Auspol March: Trump for Prime Minister, Clive Palmer for Deputy

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Auspol March: Trump for Prime Minister, Clive Palmer for Deputy

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Cartoon: Jun 20, 2008; poop

Stop being poor! Then you could afford to get to all your Centrelink appointments. It's not hard people.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 04:14

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# ? Jun 4, 2024 20:30

starkebn: May 18, 2004; "Oooh, got a little too serious. You okay there, little buddy?"

Mithranderp posted:

It's relatively ~okay~ to get to the main Centrelink offices in Brisbane (worse since they shut down the West End one a few years back) via public transport. The worst part of it is the fares, because we're the only state that doesn't have low income concessions. I'm really hoping this will change soon, but who knows

If I was unfortunate enough to rely on a Centrelink payment to survive and I had to "attend a meeting" just for them to tell me I would have to do something online in a few months I would have been raging.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 04:17

Zenithe: Feb 25, 2013; _{Ask not to whom the Anidavatar belongs; it belongs to thee.}

I went to centrelink with the hope of finding work, any work. At no point was I asking to get any payment, and my income from a rental property + savings means I won't be in financial trouble for some time at least.

Wasted three afternoons, after which I got told I wasn't eligible for payments I never asked for, and there was nothing they could do to assist me other than tell me to look for jobs on sites like seek.com. Top use of time and resources all around.

gently caress that if you actually need to eat.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 04:20

Tokamak: Dec 22, 2004

Anidav posted:

It is incredible to watch all these stooge leaders fall into the same pit Rudd fell into. Heck Rudd even put a warning sign up before he fell in. My crystal ball gazing is putting ScoMo as opposition leader.

I would like a Liberal opposition leader who is unable to make a statement on anything.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 04:22

hooman: Oct 11, 2007; This guy seems legit.; Fun Shoe

Tokamak posted:

I would like a Liberal opposition leader who is unable to make a statement on anything.

I don't comment on "On Policy" matters.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 04:57

Synthbuttrange: May 6, 2007

Jumpingmanjim posted:

Now that's just giving this government more ideas on how to abort industrial action.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 04:59

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

There's a lot of room to convince people one way or the other about the ABCC.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 05:17

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

Doctor Spaceman posted:

There's a lot of room to convince people one way or the other about the ABCC.

I imagine a lot of people when asked that question didn't have a clue what the questioner was talking about.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 05:21

starkebn: May 18, 2004; "Oooh, got a little too serious. You okay there, little buddy?"

Jumpingmanjim posted:

I imagine a lot of people when asked that question didn't have a clue what the questioner was talking about.

The senate wants to get rid of the ABC?!?

# ? Mar 23, 2016 05:27

turdbucket: Oct 30, 2011

I don't really get it either, I don't want the ABCC but I do want a DD.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 05:38

Cartoon: Jun 20, 2008; poop

In which case you are the exact engaged voter that this is for. It is probably the one time you can 'directly' vote on whether we have an ABCC or not.

To vote for it you vote for tory shitheels in either/both houses.

To vote against it you vote for the Greens in either/both houses (The ALP might change their position).

# ? Mar 23, 2016 05:47

The Before Times: Mar 8, 2014; Once upon a time, I would have thrown you halfway to the moon for a crack like that.

starkebn posted:

If I was unfortunate enough to rely on a Centrelink payment to survive and I had to "attend a meeting" just for them to tell me I would have to do something online in a few months I would have been raging.

Yeah I'd be complaining hardcore about that. Round trip would probably cost upwards of $8 on PT...just for them to tell you something they could have said over the phone. Usually when you're asked to come into Centrelink it's either a fuckup on their behalf, or it's to do something that could be sorted in seconds out if they could be bothered calling you.

Hell, even doing some of the "legitimate" JSA stuff is infuriating. They plop you in front of an old computer for a couple of hours, you go online and shoot off a bunch of resumes to jobs that will probably never respond to you. Glorified babysitting and the JSA get paid for it :v:

Zenithe posted:

I went to centrelink with the hope of finding work, any work. At no point was I asking to get any payment, and my income from a rental property + savings means I won't be in financial trouble for some time at least.

