Auspol February 2015: The LNP reaps the whirlwind, Auspol dies laughing.

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Auspol February 2015: The LNP reaps the whirlwind, Auspol dies laughing.

«‹›191 »

hiddenmovement: Sep 29, 2011; "Most mornings I'll apologise in advance to my wife."

Seemlar posted:

time.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 05:13

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 11, 2024 13:55

Gough Suppressant: Nov 14, 2008

When will you A88ERT yourself? Is this a neonazi thing?

# ? Feb 28, 2015 05:21

Lid: Feb 18, 2005; And the mercy seat is awaiting,
And I think my head is burning,
And in a way I'm yearning,
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth,
And anyway I told the truth,
And I'm not afraid to die.

Seemlar posted:

He dutifully dropped a 2,500 word screed this morning about how Abbott is a deep, complex man who the simple public just don't truly understand, and that he'll grow into a great prime minister with time.

So he did, also holy poo poo Australian is all loving in on the Abbott wagon

quote:

THE bed wetters, serial miscreants and executive panic merchants of the Liberal party need to reflect on recent history and hold their nerve amid the current political tumult. Public disappointment in Tony Abbott�s performance is manifest yet the government�s standing in the polls is by no means disastrous this far out from an election. What�s more, the Coalition has a reasonable chance of re-election because of Labor�s indolence and four areas of strategic advantage where the government can create a sharp contrast with the ALP: firm opposition to a carbon tax; proven strength on border protection; clear determination in combating jihadist terrorism; and demonstrable � if clumsy � commitment to repair the budget. Bill Shorten wants a price on carbon, plays to �compassionate� critics on border protection, has exonerated erstwhile Taliban loyalist David Hicks as �foolish� and refuses to admit the budget needs urgent repair.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 05:22

Rapner: May 7, 2013

Laserface posted:

More roads is pretty dumb when you consider they are already over capacity and adding a lane each way is going to do sweet gently caress all, especially when a lane each way isn't the whole length of the road too.

Isn't more lanes when it is over capacity exactly what is needed?

# ? Feb 28, 2015 05:27

Nuclear Spy: Jun 10, 2008; feeling under?

Rapner posted:

Isn't more lanes when it is over capacity exactly what is needed?

I have heard it described as 'building more lanes to combat traffic congestion is like buying bigger pants to beat obesity'.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 05:30

Mattjpwns: Dec 14, 2006; In joyful strains then let us sing
ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FUCKED

Gough Suppressant posted:

When will you A88ERT yourself? Is this a neonazi thing?

I presume it's meant to be a l33t h4xx0r thing done badly

# ? Feb 28, 2015 05:31

Lid: Feb 18, 2005; And the mercy seat is awaiting,
And I think my head is burning,
And in a way I'm yearning,
To be done with all this measuring of proof.
An eye for an eye
And a tooth for a tooth,
And anyway I told the truth,
And I'm not afraid to die.

Here is Sheridan's creed, namely that Abbott is just a misunderstood guy that is too complicated for this world. Also its all Peta Credlin's fault. Oh and he doesn't hold grudges. Oh and he isn't a monarchist but in fact a federalist. Oh and he has never used his religion politically ever.

*silently brushes aside Phillip Ruddock*

quote:

NO Australian prime minister has been quite so complex, or quite so spectacularly misunderstood, by supporters and detractors, and indeed the public, as Tony Abbott.

Senior policymakers attest that he is a man of principle but say they nonetheless have no idea in advance where he will come down on any given issue. Because of his bluff, hearty manner, and the sometimes guileless way he seems to approach much human interaction, Abbott�s character, to friend and foe alike, seems simple.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

In political or ideological battle, Abbott can be a ferocious warrior. But the feeling is never personal, he never holds a grudge, and the point of attack often seems to change. When battle is suspended he is always keen to reconcile personally. In any event, political conflict is in truth a very small part of the Abbott character.

For conservatives, history is all biography � what did people decide to do? For Marxists, and many folks on the left generally, history is all about the clash of vast, impersonal forces: capital and labour in the old days, technology and the environment today.

In his view of history, Abbott is entirely a conservative. History for him is moved by human will at the command of great character.

Abbott�s character, like that of most human beings, is full of contradictions. Because he wants to shape the nation and his government and himself according to that character, and because he does all this so intensely, these contradictions are more important than in other people.

