FILE UNDER NOTHING CHANGES: Liberal & Nationals MPs poised to help out their banker mates once more

Assistant Treasurer and Liberal MP for Higgins Kelly O'Dwyer was quick to deny the content of the media release (below) concerning the Superannuation Legislation Amendment (Transparency Measures) Bill 2015: Product dashboards.

However Allens Linklater appears to support Industry Super Australia’s take on the new rules:

The Bill sets up (and proposes changes to) the application of the product dashboard rules as follows:

* Choice product dashboards now only need to be provided for a fund's 10 largest choice investment options by funds under management (with some exclusions) rather than all choice products. For the purposes of working out a fund's largest choice investment options, a lifecycle option should be treated as one option.

* Although a choice lifecycle option should be treated as one option for the purposes of identifying its size, a separate product dashboard is required for each lifecycle stage in the option (and this applies to both MySuper and choice lifecycle options).

* Eligible rollover funds and pooled superannuation funds are specifically excluded from the product dashboard rules.

Industry Super Australia, media release, 28 January 2016:

GOVERNMENT PROPOSALS WILL PREVENT CONSUMER “COMPARE THE PAIR”

A carve out of an estimated 72% of the bank-owned and retail super sector from requirements to disclose their investment returns, fees and costs on proposed “product dashboards” for super funds could make it nearly impossible for Australians to readily make informed choices about their superannuation, industry super funds have warned.

The new federal Government proposals carve out bank-owned super funds held through platforms and some legacy products from having to disclose details on ‘dashboards’.

Product “dashboards” are designed to provide consumers with a standardised and simple presentation of fees, all underlying costs, risk and net returns.

The proposed changes mean many bank-owned super products will not have to disclose many of their underlying investment costs.

According to independent analysis by Rainmaker, as at December 2014, 72 per cent of the $572 billion of retail superannuation assets were held via platforms.

“Australians need to be able to compare the net performance of super funds to be able to make informed choices”, said David Whiteley, Chief Executive of Industry Super Australia.

“It is unsurprising that the banks oppose having to disclose the performance of their super funds in an easily comparable and transparent manner. According to SuperRatings, industry super funds have outperformed bank owned super funds over the short, medium and long term to 31 December 2015.

The Government is also seeking to remove existing limited exemptions to choice of fund legislation introduced by the Howard government at the request of employers. It is estimated the exemptions currently cover less than seven out of a hundred Australian employees.

In submissions to Treasury, ISA has recommended that the Government not proceed with the changes until:

* The product dashboard regime includes all superannuation products and investment options with no carve outs for banks and retail funds; and

* A cost benefit analysis is undertaken of the plan to remove Howard Government choice of fund rules.

“Industry super funds support a strong default fund safety net, the ability of members to choose their own fund, and access to information to make informed decisions.

“We are concerned that these proposals have not been through a rigorous evaluation. In their current form the proposals are internally inconsistent, seeking to extend choice of fund without providing consumers with the necessary information to make informed decisions.”

“Despite very few Australians actively choosing a fund other than the default one their employer has in place, everyone needs to be able to compare the performance of funds to be able to make an informed decision. It is not good enough that the banks want to hide their chronic under-performance from consumers”, said David Whiteley.

Background

Brisbane Times, 28 January 2016:

ISA and the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees, the lobby group for all non-profit funds including public sector and corporate funds as well as industry funds, argued that requiring funds to produce dashboards only for their 10 largest investment options meant too many retail products would be exempt. 

In their submission to Treasury, AIST pointed to the findings of a soon-to-be-released report it commissioned by SuperRatings that showed retail MySuper fees and costs were on average 28 per cent higher than those passed on to the public by non-profit providers. 

The upcoming report will also show that in the choice market, the like-for-like fees and costs charged by retail funds were 85 per cent to 300 per cent higher than the comparable investment options from non-profit funds. 

"Members of many bank-owned super funds are being kept in the dark about high fees that will materially affect their retirement," AIST chief executive Tom Garcia said. 

All MySuper products, the no-frills funds that employers can nominate for default flows, are already required to produce a product dashboard. The new rules will extend this requirement to choice products. 

Non-profit super providers dominate the $547 billion MySuper sector with a market share of 83 per cent, while retail providers dominate the $681 billion choice sector with a market share of 64 per cent, according to the regulator's latest statistics. 

