NSW voters are one step closer to knowing who "A Co" is

On 24 June 2014, the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) issued a summons to “A Co” requiring the production of certain documents, relating to email accounts and electronic calendars, in accordance with s 35(1)(a) of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988.

“A Co” went to the NSW Supreme Court in August 2014 unsuccessfully seeking to quash the summons. The court concluding: There is nothing in the material before me or otherwise to support a conclusion that the Commission's decision to issue the summons miscarried, that the permissible scope of a summons issued under s 35 of the Act has been exceeded or that the law pursuant to which the summons was issued was otherwise invalid on constitutional grounds. In those circumstances, the plaintiff's challenge to the Commission's summons should be dismissed.

“A Co” then appealed the Supreme Court judgement in A v Independent Commission Against Corruption [2014] NSWCA 414 and lost on 5 December 2014, with the court continuing the suppression of the identity of the (a) the applicant or (b) the person whose electronic records are sought to be produced to the ICAC  until public release of any ICAC report of the investigation to which the summons to produce relates, or until further order of this Court.

As ICAC will not be issuing reports on any investigations ahead of the hearing of Independent Commission against Corruption v. Cunneen & Ors S302/2014 in the Australian High Court on 4 March 2015 and subsequent judgment, there are some months yet to wait on any unmasking of “A Co”.

Thereafter, the Streisand Effect may possibly come into play.

Revealing a basic limitation of regional employment services contracted by the Abbott Government - they can't do much if the jobs aren't there

The new Australian Minister for Social Services Scott Morrison has begun to talk up the need to raise the retirement age to seventy years of age and make people under thirty wait six months for the dole, stating that he would be actively engaging with the Senate to get the additional bills through in the new year.

Clearly he has not looked beyond his own rigid personal and political ideologies. 

This excerpt from a 29 December 2014 article in The Northern Star clearly demonstrates the limitations of employment services contracted by the Abbott Government in regional areas:

Murwillumbah resident Ainslie Meiklejohn-Griffiths, 29, has an honours degree in sociology and yet struggled to find work for more than 18 months in her chosen field.

Well-suited to working in the community, social services and local government sector, she never progressed to the interview stage of several short-term contract positions.

This despite her achieving first class honours at Griffith University with her marks ranking her in the top 5% of the university.

"With my Arts degree I also had 100 hours of volunteer service working on policy development at a PCYC," she said.

"I was looking for social work jobs, youth jobs, office work, anything to do with writing."

Ms Meiklejohn-Griffiths' job search took in an huge area from Lismore to north of Brisbane.

"I was well aware I'd have to travel to work," she said.

"I'd accepted that challenge but I was still looking - fruitlessly."

Working with a case manager from a local employment agency was a waste of time - the only jobs available were shelf-stacking in supermarkets or fast food service roles.

"They didn't even find me those jobs, but being a jobseeker and not liking having no money, there were the jobs I was already applying for off my own bat."

"It was a waste of time for everyone involved.

"I didn't want to be in that position but I was - it was a waste of services."

The fact of the matter is that the Northern Rivers region the industry pool which provides employment is limited and both unskilled and skilled jobs are not always available.

Something the Social Services Minister will probably fail to either recognise or fully appreciate given his political history in government and personality profile – making him more likely to see only the negatives in these Northern Rivers regional employment statistics:

Coffs Harbour-Grafton regional area employment statistics for May 2014 (taking in the state electorates of Clarence (69%), Coffs Harbour (100%), and Oxley (18%):

Employment grew by an average of 1.8% annually between 2000 and 2014. Across NSW the average annual growth was 1.4%.

Overall unemployment rate - 6.3% (Rank 13). Regional NSW overall unemployment rate - 6.2%.

Overall labour force participation rate – 56.6%. Regional NSW overall labour force participation rate – 58.9%.

Youth unemployment rate - 10.3%. Regional NSW youth unemployment rate - 12.5%

Youth labour force participation rate - 68.0%. Regional NSW youth labour force participation rate - 67.8%

Proportion of local employees in part-time positions - 40%. Regional NSW - 33.6%.

Richmond-Tweed regional area employment statistics for May 2014 (taking in the state electorates of Ballina (100%), Clarence (31%), Lismore (91%), and Tweed (100%):

Employment grew by an average of 1.6% annually between 2000 and 2014. Across NSW the average annual growth was 1.4%.

