Australia General Discussion 2.0

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So, which of these clowns doesn't make it out of the cabinet reshuffle alive?

The humiliating parade of Hockey, Andrews, Abetz - all good bets.  Peter Dutton - I'm crossing my fingers!!

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Turnbull seems like less of an Australian GW Bush than Abbott. Is this perception correct?

Yes, Turnbull is certainly more charismatic and gives across a much more competent seeming style.  Whether there will be any change in the policies, I wouldn't hold out for much.

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Luke Foley is a massive dead weight and NSW Labor won't be winning with him at the helm.

The left hasn't forgotten that he began the campaign by coming out for an annual $100 million tax cut for the horse and greyhound racing industries, with the stated desire of making NSW the "gaming state."  Kicking off the campaign with gambling and animal cruelty as well as policy proposals lifted directly from the pages of The Daily Telegraph.  Refusing to back down after Four Corners revealed the twisted, illegal methods of the greyhound racing industry.  You can see the enthusiasm for his bland and uninspiring leadership in the swing against the ALP in his own electorate.  Pathetic.

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So the federal government came out in support or legalizing medical marijuana yesterday. A Turnbull decision, or something a long time coming?

Prompted by a Di Natalie campaign on the issue, at least in part.  He got Shorten to commit to medical cannabis the day before Turnbull also agreed to it.  Now we have a funny situation where the ALP is criticising Turnbull for only allowing states to give out growing licenses whereas they argue that the scheme should be federal, and that people should have access to medical cannabis regardless of their location.

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So the federal government came out in support or legalizing medical marijuana yesterday. A Turnbull decision, or something a long time coming?

Prompted by a Di Natalie campaign on the issue, at least in part.  He got Shorten to commit to medical cannabis the day before Turnbull also agreed to it.  Now we have a funny situation where the ALP is criticising Turnbull for only allowing states to give out growing licenses whereas they argue that the scheme should be federal, and that people should have access to medical cannabis regardless of their location.

Probably more because of the Victorian government, let's be real Di Natalie has like no influence.

^ The Australian Story episode this week gave credit to the Greens and Mike Baird (if anything, Baird more so).  Which is a bit iffy, IMO, given that NSW is still waiting for the rest of Baird's government to come through.

Anyway, it's fine that you don't like the Greens, and I'm glad to hear that the Victorian government has been pushing this as well.  I honestly hadn't seen much about that, just that Di Natalie had been promoting the issue and going on speaking tours.  You very well could be right that it was prompted by the Victorian government.  I was just putting together what I had seen: a very organised and concerted effort by Di Natalie, followed by Shorten's announcement, followed by Turnbull's.

In the latest news, Eric Abetz referred to Clarence Thomas as a "negro" in order to explain how opposing SSM is not a form of bigotry.  While he complains that the government is being ambushed into a premature vote on the issue, let us not forget that the non-binding plebiscite would cost a minimum of $160 million.  This is money that, according to the government, we do not have.

I didn't see anything here about this, either - the Coalition and Labor passed a law to take away cash payments from some Centrelink recipients on the basis that they live in indigenous communities.  Instead, they are given a card that they can use at the supermarket.  It is an effective way to remove the autonomy of the people affected and ensure that they would not be able to make cash payments for the most affordable items; i.e. fresh fruit and vegetable from a direct supplier, second hand clothes or furniture, etc.  Given that it only applies to indigenous communities, we can only assume that the politicians who passed this know something about racial genetics that presumably scientists have not yet discovered.

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Studying the medicinal cannabis issue more, I think Solopop is definitely right about the Victorian government being a driving factor and I apologise to him for being snarky about it.  In fact, the Victorian model is clearly superior to what NSW is considering and it frustrates me that Baird is able to brand himself in such a favourable way despite barely dragging his party kicking and screaming into progress on this issue.

Re: alcoholism in Indigenous communities.  The cashless cards have been trialled in NT for several years now, the same communities facing an involuntary and race-based prohibition of alcohol (and pornography).  Perhaps the alcoholism rationale makes more sense in SA where prohibition is not in effect, but that excuse can't be used for the Northern Territory.  And while we're on the subject of prohibition, some Aboriginal leaders are certainly questioning the wisdom of this policy where men sit on a highway 15 km out of town to drink alcohol, fall asleep on the side of the road, and get run over by trucks.  The disgraceful legacy of Howard's "intervention" is beginning to rear its ugly head.

