verifiable and specific reason for declaring the MCKAY1 generating unit as inflexible. As AGL Hydro has paid the infringement penalty, the AER's investigation of this matter is now closed.

* May 2008

A third Queensland electricity retailer will be issued with a fine over its handling of pensioners' power bills.

Queensland Energy Minister Geoff Wilson said the regulator had made formal findings against AGL, which had been advised of a $30,000 fine for breaching the Electricity Act.

* May 2009

June 2008 AGL became our electricity provider. This surprised us when we received the first "Dear Customer" letter from them in November, attempting to bill us all the way back to February!
In fact, we had been contracted to Simply Energy (gas + elec) for over a year and owned the house for four years. Every AGL customer "service" person attempts to convince us we just moved in!
Of course we called AGL after getting the November letter (actually two bills for different amounts). The help desk woman apologised, said she could see the account had been transferred to them in error, and promised to send us back to Simply Energy. "No need to worry about it". Famous last words.
Come April 2009, and two more envelopes arrive from AGL. Amount owing is over $1,100, please pay within two weeks. An entire afternoon wasted calling AGL then Simply Energy then AGL (with SE on the line), then AGL again. Each time the recorded voice said we owed a different amount! In the first call, AGL told me to tell SE to check MSATS (their common database) for the handover date. SE said it was June but AGL was billing back to February! SE confirmed we'd paid up to June. All good so far.
AGL claims that because 130 days had passed without hearing from SE, they _own_ our account, under law. They could well be right, but surely SE would be due compensation? AGL checked their own records and could see that they had reminded themselves in November to ask SE for a "winback", but never actually sent the message to them.
To add to the insult, two days after those phonecalls we received a letter from AGL thanking us for agreeing to this payment plan during your phonecall. We did nothing of the sort! We laughed when we saw the "instalment plan" was one payment of the full amount including the months already paid, due in June.  Ta.
The good thing about dealing with AGL is that you get to read up on what your rights are. You can read the entire ombudsman's website while you're on hold! In Victoria, utilities can't backbill residents for more than nine months' worth of power, and have to give an equivalent time to pay if requested. The longer they take to work their stuff out, the more free electricity we have received.
The last time I called them was a week ago, because they'd promised to call me by then. The guy was a lot more candid about the extent of their problems, said their complaints department was VERY busy and while they would try to ring me in the next week he couldn't guarantee it. Meanwhile (after I pressed him to say it) we should ignore the demands for payment. So we're relaxed and waiting ... next step the ombudsman because there's no way they can get away with this. [Resolved in the customers favour after what appears to be almost twelve months of negotiation]

* May 2010

trichloroethylene ingroundwater at a specific location beneath the Torrens Island Power Stationsite. The South Australia EPA was notified under Section 83A of the EnvironmentProtection Act.

* September 2010

AGL–Arrow Energy Moranbah Gas Project JV, Qld: In September 2010, protected vegetation on PL191 was overcleared by the Operator. A $2,000 Penalty Infringement Notice was issued by DERM in relation to the breach

* May 2011

In May 2011 a large drilling fluid spill occurred at AGL’s CSG well head at Camden North in NSW during routine maintenance. According to STOP CSG!, AGL failed to report the incident for two days until the leakage was shown on TV. 

* September 2012

In yet another classic example of excessive executive compensation while the rest of the nation is reeling from high prices and economic slowdown, officials of power firms in New South Wales are enjoying astronomical pay hikes while residents pay through the nose because of higher electricity rates. The Herald Sun reported that the managing director and chief executive of power firm AGL got 85 per cent pay hikes to $6.3 million from $3.4 million in 2011. The boost in compensation was justified by the 11.8 per cent rise of AGL's profit in 2011-12 at $482 million, thanks to the 18 per cent increase in power rates.