A profile of personal incomes in the Northern Rivers region is a lesson in the unequal distribution of wealth

On 28 January 2016 the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its Estimates of Personal Income for Small Areas, 2012-13.

These estimates show that for Australia, the median total personal income in 2012-13 for people lodging tax returns was $44,940. The top 10 per cent of earners received 33.7 per cent of the total income and the median age of an earner was 42 years of age. Also, 77.9 per cent of earners reported employee income as their main source of income.

In NSW the per cent of total income (from wages/investments) held by the top 1% of earners  is 10.5% - with the top 10% having 34.9% of total income.

In NSW the median total income from all sources for individuals was $44,780 (excluding government pensions/allowances), in Greater Sydney it was $47,281 and in the rest of NSW it was $40,702, both with the same exclusions.

In the Northern Rivers region the median total income from all sources for individuals was less than $39,000 (excluding government pensions/allowances).

This is a basic profile of wage and investment earners in all seven local government areas within the NSW Northern Rivers region:

BALLINA LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

* number of employees earning a wage – 16,348

* median age of employee – 44

* percentage of employees whose wage is main source of income – 67.3%

* average wage – $48,595 (half of those earning a wage receive $40,617pa or less)

* number of people with investment income – 17,131

* percentage of people whose main source of income was investments – 18.6%

* average investment income – $9,005 (half of those with investment income receive $573pa or less)
* Total income of all earners living in this local government area (excluding govt pensions/allowances): $1.07 billion with the top 10% sharing 33.2% of this billion

BYRON LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

* number of employees earning a wage – 12,300

* median age of employee – 41

* percentage of employees whose wage is main source of income – 61.4%

* average wage – $43,947 (half of those earning a wage receive $33,634pa or less)

* number of people with investment income –  13,332

* percentage of people whose main source of income was investments – 18.1%

* average investment income – $12,365 (half of those with investment income receive $624pa or less)

* Total income of all earners living in this local government area (excluding govt pensions/allowances): $823.5 million with the top 10% of the population sharing 38.5% of these millions

CLARENCE VALLEY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

* number of employees earning a wage - 16,945

* median age of employee – 44 years

* percentage of employees whose wage is main source of income – 70.9%

* average wage – $45,005 (half of those earning a wage receive $38,958pa or less)

* number of people with investment income – 16,468

* percentage of people whose main source of income was investments – 15.7%

* average investment income – $4,880 (half of those with investment income receive $378pa or less)
* Total income of all earners living in this local government area (excluding govt pensions/allowances): $915.5 million with the top 10% sharing 31.1% of these millions

KYOGLE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

* number of employees earning a wage – 2,777

* median age of employee – 45

* percentage of employees whose wage is main source of income – 68.7%

* average wage –  $43,789 (half of those earning a wage receive $38,678pa or less)

* number of people with investment income – 2,841

* percentage of people whose main source of income was investments – 14.0%

* average investment income – $5,366 (half of those with investment income receive $473pa or less)
* Total income of all earners living in this local government area (excluding govt pensions/allowances): $143.4 million with the top 10% sharing 33.9% of these millions

LISMORE LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

* number of employees earning a wage – 16,972

* median age of employee – 43

* percentage of employees whose wage is main source of income – 74.8%

* average wage – $45,989 (half of those earning a wage receive $40,751pa or less)

* number of people with investment income – 15,629

* percentage of people whose main source of income was investments – 12.8%

* average investment income – $5,289 (half of those with investment income receive $343pa or less)
* Total income of all earners living in this local government area (excluding govt pensions/allowances): $946.7 million with the top 10% sharing 29.7% of these millions

RICHMOND VALLEY LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

* number of employees earning a wage – 7,587

* median age of employee – 42

* percentage of employees whose wage is main source of income – 76.4%

* average wage – $44,229 (half of those earning a wage receive $40,880pa or less)

* number of people with investment income – 6,617

* percentage of people whose main source of income was investments – 13.6%

* average investment income – $3,988 (half of those with investment income receive $271pa or less
* Total income of all earners living in this local government area (excluding govt pensions/allowances): $388.7 million with the top 10% sharing 28.1% of these millions

TWEED LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA

* number of employees earning a wage – 32,066

* median age of employee – 43

* percentage of employees whose wage is main source of income –  69.7%

* average wage – $49,061 (half of those earning a wage receive $41,592pa or less)

* number of people with investment income – 30,587

* percentage of people whose main source of income was investments – 16.7%

* average investment income – $7,320 (half of those with investment income receive $396pa or less)
* Total income of all earners living in this local government area (excluding govt pensions/allowances): $2.00 billion with the top 10% sharing 31.7% of these billions

Abbott the hysterical historian

There’s no doubt about Tony Abbott – he’s the gift that keeps on giving

Matt Golding cartoon.

