What was that figure? 3,700? And it's only June!

Now, who was it that said "Another boat, another policy failure? Perhaps one of the faithful few could remind us just who it was that said that.

Why doesnt Juliar just hire the Sun Princess or something similar, go to Jakarta and fill the bloody thing up, and bring them all back in one load!!!!

It will be interesting to see if tonight's '4 Corners' dealing with Australian-based people smugglers excites the Labor politicians into as much action as the live cattle exports to Indonesia programme did.

Red Kerry's closing comments were enlightening: "How is it that one small team of journalists was able to uncover in a few weeks what the AFP, with all its resources, has been unable to do in many years?"

Julia Gillard on Q & A next week.

Just watched the last half of four corners..wow!!! If this does not spur the government into some drastic action, then something really really rotten is going on deep in the bowels of Canbera.

As they said - what is AFP doing?? The Minister responsible for the AFP is the Minister for Home Affairs, Brendan O'Connor MP. We'll see a resignation, of course... :rolleyes:

Your PM looked a real miserable old biddy when she was lighting the Jubilee beacon, assume she has other things on her mind!!

And on top of all that particular pile of scheissen there's also the small matter of Gary Grey being dictated to by the WA union heavies who look as though they might just make double IQ figures if you lump them all together.

Everyone on this thread knows full well that I don't hold any kind of candle for this rotten ALP administration but Gary Grey ought not to have to put up with this old fashioned union standover tactics.

It merely serves to demonstrate the unplumbable depths to which Gillard and Rudd have lead the ALP to.

I cannot imagine that even the dear departed, the faithful few, or anybody with any kind of conscience can defend this lot.

Maybe on Q & A next week somebody should be stating the obvious..."For God's sake prime minister why don't you just go".

She's unlikely to go for the same reason that the Labor heavies at Sussex St, who imagine that they control politics in Australia, won't countenance change.

There's a push in the ALP, led by Sam Dastyari, to allow rank and file members some say in pre-selections. Imagine that! Democracy!

Union membership has been falling for years, along with membership of the ALP which has dropped from 38,000 to 31,000 since 2006.

It's quite obvious that something needs to be done. Pre-selections have been made more democratic in Labor type parties around the world, but not here. Over the dead bodies of those at Sussex St, in fact. Why should they allow change? They have power now, but can see no further.

Re the 4 Corners programme: the big question is how was it that Capt Imad got such an early release from detention? Could someone have been paid off?

The next question is: what will happen to him, his wife and adult children, who are occupying four (*** FOUR!!!) government houses in Canberra under false pretences? Will they lose their Australian residency and be deported?

I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for that.

The AFP's inaction on this matter over how many years smacks of the Craig Thomson/Fair Work Australia affair (pun intended). It stinks of them being told by someone very, very senior not to push their investigations too hard - if at all.

I think the only conclusion we can draw is that the ALP/Greens actually want to encourage people smuggling, indeed they will bend over backwards to facilitate it, hence the blind eye. The wife and daughter of Imad actually told authorities that Imad was dead! They should all be up for deportation, question is will they be deported?

Bearing in mind they shut down an entire industry based on one of these programmes it would look even worse for them if we get some kind of dismissive comment from the relevant ministers about how it's just some irrelevant TV programme. Interesting how ASIO wasn't mentioned.

It's high time the UN convention, actually the whole UN, got torn up, it is so widely abused now.

Otherwise we could end up like the UK, where this sort of thing is commonplace, and they cant deport/jail them because it's against their human rights because they have a cat they are fond of or somesuch thing.

That piece of news wouldn't have gone down too well with the weeties for Jooliar this morning.

Dead man (woman) walking :ok:

I wonder if Labor will formulate plans to scrap both carbon pricing and Gillard in a two-for-one effort. It's been muttered about for a while now. :suspect:

She is a real miserable old biddy ;)

Certainly has, but will that be all that is done, just muttering about it? Who amongst the Labor front bench (or the back bench for that matter) would be willing to take a now extremely poisoned chalice?