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I know it's old news now but can we talk about that disastrous Malcolm Turnbull interview with Leigh Sales... it was brutal...

This is the Liberal party genius and saviour?  Yeah....

Also, Shorten apologised today for being caught texting while driving. 

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This is the Liberal party genius and saviour?  Yeah....

Well, if the polls are anything to go by...

Touche.

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Macfarlane's move to the Nationals got rejected by the LNP state executive, even after the local party branch backed it.

Yep, supposedly in the name of 'unity' and 'stability.'  Ha ha.

Mid year financial outlook reveals a ballooning deficit and the government is thrilled to announce it will be cracking down even more on Centrelink rorting, as opposed to, say, offshore shifting of profits by major companies.  By the time we're done with a Liberal government I fully expect us to have spent more on cracking down on welfare than on actual welfare payments.

Anyone want to take bets on when the NBN has to be sold at a loss?

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Turnbull's entire reason for deposing Abbott was because the government was failing in the polls.  I wonder what happens if Turnbull starts dipping even more?

J/k, expecting any modicum of consistency from the Coalition is pointless.

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totally inept, absolute lunatic proposal from Turnbull, I'm at a loss how this man can, with a straight face, say that we will keep paying for private schools, a private health insurance rebate, massive tax concessions for property investors, and avoid cracking down on multinational tax avoidance ... AND announce massive spending hikes on defense and an "innovation package" while paying billions to fund refugee detention camps and corporate polluter pay-offs ... but there is no money for schools and hospitals?

Complete joke.  He really thinks he can get away with shifting the blame like this?

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Ugh... when is NSW Labor going to get rid of that deadweight Luke Foley?

Of all the issues to take a "principled stand"... coming out to bat for the dog racing industry.  Calling people who are concerned about animals "elitist" and saying that an enormous gambling industry are the real "battlers"... holy christ this guy is so out of touch, it's sort of unbelievable.

I mean, for goodness' sake, Baird does SO MANY awful, awful things - why pounce on the ONE good thing he's done??!  It defies any reasonable explanation.

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After Turnbull said, no, never about Medicare being sold off, I was convinced that he would not do it

That's on you, my friend.

The Medicare angle hit home because we don't trust Turnbull not to privatize it, and we still don't.  In the next few years they will continue to try and sneak in co-payments, cuts to bulk billing, introducing costs for blood tests, pap smears, the list goes on.  They are biting at the very heart of Medicare - which is supposed to be a universal program that is available to everyone, regardless of ability to pay.  They are trying to change the structure so that it's "more economical" to purchase private health insurance - the rebate for, which, by the way, has never been under threat by the cost-cutting Liberals.  I wonder why?

Do you ever wonder why they are so happy to cut funding for public schools and yet Australia's status as a country that fully subsidizes its classist selective school system is never under threat?

Do you ever wonder why they would intentionally mismanage the NBN so that it would eventually be privatized, leaving regional Australians without the Internet speeds that everyone else in the developed world takes for granted?

Can't trust them, and that's what you see in the election results.  Shorten was right to say Turnbull can't be trusted on Medicare.  He can't be trusted.

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The good news is that if the Coalition keeps trailing Labor, then Turnbull will *have* to be replaced - that is the very metric he set when deposing Abbott.  The bad news is that anyone who would replace him (Abbott in particular) would only continue to embarrass Australia on the global stage while running the economy into the ground and pretending that the future is coal.  Slim pickings among the Coalition, after all.

Not that I mind, particularly - watching Turnbull over the last week (especially, but not limited to, his disastrous interview with Stan Grant), it's better from my perspective for the government to be inept rather than effective, so Turnbull is welcome, by all means, to continue leading the Coalition until they get the defeat they so badly deserve.

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The penalty rates conversation has been illuminating.

Let me share something with you all.  I have worked in hospitality for ten years.  I have never received any penalty rates for working on weekends.  Most hospitality jobs now, particularly small businesses, pay below the minimum wage.

So to see all of this uproar about people losing income - and I do feel very badly for people affected by this - makes me a little bit bitter.

The casual sectors - be it hospitality, retail, sanitation, or anything else that people look down on you for - have been seeing outright wage declines for the better part of a decade.  When you combine this with the fact that there is no longer full-time work available, it means that take-home pay gets lower every year.  The best you can hope for these days is 25 hours a week at a place that pays the minimum wage.  But even that is pretty hard to find.

