The writings on the wall for all Australian print newspapers

Even front page pics of royal babies, crocodiles, UFOs or politicians caught with their pants down doesn’t stop the rot anymore.

Click on list to make it grow

List first posted over at Loon Pond

Liberal Party candidate for Charlton Kevin Baker, who withdrew from Abbott's Army this afternoon, has been on the nose for years

ABC News 20 August 2013:

Kevin Baker, who is contesting former minister Greg Combet's NSW seat of Charlton, was forced to shut down the personal website after it was revealed he had "posted hundreds of lewd jokes about women and had links to pornography", the Daily Telegraph has reported.

"Some of that banter, it has now been discovered, included jokes about the Pope being a paedophile, women having sex on pool tables and what Mr Baker himself calls 'Tit-banter',"…..

The Daily Telegraph quoted Mr Baker as saying in a statement last night:

"I set up an online forum for Mini Cooper enthusiasts several years ago.

"On the site I made comments that were inappropriate, which I deeply regret and for which I apologise unreservedly.

"In the last few years I have also failed to moderate the site properly.

"A number of statements have been made by participants that are also completely inappropriate.

"I have now shut the offending site down."

Kevin Baker states that in the last few years he has failed to properly moderate the website he created and registered.

In fact one can see that Mr. Baker has been failing to stop offensive comment since at least 2006 if one has a peek at forums.mini-mods.com using the Wayback Machine:

With the writing on the wall Kevin Baker issued this statement:

Metgasco CSG well "shot broken drill rods, methane and liquids skyward in the process of dying"

Echonetdaily 14 August 2013:

The recent dismantling of a coal seam gas (CSG) well adjacent to Casino airport could have been lethal after the explosive ejection of broken drill rods and methane into the air, it was claimed this week.

Mining company Metgasco says no-one was hurt during the well’s decommissioning late on Sunday, July 14, as safety equipment installed on the well to cope with such events had worked.

But Nimbin Environment Centre secretary Alan Roberts said the ‘explosion’ and loud noise as gas burst out under high pressure had alarmed surrounding residents, including those staying at a nearby motor-home park.

Mr Roberts, who is part of a group monitoring the decommissioning of 19 Metgasco CSG wells in the northern rivers, said that during the decommissioning of the well, ‘200 metres of drill rod and milling tool were ejected explosively’.

He said that a Metgasco official, when asked about the incident at the time, told him it was ‘normal to circulate some gas to the mud degasser in the process of killing the well’ and that he could ‘rest assured the well is now dead’ and workmen would ‘soon be running in to commence the abandonment operations’.

But Mr Roberts said, ‘Metgasco may consider it normal, but the well certainly did not, as it shot broken drill rods, methane and liquids skyward in the process of dying’…..

Hartsuyker lets the cat out of the bag on higher mobile phone costs if the Coalition wins on 7 September 2013

On 13 August 2013 Opposition Leader Tony Abbott announced that: If elected, a Coalition government will partner with local communities, state governments and telecommunications companies to ensure that the total new investment in black spots is far greater than our $100 million commitment.

This policy will provide $80 million for a Mobile Network Expansion Programme that will improve mobile phone coverage along major transport routes, in small communities and in locations prone to experiencing natural disasters. 

The Mobile Network Expansion Programme is expected to generate at least an additional $80 million investment from the major mobile phone carriers. 

The Coalition will also provide $20 million for a Mobile Black Spot Programme to address unique mobile coverage problems – such as locations with high seasonal demand – and deliver a targeted response.

The next day the Australian Financial Review reported that the Shadow Minister for Regional Communications and Nationals Member for Cowper here on the NSW North Coast, Luke Hartsuyker, stated that he expects major mobile phone carriers and regional communities to stump up over $100 million to build the towers.

Which would inevitably translate into higher mobile phone costs across regional and rural Australia, as state/local governments and telcos passed these costs on to consumers.

Something Opposition Leader Tony Abbott neglected to mention in his media announcement.

Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott suffers a bout of dangerous stupidity

This was Opposition Leader Tony Abbott during the 11 August 2013 televised and transcribed Leaders Debate:

Well, I accept that it was quite a detailed set of changes and it was largely based on a report by the Productivity Commission. I thought that the Productivity Commission report was a good report, as did my Shadow Minister, Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells. On this issue there isn't an enormous difference between the Coalition and the Government but we do need to try to ensure that the providers, that the nurses, that the other workers in these aged care centres who do such a terrific job, such a terrific job, and are so helpful to very vulnerable Australians, don't have to spend as much time on paperwork as they currently do under a paper-based accountability system. [my red bolding]

Perhaps Mr. Abbott might like to explain what paperwork he would eliminate?

Would it be daily observation charts, case notes, individual treatment plans, outcomes of multidisciplinary case management conferences, filling in accident/incident registers, or more simple tasks like placing patients/residents on lists for podiatry treatment and filling in weekly menus for those who can no longer do such tasks for themselves etc?

Or would it be paperwork proving staffing levels, that all staff were suitably qualified for the positions they hold and that emergency medical equipment is tested/serviced regularly?

A paper based accountability system is there for a reason – to protect the wellbeing and rights of older Australians living their final years in nursing home care.

Tony Abbott’s slick promise to cut-the-red-tape, which he frequently throws into press conferences on all manner of subjects, is dangerously stupid.

Leaders Debate 11 August 2013: Did Fairfax media massage the facts with not one but two dodgy montages?

Here are two photographs attributed to Andrew Meares and published by Fairfax media outlets which purport to show Opposition Leader Tony Abbott discovering  that Australian Prime Minister Rudd had notes on his lectern at the National Press Club on 11 August 2013.

Here is a third photograph of Rudd and Abbott shaking hands on the night.

Who else is somewhat suspicious of the similarities in Abbott’s posture and his position on the stage in all three images.

Could it possibly be that the first two photographs are in fact montages created for dramatic effect?

This is the man who is using his media empire in support of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's bid to become Australian Prime Minister..... Part 2

Rupert Murdoch Executive Chairman of News Corporation

The Independent 17 August 2013:

Scotland Yard is investigating News International as a “corporate suspect” over hacking and bribing offences, it can be revealed.

The Independent has learnt the Metropolitan Police has opened an “active investigation” into the corporate liabilities of the UK newspaper group – recently rebranded News UK – which could have serious implications for the ability of its parent company News Corp to operate in the United States. One of Rupert Murdoch’s most senior lawyers has been interviewed under caution on behalf of the company and two other very senior figures have been officially cautioned for corporate offences. John Turnbull, who works on News Corp’s Management and Standards Committee (MSC) which co-ordinates the company’s interactions with the Metropolitan Police, answered formal questions from detectives earlier this year.

The development has caused pandemonium at the upper echelons of the Murdoch media empire. Shortly afterwards, executives in America ordered that the company dramatically scale back its co-operation with the Metropolitan Police.

A News Corp analysis of the effects of a corporate charge, produced in New York, said the consequences could “kill the corporation and 46,000 jobs would be in jeopardy”…..

Reuters 16 August 2013:

However, the source familiar with the matter told Reuters detectives and prosecutors also were actively considering taking action against News Corp as a corporation.

More than a year ago, Sue Akers, the officer who was then leading the police inquiry, sent a letter to MSC Chairman Lord Grabiner to advise him of this, the source said….