Wednesday 6 August 2014

The Abbott Code Explained - Part 2


The Abbott Code

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is prepared to consider the idea of a welfare card to determine how recipients spend their money. However, the government has ruled out quarantining income for everyone who receives welfare payments. [The Australian 31 July 2014]

Mr Abbott today said some welfare recipients were already subjected to “administratively cumbersome” income management [which quarantines 50 per cent of a person’s payment]. [The Australian 31 July 2014]

“Now I’m happy to look at better technology because where it is appropriate ... to have a system of welfare quarantining let’s try to make it work as smoothly and efficiently as possible.” [The Australian 31 July 2014]

Decoded Message

We are seriously considering reducing or entirely eliminating discretionary spending in relation to payments made to welfare recipients and, issuing everyone with an electronic welfare card instead of transferring money into their own personal bank accounts. 

Starting with those identified as Aboriginal/Torres Strait Islander, the unemployed, disability support pensioners and parents with dependent children. 

This is a justified policy position because McClure et al and ‘Twiggy’ Forrest have both delivered reports to government suggesting widening income management is a jolly good idea.

Initially age pensioners and veteran’s will not be subject to these measures as their lobby groups can cause problems for us in the lead-up to the next federal election. 


We are confident that we can impose a cashless life on low-income individuals and families because we are going to put the word "healthy" or something similar in the bill we put before parliament in order to make this punishment sensible measure law.

Tuesday 5 August 2014

Abbott Government budget cuts to be achieved by freezing funding indexation - full list of programs


The Daily Telegraph 3 August 2014:

AUSTRALIA’S immunisation program delivering lifesaving vaccines is among the targets of a secret hit list of $165 million in federal Budget cuts.
Divorced parents, the aged, depression sufferers and programs to help Aboriginal teenagers secure a place at university are among the targets of the “nip and tuck’’ ­approach to spending.
For the first time, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann has confirmed the programs that face an “indexation pause’’ to Parliament in a ­secret hit list of 111 programs across multiple portfolios.
In the May Budget Treasurer Joe Hockey confirmed a $165 million freeze on the ­indexation of funding for multiple programs but did not specify which would be cut.
But the full list of programs that face a nip and tuck to spending has been released to Parliament.
It reveals cuts across 10 portfolios including health, education, agriculture, communications and the ­Department of Social Services.
Senate Opposition leader Penny Wong had demanded the government release the documents....

One of Murdoch's minions attacks the ABC yet again


This was The Australian's Associate Editor (National Affairs), Chris Kenny, on 2 August 2014 telling readers that Aunty happy to ignore boat arrivals under Labor but cuts the Coalition no slack:

As the number of asylum boat ­arrivals escalated under the Gillard government there was significant self-censorship in much of the media. The national broadcaster, for instance, which has long held an almost obsessive preoccupation with the asylum-seeker issue and has a statutory duty to report matters of significance, often didn't find room in its news bulletins to tell us about boat ­arrivals.
When 14 boats arrived in the first week of May last year the relative lack of reporting on the ABC was astonishing….

I have listed all news items concerning asylum seekers that I could find which were published/broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) and News Corp's The Australian in May 2013 – readers can decide for themselves if they believe the ABC deliberately withheld news of asylum seeker boat arrivals when compared with reporting by The Australian.

Reporting by the Australian Broadcasting Commission (ABC) in May 2013 – as recorded by Google and ProQuest

www.abc.net.au/insiders/content/2012/s3752076.htm
May 5, 2013 - Abbott 'modifying expectations' on asylum seekers. Print Email. Australian Broadcasting ...

www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3749309.htm
May 7, 2013 - Normal News doesn't do that. If it is a really happy segment on the real news they make it really serious" - Hayley.

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-06/customs...boat-arrivals/4671754
May 6, 2013 - Flying squad wanted for unexpected boat arrivals. Updated May 06, 2013 11:41:24 ... carrying asylum seekers until it arrived just outside Geraldton. (ABC News).

www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/2013...boat-arrivals/1126364
May 6, 2013 - Customs is calling for the creation of a flying squad to help back up small offices dealing with unexpected boat arrivals, such as the asylum seekers who landed ...

www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/...asylum-seekers.../4676448
May 8, 2013 - 'No advantage' policy may leave asylum seekers destitute: mental health experts. Download audio. Broadcast: ... 

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-11/asylum-seekers...after.../4683534
May 11, 2013 - Eighteen asylum seekers who escaped from a Darwin detention centre overnight ... Related Story: Asylum seekers escape from detention centre ....

