Is Australia its own Worst Enemy?

[Frank Arouet]

We should be reminded what Gillard is proposing with her proposed legislation to give unfettered power to The Minister of her Executive and preventing High Court interferrence which to my way of thinking is "unconstitutional".

Australian Constitution/ Separation of The Powers;

Fact Sheet 35 Separation of Powers | Students | Parliamentary Education Office, Parliament of Australia

In Australia, the power to make and manage federal law is divided between three groups: the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary. This division is known as ‘separation of powers’ and is an important principle in Australia’s system of governance.
History has shown that checks on the use of power, such as this, are important for preventing misuse of power. Separation of powers avoids a monopoly of power by any one group. Each group works within its area of responsibility and also keeps a check on the actions of the other groups.
The following table shows the role of each arm of governance and their composition:
Power

Role

Composition

Parliament

The Parliament makes and amends the law
The Parliament (also referred to as the Legislature) is made up of the Queen (represented by the Governor-General), the Senate and the House of Representatives

Executive

The Executive puts the law into action
The Executive is made up of the Prime Minister and ministers

Judiciary

The Judiciary makes judgements about the law
The Judiciary is made up of the High Court and other federal courts

Responsible government

In Australia separation of powers works together with another principle known as responsible government, to guide the way law is made and managed. The implementation of separation of powers is not exact in Australia because the Parliament, the Executive and the Judiciary are not entirely separate. For example, members of the Executive are selected from the Parliament and High Court judges are officially appointed by the Governor-General, who is a part of the Parliament.
‘Responsible government’ means that a party or coalition must maintain the support of the majority of members of the House of Representatives in order to remain in government. This provides another check on the Executive, ensuring they remain accountable to the Parliament and do not abuse their power.

[Charlie Foxtrot India]

Reinventing the wheel

Agreed, particularly in aviation... GFPTs, 150 hour CPL courses, student pilot licences, ASICs, until recently GAAPS, a 10 hour Night VFR course, in-house CPL testing, no prerequisites other than a wodge of money to start an instructor rating etc etc etc....

Still, maybe it will take as long as CASA's
"regulatory reform process" for Juliar to get her communist manifesto through "parliament" and we might have all died of old age before she closes the country down for business.

[Frank Arouet]

Another thought on the Gillard proposed changes.

Would taking such action be an amendment to The Constitution? If so, it must go to a Referendum. No?

[LeadSled]

And be passed by a majority of voters and a majority of states !!
Tootle pip!!

[Frank Arouet]

Gillard appears to the average Australian what Chamberlane was to England.

An ignorant, naive idealist with no ability and an inflated ego that exacerbated a serious situation into all out war. So far we are only out by $billions. Lets hope no lives are ever lost because of her stupidity.

Those who ignore history are bound to repeat the same mistakes.

[bob johns]

BOB JOHNS

Yes Frank I couldnt agree more ,but Chamberlain had a Winston Churchill to bail them out. Id like to think Abbot is our man but whether he has the statesmanship to do it remains to be seen.

[MTOW]

I wish I could agree with your Neville Chamberlain analogy, Frank. But I can't. there isn't a skerrick of naivete about Gillard - she knows exactly where she wishes to take this country, and that's to a place and a system of government that's anathema to me (and, I suspect, a majority of Australians who actually work for a living rather than sponge off 'the System' as a selected way of life).

[sisemen]

It would appear that the chorus of complaints against the ABC programme "At Home with Julia" is growing. It apparently shows the Prime Minister "no respect".

No **** Sherlock!

Once she starts showing the people of Australia some respect by not telling outright lies then maybe it will be reciprocated.

(Still surprised that the ABC is showing it though )

[Frank Arouet]

MTOW;

I was tempted to reply to your last with reminders about;

1) cash for clunkers".
2) The BER.
3) Pink Batts.
4) Green loans.
5) Timor solution.
6) Malaysia solution.
7) No Carbon Tax lies.

But you are right. Everything this person has done has turned to $hit. Dollar sign ($) intended because it has all cost us heaps.

This one individual, possibly helped by a strident need of Unions to have power at any cost, is a pathological "wrecker". Wants to wreck our way of life to support her, and The Greens, loopy left agenda

I note ABC TV news has been underscoring their bulletins the words "National interest" all day and those same words would need to be recovered from Hansard for every time that phrase was used in Question time today. Probably hundreds of times.

Never let it be said, The ABC is not the propaganda arm of the ALP.

It, the ABC, has never been so abused so by the opposition when they had office.

[Avgas172]

I thought union honchos could usually scrounge enough freebies without having to pay for sex. That said, if it had been the BLF or similar, escort services are probably on the approved expenditure list anyway ...

no, no .... seriously this thread is better than the Jerry Springer show

[Andu]

Sending the country (and its people) broke is a considered, conscious plan. The only people who will willingly adopt a socialist system are people with no money in their pockets, people who can only look to Big Brother to look after their needs with government handouts.

The gaping hole in this plan, (the same gaping hole that's been proven to be totally unavoidable in every country that has tried it, from the Soviet Union to the UK with its 'Welfare State' - but Australia will still try it, believing WE will get it right where it's been proven no one else has been able to [see my earlier post]), is that it relies upon someone to provide the money.

Who will that 'someone' be? The ever shrinking number of taxpayers in productive jobs? The mining companies? They (the mining companies) will stay as long as the rewards remain higher than the costs - and not a minute more. They'll pack up and move to other markets that offer higher rewards - and no carbon dioxide tax!!! - and come back only when government policies change to redress the rewards/costs balance.

[aroa]

stuff ups....

Here in Bureaucratalia or Regulatastan, it works thus....

A Polly has a "brain snap".... Minister for the "Dept of The HOT Times to Come" puts the idea of cooling houses with ceiling insulation to.....

The BUREAUCRACY, which is given the task of implementing the program and oversighting costs and budget, making the "working rules" so it might happen.

But if that does not occur... and it all falls apart at the seams......

Who is ultimately responsible..? Well, no one really, its a collective thing.

Who ulimately pays the financial penalty yet again.? The taxpayers..!!
Forget all that, ... next project?

What is it with this country??? DMO have just blown $40 mil in the USA regarding IED proofing APCs. There are plenty of smart engineers and scientists in Oz... so why doesnt that money stay here, for our industry?.

The people causing this loss were probably seconded from the Sea Sprite project.!
Oops..! there goes another billion$. Nothing learned ?? History repeats itself.

And so it goes....

[jas24zzk]

BOB JOHNS
Yes Frank I couldnt agree more ,but Chamberlain had a Winston Churchill to bail them out. Id like to think Abbot is our man but whether he has the statesmanship to do it remains to be seen.

Abbot, and statemanship in the same sentence?? (wheres the puke icon)

I might not be old enough, but the ONLY aussie pollie to hold the ultimate seat that had any bearing of statemanship that I can recall would have to be Paul Keating. He dressed sharp, walked sharp, spoke sharp, and had the audacity to speak the truth when he didn't know the answer to something....heaven forbid with todays muppets! I guess I have liked more labour pollies than Lib's, doesn't mean I liked their policies tho.
Kim Beazely is prolly the nicest guy not to get a tilt at the top job, which just proves bull**** talks.

Bob Hawke........a total tragedy........at least he was patriotic.
Keating. At least had a vision.
Howard............f*cking garden gnome, with big cahoona's!. Took his tax changing policy (gst) to an election and gave us the choice.
KRudd. Only voted in because some elements of our community thought we needed a change.
Dillard. Simply the WORST politcian at any level I have ever seen. Hiding under the 'feminist umbrella' of being picked on because of the female gender. Being female, was probably the thing that got her party enough votes to form what she likes to call government. Being female isn't going to get her voted out....being **** is!.

Yabbot as an alternative....(wheres that spew icon again). Yabbot reminds me of a throwback to Hawke, but abbot lacks the charisma to make it successful.

Brown (sandwich). Everytime I see him at one of Dillards press conferences my blood boils. HE is NOT our prime minister, nor does he hold a ministerial position. what right does he have to stand there with our PM as if he represents us??????????? he should get back in his box and concentrate on coming up with the lunacy that is his parties existance.

[Worrals in the wilds]

there isn't a skerrick of naivete about Gillard - she knows exactly where she wishes to take this country, and that's to a place and a system of government that's anathema to me (and, I suspect, a majority of Australians who actually work for a living rather than sponge off 'the System' as a selected way of life).

I used to think that. I used to think there was a plan but these days...Dunno.

A serious socialist wouldn't have come up with the Malaysia solution, because the socialist answer would have been to lay out the on-shore Welcome mats to the brudders, whatever the administrative cost involved in separating the brudders from the bombers. A serious socialist wouldn't have considered doing a deal with the Libs, because they are The Opposition. A serious socialist may have stood for everything you stand against... but they would have stood for something. You may have hated and loathed what they stood for but it would have been a principle. These guys in the current federal ALP... To quote The Who, WTF are you? Do they have a moral position on ANYTHING? Or is it all about the polls? Now they're blaming the Opposition for disagreeing with them? That's what the Libs are supposed to do! They're the Opposition FFS!

This is a government who was so arrogant in its surety about offshore processing that it didn't even forumlate a backup plan in case the High Court Said No and both the Court and a lot of Artists Formerly Known as Labor Supporters said 'hang on a minute... the Malaysians? Don't they beat people with canes? How is that Labor? Maybe this is about swapping Buddhist Burmese for Moslem MEasters because the Aussie/ Malaysian public will go for that, being dopey hateful racists and all? Maybe this will solve publicity problems for the Malay and Aussie governments because people are too dumb to notice'? Just a Maybe.

I agree about Brown. I hate the federal ALP for doing business with the little sniveller and kowtowing to his every word. What was he going to do, form a Coalition with the Coalition? The only principle that's apparent is: Anything for power.

[Andu]

Worrals, my argument is that Gillard will do anything (like all the spineless compromises you so accurately list) to maintain power for long enough to implement the Master Plan, phase one of which is to beggar the nation so that everyone is dependent on Big Brother.


Keating? Having seen him close up on quite a few occasions in his pre-PM days, I don't have a high opinion of the man. However, I will accept that compared with the misbegotten immigrant we have at the helm at the moment, (and her gender has nothing to do with it), Keating was a highly esteemed statesman of the first order.

But let's face an unpalatable truth - compared with Gillard (and to a not much lesser extent, Rudd), Ginger bloody Meggs could be considered to be a statesman.

[Zorro Polilla]

seriously this thread is better than the Jerry Springer show

I'm right with you there avgas172 - there are few greater pleasures in life than sitting back with a freshly brewed coffee viewing the daily discomfiture and pitiful squealing of the disposessed born to rule, especially the blow-ins.

It must really get up the noses of the slow learners and doomsayers that Australia was the only developed western country in the entire world NOT to not fall into recession during the GFC thanks to the careful stewardship of Rudd/Gillard and especially Treasurer Wayne Swan.

An achievement which has now been recognised in the big wide world world which exists beyond the pond with Wayne Swan winning the prestigious global award of Finance Minister of the Year.

The only other Australian Treasurer to win the title from Euromoney magazine was Paul Keating in 1984, when he was dubbed the "world's greatest treasurer" by Bob Hawke.

Australia's longest-serving treasurer Peter Costello was never awarded the prize.


Mr Swan will be presented with the gong at a reception in Washington this week.

Euromoney said he won for his "swift response" to stop Australia falling into recession amid the global financial crisis and for maintaining one of the world's best-performing economies.

"Mr Swan receives his award for his careful stewardship of Australia's finances and economic performance both during and since the global financial crisis," Euromoney said.

World Bank president Robert Zoellick said the award strengthened Mr Swan's "global influence".

An International Monetary Fund report predicts Australia's economy will grow by 3.3 per cent next year - far ahead of the 1.9 per cent average for advanced economies.

Onya Swanny!!

[CoodaShooda]

Nothing like starting the day with a bit of light humour Zorro.

While I'm not a great fan of Andrew Bolt, I'll leave the riposte to him on this occasion:

Congratulations to Treasurer Wayne Swan for winning the Euromoney 2011 Award for Best Finance Minister! May I also take a moment to congratulate some former Euromoney Award Winners:

Euromoney 2006 Best Investment Bank - Lehman Brothers (Busted 2007)
Euromoney 2006 Best Equity House - Morgan Stanley (Bailed out 2007)

Euromoney 2006 Best at Risk Management - Bear Stearns (Busted 2007)

Euromoney 2006 Best at Investor Services - Citigroup (Bailed out 2007)

And I’d like to note the favourable Euromoney commentary on AIG’s future, 2007 (bailed out 2007)

Hmmm… should we be worried?

UPDATE

Right on cue:

THE International Monetary Fund has slashed its economic forecasts for Australia, warning of a new global recession that would hit commodity prices and drive millions worldwide into unemployment....

The fund says Australia will grow at only 1.8 per cent this year, down from its previously forecast 3 per cent. The figure is way below the May budget forecast and only half the most recent Reserve Bank forecast, suggesting it will be harder than expected to reach the promised budget surplus in 2012-13. For 2012 the fund forecasts 3.3 per cent, down from 3.5 per cent.

But it points out that these are best-case forecasts, made on the assumption that almost everything goes right

[Captain Sand Dune]

pitiful squealing of the disposessed born to rule

Sounds familiar. Nah, couldn't be!

blow-ins

Zorro Polilla. Joined: 22 Apr 11. Number of posts to date: 5. Hello pot, this is kettle - over.

It must really get up the noses of the slow learners and doomsayers that Australia was the only developed western country in the entire world NOT to not fall into recession during the GFC thanks to the careful stewardship of Rudd/Gillard and especially Treasurer Wayne Swan.

Of course the fact that they had a very healthy budget surplus left by the previous governemnt had nothing to do with that, did it?

Australia's longest-serving treasurer Peter Costello was never awarded the prize.

I bet he doesn't care!!

[Frank Arouet]

And when they blew the budget surplus, they borrowed.

I can't think of one Labor Government who has left a surplus for in incoming Government.

Keating was a "wrecker" of the highest order.

[Ovation]

I'm sure it'll make Wayne feel good having some smoke blown up his @rse, but he's still the most incompetent Treasurer in my memory, having blown the surplus on projects that had little to do with nation building.

I would suggest his award was sponsored by the those in the EU who'll benefit handsomely from our Carbon Dioxide tax or failing that, he was the only nominee.