Doctor Spaceman posted:

In practical terms if the ALP wins government then SSM could almost certainly pass parliament; there are very, very few people left in the Labor caucus who don't support it.

Mad Katter posted:

That's cool. About time!

EvilElmo posted:

Yup. Either way, we should have marriage equality by the end of the year. One way will have a nasty public campaign, but will still result in a yes vote.

Mad Katter posted:

There'd be nothing binding about the plebiscite though.

norp posted:

Even a drooling moron like tony wouldn't ignore a 70%+ public vote, it'd be the kind of suicide that would be used in textbooks

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/jan/27/eric-abetz-coalition-mps-will-not-be-bound-by-plebiscite-on-marriage-equality posted:

The prominent conservative senator Eric Abetz says every Coalition MP will be free to decide how to cast their parliamentary vote on same-sex marriage, contradicting the prime minister and, according to the marriage equality lobby, rendering the promised $160m national plebiscite pointless.

Malcolm Turnbull supports marriage equality and originally argued against Tony Abbott’s “circuit-breaker” policy of a plebiscite after the next federal election, but then promised conservative Liberal colleagues and the Nationals he would keep the policy when he sought the Liberal leadership.

In October Turnbull told parliament his government would abide by the decision made by the Australian people and anyone arguing otherwise was “not living in the real world”.

“When the Australian people make their decision, that decision will stick,” he said. “It will be decisive. It will be respected by this government and by this parliament and this nation.

“But let me tell you this. If you imagine that any government, this government or any government, would spend over $150m consulting every Australian on an issue of this kind and then ignore their decision, then they really are not living in the real world.”

But Abetz, a former minister in Abbott’s government, has argued the people’s decision in a plebiscite would not necessarily be decisive.

“I would need to determine whether [the plebiscite] really is an accurate reflection [of the national view], whether it is all above board or whether the question is stacked, whether all sides received public funding,” he told Guardian Australia.

“But everyone knows my view is very strongly that a marriage between a man and a woman is the foundational institution for socialising the next generation. And every member of parliament will make up his or her mind after the plebiscite is held. People will take into account the views of the electorate, the views of the nation and their own personal views.
Personal, political, persistent: how the campaign for marriage equality learned the hard way
Read more

“It would be up to each member to decide whether the plebiscite accurately reflects the views of the Australian people, whether it reflects the views of their electorates and whether it is good or bad public policy in their view.

“There will be people in the parliament who could not support the outcome of a plebiscite whichever way it went. If the plebiscite came back with a ‘no’ vote on marriage equality would [pro marriage equality backbencher] Warren Entsch drop his campaigning on the issue. I think not.”

norp posted:

Even a drooling moron like tony wouldn't ignore a 70%+ public vote, it'd be the kind of suicide that would be used in textbooks

drunkill posted:

I made a lovely info-graphic-thing telling people to go enroll.

http://imgur.com/gallery/CN9Ie

I just copied a reddit post someone made vOv

bigis posted:

Possible changes to HECS from the budget:

- lower minimum repayment threshold
- increase repayment rate
- increase interest rate
- base repayment rate on household income

https://docs.education.gov.au/documents/driving-innovation-fairness-and-excellence-australian-education

Pages 22 & 23

quote:

"We're not winding back Safe Schools. End of story."

Xerxes17 posted:

I really hope EvilElmo, that you and your mates in the ALP have been noticing what has been happening around the word, that actually coming out swinging against conservatives is a way to win.

WhiskeyWhiskers posted:

Maybe you should have been paying closer attention?

Clinton's still probably going to win Greenailure!

drunkill posted:

I made a lovely info-graphic-thing telling people to go enroll.

http://imgur.com/gallery/CN9Ie

I just copied a reddit post someone made vOv

Jumpingmanjim posted:

https://twitter.com/7NewsSydney/status/728135304058540033

Why did it leak though?

E: Could it be that Tony is that butthurt?

quote:

Exclusive Norfolk Islanders propose hosting processing centre for asylum seekers
Territory could retain sovereignty in exchange for processing and housing boat arrivals from Nauru and Manus Island, say proponents

tithin posted:

It would be up to each member to decide whether the plebiscite accurately reflects the views of the Australian people, whether it reflects the views of their electorates and whether it is good or bad public policy in their view.

“There will be people in the parliament who could not support the outcome of a plebiscite whichever way it went. If the plebiscite came back with a ‘no’ vote on marriage equality would [pro marriage equality backbencher] Warren Entsch drop his campaigning on the issue. I think not.”

SynthOrange posted:

katlington posted:

Abetz is such a piece of poo poo

Dan Didio posted:

Ten Year Cost of the Company Tax Cut is 48.2 Billion.


Schroedinger's costing was a better line.

open24hours posted:

Any losses will be offset by the extremely rapid growth in investment that will be prompted by the lower tax rates.

open24hours posted:

Any losses will be offset by the extremely rapid growth in investment that will be prompted by the lower tax rates.

Doctor Spaceman posted:

Eh, you can't even buy a dozen subs for that.

Freudian Slip posted:

Just fibre to the premises

Michael Pascoe (Fairfax) posted:

"Trend" real GDP growth has been downgraded to 2.75 per cent. The Treasury forecasts we'll hit 3 per cent growth in 2017-18, mainly thanks to the dive in resources investment bottoming out. The 3 per cent figure "projection" beyond that air guitar.

Treasury explains (on page 54 of Budget Paper No 1, if you're interested, Malcolm):

"Crucially, the medium-term projection methodology assumes that spare capacity in the economy is absorbed over five years following the forecast period."

In English, that means that all the figures after 2017-18 aren't even based on a Treasury guess. Instead, they are the outworking of how the economy would have to grow if it was going to be absolutely spiffing in five years' time.

Amoeba102 posted:

Plebiscite or referendum are both bad. It shouldn't be up to the majority to decide whether minorities can get the same rights and treatment. It should be up to the government to push equality for all it's citizens.

Skellybones posted:

They're going to need a lot more fibre to push this budget out

Doctor Spaceman posted:

thatbastardken posted:

kind of lazy

quote:

Malcolm Turnbull to announce $2.25b deal to host 14,000 Singaporean defence troops in Queensland By political reporter Eliza Borrello Updated about 3 hours ago

The Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is preparing to announce a deal that will see Singapore sink over $2.25 billion into expanding defence bases in Queensland.

With a land mass of just over 700 square kilometres, Singapore does not have the space it needs for military exercises and uses bases in Australia for training and weapons testing. Mr Turnbull and Trade Minister Steve Ciobo will today reveal the details of a 25-year agreement that will see Singapore increase the number of troops it has on rotation in Australia from 6,000 to 14,000. "There'll be opportunities obviously in the local community to be big beneficiaries, not only from people staying there and sometimes they'll bring family with them, but also from the money that's going to be spent to improve the bases themselves," Mr Ciobo told the ABC. The facilities Singapore will fund the expansion of are at Shoalwater Bay, north of Rockhampton and in Townsville. Both bases lie in seats the Coalition is desperate to hang on to: Capricornia, which Nationals MP Michelle Landry won back from Labor in 2013 and Herbert, held by the Liberal's Ewen Jones.(say it isn't so!) Mr Ciobo insisted strategic, not political interests were behind the agreement.(Thank You!)

