Thursday 19 December 2013

Ladies and gentlemen, your new "Freedom Commissioner" Tim Wilson


The Abbott Government lurches from one bad ideological decision to another.

This time it is Australian Attorney-General George Brandis’ appointment of Tim Wilson as a new Human Rights Commissioner aka Freedom Commissioner - reportedly a $325,000-a-year position.

Mr. Wilson will be joining the Human Rights Commission as its seventh commissioner and, is already known to be particularly concerned to support Liberal approaches to freedom of speech.

It is reported that he resigned from the IPA and also from the Liberal Party in the wake of his appointment this week by Attorney-General George Brandis.

This controversial stance hints at stormy waters ahead.

The Australian 18 December 2013:

The commission's president Gillian Triggs today warned Mr Wilson, who was hand-picked by Attorney-General George Brandis, that the commission must speak with one voice and be independent of government.
She said Mr Wilson, a former Liberal Party member and Institute of Public Affairs chief, would bring "fresh air'' to the body as one of seven human rights commissioners.
"But I think it must be stressed that ultimately ... we have ultimately to agree on a single policy,'' she told ABC radio.
Mr Wilson believes section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act, which prevents people from being offended or insulted on the grounds of race, should be "unambiguously repealed''.
"I have been appointed to the role with the full knowledge of my view and I expect a reasonable accommodation of those views with respect to what the commission's position is,'' he told The Australian.
But Professor Triggs said section 18C of the Act should be "tweaked'' rather than abolished.
"We have a legal obligation internationally and under the treaties to implement legislation that protects people from racial vilification in public. That is all 18C purports to do,'' she said.
"Of course it is possible to tweak it, to amend it, to take language out and to put new language in that strengthens it - all of that we of course fully support as a matter of law.''
She said the Human Rights Commission "isn't a place for party political rhetoric'', and must be independent of government.
"We are not here to give effect to government policy as such, we are here to monitor compliance by Australia with its international obligations to human rights,'' Professor Triggs said.
Senator Brandis has promised to repeal or amend Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act so speech that is found to be offensive and insulting is no longer defined as racial vilification.
The move will change the definition of racial vilification to eliminate at least two of the grounds that were used in a court ruling against Herald Sun columnist Andrew Bolt over articles about light-skinned Aboriginal people.
Professor Triggs said: "My understanding is that the Attorney is consulting and he will make up his own mind whether he decides to keep the provision and amend it, which we think is probably the better outcome.''
But Mr Wilson said the section represented an unjustifiable limit on free speech and should be struck out entirely.
"Obviously I have a very strong and different view, and I am planning to prosecute that within the commission,'' he said....

Then there is this previous anti-free speech/anti-political comment stance by Mr. Wilson on his own Twitter account in October 2011.


Click on all images to enlarge

As well as the fact he appears to be a stalking horse for the Institute of Public Affairs in its efforts to completely abolish the Human Rights Commission.

Freedom Watch IPA 17 December 2013:


The Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs, John Roskam, welcomed today’s announcement by the Commonwealth Attorney-General, George Brandis that Tim Wilson, Policy Director at the IPA, will be Australia’s next Human Rights Commissioner.
“Tim Wilson is a proud, passionate, and uncompromising voice for a classical liberal approach to human rights. Australia needs his voice in public debate now more than ever,” John Roskam said.
“Tim Wilson’s appointment offers the Australian Human Rights Commission an opportunity to prove it can do something which it has so far failed to do, namely defend the human rights of individuals against attacks on those rights by the state.”
“Fundamental human rights like freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and freedom of association have been under attack in Australia by federal and state governments and the Human Rights Commission has stood silent. The Gillard government’s so-called ‘anti-discrimination’ law is an example of how instead of defending human rights the Commission was a willing accessory in attempts to expand government control over what Australians can say and hear and do.”
“The Gillard government’s ‘anti-discrimination’ law would have made it unlawful to express a political opinion that offended someone. That law also reversed the onus of proof, and removed the right to legal representation of people accused of breaking the law. Instead of condemning the law, the Human Rights Commission said this assault on human rights didn’t go far enough.
“The Commission has also said nothing about the erosion of farmers’ property rights by native vegetation laws. Likewise the Commission was missing in action when Stephen Conroy proposed to take away freedom of the press and when he tried to censor the internet.”
“The IPA has called for the Commission to be abolished, or at the very least, for Freedom Commissioners to be appointed to balance the four existing Anti-Discrimination Commissioners.”
“Tim has been an outstanding advocate for freedom in the seven years he has been at the IPA. The Board and staff congratulate him on his appointment and wish him well on taking up this important role at a time when human rights need to be defended,” said Mr Roskam.
The IPA will soon release a major report on those provisions in Commonwealth laws which undermine fundamental legal rights such as the right to silence, the presumption of innocence, and the right to natural justice.
For further information and comment: John Roskam, Executive Director, Institute of Public Affairs, 0415 475 673, jroskam@ipa.org.au

Our new Human Rights Commissioner is also not backward in flaunting to the world his liking for liquor and his apparent penchant for drinking alone........