Wasted three afternoons, after which I got told I wasn't eligible for payments I never asked for, and there was nothing they could do to assist me other than tell me to look for jobs on sites like seek.com. Top use of time and resources all around.

gently caress that if you actually need to eat.

Centrelink don't really supply any resources for finding work anymore. All that stuff is done by the JSAs these days, and even they are fairly useless (unless you're lucky enough to get a non-profit or non-useless one but those are increasingly rare). Best way to get a job in the current market is to ask around your mates and see if someone can put in a good word for you.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 07:10

EvilElmo: May 10, 2009

Cartoon posted:

(The ALP might change their position).

Wat.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 07:20

MaliciousOnion: Sep 23, 2009; Ignorance, the root of all evil

Mithranderp posted:

Yeah I'd be complaining hardcore about that. Round trip would probably cost upwards of $8 on PT...just for them to tell you something they could have said over the phone. Usually when you're asked to come into Centrelink it's either a fuckup on their behalf, or it's to do something that could be sorted in seconds out if they could be bothered calling you.

Hell, even doing some of the "legitimate" JSA stuff is infuriating. They plop you in front of an old computer for a couple of hours, you go online and shoot off a bunch of resumes to jobs that will probably never respond to you. Glorified babysitting and the JSA get paid for it

Centrelink don't really supply any resources for finding work anymore. All that stuff is done by the JSAs these days, and even they are fairly useless (unless you're lucky enough to get a non-profit or non-useless one but those are increasingly rare). Best way to get a job in the current market is to ask around your mates and see if someone can put in a good word for you.

Half of my time spent doing "supervised" job searching at my JSA involved going through every single post on their terrible job board because it didn't show the dates each job was posted. I later found out the few jobs i actually applied to through it were getting some terrible auto-generated resume because my JSA had never bothered to put all my experience in their database.

Also it wasn't until this Monday, five days after i started full time work and stopped seeing them, that they sent me an email with new job opportunities.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 07:27

thatbastardken: Apr 23, 2010; A contract signed by a minor is not binding!

EvilElmo posted:

Wat.

yeah as enthusiastically spineless and wicked as the ALP are a retreat on industrial relations on that scale would destroy them.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 07:33

asio: Nov 29, 2008; "Also Sprach Arnold Jacobs: A Developmental Guide for Brass Wind Musicians" refers to the mullet as an important tool for professional cornet playing and box smashing black and blood

EvilElmo posted:

Wat.

E.g. taking money from the SDA

# ? Mar 23, 2016 07:37

Cartoon: Jun 20, 2008; poop

thatbastardken posted:

yeah as enthusiastically spineless and wicked as the ALP are a retreat on industrial relations on that scale would destroy them.

They've done worse.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1949_Australian_coal_strike

quote:

Two days after the strike began, the Labor government passed legislation that made it illegal to give strikers and their families financial support (including credit from shops). On 5 July, union officials were ordered to hand over union funds to the industrial registrar. On the following day, union officials were arrested and the respective union and CPA headquarters raided.

At the end of July, seven union officials were sentenced to 12 months' jail and one to six months, with fines being imposed on other officials and three unions. Chifley told the Labor caucus, "The Reds must be taught a lesson", while Arthur Calwell threatened to put communists and their sympathisers into concentration camps.[citation needed] On 1 August 1949, 2500 soldiers commenced coal mining at the open cut mines of Minmi (near Newcastle), Muswellbrook and Ben Bullen, with seven more fields operated later.

At the height of the dispute, Labor senator Donald Grant, a former member of the Industrial Workers of the World imprisoned as part of the Sydney Twelve, told the miners: I come to Cessnock for one reason. In 1917 ... everyone was behind the workers [in the general strike], but they got beaten. Why? Because the State was against them. I have come here to tell you you won't beat the State.