Abbott is decisive, loyal, focused on outcomes, writes his own speeches, engages intensely with people; he is principled, pragmatic, stubborn, in love with the military, romantic, a sportsman, courageous, has immense willpower, and is conservative and religious.

So why is he so unpopular?

Of course he is relentlessly caricatured and vilified, just as John Howard, Malcolm Fraser and Robert Menzies (the only other Liberals to win federally from opposition) were in their day. And then the government has been very, very messy.

But it�s partly, too, because his character is so complex and deceptively elusive. Each one of his positive characteristics, which could make him a fine prime minister, is also potentially a negative characteristic and limits his effectiveness.

Take them one by one. Abbott is decisive. He has always wanted to be an actor in history. His hero, and mine, BA Santamaria, often used to say: whatever others may do, we will act. Abbott took decisive political action against the Pauline Hanson movement once he realised how damaging to Australia it could be. He acted decisively against the carbon tax. These episodes of decisiveness were good for Australia, good for the Liberal Party, good for Abbott.

But decisiveness is a bit like papal infallibility. As Pope Pius IX is said to have remarked: when you are infallible, you have to be very careful of what you say. Abbott was also decisive about his wholly unmourned paid parental leave scheme, which his party would never have embraced if given the choice. He was decisive about a knighthood for Prince Philip, the single most calamitous political misjudgment of his prime ministership.

Abbott is loyal. This is one of his most endearing personal characteristics. Around the Abbott camp there is always a collection of waifs and strays, ne�er-do-wells and coulda-been-champions. Abbott never throws anyone under the bus. If he does fall out with someone, he falls back in with them in due course. If you are his friend, his friendship sticks. He visits the sick, he consoles the bereaved, he cares for the elderly. This is all completely genuine. It is a sign of very good underlying human material.

Loyalty is a powerful element of leadership. Paul Keating had this quality to an advanced degree. A leader must give himself to those people who give themselves to him.

But in a prime minister excessive personal loyalties, in some cases, can be a liability. A prime minister must have an almost religiously exclusive devotion to the national and the government�s interest. Abbott was mad to leave the assistant treasurer�s position vac�ant for 10 months while Arthur Sino�dinos was involved with the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption. Sinodinos should have been forced to resign from the ministry straight away, with the promise of future promotion when cleared.

Even more insane is Abbott�s fierce and ridiculous loyalty to his chief of staff, Peta Credlin. Internal government relations have been a shambles. The PM�s office has been a maelstrom of dysfunctional micromanagement and political miscalculation. More than anything, Credlin�s public profile is utterly absurd. The chief of staff position in Abbott�s office has become a perfect analogue for the failed PPL scheme. No Liberal defends it in private, everyone recognises it must be fixed, but Abbott honours a personal notion of loyalty above his loyalty to the national interest and the legitimate interests of his government.

Abbott is ferociously focused on outcomes, again much like Keating. This can be good because you want a leader who gets results. The downside of it is that Abbott has no patience for, and little interest in, good process. For Abbott to think he could spend $50 billion on submarines with Japan without a formal, exhaustive, credible defence acquisition process is akin to Kevin Rudd and Stephen Conroy working out the National Broadband Network on the back of an envelope.

Subs are just the sort of issue to attract a crash or crash through approach because up until now the process has been so feeble and yielded nothing. But the answer to that is to invigorate and guide a good process, not just take a wild leap. Neither the Japanese, nor the Germans, or the French, or anybody else even yet has any idea how last week�s subs acquisition process is really going to work.

Abbott�s dislike of process leads him to foreign affairs, where he can act with executive authority, especially when dealing with foreign heads of government. And Abbott has been good at this. But, again, process has suffered and the government has suffered as a result. On occasion Abbott has taken three advisers from the PM�s office � the chief of staff and two foreign affairs advisers� into meetings with foreign heads of government. Most prime ministers take just one person from the PMO and it�s normally not the chief of staff.

Sinodinos seldom traveled with Howard when he was Howard�s chief of staff and Sinodinos did not try to have a big influence on foreign policy. If the chief of staff wants to be the foreign policy adviser, then get another chief of staff. The downside of this poor process has been twofold. Relevant departmental heads have been kept out of meetings where they could have been useful, and more important, the whole of the leadership of the PMO has focused on the foreign stuff. This has stopped it from focusing properly on other issues and has contrib�uted to the debilitating, Rudd-like logjam of paperwork.