UPDATE

The Sydney Morning Herald 21 December 2013:

Alone among the seven commissioners of the Australian Human Rights Commission, Tim Wilson never had to apply for the job. He never had to sit for an interview, be screened by an expert panel, or undergo the rigorous weeks-long selection process that applied to the others.
Instead, Attorney-General George Brandis rang him up a couple of weeks ago and asked if he was interested. He took 24 hours to think about it and consult his partner Ryan, (a Melbourne primary school teacher) before saying yes. By Monday it was official, and the twitterverse went into meltdown. So hasty was the cabinet appointment, the formalities of submitting it to the Governor-General will not be conducted until early next year.
Wilson, 33, says he was shocked to discover what he'll earn in his new job - more than $320,000 a year, close to the $340,000 paid to a federal court judge. Even John Roskam, head of the right-wing think tank the Institute of Public Affairs - from which Wilson was plucked - finds the amount ''obscene'', though he extols the virtues of his former employee.
''I think it's most appropriate that Tim is there,'' Roskam said this week. ''[The IPA] still think the Human Rights Commission should be abolished, but if it is going to exist, you want people with a range of life and political experiences.''....

The Sydney Morning Herald 23 December 2013:

Tim Wilson's appointment as human rights commissioner could lead to cuts to a program on school bullying as the Australian Human Rights Commission accommodates his six-figure salary without any extra funding from the government.
The incoming human rights commissioner, who is due to take up his position in February, will be paid about $320,000 - a sum equal to that of his fellow commissioners, though less than the commission's president, Gillian Triggs.
On Sunday, Professor Triggs said Mr Wilson's salary would have to come out of the commission's annual budget of about $25 million.
''This really does squeeze the commission,'' she said.
Professor Triggs said she and the other commissioners would meet in January to decide where cuts would come from to make room for Mr Wilson's salary but suggested an anti-bullying program and a program on education for older Australians might be in the firing line.
She said that an inquiry into asylum seeker children held in detention would still go ahead.
The commission had not anticipated it would have to pay Mr Wilson's salary as new appointees usually came with extra federal government funding, a spokesman said. The commission also had no funding set aside for the position as it has recently been filled by commissioners also performing another role.


Change.org petition asks Australian House of Representatives Speaker Bronwyn Bishop to resign



Petition by
Dover Gardens, Australia

Dear Ms. B. Bishop,
I have been watching the new parliament. I feel the need to point out that the persons to your left were elected by Australian voters to speak for their respective constituents. Your obvious bias towards the persons to your right is a shameful affront to the dignity of the Australian parliamentary process. 
Sitting there in smirking compliance to the LNP, is conduct utterly inappropriate for a speaker, you seem to not understand that you are no longer a toadying backbencher. When you assumed the privileged seat of speaker it became your duty to fairly and impartially represent all Australians.
When you dismiss and silence the voices to your left, you are dismissing and silencing the millions of Australians they have been elected to represent.
For the sake of Australian democracy I ask that you resign immediately as speaker. Your conduct is an utter disgrace to Australia and the parliament. Every moment you sit in that chair, you preside over the destruction of the once proud democratic process of my country.
Sincerely,
An Australian Voter

Antarctica contains the coldest place on Earth



Dec. 10, 2013:  What is the coldest place on Earth? It is a high ridge in Antarctica on the East Antarctic Plateau where temperatures in several hollows can dip below minus 133.6 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 92 degrees Celsius) on a clear winter night......