Overall unemployment rate – 7.2% (Rank 5). Regional NSW overall unemployment rate - 6.2%.

Overall labour force participation rate – 55.7%. Regional NSW overall labour force participation rate – 58.9%.

Youth unemployment rate – 11.5%. Regional NSW youth unemployment rate - 12.5%.

Youth labour force participation rate - 77.5%. Regional NSW youth labour force participation rate - 67.8%/

Proportion of local employees in part-time positions – 41%. Regional NSW - 33.6%.

Coalition ministers at both state and federal level have a tendency to fail to realise that labour force participation rates and youth participation rates have both risen since 2000 within what is essentially a small Northern Rivers industry pool and, to ignore the fact that veterans/aged pensioners make at least half of the 38.2% of the region’s population over 15 years of age receiving cash transfer payments from the Commonwealth.

The real productivity picture for the Northern Rivers shows how hard the region does work to make its own prosperity:

Across a range of industries, the numbers show that the value of the saleable product per employee is significantly higher than average.

Our 12,900 retail trade workers boost the local economy by $64,674 every year, compared to the state average of $58,697 and national return of $62,282.

Another of the stand-out numbers shows how amazingly competitive our local manufacturing is. Each of our 6,538 manufacturing employees contributes $167,126 to our local economy, far surpassing the state and national averages of $135,674 and $118,609 respectively.

At the big end of town, although our numbers are below the average, these industries are still huge contributors to the local economy: the information, media and telecommunications workers flow back $214,920 each (compared to state $255,486 and national $232,875) and every financial and insurance services worker brings $319,987.

It would be a tragedy if, in driving the Abbott Government’s fascist ideology forward, Scott Morrison broke this region’s will to succeed against the odds.

Has The Daily Examiner editor drunk the National Party kool aid?

Opinion in The Daily Examiner on Page 7 of the 1 January 2015 issue:

Happy New Year, and welcome to 2015.

It promises to be an exciting time for the Clarence Valley, with the pending start to work on the Pacific Hwy upgrade, including a second crossing of the Clarence at Harwood, as well as the start to the second bridge at Grafton.

The announced injection of Federal and State funding for these projects is unprecedented and seems certain to have a highly positive impact on the Valley economy.

Local residents could do a lot worse than to make their new year's resolution coming up with a way to be part of the economic boost heading our way.

You don't need to know how to build a bridge or drive a dump truck to take advantage of the big projects.

Many businesses and service suppliers are poised to benefit from the boost to employment and the economy.

Schools could see an enrolment lift and landlords could be in for a golden period.

Just like a resolution to lose weight, however, those who benefit most from the construction boom will be those who work hardest and are best prepared.

The Daily Examiner reported on 11 December 2014 something which a look at NSW Roads & Maritime Service’s website confirms in January 2015, the second Grafton Bridge has not yet received approval:

CONSTRUCTION of a second bridge for Grafton is in limbo with no announcement yet on when works will begin.

A spokeswoman from Roads and Maritime Services said there would be "no comment" on the proposed bridge while the project was under review by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment.

Meanwhile a spokesman from the Grafton Chamber of Commerce and Industry has raised concerns that an election promise, made in 2011 by the (then) Deputy Opposition Leader and Leader of the Nationals Andrew Stoner as well as current Clarence MP Chris Gulaptis, will not be met.

Des Harvey, board member of the Grafton Chamber of Commerce, said the community deserved clear answers.

"Given it is already December 2014, and the construction industry typically winds down for Christmas and the January holiday period, the Grafton Chamber is very concerned the deadline of 28 March 2015 for commencement of construction will not be met as promised," Mr Harvey said.

"People stop and ask me in the street - what's happening? - at the end of the day we want to see actual construction; we want to see tractors digging holes."

Mr Harvey acknowledged the project had progressed significantly, but he also noted that $177 million had been allocated for construction in the current term.

"I know plenty of work has already been done but the election is getting closer and the problem hasn't gone away," he said….

The second crossing of the Clarence River at Harwood is still at submissions from the community stage at this time, with tenders for preliminary first stage of soft soil treatment still being assessed.

Tenders are still being assessed for preliminary soft soil work on the Pacific Highway upgrade between Woolgoolga and Ballina generally.

This year is unlikely to see the hoped for golden period for the Clarence Valley - more likely there will be a slow trickle of employment opportunities in the second half of 2015.

