=== Todays Toon ===
Bob K riding into town. Cartoon by Syd Nolan=== Bible Quote ===
“Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”- Romans 12:4-5=== Headlines ===
Egg Farm Owners Called to Washington for Time in Hot Seat
A House panel will hold a hearing next month on the massive recall and have invited Austin 'Jack' DeCoster, inset, and Orland Bethel to testify on how their Iowa farms are tied to salmonella-tainted eggs.Slow Recovery in Lower Ninth Ward
Many of the damaged and destroyed homes in Katrina have not been touched at all, and some still have the infamous red X's painted on the front, indicating how many bodies were found inside
Petraeus: Afghanistan Military Key to Success
Fox News' Jennifer Griffin is on Day Two of an exclusive interview with Gen. Petraeus, who says fighting illiteracy and corruption, as well as strengthening the numbers of Afghan troops, is critical to the nation's success
From 'Canadian Idol 'To Terrorist Plot?
Canadian police say they had to move in on three suspected terror plotters, including one who appeared on Canada's version of 'American Idol,' after learning of the group's plans to send money to terror groups in Afghanistan
Breaking News
Nun dies as ambassador crashes carA CAR driven by the US ambassador to Malta veered into a ditch, killing a nun who was a passenger in the vehicle.
Muhammad cartoons to return in new book
THE Danish editor who published 12 cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad in 2005 will soon republish the drawings in a new book.
Baby 'thrown from apartment block'
A TWO-week-old baby girl has died after being thrown from the eighth floor of an apartment building allegedly by her mother.
Bashed man dies 'for not sharing his beer'
A MAN was allegedly bashed with a rock and left to die in the Outback because he wouldn't share his slab of beer.
Dollar lower on global uncertainty
THE dollar opened slightly lower today as a mood of global uncertainty continues to hang over markets.
Banned teacher back in classroom
TEACHER found "not suitable to teach" after propositioning a student has been allowed back in the classroom by a tribunal.
Teen killed as bike hits truck
TEENAGER killed when his motorbike collides with a truck pulling on to the road on a highway west of Brisbane.
Cholera outbreak kills 352
NIGERIA is being threatened by a cholera outbreak that has killed at least 352 people in just three months.
World's smallest frog the size of a pea
ONE of the world’s smallest frogs was discovered in Borneo, scientists said today.
Greek tax evader hunt uses home videos
SALES receipts, satellite photos and now home videos will be used in Greece in a never-ending quest against tax evasion.
NSW/ACT
$131m 'missing from NSW health Budget'$131 million is missing from NSW's frontline health budget, the state Opposition says.
Gun-wielding crooks wreak terror
IT only takes three minutes to rob a pub. Just ask Craig Bower, the latest victim of the gangs terrorising hotels. Who are the robbers?
Gift box may lead to baby's mum
A NEWBORN found in a box at Strathfield was alive when born, but may have been dead for days before being found.
Desperate mountain hike for help
MARTIN Dale had been bushwalking with his wife on the Bob Buck Pass No 6 in Colo when a rock ledge gave way.
Sydney Water's drained of funds
THE State Government has ripped more than a billion dollars in dividends from Sydney Water in just 11 years, estimates show.
Local teachers are in short supply
SCHOOLS face a looming staffing crisis as locally-trained teachers are lured overseas by higher pay and more lucrative tax breaks.
Building levy cap backflip
THE State Government is preparing to dump its $20,000 cap on council developer levies in a humiliating backdown.
Councils plan lavish spend for Christmas
SYDNEY councils have gone from Scrooge to Santa as a backlash against a politically correct Christmas mounts a return to tradition.
Woman killed by doing washing
THE simple act of doing her husband's laundry cost Geraldine Shea her life. A silent killer - asbestos - infiltrated her body.
Mum's dying warning on solariums
WHEN doctors told Sonya Masters she had melanoma from using sun beds in her 20s, she vowed to campaign for major changes.
Queensland
Sex abuse priest blames girl, 12A PRIEST jailed for molesting a girl says he thought his victim, who was 12 at the time, wanted him to kiss and touch her.
Grow up, court tells driver
AN unlicensed driver who wrecked his car after rolling it four times while trying to beat a red light was told to grow up for arguing with a magistrate.
Teen killed as bike hits truck
TEENAGER killed when his motorbike collides with a truck pulling on to the road on a highway west of Brisbane.
Law firms at war with gossip site
WEBSITE claimed one firm artificially adjusted performance ratings to justify lower pay rises.