There has been much conjecture[by whom?] whether Chifley's decision to use troops to break the strike was influenced by Cold War hysteria or as a reluctant last-minute solution to a major industrial problem. Archival evidence[where?] shows Chifley received regular reports from the Commonwealth Investigation Service (the forerunner of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation) on the campaigns and policies of the CPA.

Early in the strike, the legality of using troops was investigated, and planning immediately formulated for Operation Excavate during the first week in July. Rumours surfaced[where?] on 14 July that the Government would enlist the support of the anti-communist Australian Workers' Union to break the strike, with an agreement of the Australian Railways Union to transport the coal. That was almost certainly a bluff and a political ploy to distract attention from the military operations being planned [according to whom?]. With 1949 being an election year, Chifley wanted to demonstrate his Government's anti-communist resolve[according to whom?], but the tactics proved insufficient, and the Menzies Government was elected in December 1949.

The use of troops to break the 1949 coal strike has been used as a precedent by the Robert Menzies government's intervention on the waterfront at Bowen, Queensland in 1953, and in disputes in 1951, 1952, and 1954 against seamen and waterside workers.

In this particular case they (ALP) may decide that tactically it might screw the Greens over more to support the ABCC at a DD election.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 07:56

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Opposing the ABCC is the easiest possible thing Labor can do.

Cartoon posted:

In this particular case they (ALP) may decide that tactically it might screw the Greens over more to support the ABCC at a DD election.

They'd lose a bunch of unions to the Greens if that happened.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 08:36

Starshark: Dec 22, 2005; Doctor Rope

Mithranderp posted:

It's relatively ~okay~ to get to the main Centrelink offices in Brisbane (worse since they shut down the West End one a few years back) via public transport. The worst part of it is the fares, because we're the only state that doesn't have low income concessions. I'm really hoping this will change soon, but who knows

That took a bit of getting used to the short time I was in QLD. I didn't feel bad about fare evasion, I can tell you that.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 08:42

Pickled Tink: Apr 28, 2012; Have you heard about First Dog? It's a very good comic I just love.

Also, wear your bike helmets kids. I copped several blows to the head but my helmet left me totally unscathed.

Finally you should check out First Dog as it's a good comic I like it very much.; Fun Shoe

Doctor Spaceman posted:

They'd lose a bunch of unions to the Greens if that happened.

Much as I hate to say it, I don't really think they seem to care. They are in a position where they can gamble that they are well enough established that they can continue to potentially win without direct union support, and that their potential opponents for the left wing vote (The greens, other minors, independents, etc) are too small for the unions to seriously consider and risk switching their backing to entirely. The Labor party has become increasingly corporatist over the years so it is quite likely they'll do something like backing the ABCC at some point as a political manoeuvre, even if they don't pick this particular fight for it.

Anyway, with that out of the way, First Dog:

Kittens!

# ? Mar 23, 2016 08:48

The Lord Bude: May 23, 2007; ASK ME ABOUT MY SHITTY, BOUGIE INTERIOR DECORATING ADVICE

Labor concedes in the Gabba, greens win first ever councillor in BCC:

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/brisbane-council-election-the-greens-claim-the-gabba-20160323-gnpe36.html

# ? Mar 23, 2016 10:09

Anidav: Feb 25, 2010; ahhh fuck its the rats again

I feel like Paddington will go Green too, correct me if I'm wrong:

Wouldn't ALP exhaust and go Green putting GRN ahead of LNP?

# ? Mar 23, 2016 10:35

PaletteSwappedNinja: Jun 3, 2008; One Nation, Under God.

The NSW Liberal party has been slammed by election funding authorities for "concealing" the identities of illegal major donors before the 2011 election that brought it to power, including via the secretive Free Enterprise Foundation.

In an extraordinary finding, the NSW electoral commission has concluded that, based on evidence given to the Independent Commission Against Corruption in 2014, the foundation was used by senior Liberal party officials to "channel and disguise donations by major political donors some of whom were prohibited donors".

