hooman posted:

After Prime Minister Tony Abbott nothing can hurt me any more.

hooman posted:

After Prime Minister Tony Abbott nothing can hurt me any more.

Zenithe posted:

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/12/senate-voting-changes-coalition-wins-over-nick-xenophon-and-greens

R.I.P random weirdo parties.

Probably for the best really though. No real explanation as to why Labor didn't support it.

Solemn Sloth posted:

Labor opposes the Liberals on principle unless they can gently caress over marginalised people by supporting them.

quote:

Senator Fiona Nash has been elected as deputy leader of the Nationals. "Within the next few years we will continue to build on the exceptional work that has been done by the most recent giant of our party, Warren Truss," Mr Joyce said.

"It is going to be a slightly different National Party, quite a different National Party," Senator Nash said. "And we would be doing the same things we have always done, focusing on those people outside the major capital cities, who need us to fight for them."

quote:

"My only reservation, just between you and me, is that, that naughty girl, had alcohol had, had oh no that's all right I can cover that," Ms Cunneen said, according to an excerpt from the recording transcript relayed to Fairfax Media.

"But she had drunk, she's on her P plates. But it had been some time ago which is why I sent her the message to start having chest pains and get the ambulance because it's bought her a few more hours.
Just hoping it goes down to zero cause otherwise there might be complicated insurance issues."

Fairfax Media has also been told by two sources that there was no mention of breast implants in the conversations. This is despite Ms Cunneen publicly stating references to fake chest pains were a joke about Ms Tilley's breast implants.

Zenithe posted:

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/feb/12/senate-voting-changes-coalition-wins-over-nick-xenophon-and-greens

R.I.P random weirdo parties.

Probably for the best really though. No real explanation as to why Labor didn't support it.

Cartoon posted:

On the face of it this would appear to be clearly within the intended remit of the ICAC even if the legislation is questionable.

Cunneen seems to be guilty as gently caress and her subsequent perjury (or is it just lying) should result in some consequences. Who deems it worth the candle to protect her?

Ragingsheep posted:

I get the feeling that the Cuneen thing has a bit of the legal establishment closing ranks with each other?

SKY COQ posted:

Got him, yes

Stuart Robert is out

quote:

Stuart Robert to resign from Turnbull ministry following probe into China trip By political correspondent Anna Henderson Updated 13 minutes ago

Stuart Robert is resigning from the Turnbull ministry following an internal report into his conduct, the ABC has confirmed. The move will add to the complexity of the Prime Minister's reshuffle, which is expected this weekend. Labor has been calling for Mr Robert to be sacked over a trip to China in 2014, where he appeared at a signing ceremony for a mining deal between Australian company Nimrod Resources and a Chinese business. The Opposition argued the trip was inappropriate because Nimrod's executive chairman Paul Marks was a generous Liberal Party donor. Mr Robert also met Chinese Government officials during the visit.

The Prime Minister ordered an internal investigation earlier this week, tasking the Secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Martin Parkinson, with considering Mr Robert's actions. Mr Robert previously said he travelled to China in a personal capacity and not as a Government representative. He said he was confident he did not act inappropriately. The ABC has also been told Mr Robert has routinely used his ministerial office for fundraising events. His response to questions about it was that he uses his office for parliamentary business.

Yesterday the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) says Chinese officials believed they were meeting Mr Robert in an official capacity when he travelled to Beijing last year. Labor senator Penny Wong pressed DFAT head Peter Varghese about the trip during Senate estimates. Senator Wong asked whether it was appropriate that a minister "rock up to one of these meetings" without informing the department first. Mr Varghese said they were questions of judgement for the Minister. Senator Wong also pressed the matter with Graham Fletcher, First Assistant Secretary of the North Asia Division. "It's plain that the company and the Chinese Government thought they were dealing with Mr Robert in his ministerial capacity?" she said. Mr Fletcher responded: "Yes".