This is Tones the historian giving a definition of marriage though the ages.

Forget cultures which practice polyandry or polygamy. Ignore “walking marriage”, “fixed term marriage”, “ghost marriage”, “marriage to a deity”, “woman-woman marriage” and marriage involving a “two spirit” person.

No, it has definitely been lifetime monogamous marriage between one man and one woman since time immemorial, according to the MP for Warringah.

*Sound of  thousands of anthropologists laughing out loud*

Excerpt from Tony Abbott’s speech to an assembly of right-wing extremists at an Alliance Defending Freedom dinner on 28 January 2016:

Marriage, actually, was never just about two people who love each other. Siblings love each other. Parents love their children and vice versa. Friends can love each other. You don’t need to be married to love someone.

It’s only in recent times, that marriage has been about romantic love. Marriage arose as a way of dealing with human imperfection. It was to keep men more committed and less likely to abandon their wives and children – and I doubt that we have become so flawless that this no longer matters.

In Australia, just a decade ago, almost unanimously, the parliament affirmed that marriage was between a man and a woman…..

Indeed, around the world, some 17 countries now provide for same sex marriage. But 176 don’t – and few of them are likely to change any time soon.

Now, I know that numbers aren’t the only test – but it’s hardly self-evident that the 17 that have changed are right and that all the others are wrong.

Not long ago most gay activists rejected marriage as an oppressive institution.

Now they demand as their right what they recently scorned; they demand what was unimaginable in all previous times and still is in most places. They are seeking what has never been and expecting others to surrender what always has. It’s a massive ask — for me, an ask too far.

I support people’s right to make a case for the things they ­believe, and want them cour­teously heard, but policymakers should strive to hold the common ground.

In today’s world, we need less ideology and more common sense; we need less impatience and more respect; we need less shouting at people and more ­engagement with them.

We shouldn’t try to change something without understanding it, without grasping why it is that one man and one woman open to children until just a very few years ago has always and everywhere been considered the essence of marriage and the heart of family.

Of course, we can’t shirk our responsibilities to the future, but let’s also respect and appreciate values and institutions that have stood the test of time and pass them on, undamaged, when that’s best.

Some readers might also question Abbott's notion that in the West traditional marriage evolved as a way to protect women and children. Rather than as a way for men to protect their own political, property and inheritance rights.

Will Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull explain to voters why it has only been Mal Brough who has stood aside from his ministerial position during this Australian Federal Police investigation?

Liberal-National Party MP for Longman Wyatt Roy has been federal Assistant Minister for Innovation since 21 September 2015.

It has been alleged that he is a parliamentarian who sometime in 2012 (along with Mal Brough) requested a member of the Speaker’s staff, James Ashby, to make a copy of sections of then Independent MP for Fisher and Speaker of the House of Representatives Peter Slipper’s official diary for a political purpose.

In 2013 Peter Slipper lost his seat and Mal Brough was elected to federal parliament as the Member for Fisher.

In September 2015 Mal Brough (along with Liberal MP for Stuart and now Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science  Christopher Pyne & Wyatt Roy) supported the sacking of Tony Abbott as prime minister and the installation of Malcolm Turnbull in his place

In December 2015 it was reported that Wyatt Roy was under investigation in relation to longstanding allegations against Special Minister of State and Minister for Defence Materiel and Science Mal Brough and, on 1 February 2016 it was further reported that he (along with Christopher Pyne) is 'assisting police with inquiries’ in relation to associated allegations.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull needs to explain to voters why it has only been Mal Brough who has stood aside from his ministerial positions during this Australian Federal Police investigation.