* 2012

AGL sent me a letter advising me that I had entered into a default contract with them because the electricity at that address was still being used despite the cancellation of the A/C. This puzzled me as I had not cancelled the contract with AGL. As requested I phoned the number listed in their letter. At the outset of the conversation with AGL I was required to identify myself by giving my name and DOB. When I asked who had cancelled my A/C, my request was denied on the grounds of privacy regulations. My response to this was that my privacy had been violated when a third party had been allowed to cancel my account with AGL. When my letter of complaint to the GM retail was not answered, a week later I sent an e-mail citing the issues raised .This proved more effective because Customer Relations then contacted me. Their case is that the new tenant next door initially gave the street number of my holiday house, later phoning to correct his error. If the tenant had made this correction before the letter about a default contract had been written, then the issue of a default contract is in my opinion a red herring. Instead AGL should have come clean with me. Alternatively if the tenant had not yet alerted AGL to this debacle, there was no need to send a letter concerning electricity consumption at the address initially given by the new tenant next door. In summary, despite their claim to the contrary, I cannot accept that AGL can cancel an A/C without checking with the person who responsible for the A/C. Even for a simple enquiry a customer is required to identify themselves. Secondly I am not confident that the default letter was written in good faith. If AGL already knew about the source of the confusion at the time of writing to me , they should have been frank and open. XXXX XXXX Address in question-XX XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX

* March 2013

The New South Wales Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) has fined AGL Energy $15,000 over a gas leak from a coal seam gas well at the Rosalind Park gas plant in the suburb of Spring Farm.

* May 2013

The Federal Court has ordered by consent that AGL Sales Pty Ltd and AGL South Australia Pty Ltd pay combined penalties of $1.555 million for illegal door-to-door selling practices, following action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. CPM Australia Pty Ltd, the marketing company used by the AGL companies, was also ordered to pay $200,000 for its role in the conduct.

* July 2013

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has fined AGL $1,000 for failing to publish monitoring data under “community right to know” requirements of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act 1997.

* December 2013

Energy retailer AGL has been fined $35,000 after a salesman ignored a Do Not Knock sign.

Federal Court judge John Middleton punished AGL and its marketing company CPM for the conduct of a South Australian salesman.

"These penalties reflect the need to deter conduct of such seriousness by the relevant respondents and others in the door-to-door selling industry," he said in his judgment.

AGL South Australia was fined $35,000 while its marketing agent CPM, who contracted the salesman, was penalised $25,000 for trying to negotiate an energy supply agreement in November 2011.

He had remained on the premises despite the consumer having an image on the front door of a knocking fist with a line through it.

The maximum penalty is $50,000.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has issued AGL operations in Camden with a fine of $1,500 and an official caution for exceeding air pollutant, oxides of nitrogen (NOx) concentrations limits on two occasions in August this year.

* December 2014

POTENTIALLY contaminated wastewater used to frack AGL's Gloucester coal seam gas project has been dumped unlawfully into the Hunter's sewer system by the private company hired to treat it.

Transpacific, one of the nation's largest wastewater management firms, has been fined $30,000 by Hunter Water for releasing treated "flow-back" fluid from the gas project into the region's sewer network.

It comes after AGL and Transpacific were both explicitly warned by the water regulator that releasing the flow-back fluid was a breach of its wastewater criteria.

* January 2015

AGL operations at Gloucester have been suspended and the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) is investigating after the company informed the authority that it had detected BTEX chemicals at its Gloucester coal seam gas project.

AGL suspended operations today after announcing BTEX chemicals were found in samples from its Waukivory operations, said EPA Chief Environmental Regulator Mark Gifford.

“AGL informed the EPA that it was aware of these elevated levels of BTEX chemicals on 15 January, but it did not make these results known to the EPA or the public until today,” said Mr Gifford.

“The EPA is very concerned at AGL’s lack of timeliness and transparency in informing us of these results and we will be conducting a full investigation.

“The EPA can confirm that fracking fluid additives used at the Waukivory operation were sampled and analysed by Government environmental officers in November 2014 before fracking activities were allowed to commence.

“These samples were analysed for BTEX chemicals, which were not detected. Identifying the source of the elevated levels of BTEX chemicals found in AGL’s samples will be part of the EPA’s investigation.”

* April 2015

Energy retailer AGL has been fined $700,000 for misleading customers in South Australia about discounts on their power bills.

Thousands of them will be entitled to a refund, likely to be about $30.

The Federal Court imposed the penalty on Wednesday, ordering the energy retailer to also pay $780,000 in refunds and $300,000 in costs.

The Abbott Government's 2015-16 Budget is like the curate's egg#

"My determination is to ensure that this budget is fair"

[Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott speaking with 3AW's Neil Mitchell, May 2015] 

Only time will tell just how 'fair' this federal budget is. It still contains elements of Tony Abbott's desire to penalise the poor and vulnerable at every opportunity, his determination to avoid funding climate change initiatives or water savings measures where possible and his seeming need to stifle innovation and science.

Here are some of the features of the Abbott Government’s 2015-16 Budget:

* The government is providing $131.3 million over three years to help the telecommunications industry meet their initial capital costs of retaining all metadata belonging to phone and internet accounts held by Australian citizens.

* Income management will continue for another two years in all twelve locations where it currently operates, with possible expansion to four new communities at a cost of $145.8 million and with these scheme trials ending on 30 June 2017. However, the scheme will no longer include Voluntary Incentive Payments and the Matched Savings Payment.

* The government will also spend $2.7 million over three years from 2014-15 to undertake a trial of new welfare debit card arrangements in up to three communities, based on the recommendations made in the report Creating Parity — the Forrest Review, with locations to be determined in consultation with key stakeholders.

*Low Income Supplement — cessation. This represents the loss of an annual $300 payment to eligible low-income households.

* Personal Contact Interviews will be removed from the repertoire of activities required of individuals receiving unemployment benefits. However, from 1 July 2016, the Government will extend the ‘no show no pay’ principle to missed appointments and activities like work for the dole, to encourage positive job seeker behaviour and compliance. Job seekers who fail to undertake adequate job search will be subject to income support payment suspension until they demonstrate genuine job search efforts. These job seekers would also no longer be able to have the financial penalty waived by agreeing to undertake a compliance activity.

* Cessation of the Large Family Supplement of Family Tax Benefit Part A. Large families will continue to receive a per child rate of FTB Part A for each eligible child in their family.

* Family Tax Benefit Part A — reduced portability. With some exceptions the amount of time Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A will be paid to recipients who are outside Australia will be reduced to 6 weeks in every twelve months they are overseas.

* 1 July 2016 onwards the government is removing all or part of federal paid parental scheme entitlements for to an estimated 79,000 working women expected to take maternity leave. Under federal legislation these women had an expectation of receiving up to $11,500 for maternity leave of 18 weeks duration.

* From 1 January 2017 the government will reduce from 26 weeks to six weeks the period that some recipients of the Age Pension, Wife Pension, Widow B Pension and the Disability Support Pension can be paid their full basic means-tested rate while absent from Australia. After six weeks absence from Australia, pensioners who have lived in Australia for less than 35 years will be paid at a reduced rate proportional to their period of Australian Working Life Residence (AWLR). The AWLR is the period a person has lived in Australia, as a permanent resident, between the age of 16 years and Age Pension age.

* The Government will not proceed with changes to eligibility thresholds for Australian Government payments for the next three years that relate to the Age Pension, Carer Payment, Disability Support Pension, and the Veterans’ Service Pension income test free areas and deeming thresholds over three years from 2016-17. The pension income test free areas and deeming thresholds will continue to be indexed annually by the Consumer Price Index. This means that 170,000 extra pensioners with moderate assets will now receive a full or increased pension. At the same time, the asset test taper rate will increase from $1.50 to $3. This means for every $1,000 of assets over the asset free threshold (eg. $202,000 threshold for a single homeowner age pensioner & 286,500 for home owning age pension couples), the pension rate will reduce by $3 a fortnight. Those who no longer receive a pension will remain eligible for a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card or Health Care Card. The Government has decided not to proceed with the 2014 Budget measure to index pension and pension equivalents by CPI alone.