My own hope is that Juliar remains as leader until the next election thereby guaranteeing a wipeout that will make the removal of the Whitlam Govt look like a minor loss!

But in the meantime though....:ugh:

'Poor bugger, my country':sad:

Meanwhile Joe Hockey has surely upset his boss by telling the world that the Australian economy is better than most while at almost the same time Tony Abbott was saying the opposite.

Hockey talking up our economy praised the unemployment rate in Australia while Dr No with his relentless and unthinking attitude talked our economy down once again.

He as Peter Costello said has no idea of economics and giving him the job of PM would be like giving a bouncer the job of running the pub but after watching him run out of parliament like some frightened rabbit I think he is more of a stage managed image than any sort of real leader.He is more like a girl guide trying to look as though she could manage the local store.

I can only wonder what the Liberal power brokers must be thinking.

If those who support him tell us how good he is then why is his approval rating basically the same as Gillards?

Here's a hint: Dump the Chump before he gives the government a chance to win the unwinnable election.Change your leader before it's too late and maybe that's exactly what Hockey is doing at the moment by showing the difference between himself and Dr No.

The 'real Julia' at last!

Lex, I find myself hoping you actually reside in in the location given in your profile. (Which would reinforce the sweeping generalisations many of us in 'the West Island' light heartedly apply to our cousins across the water, particularly during cricket or rugby matches.)

However, I believe it is far more likely that wherever you live, (indulging in a little outsourcing, are we?), you earn your living as a full time employee of the Labor Party, tasked to troll the net daily and come up with (I'm assuming unintentionally) risible conclusions and reflections on any item in the news even remotely associated with Tony Abbott.

Here's a news item for you Lex: 99% of the people who say they want Malcolm Turnbull back as leader of the Libs will vote Labor (or at least put Labor ahead of the Libs in their preferences). They want Turnbull for two reasons: (1) he's more Labor than most Labor parliamentarians and (2) he's an election loser. Which is why they want him back leading the Libs.

Andu,what makes you think I'm not Australian because my location at the time of joining was NZ?

I (and probably the mods as well) think it's better to stick to politics and not start second guessing locations and nationalities.

Back to your post though and I would be grateful if you could help me by showing where in my post I was endorsing Turnbull?

Is it because the far right are worried and fearfull that Abbott will be replaced by someone else in the opposition with a more balanced view of the world who is held in more esteem and who actually has an idea of how the economy works than Dr No does?

I did mention Joe Hockey though and to be honest I do think that Joe Hockey and Turnbull would be a far better team than Bishop and Dr No.

Now back to a very topical issue and that is the matter of Australian companies importing foreign workers ostensibly because they can't get enough workers for the task here which we all know is as likely as the Elvis turning up for a gig at the opera house in Sydney.

Jetstar accused of underpaying cabin crew - Yahoo!7 Finance Australia

"Jetstar is being taken to court for allegedly underpaying cabin crew that were recruited in Thailand.
The eight crew members are allegedly being paid less than half of what they are entitled to when they work on domestic routes in Australia.
The Fair Work Ombudsman began taking action in the Federal Court on Friday for the workers, but says it may take action for up to 300 international cabin crew rostered on Jetstar's domestic routes.
Two Asian companies which recruit staff for Jetstar - Valuair and Tour East - are facing court over the matter.
Both companies are part owned by Qantas"

With Australians looking for work and Gina getting the nod to bring foreigners to work I am disgusted with the Labor government.

As far as the refugee situation is concerned didn't Abbott vote against off shore processing?

I would like to find out what many here would define as a socialist state and if they agree with taxation?

By the way I wonder if many people remember Tony Abbott advocating a carbon tax??????

Ask the Greens and the High Court about that. Tony Abbott is all for offshore processing in Nauru. No reasonable person would support the Malaysia "solution" and I'm still waiting to hear what happends to person 801

I just heard Ian Rintoul comparing (favourably) Capt Emad to Oscar Schindler. :oh:

Lex can you explain why it is BAD for Gina to bring in 1700 foreign people to get a major project off the ground, but perfectly OK for Labor to bring in about double that in boat people in the last year?

