JBP posted:

Do PHON support nuclear power or are they nimby on it?

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

Did they bang though?

gay picnic defence posted:

Canberra "considers a collaborative approach is the best way to help Myanmar address its human rights challenges, and we remain ready to work with Myanmar in this regard".

freebooter posted:

What an absolutely loving vile sentence. Imagine being the wonk paid to carefully draft bland statements about human rights "challenges" while people are getting gang-raped and watching their children be burned alive.

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

A former Liberal Party MP championed by Tony Abbott has accused the former prime minister of disloyalty and says his description of her "sex appeal" damaged her credibility.

Fiona Scott, who narrowly lost the Sydney seat of Lindsay last year, also accused the Liberal Party of refusing to give her election resources because it was relying on polling that wrongly indicated she was winning easily...

Once she got to Canberra, some male Liberals didn't take her seriously because of the description, she said, which offended her close female relatives. "To be sexually objectified really upset my mum," she said.

gay picnic defence posted:

The Turnbull government has refused to back an international investigation into atrocities against Rohingya Muslims despite a motion passed in the Senate urging Australia to call for a United Nations commission of inquiry.

BBJoey posted:

to be fair, i don't think any other countries back an independent investigation; so it's not just us who are enabling genocide, it's everyone

quote:

Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said during the Geneva negotiations Australia was relegated to a corner as countries like the United States, European Union and even Bangladesh called for an international investigation.

ewe2 posted:

I'll just leave a paste of a Chris Kenny footnote here

Also Daisy has been deleting her tweets about the Spectator article, so she must have had smacksies from Rowan.

BBJoey posted:

to be fair, i don't think any other countries back an independent investigation; so it's not just us who are enabling genocide, it's everyone

freebooter posted:

Also as others have pointed out the Caleb/Daisy thing is a really good example of how the right-wing press is propped up by big money, you cannot imagine any young writers on the left getting paid to write poo poo that monumentally bad

quote:

The ABC understands at least 600 workers have been stood down from the $36 billion Inpex gas project in Darwin.

It is understood a contractual dispute between Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Laing O'Rouke is at the centre of the lay-offs.

Laing O'Rouke has the contract to build cryogenic tanks at the Inpex site on behalf of Kawasaki Heavy Industries.

It is one of the largest contracts on the project, which the ABC understands Laing O'Rouke has withdrawn from over the dispute.

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) spokesman Josh Burling told the ABC he received a phone call early this morning from a Laing O'Rourke representative confirming the layoffs.

"They will be making about 650 direct employees from Laing O'Rouke and a further 200 employees from subcontractors to Laing O'Rourke redundant from the tanks project at Inpex," Mr Burling said.

More to come.

quote:

Malcolm Turnbull has warned that gas companies risk their “social licence” to operate without reservation quotas if they fail to supply Australian domestic industry.

Turnbull made the comments at a doorstop in Canberra before his meeting with the gas companies on Wednesday aimed to force them to increase domestic supply.

It comes as the energy and environment minister, Josh Frydenberg, has supported South Australia’s plan to incentivise landowners to accept development of gas resources. He also suggested gas companies should release more supply to the domestic market without a reservation policy.

When asked about imposing a reservation policy, Turnbull said the federal government had “considerable power” to control exports, but said his aim was to “ensure we have action from the gas companies”.

“The gas companies – I have no doubt – are very well aware they operate with the benefit of a social licence from the Australian people.

“And they cannot expect to maintain that if while billions of dollars of gas are being exported, Australians are left short.”

Earlier on Radio National, Frydenberg said Turnbull would tell gas companies the government wanted them to produce more gas for the domestic market, including by developing their untapped reserves faster.

Frydenberg said prices had increased due to increased export of liquid natural gas, less investment in exploration due to low oil prices, and gas moratoria in several states.

But the increases had not been sufficient to incentivise development of reserves, which Frydenberg said amounted to 180 years’ supply in the Northern Territory and 40 in Victoria.

Asked about potential shortages next summer, Frydenberg noted the companies had existing supplies that they could release into the domestic market in the meantime.

Frydenberg said gas reservation is a “double-edged sword” that could increase supplies in the short term but decrease incentives to invest in exploration and extraction.

Asked if he supported a gas reservation policy, Frydenberg said he was not backing the idea because the government “wants industry to lead”.

The comments suggests that Turnbull, who has so far not ruled out a gas reservation policy, is wielding the possibility as a threat to force gas companies to take action without further regulation.

Frydenberg said he was “very concerned” about South Australia’s plan to give its energy minister powers to direct the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) to control flow on the South Australia’s interconnector.

The federal minister is seeking advice about whether that plank of the policy is in breach of market rules.

He said the national energy market rules “do need to be reformed” and the government was working with the Australian Energy Market Commission on changes, like setting prices on a five-minute, not 30-minute, period which would encourage more battery storage.

Frydenberg said it was “unfortunate” that South Australia had acted ahead of reviews of the rules, including the Finkel review of energy security.

But Frydenberg praised South Australia’s decision to “incentivise landowners to get more of the pie when they develop the gas reserves on their land”, and encouraging more battery storage.

“What we don’t want to see is the national market fragment by states taking ... decisions in their own jurisdictions which could be to the detriment of other jurisdictions.”

The South Australian premier, Jay Weatherill, told Radio National his plan gave the energy minister easier access to emergency powers which already exist as part of market rules.

“We have to go through a lengthy bureaucratic process ... and have a state of emergency existing before we can act. This is to act before an emergency occurs.

“We had this absurd situation on the 8th of February when everybody knew a heatwave was coming that the Australian Energy Market Operator chose to black out South Australians rather than turn on Pelican Point gas-fired power station.”

Weatherill said that was “unacceptable” and the national electricity market was “broken”.

Weatherill said the new powers would overcome “market power concentrated in the hands of a few companies” that were used “to screw” South Australian consumers by limiting power supplies to increase prices.

Weatherill blamed the Abbott and Turnbull governments for national energy shortages, saying the abolition of a carbon price had resulted in an “investment strike” that had pushed up the price of energy by under-investment in generation.

open24hours posted:

Come on gas companies, we're counting on you! Do it for Australia.

open24hours posted:

Come on gas companies, we're counting on you! Do it for Australia.

You Am I posted:

lol as if corporations have some sort of social obligation. That's funny Mal, funny.

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

https://twitter.com/LucyXIV/status/841750535107616768

quote:

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/mar/15/wayne-swan-calls-for-public-sector-expansion-to-push-economy-to-full-employment

Governments must be prepared to expand the size of the public sector and employ more people directly as part of pushing the Australian economy to full employment, according to the former Labor treasurer, Wayne Swan.

Swan will use a speech in Adelaide on Wednesday to argue that full employment needs to be an active strategy for governments, not a passive one.

Wednesday’s intervention is part of efforts Swan is spearheading to generate community discussion about the concept of inclusive growth, and also challenge his party to develop a more overtly progressive policy platform for the next federal election to appeal to disaffected low and middle income voters currently being courted by Pauline Hanson and other protest parties.

The former treasurer will use a speech he will deliver at Flinders University to argue governments need to embrace the use of fiscal policy “to get to and stay at full employment”.

“To reverse the squeeze on middle incomes and to power economic growth, the case to boost public investment through the use of active fiscal policy is irrefutable,” he will say.

“Pushing the economy back to full employment would restore the bargaining power of workers and repair the broken link between labour productivity and wages.

“And when we talk about full employment we’re talking about secure ongoing jobs.”

He says that means governments providing more than job training. “Governments must not only direct their emphasis on job training and reskilling initiatives but must also be willing to contemplate more ambitious programs of public investment and direct employment.”

The former Labor treasurer used a speech at the Australian Workers’ Union national conference at the beginning of the month to argue the opposition needed to put rising inequality at the heart of its agenda for the next federal election – and also consider whether a “Buffett rule” should be part of the policy mix.

Swan was the first figure from the Labor right faction to validate the debate, which thus far has been pursued by left faction figures.

Neither the Labor leader, Bill Shorten, nor the shadow treasurer, Chris Bowen, are keen on the “Buffett rule” concept.

Shorten recently told a town hall meeting in Canberra reforming negative gearing was a more effective redistributive mechanism than making wealthy people pay a minimum share of tax.

This week’s Guardian Essential Poll suggests, however, that the concept would be popular. The poll found a clear majority of voters would support a range of tax increases, including a Buffett rule.

Swan insists the Labor party needs to give the “Buffet rule” serious consideration.

He will acknowledge on Wednesday Shorten’s analytical point on negative gearing, but argue Labor needs to do more. “Labor’s decision to scale back negative gearing for future investments and tackle capital gains concessions is a critical part of making our tax system fairer.

“This is a good start but we do need a through discussion of a Buffet rule to give people confidence that wealthy individuals are paying their fair share.

“On the corporate tax side we need strong action against transfer pricing and debt dumping and we need to fix the petroleum resources rent tax.

“Both sets of measures would go a long way towards repairing our budget bottom line.”

You Am I posted:

lol as if corporations have some sort of social obligation. That's funny Mal, funny.

Bogan King posted:

If noble largesse was a real thing then people would have been satisfied with their lives to the point that violent worker revolutions and unionisation wouldn't have happened.

Mr Chips posted:

https://chuffed.org/project/centrelink-oci-correspondence-foi

Some bloke did an FOI request for info about his previous FOI requests to Human Services/Centrelink.

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

Noblesse oblige?

I would blow Dane Cook posted: