Those On My Left posted:

Thanks for keeping me posted on this.

adamantium|wang posted:

How can a man frown yet still look so satisfied with himself?

Morrisnype

adamantium|wang posted:

ewe2 posted:

Read the Privileges committe report here. It's just short of j'accuse. I'm not sure why they are reluctant to actually censure the Department Secretary, its most uncomplimentary. This close to interference with the Senate itself.

Gough Suppressant posted:

Seems like quite a lot of other people had the same impulse as me to go onto Scott Morrisons Facebook page and tell him he should literally loving die.

Gough Suppressant posted:

My coworker made a good point.

If your entire experience of boat people was whoever washed up on Cronulla beach you'd probably want to send it back where it came from.

Haters Objector posted:

I wouldn't piss on Australia if it was on fire

NTRabbit posted:

Voting in the Fisher by-election today, any green goons out and about handing out how to vote cards?

quote:

Cruising in opposition, adrift in government

TONY Abbott’s transition from opposition leader to Prime Minister has failed.

There has been a technical failure and a psychological failure. The two have combined to make the government appear uncertain, hesitant and disorganised.

This failure is not the entire cause of the Abbott government’s grave difficulties, and fixing it won’t solve all the problems, but the Prime Minister and his office have to behave with more authority, clarity and direction if they hope to address the challenges.

The blame within the Coalition for the government’s lack of recognition and perverse public reaction is placed on Joe Hockey, Abbott and the Prime Minister’s chief-of-staff, Peta Credlin.

Some of the criticism is justified, some is not. But there is no doubt that a fundamental part of the problem is the hangover from the five intense years Abbott, Credlin and a handful of loyal advisers spent in the opposition leader’s office working with incredible discipline to turn the Coalition into an alternative government in just one term and defeat two prime ministers.

The formula of a tight-knit group directing everything from the leader’s office, being on the frontline every day, keeping secrets, operating with few res­ources and controlling shadow ministers worked well in opposition but cannot translate to ­government.

As one senior minister told Inquirer yesterday: “There is no doubt the problem with the office is that they were a tiny group in the opposition leader’s office and it was them against the world. Senior frontbenchers were only allowed in now and again. They did a magnificent job but it doesn’t work in government.”

Liberal Party pollster Mark Textor, who has provided the Liberals with invaluable insights and strategies for years, including the re-election strategy he entitled “government for grown-ups”, said on the ABC’s Lateline this week that getting messages across was different in government.

‘‘Governments in the first term that are usually learning how to use their stripes find that inevitably you make some mistakes and then the temptation is to control even more, but the thing that makes government better rather than problematic is its size,” Textor said.

The size of government could be useful “in that you’ve got lots of arms — Treasury, Health — and various ministers who can be out there helping to flood the market” with the message.

‘‘But you’ve got to learn to channel it through more rather than fewer spokespeople.

“Centralise the message and strategy but decentralise its delivery. This is what the government has to do better,” Textor said.

Ministers complain about the communications strategy of control by the Prime Minister’s office and its clear tendency, which Textor warned against, to seek even tighter media control on ministers when mistakes are made.

The breakdown in communications last week between the government and public over the government’s agenda and uncertainty over key reforms such as the $7 Medicare co-payment crystallised dissatisfaction within the Coalition, in both the ministry and on the backbench, and sparked a new round of complaint about how the Prime Minister's office operates.

The government appeared to be backing away from the principle of the co-payment and its paid parental leave scheme, although Abbott, the Treasurer and Health Minister Peter Dutton were agreed on pressing ahead.

The complaints are essentially that a concentration of decision-making in the Prime Minister's ­office leads to delays and re­sentment and restricts the breadth of consultation, all of which breeds complaints, criticism and blame shifting across the government.

One senior Liberal told Inquirer this week: “There are some bitter and twisted people around who cause trouble, but there are also genuine concerns about it taking forever to get stuff approved by the PMO.” A minister complained that the Prime Minister’s office demanded the final decision on “minutiae” relating to junior staff that was unnecessary, time­-consuming and meant it could be sitting in the “in-tray for months”.

Credlin’s control of the appointment of new staff, up to and including ministerial chiefs-of-staff, because she was determined to get the best staff, caused some resentment and her demand that advisers be Canberra-based is being credited with causing divisions between electorate and ministerial staff.