* The government will pause for a further two years the indexation of 78 programmes under the Administered Programme Indexation Pause measure announced in the 2014-15 Budget. For each programme, the extension of the pause to indexation will apply from 1 July 2017 or 1 July 2018 depending on the original start date of the pause.

All elements of the Indigenous Advancement Strategy do not appear to be resuming indexed funding until 2018-19.

Department of Veterans’ Affairs dental and allied health provider payments will not resume being indexed until 1 July 2018.

* A new single Child Care Subsidy (CCS) will be introduced on 1 July 2017. Families meeting the activity test with annual incomes up to $60,000 (2013-14 dollars) will be eligible for a subsidy of 85 per cent of the actual fee paid, up to an hourly fee cap of $11.55 for long day care, $10.70 for family day care, and $10.10 for outside school hours care. The subsidy will taper to 50 per cent for eligible families with annual incomes of $165,000. The CCS will have no annual cap for families with annual incomes below $180,000. For families with annual incomes of $180,000 and above, the CCS will be capped at $10,000 per child per year.

* Cooperative Research Centres — reduced funding. Lost funding will be $26.8 million over four years from 2015-16.

* Industry grant programmes — reduced funding. Lost funding will be  $31.7 million over three years from 2014-15 and will apply to the following programmes; Commercialisation Australia, Enterprise Connect and Industry Innovation Precincts.

* Regional Development Australia Committees — reduced support. This loss of support activity represents $3.6 million over four years.

* Sustainable Rural Water Use and Infrastructure Programme — reduced funding. Loss of $22.7 million in water buyback funding over two years from 2017-18.

* National Low Emissions Coal Initiative — funding adjustment. Funding for the Australian National Low Emissions Coal Research and Development Project will be reduced by a one-off $3.4 million before 30 June 2015.

* The Government will abolish the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Environment Strategic Advisory Committee, as the function has been reallocated by CSIRO to the relevant flagship advisory committee. IIF Investments Pty Ltd, and its assets, have been transferred to the Department of Industry and Science. IIF Investments was established as a mechanism to deliver the Government’s capital into the venture capital funds licensed under Rounds 1 and 2 of the Innovation Investment Fund (IIF), PreSeed Fund (PSF) and Renewable Energy Equity Fund (REEF) programmes. It will also dissolve the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics (BREE) and the Consumer Advocacy Panel. 

* The Government will reduce the company tax rate to 28.5 per cent for companies with aggregated annual turnover less than $2 million. Companies with an aggregated annual turnover of $2 million or above will continue to be subject to the current 30 per cent rate on all their taxable income. Individual taxpayers with business income from an unincorporated business that has an aggregated annual turnover of less than $2 million will be eligible for a small business tax discount of five per cent of the income tax payable on the business income received from an unincorporated small business entity. The discount will be capped at $1,000 per individual for each income year, and delivered as a tax offset.

* Application of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will be extended to cross border supplies of digital products and services imported by consumers from 1 July 2017.

* Under the new arrangements, increased criminal penalties and a new civil pecuniary penalties regime will be introduced for breaches of the Foreign Acquisitions and Takeovers Act 1975. A reduced penalty period for foreign investors that have previously breached the foreign investment rules in relation to residential real estate has been provided until 30 November 2015. These investors may avoid prosecution, but will be required to divest the property.

* Stronger Relationships Trial — cessation. Those couples with a $200 pre-marriage relationship counselling subsidy will have these honoured up until 30 June 2015 for couples who registered prior to 9 February 2015.

* Expenses under the broadcasting sub‑function are estimated to decrease by 3.2 per cent in real terms from 2014‑15 to 2015‑16 and by 8.5 per cent in real terms from 2015‑16 through to 2018‑19. Due to these cuts the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) is reportedly withdrawing from the digital platform FreeView so if viewers wish to see a certain documentary, drama, comedy or current affairs show they will have to view it on their television at the time of broadcast and wait for any televised repeat in the future if they miss doing so.

* The Australia Council arts funding will be cut by $110 million between 1 July 2015 and 30 June 2019. This arts funding will be transferred to the Attorney-General’s Department to be distributed at its direction of the Attorney-General.