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-11/aid-organisations...in.../4683472
May 11, 2013 - Aid organisations are bracing for cuts amid concern that Australia's overseas aid budget will again be used to house and feed asylum seekers

Roberts, George. ABC Premium News [Sydney] 12 May 2013. 
...water police have found an asylum seeker boat harboured in Bali that was
...water police have found an asylum seeker boat harboured in Bali that was
...boat voyage that killed 90 asylum seekers last year, has been found and arrested

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-13/is-stopping-the-boats.../4685444
May 13, 2013 - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says a number of factors may be contributing to the current increase in asylum seeker boat arrivals, including the ...

www.abc.net.au/am/content/2013/s3757525.htm
May 13, 2013 - JAMES GLENDAY: Most asylum seekers pay people smugglers between $7,000 and $20,000 to get to Australia. And about 25,000 ... 

Sewart, Phoebe. ABC Premium News [Sydney] 13 May 2013. 
...An Indonesian ferry used by asylum seekers to reach waters off Darwin has been
... An Indonesian ferry used by asylum seekers to reach waters off Darwin
... It was carrying 160 asylum seekers who are now at the Wickham

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-14/asylum-seekers...bay.../4689222
May 14, 2013 - ... resources and they're dealing with what is essentially the worst period of illegal boat arrivals that we have ever seen in our history." ... Connect with ABC News.

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-15/charities-overwhelmed.../4692534
May 15, 2013 - Record numbers of boat arrivals have blown out the Government's asylum seeker budget by more than $3.2 billion. Since August, more than 18,000 asylum .

www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3760182.htm
May 15, 2013 - Weeknights on ABC1 and ABC News 24 ... LEIGH SALES, PRESENTER: Record numbers of boat arrivals have blown out the Government's asylum seeker ...

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-15/an-budget-foreign-aid.../4690380
May 15, 2013 - Video: Winners and losers (ABC News) · Australian budget .... The budget says that the number of asylum seeker boat arrivals will increase next year. There has ...

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-16/parliament-excises.../4693940
May 16, 2013 - Video: Parliament excises mainland from migration zone (ABC News) ... note graph shows the number of asylum seeker boat arrivals in Australia since 1976.

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-16/boat-arrivals-by-year.../4694210
May 16, 2013 - A Parliamentary Library background note graph shows the number of asylum seeker boat arrivals in Australia since 1976.

www.radioaustralia.net.au/.../radio/...asylum-seekers-to.../1132032
May 16, 2013 - The Australian Government can now send all asylum seekers who arrive by boat to offshore processing centres.

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-21/six-asylum-seekers.../4704448
May 21, 2013 - The Immigration Department of Immigration says four of six asylum seekers who ... Related Story: Asylum seekers recaptured after fleeing centre ....

www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2013/05/22/3764729.htm
May 22, 2013 - Vietnamese asylum seekers arriving in Australia are fleeing increased persecution in their home country, a VOICE advocate says.

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-22/asylum-seeker-to-be.../4707258
May 22, 2013 - Fifty-four asylum seekers who arrived in Australia by boat are currently the subject of adverse security assessments. Manokala ....

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-23/asylum-seekers-on...at.../4707698
May 23, 2013 - Asylum seekers arrive by boat in Geraldton ... The arrival of this boat carrying asylum seekers in WA's Geraldton harbour in April hastened the push ...

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-23/unhcr-asylum-criticism/4707534
May 23, 2013 - Photo: The arrival of this boat  carrying asylum seekers in WA's Geraldton harbour in April hastened the push to change the migration zone laws. ... The laws passed last week allow the Government to send asylum seekers who ....

www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3768511.htm
May 27, 2013 - Weeknights on ABC1 and ABC News 24 ... primarily aimed at covering the blowout in visa security assessments that followed the spike in irregular boat arrivals.

ABC Premium News [Sydney] 27 May 2013. 
...to the 2011 death of an asylum seeker in a detention centre on Cape York
...contributed to the 2011 death of an asylum seeker in a detention centre on Cape
...Pakistan before Mr Hussain sought asylum in Australia. He

www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3769425.htm
May 28, 2013 - Weeknights on ABC1 and ABC News 24 ... The rebellion was the culmination of months of growing tension caused by a surge in boat arrivals, overcrowding, ...

www.abc.net.au/am/content/2013/s3768622.htm
May 28, 2013 - Labor MPs will today discuss whether the Government should set out clearer information about how its no advantage policy for asylum seekers will be put in ...

www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2013/s3769313.htm
May 28, 2013 - The Immigration Department has faced a grilling on a number of fronts today as it grapples with an increasing numbers of asylum seekers arriving by boat ...