Labor in muddle over Spence
DEPUTY Premier Paul Lucas has contradicted MP Judy Spence over her own retirement plans, insisting she was not considering quitting.
Mulrunji cop may face new charges
THE Queensland police officer acquitted over the 2004 death in custody of Mulrunji Doomadgee may face new charges.
Katter wants ban on Nationals' veto
INDEPENDENT MP Bob Katter has demanded the Nationals be stripped of veto over rural and regional policy if a minority Coalition government is formed.
Dud flu jab exposes children
A SWINE flu vaccine for children is being withdrawn because it is no longer potent enough to be effective just as more cases are being reported.
Sanctions for nursing home
A TOOWOOMBA nursing home has been hit with sanctions after the aged care watchdog uncovered "serious risk" to the health and safety of residents.
Young nurses recall Centaur loss
PAM Gilbert was five when her dad, Fred Fortier, died after the hospital ship Centaur was torpedoed on May 14, 1943, in waters off Brisbane.
Victoria
Serial train flasher huntedPOLICE are hunting a pervert who has repeatedly exposed himself to women travelling on trains.
Lost snowboarders found at Falls
THREE snowboarders have been found safe after becoming lost at Falls Creek late yesterday.
Wife couldn't save veteran from fire
UPDATE 7.51am: AN ELDERLY man killed in an overnight fire - despite his wife's attempts to save him - was a fighter pilot in WWII.
Sex predator among kids
A CHILD-sex predator is using an iPhone to download images of naked children while living in a taxpayer-funded apartment.
Casino chews up $27b
HIGH rollers have pumped a record $27 billion through Crown Casino over the past year.
Bribes for jobs claim
STAFF at Crown casino have been accused of taking bribes for jobs.
Mass murder lead ruled out
DNA tests have confirmed a body in Texas is not that of 40-year fugitive and Melbourne mass murderer Elmer Crawford.
Water storage nears half-full
MELBOURNE's water storages could be at half capacity by the end of spring with similar rainfall and runoff to last year's.
Super snowy month
THE best 24-hour snowfalls in 15 years and cheap holiday offers are set to deliver a super September on Victoria's ski fields.
Guilty pleas likely for 8 of 11
A MAN charged over a protest riot outside a Bob Jane store has failed to complete a court-ordered anger management course.
Northern Territory
Bashed man dies 'for not sharing his beer'A MAN was allegedly bashed with a rock and left to die in the Outback because he wouldn't share his slab of beer.
South Australia
Road collapses in three placesEMERGENCY crews have been called to Stonyfell where a road has collapsed in three places, forcing traffic to be diverted.
Esky's Melbourne exile
ESKY, the part dingo pet of a Blyth family, has been spared the death sentence. The dingo-dog was yesterday flown to its new home - in Melbourne.
Rental vacancy rate slips below 1pc
ADELAIDE'S monthly rental vacancy rate has dropped below 1 per cent for the first time in two-and-a-half years, latest figures show.
Fears over rising urban crowding
"GREAT swathes" of Adelaide will become high-density housing if councils support the 30-year plan, warns Upper House Opposition Leader David Ridgway.
Abuse accuser 'was TV host's pimp'
A FORMER school counsellor standing trial for sex crimes claims his accuser was the willing "pimp" for TV host and alleged paedophile Ric Marshall.
Charity back for our little heroes
A LESS blokey, more national organisation which will help more children is what Chris McDermott is planning for the Little Heroes Foundation.
Teachers can stay put
PUBLIC school teachers will no longer be forced to move schools every decade as part of a major shake-up to the state's education recruitment system.
If spiders make you jumpy...
STARING menacingly at the camera, these exotic creatures look like monsters straight out of a horror film.
AdelaideNow wins top awards
ADELAIDENow has won two international awards for news and specialist news services.
Alleged killer threatened police
A MAN charged with attempting to kill the son of alleged New Boys gang leader Vincenzo Focarelli also allegedly threatened police, a court has heard.
Western Australia
'Blue flu' causes train chaosUP to 40 Perth metropolitan train drivers have called in "sick'' severely disrupting city train services.
Premier apologises to sex assault victim
PREMIER Colin Barnett personally apologises to the mother of a disabled woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted by a teenaged sex-offender.
Alleged fraudster must surrender passport
A MAN who allegedly stole millions of dollars from family investors ordered to surrender his passport and arrange a $150,000 surety.
Restaurant crash driver fined $400
A P-PLATE driver who crashed her car into a crowded Perth restaurant last month has been fined $400 by a Perth magistrate.
