moving forward.
No one realised at the time but Malcolm Turnbull forcing his detractors to sign the infamous letter against his leadership last August has proven to be one of the best tools of the election for those fighting from all directions but the right.
Continue reading “Without realising, Turnbull made the best move of the election”
Clive Palmer, for whatever reason, has been trying to resurrect his abortive political career even though the electorate said good riddance more than three years ago.
Continue reading “Countering Clive Palmer’s unwanted Comeback”
Unless he’s joining up with Lee Rhiannon, I don’t wanna hear any current or former Green refer to themselves as anything other than a tree tory.
Continue reading “Jeremy Buckingham proclaims himself “Independent Real Green””
To suggest that Malcolm Turnbull’s week has started badly would be an understatement. After arrogantly suggesting that the Super Saturday by-elections would be “close”, now he has to deal with a corruption scandal many months in the making and yet another thorn in the side of his Government’s offshore processing policy. And it’s only Tuesday.
Continue reading “Death and Pestilence: Three Days In The Life Of Malcolm Turnbull”
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull today announced that the ministerial code of conduct will be amended to explicitly prohibit sexual relations between Ministers and their staff. The problem? It doesn’t actually fix the problem that the people have with Joyce.
Continue reading “Sex ban is a band-aid solution, corruption ban would be a cure”
April 14, 2019: Updates for clarity and removing errors
The proposed second stage of the light rail system in Canberra has a snag – it’s passing through land reserved to the Federal Government – and traitorous senator Zed Seselja really wants you to know that.
Continue reading “Zed Seselja ignores democratic mandate his party manufactured”
Barnaby’s affair isn’t in the public interest because he’s a public person who deserves a private life? What the bloody hell is this noise?
Continue reading “Barnaby Joyce’s sexual misconduct is in the public interest. Here’s why…”
Originally from my Facebook, May 2017.
Gee, I can’t imagine why this generation is so pessimistic. It’s not like this generation is constantly being lectured about how privileged we are by a generation who (to use a sweeping generalisation) abuse negative gearing, own all the media, sell our natural resources tax-free, pollute our atmosphere, ship our tertiary-industry jobs to primary-industry cities (APVMA) and complain that we aren’t generous enough, cut penalty rates during a period of record profit, plant sycophants in our public institutions, cut their own taxes with whatever money they have left that would normally be taxed being shipped off to George Town, and now they are legitimately confused as to why we don’t want university fees to rise by 7.5% when their fees were – quite literally, without exaggeration or hyperbole – 100% lower than this generation’s.
But no, unlike those oppressed millionaires who just want a bit of relief, we’re the overly privileged paleo-pear-and-banana-bread slamming, parent’s-house-dwelling, dole bludging, 2-PC-4-me Generation Y.
For the benefit of people who believe that their religious beliefs trumps the civil rights of everyone else in a secular state, or believe that giving people civil rights will somehow limit their civil rights, I’ve posted a copy of Section 116 of the Constitution followed by some simple analysis of what it means.
The latest reforms will do nothing to prevent further concentration of Australia’s media landscape.
This article was originally published on The Conversation by its author Tim Dwyer, Associate Professor, Department of Media and Communications, University of Sydney. Read the original article.
The breakthrough in negotiations with the Senate crossbenchers that the government has been chipping away at over media reform has finally arrived.
The deregulatory legislation, the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Broadcasting Reform) Bill 2017, required 38 votes to pass the Senate, where the Coalition controls 29 votes. It had already secured the support of three crossbenchers and four One Nation senators, but was waiting for just two votes to get it over the line – until Nick Xenophon did the deal.
After protracted negotiations with Xenophon and his NXT party, the Coalition has arrived at a quid pro quo deal that sees the repeal of the remaining cross-media diversity rules, after the government agreed to NXT’s proposal to introduce funding grants for small and regional publishers. Clearly, though, they are not the “substantial quid pro quo” for public interest journalism that Xenophon has trumpeted, which had previously included tax breaks.