Of course, if as is likely, the Baird Coalition Government is returned at the 28 March 2015 state election with a comfortable majority then any perception of political urgency in Macquarie Street will have subsided.

Then the federal funding earmarked for 2013-14 and the state's $395 million earmarked for 2014-15 may be the only funding not pushed forward past 2016-17 in this year's state budget papers, where such deferred spending would sit with further promised federal funding listed in forward estimates past the end of the Abbott Government's current (and perhaps only) term in office. 

Abbott Government now considering telling different sets of political lies to Australian electorates based on the states in which they are located?

Simon Letch 28 November 2014

The voice of political desperation can be heard in this article in The Australian on 30 December 2014, as the Abbott Government begins to reap what it so assiduously sowed in both Opposition and Government under Tony Abbott and, one MP floats the idea of tailoring the rationales put forward, perceptions aired, arguments used, lies told, as a magic political antidote to Liberal-Nationals woe:

Victorian Liberal MP ­Michael Sukkar, who holds the marginal Melbourne seat of Deakin, said the electorate had a “misalignment of expectations’’ about the government’s ability to turn around the economy in just over a year. He said the government needed to communicate its agenda to voters better and tailor the political argument differently when addressing the southern and northern states.

“We all just have to explain our rationale for the decisions we’ve made a lot better,’’ he told The Australian.

Based on the current anti-Abbott backlash in Victoria, Liberal strategists believe the seats of Deakin (3.2 per cent), Corangamite (3.9 per cent), La Trobe (4 per cent) and Dunkley (5.6 per cent) will fall. That could leave the Coalition holding just 12 of Victoria’s 37 federal seats. Casey (7.2 per cent) is also at risk.

In South Australia, Hindmarsh (1.9 per cent) would be a Labor gain on current voting intentions and the safer seats of Boothby (7.1 per cent) and Sturt (10 per cent) are also at risk amid angst over the collapse of the car industry and broader economic uncertainty. This could leave the Coalition with just three of South Australia’s 11 federal seats.

Labor has not held Dunkley since 1996, Sturt since 1972 and Boothby since 1949.

Sturt is held by Education Minister Christopher Pyne, who is one of the government’s most prominent members, and he is set to be targeted by unions over his support for budget cuts.

Senior Liberal strategists have told The Australian that anti-­Abbott sentiment is “profound’’ in Victoria and was key to last month’s state election defeat. “You are looking at a bloodbath in Victoria,” a senior Liberal said. “Seats will fall and any gains we made in 2013 will be wiped out.”…..

In South Australia, both major parties accept that three federal Liberal seats are vulnerable if Mr Abbott’s popularity does not vastly improve.

The seat most at risk is Hindmarsh, which covers Adelaide’s inner western suburbs. Hindmarsh had been held by Labor’s Steve Georganas since 2004 but was wrested away at the last election by Liberal Matt Williams.

Mr Williams said he was concerned about the impact of anti-Abbott sentiment in South Australia and said funding cuts, including to industry, had been having a negative impact.

“We have to address that negative perception and get the facts out there so the public become better aware,” he said. “The agenda is dominated by a state Labor government and ministers constantly speaking about federal issues. In regards to defence shipbuilding, I have raised the issue of defence projects for South Australia with the Prime Minister. We have to be a bit more optimistic in terms of what opportunities there are going forward.’’

The comments come after an analysis of Newspolls from October to December showed a marked shift over 12 months.

The analysis found the Coalition ahead only in Western Australia and trailing 60 per cent to 40 per cent in Victoria.

If Newspoll were replicated at a federal election, seven seats would fall in Victoria alone. The Coalition holds 90 seats in the 150 seat parliament, Labor 55.

Some Metgasco Limited shareholder disquiet over merger with Elk Petroleum

From the HotCopper MEL forum on 29 and 30 December 2014:

As doctornoh raised in post #14500228 the MEL Board notes that "Metgasco has applied to the ASX seeking in-principle advice as to whether ASX will exercise its discretion to require Metgasco to seek shareholder approval to proceed with the transaction, and if so, whether ASX will require re-compliance with Chs 1 and 2 of the Listing Rules. Having regard to the circumstances of this transaction, Metgasco does not presently intend to seek shareholder approval unless ASX requires Metgasco to do so;"

This is perhaps surprising as it indicates MEL may not have, as recommended by Section 2.8 (a) of Guidance Note 12, applied for in-principle advice from ASX about the application of Listing Rules 11.1.2, 11.1.3 or 11.2 to the transaction before proceeding with the transaction. 