Today's boat arrived on time and on schedule.

Is Ian Rintoul smoking something funny? I just heard the same interview as Clare Prop and the man seemed seriously deluded. His ability to ignore the facts and scew the story to fit his "vision" is amazing to say the least!!!!:ugh:

Hockey? Not a fan. He reminds me of the Queensland Nats. All bluster and bravado without any substance.

Don't mind Turnbull but suspect he's closet Labor. Maybe that's why I don't mind him...:\ Same as a lot of Libs quite liked Rudd.

IMO Jestar/Qantas deserve to swing if their apparent rampant disregard of the FWA and the Immigration Act is proven. By the look of it they have been importing foreign workers to perform domestic duties at the expense of local workers and the federal government has ignored it. The Labor federal government. :yuk: At least Gina asked first, but she doesn't have the luxury of running an airline that can drop foreign employees in and out of Australia without scrutiny. :yuk: My rantings on D&G are boring enough without replicating them here. :zzz:

The same Labor federal government capitulated to AJ's dummy spit when he grounded the fleet and allowed him and the Qantas Board room to manouvre, instead of saying 'Your business, your problem. By the way, we're talking to EK and SQ and they'd love to run domestic services in Australia. Next move, sunshine? Their jets are standing by'. Allowing Qantas breathing room was indicative of a government that's scared of Big Business. Not what the faithful expect from an ostensibly left wing Labor mob who claim to support these strange 'worker' animals.

Weak as piss as always. :yuk:

Personally I prefer Turnbull to Abbott. He isn't as negative, he's very successful and he's not as aggro. However, the Libs chose Abbott and they're entitled to run their choice. Abbott rolled Rudd and for that he's to be credited, but the polls show people don't see him as any more likeable than Gillard. What a choice; the disliked or the slightly less disliked. :ouch:

Unlike many others, my location, my politics, my point of view is not masked. You all know who I am; a search of a couple of thousand posts on many and varied topics will give you everything short of a street address :O. Other posters may choose to be guarded; at the end of the day I don't really care all that much.

It's just the Internet. :)

Ditto. Even to the extent that one of the previous manifestations on this thread issued direct threats against me. That individual may or may not still be stalking me under a different guise but not to worry the mods have assured me that the person is gone.

But, hey ho. Everyone is entitled to their point of view - even the paid employees of the ALP who seem to be selling their nation down the gurler for 30 pieces of silver. Some stir the pot and survive; others reply and are consigned to the dustbin (for how long who knows).

At the risk of being the Devil's advocate, I don't believe that every poster on here with a Labor POV is a party stooge, any more than all the Lib prunners are. Plenty of people in the community still support the ALP (some still support the current incumbents :eek:) and the views expressed here are indicative of that.

I could sign up ten mates and get them to post their honest political opinions on here; they wouldn't be very different from Matt's or Lex's. Not because they're stooges (though several are ALP members, as no doubt a few people on here are card carrying Libs) but because that's how they think.

Anyway, it would be a pretty boring 'debate' if everyone batted for the same team. :\ It will be an even more boring debate if we get punted again, and for whatever reason the mods don't seem to like identity questions. :suspect:

Maybe we could lighten the debate by taking bets on the ETA of today's boat into Chrissie Island.

You couldn't make this up.
 

Capt Imad, the people smuggler who "4 Corners" outed in last Monday night's programme, is alleged to have posed as a refugee to gain entry into Australia after sending his wife and adult daughters ahead of him some 12 months earlier, their cover story being that the wife was a widow.

Unusually, Capt Imad, using a different name to the one he was known as during his 20 years living in Malaysia (and NOT as a refugee), was granted release from detention in under three months, (something that caused comment in many quarters, as everyone else on the boat had to wait for quite a lot longer than that).