The commission says it has relied on evidence given to the ICAC by senior party officials including about the "involvement" of current cabinet secretary Arthur Sinodinos, who was finance director and treasurer of the NSW Liberals at the time.

In a statement released late on Wednesday, commission chairman and former NSW court of appeal president Keith Mason, QC, says the NSW Liberals have repeatedly failed to hand over details of donors to the foundation, which in turn helped bankroll the party's election victory five years ago.

The donations in question total $693,000.

As a consequence the commission is refusing to hand over $4.4million in public funding the NSW Liberals have claimed from last year's state election � a decision the party says puts "pressure" on its financial situation given the looming federal election. In a potentially enormous financial blow, the commission says it will not pay likely millions of dollars in future administrative funding to the party until the donors are disclosed.

It finds by not disclosing details of the donors Liberal party has breached NSW electoral law.

"Integrity and public confidence in the electoral system are vital," Mr Mason said.

"The election funding and disclosure scheme promotes campaign finance transparency.

"This party declaration concealed rather than disclosed the statutory information. Parties seeking public funding must play by the rules".

A party spokeswoman said it was currently reviewing the finding.

In correspondence released by the commission, lawyers for the Liberal party said if they were not paid the money "our client has no choice but to apply to the Supreme Court of NSW for urgent relief".

A spokesman for Mr Sinodinos declined to comment and referred queries to the Liberal party.

Fairfax Media revealed on Wednesday that the commission was threatening to withhold the money due to questions over the identity of donors to the Free Enterprise Foundation.

The operations of the Foundation � a federal fundraising body linked to the Liberal party � were closely examined by the ICAC during its Operation Spicer investigation in 2014.

The commission heard senior Liberal officials used fundraising bodies the Millennium Forum and the Free Enterprise Foundation to funnel hundreds of thousands of dollars in prohibited donations into the Liberal party's 2011 NSW election campaign.

It was alleged donations prohibited under NSW law, including from property developers, were instead made to the Free Enterprise Foundation, which is not bound by state donations law.

The foundation would then donate to the NSW Liberals' state campaign. ICAC has yet to hand down its report into Operation Spicer, but the electoral commission has made its own conclusions based on the available evidence.

"In truth the Foundation had been used by senior officials of the Party and an employed party fund-raiser to channel and disguise donations by major political donors some of whom were prohibited donors," its summary of facts states. "No disclosure of the requisite details for those major donors has been made despite the party having been requested to remedy the deficiency".

The commission says the NSW Liberals were legally bound to disclose the identities of the donors to the foundation because it was "never a validly constituted charitable trust". Despite the Millennium Forum handing over money to the foundation to use at its discretion, "the true legal position meant that the money remained under the control of the 'donors"'.

"When the Foundation purported to pay the money to the Liberal Party � it was in truth acting as agent for the donors," the commission found.

"At all time they were the true donors and their details should have been disclosed by themselves and the party if the sums involved made them 'major political donors'."

# ? Mar 23, 2016 10:37

Divorced And Curious: Jan 23, 2009; democracy depends on sausage sizzles

Anidav posted:

I feel like Paddington will go Green too, correct me if I'm wrong:

Wouldn't ALP exhaust and go Green putting GRN ahead of LNP?

No, because OPV and Labor voters either 2nd prefing Libs or more likely just voting 1 mean there won't be a strong enough flow from Labor to Green unless we're ridiculously lucky.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 10:41

Anidav: Feb 25, 2010; ahhh fuck its the rats again

Well the preference flow hasn't come through yet but I'm in Paddington Ward and the ALP HTV Cards had Green at 2. So it wasn't a J.V.O Campaign.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 10:45

Solemn Sloth: Jul 11, 2015; Baby you can shout at me,
But you can't need my eyes.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 10:46

Anidav: Feb 25, 2010; ahhh fuck its the rats again

The ABC is projecting a LNP retain though but I think that's just their standard computer crunching numbers. I think it might be close; either way the ALP should be worried, they'll never get Ward control if a sudden Greens eruption happens in Queensland Politics which is crazy given how weak the State Election was for them.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 10:48

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

The preferences must flow

# ? Mar 23, 2016 10:50

Solemn Sloth: Jul 11, 2015; Baby you can shout at me,
But you can't need my eyes.