Australian Financial Review 13 May 2015:

While Thursday marks the 29th anniversary of Paul Keating's famous "banana republic" warning that ushered in two decades of more disciplined government, more than $1 out of every $4 created by the economy will be taxed and consumed by the Abbott government. 

According to a Treasury measure of the "call on resources", which gauges the tax and borrowings needed to fund the government, the burden will hit 26.7 per cent in 2015-16 and 2016-17…..

The budget papers show the measure will remain at more than 26 per cent for at least four years, until 2018-19. The figure looks better than it seems in the final year, which is when the federal government plans to cut $80 billion in funding to states.....

Between 1987 and 2013 the size of government breached 26-per cent only once, in 2009-10, when the Labor government's stimulus package led to increased borrowing. It climbed above that level for only the second time in 26 years in 2013-14, which was the Coalition's first budget, and it has remained there since.

# It is said that the term “a curate’s egg” refers to something that is obviously and essentially bad, but is euphemistically described as nonetheless having good features credited with undue redeeming power. It’s origin is thought to be early 20th century from a cartoon in Punch (1895) depicting a meek curate who, given a stale egg at the bishop's table, assures his host that ‘parts of it are excellent’.

Australian Prime Minister and Minister for Women Tony Abbott's double dipping lie is an insult to working women

On Mother’s Day 2015 the Abbott Government announced that it would be removing all or part of federal paid parental scheme payments to an estimated 79,000 working women who take maternity leave from 1 July 2016 onwards.

Under federal legislation these women had an expectation of receiving up to $11,500 for maternity leave of 18 weeks duration.

In the interview with Laurie Oakes the Treasurer Joe Hockey used the word double-dipping to describe the lawful right of working women to access both the federal paid parental leave scheme and that of their employer if there was one in place:

At the moment people can claim parental leave payments from both the government and their employers so they are effectively double dipping. We’re going to stop that. You can’t double dip, you can’t get both parental leave pay from your employer and from taxpayers.

The Double Dipping Lie Was Repeated In The 2015-16 Budget Papers Two Days Later

This is an extract from the consolidated Budget Measures Budget Paper No. 2 2015-16:

Removing Double-Dipping from Parental Leave Pay

The Government will achieve savings of $967.7 million over four years by removing the ability for individuals to double dip when applying for the existing Parental Leave Pay (PLP) scheme, from 1 July 2016. Currently individuals are able to access Government assistance in the form of PLP, in addition to any employer-provided parental leave entitlements. The Government will remove the ability for individuals to double dip, by taking payments from both their employer and the Government.

The Truth About The Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave Scheme

This is an extract from the Commonwealth Paid Parental Leave Act 2010:

Division 1A—Object of this Act

3A  Object of this Act

             (1)  The object of this Act is to provide financial support to primary carers (mainly birth mothers) of newborn and newly adopted children, in order to:

                     (a)  allow those carers to take time off work to care for the child after the child’s birth or adoption; and

                     (b)  enhance the health and development of birth mothers and children; and

                     (c)  encourage women to continue to participate in the workforce; and

                     (d)  promote equality between men and women, and the balance between work and family life.

             (2)  Generally, the financial support is provided only to primary carers who have a regular connection to the workforce.

             (3)  The financial support provided by this Act is intended to complement and supplement existing entitlements to paid or unpaid leave in connection with the birth or adoption of a child. [my red bolding]

It is noticeable that the main budget decision-makers in 2015, all six members of the federal Expenditure Review Committee, are privileged white males living off the public purse - with one receiving a salary higher than that of the U.S. president and another being a millionaire many times over.

It is also worth noting that this scaling back of the federal paid parental leave scheme was not put to voters at the last general election.

UPDATE

It would seem that despite their attempts to vilify working mothers, Coalition MPs not only voted with the then Labor Government to introduce paid parental leave - some of their wives/partners accessed both the government and their employer's leave schemes.

ABC News 14 May2015:

Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has revealed his wife claimed paid parental leave payments from her employer and the Government, as Labor steps up its attacks on the Coalition's plan to stop women benefiting from two schemes.