This may indicate that MEL is hoping to pressure the ASX into just waving the transaction through.

Of course one of the easiest methods to ensure that the ASX did not require re-compliance with Chapters 1 and 2 of the Listing Rules would have been to ensure that shareholders had sufficient information about the proposed transaction for trading to be occurring on a reasonably informed basis or to seek shareholder approval of the transaction as permitted under the Guidance Note.

Of course, the Board and management of MEL (either through ignorance or deliberately) seem to have previously adopted a relatively caliver [sic] attitude to the Listing Rules. Even with this most recent announcement, as an oil and gas exploration entity that is not earning any material revenue from operations, MEL appears to have ignored the recommendation of Section 2.8 of Guidance Note 12 and failed to provide any indication of annual expenditure that will result from the proposed arrangement with ELK.

In addition, for the AGM in 2013, in an apparent attempt to inhibit the challenge from disaffected shareholders, the Board issued papers calling the AGM, ignoring the requirements of the Listing Rules to provide 7 days notice of this intention. To further compound this failure, the Chairman then assured all shareholders at the AGM that the Company had fully complied with the requirement for the 7 days notice.

It is also well known that anti csg protestors in the Northern Rivers (perhaps with little justification) have complained that MEL may not have fully complied with the continuous disclosure requirements in relation to the provision of advice as to the extent of protestor activity in the MEL area of operation.

In the absence of significantly more information, it is very difficult for MEL shareholders to determine whether the transaction is in their best interests. While it is likely the Independet [sic] Experts' report prepared for ELK shareholders will provide substantially more detail, the purpose of this report is not for the benefit of MEL shareholders. The transaction may well represent a substantial opportunity for MEL shareholders, but on the surface there appear to be significant questions. The main asset being acquired, the Grieve EOR development, appears to have a very troubled history. It appears that ELK initially believed total field expenditure of less than USD28.6 million was required before the development became cash flow positive. Currently total field expenditure stands at USD70 million and it is forecast that there is at least two more years before first oil production and any chance that the project could become cash flow positive. Initial pressurisation of the field commenced one year later than originally planned and first oil is now forecast to be running up to three years later than initially planned.

There is no doubt that the transaction represents a significant change to the scale of MEL’s activities. 

Read the full comment here.

Thought I might shortcut the need for research on ELK's prospects and look at what shareholders have been saying on HotCopper. Well it was truly depressing, ELK seems to have a long history of optimistic promises and then, not just under delivering, but totally failing to deliver at all.

One indication of the very low enthusiasm for the stock can be gained from looking at the last Company’s Share Purchase Plan which closed on 16 July 2014. The SPP provided for all shareholders to subscribe for up to an additional $15,000 worth of shares at an issue price of $0.12 per share with subscriptions capped at $3,000,000. There was also one free option attached to each share acquired. So 25,000,000 shares were on offer. But only 2,600,000 shares, just over 10% of those on offer were taken up by shareholders. Only two (of the five) directors took up the offer and then at less than 50% of their entitlement. Of course it didn't help that the ELK share price was only $0.13 at the time the SPP was announced and then promptly dropped below the $0.12 offer price and stayed there for most of the offer period. And the ELK share price has never been above $0.12 since.

Great vote of confidence by the apparently badly disillusioned shareholders. Further it looks like the underwriters and sub underwriters bailed, taking up only $688,000.08 of the underwritten $1,000,000. One sub underwriter for $150,000 looks like they bailed totally.

But the other interesting thing is that only one of ELK's long term posters has bother [sic]  to post anything to HotCopper about the merger. Maybe they are all laying low, hoping like Christ that the merger goes through. The register is dominated by large holders, with the top twenty holders at 30 June 2014 holding 60.63% of the issued shares. This is a little down on the 64.28% held by the top twenty at 30 June 2012 but substantially up on the 39.62% held on 30 June 2005 just after listing…..

The AUD1.25 million loan due to be repaid on 8 January 2015 was from private individuals, likely to include some of same large shareholders from the top twenty. 

It is beginning to look like the MEL proposal may have more to do with giving these large shareholders a way out of ELK rather than any grand opportunity for MEL. And it certainly guarantees repayment of the AUD1.25 million loan which was looking very shaky indeed. Maybe MEL is looking at these grateful shareholders to provide the proposed March funding.

