bananabread
Member
This is basically Clive Palmer right now:
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This is basically Clive Palmer right now:
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Or Tony Abbott's spurious slush fund Australians for Honesty. He put it together in 1998 with illegally anonymous donations of over $100,000 to target One Nation with a legal battle.
What, then, is so odious about the Labor party? While the parties have converged on many issues, the ALP remains (however feebly) wedded to a mildly redistributive program, which cuts across the now universal neoliberal paradigm of government that is the new orthodoxy of the Liberal party. This essentially an argument about the appropriate role and size of government in the economy, including in industrial relations is the main area of contention today. The Labor party still sees government as a means of achieving social progress.
Capitalisms greatest triumph has been to decouple the economy from the political contest, as though the economy exists separately and outside politics. In this transformative shift, the liberalism in liberal democracy has overtaken and minimised the democracy; the dominant constituency is no longer the people but the corporate world.
On the plus side, odds of building Striker Eureka probably went up today.
Nearly 40 of Australia's top military scientists and engineers are to be thrown on the scrapheap as the Defence Science and Technology Organisation cuts costs.
The jobs cull is expected to cut from six scientists to just two the DSTO's technical team for the $24 billion Joint Strike Fighter, the nation's largest ever defence purchase.
Sounds very adult. I give up.
Menzies was adamant that the new party had to learn from the ALP model: a continuous organisation between elections, a research capacity, a branch structure, a footprint in the community and most importantly, transparency in fund-raising that clearly separated responsibilities between the organisation and the elected members. He saw first-hand the public distaste at powerful business interests being seen to pull the strings, a lesson that Liberals in NSW seem to have forgotten, given the current imbroglio over secret donations.
At an International Women’s Day event in March this year, Prime Minister Tony Abbott, in describing the progress women have made, noted, “It wasn’t so long ago as a Sydneysider that there was a female lord mayor, a female premier, a female prime minister, [and] a female head of state in our governor-general …”
It should hardly have been surprising that his remarks were ridiculed. No one had done more, after all, to see that three of the four had by that time been replaced by more traditional appointments – older, private school–educated, conservative white men.
The Abbott government is the first in Australian history not just to stifle but also to reverse the progress of Australian women.
It began within days of Abbott becoming prime minister at last September’s federal election, when he announced a 19-member cabinet with just one woman, the lowest level of female representation since 2001. It continued in January when a former chief of the Australian Defence Force, Peter Cosgrove, was chosen to replace Quentin Bryce, whose term as governor-general was about to expire.
In between times the tone was amplified with a slew of significant appointments weighted overwhelmingly towards older, business-oriented, climate change–denying, Sydney-based, conservative men.
Reminds me of this:I like the name. Optimistic.
So, do we want a thread dedicated to the budget abortion coming up tonight? I think it'd be a great opportunity to advertise to the rest of the world (via GAF) what a colossal balls-up this current government is.
And I have the perfect thread title:
2014 Australian Government Budget |OT| B.O.H.I.C.A.
Reminds me of this:
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all of themSo do we want to take bets on how many times Hockey blames Labor during his speech?
Needs a thread. Isn't this thread in Community?I don't think it really needs a thread, but here are some title ideas anyway:
That's not austerity, this is austerity!
Throw some debt on the barbie
I said "do you feel-a my anguish?" He just smiled and gave me a shit sandwich
If a thread is made, it should just run through the story of how the government was elected promising to cut the deficit even though during the election they promised not not really cut or tax anything (and produced costings showing the same thing). Plus the whole Australia's economy being the envy of the Western world thing yada yada...
Where's the group huddle and crying at?
This is like E3 giant crabs and rabi drums combined
Where's the group huddle and crying at?
International departure terminals
Doubt it'll pass parliament.
If it helps you sleep at night man, I don't blame youDoubt it'll pass parliament.
I did neglect to mention during Question Time that speaker Bishop clocked up a milestone. She's ejected 100 Labor MPs from the chamber since taking the chair.
The manager of opposition business Tony Burke noted that Bishop's scorecard now read Labor: 100, Coalition: Zip.
Bishop noted rather tartly she not in fact ejected 100 separate MPs because Labor didn't have 100 MPs in the chamber. If it had 100 MPs, it would be in government, not in opposition.
Totally impartial.
The state Premiers called them on it straight away though so it wasn't exactly a masterstrokeedit: As much of a dick move as it is, a small part of me is forced to admire the comm govt for forcing the states with the budget to make the first move in raising GST.
That's a pretty sick burn, though.
Crosspost from the budget thread:
Man, this really is the budget that just keeps on giving:
I never felt the class divide so keenly as when I found myself on the "management" side of the construction industry. The way the upper level guys talk about the actual workers is really eye opening.
For instance, there's the way there are different rules governing "staff" and "wage employees", then there are the terms used by upper management. Of the ones I've heard so far, "sets of hands", "bodies", "arms and legs" and "blue collars" are the most dehumanising.
I feel like the only person within a hundred kilometres who would ever contemplate deliberately voting Greens.
What is new, management in any industry - particularly engineering and construction - generally have reprehensible opinions and have a GOT MINE, FUCK YOU attitude to most things.
Some of the posts made by some dude in the Australian Budget thread made me feel like typing out FUCK OFF YOU CUNT in response to his awful "Liberals have ECONOMIC POLICIES, Labor only has SOCIALIST POLICIES so I will pick the better option" response to why he supports the budget. Its no surprise that works at an engineering contracting firm.
I'm an engineer
I agree. I just thought it'd be funny to feign offence.I'm an engineer too. Sorry if I've offended you but some disciplines attract some really, really reprehensible people.
Crosspost from the budget thread:
Man, this really is the budget that just keeps on giving: