Abbott votes with Thomson in Parliament on the morning of 30 May 2012

TONY Abbott says the Gillard government only survives because of the tainted vote of Craig Thomson and he’s challenged the Prime Minister to bar the central coast MP from voting. [The Australian 30 May 2012]

In which Abbott, Entsch and Pyne show just how silly they can be on 30 May 2012.....

http://youtu.be/LE16yS_n9HE

In a media doorstop Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott himself called, he at first denied outright that he had voted with Independent MP Craig Thomson against a motion to gag Opposition Treasury spokesperson Joe Hockey.

Commonwealth Hansard states differently at approximately 9.10am: 

In division—

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition was on the floor at the time—that is the chamber. We will now proceed with the vote. The question is that the member be no longer heard.

NOES
Abbott, AJ	Alexander, JG
Andrews, KJ	Andrews, KL
Bandt, AP	Billson, BF
Bishop, BK	Bishop, JI
Briggs, JE	Broadbent, RE
Buchholz, S	Chester, D
Christensen, GR	Ciobo, SM
Cobb, JK	Coulton, M (teller)
Crook, AJ	Dutton, PC
Entsch, WG	Fletcher, PW
Frydenberg, JA	Gambaro, T
Gash, J	Griggs, NL
Haase, BW	Hartsuyker, L***
Hawke, AG	Hockey, JB
Hunt, GA	Irons, SJ
Jensen, DG	Jones, ET
Kelly, C	Laming, A
Ley, SP	Macfarlane, IE
Marino, NB	Matheson, RG
McCormack, MF	Mirabella, S
Morrison, SJ	Moylan, JE
Neville, PC	Oakeshott, RJM
O'Dowd, KD	O'Dwyer, KM
Prentice, J	Ramsey, RE
Randall, DJ	Robb, AJ
Robert, SR	Roy, WB
Ruddock, PM	Schultz, AJ
Scott, BC	Secker, PD (teller)
Simpkins, LXL	Smith, ADH
Somlyay, AM	Southcott, AJ
Stone, SN	Tehan, DT
Thomson, CR	Truss, WE
Tudge, AE	Turnbull, MB
Van Manen, AJ	Vasta, RX
Washer, MJ	Wilkie, AD
Windsor, AHC	Wyatt, KG

***The NSW Nationals Member for Cowper, Luke Hartsuyker, on the NSW North Coast also voted with Thomson.

While the above video of the House of Representatives just prior to the vote shows Abbott’s attempt to leave the Chamber, improperly and in defiance of parliamentary procedure, after the Acting Speaker had called for the doors to be locked on a division.

Not being so swift when not clad in Lycra, he was caught by the Acting Speaker and forced to return to his seat to then take part in the vote.

The Acting Speaker, Deputy Speaker Anna Burke had the last word on the subject:

...it is not for the opposition or the government to accept a member's vote. We need to clarify this: it is for the parliament to accept a member's vote...

End of story.

A Special Event For Australia: Venus crosses the face of the Sun on 6 June 2012

Transit of Venus 2004 from Google Images

Scienceworks:

On the 6th June, Venus will line up directly with the Sun and we'll get to see the planet as a small black dot against the bright Sun. It's an astronomical curiosity today, but in times past it prompted major scientific expeditions. Men devoted their lives to the Transit – some were successful and there were also many tales of despair – as they tried to unlock the true size of the Solar System.

Only six transits have occurred since the phenomenon was discovered – 1639, 1761, 1769, 1874, 1882 and the most recent in 2004. Each has its own story. Like the transit of 1769 that provided the public reason for James Cook's voyage to the Pacific but led him to chart the east coast of Australia.

The transit in June will be the last in our lifetimes. No one will witness this event again until 2117……

The best time to view this phenomenon is thought to be between 8.16am and 8.35am EST as it first moves onto the Sun's face.

Forget Gina - Kev's better half finally made it into The Rich 200 in 2012

Go Razee! You’ve got more heart than Gina any day.

“The Rich 200 remains largely a man’s domain. Just 16 women make the list, up from 15 last year. Many of them are wives of primary wealth creators.

Not so the new entrant. Although Therese Rein’s husband is a former prime minister of Australia (Kevin Rudd) it is her entrepreneurial skill in the employment services industries that has led to her $210 million fortune.”

What Chris said yesterday ...

The Member for Clarence, Chris Gulaptis, provided these little gems yesterday:
"... the Australian public love the monarchy. ... The love of the monarchy has even extended to Pippa's derrière—we just cannot enough of it."
(Mr Christopher Gulaptis (Clarence) [6.34 p.m.]: speaking to the Constitution Amendment (Restoration of Oaths of Allegiance) Bill 2011)

Cripes! We pay good money to have a local represent us in Macquarie Street and that is what we get. Is the bloke for real or is he a fruit cake?

Source: Hansard, NSW Legislative Assembly, 29/5/12