Read the full comment here.

It would appear that the market also shares investor doubts, as the merger announcement failed to break Metgasco's ordinary share price out of the 4 cent doldrums it has been in since November 2014.

While the Federal Government remains gloomy about the gas industry as a whole: 

“Every oil and gas company in Australia will be cutting back on its exploration and development with oil prices sitting at $60” [Resources Minister Ian Macfarlane in The Australian, 3 January 2015]

BACKGROUND

Elk Petroluem Limited was registered in West Australia on 19 January 2005.

Its principal place of business since December 2011 is Suite 4, Level 9, 31 George Street, Sydney NSW.

Current directors are Anthony James Strasser of North Bondi NSW, Matthew Healy of Chatswoood NSW and, Neale Forest Taylor (Executive Director and Chairman) of Casper, Wyoming USA.

The company has oil interests in Wyoming and Nebraska USA it is seeking to progress.

According to the Annual Report 2014, the company has a number of wholly-owned US subsidiaries: Elk Petroleum Inc LLC,  Grieve Pipeline LLC, North Grieve LLC, Natrona Pipeline LLC and Elk Operating Company LLC.

The company’s largest shareholders as at 20 September 2014 were:

Clarence Valley Council draft customer service policy

Clarence Valley Council has released its Draft Customer Service Policy and invites comment until 30 January 2015.

Local residents and ratepayers who have frequent contact with the third tier of government should read this document for the comic relief.

In part it states that Council commits to:

Formally recognising that our customers are our first priority and nothing is more important than keeping our customers informed and providing accurate and timely responses to customer requests for information or services.

Developing a customer first culture throughout the organisation by providing staff with the tools they need to deliver excellent customer service including training and education and access to the appropriate systems, processes and technologies.

Ensuring equitable access to council services and information for all customers regardless of disability, ethnicity, language or age.

Regularly reviewing and updating the portals used for customer contact by seeking customer feedback on preferred contact methods, staying abreast of technological advancements, reviewing internal processes and procedures as necessary.

Developing measurable service standards for customer contact to guide officers in their dealings with customers, to provide certainty for customers on when they can expect their requests to be responded to and to ensure that standards are consistently being met.

Upholding the provisions of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009,and the National Privacy Act, including maintaining confidentiality for customers in all matters in strict accordance with those statutes.

Promoting mutually respectful and courteous interactions between customers and Council staff by applying Council’s Code of Conduct to the actions of staff and by protecting, supporting and equipping our staff to manage customers who display an unacceptable level of rudeness, profane language or aggression towards them.

Prompt and efficient services.

 Easy access to our services.

Friendly, professional service.

Accurate and consistent information.

In return Council asks that residents and ratepayers:

Treat our staff in a polite and respectful manner;

Be honest and accurate in your dealings with Council;

Work with us to solve problems;

Give us feedback on the things we do;

Respect community property.

Now this is a good policy and many ordinary members of staff and their 'customers' already interact well and within these guidelines.

However, Clarence Valley Council's executive and senior management have forgotten one basic truism - a fish rots from the head down and local government has been on the nose for years.

I suspect that for them, this policy will only come into play when office politics become heated and vindictive.

So, all those journalists who have been shouted at by senior level management, all the ratepayers that have had to fight to get any sort of written answer to their concerns, all the objectors to a development or rezoning application who were supplied with unconscionably late, incomplete, inaccurate or downright misleading information, as well as those that have joined the ranks of what appears to be a veritable multitude down the years who have been threatened with defamation for daring to raise issues – guffaw loudly in chorus now.

You’ll shake the eaves!

While North Coast Voices blog was on holidays the Northern Rivers once again showed its heart......

Letter to the Editor in The Northern Star on 27 December 2014 at Page 17:

Drought relief

On Saturday December 6, 567 Christmas hampers plus boxes of toys and gifts left the Eltham Hall and headed out to drought-stricken farming families with everything having been donated by the caring community of the Northern Rivers. Once again the response was amazing, not only the food; toys; gifts; laundry and toiletry products; but the boxes in which they were packed courtesy of Amcor; the freight as usual by Tamex whose local agent is Greg from Lismore Tenterfield Transport; the forklift and truck supplied by Mills Transport and driven by Dave their transport manager. The boxes were all loaded onto pallets once again by the wonderful Clunes RFS.