"We accessed both schemes as my wife was entitled to and there are many people I'm sure on both sides of the House who have done that," Mr Frydenberg told Sky News.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, who is also on cabinet's Expenditure Review Committee, has deflected questions about whether his wife claimed money from two schemes.

Earlier today Senator Cormann described the Coalition's push to stop women getting two payments as a "fairness measure" and defended the Government calling it "double dipping".

But this afternoon, under questioning from Labor senator Sam Dastyari, Senator Cormann did not deny his wife received benefits from her employer and the Government PPL scheme.

"Let me confirm for him that I have indeed had a little child in 2013 and that our family of course worked within a system that was available at the time like any other family and that my family will work within whatever system is in place in the future," Senator Cormann said.

The Australian 17 June 2010:

AUSTRALIA has its first universal paid parental leave scheme, catching up with the rest of the developed world, after the Coalition voted with the Rudd government to back the historic legislation.

Can a photograph be any more contrived than this one?

Photo: Andrew Meares

Prime Minister Tony Abbott appearing to 'console' treasurer Joe Hockey during a prearranged and very posed photo shoot promoting 2015-16 budget papers preparation.

Unsolicited ratbaggery

Residents in the Lower Clarence area have been receiving hand-delivered plain white envelopes addressed "HELLO NEIGHBOURS". 

"There's nothing too wrong about that." I hear you say.

Well ... take a look at the contents (2 pages) of the envelope.

Page 1

Page 2

Small puzzles in the Abbott Government 2015-16 Budget Papers

Budget Measures Budget Paper No. 2 contains a number of small puzzles:

* Treasury estimates it will be raising $1.18 billion between 12 May 2015 and 30 June 2019 from decisions taken but not yet announced. Apparently we can all look forward to budgetary surprises scattered like rose petals across our path during the next four years.

* The nature of the Combatting [sic] multinational tax avoidance — stronger penalties measures is such that a reliable estimate cannot be provided so there are no figures given for any financial year. However, the Abbott Government expects an unquantifiable gain to revenue over the forward estimates period from companies with global revenues of more than $1 billion. It has this expectation even though there is no proposal to make unlawful the billion dollar tax avoidance schemes currently used by large multinationals such as Google, Microsoft, Apple, BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.

* Removing access to the government paid parental leave scheme for pregnant women if their employer has a parental leave scheme is listed as an “expense” to the Australian Government of $1.67 billion between 1 July 2016 and 30 June 2019 and will only achieve “savings” of an est. $967.7 million over the same period. Perhaps a reader can explain that one.

* The Australian Consensus — establishment is listed as an expense but no figure is attached for any financial year. Despite the fact that $4 million over four years commencing in 2014-15 (announced as a grant to the University of Western Australia in April 2015 which it quickly returned to federal government coffers) is mentioned in the text, as is the government commitment to go forward with establishing this centre. Because this budget item was not included in the previous 2014-15 budget and is merely a title in this year’s budget it is a rather a strange little orphan whose inheritance is probably stuffed under the education minister’s mattress.

* Government expenses relating to Managing Biosecurity Risks — expanded surveillance and offshore audit are nfp (not for publication). Apparently cost estimates associated with this scheme are too sensitive for voters’ eyes while government is allegedly still in ongoing consultation with industry.

* Cost of the Home Insulation Program Industry Payment Scheme — establishment is nfp. It would appear that the transparent, equitable and evidence-based process for the assessment of business losses and the making of payments to over 200 businesses promised by the Abbott Government doesn’t extend to providing a budget estimate of the total cost of this scheme which was announced in December 2014 and was to be completed by mid-2015.

* One-off Government Response to the Home Insulation Program Royal Commission — act of grace payments made in 2014-15 are nfp. Again, the total cost is not for voters’ eyes and this item brings the total number of not for publication items to around nine.

Who is to blame for Abbott Government 2015-16 Budget?

“The budget belongs to no individual minister, it belongs to all of us but it particularly belongs to all the members of the Expenditure Review Committee.”

[Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, 7 May 2015]

Federal Expenditure Review Committee

CHAIR: Prime Minister Tony Abbott (Liberal Party Leader)

DEPUTY CHAIR: Treasurer Joe Hockey (Liberal Party MP)

MEMBERS:

Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss (National Party Leader)

Minister for Social Services Scott Morrison (Liberal Party MP)

Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann (Liberal Party MP)

Assistant Treasurer Josh Frydenberg (Liberal Party MP)

Make no mistake, the contents of the Abbott Government 2015-16 Budget Papers are heavily influence by the worldview of Tony Abbott.

He would not have been able to resist the urge to dominate and override his ministers, as his frequent 'captain's picks' demonstrate. 

The Australian general public overwhelming rejected a national medical records database but the Abbott Government is still insisting on gathering every piece of medical data on citizens that is available

On 10 May 2015 the Australian Minister for Health Sussan Ley freely admitted that two years and ten months after the federal government’s national database of personally controlled health records (PCEHR) opened for business as eHealth less-than one-in-ten Australians have decided to opt-in to this scheme.

Less than one-in-ten appears to indicate that an estimated 18 million adults have decided to not hand over their own medical records and those of their children to a federal government agency.

The Abbott Government’s response, to what can only be seen as an overwhelming rejection by both the general public and GPs, is to insist that all citizens now be mandatorily included in this national database which will allegedly have a new opt-out provision.

The reason given for this move to add every citizen to a re-worked national database is a recommendation contained in an ‘independent’ six-week review of eHealth by a three person panel ordered by then Minister for Health Peter Dutton in November 2013.

This recommendation by Messrs. Royle (Australian Private Hospitals Association), Hambleton (Australian Medical Association) & Walduck (Australia Post) was for an opt-out model to be implemented by 1 January 2015 as there was little meaningful use of the existing opt-in eHealth database.

A brief background of the evolution of this national database on North Coast Voices:

Friday, 17 April 2009  So you want to look through my medical records?

Wednesday, 10 June 2009  Federal Labor and Health Minister Roxon crossing a bridge too far

Thursday, 13 August 2009 Hoyden Laurelhed quite rightly expresses disquiet over Federal Government progression of a national e-health data base

Sunday, 24 January 2010 Australian Health Minister Nicola Roxon is not telling the truth about the Medicare e-card 

Thursday, 28 January 2010  e-Health: something's rotten in the State of Kevin

Sunday, 7 March 2010  And these are the people Rudd & Co intend to trust with access to a national database containing all your sensitive personal information?

Monday, 15 March 2010  Who's guarding the guards guarding your personal information?

Wednesday, 9 March 2011 Felling unwell? Take two aspirin and stay away from NSW hospitals

Thursday, 14 April 2011  PCEHR opt-in provision expected to allay privacy concerns. Pull the other one!

Tuesday, 13 December 2011 So you thought the Gillard Government had promised you would control your own e-Health database information?

Tuesday, 7 February 2012 eHealth – when “We told you so” gives no satisfaction

Wednesday, 7 November 2012 e-Health: join at your own risk

Tuesday, 6 May 2014 e-Health PCEHR platform: what is the Abbott Government trying to hide?

Tony Abbott's latest budget pork pie

Tens of thousands of wealthier retirees will lose access to the age pension under changes targeting what Prime Minister Tony Abbott has described as "liquid assets millionaires".

Excuse me?

Every single one of these people receiving a part aged pension will continue to do so – it will just not be in the form of cash into their bank accounts.

Under Abbott’s sleight-of-hand the announced changes will lose them the small fortnightly cash transfers some currently receive, but they will all retain the highly financially lucrative seniors health card – a benefit worth thousands of dollars a year to the average retiree.

If you want proof of this just look at the paltry savings the Abbott Government is supposedly garnering from the this measure – a total of est. $177.7 million each year over the next four years.

