Month: May 2010

More Rudd illegal immigrant deaths on the way

Posted by Chief Blogger – 29 May, 2010

Sad news from Malaysia:

The 75 member Sri Lankan Tamil asylum seekers who have are presently detained in Malaysia have threatened to go on a fast unto death if their demands of seeking asylum are not met by the Malaysian Authorities.

According to reports reaching Colombo, the group of asylum seekers were stranded in a Multi-day fishing trawler off the coast of Tanjong Piandang, Perak in Malaysia on April 19 when their boat had given engine trouble.

The group of asylum seekers had left Sri Lanka hoping to enter either Australia or New Zealand via Malaysia.

And where is the ABC, Rudd, etc….?

Back in your box Turnbull

Posted by Chief Blogger – 29 May, 2010

Turnbull can’t help himself. Once again he is sowing disunity and discord in the coalition . One would have thought that after recent events and with the turn in popularity towards Abbott that Turnbull would have gotten the message by now that his way does not work. By going on an obscure ABC radio programme and his failure to offer support for Abbott’s approach to border protection, Turnbull is making himself the issue not Rudd.

Consider the following. When all is said and done, by the time Howard left office there were virtually no illegal immigrant deaths at sea and virtually no one in mandatory detention, and yet our refugee intake remained high. Under Rudd the refugee intake level has not changed that much, and yet we have 160 people dead and so many people in mandatory detention that Rudd is having to rent out motels to house them all. All because Rudd abolished amongst other things, temporary protection visas. So for instance, if you were a person in a refugee camp in Africa and you weren’t cashed up enough to engage a people smuggler, you had a greater chance of getting a refugee visa to Australia under Howard than you do Rudd. This is because the annual refugee intake is set, and if people jump the queue than those most in need miss out. Is this the left’s idea of compassion? It is Rudd that is cruel and unfair. Turnbull should consider this.

Is Rudd the biggest hypocrite in public life today?

Posted by Chief Blogger – 28 May, 2010

Based on Kevin Rudd’s reaction to Abbott’s immigration policy and Pacific Solution Mk II, it would seem that Rudd will stoop to any depth, do deals with any devil and betray anyone to cover himself. Rudd is responsible for the deaths of at least 63 people with another 100 people missing presumed dead. So probably around 163 people are dead as a direct result of Rudd basically encouraging people to make the crossing to Australia.

In parliament, Kevin Rudd ridiculed Mr Abbott’s idea as retrograde. “I notice that the once-great Liberal Party hauled out the white flag on tax and returned to old faithful,” the Prime Minister said.

Sickening. 163 people are dead and Rudd ridicules the idea of stopping the flow of illegal immigrants.

She’s lucky she is not in gaol

Posted by Chief Blogger – 28 May, 2010

Christine Nixon is a perfect example of the left – where intentions are always more important than outcomes. Even if people end up dead.

Barrister and former state attorney-general Jim Kennan described the claim that Ms Nixon attempted to mislead the commission while under oath as an evil allegation and a gratuitous attack on a person of outstanding character….

But the criticism of Ms Nixon was intense.

Counsel assisting the commission Jack Rush QC suggested she had failed the test of leadership on Black Saturday and had sought to mislead the commission.

Lying to the commission of her where abouts on the day of the fire  – doing her hair, having dinner, writing her book, and her general dereliction of duty would have landed a military equivalent in serious legal trouble. Let’s hope that Nixon is eventually charged and that she faces time behind bars.

We’re all Asians now

Posted by Chief Blogger – 27 May, 2010

Don’t tell Dr Mahathir about the new face of Asia:

Asian teams seek to reaffirm stature

The old recalcitrant face of Asia:
Asia’s new colonial masters are also on top in the FIFA Asian rankings.

Huragh! Rudd finally finds someone to support his mining tax

Posted by Chief Blogger – 26 May, 2010

It took a while, but a bunch of left-wing academics have come out in support of Rudd’s mining tax.

Nationals Senate leader Barnaby Joyce openly dismissed the open letter.

“It wouldn’t be surprising in a globe of about six billion people that you could find a few people to support the mining tax,” he said.

Virtually every single investment adviser, major banks, hedge funds, international press, the entire mining industry, 5 state governments, superannuation managers, any economist with a free market ilk, etc… are opposed to the tax increase. It simply shows how out of touch and irrelevant the group of 20 economists that support the tax are.

Australian westminster vs. US presidential system

Posted by Chief Blogger – 25 May, 2010

A highly ignorant view of parliamentary processes from a conservative US commentator. John Podhoretz claims that ‘politics’ ends in a parliamentary system when the election ends, whereas in the US system it just begins. This is because in parliamentary systems executive power in practice resides in the House of Representatives. By politics he means negotiation and opposition, though this is not clearly defined.