Thanks must also go to those who made cash donations ranging from $20 to over $1000 into the drought account that enabled us to buy what was needed. Thanks also to the churches who donated, particularly the Uniting Church of Mullumbimby that donated 40 boxes of goodies; the Bangalow Anglican Op Shop and the Seventh Day Adventist Op Shop which both donated $500. Global Care from Ballina once again showed they really care!

Thank you to the wonderful children from Wollongbar and Modanville Public Schools whose teachers encouraged them to collect for the farmers. All the local Lions Clubs who generously donated cakes and cash, particularly Kingscliff, Byron Bay and the Bangalow Lions who facilitate the Drought Fund. Even the district governor and regional secretary who drove up from Port Macquarie with hundreds of cakes and puddings!

It is impossible to thank everyone, but you know who you are and you can rest assured that your kindness is already making a huge difference out there in the dry and dusty outback.

The appreciation is already being shown and one dear old farmer spoke to me of having his credit card rejected on $27 of groceries; he only had $11 left in the bank, so you can imagine how overwhelmed he was to receive his hamper!

Thank you everyone for making this appeal such a success, all the wonderful volunteers, particularly Karen Hagley who has been helping with this project for years; those who picked up and delivered (including my husband John) and helped to sort and pack. It was a lovely to meet you all and work with such great people.

Happy Christmas to you all.

ANNE THOMPSON

Organiser North Coast Drought Appeal

A most telling blog description

This is an Islamaphobe father of six Australian blogger writing about himself:

Bernard Gaynor is a conservative Catholic who writes what normal men dare not speak out loud.

Before you start to cry copious tears for Community Housing Limited on the NSW North Coast......

Mainstream media on the NSW North Coast reported that Community Housing Limited had lost its NSW Land & Environment Court bid for rates exemption on its 1,368 properties in this state.

On its website the company asserts it is a registered charity. However, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission lists it as a public benevolent institution and the court decided that the company failed to prove it was a charity in its presented arguments.

In its Concise Annual Report 2014 Community Housing Limited stated:

At 30 June 2014 CHL had a portfolio of 4,309 properties under rental management in Australia across six States including Victoria, New South Wales, Western Australia, South Australia, Queensland and Tasmania. Internationally in Timor Leste, Chile, and India….

Results for year

Total revenue and other income of the Economic Entity is $70,842,035 (2013: $88,406,634).

Total Members Funds are $315,033,844 (2013: $303,983,086). Net surplus for the year amounted to $11,050,758 (2013:$39,630,760)….

In 2014 the company had a surplus of over $11.1 million, total rental income of over $36.6 million and paid no income tax.

In Australia its combined grant and incentive income in 2014 was over $17.7 million.

In the Coffs Harbour area the company appears to have taken possession of 180 Coffs Harbour public housing properties (a mix of one & two bedroom units) in 2011, with the state government contributing a one-off payment of around $1.5 million and the company making a contribution of around $1 million to required property upgrades.

In the Clarence Valley it has fourteen housing properties (a mix of units, townhouses and houses) in Grafton funded by federal, state and local government in the form of land contribution, discounted land sale, capital grants and National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) as well as a loan taken out by the housing company.

These appear to be typical profiles of how this company funds its affordable housing expansion.

So the bottom line in all this is that a comfortably cashed-up international housing company (which already gets considerable assistance from all three tiers of Australian government) wanted more and didn’t get it.

Forgive me, if I cannot see why it shouldn’t pay its council rates, particularly in regional New South Wales where net surpluses running into many millions are rarely found in in local government coffers.

The ongoing Tony Abbott entitlement saga

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott has an annual base salary of $507,338 per annum and a wide range of parliamentary entitlements.

In the second half of 2014 the Australian Department of Finance released the latest available list of paid entitlements.

On first glance, just looking at one 4-day period immediately raises suspicion about a claim for travel allowance by the Prime Minister.

Perth Now reported on 30 March 2014 that Abbott was in that city for party political purposes:

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott will fly his Cabinet to Perth this week in an attempt to rally last minute support for the Liberals in the upcoming Senate election.

With just one week to go before the re-run senate poll, Mr Abbott has decided to unleash his federal ministers on Perth as part of a week-long assault to muster support for the Liberals.

The move comes amid growing fears within the Liberal camp that they could lose a crucial third senate position in Saturday’s election – a result which would make it even more difficult for Mr Abbott to pass laws in the federal parliament.

Informed sources said yesterday Mr Abbott’s decision to fly his Cabinet to Perth was a strategic move to remind voters that there were already five West Australian ministers in the federal Parliament and that Liberal senators would be part of an already strong contingent of government representatives in Canberra.

While in Perth, Mr Abbott will also attempt to swell the coffers of the Liberal Party by being the headline act of a party fundraiser tomorrow night – charging $5000 a table to attend.

“Western Australia is at the heart of my Government. We have five Ministers from WA, three in the Cabinet, which means WA has an incredibly strong voice around the decision-making table and that will be on display when Cabinet meets in Perth on Tuesday,” Mr Abbott told The Sunday Times yesterday.

“If Western Australia wants a strong team and a better deal, there’s only one way to vote and that is to vote for the Liberal candidates who will have a strong voice within the Government…. [my red bolding]

On 31 March he squeezed in a visit to Pearce RAAF base in Perth and an appearance at a WA Telethon awards event, ahead of his headline appearance at the Liberal Party fundraiser on 1 April and the supposed official Cabinet meeting with his ministers on 2 April.

The Australian Dept. of Finance reported that between 30 March and 2 April 2014 it gave a travel allowance refund to Tony Abbott of over $2,000 for this particular visit to Perth:

Associated VIP flight costs totalled $17,470 to fly him and advisors/staff from Canberra to Perth via Sydney & Melbourne, plus a further $11,550 to fly both he and his entourage back to Canberra on 3 April.

Abbott has a long history of alleged abuse of parliamentary entitlements, including this instance as Opposition Leader and this example as Prime Minister of a manipulation of entitlement criteria.

Given that Tony Abbott tends to go into full electioneering mode ahead of any formal election campaign, I’m sure political tragics around the nation will be closely watching his expense claims this year.

The Daily Examiner: methinks it stinks!

The Daily Examiner, 31 December 2014, Page 3:

While the voting numbers varied between our online poll and votes lodged directly with The Daily Examiner, we decided to weight these views differently because many online voters were not buyers of our newspaper.

We're pleased to be supporting a majority of Australian-made cartoons - including Zanetti on our opinion pages - and we look forward to your feedback.

On the same day Bill Dickinson took to Facebook to express his displeasure - thereby joining a growing band of valley residents unhappy with a range of APN News & Media’s decisions:

Bill of course could have added that there is only one regular opinion page in the old Egg Timer and that page only carries one political cartoon per issue, despite the liberal use of plurals in The Daily Examiner quote at the top of this post.

He could have also pointed out that The Daily Examiner has an ePaper which is purchased online.

As far as the financial integrity of those who lodged votes directly - its an open secret that traditional print copies of the newspaper are often shared between households (sometimes between up to half the houses in a short street) with only one person being the purchaser, so there is no guarantee that the person voting directly in Grafton or by mail actually paid for the newspaper.

The Australian Minister for Women is clearly not capable of understanding his role

The Australian 26 March 2011

On 30 December 2014 The Sydney Morning Herald reported:

The number of women on government boards has slipped below the 40 per cent target and a new report says men made up 75 per cent of new appointees within Tony Abbott's own Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet this year.

The Prime Minister, who is also the Minister for Women, has assured voters he is committed to the gender diversity target but the opposition says the statistics should "set the bells ringing".

The annual Gender Balance on Australian Government Boards Report says overall female representation slipped from its peak of 41.7 per cent under Labor in 2013 to 39.7 under the Coalition in 2014.

The Coalition drastically slashed the number of board positions from 4039 to 3206 when it came into government as part of its deregulation agenda.

The report, prepared by the Office for Women, which sits in the Prime Minister's Department, PM&C, said there were 639 new appointments to boards as of June 2014.

63.5 per cent of those positions were offered to men, meaning 36.5 per cent went to women……

"The government is committed to the 40:60 target and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Women is working with colleagues to ensure this target is achieved," said a spokesman for Mr Abbott….

Not only has female board representation slipped significantly, the self-appointed Minister for Women clearly does not understand the gender diversity policy he is supposed to support.

A 40:60 target? One presumably giving 40 positions to women and 60 to men?

No, the real target is 40:40:20.

Where women hold at least 40 per cent of Australian Government board positions, men hold another 40 per cent of these positions and the remaining 20 per cent can be held by either gender.