Police reopen Northbridge roads
POLICE have reopened streets in Northbridge following an incident which saw the area evacuated this afternoon.
Naked 'gunman' blames detention
A NAKED man who sent downtown Perth into lockdown after climbing to the top of a billboard holding a replica gun, has post-traumatic stress after years in detention, says his lawyer.
Woman, 56, 'missing for two years'
POLICE hold grave concerns for the welfare of a Mt Hawthorn woman who was recently reported missing despite not being sighted for two years.
Glass victim 'suffering excruciating pain'
POLICE will oppose a planned bail application for a man charged over an ugly nightclub glassing attack in Perth.
Mercanti's five-year pub ban
NOTORIOUS bikie Troy Mercanti has been banned from pubs and clubs for five years after a ruling by the WA Liquor Commission - despite being in jail.
Tasmania
Nothing new=== Journalists Corner ===
John McCain Goes 'On the Record'The senator's strategy to keep his seat and take on Arizona's biggest issues. John McCain weighs in on his midterm race.
===
Guest: Jerry Springer
Obama's track record ... Jerry "springs" to his defense. Don't miss Sean's explosive interview with Jerry Springer.
===
On Fox News Insider
Jennifer Griffin's Emotional Thank YouGene Simmons Sits Down With 'Fox and Friends'
Another Possible Mosque Not Far From Ground Zero?
Thank you to all of those who called the European Union (EU) Ambassadors to the UN and Washington, DC. We need more calls! If you are not able to call, click here to send an email!Right now, the EU is drafting a resolution on Burma that it will introduce at the UN General Assembly meeting (UNGA) which will begin on the 3rd week of September. We need your help to make sure this resolution calls for an establishment of a Commission of Inquiry into Crimes Against Humanity in Burma. We need you to call the ambassadors again as soon as possible.
This is long over due. There have already been 19 UN General Assembly resolutions on Burma since 1991, but none have mentioned the Commission of Inquiry and none have taken serious action. Following UN Special Rapporteur Tomas Quintana's call for the investigation this March, some of the UN's most powerful players, including the US and UK, have endorsed his recommendation. Support for the Commission of Inquiry is the highest it has even been. But this is not enough, we need the EU, a major sponsor of the draft resolution on Burma, to include the call for the Commission of Inquiry in this UNGA resolution.
Below, we have included instructions on how to call or email.
Aung Din, Jennifer, Myra, Mike, and Nadi
=== === ===
Instructions:1) Dial one of the numbers below and ask to speak to the corresponding ambassador (if you are not able to call, please email or fax).
Hi, may I speak to Ambassador XXX, I would like to ask him to support a Commission of Inquiry into Crimes Against Humanity and War Crimes in Burma.
Ambassador's Contacts
(1) His Excellency Mr. Pedro Serrano, Ambassador, Acting Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations Tel. (212) 371 3804
Fax (212) 758 2718
Email: delegation-new-york@ec.europa.eu
(2) His Excellency Ambassador João Vale de Almeida, European Union Ambassador and Head of the EU Delegation to the United States
Telephone: (202) 862-9500; Fax: (202) 429-1766
2) It is likely that they will ask you to leave a message with his assistant.
Hi Ambassador XXXX. As you may know, the United States has already pledged its support for a UN-led Commission of Inquiry into crimes against humanity in Burma. This is a much needed step as the military regime in Burma has been brutally suppressing ethnic minorities and human rights defenders for more than four decades. Recently, the level of violence has been on the rise. Since 1996, the regime has burned down over 3,500 villages, and instances of rape and forced labor by the military are well documented. That is why I urge the EU to join the United States, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Australia in calling for this important measure towards accountability and justice in Burma.
* We know that the EU is writing a draft resolution on Burma that it will submit at the upcoming UNGA 65th session. We want the EU to make sure that its draft resolution includes a call to Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to set up a Commission of Inquiry.
* We believe that this is the right moment to take this action to pressure the regime to stop its sham election and to start negotiations with the democratic opposition led by Aung San Suu Kyi for real and sustainable national reconciliation and democratization.
3) You may want to leave your number in case they would like to call you back.
If you have any further questions about why you should support a Commission of Inquiry in Burma, feel free to call me at XXXXX
4) Thank them for taking the message!
5) Email mikejen@uscampaignforburma.org to let us know how the call went.