An estimated 91,000 of those independent retirees (some of them millionaires) who structured their post-retirement assets, tax-free superannuation lump sums and income streams to allow themselves a regular federal government welfare payment and/or benefit, will lose their Centrelink cash transfer, but retain the right to bulk-billed medical services, heavily subsidised pharmaceuticals, subsidised public transport travel, telephone account concessions and, energy supplements etc via retention of the seniors health card.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott, Treasurer Joe Hockey, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann and the rest of their far-fight rabble must think Australian voters are fools if they expect them to swallow this politically convenient stop-gap measure aimed at neatly sidestepping the need for superannuation tax status reform.

Treasurer Joe Hockey spinning so hard he loses all memory of his own past media releases

It has become increasingly difficult to take this Australian Treasurer seriously.

He treats the economy as his political plaything.

Joe Hockey on Tuesday 4 December 2012

http://www.joehockey.com/media/transcripts/details.aspx?s=409

Joe Hockey on Tuesday 5 May 2015

http://www.joehockey.com/media/media-releases/details.aspx?r=481

Campbell Newman's unwise decisions when Queensland premier continue to haunt that state

Correspondence between former Queensland police officer and former chief magistrate Chief Justice Tim Carmody, the President of the Court Of Appeal Justice Margaret McMurdo, Justice Hugh Fraser and others clearly demonstrates that an unwise political decision on the part of then Liberal National Party Premier Campbell Newman in 2014 will not be easily rectified.

Scroll to the end for the first email in the chain, dated 17 April 2015.

Correspondence between Queensland Chief Justice Tim Carmody, the President of the Court Of Appeal and other...

BACKGROUND

ABC News 9 May 2015:

Timeline of controversies surrounding Chief Justice Tim Carmody:
Nov 2013	Angered the legal profession by issuing a directive that all disputed bail applications made by alleged bikies be dealt with in one court room. That meant he would, most likely, be presiding over the controversial cases.
June 2013	Selected as chief justice despite never having sat on the Supreme Court, and after only nine months in the chief magistrate's job. Chosen over long-serving judges.
Jan 2014	Told newly appointed magistrates not to "meddle" with the controversial bikie laws.
June 2014	Bar Association President Peter Davis quits over appointment.
June 2014	Former Supreme Court judge Richard Chesterman QC and corruption fighter Tony Fitzgerald criticise appointment. Mr Sofronoff claimed Justice Carmody was too close to former Liberal National Party government. "His impartiality as between citizen and government has been called into question".

July 2014	Sworn in as Chief Justice behind closed doors, as controversy raged about his suitability for the job.
April 15, 2015	Met child protection advocate Hetty Johnston while still deliberating on whether Daniel Morcombe's accused killer should have his conviction overturned.
April 17	Court of Appeal President Margaret McMurdo raises issues of bias because of the meeting.
April 22	Justice Carmody responds that any suggestion of bias is "unsupported by precedent and utterly preposterous". Says it is "alarming" Justice McMurdo's associate investigates Ms Johnstone's comments over Cowan.
April 23	Justice McMurdo says "I cannot sit with him again on any Court".
April 29	It is revealed Justice Carmody did not read Justice McMurdo or Justice Fraser's draft judgements on Cowan appeal, despite being circulated in February.
May 7	Justice Carmody withdraws from Cowan appeal

Queensland Council for Civil Liberties vice-president Terry O'Gorman has also weighed in, calling on the Chief Justice to resolve the dispute.

"To have a Chief Justice make so many mistakes goes back to the fundamental issue of the botched appointment," he said. 

"The Chief Justice has the problem, the Chief Justice has to solve the problem. 

"The fact is the Chief Justice said a couple of months ago that if his occupying the position of Chief Justice made the position of the Supreme Court untenable ... he would resign, the position is becoming increasing untenable. 

"There are so many problems with the ongoing occupancy by Justice Carmody of the position of Chief Justice that this stalemate has to come to an end, this crisis has to be addressed. He is the only one who can address it."

Justice Carmody enjoyed a meteoric rise under the former Liberal National Party government and was promoted from Chief Magistrate, after a nine-month stint, despite never serving on the Supreme Court.

Leaders in the judiciary, including Justice Wilson, have publicly turned on him and questioned if he was ready for the top job or had enough peer support.