The Abbott policy that now dare not speak its name

One of Australian Opposition Leader Tony Abbott’s mining policies which will resurface if he wins government in 2013.

Australian Mining 5 April 2013:

The Federal Opposition plans to keep part of Labor's mining tax package in play, saying it will generate billions of dollars in the decades ahead.

Shadow treasurer Joe Hockey told The West Australian that the coalition would keep the Government's extension of the petroleum resource rent tax to onshore projects.

Until Labor’s introduction of the mining tax last year, the PRRT only extended to offshore oil and gas projects including the North-West Shelf and Bass Strait.

By extending it to incorporate onshore reserves, the PRRT will capture massive amounts of tax from the expanding coal seam gas sector in Queensland and NSW.

Treasurer Wayne Swan commented this morning saying the move would be a “staggering backflip” for the Opposition.

“They've adopted holus-bolus a substantial part of the MRRT package,” he said.

“It just shows a level of hypocrisy in the Liberal Party that is simply breathtaking.”……

All twitter and bistered on one Lower Clarence Facebook page

They are getting all twitter and bistered over at Lower Clarence Ratepayers, Residents, Business Owners – much to the amusement of North Coast Voices administration and contributors.

I don’t think Ms. Beeby has forgotten her final running score on this blog’s Clarence Valley Council Election 2012 Scorecard:

Jane Beeby Independent -4 + -4 + -2= -10 Jane is of the opinion that it is not her job to tell voters what she can do for [insert name of town] and happily told Yamba residents exactly that last Monday night  (-4). Her continual behind the scenes complaints about legitimate community debate in local newspapers earns her further demerits points (-2).

Spot the difference

Ginger Meggs in The Daily Examiner (27/7/13)

Ginger Meggs at Gocomics.com (25/7/13)

Boomerang Festival, Friday 4 to Sunday 6 October 2013 - Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, Byron Bay NSW

Tickets can be purchased online here

Old news re-churnalized to fill online & print columns

This is an online article carried across various APN mastheads on 16 July 2013 and basically it is a reworking of the contents of a number of old, publicly available media releases with direct quotes inserted from two of these:

THE Queensland and New South Wales governments have a stake in the coal seam gas industry, as well as significant responsibilities when it comes to keeping the industry in line.

In Queensland the State Government has created an independent statutory body called the Queensland GasFields Commission.

Commissioner John Cotter said the commission's most important role was to ensure that both agricultural landholders and mining companies had the factual information they needed to negotiate good outcomes.

He said the State Government had identified mining and agriculture as key pillars of the state's economy.

"Come hell or high water I'm going to ensure that these two industries work to the benefit of themselves and to the benefit of the Queensland economy and community," Mr Cotter said.

Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney said the coal seam gas sector was pumping billions of dollars into the local economy and would generate significant royalty revenue, however he cautioned that it "must co-exist with the agricultural sector and better work with the rural landholders and regional communities that we depend on for food and fibre". [Seeny media release 27 November 2012]

In NSW the State Government has formed the Office of Coal Seam Gas and a website to better inform the community about coal seam gas.

It also introduced new regulations on drilling for gas within 2km of residential zones and proposed future residential zones, as well as excluding drilling from critical industrial areas.

"Once finalised, the policy will ensure CSG exploration and production activities cannot occur in country towns, suburbs, villages and critical industry clusters across NSW," Planning and Infrastructure Minister Brad Hazzard said. [Hazzard 24 March 2013 media release]

Australian Opposition Shadow Treasurer tries to cast doubt on the independence of Treasury & Finance advice

As the federal electrion date looms ever nearer, this is Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey attempting to cast doubt on the independence of Treasury’s advice.

Sky News 26 July 2013:

The federal opposition says it won't rely on Treasury's numbers to work out how much its policies cost.

Instead shadow treasurer Joe Hockey says they have used the Parliamentary Budget Office, state government colleagues and independent advisers…..

'What I can say emphatically is that our numbers will be more reliable than anything the government publishes.'

He says the government is trying to 'bully' Treasury into delivering a certain set of numbers….

Mr Hockey has previously said the coalition would detail costings of its policies once the PEFO was released.

But now he's casting doubts on its independence….

This was Joe Hockey 36 days previously as he formed part of a unanimous vote expressing full confidence in Department of the Treasury and Department of Finance and Deregulation advice.

Hansard 20 June 2013 at approximately 1.28pm:

Department of the Treasury and

Department of Finance and

Deregulation

Debate resumed on the motion:

That this House expresses full confidence in the:

(1) Department of the Treasury and Department

of Finance and Deregulation;

(2) Treasury Secretary, Dr Martin Parkinson and

Finance Secretary, David Tune; and

(3) following words by Treasury Secretary,

Martin Parkinson: 'I can say on behalf of David

Tune, the Secretary of the Department of Finance

and myself—and get this right—were PEFO [the

Pre Election Economic and Fiscal Outlook] to

have been released on the 14th of May, it would

have contained the numbers that were in the

budget.'

The SPEAKER: The question is that the

motion by the member for Lyne be agreed to.

Question agreed to. [my bolding]