Seemlar posted:

Pretty funny that Bolt can't handle even the slightest pushback at all, though.

Doctor Spaceman posted:

Exactly. Trump's success comes down to getting a lot of free media attention and to being seen as being a political outsider. Palmer had those qualities, Abbott never did.

Aurubin posted:

Is the Australian government always this fractious? I caught a bit of it with Rudd and then full force with Abbott/Turnbull but I figured those were anomalous.

Aurubin posted:

Is the Australian government always this fractious? I caught a bit of it with Rudd and then full force with Abbott/Turnbull but I figured those were anomalous.

hooman posted:

Amazing watching these two mealy mouthed idiots having a slap fight.

Doctor Spaceman posted:

The period since Rudd is the messiest it's been since the 70s/early 80s, in terms of internal government stability I think.

Aurubin posted:

Is the Australian government always this fractious? I caught a bit of it with Rudd and then full force with Abbott/Turnbull but I figured those were anomalous.

Solemn Sloth posted:

Kevin Rudd is the greatest statesman since Bismarck. He saw the ongoing concentration of power in the executive, contrary to the design of our system, and put in motion a plan to permanently destabilise and weaken it spanning multiple terms and parties of government

Aurubin posted:

Is the Australian government always this fractious? I caught a bit of it with Rudd and then full force with Abbott/Turnbull but I figured those were anomalous.

You Am I posted:

Oh, I forgot the "Joh for PM" that completely derailed the Federal Liberals/Nationals and destroyed any chance of them winning the 1987 Federal election

quote:

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Bill Marmion was heckled extensively by a passer-by as he fronted the media at Bayswater train station to continue the Liberals' attack on Metronet.

As Mr Marmion tried to argue Labor's Metronet costings had holes in them, he had to compete with the man shouting that the under-construction airport rail line was the "stupidest idea".

Transit guards eventually appeared to ensure the man boarded the next train.

asio posted:

Truly the cicero of our generation

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

quote:

A Senate committee has refused Australia Post's request to keep managing director Ahmed Fahour's $5.6 million salary a secret.

On Tuesday the committee chair, Senator James Paterson of Victoria, released the information after deciding it was overwhelmingly in the public interest.

"Fundamentally, the committee considers there are no compelling reasons for this particular information about the remuneration of senior executives at Australia Post to be hidden from public scrutiny," the committee wrote to the government-owned enterprise.

It shows one senior executive, presumably Mr Fahour, received a $4.4 million salary and a $1.2 million bonus. Five other executives received salaries ranging from $1.3 million to $1.8 million. One unnamed executive received a $380,000 retirement benefit.

Australia Post was asked to provide details about executive salaries during estimates in late 2016. Australia Post replied in January it would supply the information, but only in secret. It argued the information was personal and sensitive and should not be released because individuals "may become targets for unwarranted media attention", which could lead to brand damage.

The committee responded that public interest overrides those concerns and that "potential issues of personal safety and security do not appear to be compelling reasons to withhold publication". The committee informed Australia Post on Tuesday afternoon it would be publishing the information. Australia Post requested one week's notice before publishing the information, but this was denied.

etc.

Graic Gabtar posted:

Marshal of the drone air force, Ahmed Fahour is worth a pretty penny...

http://www.theage.com.au/business/senate-committee-denies-australia-post-attempt-to-keep-ahmed-fahours-salary-secret-20170207-gu7n05.html
That's a fair bit of coin whoring for eBay.

A very weird cat is good old Ahmed. Leaves you wondering why he would be trusted with a burnt match let alone a bank/postal service.

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

I will use this information when I rant on their facebook page about why my Express post Package hasn't gone anywhere in 2 days.

Graic Gabtar posted:

Blame people in safety vests laughing at your package.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwtM-kSpPrI

You would think they are defusing a loving bomb.

Graic Gabtar posted:

Marshal of the drone air force, Ahmed Fahour is worth a pretty penny...

http://www.theage.com.au/business/senate-committee-denies-australia-post-attempt-to-keep-ahmed-fahours-salary-secret-20170207-gu7n05.html
That's a fair bit of coin whoring for eBay.

A very weird cat is good old Ahmed. Leaves you wondering why he would be trusted with a burnt match let alone a bank/postal service.

quote:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-polit...207-gu7t06.html

"As the Prime Minister and a taxpayer, I've spoken to the chairman today. I think that salary, that remuneration, is too high.

quote:

Donald Trump slips up on Aussie ‘attack’ The Australian12:00AM February 8, 2017 MARK SCHLIEBS ReporterBrisbane

The White House erroneously branded a double murder in Queensland as terrorism yesterday to illustrate President ­Donald Trump’s claim there were dozens of Islamic State ­attacks in Western countries a “very, very dishonest press doesn’t want to report”. The Trump administration, which has levelled claims of “fake news” at journalists and coined the phrase “alternate facts”, listed the deaths of two British backpackers in a stabbing at a hostel in a small town near Townsville last year as terrorism. Smail Ayad allegedly killed Mia Ayliffe-Chung, 21, and Tom Jackson, 30, in August while yelling “Allahu Akbar” and singing the French national anthem but police almost immediately ruled out terrorism. The White House gaffe, ­described as a “gross error” by a terrorism expert, came just days after senior Trump adviser ­Kellyanne Conway wrongly claimed while defending the Trump travel ban that there had been a terrorist massacre at Bowling Green in Kentucky in 2011.

“Two killed and one wounded in knife attack at a hostel frequented by Westerners” is how the White House described the non-existent Queensland ­terrorist attack yesterday. The “attacker” is listed as Smail Ayad, according to copies of the list published by US media outlets. These details were included in the White House’s list of 78 terrorist attacks worldwide that went “mostly” under-reported since September 2014, released to support the earlier criticism by Mr Trump. The list included four confirmed Australian attacks, including the Lindt cafe siege, Numan Haider’s knife attack on two ­Melbourne police officers and Curtis Cheng’s murder. Authorities have long ruled out terrorism as a motive for the August 23 killings at the hostel in Home Hill, 95km southeast of Townsville. Mr Ayad, then 29, was charged with murder, ­attempted murder and other ­offences, but not with any terror-related offences. “The Queensland Police ­Service conducted a thorough ­investigation into the murders of British nationals Mia Ayliffe-Chung and Thomas Jackson — examining all facets of the crime,” the service said yesterday. “We did not close our minds to any circumstances or motivation. We are confident (the ­accused) acted alone and had no known local connections. The crimes were not about race or ­religion, but individual criminal behaviour.”

Two months after the killings, Australian Security Intelligence Organisation head Duncan Lewis told a Senate estimates hearing that there had been only four ­terrorist attacks in Australia since 2014: Lindt, Haider, Cheng and the stabbing of a man at a park in Minto, in Sydney’s southwest, last September. (Bolded for the lolness of them being called terror attacks).

The list does not include the Townsville stabbings. ASIO confirmed yesterday there had not been a fifth attack.

News Corp, publisher of The Australian, said its publications “covered the Australian events listed by the President with both professionalism and courage, and indeed called them out for the terrorism events that they were proven to be”.

Terrorism expert Greg Barton from Deakin University said while the “Bowling Green massacre” could have been a legitimate mistake after Ms Conway said she had misspoken, classifying Home Hill as a terrorist attack seemed more purposeful.
“The fact that it comes from a White House statement and flies in the odds of — I’m pretty sure — American intelligence assessments, but also disregards Australian intelligence assessments, (means) it’s a pretty gross error,” Professor Barton said. “It raises the suggestion that it’s wilful.”

Lid posted:

Eh Lindt isn't a stretch as a terroristic event. The fiction is that it wasn't covered.

quote:

Jacqui Lambie will move to introduce a criminal code amendment to ban full face coverings in public places.

Amoeba102 posted:

It's all collapsing down around Trumble.

Cirofren posted:

Does poo poo like this get voted on the in senate then the house? I'm not up on how senators introduce legislation. gently caress I think I even asked this in this thread years ago but I can't remember.

ewe2 posted:

It's a regulation not a bill, so it can be voted on and passed and BAM law.