Firstly on constitutional and transitional matters executive power is clearly with the Governor-General. Reserve powers are not just a rubber stamp. Secondly, the judiciary in Australia is far more independent than in the USA, where appointments are made along political lines reducing the courts role as a check and balance on political power. Thirdly, the Australian public service is not full of a bunch of yes men (Ken Henry the exception), they are meant to recommend against government action if they think it is in the best interests of  country. In the USA the public service is headed of quasi-politicians that follow party lines. Fourthly, Australia of course has its own written constitution though not a bill of rights, which tends to distort the will of parliament as the will of the people. Fifthly, elections at the Federal level occur ever three years for which there is no set Parliamentary term. By comparison, presidential elections are set every four years with recourse to outing a deeply unpopular president very difficult. Sixthly, Australia has a unified opposition to government policies, whereas in the US system a lack of opposition leadership means individual senators can be bought off to get policies approved. Seven, there is also the upper house. Anyone looking at Rudd’s attempts to get his budget, mining tax or emissions trading scheme approved could hardly say that politics ended when he was elected. It is an absurd claim to make. You can also add the role of the media, the states, etc… From No Republic:

It is alright to create a myth for domestic purposes, the danger is you actually begin to believe it. The sanitised mystic version of the American republic has been unwisely used as a model with universal appeal.  It is not. Unlike the Westminster system, it has never worked for long outside of the United States where, the civil war apart, it does work, even if it is too rigid in times of crisis. 

Whereas Westminster continues to function in various forms throughout the world.

Let the campaign begin!

Posted by Chief Blogger – 24 May, 2010

Andrew Robb hits back at the ALP.

20100524-am-03-robb-mining.mp3

David Campbell symbolic of NSW ALP

Posted by Chief Blogger – 22 May, 2010

The public has a right to know that a minister of the crown engages in sex orgies in a club of ill-repute, unbeknown to his family and in complete contradiction of public statements the minister has made about the family in order to enhance his re-election prospects. People like commentator and part-time conservative Andrew Bolt at the Herald Sun should have figured this out by now. Four good reasons are laid out by David Penberthy:

The first is that as a politician his entire existence is underwritten by the taxpaying public – his salary, his car, his living arrangements, his ability to travel, all of it is fully or partially funded by the public, and to an extent which massively eclipses the average wage earner. The second is that as a politician he wields enormous and direct power over the way we live our lives, even own financial status. 

The third is that as a politician he has chosen to project an image of himself in order to win votes – the happily married father of two, who has used his wife and children as a visual backdrop for his campaigns for local and state government. The fourth is that he is part of a government which has been distracted, to say the least, by a series of scandals in which poor decisions, corrupt conduct and even criminal conduct have prevented a minister or member from doing his job.

Imagine the media out-cry if it had been, gee i don’t know, JOHN HOWARD that was caught out engaged in homosexual orgies at a public venue unbeknown to his family and the public. Would there be the same media crowd trying to protect Howard as they are now trying to protect the former minister in question David Campbell? Especially since Campbell has still not explained his whereabouts when the F3 meltdown occurred a few weeks ago (it now appears he was at his Sydney flat for a period of time).

There’s also a ludicrous post-facto assessment going around today of David Campbell’s performance as a minister. It might be kind, but it is also crap. David Campbell wasn’t a good minister – he was a hopeless minister….The most spectacular recent example was the routine accident last month on the F3, the main artery north from Sydney to the Central Coast, which left motorists paralysed for 12 hours, with the minister refusing to front up at all to explain himself to the public during the day.

Add in other sexual scandals involving ministers, including child-sex and prostitution offenses and a pattern has emerged with this government. Connect the dots people. The government is untrustworthy, sneaky and lacks all credibility. Speaking of which, in a seperate report:

It has also been revealed that Ms Keneally, Joe Tripodi and Mr Terenzini had a meeting on Tuesday in which the possibility of Mr Terenzini coming into Cabinet was discussed. Ms Keneally said he would be considered should a vacancy arise. Government sources said it was a co-incidence that two days later a spot became available with Mr Campbell’s resignation.

With Joe Tripodi there are no coincidences.

Rudd’s mess. At least $98 billion in mining projects under threat. UPDATED

Posted by Chief Blogger – 21 May, 2010

Here is a list of shame that makes a mockery of Ken Henry and Kevin Rudd’s claims that the new mining tax will grow the industry. All investment either put on hold, cancelled or now under review since Rudd announced the mining tax:

1. Fortescue Metals = $17 billion - Solomon and  Western Hub projects put on hold,

2. Xstrata = $30 million - copper exploration cancelled,

3.  BHP =$37.5 billion – Olympic Dam, Yeelirrie uranium project and the Bowen Basin being reviewed to put on hold,

4. OZ Minerals = $300 million - Prominent Hill put on hold,

5. Santos = $7.7 billion - Gladstone liquified natural gas ‘under threat’ of cancellation or being put on hold,

6. Cape Lambert Resources Ltd = $15 million - iron ore exploration cancelled,

7. Rio Tinto = $? – range of projects under review because of the mining tax,

8. Alcoa = $? – reviewing how the tax would negatively impact its operations, and

9. Origin Energy = $35 billion – coal seam gas project potentially delayed or put on hold.

UPDATE

The Coalition should push for a referendum to amend the constitution so that tax in general cannot be retrospective and so an individual or company/corporation cannot be charged more than 50 per cent tax on their income or profits. This would put Rudd in a bind – because the constitutional amendment would apply not just to mining corporations but to all individuals/’working families’.  It would also help sure up support for the dollar and stock exchange – restoring market confidence in the economy. Rudd, give us a referendum on the issue!

UPDATE II

It keeps on getting better:

ONE third of the value of new Pilbara iron ore projects will be wiped out by the Rudd Government’s new mining tax, a Citigroup report has warned, putting essential expansion plans by three major miners at serious risk. 

The report claimed the proposed Resources Super Profits Tax – which it labelled “ill-conceived” – would have a savage impact on iron ore, the commodity that has driven the boom.