With remote-sensing satellites, scientists have found the coldest places on Earth, just off a ridge in the East Antarctic Plateau. The coldest of the cold temperatures dropped to minus 135.8 F (minus 93.2 C) -- several degrees colder than the previous record. Image Credit: Ted Scambos, National Snow and Ice Data Center

How Australian Prime Minister Hon. Tony Abbott is ending the year



Cartoon found at the Australian Financial Review
3 December 2013

Wednesday 18 December 2013

Abbott Government Mid-Year Economic & Fiscal Outlook 2013-14: no responsibility taken, excuses scattered like confetti, strong hints that it's the poor who will be paying the government bill



Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey needs to grow a spine, find a political and social conscience and begin acting like an adult before he loses the nation's excellent credit rating, drives away investment, destroys industry and causes a recession with his juvenile point-scoring and loose talk.

Taking responsibility for his first 90 days in office (not the fictional 100 days) would be a good start.

On 3 September 2013 Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey stated that the Federal Labor Government was borrowing an average $83 million per day.

By 17 December 2013 the Federal Liberal-Nationals Coalition Government was borrowing on average an est. $216 million plus per day.

In the MID-YEAR ECONOMIC AND FISCAL OUTLOOK 2013-14 (MYEFO) released on 17 December 2013 Hockey admits that an increase in Abbott Government borrowings has increased Australia’s national debt:

* The increase in the expected level of net debt since the 2013 PEFO primarily reflects a higher issuance of CGS owing to an increase in the financing requirement, which is partly negated by higher yields (interest rates) than were assumed at the 2013 PEFO.

* The main factor contributing to the increase in net debt is the higher expected issuance of CGS relative to the 2013 PEFO of around $60 billion in face value terms as a result of the increased financing requirement. This is partially offset by revaluation of the projected CGS on issue of around $9 billion owing to an increase in expected yields and hence a decrease in the market value of CGS.

According to Hockey net government debt now stands at $191.5 billion in 2013-14.

Gross debt is of course higher and currently is in excess of $304.5 billion – with $216 billion of this amount being added to the total by the present Abbott Government between 18 September and 17 December 2013.

Impacting MYEFO is the inescapable fact that the Abbott Government has increased federal government spending over that outlined in its pre-election Fiscal Budget Impact of Federal Coalition Policies document, which in its turn also indicated levels of revenue which the Coalition was willing to forgo to meet its ideological requirements.

Some of the more significant components of the revenue write down apparent in MYEFO are ideologically rather than fiscally based.

The biggest one-off spending item in 2013-14 was the unplanned $8.8 billion it gifted to the Reserve Bank, a sum which coincidentally comprises over half of the budget deficit blow-out Hockey is complaining about.

Again according to Hockey, since the Economic Statement released in August 2013 the budget deficit has blown out from the predicted $30.1 billion 2013-14 deficit under Labor to a  $47 billion deficit this year under the Abbott Government.  That's a $16.9 billion difference in the bottom line primarily flowing on from Coalition policy and/or economic decisions.

However, the average voter wouldn't know it from Hockey's blaming Labor rhetoric.

BACKGROUND

The Pre-Election Economic Fiscal Outlook (PEFO) produced in August by The Treasury, for the information of all political parties and candidates prior to the 7 September 2013 election day.

MEDIA REACTION

The Sydney Morning Herald 17 December 2013:

How on Earth did we convince ourselves this bunch would be miles better at fixing the budget than the last lot?
Joe Hockey claims his midyear budget update is an honest assessment of the state of fiscal affairs he inherited from Labor. It isn't.
Rather, it is an attempt to lower expectations about the speed and ease with which the Coalition will be able to get the budget back on track.
He won't be able to achieve it for many years - he's not saying when - and not without significant and painful, but as yet unidentified, cuts in government spending. In short, he is unlikely to be able to do it much faster than Labor would have. What's likely to differ is who will bear most pain.
Labor would have erred in the direction of higher taxes, particularly on the better-off. Hockey has ruled out higher taxes and is hinting at cuts in government spending on ''welfare, education and health''.
Contrast this grim slog with all the Coalition said in opposition about the deficit being purely the result of Labor mismanagement.
This time last year Tony Abbott and Hockey were promising to deliver a budget surplus in each year of their first term. By the election campaign the return to surplus had been delayed until the first year after the next election.
Now even that is in doubt....



The Australian 18 December 2013:

JOE Hockey now has to stand up.
After gaslighting the Australian public for weeks about Labor's mess, the Treasurer has produced a horror outlook for the economy complete with the potential for a decade of deficits and a Devil's debt number of $666 billion.
Slowing growth, rising unemployment, a further decline in tax revenue and a sharper drop in mining investment are all wider economic challenges facing an Abbott government wedged between curtailing government spending and maintaining consumer and business confidence in the face of growing uncertainty. Without drastic action, the Treasurer has warned of ongoing budget deficits, rising debt and no chance of an income tax cut for 10 years....
But, having laid the blame himself with Labor, even allowing for the Coalition's own responsibility for part of the post-election deficit blowout, Hockey has to accept that he has indeed "drawn a line in the sand".
He must start providing solutions, no matter how tough....