A related character trait has been Abbott�s practice, all his political career, of writing his own speeches. When you try to tell a long-term, successful politician that something they�ve always done is stupid, the reaction typically is for them to say: well, if you�re so smart how come I won all these elections?

But sometimes even long-term successful politicians have dumb habits. Abbott is the only Prime Minister ever to have been a professional journalist, apart from Alfred Deakin � John Curtin�s writings for Labor Party journals don�t qualify as professional journalism. Abbott loves to write. He loves words in the service of ideas. He is a truly gifted headline writer: stop the boats; a great big new tax on everything; Keating�s republic. His love of words is an element of his love of ideas and his desire to grapple with them directly.

But a leader must above all manage and ration his time. It is his most precious asset. Karl Rove, George W. Bush�s closest political counsellor, once shocked Abbott by telling him he was nuts to write his own speeches. Once in opposition Abbott made a foreign policy speech that I criticised in a column. One of his staff rang up to tell me Abbott had written it personally and grappled with all the ideas in it. But that�s crazy, I replied. He shouldn�t be straining over Churchillian metaphors but reading books on modern China, and on India foreign policy, and the US alliance system in Asia.

Abbott�s sense of history and politics as biography feeds into his attractive tendency to engage very deeply with people. Witness his deep friendship with Noel Pearson. But he is prone to engage more deeply with the person than with their ideas. This can have the harmful effect of making policy, even very big policy, transactional in personal terms, emotionally transactional. Abbott is a generous person and he is always inclined to give a great deal to new friends, whether that means changing the Constitution for Pearson or doing a subs deal with Shinzo Abe. It was reported that Abbott gave serious consideration to ethnically reserved seats in parliament for Aborigines, a move so bizarrely at odds with every liberal principle that it was quickly quashed.

Which brings us to the question of principles. Abbott conceives of principles in the loftiest of terms and these seriously govern his life. He is faithful to nation, family and faith, to integrity and personal service, to essential human decency and to a range of small virtues such as not holding a grudge. These are uncommon characteristics in a politician.

But they don�t offer much guide to policy. Therefore in many respects Abbott is a complete pragmatist. He wants politics to serve people, not the other way around. So, for example, having done a law degree at the University of Sydney and having studied politics and philosophy at Oxford, what ex�actly are his views on the Constitution? When defending the monarchy he believed it should not be changed at all except to prevent the foreign affairs power from changing other sections of the Constitution; then, as a Howard cabinet minister, he thought the Constitution should be changed to formalise Canberra�s superiority in all policy domains over the states. Now he is a pragmatic federalist. Each position has reflected the pragmatic service of Abbott�s overarching political needs at the time. This pragmatism about means is part of what makes Abbott so hard to read.

Abbott is stubborn. All good leaders are. But for a stubborn conservative the question must always be: are you Margaret Thatcher dealing with the Argentines or Thatcher attempting to impose an unpopular poll tax and losing the prime ministership as a result?

Abbott is an incurable romantic. He was born in England but has the Irishman�s love for lost causes, and a terrible addiction to futile gestures of romantic devotion.

Perhaps three dozen people in the whole of Australia share his passionate devotion to the British royal family. Is there one among their number who would have paid so heavy a price to pin another medal on Prince Philip�s al�ready densely be-ribboned chest?

Though I detest Philip�s knighthood, you have to admire this in Abbott, the very sturdiness, the iron strength, of his romanticisim.

Abbott is a sportsman with immense willpower. This should make him popular with Australians, who like sportsmen. The problem is he overdoes it a bit. His bike riding and ultra marathons are displayed, partly because they cannot be hidden, but all the volunteer bush fire fighting that he does is hidden, partly because Abbott at heart is really very modest. He is even plagued by self doubts which sometimes makes him too modest.

He loves soldiers, I suspect, for two main reasons. They have a culture of getting things done. And they have engaged in heroic sacrifice beyond even that which he has done himself.

Part of Abbott�s romanticism is military romanticism, He is not a romantic in a Mills & Boon or Nicholas Sparks sense. He is a John Buchan, CS Forester, Young Winston romantic. One of Abbott�s great strengths is a determination to fund defence properly. He likes uniforms. This is all good and speaks well of Abbott, but he has become overreliant on appointing generals and former generals to all manner of positions. It makes him look too narrow.

And Abbott is always forward leaning in the business of deploying Australian forces. He wants to act. He wants to solve international security problems. His instinct is to deploy.

But here Abbott cannot circumvent good process. No Australian force is ever deployed without rigorous professional assessment beforehand. As a result, whatever Abbott�s private inclinations, the military actions of his government, which is what he should be judged on, have been measured, reasonable and consistent with how Howard and Bob Hawke behaved before him.

Finally there is Abbott�s religion. He is a mainstream Catholic with no religious oddities, no strange liturgical excesses, no weird theological ideas. But he goes to mass more often than most Catholics. He hates using this for political purposes so he doesn�t always talk about it in a way that is workshopped, and therefore inclusive. When Annabel Crabbe dined with him on TV he explained that he was a traditional Catholic, not evangelical or charismatic or anything like that.

That�s a straight, honest description on his part, but it tends to needlessly alienate evangelicals and charismatics. It�s easier for religious Catholics to vote for religious Protestants than the reverse, partly because evangelical Protestantism emerged historically as a reaction against Catholic religious practice. Therefore Abbott should have fashioned a way to make his Catholicism politically inclusive. His enemies defined instead a gross caricature of his Cath�olicism and he was reluctant to politicise it at all.

But religiously believing politicians have to deal with this. Howard and Peter Costello describe themselves as Christians and say that denomination doesn�t matter. Rudd took communion at a Catholic Church even though he knows that the Catholic Church does not approve of, or indeed even allow, non-Catholics to do so.

Abbott�s determination not to take any political advantage from his religion, not to use it for political purposes, speaks to an underlying, bedrock integrity, but it has not always been the best way to manage what should be a big plus in his political character. At the same time his romanticism has compelled him to make very occasional policy gestures to his Catholic values.

It is a rich personality, as varied and complex as that of any occupant of the Lodge in our history. If Abbott remains Prime Minister, he will integrate these divergent strands of his personality into the prime ministership. He will get better at the job as he goes along. He will learn to judge which parts of his innate character help in the job, and which parts need to be kept ruthlessly under control.

Right now, Australians find him a riddle wrapped inside an enigma. After all these years, they don�t know him yet.

Bolded the funniest parts.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 05:32

Mattjpwns: Dec 14, 2006; In joyful strains then let us sing
ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FUCKED

Abbott's spiritual mentor whom he has defended tirelessly is in trouble again at a rather inconvenient time for Mr Rabbit.

http://www.smh.com.au/world/cardinal-george-pell-the-vaticans-financial-watchdog-slammed-for-lavish-spending-20150228-13rf1h.html

quote:

Cardinal George Pell, who was hand-picked by Pope Francis to cut outlays and shed light on the Vatican's murky finances, has been accused of spending half a million euros in six months by flying business class and using large sums on salaries and office furniture.

The allegations, contained in leaked figures published by Italian magazine L'Espresso on Friday, suggest Cardinal Pell also spent �2508 ($3600) on religious robes at a tailor and about $6650 on kitchen-sink fittings.

After his move to Rome to spearhead Francis' mission to free up Vatican funds for the poor, the former archbishop of Sydney said he would try to save the Vatican "millions, if not tens of millions" of dollars a year.

Since then, he has flown business class and paid an assistant he brought from Australia a $21,600-a-month salary, the magazine reported, citing leaked Vatican documents. Francis, the article added, had challenged Cardinal Pell on his spending.

Despite Francis' decision to move into humble dwellings at the Vatican, Cardinal Pell has spent more than $5100 a month to rent an office and apartment at an upmarket address where he spent nearly $87,000 on furniture, according to the allegations.

The new leaks about Cardinal Pell's spending were widely suspected to be the work of Vatican prelates unhappy about his incursions on their authority, and recalled the Vatileaks scandal, in which letters revealing the inner workings of the Holy See were leaked by the butler of Francis' predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI.

On Friday, Vatican spokesman Father Federico Lombardi denounced the leaks, stating that "passing confidential documents to the press for polemical ends or to foster conflict is not new, but is always to be strongly condemned, and is illegal."