Cartoon posted:

If this was a little too cryptic for you and you though maybe he was an Australian opening batsman:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-02-12/stuart-robert-to-resign-fom-ministry-abc-understands/7163226

SKY COQ posted:

Got him, yes

Stuart Robert is out

quote:

“What is his crime? Can someone please tell me what the crime is here? Because what we have is allegations he met people – if meeting people in China is a crime, then every politician in this building is gone,” Joyce told the Nine Network before the decision was announced.

SynthOrange posted:

I agree with known idiot Barnaby Joyce. Jail them all!

Cartoon posted:

Barnaby Joyce doesn't understand simple poo poo. Press Gallery don't look up from their Twitter feeds.

Anidav posted:

I put on my shorts and cowboy hat.

Recoome posted:

Wasn't Barnaby Joyce the guy who is sceptical about climate change because it was cold in Canberra one time

quote:

You look at the weather today. Look at the way you're dressed. No one thinks it's too hot

QUACKTASTIC posted:

ewe2 posted:

They're not raising the GST it says here on page 12 of the Hun. Apparently the money raised would have to be spent on welfare so no income tax cuts (oh and its not popular with marginal seat Libs) but gosh if we don't do SOMETHING about INCOME TAX we'll LOSE 0.35 OF GDP GUYS!!!!!!

The numbers must be looking poo poo

Peter Martin posted:

The most shocking thing in the Treasury analysis delivered to Scott Morrison on January 25 isn't the finding that a cut in income tax funded by a lift in the goods and services tax wouldn't boost the economy at all.
He asked it to model a lift in GST from 10 to 15 per cent and then the handing back of every possible cent in income tax cuts. Because boosting the GST automatically results in extra spending on benefits such as Newstart, family allowances and pensions as prices climb it isn't possible to give all of it back.

But it is possible to hand back $30 billion of the $35 billion as tax cuts, and that's what Morrison asked the Treasury to model in the first instance, not legislated increases in benefits of the kind delivered by his predecessor Peter Costello when introducing the GST.

The impact is horrific.

High earning households do very well. In the top fifth, 81 per cent are better off. In the fifth below that, 80 per cent are better off.

In the bottom fifth, only 9 per cent are better off. Put another way, the change makes 91 per cent of the lowest-earning households worse off.

It makes 79 per cent of the next lowest earning households worse off, and 60 per cent of middle earning households better off.

Morrison had asked the Treasury to model a change that enriched middle and high earners at the expense of the least-well off. And the results tell us something about the nature of the change. It appears to have been one that cut tax rates or adjusted thresholds at the top more than the bottom. All of the Prime Minister's talk about how any change must be fair appears to not have sunk in.

At his request Treasury and its consultants Econtech and KPMG also did sensitivity analysis. What would happen if, say, $6 billion of the tax cuts were diverted to low earners in extra benefits? They found that the more the tax cuts were diverted to benefits, the worse the economic payoff. Econtech found the payoff turned negative. KPMG found it was positive but got weaker the more low earners were compensated.

Morrison will make much of the finding in a later Treasury brief that doing nothing and allowing bracket creep to push people into ever higher tax brackets is set to take 0.35 per cent from GDP over four years. But tax cuts funded by a hike in the GST wouldn't have halted bracket creep, they would have postponed it. And during the time they postponed it, the projected budget deficit would have swelled.

Morrison will be able to deliver income tax cuts, but they will be smaller, funded by a tightening up of superannuation and other tax concessions. There's no realistic prospect of tax cuts being funded by slashing government spending. Treasury believes that at the moment the economy couldn't stand it. Cabinet ministers believe that spending cuts of the size needed to pay for big tax cuts just aren't possible.

Anidav posted:

I put on my shorts and cowboy hat.

hooman posted:

Increasing the GST and cutting tax for the rich fucks the poor?

WELL I NEVER.

Recoome posted:

Wasn't Barnaby Joyce the guy who is sceptical about climate change because it was cold in Canberra one time

quote:

m.theage.com.au Read Later

Doctor fears hidden measles threat after Melbourne anti-vaxer seeks covert help for her infected childby Beau Donelly  Feb. 12, 2016  2 min read  original

A Melbourne surgeon has warned that this week's measles outbreak could be worse than reported after a mother sought medical advice about her infected baby on a secret, anti-vaccination social media page.

In a post on the private Facebook page Vaccine Free Australia, Natasha O'Leary reported her unvaccinated, 12-month-old son had measles and asked members for advice on how to treat highly contagious disease naturally.

Four cases of measles have been confirmed in Brunswick and East Brunswick in the past week.

Members responded with suggestions that she give him cod liver oil, homeopathic remedies, vitamin A and C supplements.

In the post, Ms O'Leary, who runs a hospitality business in Melbourne's western suburbs, said she looked forward to a time "when we don't need secret anti-vax groups!".

John Cunningham, a Melbourne surgeon and spokesman for pro-vaccination group Stop the AVN, said failing to report suspected cases of measles to health authorities would expose other people to the virus.

"We know about four cases, this is now a fifth," he said. 

"It's concerning that if people aren't notifying their local doctor that cases might go unreported and the real instance is underestimated." 

Dr Cunningham said measles cases in Melbourne were likely to increase in the next few weeks and stressed the importance of seeking medical advice as well as alerting doctors about suspected cases before attending waiting rooms where there may be other susceptible people.

He said unvaccinated children who contracted the virus were more likely to be hospitalised, and that children who were too young for the vaccine would be at risk because of the "poor decisions" of some parents. 

"The poor child is suffering now from a disease that has a 1 in 1000 risk of permanent brain damage from encephalitis, which is inflammation of the actual brain tissue," he said.

 "The rash that they get isn't just on the skin, it goes through their lungs, through their gastrointestinal track."

His comments follow a health department alert this week warning residents in Melbourne's north to brace for wave of measles cases.

Officials said four people - a man and three women - had contracted the disease in the Brunswick area. 

The state's acting chief health officer Dr Roscoe Taylor said the number of patients could potentially "be very large".

Victorian Health Department spokesman Graeme Walker said on Friday that the number of confirmed measles cases had not risen from four.

Despite Ms O'Leary's suspicions that her son has the virus, Mr Walker said he did not believe measles cases associated with the current cluster had gone unreported to health authorities.

He said it was unlikely because Ms O'Leary lived in Melbourne's west, about 10km from Brunswick.

"It seems to be fairly geographically located," he said. "It's drawing a fairly long bow there, as I said, we've got four cases in Brunswick and that's all that we've got."

When contacted by The Age, Ms O'Leary said she was taking her son to a GP on Friday afternoon and that the case had not yet been confirmed.

She said her son had "a bit of a rash" but was in good spirits and that she was not overly concerned because he was not lethargic or suffering from more severe symptoms.

"My children are third generation not vaccinated," Ms O'Leary said.

"I'm not anti-vaccination, I'm just pro-transparency. I question anything when there's big money involved."

Ms O'Leary said she believed developing naturally immunity was best way to protect her children and that people should not be told what to put in their bodies. 

"I think everyone should have the right to choose, the right to transparency and freedom," she said.

"If it came down to being jailed I would be, this is how strongly I feel about it; the right of the parent to decide what poison to put in a child's body."

Ms O'Leary said her son had not been inside her hospitality business for weeks.

Measles is a virus that lives in the nose and throat mucus of an infected person and spreads through coughing and sneezing. Symptoms include fever, sore throat, red eyes, coughing and the characteristic measles rash.

Children who have not had two measles vaccinations are among the most at risk of contracting the virus.

The measles vaccine is part of the National Immunisation Program for children between 12 months and four years of age.

A community's immunisation rate has to be about 90 per cent for what is known as 'herd immunity' to kick in, according to the National Centre for Immunisation Research and Surveillance.