Is Abbott using the Australian Tax Office as an excuse to extend the range of the Goods & Services Tax?



Excerpts from the House of Representatives Hansard on 5 December 2013:

Mrs ELLIOT (Richmond) (14:04): My question is to the Prime Minister. Given that the Prime Minister said,
'There will be no change to the GST, full stop, end of story', why is the government now considering applying the GST to relocatable home parks—the complete opposite of what the Prime Minister promised?
Mr ABBOTT (Warringah—Prime Minister) (14:05): Our commitments will be kept; but obviously, in the administration of tax law, various things happen, including draft tax office rulings.

Ms RYAN (Lalor—Opposition Whip) (13:45): I am extremely concerned about the Australian tax office's draft ruling to increase the GST on mobile home parks. I am advised that my electorate of Lalor has approximately 620 mobile or demountable homes, with almost 950 permanent residents who will be adversely affected by this ruling.
Earlier this week, I spoke about tenancy eviction and homelessness in my electorate. This draft ruling is another housing pressure that our community cannot afford.
My office has been inundated by local residents from various retirement villages who are concerned about the burden of having to find between $700 and $1,200 extra per year to pay the GST if it is applied and passed on.
One constituent in particular, Bob from Ison village in Wyndham, is very worried about the impact this draft ruling could have on him and others like him, not only financially but also the undue stress it will cause.
I am aware that residents in three Lalor retirement villages are currently preparing petitions to the House on this matter. Mr Abbott promised during the election campaign that there would be no change to the GST, but now he is in government it feels like another promise is going to be broken.
I stand in the House today to oppose the increase in GST on moveable homes and implore the government to keep its promise and remove the worry this draft ruling is currently causing to the people in my electorate of Lalor.

The Australian Tax Office position:

ATO welcomes feedback on draft ruling

Media Release 22 November 2013


There has been some public misinformation about the Australian Taxation Office’s draft ruling on GST for moveable home estates.
Commissioner Chris Jordan today said the ruling was only draft, that no final decision had yet been made and the public was encouraged to set out any concerns in submissions.
“We have not made a final decision about charging GST on moveable home estates,” Mr Jordan said. “We have issued a draft ruling so the community and stakeholders can comment and raise any concerns.
“There has been a bit of public misunderstanding and I just want to make clear that the draft ruling does not apply to caravan parks and won’t come into play retrospectively.
“Submissions close on 20 December and I encourage people to set out any concerns they have.”
Draft ruling Goods and services tax: supplies made by an operator of a 'moveable home estate' (GSTR 2013/D2) was released for consultation on 30 October 2013.
The preliminary view in the draft ruling is that a moveable home estate does not fall within the definition of commercial residential premises. This is because it is not sufficiently similar to a caravan park.
Consequently, under the draft ruling, operators would no longer be able to apply the concessionary treatment in Division 87 of the GST Act to their supplies of long-term accommodation to residents.
Taxpayers do not need to change current approaches until a final ruling is published.
We are continuing to consult with industry stakeholders on this issue and expect a final ruling to issue in mid 2014.
“I am pleased and encouraged that the community knows they can engage with us on these issues,” said Mr Jordan. “We will consider all feedback.”
Feedback can be submitted before 20 December 2013 on (07) 3213 8417 or via email at steven.iselin@ato.gov.au.

Text of Draft Goods & Services Tax Ruling here.

Federal Nationals Member for Cowper, Luke Hartsuyker, alleges that he had made a submission to the Australian Tax Office asking it to withdraw its draft ruling. His fellow National Party MP for Page, Kevin Hogan, does not appear to have anything to say on the subject to date.

UPDATE

The Australian Taxation Office 20 December 2013:

Goods and Services Tax Ruling GSTR 2013/D2 is withdrawn with effect from today.....
The draft Ruling is being withdrawn following consideration of comments received over the course of the consultation period, which contend that moveable home estates are sufficiently similar to caravan parks for the purposes of paragraph (f) of the definition of commercial residential premises in section 195-1 of the GST Act. These comments support the alternative view set out at paragraph 72 of the draft ruling. Similarities to caravan parks include, amongst other things, the leasing of a site separately from a building and shared facilities....