Now it comes to light that there are reports surfacing that one of Capt Imad's daughters, (sent to Australia ahead of him), works for.....



.... wait for it...



... The Department of Immigration.

Whoda thunk it?

Wow. What does she work as?
That could all get very uncool very quickly. :eek:

Venus just transited the Sun.

I mentioned at work how interesting it was that this transit was what brought Cook to the Pacific & subsequently the mapping of Eastern Australia....stunned silence. :ugh:

One commented; "I'm not sure what's more impressive. The fact that they were interested in this back then, or that you knew it"

:rolleyes: I lament for this country.

lex,
Abbott is Mr No because everything bar none that rudd/juliar's labor government has attempted to do has turned to [email protected] Fuel/grocery watch, ber, nbn - outdated technology, border protection, home insulation, co2 tax - because of the price of electricity/heavy transport diesel fuel et al under this tax - there will be a rise in price of EVERY item involved in the cost of living. Do you think Colesworths/petrol stations/government departments/ corner stores/DJs/Myer/Clubs/sports stadiums/ vets/doctors/landlords the list goes on and on are going to absorb these costs? No they are going to pass them on to the consumer.
No, no, no until we have a change of government which will be led by Abbott!
GAGS
E86

I knew that (though only from Bill Bryson's book, I must admit :8). Actually they mentioned it on last night's weather report and this morning's TV news, so don't give up yet. ;)

IME it's usually easier to stick with footy or car related conversations at work, then even the complete chimpanzees can follow along. :}

Thought I had an ally in the Law Graduate that sits near me...alas...NFI! :ugh:

(But ask me anything about Mesopotamia....)

An Interpreter, apparently.

Worrals, What's the bet that this time something actually gets done?
Somhow I get the feeling I shouldn't hold my breath in anticipation.:hmm:

Just my warped sense of humour but I ponder whether Four Corners hasn't blown a witness protection program. :E

Lex
I'm not a fan of Abbott's but have found that labor's relentless negativity towards him (combined with it's general incompetence) has actually pushed me more towards him. Perhaps I imbibed too much of the old "fair go"spirit in my formative years. :hmm:

Not a great fan of Turnbull's either. Strikes me as too much of a smarmy banker.

They may have blown an AFP operation. :ooh:
Okay, I wondered that. Many interpreters are subbies so there may be some Ministerial wiggle room. I assume it's still the case that APS employees in positions reqiring a security clearance have to be Aussie citizens, so the subbie option is likely.

Interesting to know what she's been saying to the non English speakers. I know of at least one state trial where the Vietnamese interpreter was giving the defendant a very different version of events. :eek: it was only picked up when one of his rellies came to watch the trial and complained to a court official.

I've just watched Julia Gillard light a beacon in Canberra for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee.


After a speech that was banal in comparison with Tony Abbott's a few minutes later, Gillard stood with her lips pursed while Abbott and everyone else sang God Save The Queen. Yet, she was happy enpough to sing Advance Australia Fair immediatly afterwards.

How ungracious and churlish of our Prime Minister. The Queen is still Gillard's Queen - in fact Gillard is the Queen's 'loyal prime minister'.

If Gillard felt that strongly about it, why didn't she boycott the entire ceremony?

Haha...speaking of Venus...

Tracking Venus' flight a once in a lifetime event | adelaidenow

Never mind, the NBN will stop this happening...oh wait...:( *bugger*

Quite. That's just being petty and small minded. Thankfully, she won't be our prime minister for much longer - and a hearty good riddance.

I thought Jools looked very fetching in her little hat.

Well, fetching for Jools...

The inner city Sydney/Melbourne cafe latte set would be congratulating her for her honesty in not singing the national anthem of the nation of her birth. Perhaps we should do so as well - it's about as near to being completely honest in something she's done in public life as she's got for some time now.

Re her beacon lighting speech: banal it might have been, but was it just me, or has the dreadful, unique Gillard accent been softened somewhat? Quite a lot, in fact.