Because as it now stands it can be suspected that it is purely the prime minister’s naked self-interest which is protecting Roy and Pyne from temporary demotion until the police investigation resolves the matter one way or another, as he can ill-afford to alienate more of those parliamentary supporters who gained him his present high office.

Are we in the first years of a global tax war?

Tax evasion and avoidance has been called a trillion dollar evil and right now in Australia the corporate fight-back has begun as big business and wealthy individuals decide that they want to hold on to every single dollar of their share of this trillion.

Expect a national public relations campaign explaining why business and industry pay their fair share of Australian taxes if the Tax Advisory Panel (and the industry sectors it represents) gets its wish.

I suspect that they are all watching what is going down in Europe with a great deal of interest……..

Financial Times UK, 27 January 2016:

The uproar about Google paying £130m in back taxes and raising the amount it pays in the UK by just £10m a year is merely a little local difficulty compared with what comes next.

Apple could soon be instructed to pay billions, triggering a showdown between Europe and the US and a potential breakdown of the international tax system. This sounds apocalyptic but it is a decent bet.

If you doubt it, consider the following. From irate taxpayers and infuriated politicians to defiant bosses of multinationals, many are at the ends of their tethers about corporate tax.

Countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development have spent two years trying to fix the system; one of the first results, Google’s UK deal, has gone down terribly.

Apple disclosed on Tuesday that its minimally taxed pot of overseas cash has grown to $200bn.

Tim Cook, chief executive, flew to Brussels last week to protest at the likelihood of being told by the European Commission to pay a chunk to Ireland, where it has operated since 1980.

American politicians are angry at what some call “a direct threat to the interests of the US”.

The question on which the future of global tax harmony rests is not whether Google should pay more in the UK and less in Ireland.

It is whether US multinationals pay much tax anywhere on overseas earnings, and whether they ever will.

For now, billions in profits are booked in Bermuda and offshore entities, annoying everyone.

The centre is not holding for Alphabet, Google’s parent group, as France and Italy reinterpret their laws to make it pay more tax before local profits escape to Ireland and then, via the Netherlands, to Bermuda.

It will surely fracture over EU cases against Apple and Amazon since the US lives in hope that one day, over the rainbow, their cash will come home to be taxed.

We face a historic moment.

The tax system formed under the League of Nations in 1928 relies on the idea that companies should be taxed largely where profits are created, not where they sell their products and services.

It could soon fall apart and what happens then is anyone’s guess, although it will not be pretty and will probably resemble a global tax war.

Read the rest of the article here.

The Guardian, 28 January 2016 

The UK government’s controversial tax deal with Google could fall foul of European competition rules and will be investigated if a complaint is made, the European commissioner responsible for the rules has warned.

Margrethe Vestager said that so-called sweetheart deals between member states and companies were unfair and could amount to illegal state aid.

The SNP has already written to Vestager calling for a European commission investigation into Google’s tax settlement

Asked on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme about the government’s £130m deal with Google on back taxes, she said: “That’s way too early to say because I don’t know the details of the deal.”

Asked whether she would investigate, Vestager said: “If we find that there is something to be concerned about, if someone writes to us and says: ‘Maybe this is not as it should be’, then we will take a look.”

She added: “We should be in a union where everyone has a fair chance of making it. If you are in a small innovative company … the bigger ones shouldn’t close the market and disable your opportunity to find customers.” 

Vestager’s remarks will add to the mounting pressure on David Cameron, whose government has been accused of being too close to Google……

The Sydney Morning Herald, 16 October 2015:

We are entering a new world of tax revenue wars, and no one can say who will emerge as the victor. 

All we know is that there will be tension over the next five years as governments seek to implement the global plan to end to tax havens from Luxembourg to Bermuda.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development plan - known as Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (BEPS) – will put an end to non-taxation.

From the OECD's perspective, in a world where there's no longer zero tax, everyone's a winner. In practice, there's likely to be winners and losers.

Tensions will arise because there's still no clear guidance on where or how much profit should be taxed.

BEPS action item 1 (there's 15 parts) said it was impossible to ring-fence the digital economy. It stopped short of recommending whether profits should be taxed where the customer is and value is created (source), or the country where the product originated (residence)…..

The OECD estimates that there could be up to $US240 billion ($325 billion) in revenue being lost due tax avoidance. But that's likely to be tied in with bigger problems such as money laundering.

How many companies with annual turnovers in excess of $250 million pay tax in Australia?

[Australian Tax Office, Corporate tax transparency report for the 2013-14 income year]

Anthony John "Tony" Abbott has decided that contrary to popular belief he is still Australia's prime minister

This is the very arrogant MP for Warringah backgrounding mainstream media……

Sky News, 1 February 2016:

Tony Abbott has met US President Barack Obama privately in Washington, it's been reported.

The former prime minister also held secret talks with the president's spy chief, News Corp reported on Monday, noting that the meetings could irk Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Mr Abbott and Mr Obama met at an exclusive banquet on Saturday night, with sources saying the two had a very warm and intimate discussion.

A day earlier, Mr Abbott reportedly held secret talks with the US director of National Intelligence James Clapper - it's believed they discussed the war effort against Islamic State as well as broader global threats….

The Daily Telegraph, 1 February 2016, p.4:

WHO ABBOTT MET IN THE US

Barack Obama, US President

Richard Haass, President of the Council on Foreign Relations

James Clapper, National Intelligence Director

John McCain, Republican senator and former presidential candidate

James Wolfensohn, former president of the World Bank Credit

And the reason for this high-level foray into foreign policy?

Well, in the first instance it is bound to get up the nose of two people most likely high on Abbott’s hate list – Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

Secondly, Abbott has been travelling during that period of the year in which backbenchers typically go on taxpayer-funded ‘study tours’ and I’m betting that these meetings (along with a photo opportunity with former presidential adviser Henry Kissinger) will form the basis of a claim that he was on just such a tour.

Snapshot from Tony Abbott's Twitter account, 28 January 2016

Thus Abbott, who in all probability was paid to speak at the Alliance Defending Freedom dinner in New York on 28 January, will be able to claim a second time for expenses associated with his recent trip.

After all, this is the man who in 2009 decided that taxpayers should fund his own book promotion tour until he was sprung and had to pay back $9,400 in 2010.

Former Australian defence minister Kevin Andrews skips first week of parliament to address Koch Brothers' funded U.S. Heritage Foundation event

Former prime minister Tony Abbott was a guest speaker at an Alliance Defending Freedom dinner on 28 January 2016 and now his political ally former defence minister Kevin Andrews is scheduled to deliver a speech at a Heritage Foundation event being held in the Allison Auditorium, Washington DC.

This speech can be watched live online from 3am AEDT (Sydney) on 3 February 2016 at http://www.heritage.org/events/2016/02/australia .

Like Alliance Defending Freedom, the Heritage Foundation is a far-right American organisation which seeks to influence federal and state elections, as well as politicians and government policy.

It is a pro-gun, pro-coal, pro-deregulation, anti-universal health care, anti-gay marriage, free market advocate with an online magazine at http://dailysignal.com/. It appears to see religion and traditional morality as playing a significant role in American public life.

This foundation has documented links to the Koch Brothers – two oil billionaires who are alleged to have significantly bankrolled the Republican Party for years and are often characterized as being in the business of buying politicians.

Ties to the Koch Brothers

The Heritage Foundation has received funding from organizations with connections to the Koch brothers. In 2012, the Heritage Foundation received $650,000 from the Claude R. Lambe Foundation, which was one of the Koch Family Foundations before it closed in 2013. The Lambe Foundation contributed at least $4.8 million to the Heritage Foundation between 1998 and 2012.

In recent years, the Heritage Foundation has also received funding from Donors Trust and Donors Capital Fund, including $53,300 in 2010 and $69,850 in 2012. The Koch brothers have donated millions of dollars to Donors Trust through the Knowledge and Progress Fund, and possibly other vehicles. [SourceWatch, Koch Wiki]

Andrews has a long history with the Heritage Foundation going back until at least 2009 and he is described on its website as being from The Heritage Foundation.

After the Heritage Foundation event Kevin Andrews is not jetting straight home to represent his electorate for what remains of the first week of 2016 parliamentary sittings. He will remain in Washington for the 63rd National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday at which the US president traditionally speaks.

Because it appears that invited guests have to purchase a ticket to prayer breakfast events, I will be looking closely at the Member for Menzies next claim for expense reimbursement, as I can see no reason why Australian taxpayers should be paying for his personal religious junket.