"We are talking about two very established defence force bases and training facilities, that's what drove this, not the politics," he said. "I think most reasonable Australians would recognise that of course the focus is upon where we have defence bases. I don't think for a moment that Singapore was that concerned about which seats these bases happened to be in." [b]The ABC has been told the move is emblematic of Singapore's desire to forge closer defence ties with Australia and within the Asia-Pacific in the face of China's growing military might.[/b[ "I don't think it's a surprise to anybody that a small city-state like Singapore, for example, looks throughout the region to where they're able to mobilise forces, to where they're able to build experienced capacity and training," Mr Ciobo said. "Australia has had a long-term great relationship with Singapore, so it's a logical extension." The deal also improves visa conditions for Australians working in Singapore and makes it easier for their spouses to get jobs. The two countries have also committed to recognising the university qualifications of professionals, including engineers and accountants.

quote:

From South Sudanese refugee to Olympic sprinter Thursday 5 May 2016 9:15AMClaire Nichols

South Sudan's first ever Olympic team will compete in Rio later this year. Against all the odds, refugee and Perth resident Mangar Makur Chuot will represent his country. Claire Nichols caught up with the athlete at a recent training session. Mangar Makur Chuot was just four years old when his father was shot and killed. He and his family spent nine years in a refugee camp in Kenya before being granted asylum in Australia in 2005.

Chuot says he was a 'jungle kid', always running. But it wasn't until he arrived in Perth that he considered athletics as a career. In 2009, he showed up at an athletics program in a park in Balga, one of Perth's northern suburbs, and met the coach who would take him all the way to Rio. Lindsay Bunn runs the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) and Indigenous Program for Athletics Western Australia. The aim of the program is to bring free, elite training to disadvantaged children around the state. 'We had a few cones and a rusty old set of starting blocks and a stopwatch,' he says. His first impression of the young refugee was less than glowing. After that first day of training, Bunn remembers phoning another coach and describing Chuot as a 'giraffe on amphetamines'. 'When Mangar first came down he was very gangly and uncoordinated, I suppose is the polite way of putting it,' Bunn says. 'But one thing about Mangar and why he has succeeded is that he's the hardest trainer and the most dedicated to perfecting technique that I've ever come across. That's what's given him what I consider to be an international technique.'


In 2014, Chuot won the Australian national 200 metre title.

'He's taken six years to reach a level that normally takes 10 years,' Bunn says. 'Considering everything he's been through, his ability to focus out on the track and learn new things and take himself to a much higher level is probably the most impressive thing I've ever seen in an athlete.' Those challenges were not limited to Chuot's time in Africa. Since arriving in Perth, the sprinter has been attacked at least three times, including one occasion when a group of Sudanese men broke into his home and bashed him. His 2012 Olympic bid was hampered by a hamstring injury, which his coach blames on the attack. Now, finally, his Olympic dream is set to come true. But first, Chuot and Bunn will travel to the Kimberley to run a series of athletics workshops with Aboriginal children in remote communities. It's a regular trip for the duo, and Bunn says he's been stunned by the connection between the refugee sprinter and the local children. 'When we go there now, we go to a place that knows us; Mangar's treated like a rock star.' Chuot speaks with equal enthusiasm about the remote community workshops. 'Outback kids are like me as a young kid so they're very easy to get along with,' he says. 'They're very tough kids. And that was me.'

It'll be an emotional moment for Chuot when he steps out as part of South Sudan's first-ever Olympic team in Rio later this year. The sprinter will be representing his slain father, Makur Chuot. 'It's a pride thing to do it for him. To just go and present his name,' Chuot says. 'My name is Mangar but when I go running I put his name first, Makur Chuot, because he inspired me in a way.' Bunn admits some disappointment that Chuot will not represent Australia when he steps onto the track in Rio. 'Mangar knows I would have liked for him to represent Australia,' Bunn says 'But by the same token, I fully understand the fact that his father died actually fighting to form the new country of South Sudan. He was a very important person there. Mangar wants to honour his father. 'He's still a West Australian and he still regards himself as one. He wants to wear the West Australian logo on his South Sudan shirt.'