Good thing Mal didn't give Sinodinos a promotion :allears:

# ? Mar 23, 2016 10:52

Doctor Spaceman: Jul 6, 2010; "Everyone's entitled to their point of view, but that's seriously a weird one."

Solemn Sloth posted:

Good thing Mal didn't give Sinodinos a promotion

Sinodinos helped Turnbull out of spite towards Abbott, right?

# ? Mar 23, 2016 11:04

The Before Times: Mar 8, 2014; Once upon a time, I would have thrown you halfway to the moon for a crack like that.

Anidav posted:

Well the preference flow hasn't come through yet but I'm in Paddington Ward and the ALP HTV Cards had Green at 2. So it wasn't a J.V.O Campaign.

I think there will be too many exhausted votes to get the Greens over the line. Greens need pmuch 100% of Labor's first preferences, and while I wish it would happen...yeah nah.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 11:31

Anidav: Feb 25, 2010; ahhh fuck its the rats again

It's still pretty much guaranteed to go Green next election though which is incredible. N-no way Quirk wins next round. No-no n...no way ho zay

# ? Mar 23, 2016 11:37

The Before Times: Mar 8, 2014; Once upon a time, I would have thrown you halfway to the moon for a crack like that.

Anidav posted:

It's still pretty much guaranteed to go Green next election though which is incredible. N-no way Quirk wins next round. No-no n...no way ho zay

Hahahaha

Only if we somehow managed to excise the entire North of Brisbane from the BCC. Look at some of the margins in those Northside seats, combined with the constant gerrymandering in order to ensure more safe Liberal wards. Liberal Lord Mayor (side note: I wish they had a gender neutral title for this) is going to be a thing for a loooong time to come.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 11:42

Urcher: Jun 16, 2006

Mithranderp posted:

Hahahaha

Only if we somehow managed to excise the entire North of Brisbane from the BCC. Look at some of the margins in those Northside seats, combined with the constant gerrymandering in order to ensure more safe Liberal wards. Liberal Lord Mayor (side note: I wish they had a gender neutral title for this) is going to be a thing for a loooong time to come.

He means Paddington will go Green next time.

It's going to be a long time before we get a Green Lord Mayor or council.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 11:48

G-Spot Run: Jun 28, 2005

SeekOtherCandidate posted:

No, because OPV and Labor voters either 2nd prefing Libs or more likely just voting 1 mean there won't be a strong enough flow from Labor to Green unless we're ridiculously lucky.

Mind you, they said the same thing about Prahran.

# ? Mar 23, 2016 11:50

asio: Nov 29, 2008; "Also Sprach Arnold Jacobs: A Developmental Guide for Brass Wind Musicians" refers to the mullet as an important tool for professional cornet playing and box smashing black and blood

It was a 70% increase across Brisbane since 2012 what the hell more do you want

# ? Mar 23, 2016 14:10

BlitzkriegOfColour: Aug 22, 2010

Zenithe posted:

I went to centrelink with the hope of finding work, any work. At no point was I asking to get any payment, and my income from a rental property + savings means I won't be in financial trouble for some time at least.

Wasted three afternoons, after which I got told I wasn't eligible for payments I never asked for, and there was nothing they could do to assist me other than tell me to look for jobs on sites like seek.com. Top use of time and resources all around.

gently caress that if you actually need to eat.

This is sort of stupid though, since Centrelink isn't there to help you find a job, and never has been even way back when it was DSS.

Why do you even need help finding a job? And why would you try to get involved in the current system, which actively tries to stop you getting a job (WFTD, worse-than-useless JSAs, etc)?

# ? Mar 23, 2016 17:47