Tgent posted:

What is "leading 52-48 after 50-50" supposed to mean?

The Guardian posted:

Donald Trump is a “revolting slug” unfit for public office, according to the New South Wales parliament’s upper house.

On Thursday, Jeremy Buckingham, an upper house Greens MP, tabled a motion condemning “misogynistic, hateful” comments the US Republican presidential candidate has made against women and minorities, including his remarks revealed at the weekend describing sexual assault.

The motion also called out what is described as the divisive, destructive impact of hate speech from political candidates and agreed with those describing Trump as a “slug” unfit for office.

Buckingham’s motion was unanimously carried.

“It’s clear that all reasonable and decent people find Donald Trump’s behaviour obnoxious and that the world is hoping American voters reject his politics of hate,” Buckingham said.

aejix posted:

Queen Bronwyn Bishop.

Five minutes of scrubbing later and I feel no cleaner

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

quote:

A woman will replace former Labor veteran senator Stephen Conroy in Canberra, but the selection process has been engulfed by a factional brawl within the Victorian right of the party.

Eight women have put up their hands to take the Victorian senate seat vacated by Mr Conroy. No men have nominated.

The frontrunners are former Health Services Union (HSU) official Kimberley Kitching and company director Diana Taylor.

The ABC has been told Labor leader Bill Shorten is backing Ms Kitching but that has dismayed many in the Victorian right faction, who believe her links with the scandal-ridden HSU could damage the federal party.

Lid posted:

The ABC has been told Labor leader Bill Shorten is backing Ms Kitching but that has dismayed many in the Victorian right faction, who believe her links with the scandal-ridden HSU could damage the federal party.

Lid posted:

Bishop to C4

Mysticblade posted:

I've been following USPol recently. I heard the plebiscite got shot down?

Wistful of Dollars posted:

Guess I need to put together my Rainbow Bob Katter costume.

adamantium|wang posted:

In the House tonight the government accidentally passed this second reading amendment:

https://twitter.com/beneltham/status/786103231294439425

BOAT SHOWBOAT posted:

Something I've always wondered is whether the Greens would gain more ground if Labor was in power. As in, then disgruntled Lefties unhappy with asylyum seeker policy etc would switch over from Labor to Greens. Whereas, at 2016, the overall low Greens swing was a result of people just wanting the Libs to no longer be in power and so voting for Labor.

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

quote:

George Brandis and solicitor-general Justin Gleeson face Senate inquiry over legal feud By political reporter Matthew Doran Updated about 9 hours ago

After weeks of their very public feud bubbling away and stealing much of the oxygen in the Senate, Attorney-General George Brandis QC and solicitor-general Justin Gleeson QC will both appear before a Senate inquiry today.

Act One — The Meeting

Senator Brandis and Mr Gleeson met back in November 2015, when the Attorney-General said he raised the issue of making a legal direction to restrict how the solicitor-general's office could be approached for legal advice. The Coalition frontbencher has provided notes taken by his staff at the meeting, which show it was discussed. He said there had been a lazy practice within the Government and the public service to approach the solicitor-general requesting legal advice directly, and that his office should act as something of a gatekeeper. Mr Gleeson had requested the meeting amid concerns that his work had been "hampered", accusing the Government of failing to properly consult him on a number of contentious issues such as same-sex marriage and anti-terror legislation.

Act Two — The Direction

Senator Brandis issued the direction in May this year, and that is when the trouble started.

Mr Gleeson said he was not adequately consulted on the final form of the direction, and that it curtailed his ability to give free and frank advice to those who needed it. Senator Brandis disagreed, and argued it was something of a formality for his office to take the requests first. He said of the requests he had received since the direction was issued, all had either been referred to the solicitor-general or were still being considered. The Attorney-General said he had a good professional relationship with the solicitor-general.

Act Three — The Fight

Labor forced a Senate inquiry into the matter, and it is the submissions to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee on the issue that are the most telling. Senator Brandis' submission makes it very clear he believes this is a one issue dispute — the consultation process. He included a letter from Mr Gleeson outlining his concerns, with his office redacting all other sections of that correspondence. When questioned, he said it was merely because that was the matter the inquiry was examining. The same letter was reproduced almost in full in Mr Gleeson's submission, which showed his arguments against Senator Brandis went much further into their professional relationship and the fact Senator Brandis went to others for advice. A former solicitor-general, Gavan Griffith described the new arrangement as like "a dog on a lead". Shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus has seized on the dispute, and argued Senator Brandis misled Parliament when he claimed he consulted with Mr Gleeson.

Act Four — The Hearing

Now, the two silks will appear before the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Committee in Parliament House. It will be a rare moment for the public to hear from Mr Gleeson, outside of his appearances as the Commonwealth's counsel in court. And it will be another opportunity for Senator Brandis to prosecute his case that this is merely good administration.

quote:

Macquarie Island: Frydenberg announces $50m boost to research station AM Posted about an hour ago

A month on from the announcement of a major downgrading of its operations, Australia's sub-Antarctic research station is now the subject of a multi-million-dollar revamp. In September, the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD) announced researchers would no longer work year-round on Macquarie Island and would instead do their work in huts during summer. The division has operated a year-round research station on the windswept island, 1,500 kilometres from Tasmania, since 1948. The announcement prompted an outcry from the scientific community, with fears expressed that without a constant presence the island would be subject to an influx of vermin and uncontrolled tourism.

Four days later, Federal Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg intervened and said he wanted to maintain the constant presence on the island. Today, Mr Frydenberg announced $50 million in Commonwealth funding for a "state of the art" operation. "We will build a state of the art base at Macquarie Island and it will be the best across the southern ocean," Mr Frydenberg told ABC's AM program. "It will have a permanent year-round presence, it will allow 15 researchers and 30 researchers in summer to work there." Mr Frydenberg said the "issue earlier in the month" was whether the Government would shift to using the base over summer and maintain a "temporary presence" over winter. "Now we'll have a permanent base throughout the year both through summer and winter," he said. He described it as "a good decision".

A 'most wretched place'

The island was discovered in 1810 and claimed for the British and once considered as the site for a penal colony, but ultimately ruled out because of its "remote and stormy region". It was a disputed territory with New Zealand but Australia won out and the island came under Tasmania's jurisdiction in 1825. Early visitors included renowned expeditioners Robert Scott and Ernest Shackleton. Sir Douglas Mawson established the first scientific station in 1911, but the main station facility was set up in 1948. The island, now lauded as a site of "major geoconservation significance", was not everyone's cup of tea. AAD notes a ship captain recording his opinion of the island in 1822 as "the most wretched place of involuntary and slavish exilium that can possibly be conceived; nothing could warrant any civilised creature living on such a spot".

quote:

Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme added to National Heritage List By Adrienne Francis Posted about 4 hours ago

The Snowy Mountains Scheme in far south-eastern New South Wales will be formally declared a National Heritage Place as part of a public event in Cooma today. The scheme will become the 107th place on the list, joining icons like the Sydney Opera House, Bondi Beach and the Great Barrier Reef. The listed area includes 15 major dams, nine power stations and a pumping station, covering a mountainous area of 4,600 square kilometres. Though listing will not restrict operations, with the scheme currently supplying more than 30 per cent of all renewable energy to the mainland electricity grid. Former worker Margret Dowd left Germany as a young teen, after her father was recruited to work on the scheme. "We are all so proud and when I heard that I was blown away," she said. "We came so far, and not just us, there were Norwegians, Swedish and Italians too. "We all came to Cooma and we are very, very proud that were were part of the scheme."

A melting pot in the mountains

An estimated 100,000 workers were employed during the 25 years of construction of the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme between 1949 and 1974. The majority were migrants from more than 30 nations, creating a cultural melting pot across the New South Wales Alps. "People that came from war-torn countries were able to identify with building this nation by being given productive work," 77-year-old retiree Wally Burton Mills, who still lives in Cooma, said. Mr Mills said he was recruited to work in the Cooma Snowy Hydro office as an electrical engineer in May 1959. "It was at the forefront of world development to apply such high voltage equipment to make it economical to transfer huge volumes of electrical energy over hundreds of kilometres," he said. Ms Dowd said she still remembers what the area was like when her family first arrived. "When I was 14 we came to Australia and went to Adaminaby and my experience there was like I was coming to a wild west town," she said. "The (horse) hitching rails were on the side of the road and we would walk on board walks." Ms Dowd later began working on the scheme in 1955 as an administrative assistant.

Snowy Hydro Upper Tumut area manager Kent Allen said it was easy to see why the scheme was built in the high country. "We see snow in most months of the year," he said. The scheme collects, stores and diverts water in the Snowy Mountains through 16 major dams, seven power stations (two of which are underground), and 225 kilometres of tunnels, pipelines and aqueducts. It also diverts thousands of mega litres of water west for irrigated agriculture worth more than $3 billion. "It is the largest hydro electric scheme in Australia, that is still the case," Mr Allen said. "They weren't just built as power stations, actually they are a thing of beauty."

Lower Snowy River badly neglected: conservationists

But conservationists said there was still unfinished business, describing progress to restore the degraded lower Snowy River with environmental flows as "woeful". "We can't overlook the terrible downstream impacts," Jonathan La Nauze, from the Australian Conservation Foundation, said. "The Snowy River these days is surviving on about 11 per cent of the water it used to have. Imagine if you had 90 per cent of your blood flow taken out. "That's what the poor Snowy has to survive on." But the Australian Conservation Foundation also said the project's important human and historical significance was in no doubt. "We are a mature nation and we can recognise the good things that have come from the Snowy Scheme without losing sight of the work we still have to do to address the negative impact it has had on the environment in downstream communities," Mr La Nauze said.

DancingShade posted:

You're watching the dying throes of modern Christianity in action.

It'll stay in Palliative Care for a long time yet of course. But we all know where it's going.

BOAT SHOWBOAT posted:

Labor is doing an incredible job of trolling the Liberal party at every possible angle this time around.

And lol at Kelly O Dwyer having another stuff up post-"$6000 toaster"!

As most of you know, her Greens opponent in Higgins was Jason Ball - I recently interviewed his campaign manager (http://continuityandchange.libsyn.com/) and as I remember there was Goons involved in that campaign?

gay picnic defence posted:

surely he can't keep his job after that

Ferremit posted:

We've already had our town plastered with stickers saying "Its Adam and Eve, Not Adam and Steve"

BOAT SHOWBOAT posted:

As most of you know, her Greens opponent in Higgins was Jason Ball - I recently interviewed his campaign manager (http://continuityandchange.libsyn.com/) and as I remember there was Goons involved in that campaign?