A Short Primer For Tony Abbott's 'Australians for Honest Politics Trust'

 

Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott often talks of the perceived character failings of other politicians. Here is one instance where his own character can be called into question.

 

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The Australians for Honest Politics Trust was created on 24 August 1998.

This trust allegedly raised approximately $100,000 with the aim of funding one or more civil court cases seeking deregistration of the political party One Nation and the removal of the Member for Oxley Pauline Lee Hanson from the Australian Parliament.

 

Ms. Hanson, a former member of the Liberal Party was disendorsed as a party candidate during the 1996 federal election campaign, entered Parliament as the independent Member for Oxley once election results were declared and, later formed Pauline Hanson’s One Nation with David Oldfield and David Ettridge. This original One Nation Party was registered on 4 December 1997.

 

On 3 & 6 July 1998 Tony Abbott wrote to Queensland Electoral Commissioner Desmond O’Shea objecting to the registration of One Nation. On 8 July the Electoral Commissioner wrote to Mr. Abbott for a second time rejecting his objections and reasons.
 

On 10 July 1998 Terry Sharples commenced civil proceedings in the Queensland Supreme Court formally challenging the registration of One Nation. On or about 11 July Tony Abbott hand wrote a letter to Sharples promising words to the effect that Sharples would not be further out of pocket because of this court case.

 

On 5 July 2001 criminal charges were brought against Ms. Hanson and David Ettridge and they were sentenced to three years gaol for electoral fraud (apparently with no mention of parole) by Judge Patsy Wolfe in the Brisbane District Court on 20 August 2003. Their convictions were quashed on appeal on 6 November 2003.

 

At least six recorded judgments appear to be associated with activities of the Trust’s creators:

 

Sharples v O'Shea & Anor [1998] QSC 171 (31 August 1998)
"One might readily infer that Mr Abbott was as much motivated by party political considerations relating to the next Federal election as he was in the Queensland Electoral Commission inquiring into assertions of misrepresentation and fraud "because of the public interest in the matter".

Sharples v O'Shea & Anor [1999] QSC 190 (18 August 1999)

Pauline Hanson's One Nation v Sharples & Anor B86/2002 [2003] HCATrans 820 (23 June 2003)

Hanson v DPP [2003] QCA 409 (15 September 2003)

R v Hanson; R v Ettridge [2003] QCA 488 (6 November 2003)

Pauline Hanson's One Nation v Sharples & Anor [2003] HCATrans 473 (14 November 2003)  

 

Australians for Honest Politics trustees were:

 

The Honourable John Murray Wheeldon – former member of the Labor Party, former Labor Party senator from West Australia, former editorial writer for The Australian (deceased 2006)

William Peter Coleman – former editor of The Bulletin and Quadrant, former Liberal Party Member for Fuller in the NSW Parliament, former Member for Wentworth in the Federal House of Representatives

The Honourable Anthony John “Tony” Abbott – former journalist with The Bulletin, former Workplace Relations Minister in the Howard Government, current Leader of the Federal Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition

 

There were allegedly twelve donors to this trust and the following individuals have been identified in various media reports as being donors:

 

Trevor Kennedy - former Consolidated Press Holdings chief executive and new member of Gutenberg Investments group (contribution said to be in the vicinity of $10,000)

Harold Clough – West Australian businessman reportedly a major Liberal Party donor and, treasurer of the Lavoisier Group, a director of Clough Limited, on the board of the Institute of Public Affairs and the Asialink Council according to SourceWatch.

 

Alleged fund raiser for the Trust:

 

John Samuel – businessman and sometime associate of Tony Abbott

 

Other individuals allegedly associated with creation of the Trust:

 

Piers Akerman - The Daily Telegraph columnist

 

Applicant in original court case:

 

Terry Patrick Sharples – an accountant allegedly co-opted by Tony Abbott for this purpose by July 1998

Note: David Summers allegedly withdrew as a co-applicant with Sharples and Barbara Hazelton whose separate  proposed court case preparation was paid for by the Trust withdrew her support

           

Individuals alleged to have interested themselves in the fraud court case:
 

Tim Fischer - former National Party leader

Ron Boswell - National Party Senate leader

Bill O'Chee - former National Party senator

 

Copy of the Trust Deed for the Australians for Honest Politics Trust as supplied to the Australian Electoral Commission [AEC] on 20 October 1998 according to the fax timestamp:

 

Note: The witness signatures on Page 3 have been redacted, the remaining two pages supplied to the AEC are illegible and therefor not posted here.

