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Palmer United Party

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Gnostic

Mark Ella (57)
I don't think it's drawing too long a bow to say that all lobby-based politics works this way.

The difference being that lobbyists don't like the spotlight on their dealings. They prefer to buy the elected officials instead of buying the votes.
 

boyo

Mark Ella (57)

boyo

Mark Ella (57)
Tony Abbott puts a positive spin on Clive Palmer’s political tornado

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/tony-abbott-puts-a-positive-spin-on-clive-palmer8217s-political-tornado-20140710-zt2zy.html#ixzz378Zd6r00

"In its major features, the budget was a very different fiscal prescription from the one Abbott had promised voters.
There was no mention of increased university fees, a fuel tax rise, a GP co-payment, an extended retirement age, a temporary income tax rise, lower indexation for pensions, an $80 billion haircut in future Commonwealth outlays in health and education, cuts to family tax benefits, cuts to a range of payments and supplements, and so on.
In fact, all these things were either expressly ruled out when raised or were covered off by overarching assurances such as the oft-quoted formula of ‘‘no new or increased taxes, no cuts to education or health, no cuts to pensions" etc."
 

Ruggo

Mark Ella (57)
Abbott should be quite skilled at polishing the turd. He has had enough practice at it.
 

boyo

Mark Ella (57)
PUP threatens to block supply over privatising states' assets

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pup-threatens-to-block-supply-over-privatising-states-assets-20140731-3cx9b.html#ixzz397TfNhW3


From the comments:-

The Libs always push the propaganda that privatizing brings about competition which brings about lower prices, yet time and time again this is proven incorrect.
Privatizing bumps up prices because of the additional layers of profit that need to be extracted.
Privatization has made the price essential services skyrocket, while at the same time degrading them. You only have to look at Victoria's public transport services and electricity grid. Still in the same condition as they were 30 years ago, but now costing voters almost a quarter of their income.
Privatizing pushes up the cost of living, while at the same time siphoning profits out of the country. Australia is a big island in the middle of nowhere with relatively few inhabitants. There is no competition.
It's a mad grab for quick cash at the expense of the public, and that's all it is.
 

Gnostic

Mark Ella (57)
PUP threatens to block supply over privatising states' assets

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/pup-threatens-to-block-supply-over-privatising-states-assets-20140731-3cx9b.html#ixzz397TfNhW3

From the comments:-

The Libs always push the propaganda that privatizing brings about competition which brings about lower prices, yet time and time again this is proven incorrect.
Privatizing bumps up prices because of the additional layers of profit that need to be extracted.
Privatization has made the price essential services skyrocket, while at the same time degrading them. You only have to look at Victoria's public transport services and electricity grid. Still in the same condition as they were 30 years ago, but now costing voters almost a quarter of their income.
Privatizing pushes up the cost of living, while at the same time siphoning profits out of the country. Australia is a big island in the middle of nowhere with relatively few inhabitants. There is no competition.
It's a mad grab for quick cash at the expense of the public, and that's all it is.


This is just so accurate.

I'd add in deregulation. I always look back at the dairy industry, we had many smaller regional processing facilities and producers. Nobody really prospered, but everybody was profitable and importantly stable. Then along comes deregulation and a few big players make huge profits quickly and lots of producers go out the back door because they are not "efficient" and the reduced prices they got were not sustainable, large swathes of productive diary land is left either fallow or used as lass productive beef production, and large numbers (relative to the size of the communities) are lost as the smaller processors are closed. The processors that are left burn a lot more fuel on road transport as milk is now transported far longer distances, with increases is road degradation that has to be budgeted for by the local councils...... and the impacts go on. And here is the key what happened to the price? It went UP at the supply end while the farm gate price for the producer and the margin for the processor went DOWN. Such a great success, but you'll never get a politician to admit they have no idea at all and just make such decisions on the basis of an ideology and not with any real interest in the communities impacted.
 

boyo

Mark Ella (57)
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Ruggo

Mark Ella (57)
Lay off Clive and Jackie fellas. George Brandis said they had the right to be biggoted.
 

fatprop

George Gregan (70)
Staff member
Lay off Clive and Jackie fellas. George Brandis said they had the right to be biggoted.
Well, I have always liked the premise that fresh air is the best disinfectant.

The best way to highlight the "qualities" of some of these muppets is to let them speak their bullocks

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
 
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daz

Guest
Boyo, how about you give us your thoughts and opinions, rather than just cutting and pasting everyone else's?

Threads like this become rather tedious when the external content is inserted without any form of context. It is difficult to get a discussion going when you are slamming unrelated quotes in the thread, one after the other.

It's a discussion forum, not a noticeboard.

Thanks.
 

boyo

Mark Ella (57)
I do, but as I've stated previously, writing epistles s difficult for me, so I tend to leave it to others (especially as they often write more eloquently than I).
 
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daz

Guest
Sure, I get that. But eloquence is not the be all and end all of discussion.

How about this; rather than dropping content bombs, how about you just paste a link to the article with a comment to give it context, like:

"Hey, check out this new tax that is being reported. The 80% increase in tobacco tax is really gonna hurt me because I am a 500 a day smoker. The PM promised this wasn't going to happen. What do you guys think?"

Encourage response and debate. Notice how you get little response to many of your posts? It's because you are not leaving the door open for someone to walk in and join the party.
 

boyo

Mark Ella (57)
Sure, I get that. But eloquence is not the be all and end all of discussion.

How about this; rather than dropping content bombs, how about you just paste a link to the article with a comment to give it context, like:

"Hey, check out this new tax that is being reported. The 80% increase in tobacco tax is really gonna hurt me because I am a 500 a day smoker. The PM promised this wasn't going to happen. What do you guys think?"

Encourage response and debate. Notice how you get little response to many of your posts? It's because you are not leaving the door open for someone to walk in and join the party.


I appreciate that being a moderator is a difficult and often a thankless job.

I feel that you have forced me into saying something that I was reluctant to say:-

I suffered a stroke at age 40, in which I could have died, and it has left me with many ongoing issues.

My life would be very different without the care and the support of my wife.

Pre-stroke my typing speed wasn't flash, but now it is worse,

Pre-stroke I was an Intensive Care Paramedic who sometimes worked at the Ambulance Operations Centre despatching ambulances and allocating them "jobs" both verbally and by computer. I will never know the level I could have reached as a paramedic. I really enjoyed my job/career/profession.

I was too small-of-frame to play colts, grade, or subbies rugby, but I have followed rugby all my life. So much so that I took up refereeing in my mid-thirties. Being a referee is a difficult and often a thankless job. I will never know the level I could have reached as a referee.

Every day I miss my pre-stroke life. Imagine if you were unable to do many of the things that you take for granted.

Enduring a near-death and/or a life-changing experience can change your perspective on things - it certainly did for me. So if I seem a bit "Devil-may-care" at times, it's no surprise. In fact I have a more "don't put up with shit" attitude these days; if that offends some people, "build a bridge, and get over it".

I have deep feelings of fairness and a fair-go - principles that Australia was built on, principles that I see being eroded every day with this government. Again, if that offends some people, "build a bridge, and get over it".

So while people sit in the office, or being out in the field, comfortable with their life, just pause for a moment to think of how it all could be very different.

btw this took a very long time to type.
 
D

daz

Guest
In fact I have a more "don't put up with shit" attitude these days; if that offends some people, "build a bridge, and get over it".

I have deep feelings of fairness and a fair-go - principles that Australia was built on, principles that I see being eroded every day with this government. Again, if that offends some people, "build a bridge, and get over it".

Thanks boyo, I appreciate your post and I marvel at your ability to get on with things even after being dealt a shitty hand. That is not condescending, nor pitying on my behalf. It is a genuine comment.

That being said, I'm sorry to say I can't condone the point you made not once, but twice.

We don't offend people, then claim it wasn't our fault, because they couldn't deal with it. The problem lies with the giver of the offence, not the receiver.

We need to moderate our behaviour so that we don't offend in the first place. The reason I exist on these boards, in part, is to moderate those who can't moderate themselves.

So please, by all means have your say, and get into the discussions with gusto. I hope I have given you a hint of what kind of posting behaviour I would like. You typed out a rather long post to me, so perhaps adding some typed comment to your posts, rather than just continually inserting cut and pasted comment bombs, is not too much to ask?

But please heed my warning. You seem like a nice fella, so I would get no pleasure from giving you an enforced holiday.

I'm all for a fair go as well, but standards are standards, after all.
 

Ruggo

Mark Ella (57)
I do, but as I've stated previously, writing epistles s difficult for me, so I tend to leave it to others (especially as they often write more eloquently than I).


Mate, we can read between the lines. It's your view we care about, not your writing ability.

We don't need war and piece size posts, just short ones to get your opinion out there.

For what it is worth, I admire your courage and if anybody on this forum want's to be a smart c#nt about your efforts (I don't think it will hapen), I'll go in to bat for you and I think many others will do the same.

Cheers
Mick.
 

boyo

Mark Ella (57)
That being said, I'm sorry to say I can't condone the point you made not once, but twice.

We don't offend people, then claim it wasn't our fault, because they couldn't deal with it. The problem lies with the giver of the offence, not the receiver.


Please re-read my post and try again.
 

boyo

Mark Ella (57)
@daz,

You've appeared to have misread and/or misunderstood my post. I hope that wasn't intentional.

The parts that you highlighted weren't directed at you, they are general in nature.

If I substituted the word "offend" with "upset", would that appease you?
 
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