The Pope appointed Cardinal Pell last year to head of the newly formed Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, which was given sweeping powers to reform the Holy See's finances.

In December, Cardinal Pell said he had found hundreds of millions of dollars hidden off the books at the Vatican, and blamed departments that would "lurch along, disregarding modern accounting standards", although critics argued the money was being properly administered.

Cardinal Pell said it was impossible for anyone "to know accurately what was going on overall". He suggested that the Italian prelates who traditionally handle the Vatican's cash were less interested in transparency than Anglo-Saxon accountants.

Sounds like Abbott might have learned his spending practices from his spiritual mentor, too. Claimed more on personal bullshit as leader of the opposition than sitting Prime Ministers.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 05:36

hiddenmovement: Sep 29, 2011; "Most mornings I'll apologise in advance to my wife."

Rapner posted:

Isn't more lanes when it is over capacity exactly what is needed?

I have a problem. The rate of water flowing from my faucet is far too low. I need to increase the rate of liters per minute. To combat this, I am going increase the size of the pipes leading into my tap but leave the tap at exactly the same size.

This is the same problem with road construction. For the most part, all the roads lead to Rome (aka, the CBD), because that's where people want to go during times of heavy congestion. Now you can build the biggest, fattest freeway in the world, 20 lanes across both ways, and it will still back up because most of the traffic is still trying to get off at the same junction because they are all headed to a destination in the same 3 sq kilometer radius.

Now this is a simplification, because sometimes you can divert the traffic that previously had to head through the cbd around the cbd (i.e Melbourne's Citylink), but roadways like that still run into problems when the offlanes back up onto the freeway because the smaller city roads just can't handle the shitloads of traffic.

The solution is to encourage less vehicles to be on the roads that youve already got, by encouraging people to ride share or use public transport. Less space on the roads is taken up per passenger trip taken that way, and the major bottlenecks can now handle the reduced volume of traffic.

EDIT:

I should add that the reason we are stuck in this mindset is because in Australia's recent history, people driving around big fat sedans by themselves kinda worked. We had a lot of people with relatives in rural areas, and there wasnt all that much traffic (and a lower population). Having a car made a lot of sense and driving it everywhere made a lot of sense if you need to go to Ballarat every weekend and there's no traffic in town.

But we don't live in that country anymore and both modern Australian culture and our political class have failed to realise that, so we are still stuck with people buying huge, impractical sedans and driving them around town in densely populated modern metropolises, with politicians encouraging this outdated mindset by building great fuckoff roads every chance they get. We need smaller cars carrying more people per car on the roads we've already got.

hiddenmovement fucked around with this message at 05:48 on Feb 28, 2015

# ? Feb 28, 2015 05:38

Mattjpwns: Dec 14, 2006; In joyful strains then let us sing
ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FUCKED

nice new av

# ? Feb 28, 2015 05:58

hiddenmovement: Sep 29, 2011; "Most mornings I'll apologise in advance to my wife."

I liked Mirage too

# ? Feb 28, 2015 05:59

Avshalom: Feb 14, 2012; by Lowtax

Roads.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 06:11

Cartoon: Jun 20, 2008; poop

Lid posted:

Here is Sheridan's creed, namely that Abbott is just a misunderstood guy that is too complicated for this world. Also its all Peta Credlin's fault. Oh and he doesn't hold grudges. Oh and he isn't a monarchist but in fact a federalist. Oh and he has never used his religion politically ever.

*silently brushes aside Phillip Ruddock*

Bolded the funniest parts.

Was a good laugh too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfwN0X8YnWo

Muppet Government.

http://www.cruise1323.com.au/entertainment/the-feed/which-muppet-are-you

# ? Feb 28, 2015 06:20

Avshalom: Feb 14, 2012; by Lowtax

# ? Feb 28, 2015 06:21

adamantium|wang: Sep 14, 2003; Missing you

Avshalom posted:

my Roads.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 06:37

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

meeting made quorum, nominated as a state rep. change from within.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 06:42

Mad Katter: Aug 23, 2010; STOP THE BATS

hiddenmovement posted:

I have a problem. The rate of water flowing from my faucet is far too low. I need to increase the rate of liters per minute. To combat this, I am going increase the size of the pipes leading into my tap but leave the tap at exactly the same size.

This is the same problem with road construction. For the most part, all the roads lead to Rome (aka, the CBD), because that's where people want to go during times of heavy congestion. Now you can build the biggest, fattest freeway in the world, 20 lanes across both ways, and it will still back up because most of the traffic is still trying to get off at the same junction because they are all headed to a destination in the same 3 sq kilometer radius.

Now this is a simplification, because sometimes you can divert the traffic that previously had to head through the cbd around the cbd (i.e Melbourne's Citylink), but roadways like that still run into problems when the offlanes back up onto the freeway because the smaller city roads just can't handle the shitloads of traffic.

The solution is to encourage less vehicles to be on the roads that youve already got, by encouraging people to ride share or use public transport. Less space on the roads is taken up per passenger trip taken that way, and the major bottlenecks can now handle the reduced volume of traffic.

EDIT:

I should add that the reason we are stuck in this mindset is because in Australia's recent history, people driving around big fat sedans by themselves kinda worked. We had a lot of people with relatives in rural areas, and there wasnt all that much traffic (and a lower population). Having a car made a lot of sense and driving it everywhere made a lot of sense if you need to go to Ballarat every weekend and there's no traffic in town.

But we don't live in that country anymore and both modern Australian culture and our political class have failed to realise that, so we are still stuck with people buying huge, impractical sedans and driving them around town in densely populated modern metropolises, with politicians encouraging this outdated mindset by building great fuckoff roads every chance they get. We need smaller cars carrying more people per car on the roads we've already got.

But how is my 85 year old mother going to get to work in the CBD every day, and how am I going to take all my obese children to school every morning?

# ? Feb 28, 2015 06:46

Mattjpwns: Dec 14, 2006; In joyful strains then let us sing
ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FUCKED

Mad Katter posted:

But how is my 85 year old mother going to get to work in the CBD every day, and how am I going to take all my obese children to school every morning?

sif you'll have time to do that, your employers "flexible workplace agreements" mean you start at 6am and finish at 6pm with a 30 minute unpaid lunch break, your mum and kids can look after themselves and stop being leaners

# ? Feb 28, 2015 07:04

Box Hill Strangler: Jun 27, 2007; Frozen peas are on special at Woolies! Bargain!

TheMightyHandful posted:

This guy hitched himself to the wrong wagon. He is scum, even Lambie supports her constituency much better than him, and is a better politician

Couple of pages ago but... I saw this muppet in the city today and I swear to god I have never seen someone so determined to not make any kind of eye contact with anyone, or not be recognised, in my life. He nervously made eye contact with me for like a picosecond before he looked at the ground so hard it nearly cracked. I could almost read his thoughts and it went something like 'Oh god oh god, please dont recognise me, please dont call me a fuckstick. God Im sick of being called a fuckstick. And a wanker. I get so much abuse from random people and I really dont understand why qq'.

I almost felt sorry for him.

Anyway, I guess my karmic bank balance went up a bit because I didnt call him a fuckstick.

Welp, thats my brush with auspol this weekend thanks for reading. cya.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 07:24

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

Lid posted:

Greg Sheridan posted:
What are they going to say about him? What? Are they going to say he was a kind man? He was a wise man? He had plans? He had wisdom? Bullshit, man!

The man's enlarged my mind. He's a poet warrior in the classic sense. I mean sometimes he'll... uh... well, you'll say "hello" to him, right? And he'll just walk right by you. He won't even notice you. And suddenly he'll grab you, and he'll throw you in a corner, and he'll say, "Do you know that 'if' is the middle word in life? If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you, if you can trust yourself when all men doubt you"... I mean I'm... no, I can't... I'm a little man, I'm a little man, he's... he's a great man! I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across floors of silent seas...

Abbott is not crazy. The man is clear in his mind, but his soul is mad.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 07:26

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

quote:

Government poised to dump controversial $5 GP co-payment plan

The Federal Government is planning to dump its GP co-payment plan.

The ABC understands Health Minister Sussan Ley recently told a small group of backbenchers the $5 payment would be scrapped.

Government sources have confirmed it will go.

However it is likely the Government will go ahead with its plan to freeze the indexation of the Medicare rebate to send a so-called "value signal" over time.

It is understood the Government believes the freeze will eventually erode the amount of money doctors collect through the rebate and encourage them to pass on the cost to patients.

Speaking in New Zealand earlier, the Prime Minister gave a strong indication the policy would go.

"I don't want to pre-empt our party decision making processes, our government decision making process, but it's no secret that we have been rethinking some policies that were brought down last year," he said.

"We are consulting with the medical profession. Those consultations are continuing but at some point in time I'd certainly expect to have more to say."

The Opposition's health spokeswoman Catherine King said the policy change was not about patients.

"This is about Tony Abbott trying to save his job, he doesn't care about what's happening to patients across the country," she said.

Under the Government's original budget plan, bulk-billed patients would be charged $7 to see a doctor with proceeds put into a new medical research fund.

But in December the policy was unable to pass through the Senate and was dumped in favour of a $5 payment charged at doctors' discretion.

A proposed $20 cut to the rebate for consultations under 10 minutes was also due to come into effect earlier in the year, but was "taken off the table" in the face of a sustained campaign by doctors and the Government's political opponents.

The ABC confirmed Treasurer Joe Hockey and the health minister at the time, Peter Dutton, were opposed to the rebate cut when it was first announced in December as part of the Government's revised GP co-payment policy, but were overruled by the Prime Minister.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 07:36

turdbucket: Oct 30, 2011

Gough Suppressant posted:

Hahahaha isn't that exactly the thing that everyone, including Labor, blasted Newman for in Queensland?

Yeah haha, they have a bunch of images with ONLY LABOR CAN STOP WESTCONNEX even though they obviously support it just maybe moved a little from their marginal seats. People around here aren't that easily fooled though, I went door knocking for the Greens today for the first time and I'd say 8/10 houses I visited people were either voting for or strongly thinking of voting for the Greens. Had some really nice conversations! I really haven't seen much from the Liberal Labor coalition in the inner west but the Greens have been everywhere, it's a nice consolation when thinking of how the Liberals will retain government and Labor wouldn't be much better anyway. At least the Greens are growing.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 07:45

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

Yeah, Labor still wants most of Westconnex, just not the tunnel section.

----------

:siren:

Thread reminder: Clean Up Australia Day is tomorrow :siren:

# ? Feb 28, 2015 07:48

Splode: Jun 18, 2013; put some clothes on you little freak

tomkash posted:

Yeah haha, they have a bunch of images with ONLY LABOR CAN STOP WESTCONNEX even though they obviously support it just maybe moved a little from their marginal seats. People around here aren't that easily fooled though, I went door knocking for the Greens today for the first time and I'd say 8/10 houses I visited people were either voting for or strongly thinking of voting for the Greens. Had some really nice conversations! I really haven't seen much from the Liberal Labor coalition in the inner west but the Greens have been everywhere, it's a nice consolation when thinking of how the Liberals will retain government and Labor wouldn't be much better anyway. At least the Greens are growing.

Maybe we met each other without realising, I was door knocking today too.

I saw quite a few posters for labor on people's fences and there were loads of people who would rattle off opinions straight out of the greens policy and then not being sure who they were voting for. Time to print out a million Ken the voting dingo comics...

# ? Feb 28, 2015 07:52

Gough Suppressant: Nov 14, 2008

Doctor Spaceman posted:

Yeah, Labor still wants most of Westconnex, just not the tunnel section.

----------

Thread reminder: Clean Up Australia Day is tomorrow

*picks you up, puts you in the bin*

# ? Feb 28, 2015 07:56

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

Gough Suppressant posted:

*picks you up, puts you in the bin*

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8urQgD_TDk

# ? Feb 28, 2015 07:58

turdbucket: Oct 30, 2011

Splode posted:

Maybe we met each other without realising, I was door knocking today too.

I saw quite a few posters for labor on people's fences and there were loads of people who would rattle off opinions straight out of the greens policy and then not being sure who they were voting for. Time to print out a million Ken the voting dingo comics...

Very possible! I didn't end up going to the debrief after as my partner and I only have one day a week to spend time with each other due to our jobs and it was getting late. I really enjoyed it though and hopefully will be able to do more volunteering beyond letter boxing with the Greens leading up to the election. Probably more so in Summer Hill.

I don't think we ended up speaking to a single Labor supporter. I know it's Newtown but I was pretty surprised at just how many people were already voting Greens or were really interested in what we had to say, it has left me feeling pretty good today.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 08:08

SMILLENNIALSMILLEN: Jun 26, 2009

Jumpingmanjim posted:

However it is likely the Government will go ahead with its plan to freeze the indexation of the Medicare rebate to send a so-called "value signal" over time.

Haha I'd love to see them explain how that works.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 08:18

I would blow Dane Cook: Dec 26, 2008

katlington posted:

Haha I'd love to see them explain how that works.

Poverty stricken doctors will be forced to start charging higher fees in order to afford their BMWs as the rebate no longer keeps up with inflation.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 08:21

Graic Gabtar: Dec 19, 2014; squat my posts

Well, that's the working week done.

I'm assuming Abbott is still loving up in new and interesting ways?

# ? Feb 28, 2015 08:40

Thinking: Jan 22, 2009

I was thoroughly enjoying the Sheridan article for the perverse dross that it was right up until he blatantly traded emotional verbiage for factual incorrectness. Chris Watson was a journalist and editor as well, you loving useless ignorant misinformed hack. Thanks for nothing.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 08:45

Splode: Jun 18, 2013; put some clothes on you little freak

tomkash posted:

Very possible! I didn't end up going to the debrief after as my partner and I only have one day a week to spend time with each other due to our jobs and it was getting late. I really enjoyed it though and hopefully will be able to do more volunteering beyond letter boxing with the Greens leading up to the election. Probably more so in Summer Hill.

I don't think we ended up speaking to a single Labor supporter. I know it's Newtown but I was pretty surprised at just how many people were already voting Greens or were really interested in what we had to say, it has left me feeling pretty good today.

To be honest I found it emotionally exhausting and won't do it again, I'll find other ways to volunteer

# ? Feb 28, 2015 09:19

Quantum Mechanic: Apr 25, 2010; Just another fuckwit who thrives on fake moral outrage.
Waaaah the Christians are out to get me

lol abbottsgonnawin

tomkash posted:

Very possible! I didn't end up going to the debrief after as my partner and I only have one day a week to spend time with each other due to our jobs and it was getting late. I really enjoyed it though and hopefully will be able to do more volunteering beyond letter boxing with the Greens leading up to the election. Probably more so in Summer Hill.

I don't think we ended up speaking to a single Labor supporter. I know it's Newtown but I was pretty surprised at just how many people were already voting Greens or were really interested in what we had to say, it has left me feeling pretty good today.

Not trying to rain on anyone's parade but we target our doorknocking with demographic data from the census and the electoral roll. Still a great result, though, shows it's working.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 10:49

sick of Applebees: Nov 7, 2008

Quantum Mechanic posted:

Not trying to rain on anyone's parade but we target our doorknocking with demographic data from the ~~census~~ and the electoral roll. Still a great result, though, shows it's working.

Not anymore you don't

# ? Feb 28, 2015 11:36

Mattjpwns: Dec 14, 2006; In joyful strains then let us sing
ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FUCKED

Ket posted:

Not anymore you don't

it's all starting to fall into place... :tinfoil:

# ? Feb 28, 2015 12:05

Gough Suppressant: Nov 14, 2008

Power has been out for like 90 minutes how in gods name did people live like this I'm another twenty minutes from resorting to cannibalism and ritual sacrifice

# ? Feb 28, 2015 12:10

clusterfuck: Feb 6, 2004

Splode posted:

Maybe we met each other without realising, I was door knocking today too.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 12:22

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

Gough Suppressant posted:

Power has been out for like 90 minutes how in gods name did people live like this I'm another twenty minutes from resorting to cannibalism and ritual sacrifice

I think Zenithe's power has been out for ~1 week. Must be so poo poo.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 12:37

Mattjpwns: Dec 14, 2006; In joyful strains then let us sing
ADVANCE AUSTRALIA FUCKED

Meanwhile, in the midst of Australia's upcoming compulsory collection of metadata on everyone laws...

http://thenextweb.com/insider/2015/02/27/uber-security-breach-potentially-exposes-50000-drivers-private-information/

:allears:

# ? Feb 28, 2015 12:39

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? May 11, 2024 13:55

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

can't wait for iinet to sue the commonwealth using the ISDS parts of the TPP because collecting metadata lowers their profits.

# ? Feb 28, 2015 12:47

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > Auspol February 2015: The LNP reaps the whirlwind, Auspol dies laughing.

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