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-28/immigration...breaks.../4718730
May 28, 2013 - Related Story: Fears for asylum seekers after life jackets wash up on Cocos Island beach ... The Immigration Department says 231 asylum seekers have accepted taxpayer-funded repatriation packages to return to their home ....

Stewart, Phoebe. ABC Premium News [Sydney] 28 May 2013. 
... Note: Six Vietnamese asylum seekers who escaped from detention in Darwin
... Six Vietnamese asylum seekers who escaped from detention in Darwin remain on

www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2013/s3770440.htm
May 29, 2013 - Weeknights on ABC1 and ABC News 24 ... cent increase promised is primarily aimed at covering the blowout in security assessments for irregular boat arrivals.

www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/.../asylum-seekers.../4718788
May 29, 2013 - So where are we at in terms of protecting asylum seekers? And how does the current no advantage system impact asylum seekers on mainland ...

ABC Premium News [Sydney] 29 May 2013. 
...The Immigration Department say 25 asylum seekers who have escaped from
...recently a group of Vietnamese asylum seekers escaped from detention in Darwin,

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-29/human-rights...over.../4721390
May 29, 2013 - She has also questioned whether the information given to asylum seekers about their legal rights when they first arrive ... Department about the Government's new enhanced screening process for asylum seekers arriving by boat. ....

ABC Premium News [Sydney] 30 May 2013. 
...are negotiating with an asylum seeker who has climbed onto the roof of the
...are negotiating with an asylum seeker who has climbed onto the roof of the

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-31/ambassador...boats/4726842
May 31, 2013 - The Coalition will push ahead with its policy to turn back asylum seekerboats despite an Indonesian government representative saying the proposal is not ...

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-31/koser-afghanistan.../4725706
May 31, 2013 - Asylum seeker boats on Australia's horizon ... this September, I certainly wouldn't be raising false hopes about stopping boats any time soon. ....

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-31/indonesia-ambassador.../4726714
May 31, 2013 - Indonesia ambassador and Coalition at odds on turning back boats policy. Updated May 31, 2013 19:00:00 ....

www.abc.net.au/news/2013-05-31/ambassador-says.../4726842
May 31, 2013 - Related Story: Fears for asylum seekers after life jackets wash up on Cocos ... Indonesia's Ambassador to Australia Nadjib Riphat Kesoema says boats should be turned back to the countries where asylum seekers are from, ....

Reporting by The Australian newspaper in May 2013 – as recorded by Google and ProQuest

Wilson, Lauren. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 02 May 2013: 2. 
... THREE large asylum-seeker boats together carrying
...in which 3112 asylum-seekers sailed to Australia
...Drurey revealed one young asylum-seeker, who was formerly

www.theaustralian.com.au/national.../story-e6frgd0x-1226634223906
May 3, 2013 - And unregulated inflows of economic migrants and asylum-seekers are .....

EXCLUSIVE. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 03 May 2013: 6. 
...has put the needs of asylum-seekers above the needs of Australian citizens
...government provides free legal advice for asylum-seekers. The cost
...ruled that offshore processing of asylum-seekers is subject to review by

www.theaustralian.com.au/national.../story-fn59niix-1226636706521
by Ben Packham - May 7, 2013 - There are more than 10,000 asylum-seekers in the community on bridging visas, .....

blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/.../theaustralian/.../labors_greatest_failin...
May 8, 2013 - Boat arrivals are reaching unprecedented levels, with more than 8,000asylum seekers arriving since the end of January when Julia Gillard announced the ..

www.theaustralian.com.au/...boats/story-fn9hm1gu-1226637230708
May 8, 2013 - The asylum-seekers, who were passengers on four separate boats, included 34 ......

www.theaustralian.com.au/...of.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226637157508
by Rick Morton - May 8, 2013 - Asylum-seekers arrive at Christmas Island yesterday, as it was announced families .....

Alford, Peter. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 08 May 2013: 1. 
...year. The asylum-seekers, intercepted at Anyer, on
...the largest group of asylum-seekers to Australia over more than
...Zafar's network sent asylum-seekers with false papers through

www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/.../story-fn558imw-1226637914748
May 9, 2013 - Intended or not, Rudd's policy was an invitation to people-smugglers to expand their business plan and put people on boats to give Australia a try. Intellectuals ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/...asylum-seekers.../story-fn59niix-12266383...
by Ben Packham - May 9, 2013 - The Australian revealed thousands of asylum-seekers will be left in financial limbo when the government begins processing a huge backlog of claims under its ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/.../boats.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226637904226
May 9, 2013 - So far this year, 13 asylum boats have been intercepted near Darwin, a vast distance .....

www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/...to.../story-e6frg71x-1226637906727
May 9, 2013 - THE arrival of asylum-seeker boats in Australian waters has become so commonplace it rarely figures in the news.

www.theaustralian.com.au/...to.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226637949764
May 9, 2013 - ... thought to be responsible for sending at least 40 boats to Australia since 2008 and .....

www.theaustralian.com.au/.../asylum-seekers.../story-fn558imw-12266388...
May 10, 2013 - Most of the asylum-seekers who have been driven to this condition of poverty and despair will go on to become permanent members of the Australian community ...

Wilson, Lauren. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 10 May 2013: 2. 
...issue bridging visas to asylum-seekers that strip away
...scheme payments to asylum-seekers who fail their primary
...campaign run by the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre in a

www.theaustralian.com.au/.../asylum-seekers.../story-fn59niix-1226641265...
May 13, 2013 - THE Bali port stand-off between 77 asylum-seekers and Indonesian authorities has ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/...asylum-seekers/story-fn9hm1gu-12266415...
by Rick Morton - May 14, 2013 - THE influx of asylum-seekers in desperate need of support while living in the ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/.../asylum-seekers.../story-fn59niix-1226642380...
May 14, 2013 - ELEVEN asylum-seekers have made it by boat to Arnhem Land and will be transferred ...

Wilson, Lauren. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 14 May 2013: 5. 
...advocates have warned that asylum-seekers released into the community without
...campaign co-ordinator at the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, said thousands
...few places to ensure all asylum-seekers had access to language training

www.theaustralian.com.au/...rate.../story-fnhi8df6-1226642542557
May 15, 2013 - With more than 3000 asylum-seekers arriving by boat a month and Labor's .....

www.theaustralian.com.au/.../i.../story-e6frg6so-1226643269311
May 15, 2013 - Abbas is fighting his extradition to Australia, where authorities want to prosecute him on 27 charges related to people smuggling and three boats which were ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/...to.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226644448709
May 16, 2013 - ... the migration zone and all asylum-seekers who arrive anywhere in Australia will be

www.theaustralian.com.au/national.../story-fn59niix-1226645640159
by Mark Schliebs - May 18, 2013 - ... to travel on boats to Australia -- instead of the heads of the smuggling syndicates. .....

www.theaustralian.com.au/...want.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226646324394
by Rick Morton - May 20, 2013 - More than 11,662 asylum-seekers are living in the community on bridging visas .....

www.theaustralian.com.au/...self.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226647806354
May 21, 2013 - THE longer asylum-seekers spend in detention centres, the higher the rates of ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/...of.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226651322528
May 27, 2013 - ASYLUM-seekers stuck in the remote detention facility on Nauru are now having their ...

Maley, Paul. The Australian [Canberra, A.C.T] 27 May 2013: 1. 
...heightened fears many more asylum-seekers will be lost at sea
...to official concerns asylum-seekers are taking greater
...that were luring asylum-seekers to Australia. 

www.theaustralian.com.au/news/.../story-e6frg6z6-1226653255546
May 30, 2013 - Iranians were among the asylum-seekers whose boat was stopped in Bali on the weekend. Picture: AP Source: AP. QASIM Ali says he was illiterate when he ...

www.theaustralian.com.au/...boats.../story-fn9hm1gu-1226654654928
May 31, 2013 - But he said asylum-seeker boats should be turned back to other countries, .....

Monday 4 August 2014

A complaint has been made to Clarence Valley Council concerning alleged racism in its ranks


A copy of Facebook comments on the Maclean, Buy, Swap, Sell, NSW page turned up in my mail this week.

Another symptom of poorly led local government administration in the Clarence Valley?


Tony Abbott's "brave, decent woman" and Christopher Pyne's "lion of the union movement" has some questions to answer


The Kathy Jackson saga has been running for years now and along the way the Liberal Party has been happy to champion her statements and actions:


25 August 2011
Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) 
Kathy Jackson is a brave, decent woman, and she is speaking up on behalf of 70,000 members. I refer the Prime Minister to her words:
… there's been unauthorised use of credit cards, unauthorised expenditure that is not normal union expenditure and we want answers … This union and our members require answers …

25 Feb 2014
Christopher Pyne  (Sturt, Liberal Party, Minister for Education)
Kathy Jackson is a revolutionary, and Kathy Jackson will be remembered as a lion of the union movement. 

However, the Royal Commission Into Trade Union Governance and Corruption is now examining Ms. Jackson's alleged part in the rort of Health Services Union funds.