As for how he thinks the sprinter will fare on the big day, Bunn is keeping his cards close to his chest. 'I describe Mangar like a lucky dip,' he says. 'You never know what you're going to get. I've seen him do things at various parts of races that are world class. He's got all the bits. It's quite possible that they could all come together at some point and he could do something sensational.' And with less than 100 days until Rio, Chuot is feeling good. 'It's my first time doing an international meet and I just can't wait,' he says. 'The talent is there, the speed is there. I have a positive feeling about it.'

quote:

Syria war: At least 28 dead in air strikes on Syrian refugee camp near Turkey: human rights monitor Updated about an hour ago

Air strikes on a camp for displaced Syrians near the Turkey border have killed at least 28 people, a monitoring group says, as fighting rages in northern Syria. The Observatory said 50 people were also injured in the attack.

quote:

Australia should do more to stamp out capital punishment April 24, 2016 EDITORIAL

The execution of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran stands as another case of barbarism in the cause of political expediency.

The Bali nine ringleaders Andrew Chan and Myuran​ Sukumaran​ were executed by firing squad on the Indonesian island of Nusa​ Kambangan​ a year ago next Friday. Even a year on, it stands as yet another case of barbarism in the cause of political expediency, lives cut short and the potential for good extinguished for no reason. The nine-year legal wrangle that surrounded their conviction and incarceration, further complicated by the murky behaviour of authorities, not least the Australian Federal Police, ended with the execution of the pair. Naturally, they had support from those against the death penalty, but their long residency on death row garnered such widespread sympathy and support from Australia and elsewhere that for a while it seemed some good could come from such a groundswell of opposition. The Bali nine pair faced execution along with criminals from the Philippines, France, Nigeria, Ghana, Indonesia and, potentially, a mentally ill Brazilian. The two Australians' lives were not worth more or less than the fellow condemned or the thousands executed in Indonesia and other countries each year. But when the pair were hurriedly taken to Nusa Kambangan, the barbarity of capital punishment was brutally underscored, hopes for reform were replaced by impotent outrage. Australia recalled its ambassador Paul Grigson in protest. It was unprecedented, but he was back in Jakarta by the following June.

Indonesia's justification for killing offenders in the name of deterrence was exposed as a fraud. To many in the West, the need to punish for punishment's sake remains an Old Testament throwback to an-eye-for-an-eye. It has no place in any modern, civilised, democratic nation. Indonesia's culpability in reviving executions for convicted drug criminals and denying the Australian pair clemency was no better or worse than the policies of China for killing political prisoners or indeed so many states in the US for killing murderers. It is simply wrong. Six Australians have been executed since 1986 and around the world today there are some dozen or so in jails, detained for serious offences or charged with crimes that carry the death penalty. They include Peter Gardiner, the dual Australia-New Zealand citizen caught with 30 kilograms of methamphetamine. This week he is awaiting a Chinese court decision on whether or not he is to face a firing squad.

Generally, Australia could make sure capital punishment is prominent in its broader discussions about human rights and justice issues with countries to our north, not least China. Nearly 90 per cent of the 1634 people Amnesty International estimates were executed around the world in 2015 occurred in just three countries: Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. However, these figures exclude China, where numbers are thought to top 1000 but remain a state secret. There will always be different opinions on the fundamentals of crime and punishment. Many people favour capital punishment, but we support the contention that having fewer world citizens exposed to the death penalty represents a giant step forward for the common good of humanity. Australia abolished the death penalty in 1973, accepting that the extinguishing of a human life by the state is repugnant. Clearly, judicial killing can never equal the score; it is the victory of revenge over redemption. The practical argument, too, is persuasive. Death is absolute. It leaves no room for error or doubt, and abuse by unaccountable authoritarian regimes. Information remains limited but Amnesty International claims 150 US prisoners sent to death row since 1973 have later been exonerated. Others have been executed despite serious doubts about their guilt. By pushing for the abolition of the death sentence everywhere, Australia will make itself a more credible advocate for Australians anywhere.

Zenithe posted:

All he is highlighting is how stupid and absurd a plebiscite is.