(Miscellaneous debris)

[mick]

Gold

[Sojourner]

Maxine McKew's book comes out next week with various allegations levelled at Julia Gillard and others in the ALP, sounds like a pretty good read!

http://www.news.com.au/news/pm-julia-gi ... 6500198963

[southee]

Maxine McKew's book comes out next week with various allegations levelled at Julia Gillard and others in the ALP, sounds like a pretty good read!

http://www.news.com.au/news/pm-julia-gi ... 6500198963

She's a smart lady Maxine. Will be reading this.

[The Sleeping Giant]

All the great literature out there, and you want read that.

[Gozu]

The history behind the divisions in the SA Liberal Party:

http://indaily.wordpress.com/2012/10/24 ... -liberals/

[Psyber]

The history behind the divisions in the SA Liberal Party:
http://indaily.wordpress.com/2012/10/24 ... -liberals/

There is some truth in the article in that the fundamental roots are as described, but it is a bit of an oversimplification.
Just for example, I am a moderate (and an old LM supporter) who also agreed with the low profile approach until the election is called that is attributed to the conservative faction by Indaily.

I am, also, fully in support of Isobel Redmond retaining the leadership, as neither MHS, nor Vicki C, are likely to go over well with the swinging voters.
(Of the two I'm personally more comfortable with Vicki.)

[scoob]

Kevin is still a bitter bitter man... When will he throw his hat in the ring again?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-29/r ... ok/4339158

Kevin Rudd says those involved in dumping him as prime minister need to be honest about what happened, amid new claims that Julia Gillard was actively trying to destabilise him in the days before the leadership coup.

In a new book written by former Labor MP Maxine McKew, the former ABC television journalist accuses Ms Gillard of being a "disloyal deputy" to Mr Rudd.

She says Ms Gillard showed a senior caucus colleague internal party polling critical of Mr Rudd, in what the un-named MP believed was part of a "conspiracy" against the then-PM.

Ms Gillard has previously said she only decided to launch a challenge against Mr Rudd on the day she asked for a leadership ballot in June 2010.

Mr Rudd this morning described the events as "traumatic" for the party and the country, and said it was time for those involved to fully explain what happened.

"It's important that everybody associated with those events is just honest about what happened so that the party and the Government can move on to the big policy challenges of the future," Mr Rudd told Channel Nine.

Mr Rudd told McKew that he felt let down and "betrayed" by Ms Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan, because neither of them had warned him there would be a challenge unless he made specific policy changes.

Asked whether he stood by what he told McKew, Mr Rudd replied: "I don't make statements lightly".

In February this year, Ms Gillard told the ABC's Four Corners program that she did not have "specific recall" of the party polling at the time.

Ms Gillard today declined to respond to the latest claims, saying: "I've dealt with these issues extensively in the past, and you can put the question 900 different ways and you're going to get the same response, it's just simply not my focus."

McKew says there is "no doubt" internal party polling was being shown around in an attempt to move votes away from Mr Rudd, and she remains adamant Ms Gillard was involved.

"There are no innocents in politics - there had to be someone who was willing to be the successor," she said.

"I am saying that I think Julia Gillard was impatient for the leadership and she allowed a sense of crisis to be created around Rudd's leadership, and a principal tool in that sense of crisis was this private party polling," McKew told ABC Radio National.

"I wasn't shown it at the time - everyone knew I was a Rudd loyalist so I was left alone.

"But this was shown around a range of ministers and MPs."

Labor MPs have today tried to hose down any sense of internal conflict created by McKew's book, saying it is time to move on from the events of 2010.

"It's just not something that interests me, to be honest," Labor MP Rob Mitchell said.

"That's her version of events, but I certainly won't be buying the book."

But the Coalition has used the latest revelations to attack Ms Gillard's character and describe the modern Labor party as a "soap opera".

"What it proves to the public is that we know we have a Prime Minister without any conviction, without any principle, without any policy," Liberal frontbencher Christopher Pyne said.

"We have a Prime Minister who was panic struck by the polls in 2010, and seized her opportunity to create mayhem in the Labor caucus.

"When Kevin Rudd was the weak wildebeest in the pack, she pounced and tore him to pieces," he said.

[Gozu]

Don Farrell & Cory Bernardi live on Capital Hill right now.

The far-right vs the lunar-right, what a winning combination.

[Gozu]

I dare say there will be more than this that comes out of the ICAC stuff about the NSW ALP's time in power:

THE son of the ALP kingpin Eddie Obeid told a car dealer and close friend that he needed to secure a top-of-the-line Honda CRV for the former NSW treasurer Eric Roozendaal because he ''had done a few favours for dad'', a corruption inquiry has heard.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption was also told that Obeid Corporation paid $10,800 towards the $44,000 purchase, which had the effect of giving Mr Roozendaal a sweetheart deal on the car.

http://m.smh.com.au/nsw/icac-told-of-tr ... 28myb.html

[dedja]

Poor bastards ... cry me a river

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/former-mp ... 6508716051

RETIRED federal MPs are threatening a High Court challenge to claw back millions of dollars in generous perks, including lifetime Gold Pass and superannuation payments.

The umbrella group representing former MPs has asked the Commonwealth to fund the legal challenge, which could result in windfall gains for up to 400 parliamentarians.

But one federal Senator has savaged the move to claw back perks, saying it makes politicians look like “a pack of greedy bastards”

A successful court ruling would also flow through to some current MPs who stand to lose about 60 per cent of annual Gold Pass perks when they retire.

Respected legal figure and former attorney-general Bob Ellicott has offered to spearhead the constitutional test case, which comes after a series of landmark reforms passed parliament earlier this year - including slashing the Gold Pass entitlement from 25 domestic flights a year to 10.

The changes also "delinked" superannuation payments for retired MPs from hefty wage increases which flowed through to the 226 MPs and senators in the current parliament to prevent so-called "double dipping".

[dedja]

Kevin is still a bitter bitter man... When will he throw his hat in the ring again?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-29/r ... ok/4339158

So will Kim Beazley put out a book now on how Rudd knifed him?

[GWW]

Poor bastards ... cry me a river

They are a dead set joke.

This story will probably assist the "donkey vote" to increase at the next election.

[scoob]

Poor bastards ... cry me a river

They are a dead set joke.

This story will probably assist the "donkey vote" to increase at the next election.

I think if a donkey ran an election against the 2 leaders at the moment it would go close to winning!

[Gozu]

Labor/Greens minority government in the ACT again:

LIGHT rail for Canberra and legislation for gay marriage have secured Labor another four-year term in the Australian Capital Territory.

Labor and the Canberra Liberals won eight seats each in the October 20 election, with Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury holding the only other seat in the 17-seat assembly.

Mr Rattenbury told reporters in Canberra on Friday he had entered into a 100-point agreement with Labor, led by Chief Minister Katy Gallagher.

He will hold a cabinet post and Labor has agreed to legislate for gay marriage, following the federal parliament voting it down, and to start work on a light rail project.

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/na ... 6509161917

[dedja]

Poor bastards ... cry me a river

They are a dead set joke.

This story will probably assist the "donkey vote" to increase at the next election.

I think if a donkey ran an election against the 2 leaders at the moment it would go close to winning!

A good chance it would be well hung ...

[Gozu]

Mark Latham advocated strongly in favour of the donkey vote at the last election

[Sojourner]

Respected Elder and ex ALP President of NSW Warren Mundine has quit the ALP for several reasons in this article, largely because he sees it as not being the party that he joined years ago.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nationa ... 6509539543

[Sojourner]

This is the party that scored their record ever highest number of votes in the Port Adelaide Election, they are under the banner Libertarian. They seem to be a mix of Left Wing and Right WIng ideals, but I had always believed them to be Centre-Left?

[fish]

Jones to be trained in checking facts

TROUBLED radio broadcaster Alan Jones will have to undertake basic journalism training involving fact-checking and canvassing a range of views, in a ground-breaking ruling by the media watchdog.

The measures, which were proposed by 2GB and which it will administer, are believed to be a first for the Australian media.

A spokeswoman for the the Australian Communications and Media Authority said while there had been other accuracy breaches, Jones was the first person found to have failed to canvass a range of views as required under the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice.

The ruling comes as 2GB suffers under a continuing advertising boycott of Jones's program due to a social media backlash against comments Jones made at a Young Liberals function that the Prime Minister Julia Gillard's late father "died of shame".

Jones and members of his staff must undergo fact-checking training by the end of November and his show on Sydney radio station 2GB will be subject to random checks by the program director to ensure the broadcaster has made reasonable attempts to canvass alternative viewpoints.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has released its report into breaches of the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice in programs broadcast on March 15, 2011 and on February 8 and 11, 2010. The offending broadcasts centred on claims about climate change.

The accuracy breaches in particular related to comments about the percentage of man-made carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, for which ACMA said "presenter Alan Jones prepared his own script and did not fact-check or verify facts".

Jones said on March 15 last year that "human beings produce 0.001 per cent of the carbon dioxide in the air'' when the accepted figure is 3 per cent.

[Sojourner]

Jones to be trained in checking facts

TROUBLED radio broadcaster Alan Jones will have to undertake basic journalism training involving fact-checking and canvassing a range of views, in a ground-breaking ruling by the media watchdog.

The measures, which were proposed by 2GB and which it will administer, are believed to be a first for the Australian media.

A spokeswoman for the the Australian Communications and Media Authority said while there had been other accuracy breaches, Jones was the first person found to have failed to canvass a range of views as required under the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice.

The ruling comes as 2GB suffers under a continuing advertising boycott of Jones's program due to a social media backlash against comments Jones made at a Young Liberals function that the Prime Minister Julia Gillard's late father "died of shame".

Jones and members of his staff must undergo fact-checking training by the end of November and his show on Sydney radio station 2GB will be subject to random checks by the program director to ensure the broadcaster has made reasonable attempts to canvass alternative viewpoints.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority has released its report into breaches of the Commercial Radio Codes of Practice in programs broadcast on March 15, 2011 and on February 8 and 11, 2010. The offending broadcasts centred on claims about climate change.

The accuracy breaches in particular related to comments about the percentage of man-made carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, for which ACMA said "presenter Alan Jones prepared his own script and did not fact-check or verify facts".

Jones said on March 15 last year that "human beings produce 0.001 per cent of the carbon dioxide in the air'' when the accepted figure is 3 per cent.

How come Jones Ratings have increased along with the cost per minute for advertising on the show?