In the hope of winning back the highest political office in the land is Tony Abbott committing a cardinal sin against gender equality and Australian democracy?

Did anyone really think that American hard-right religious extremism was confined to U.S. shores and missionary outposts in third world countries?

Does anyone really believe that former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott is currently courting the misogynistic, homophobic, religious extremist group Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) simply to support the notion of Christian family ideals?

The reality is very different.

Religious extremism USA-style is already in this country and it appears that Tony Abbott may be intent on tapping its influence and money in order to rebuild his personal political power.

Indeed, in The Guardian on 27 January 2016, a phone conversation between a journalist and an ADF representative is quoted which seems to indicate that Abbott may be doing just that:

Speaking to me by phone, Clarkson conceded that the closed-door nature of the meeting – which has not been advertised on ADF’s site – made it difficult to know what was happening. But it may not just be an after-dinner speech.

“There could actually be some strategic thinking going on. What kinds of contacts does the ADF have in Australia, and how can Abbott tap into them?”

In any case, it’s a networking opportunity, where an increasingly internationally-focused US Christian right and a leader of Australian social conservatives can exchange views, and perhaps resources.

In April 2016 the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL) will be bringing a supporter of this religiously rabid group, Eric Metaxas, to Australia to speak at its national conference.

This is not a simple cultural exchange, it is part of both ACL and ADF’s efforts to eventually turn Australian democracy into a modern version of a 3rd Century theocracy.

ADF has been highly successful in subverting American democratic processes by trading on bigotry and fear and, this makes it a natural ally of Tony Abbott as these tactics are also found in his political arsenal.

Brief background

Then Australian Health Minister Tony Abbott on his feet in the House of Representatives during the Therapeutic Goods Amendment (Repeal of Ministerial Responsibility for Approval of Ru486) Bill 2005 debate on 15 February 2006:

 every abortion is a tragedy, and up to 100,000 abortions a year is this generation’s legacy of unutterable shame.

The Conversation, 29 October 2012:

The bill was presented as a measure to amend the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, but Schedule 3, amending the Health Insurance Act 1973, aimed to “clarify the scope and power to make Medicare tables.”

In effect, the bill would have granted Abbott as health minister extraordinary power to “determine that Medicare benefits are not payable in specific circumstances”, including for items “the government does not wish to fund through Medicare”.

The bill was immediately sent to committee where Schedule 3 was interpreted by politicians and health professionals alike as an attack on abortion, and perhaps IVF.

As with the pro-RU486 legislation, women MPs worked together to condemn the “disconcerting and questionable” Medicare provision.

The following is a transcript of an Australian Christian Lobby: Voice for Values webpage advertising its 2014 national conference

https://youtu.be/Cw4P7inwl1c

Defending Freedom

Australians enjoy tremendous freedoms.

But what if your freedom was removed because of your religious beliefs?

What if your church was targeted for discrimination because of its beliefs?

What if your foundational freedoms were taken away?

This is a sad reality for many people around the world.

It is also now happening in modern, liberal, Western democracies like the US and Australia.

Alliance Defending Freedom is a US-based alliance-building legal organization that advocates for the right of people to freely live out their faith.

With over 300 allied organisations, 2,400 allied attorneys and 31 countries represented ADF are leading the charge in defending religious liberty.

This month ADF Senior Legal Counsel, Roger Kiska will be speaking at ACL’s National Conference.

If you care about the future of religious freedom in Australia, you won’t want to miss Roger’s talk.

Register today to secure your seat at ACL’s National Conference and to benefit from Roger’s deep knowledge and experience in the battle to preserve religious freedom.

ACL fact sheet as of 27 July 2016 advocating the right of a doctor to not only refuse to directly assist a woman seeking pregnancy termination but also to refuse to refer a woman on to a medical facility which will assist her:

Click on image to enlarge

 Excerpt from an Australian Christian Lobby 2015 jobadvertisement:

Combine your God-given talents and abilities to make a lasting difference to Australian society. Australian Christian Lobby is a grassroots movement of over 50,000 people seeking to bring a Christian influence to Australian politics. We want to see Christian values and ethics accepted and influencing the way we are governed, do business and relate as a society.
Working with a team of experienced and dedicated campaigners, you will play a crucial role in what the Sydney Morning Herald has described as one of the “top echelon of lobbying groups” in Australia……

Australian Christian Lobby is at the forefront of the Australian marriage debate. At ACL you will play a key role in preserving the legal definition of marriage for future generations through the 2016 federal election and the upcoming marriage plebiscite.