=== Comments ===
Maverick three fall for Labor’s spin doctorPiers Akerman
HAVING called on Labor’s spin doctor Bruce Hawker to advise them on parliamentary reform, the three independistas have shown they are not unwilling to be manipulated by the ALP’s strategic mastermind. - People forget how comprehensive was the victory of the Libs over the ALP. They had some 12% lead in the primary vote. The negative politics of the ALP worked for it, so it is still in the hunt in terms of preferences, and school kids have been taught to despise Mr Abbott, but there is nothing to offer the ALP government in responsible terms. The independents may grandstand on fools errands, like an analysis of the Liberal Party's promises by their enemies. I think as time goes on, the empty nature of ALP rule will become more apparent. Of course, NSW is still ALP even though the empty nature of their rule was apparent in 2006 .. - ed.
===
Dick Morris on Religious Tolerance Hypocrisy Over Ground Zero Mosque
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT FROM "THE O'REILLY FACTOR," AUGUST 25, 2010. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LAURA INGRAHAM, GUEST HOST: Now on to the top story: the disconnect between the elites and the regular folks. According to a Rasmussen poll, 68 percent of the political class favor building the mosque near Ground Zero, but an overwhelming 77 percent of mainstream voters are opposed. And take a listen to how some elites have tried to frame the debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREA MITCHELL, NBC NEWS: Some would say that it is really for Americans, for majority Americans to be more sensitive to minority communities. It's not merely the obligation for the imam.
NORAH O'DONNELL, NBC NEWS: Somebody's got to say that, you know, we're not going to act like the people who stole freedom from Americans, the people who attacked America and killed 3,000 people.
MARK HALPERIN, NBC NEWS ANALYST: The families of the victims of 9/11, whatever emotions they want to have, I respect and I honor. But somebody needs to lead them through a discussion.
KATIE COURIC, CBS NEWS: There is a debate to be had about the sensitivity of building the center so close to Ground Zero, but we cannot let fear and rage tear down the towers of our core American values.
MICHAEL BLOOMBERG, NYC MAYOR: If we say that a mosque or a community center should not be built near the perimeter of the World Trade Center site, we would compromise our commitment to fighting terror with freedom.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
INGRAHAM: Joining us now from Stanford, Connecticut, the purveyor of DickMorris.com, Dick Morris. Now, Dick, that was a painful montage to sit through, OK? To hear elite after elite after elite characterize this debate as our burden to show our own kindness, sensitivity and tolerance when there's clearly not an obligation on the other side to show the same level of tolerance.
DICK MORRIS, POLITICAL ANALYST: But it isn't even that. This mosque has nothing to do with religious freedom or tolerance. People don't understand the fundamental nature of Islam. Islam is a juridical religion, just like Judaism is. And Orthodox Jews, who study for the rabbinate, essentially going to law school in studying Talmudic law, and they are there to guide worship, but they're also there to adjudicate disputes under Talmudic law.
Now Talmudic law is wonderful and it is nonviolent and it's all of that. But under Islam, the imams are there in charge of applying Sharia law. And don't think of it as a mosque. Think of it as a law school in Sharia law where they recruit people, train them, indoctrinate them in it. And Sharia law has contained within it not just this horrible, vicious abasement of women, which is revolting throughout it, but it also has jihad and suicide bombing and terrorism built right into the structure.
INGRAHAM: Well, Dick, let me tell you what imam Faisal has said in the past and try to give another point of view here. Obviously, I'm where you are on this issue. But he says that, look, his view of Sharia is encouraging self-dignity, independent thought, love for your brethren, harmony, peace, the love of also the American culture. I mean, he thinks that the United States is "Sharia compliant." But when people question him about that, he basically says no, no, no, no, you're misunderstanding what Sharia means to him, the imam Faisal. That's what he says.
MORRIS: Well, I don't know what rose-colored glasses he's using to read Sharia law, but it explicitly embraces jihad and suicide bombings, self-sacrifice and slaying the infidel. It's a crucial part of it.
INGRAHAM: So why is Barack Obama letting this go on? Why is the president of the United States at his already low approval numbers, why is he letting this continue as it is?
MORRIS: Yes, I don't know, Laura. That's a question for a shrink, not for a political adviser. He's out of his mind for doing it.
But the point I want to make is that the Center for Security Policy, run by Frank Gaffney, did a study of 100 mosques in the United States. Twenty of them were religious institutions where Sharia law was not present, and nobody talked about it. They talked about worshiping God and loving God. And those are great. I wouldn't mind if you have one right on Ground Zero itself.