That he doesn’t understand or chooses to ignore this target is clearly demonstrated by his own Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet with its 16 boards and 170 active positions, where only 50 women (29.4%) hold any of these positions, and of the 87 new board appointments in this particular portfolio in 2013-14 only 21 were female.

The gender imbalance becomes more pointed when one realises that the Gender Balance On Australian Government Boards Report 2013-14 only includes those boards covered by the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 (PGPA Act) which have some level of input or sign-off from particular representatives of the Government.

That is:

* the Prime Minister alone;

* one or more Australian Government ministers;

* the Governor-General in Council; and

* the Cabinet.

Overall the Abbott Government is exceeding the gender diversity target’s set quota for male government board members and failing to meet the set board member quota for females.

Here is the breakdown of gender diversity by portfolio:

The Sydney Morning Herald 14 December 2014

What will Abbott's Australia look like in 2015?

So what will Abbott's Australia look like in 2015?

Taxpayers will be footing a conservatively estimated bill of $400 million this year for the Abbott Government’s participation in the war against ISIL, with little practical effect on either the political situation or the fighting in Iraq and Syria.

At the same time taxpayers will also be paying out an estimated $5.3 million a month this year because the Abbott Government assumed full responsibility for the continuing search for missing Malaysian Airlines commercial flight, MH370, which disappeared into the ocean ten months ago with 6 Australians amongst the 239 passengers. 

Purchase of Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s personal VIP jet will possibly be completed during 2015. This purchase is estimated to cost at least $250 million.

http://militaryaircraft-airbusds.com/Missions/MissionsMilitary/Transport/VIP.aspx

By July this year the budget deficit will probably have blown out past the December 2014 MYEFO predictions.

Childcare fees are predicted to rise again and an est. 74,400 families are expected to hit the rebate cap and be cut off from further childcare assistance sometime during the year and, therefore be ineligible to apply again until the following financial year.

Increased GP fees are expected to commence this month and increase again in July for over 15 million Australians, many of whom will be paying an upfront fee of $80 or more for a simple visit to their local doctor.

Changes to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will probably be presented to the Australian Parliament by the Abbott Government and, an increase in the base rate or widening of this tax (effective in 2017-18) is likely to be tagged onto the end of these changes to compensate states which would otherwise lose a percentage of existing GST income under these proposed changes.

Wages for ordinary workers are not expected to increase markedly and real wages may even fall further than the September 2014 annual growth low of -0.01% which was due to cost of living rises outstripping the 2.29 % wages growth.

There will be an estimated 803,952+ people without a job.

Affordable housing stock will continue to decline for the estimated 2.3 million Australian who rent their housing. On 5 April 2014 there were only 808 properties for rent on the NSW North Coast and none were affordable by an unemployed single parent (with one child over 8 years of age) receiving the Newstart Allowance and only 25 rental properties were affordable by a single person on the minimum wage .

On any given night this year there will be more than 100,000 homeless men, women and children living on the streets or without a permanent roof over their heads.

Mainstream media is expected to begin reporting deaths said to be related to the Abbott Government’s ongoing funding cuts to health/social services delivery and eligibility changes to safety net welfare payments.

Near El Niño conditions are predicted to continue in the first part of this year which means drier and warmer than average weather is likely in many areas.

Treasurer Joe Hockey will be careful not to be photographed doing a victory dance before presenting the 2015-16 Budget Papers to the Australian Parliament.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott will in all likelihood increase the frequency of his formal televised statements in an effort to lift his own polling numbers and yet still manage to be caught by professional photographers inappropriately touching women in public.

http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-and-views/dl-culture/abbott-under-fire-for-awkward-unwelcome-photo-op-with-new-female-cabinet-minister-sussan-ley-20141224-12d8sd.html

Voters may also hear more about the Prime Minister’s alcohol consumption and further allegations concerning drinking binges by the admitted “Grog Monster”.

Questions will continue to be raised concerning entitlement expenses lodged by Prime Minister Abbott and his ministers, with a possible focus on cash refunds from taxpayer pockets for what is essentially party political campaigning.

Activities of the Coalition Advisory Service, headed by Government Whip Phillip Ruddock with a staff of ten and ultimately financed by the taxpayer, may begin to come under scrutiny as unofficial electioneering heats up ahead of the 2016 federal election.

#Libspill rumours on Twitter and in mainstream media will possibly continue throughout the year, due in part to a persistent and deep sense of anger and frustration among Coalition supporters.

**********Happy New Year and Welcome To 2015**********