Some senators believe the meltdown in the office of Defence Minister David Johnston was made worse by having staff divided between Perth and Canberra.

There are also complaints that Abbott and Credlin don’t seek broad enough consultation and advice before making decisions.

There has been angst over the strategic decisions to delay the release of the National Commission of Audit and all its controversial and difficult recommendations until after the re-run of the West Australian Senate election and a deferral of a deal on the $7 GP co-payment until after the Victorian election. The subsequent break-up of the Palmer United Party ensured the co-payment would not pass the Senate.

One long-serving Liberal with close experience of the Howard prime ministerial office said Abbott had to approach seeking advice by using “a sieve, not a funnel”, so there was broad input that was sifted rather than a narrow input that could be blocked.

Some of the complaints were repeats of what has been said since early in the government’s term about Credlin’s “command and control” attitude but are not restricted to Credlin.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann was rebuffed by his own economics committee when he tried to push a piece of legislation through the committee without sufficient warning. While the knockback prevented an even greater embarrassment of a backbench revolt in the Coalition party­room, it was a strong signal that the backbench MPs were drawing a line in the sand. Liberal MPs wanted to make it clear that they were the elected representatives and “deserved respect”.

“We are elected representatives and don’t like being dismissed by staffers or even the minister,” one Liberal MP said. Another complained of being “barked at” over the phone by an adviser from the Prime Minister’s office.

There are also MPs who believe Abbott’s frontline communications office lacks political experience. They point to the loss of Australia’s longest serving prime ministerial press secretary, Tony O’Leary, who worked for John Howard for his entire term and as a consultant to Abbott.

O’Leary, who has retired, tells Inquirer he feels for the Prime Minister’s office because it is “always a tough gig” and requires “great discipline and application”.

He also says it “takes time to build such an office” and one of the hallmarks of the Howard office was that advice was sought from a “broad range of people within the office and beyond”.

While loyally defending all his staff this week and particularly praising Credlin as the most “ferocious political warrior” he knew, Abbott conceded the government appeared “ragged” and tried to adjust his message accordingly.

This adjustment included adopting a far more aggressive stance towards Bill Shorten and the Labor opposition after a discussion in the Coalition leadership group that concluded that Abbott had to adopt his more natural style as a “fighter” and use the parliament to take down the Labor leader for his “cockiness”.

Since becoming Prime Minister Abbott has tried to tone down his aggression, but a slew of frontbenchers this week were happy to see him become more combative towards the Opposition Leader. Dutton, Christopher Pyne and Hockey all dipped in to help.

This is where the psychological hangover from opposition has hampered Abbott since he became Prime Minister.

His single-minded intent on winning government through personal discipline and relentless repetition of key political messages also led to a rigidity and control that buried his personality. On becoming Prime Minister he has had troubling assuming the mentality and authority of the role.

At the end of an epic press ­conference on Monday that was designed to put him on the front foot politically and provide clear air in the media fight, Abbott conceded voters might not “support” his decisions at the next election and on Thursday night said the voters could take “their revenge” at the election.

These are the words of someone who still can’t seem to believe he is Prime Minister. What he must do is use his office and undoubted powers of persuasion to convince people to support him, not to sit back fatalistically and await judgment.

With the truckloads of advice, public and private, hostile and friendly, coming at Abbott and Credlin, there is no doubt they are aware of the challenges confronting them and have started to address them.

The appointment of former Howard adviser, ambassador to the US and financier Michael Thawley as the new head of Prime Minister and Cabinet is seen from within the Prime Minister’s office with relief and from outside as an opportunity. Thawley is highly regarded by Abbott and seen as a “better fit” as a departmental head; his remit is to refocus the public service and reshape the form of advice going to the government.

One of the Abbott government’s complaints and excuses for some lacklustre performance has been that the public service has been cowed and abused by the incessant demands of the Rudd government and needs to become a powerhouse again.

But unless there is a speedy improvement in the communications from the government, more use of diverse voices, a lighter burden carried by Credlin and an assumption of authority from Abbott, all the public servants in the world won’t help.

Ricky Muir posted:

Tonight I have also spoken with people who have worked closely with detainees on Christmas Island. They told me that this bill is not completely fair, but that the detainees are tired. They told me that the detainees have had enough and that they want out. They are desperate. She told me that they have watched the news and they know it is down to one vote, and that vote is mine.

While I was speaking to these people and they were informing me, they started to break down and cry as they were speaking about children who have been in detention since they were born who are two years old. They speak about the word 'out'. To them 'out' means going to church on occasion, and that is it. When they hear the word 'out', they cannot begin to associate it with freedom.

Urcher posted:

It's time to stop

On Thursday night new laws were passed that change the way asylum seekers are processed. The laws were passed by the Liberal and National parties, with the support of Nick Xenophon (independent), David Leyonhjelm (Liberal Democratic Party), Bob Day (Family First), 2 senators from the Palmer United Party, and Ricky Muir (Australian Motoring Enthusiast).

Ricky Muir was the last senator to declare support for the act, and without his support it would not have passed. In a speech to Parliament Senator Muir said[1]


Does this sound right to you?

Usually when the government needs support from minor parties to pass new laws they negotiate. They offer to support other laws in return. They change laws if necessary. Sometime they sit on the laws for a few years until they have enough senators to pass them without help.

What the government doesn't do is threaten to lock up children until they get what they want.

It's time to stop supporting the Liberals. If you support the Liberals it's time for you to choose a new party to back.

Even if you've always supported the Liberals, it's not too late to back another party. Do you have a job? You might have more in common with the Labor party than you think. Do you think we should look after the poor and the environment? Maybe the greens are for you. Love cars (Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party)? Hate animal cruelty (Animal Justice Party)? Love construction (Building Australia Party)? Hate abortion (Democratic Labour Party)? Love fishing (Australian Fishing and Lifestyle Party)? Hate immigration (One Nation)? Love getting high (Help End Marijuana Prohibition (HEMP) Party)? Hate copyright law (Pirate Party)? There's a party out there for you http://www.aec.gov.au/parties_and_representatives/party_registration/Registered_parties/

Just don't make it the Liberal party. They've shown that they'll happily get someone to phone you in tears to tell you they'll release the children if you do exactly as they say.


[1] http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo...67e42%2F0000%22

katlington posted:

I've been trying to find out exactly who Muir spoke to, how, and who initiated it, but I haven't been able to find poo poo. Just that thing from Hanson Young. Has anybody had any more success?

Anidav posted:

I'm at the Great Barrier Reef and wow there is so much dead coral.

NTRabbit posted:

Voting in the Fisher by-election today, any green goons out and about handing out how to vote cards?

Gorilla Salad posted:

Can you post photos?

My memories of the reef are from almost 30 years ago and it was the most beautiful, colourful thing I had ever seen in my life.

Systematic posted:

Fellow Fisher resident here. I'm voting Dan Wood (ind), Greens, other independent, ALP, dems (yes, they still exist apparently), and etc.

Amoeba102 posted:

It is mostly bleached. another victim of the white australia policy.

Gorilla Salad posted:

I remember the warnings about the crown of thorns starfish and that climate change would start to kill things off, but I wasn't really paying attention. So many other things in Queensland are so terrible, that I ignored what was happening to the reef.




It's half gone.

So, my last visit 30 years ago means I saw it just before it started to die

sidviscous posted:

I've dived off the outer reefs twice in the last 3 years and the difference even to someone unfamiliar with the area is pretty profound.

I'm going to have to get my gf up there before it's all gone

Gorilla Salad posted:

I remember the warnings about the crown of thorns starfish and that climate change would start to kill things off, but I wasn't really paying attention. So many other things in Queensland are so terrible, that I ignored what was happening to the reef.




It's half gone.

So, my last visit 30 years ago means I saw it just before it started to die

Milky Moor posted:

Wow. So looking at that, it seems likely that it'll be all gone in our lifetimes.

NTRabbit posted:

And it'll be Labor's fault, just like our budget emergency. Curse you union thugs and your irresponsibility

"The Guardian posted:

The crunch contrasted with the goo of the cheese and chew of the crust, plus the salty sweatiness of the pepperoni meant that chewing this thing is a weird, but pleasurable experience, rather like hugging a seal covered in barnacles.

sidviscous posted:

I'm going to have to get my gf up there before it's all gone

Ettin posted:

Murodese posted:

Tried finding a KJ count for this and had absolutely no luck.