Doctor Spaceman posted:

There's also the bit in there where he ran Joh's election campaigns.

Les Affaires posted:

lmao abbott on the front bench

Les Affaires posted:

Did I hear the green shoots of a discussion about a housing bubble????

CROWS EVERYWHERE posted:

Maybe. It is layered, like onions, which Tony Abbott ate raw, skin and all (twice).

Negligent posted:

What bit is that? In the quarterly essay on him it claims the media director title he had was largely just that.

Jumpingmanjim posted:

There was a big piece of onion in my meal the other day and it made me think of Tony.

ewe2 posted:

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Wizard Master posted:

Halo14 posted:

So what does this mean for Tony's leadership ambitions?

http://www.smh.com.au/comment/so-thats-it-for-abbott-in-canberra-dont-bet-on-it-20151001-gjyx45.html

Anidav posted:

One of these days, Bill Shorten is going to fix this.




By standing down as leader of the opposition.

Unimpressed posted:

I guess all that rape torture and murder is expensive.

Anidav posted:

Maybe the majority of the population can't look up the facts on asylum seekers because DSL internet is slow and poo poo.

oTHi posted:

No one wants to kidnap Gina. Not even her family wants her back, so the ransom will go unpaid.

quote:

Unions and employers hail inclusive Malcolm Turnbull as national mood lifts

The Turnbull government has reached in-principle agreement with unions, employers and welfare organisations to reduce a raft of concessional taxation arrangements that benefit the rich, as all sides hailed the prospect of a new era of consensus and co-operation in Canberra.

It followed the first direct ACTU-Coalition discussions since the 2013 election.

The sudden thawing of opposition to long-term reform possibilities that has come with the Turnbull prime ministership means superannuation concessions for the well-off, entirely ruled out of consideration by the Abbott government for political reasons, are firmly back on the agenda with all parties agreeing such arrangements need to be scrapped if they are not "fit for purpose".

Also in the frame are capital gains tax concessions on property held for longer than 12 months, and negative gearing on property, both of which have been criticised for having unintended consequences, such as distorting real estate markets and driving prices beyond the reach of first home buyers.

"There was a very, very strong agreement that concessions needed to be looked at," said Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Jennifer Westacott.

Moves to more strongly align the needs of industry with training and university courses were also embraced.

"I think the more important discussion we've had today though is what is the nature of work ... and how you get a collaborative framework for lifting productivity and opportunity," Ms Westacott said.

The agreement to examine all ideas represents the first time in years that anything like a consensus over taxation reform has emerged between capital, labour, and welfare groups, with the support of the national government.

The high-powered group, which had been invited to Canberra by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to brief economic ministers on the results of its deliberations and particularly those of the National Reform Summit in Sydney in August, left the meeting in high spirits.

They said issues over which there is disagreement, such as changes to the GST and weekend penalty rates, opposed by unions and the welfare lobby, and increasing the overall tax take, opposed by business and the government, would not be allowed to slow progress on areas of agreement.

Given the heavy crossover of national/state responsibilities in areas like vocational training, it is likely the next step will see the main participants invited to be involved in some capacity in the December COAG meeting.

Central among priorities was the need to gear policies around higher growth, through improved support for low-income jobs and a move away from the Abbott government's work-for-the-dole approach. It is hoped this would lead to better targeted training for unemployed workers to prepare them for jobs in the emergent economy.

Speaking after the three-hour meeting in the cabinet room, the heads of the ACTU, secretary Dave Oliver and president Ged Kearney revealed it was their first face-to-face discussion with an Australian prime minister since before the 2013 election.

"Absolutely it's a step forward," said Ms Kearney.

"Not once did I meet with the previous prime minister, so it's certainly a breath of fresh air."

But Ms Kearney warned Employment Minister Michaelia Cash to expect absolute resistance if the government decides to take on unions by trying to remove Sunday penalty rates.

Employers representatives including the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's Kate Carnell, the BCA, Ms Westacott, and the Australian Industry Group's Innes Willox, said it was refreshing to have all issues and ideas back on the table.

Ms Westacott said the atmosphere was extremely positive with ministers expressing their thoughts freely and all parties willing to engage in genuinely flexible discussions aimed at lifting productivity.

Mr Oliver said it was clear however, that some areas were not agreed.

"No we have not accepted that an increase in the GST is required," he said.

Mr Turnbull was joined at the meeting by Treasurer Scott Morrison, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, Industry and Innovation Minister Christopher Pyne, Assistant Treasurer Kelly O'Dwyer, and others. Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens also addressed the gathering.

The breakthrough in Canberra came as the new head of a national co-ordinating lobby representing the views of business said they are open to debating a review of tax breaks primarily benefit the rich - including superannuation concessions, negative gearing and capital gains tax - if there's an economic case and they are delivered as part of a wider package of reform.

In his first major interview since taking over as head of the Business Coalition for Tax Reform, Frank Drenth, whose lobby group includes the nation's biggest business groups including the Australian Bankers' Association, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Australian Industry Group, Business Council of Australia, Financial Services Council, Minerals Council of Australia and Property Council of Australia, said business was open to having a debate about the areas that were seen by the previous Liberal leadership as taboo.

Unimpressed posted:

So not only are we treating refugees worse than other countries are, it's costing us more.

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2015/oct/01/australian-immigration-detention-costs-double-that-of-us-and-europe-report

Jumpingmanjim posted:

http://www.whatsmybabynumber.com.au/

bowmore posted:

very sneaky way to get people's emails

bowmore posted:

very sneaky way to get people's emails

Cartoon posted:

And had planned on doing this OP. Clearly there weren't enough pixels in his CPU or the AEC prevented him out of spite.

ScreamingLlama posted:

I was busy doing stuff and I forgot.

That doesn't mean you get to make a poo poo thread though. Shame on you all.

Should I make a proper one now or just wait for November?

Endman posted:

I hope you guys have a doctor that bulk bills, because cold and flu medication might be prescription only soon.

http://www.smh.com.au/national/all-codeinecontaining-medications-could-be-prescriptiononly-from-next-year-20151001-gjzdex.html

Unimpressed posted:

Only the stuff with codeine in it, there's plenty of effective medicine without codeine you could take. I personally think it should all be prescription only, it's the big supermarkets and the Chemists guild that are preventing that from happening. Paracetamol overdose is a lot more common than people think. Liver transplant anyone?

Pred1ct posted:

This seems like a stupid argument, having a bubble in the economy isn't good just because it happens to be the lone area of growth. Eventually the bubble will burst and then won't that be a great outcome for the economy.

You know, if they took away the breaks for negative gearing and capital gains, they could cool down the market whilst also raising precious budget revenue....

gay picnic defence posted:

I guess in theory they could try and time the burst so it happens when some other part of the economy is strong enough to lessen the blow. For instance removing negative gearing at the peak of the mining boom would have done bugger all damage to the economy. More likely they'll just try and keep it simmering away for as long as they are in government and hope that the poo poo hits the fan while the other party is in power.

I don't know how they can cool it off gently at this point. With so many investors in it for the capital gains, as soon as it looks like a permanent decline in house prices because of structural changes like revoking negative gearing they'll be selling up as quick as they can to get their money into something else. I can't see how that will lead to any outcome other than a crash. Even if negative gearing is removed for new investments only, that takes away a big part of what is driving prices higher so you still get the same scenario of people cashing out because house prices have peaked and can only decline from that point on.

Unimpressed posted:

Only the stuff with codeine in it, there's plenty of effective medicine without codeine you could take. I personally think it should all be prescription only, it's the big supermarkets and the Chemists guild that are preventing that from happening. Paracetamol overdose is a lot more common than people think. Liver transplant anyone?

xPanda posted:

Also, the dose of codeine in those is sub therapeutic and can really only make you constipated. As you said, addiction to codeine leads to a lot of paracetamol overdose. Finally, gently caress the pharmacy guild.

Unimpressed posted:

Again, we're not punishing them. As in we're not denying them a right to come here on many other grounds. Not allowing foreigners to come over and become a citizen of this country. For starters that would completely undermine the already weakening social contract. If 10 million to come here next year, do you really think it's impossible for a second. There's no doubt he is an extra judicial punishment. Foreigners don't have any obligation to let anyone but Australian citizens or other visa holders and asylum seekers into the country.

I think having a book explaining things to newcomers is an ambulating piece of poo poo than David Cameron (and that's saying a lot). I mean, between the two parties, but the only way to not be talking about us barring our convicted felons from coming here. It needs to make sense, there needs to make a point . Either way, not worth responding to in earnest.

gay picnic defence posted:

No wonder he took so long to concede. He probably couldn't believe what he can to get issued a visa in the end of the goodwill towards the Greens aren't going to risk a second leadership change.

ScreamingLlama posted:

Pfft. You can make a flamethrower out of a sudden you're all crying over a kid locked in a cage. If you see absolutely nothing wrong with using terms like 'autist', 'sperg' and banning people who didn't like it. Then something like this happens and all of a Super Soaker or other kind of disability.