 

Background:

 

Excerpt from Margot Kingston’s book Still Not Happy, John! dealing with the Australians for Honest Politics Trust here.
 

WebDiary Archive

Fairfax Archive

Documents supplied by AEC to Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee in 2004

 

Queensland Crime & Misconduct Commission [January 2004] The prosecution of Pauline Hanson and David Ettridge: a report on an inquiry into issues raised in a resolution of Parliament  

 
Abbott refuses to supply donors names to AEC when requested in 2004 via a formal notice of investigation seeking records and information

Copy of AEC response to queries concerning the Trust

Tony Abbott media releases 1998:

ONE NATION A NEW TYPE OF POLITICAL RIP-OFF 6 July

ONE NATION’S PHANTOM MEMBERS 8 July

ONE NATION - THE DECEPTION DEEPENS 9 July 

 

DAVID OLDFLELD’S ONE NATION  14 July

ONE NATION’S POLICY - BROTHELS FOR SINGLE MOTHERS? 17 July

ONE NATION BAD FOR JOBS 10 August
 

ONE (DICTATOR’S) NATION  11 August 

ONE NATION IN COURT 2 September

ONE (GUN-TOTING) NATION 24 September 

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Not, not, not responsible. I can`t answer for the things I do*

Malcolm Turnbull did a party piece at the Woodford Folk Festival last week – he called for less political spin.

“It's not a 24-hour news cycle, it's a 60-second news cycle now, it's instantaneous,” said Mr Turnbull.“It has never been easier to get away with telling lies. It has never been easier to get away with the glib one liner.”

His solution? All pollies practicing political honesty as a matter of course?

Nah. He think journalists, bloggers and tweeters should dedicate themselves to recording all the lies.

He’s just another fork-tongued MP who refuses to accept personal or party responsibility for widespread, blatant dishonesty.
*Lines from an old Gene Pitney song

Remembering the deeply weird side of Mr. Rabbitt

 

In which Mr. Rabbitt decides that young people with few or no related industry skills will be able to meet a skills shortage in the then booming West Australia mining sector which is now on the downturn.......

 

The Australian 21 April 2010:

 

TONY Abbott has proposed banning the dole for people under 30 in a bid to entice the unemployed to head west and fill massive skill shortages in the booming resources sector.

The Opposition Leader made the controversial remarks during a two-hour meeting with about 15 senior resources industry leaders in Perth on Monday night.

Mr Abbott told the roundtable briefing he believed stopping dole payments to able-bodied young people would take pressure off the welfare system and reduce the need to bring in large numbers of skilled migrants to staff mining projects.

Great to see a former Lower Clarence resident continues to fight the good fight

Heckler in The Sydney Morning Herald is a column where contributors are allowed 450 words on what makes their blood boil. Today's piece, contributed by KJ, appears below. Well done, KJ!

''F--- the wildlife'' was the young man's response when I pointed out no motorbikes were allowed because it was a wildlife conservation area. Similar responses are given when I politely tell people about the ''No dogs'' sign for the same area.
Every summer I am so angry I write a Heckler, but it is not published because I am not witty or funny, and I don't live in Sydney. I just care about the natural environment. This year I am more angry than ever.
Every summer our coastal village is invaded by thousands of people who don't consider how their behaviour will impact on the natural environment or other people. Instead, it is a free-for-all. They leave their brain and manners at home, if they have any.
Garbage? Toss it out the car window or leave it on the beach; or in the gutter, for the next rainfall to wash it out to sea - and back onto the beaches.

Got a four-wheel-drive or trail bike? Rip and tear the dunes and beach habitat, even though vehicles are banned from all beaches in this area.
Camping? Bugger the designated areas in towns and national parks; we want free camping so we'll flatten any plants where we want go, set up camp then burn anything possible, even breaking down shrubs. No toilets so we'll do it in the open.
Fishing? Yeah, great fishing in clean, clear waters. We'll dump fish heads and garbage to harm marine wildlife or pollute the ocean and beaches. Catch as many as we can; we won't be back for another year.
Crowds? Man, we live in the city, we're used to crowds, we push and shove to get what we want. Single file on a walking track when passing others? Never.
Noise? We're used to noise. Geeze, isn't this place peaceful - turn up the music to block out the sound of the ocean.
Dogs? Oh, aren't dogs allowed unleashed, anywhere? The beach looks empty so it doesn't matter if my dog poos there. Cover it with sand or the waves will take it away. Tough anyone else who might want to walk there, or swim in the water, and my dog is always friendly so don't worry if it jumps up on you. And it never does anything wrong, so it is OK to take it into a wildlife conservation area.
Safe, considerate driving? Huh?
This year I am more angry than usual because the crowds are bigger, the traffic jams longer, the people louder and pushier, and the damage to the beach ecosystem from two errant vehicle incidents is immense. February cannot come quickly enough.
Karen Joynes

Source: SMH, page 14, 1/1/12

Metgasco Limited accused of planting agitator?

A number of individuals with a direct interest in or employed in senior positions by Metgasgo Limited have an employment history with mining companies which in one instance reportedly dealt directly with at least one repressive military junta involved in human rights abuses in South-East Asia (Myanmar) and in another instance was thought to have made payments to one violent corrupt dictatorship in Africa (Chad).

One of these companies was also responsible for a catastrophic est. 11 million gallon crude oil spill covering 1,300 miles of Alaskan coastline in 1989.
Yet another of these former employers was recently found to have made a misleading coal seam gas advertisement in Australia.

Given this type of business culture background, it is not hard to imagine the assertion contained in the letter below is within the realms of possibility.

Letter to the Editor published in The Daily Examiner 3 January 2013:

CSG white ants

Protestors who continue their vigil at the Glenugie coal seam gas site have learned to be vigilant in the face of subversive activities designed to undermine their efforts. Early in the piece one particularly loud and aggressive protester, who nobody knew, was suspected of being a plant, determined to provide unsavoury material for the media, and Metgasco, to focus on.
When that person was discreetly questioned, he must have realised his cover was blown, and has not been seen since.
However, the white-anting by people with their own agendas continues, and the letter from Bruce Tom (DE Dec 31) is a typical example. Taking advantage of the offer of a free cup of tea at the very well-managed kitchen on the roadside, he criticises the fact that the tea was brewed on a gas cooker.
Apparently ignorant of the difference between coal seam gas and the liquid petroleum gas being used to make the tea, Bruce accuses his hosts of being hypocritical. Imagine the scorn he would have heaped upon them had they been using an open wood fire (the only alternative) on a high-fire-danger day.
However, Bruce’s red-necked personality really comes to the fore when he makes the derogatory observation about "a Greenie with a chainsaw" operating "with no safety gear to be seen". Perhaps Bruce can explain exactly what it was, in his eyes, that defined the chainsaw artist as a "Greenie". Was it only because he was prepared to take action in support of local landowners whose lives and livelihoods are under threat from gas mining?
It so happens that I was there on the same day and photographed the artist at work. Reviewing those photographs I note that he was wearing work boots and ear muffs. The purist could no doubt complain that he was not wearing chaps or a visor, but to claim there was no safety gear in sight is a deliberate manipulation of the truth.
I am told the artist is a local resident, and an experienced wood carver, and to me he looked and dressed like a farmer or even a timber worker. What people like Bruce need to understand is that opposition to coal seam gas is not restricted to environmentalists, but includes anyone with a modicum of intelligence, allowing them to understand the dangers it poses.
Opponents come from all walks of life, and the support the protest has received from local landowners and businesses, and visitors to the area from all over Australia, has been truly amazing and clearly reflects the mood of the broader community.
I’d like to say well done to everyone involved in the non-violent direct action at Glenugie, particularly those who gave up their Christmas-new year break to continue the vigil. Whether they've stayed for weeks on end, or just come for a friendly chat or to deliver supplies, they are all heroes.

 

John Edwards

South Grafton

 

Australian Broadcasting Corporation may be in for a rocky ride in 2013

 

In 2012 the Australian Communications and Media Authority  investigated approximately fifty complaints against the television arm of the seventy-five year old Australian Broadcasting Corporation and, eleven complaints against its radio stations.

 

Only three of these television program complaints were either partially or fully upheld - two of the broadcasting standards breaches involved the absence of captioning and one involved insufficient opportunity to respond to allegations.

 

Of the radio program complaints investigated only one breach concerning accuracy was found to have occurred.

 

What is fascinating about the investigated complaints list is the unusually high number which allege bias/lack of impartiality in a news or current affairs program.

 

When one compares this list with the smaller list of complaints against commercial television and radio stations last year and the even fewer allegations of bias contained therein, one begins to wonder if what appears to be a sustained politically motivated campaign questioning the ABC’s own standards (which has been played out in the media by the likes of journalist Andrew Bolt and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott) has not created a well of suspicion within the community about the public broadcaster’s motives.

 

In this federal election year, the ABC may be one of the first casualties in the right wing campaign to recapture The Lodge.