Excerpt from Royal Commission hearing transcript, 30 July 2014 at 10am:

        27            Ms Jackson gave evidence at the Commission concerning
        28       the NHDA on 19 June 2014.  At that time, only a limited
        29       number of documents concerning the NHDA had become
        30       available.  Since the hearing on 19 June 2014, the
        31       Commission has been able to obtain further material
        32       concerning the NHDA.  In those circumstances, the
        33       Commission considers it appropriate to recall Ms Jackson
        34       and to examine her further on this new material as part of
        35       its ongoing investigations into the NHDA.
        36
        37            The Commission's investigation into the NHDA includes
        38       the following topics:  first, the circumstances in which
        39       the NHDA was established and, in particular, the
        40       circumstances surrounding the receipt by the Victoria No 3
        41       Branch of $250,000 from the Peter MacCallum Cancer
        42       Institute in 2003 - specifically, whether the said sum of
        43       $250,000 comprised a windfall gain to the branch or unpaid
        44       backpay to union members working at the Peter MacCallum
        45       Cancer Institute or a reimbursement of expenses paid or to
        46       be paid from members' subscription moneys.

         1            Secondly, the intended purpose of the NHDA and the
         2       scope of authorisations given by the Branch Committee of
         3       Management to Ms Jackson for the transfer of funds to the
         4       NHDA.
         5
         6            Thirdly, the nature of the expenditures made from the
         7       NHDA between 2003 and 2013.
         8
         9            Some matters of procedure should be noted at the
        10       outset of today's hearing.  The hearings into the HSU that
        11       commenced on 16 June 2014 were, and the hearing today will
        12       be, conducted in accordance with Practice Direction 1.
        13       That practice direction provides, in effect, that after a
        14       witness has been examined by counsel assisting, that
        15       witness's evidence will be adjourned to a later date for
        16       any cross-examination.  Practice Direction 1 makes
        17       provisions for other interested persons to provide
        18       statements of intended evidence to the Commission in
        19       advance of the hearings being resumed.
        20
        21            Following the hearing on 19 June 2014, a number of
        22       persons, in accordance with Practice Direction 1, provided
        23       statements of intended evidence to the Commission.  Today's
        24       hearing is intended to provide those persons with notice of
        25       the further material now obtained by the Commission and
        26       Ms Jackson's further evidence.
        27
        28            A further purpose of today's hearing is that other
        29       persons who have not yet to date come forward, but who may
        30       have relevant information or evidence concerning the NHDA,
        31       will also have the opportunity to consider the further
        32       material and Ms Jackson's evidence in respect of it.  The
        33       Commission encourages any such person to come forward.

Ms. Jackson reaction as reported in The Sydney Morning Herald on 30 July 2014:

"I had no notice that I was going to be attacked today by senior counsel," she said, claiming an ambush. After two hours of heavy questioning where she was forced to admit previous important evidence had been wrong, Jackson abruptly asked the royal commission for access to a lawyer.
She got her wish – the inquiry was suspended for a month – but the fresh evidence unearthed by Stoljar and his colleagues suggests there is every chance she will ultimately be charged with criminal offences for the misappropriation of Health Services Union funds.
It would be a similar fate to that which befell the disgraced union leaders Michael Williamson and Craig Thomson, both of who were pursued by Jackson in her role as "whistleblower". Few call her that now, least of all her one-time friends in the Coalition, including Tony Abbott, who once dubbed her "heroic".
Jackson was forced to admit that important evidence she had given under oath at a previous hearing - concerning a $250,000 payment by Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre to her union during a $3.16-million dispute over back pay - was incorrect.
Now, her story changed to concede that there was no back pay to workers in the 2003 dispute and that the $250,000 was not a "windfall" to the union or "penalty" against the hospital as had been described.
Evidence showed it was to reimburse the union for expenses incurred in legal and staff costs. It is a key point. If there was no windfall or penalty, it can't be justified as anything but HSU members' money, if it ever could be otherwise.
Jackson's response to claims it was members money was simply "that's not how we saw it".
It is worth recounting what happened to that $250,000. It was transferred from the union and put in a bank account of which Jackson was sole signatory. She spent thousands from that account on herself - at David Jones, JB Hi-Fi, supermarkets and even a paediatric dentist.
She claims she had authorisation for that, though no records exist. It emerged on Wednesday that $50,000 of it went to her former husband, Jeff Jackson. As recently as June she had said she couldn't recall where that money had gone.
Stoljar did not buy her memory fail, telling her: "That's not credible evidence, is it, Ms Jackson."

Ms. Jackson set up the National Health Development Account [NHDA] described as an Unincorporated Association - a club or community organisation, not incorporated on 4 December 2003:

Full document is contained in M14.pdf

Other documents before the Royal Commission.