Did no-one on Australian Prime Minister Turnbull's staff check that 'homeless' app before he fronted media singing its praises?

But there was Malcolm Turnbull, fresh from describing the latest initiative to help Australia's army of homeless as an "act of love", striding up what the well-heeled like to call the Paris end of Collins Street, Melbourne, where he discovered Mr Kerswell sitting on the footpath.

The Prime Minister stopped, squatted on his haunches and told Mr Kerswell about Ask Izzi, a new website designed to grant Australia's homeless instant access to an array of help, such as food, shelter and legal assistance. [The Sydney Morning Herald, 29 January 2016]

Oh dear, did no-one in Prime Minister Turnbull’s office fully road test this app?

This is just one example of what can go wrong with trusting Izzy:

A homeless person just passing through this little coastal town gets no joy from Izzy when it comes to locating Centrelink.

Although the fact that it has its own freestanding building on the main road might have given the game away as he or she went through the second shopping precinct.

Once there the homeless person can access a wide range of Centrelink services, including requests for an advance payment, changes to direct bill pay, lodging changes in financial circumstances or banking details, submit NewStart paperwork, access myGov etc. 

This Centrelink Service Centre is definitely not an "agent".

Izzy also helpfully lists the nearest Centrelink Access Point, but tells the homeless person that it will take 1 hour 2 minutes to get to Maclean from Yamba, instead of the 15 mins or so by car or 20 mins by bus.

Izzy’s information about Yamba was not the only ill-informed page the app produced.

I can only hazard a guess that the prime minister’s staffers did not bother to look at rural and regional data held by the app or, if they did, probably wouldn’t have realised it was both out-of-date by years in some instances and just plain wrong in others.

UPDATE

This is the answer I received from Izzy when shortly before 8am on Sunday 31 January 2016 I asked about hospitals near Yamba:

Apparently a homeless person is being told the two nearest hospitals (which happen to have 24/7 Accident & Emergency departments) are not open at all today and, yes, the travel times are all wrong again.

The map for Maclean Hospital was just a little more help than that for Centrelink. It showed this:

Yes, really helps heaps, Prime Minister. *drips sarcasm* 

This is what Izzy replies to a homeless person asking where he or she might get food vouchers in Yamba:

The list goes on for some length (offering everywhere from metropolitan Sydney to over the border in Queensland & hundreds of miles inland) without mentioning that after a 1300 phone assessment the Salvation Army in Grafton and Maclean will be able to organize emergency relief such as food vouchers etc.

To be fair, Izzy does mention a commercial retreat & conference centre in Yamba, but as the nuns left there long ago I rather doubt that much emergency assistance would be on offer.

Ask Izzy app is also playing stoopid in the suburbs:

So that would mean that Izzy expects a homeless person to travel an est. 84kms going M3 & Mornington Peninsula Freeway then Link - just to use the Internet. When the Internet can actually be accessed at Collingwood Library via its own computers or using the library's unlimited free WiFi on own laptop or device.

I've also heard that on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland it will refer a homeless woman to a local shelter which no longer exists.

To recap - to date this app gives incorrect, misleading and/or useless information in at least three Australian states.

To Kill A Whooping Crane

This is the beginning of a letter sent in relation to an 18 year-old Texan’s 11 January 2016 alleged killing of two Whooping Cranes protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

Read the rest of this sad letter here.

Image of a pair of Whooping Cranes

found at

https://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/crane/sl/33_annual/feb.html

Quote of the Week

Mr Abbott is more than a lightning rod for internal party dissent; he is an instigator of it and an aggressive leader of the hardline conservatives. 

[Paul Bongiorno writing about former Australian prime minister & current MP for Warringah Tony Abbott in The New Daily, 26 January 2016]

Tweet of the Week

This one was especially tweeted for Liberal MP for Flinders and Australian Minister for against the Environment, Gregory Andrew "Greg" Hunt, by HRH Terry Australis on 25 January 2016: