You Am I posted:

Still don't understand the threat from Pyne over research cuts to universities, while trying to get those same universities higher up in the world rankings.

quote:

More than 50 refugees resettled by Australia on Nauru say they have been "abandoned to live like animals in the jungle".

In an interview from the tiny Pacific island, the refugees told Fairfax Media they don't have enough clean water, food, or work to sustain themselves and that they can't afford phone calls to their families back home.

"In our country, the Taliban will come and they will slash our throats and finish our lives. It will take 10 minutes to die. But here, they are killing us by pain, taking our soul and our life slowly. In our countries there is physical torture, but here we are being tortured mentally," one refugee told Fairfax Media.

Already, one refugee has died. He accidentally drowned in June when he was swept into the sea while bathing.

Fifty-one men – 44 Pakistanis, six Afghans and one Iranian – are living at the isolated "Fly Camp" on Nauru. The men are Shi'ite Muslims, most of whom fled Taliban violence or religious persecution in their homelands. Most speak Pashto as a first language, but the majority are university educated and also speak English.

While they are classified as "single men" for their refugee status, almost all have wives and children in their homelands.

Fairfax Media spoke to several men from Fly Camp who said they had told representatives of the Nauru and Australian governments they were planning a peaceful protest outside Nauru's parliament house.

Several of the men said if their pleas for assistance weren't heeded, they would kill themselves by immolation in protest to highlight the desperation of their colleagues.

"I am ready for suicide. Other men too. We prepare ourselves for suicide. That is the permanent solution to our problem," one man said.

Refugee families have been settled within Nauruan communities, but the single men say they have been forced to live, three-men-to-a-container, at the isolated makeshift camp removed from all other people.

Only five of the men have jobs, mainly as labourers, and the $360-a-month allowance refugees are given – about $12 a day – does not cover basic living expenses.

Almost all food is imported, and costly, in Nauru.

"We cannot buy clean water. We have shortage of food. We cannot afford any clothes. We don't have enough money for soap or toothpaste, our basic needs for life."

There is no rubbish collection or septic system at the camp, the refugees said. Mosquitoes and flies are constant.

"Australia sends good water for the government workers here but tells us to boil the bad water. This water makes us sick. We have gastro and we have skin problems."

The men say they are depressed at their treatment. Said one, "I have committed no crime, but I am treated like a criminal. All of us, we are abandoned to live like animals in the jungle."

Phone calls home were prohibitively expensive, they said, with most only able to speak to their wives and children for a few minutes once or twice a month.

"One man's mother had a heart attack. He needed some money to call his family. Tears were in our eyes at his terrible state, but we could not give him money to call his family. We gave what we had but it was not enough for him to call to see how his mother was."

Beyond living conditions, the men's most fundamental complaint was the lack of opportunities to work to remit money home and the absence of any prospect of being reunited with their families.

"I fled my country for my life so I could have a future. But now I have no future.," one said.

Refugee advocates have previously raised concerns about impoverished Nauru's suitability as a resettlement country for refugees under Australia's care.

Former chief justice Geoffrey Eames said the rule of law was in "a very parlous state" in Nauru after the President unilaterally dismissed him and the chief magistrate. External media attention is limited. The country charges $8000 for a single media visa.

There is little indigenous economy – the unemployment rate is about 90 per cent – and the country is almost wholly dependent on Australian aid for its survival.

Representatives from the Nauru government were not available to comment on Sunday. The Australian government did not respond to questions.

Brown Paper Bag posted:

http://www.watoday.com.au/federal-p...824-107sov.html
Resettled refugees say they are desperate and living 'like animals in the jungle' on Nauru
August 25, 2014

Ragingsheep posted:

Is that to do with number of seats vs the popular vote across the state?

Kommando posted:

QLD Greens posted this up today.

Mr Chips posted:

having some sort of bicameral parliament where members of the two houses are elected via different mechanisms and on a different schedule should provide some checks and balances!

quote:

ALP lead down slightly over L-NP (55.5%:44.5%)
August 25 2014 Finding No. 5751 Topic: Federal Poll Public Opinion
Finding No. 5751 – This multi-mode Morgan Poll on Federal voting intention was conducted via face-to-face and SMS interviewing over the last two weekends of August 16/17 & 23/24, 2014 with an Australia-wide cross-section of 2,691 Australian electors aged 18+, of all electors surveyed 2.5% did not name a party.
ALP support fell to 55.5% (down 0.5%) still well ahead of the L-NP 44.5%, (up 0.5%) on a two-party preferred basis. If an election had been held the ALP would have won easily according to this week’s Morgan Poll on voting intention conducted with an Australia-wide cross-section of 2,691 Australian electors aged 18+ over the last two weekends – August 16/17 & 23/24, 2014.

The Morgan Poll allocated preferences based on how people say they will vote – allocating preferences by how electors voted at the last Federal Election, as used by News Corp’s poll*, show the ALP (54%) cf. L-NP (46%) – for trends see Morgan Poll historic data table.

Despite ALP support falling slightly on a two-party preferred basis, primary support for the ALP rose slightly to 38.5% (up 0.5% over the past fortnight) whilst the L-NP primary support was unchanged at 37.5%. Support amongst the other parties shows The Greens fell to 10.5% (down 0.5%), the Palmer United Party (PUP) fell 1% to 4.5% after PUP Leader Clive Palmer’s outburst against the Chinese Government last week while Independents/ Others rose 1% to 9%.

Support for PUP is highest in two of the three States which elected PUP Senators: Palmer’s home State of Queensland (6.5%) and Tasmania (6.5%). Support for PUP is lower in New South Wales (4%), Victoria (3%), Western Australia (4%) and South Australia (4.5%).

Ler posted:

E: And Moody's downgraded WA's credit rating, after S&P did the same http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-25/wa-credit-rating-downgraded-by-moodys/5694906

Ragingsheep posted:

Labor still has the stench of the previous government and especially Eddie Obeid and Joe Trapodi.

Also the current leader of the NSW Labor party is a guy who "forgot" to report to anyone that he was offered a $3,000,000 bribe.

Ler posted:

New Roy Morgan

Soag posted:

hey someone give me the lowdown on andrew robb is he one of the "good" coalition members or one of the ones who deserves to be egged

Sanguine posted:

When the margin of error is several percent, why bother discussing 0.5% swings? It's as useful as reading tea leaves or guessing the footy score using TV static. Is there some greater plan here?

Gough Suppressant posted:

lol

Quantum Mechanic posted:

gently caress Moody's, gently caress S&P, gently caress wealthy private corporations given carte blanche to dictate how our country operates based off their strong pedigree of leading the global economy off a cliff.

Freudian Slip posted:

I was just reading this and strayed into the comments - Ross from Mallabula is a glutton for punishment. It's sad that even in Fairfax articles the comments are 1 decent person for every two poo poo stains

Sanguine posted:

When the margin of error is several percent, why bother discussing 0.5% swings? It's as useful as reading tea leaves or guessing the footy score using TV static. Is there some greater plan here?

Calico Noose posted:

Why are the horrible scum to inhabit news story comments so obsessed with the homeless, everytime I feel like punishing myself by reading the comments there's at least 4 or them who insist that it's impossible to help Asylum Seekers without murdering the homeless. I wonder where this idea came from since we seem to be quite capable to being cruel to both simultaneously?

Soag posted:

hey someone give me the lowdown on andrew robb is he one of the "good" coalition members or one of the ones who deserves to be egged

Soag posted:

hey someone give me the lowdown on andrew robb is he one of the "good" coalition members or one of the ones who deserves to be egged

Soag posted:

this was a helpful post



to me he's one of those anonymous, boring cabinet members that lurk around in the shadows but i dont hate them enough to put a face/policy to a name

probs because hes never been on qanda ya'know

gay picnic defence posted:

Isn't he the massive fundy who was behind workchoices?

Nuclear Spy posted:

So Andrew Robb is the current Minister for Trade and Investment Andrew Robb and was previously an Executive Director of both the National Farmers' Federation and the Cattle Council of Australia. Let's have a look at the 100+ Days in Government document and look at trade deals:

• Foreign banks would be given greater access to the Australian market, local bank accounts and financial data could be tranferred overseas, and foreign financial and information technology workers would be free to flood the workforce under proposals being discussed by Australian trade negotiators
  
  
• Leaked details of secret trade negotiations between 12 countries, including Australia and New Zealand, have revealed that the Australian government has backed the US in its attempt to enforce stricter geo-blocking and other anti-piracy measures in a series of amendments that could result in Australians paying more for certain products, including video games.
  
  
• The trade union representing Australia’s nurses and midwives is warning that a global trade deal in services may herald a new wave of privatisations in the country’s public hospitals and health services.
  
  
• Abbott and his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe have settled on the major points of the bi-lateral free trade deal agreement.
  
  
• Australia and South Korea have formally signed off on a free trade agreement during a meeting in Seoul.
  
  
• A new survey by the Australia Institute found 55 per cent of respondents did not know about the TPP, as it is known. Another 19 per cent said "I'm not sure."
  
• The US wants special rights for foreign investors included in the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP), which would allow foreign investors to sue governments for millions of dollars if their investments are ‘harmed’ by a law or policy, even if that law or policy is designed to protect public health or the environment.
  
  
• Abbott's free trade deals with our major trading partners will cost the budget an estimated $2.4 billion in lost tariff revenue
  

Soag posted:

hey someone give me the lowdown on andrew robb is he one of the "good" coalition members or one of the ones who deserves to be egged

Sanguine posted:

When the margin of error is several percent, why bother discussing 0.5% swings? It's as useful as reading tea leaves or guessing the footy score using TV static. Is there some greater plan here?

ABC News posted:

The Australian War Memorial's long-standing travelling exhibitions program has become the latest victim of the Federal Government's current austerity drive, with funding to all exhibitions effectively cut immediately.

Endman posted:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-25/funding-cut-to-awms-touring-exhibitions-program/5695364


I'm going to assume this is because the exhibition contained too much truth that was damaging to the government's ANZAC propaganda about how great war is.

Nuclear Spy posted:

Following on from Cormann chat earlier, new Pope:

Quantum Mechanic posted:

Decayed posted:

General populace thinks that all politicians are out for themselves in the long run and therefore there is always going to be corruption. The fact that both ALP and LNP have been implicated via ICAC reinforces this "fact".

It may also help to guide people into a more FYGM mentality when dealing with policies being paraded before them at election time.

Or people are just poo poo, depending on your level of misanthropy.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/denis-napthine-facing-electoral-wipeout-as-support-crashes-newspoll/story-e6frg6n6-1227035165020 posted:

Denis Napthine facing electoral wipeout as support crashes: Newspoll

DENIS Napthine’s Coalition faces being swept from power as a clear majority of voters reject his government and plunge the Victorian Premier into negative leadership territory for the first time, according to the latest Newspoll.

Newspoll reveals the Liberal Party’s primary vote is now just 32 per cent and the combined ­Coalition figure is languishing at 35 per cent — nearly 10 points below the 2010 general poll.

For the first time, Dr Napthine’s net satisfaction rating has dropped into negative territory, a troubling result for the government as Labor leads 55 per cent to 45 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis.

If this were replicated at the November 29 election, Labor’s Daniel Andrews would be handed a comfortable working majority and render the Coalition the first one-term administration since the 1950s.

The 55-45 two-party result is the worst recorded under Dr Napthine’s leadership and comes ­despite Labor being embroiled in scandal over a stolen dictaphone and rebel independent Geoff Shaw being banished from the parliament.

It also comes amid deep anger in the Liberal Party over the way former premier Ted Baillieu ­handled his exit from the parliament so close to the election.

Labor’s strong showing in the broad Newspoll numbers is ­despite tepid support for Mr ­Andrews, who is also in negative satisfaction territory and trails Dr Napthine 41 per cent to 31 per cent on the better premier rating.

Labor’s primary vote is at 37 per cent, which is statistically the same as 2010, but the party would benefit from preferences due to a higher Greens vote.

Dr Napthine’s 41 per cent better premier rating is down from 49 per cent when he was first elected last year by the parliamentary party and 31 per cent is Mr ­Andrews’ highest result in more than a year.

The proportion of voters satisfied with the way Dr Napthine is doing his job as Premier has fallen by four points to 40 per cent, down from a peak of 53 per cent.

While not statistically different from the previous Newspoll, the proportion dissatisfied is showing signs of trending upwards at 43 per cent, with his net satisfaction level at minus three.

This negative net satisfaction rating is determined by subtracting the number satisfied with his performance from the number dissatisfied.

Mr Andrews has been in negative territory for months and has risen to minus nine but Labor more broadly has held its standing for many months.

The July-August Newspoll, conducted exclusively for The Australian, shows only slight movements on the primary and two party-preferred votes but taken over time there is a clear trend pointing to the government struggling to win voter support.

The 32 per cent Liberal primary vote is six points below the 2010 election result, while the ­Nationals are nearly four points down at 3 per cent over the same period.

The Greens are steady on 16 per cent but this is nearly five points above election time.

Strategists on both sides of politics expect voter sentiment to tighten during the election campaign and probably well into the last week of the campaign.

However, Newspoll points to a worrying trend for the Coalition and comes as the fallout over Mr Baillieu’s looming departure deepens. John Pesutto, the incumbent premier’s legal counsel, is expected to contest the seat, as is Institute of Public Affairs chief John Roskam.

Two government ministers, Mary Wooldridge and David Davis, are believed to be unhappy with the way Mr Baillieu has quit at the eleventh hour, making it virtually impossible for them to run for the safe inner-Melbourne seat of Hawthorn.

Strategists privately ­believe that the mixed performance of the Abbott government has had a significantly negative impact on the Napthine administration but that the watering down of some budget measures should minimise the federal fallout on the state.

ewe2 posted:

The Oz claims disastrous polling in Victoria:


It seems much worse than the Galaxy poll (52-48) because it was taken over two months, but clearly a bunch of someones are unhappy with the leadership and wants a scare campaign to get some action. In both polls Napthine still leads Andrews as preferred Premier, but almost everyone is discounting that.