I point this out because the productivity commission made a fatal error in justifying this decision.  Businesses will not be "boosted" by this because many of them were not paying penalty rates to begin with.  Workers who are affected will have less money to spend on the very businesses that are supposed to benefit.

These businesses are usually several steps ahead of the law in their methods of exploitation.  What this decision signals is not that penalty rates are gone - they already were - but merely that owners have been given the green light to further deteriorate the conditions of their employees.

In Australia in 2017, workers under 30 can expect not to be provided with breaks, or if they do get breaks, they will be timed according to how long it takes you to scarf down a meal, rather than observing the legal entitlement of a half-hour.  It is increasingly difficult to get sick leave and annual leave.  Because the government refuses to plan the economy properly, there is a huge over supply of workers for these businesses, which means that they can get away with treating workers this way because they will burn out and be replaced very easily.  Looking for work at a fast food restaurant or a call center?  Join the very, very long queue.

Of course, we would never expect someone like Malcolm Turnbull to understand any of this, because he doesn't work weekends and he stores his cash in the Cayman Islands to avoid paying taxes while he arrogantly pleads with us to buy private health insurance.  Yeah, sure, I'd love to cough up thousands of dollars on shoddy and pointless insurance with money that I don't have.

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The Liberals are seriously inept if they are actually sticking with Fizza Turnbull after the last couple of months.

Has Turnbull actually accomplished anything other than presiding over an increase in homelessness and a decrease in take-home pay?  Pathetic.

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The Liberals are seriously inept if they are actually sticking with Fizza Turnbull after the last couple of months.

Has Turnbull actually accomplished anything other than presiding over an increase in homelessness and a decrease in take-home pay?  Pathetic.

Well who takes over? Dutton? His seat is slightly marginal. Bishop? The right wing won't support a moderare woman. Abbott? He'll get crushed in 2019.

It hardly matters, the Liberals have no record to run on, so I guess you are right that they would be better off with Turnbull.

PM Dutton would probably be the final nail in the coffin in Australia's international reputation.

Bishop is extraordinarily corrupt, even by the standards of the Turnbull government.  If she ever really wanted to be leader of the Liberals, she should have probably been more careful not to so blatantly accept gifts and bribes from donors.

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Chris Bowen and Anthony Albanese suck, lol.

I actually think Shorten is doing fine.  But I could be biased.

I used to live in Albanese's district (he is a real piece of work), now I live next to Shorten's, and met him last year the day after the election.  That was a very exciting day - it still wasn't clear that Turnbull's government would hold on!

But apparently Turnbull is feeling emboldened because he's "only" down 52-48 in the latest NewsPoll.  How many is that in a row where the Coalition is losing?

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How was talking to Shorten like?

Pleasant!  He came across as genuine and friendly.

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Pauline Hanson has been slammed over saying that we should #pray4muslimban, and rightly so, considering it wouldn't really do jacksh**t a lot of the time.

Pauline Hanson shilling for Abbott-Turnbull cuts to struggling families is the ultimate confirmation of her pyramid scheme party being a stalking horse for failed Liberal policies.

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Hahaha!  Hopefully that will teach Turnbull not to waste his diminishing (diminished?) political capital on watering down race-hate laws.  What an idiot!

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A new Fairfax-Ipsos poll has found at 8/10 Australians polled disapprove the proposed changes to section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act

Link (profanity warning): www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/fairfaxipsos-poll-eight-in-10-voters-oppose-turnbull-governments-18c-race-hate-law-changes-20170327-gv7dlq.html

Duh. Turnbull has let me down. I thought he'd be different from the radical right of Abbott.

The crucial problem, of course, is that while Turnbull lets regular people down for being such a hard-right sell-out, the far-right nutters simultaneously question his purity and devotion to the cause.

In other words, nobody really likes Malcolm Turnbull, and it doesn't look like there is any way that is going to change.

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I thought it interesting that following the result in WA, the Nationals opted to pick a new leader who not only prefers to not coalesce with the Liberals, still wants mining companies to pay taxes, and even goes so far as to call herself a feminist.

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apparently the Turnbull government is going to let young people raid their superannuation to buy a home, because they won't ever get to retire anyway.