The other 80 were Sharia institutions, which is what this mosque is going to be, essentially a law school to study Sharia law and spawn adherence and devotees. The reason the radical Muslim community is so anxious for this thing to be built is because they want to counter the assimilationist tendencies of Muslims in the United States.
INGRAHAM: Oh, of course they do. (more at the link)
===
GREAT FEAR
Tim Blair
Johann Hari quotes Tim Flannery:
“My great fear is that within the next few decades – it could be next year, or it could be in 50 years, we don’t know exactly when – we will trap enough heat close to the surface to our planet to precipitate a collapse, or partial collapse, of a major ice shelf… I have friends who work on the West Antarctic Ice Sheet, and they say [when a collapse happens] you’ll hear it in Sydney… Sea levels would rise pretty much instantaneously, certainly over a few months. We don’t know how much it would rise. It could be 10 centimeters, or a metre. We will have begun a retreat from our coasts… Once you have started that process, we wouldn’t know when the next part of the ice sheet would collapse, we don’t know whether sea level will stabilise. There’s no point of retreat where you can safely go back to… I doubt whether our global civilisation could survive such a blow, particularly the uncertainty it would bring.”Sounds like Flannery is uncertain now. Next year or in 2060, ten centimetres or a metre, seas stable or unstable ... how can we survive the uncertainty he brings?
===
TWO TIES
Tim Blair
Depending on how you look at things – that is, if you include WA National Tony Crook and Green Adam Bandt in respective Coalition and Labor totals – we’re looking at either a 72-72 tie or a 73-73 tie. Not easy to find a way out of this, is it?
===
WE HAVE A CONSENSUS
Tim Blair
The ABC’s Virginia Haussegger was among the first to speak out. She was soon joined by the Sydney Morning Herald‘s Elizabeth Farrelly and the Daily Telegraph‘s Sarrah Le Marquand. And now the Age‘s Sushi Das adds her voice:
The burqa, a formidable head-to-toe billowing garment to hide the contours of a woman’s body as well as her eyes, has been designed by men for the gross subjugation of women …All of these women are of the left, to varying degrees. All are feminists. More importantly, all oppose restrictions on their freedom. Australian women: you can’t beat them. And you better not try to bag them.
It is embarrassing to hear people oppose the ban on the burqa out of slavish commitment to multiculturalism. Western apologists who furnish arguments of cultural protectionism in an attempt to atone for past colonial ugliness seem unaware they have jumped into bed with the murderous regimes that enforce the cloaking of women by pain of violence …
We should feel free to declare, full-throated, that the burqa is an abomination.
===
JOE AIN’T SLOW
Tim Blair
Hosting a packed pub discussion last night between former Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull and Labor MP Tanya Plibersek, Joe Hildebrand faced an awkward moment when a woman barged up on stage and grabbed the microphone. Of a certain age and visibly activist, the hostile woman quickly said her piece before stomping back to the stunned audience. Joe’s instant comment:
Someone get that lady a cat.
===
POWDERHOUNDS FOR THE WIN
Tim Blair
Warmies have been saying the snow is gone since two-and-a-half Prime Ministers ago, but the snow keeps falling:
Record snowfalls in Victoria’s alps have set the scene for some magnificent spring skiing.Way back in 2007, during the era of panic, the New York Times asked: “How Do You Ski if There Is No Snow?” An amusing question, in retrospect. By the way, the Sydney Morning Herald‘s Jo Chandler recently described the NYT as “a publication not known for getting hot under the collar about climate”. Really? Check the archives, Jo.
In Victoria’s largest ski resort, Falls Creek, 54cm of snow has fallen in the past 24 hours, taking accumulated snowfall to 226cm this month – the best since 1992.
“The resort’s natural snow depth is now a whopping 177cm,” says resort spokesman Ian Talbot.
“This is now the deepest snow cover of any Victorian alpine resort and powderhounds are going to be relishing the most amazing late winter snow conditions in nearly two decades.”
(Via Possum Hunter)
===
HUGS
Tim Blair
George and Laura Bush, just being George and Laura Bush.
===
IN THE FUTURE, ALL NEWS WILL BE ANIME
Tim Blair
Greg Gutfeld’s Ground Zero gay bar appears in Taiwanese news animation:
(Via CW)
===
TWITFIRE
Tim Blair
The challenge of Twitter continues to confound leftoids:
Monday’s day of mass action by the Climate Camp protesters showed just how badly Twitter can backfire.Do hit that link; even the Guardian is mocking clueless greensters these days. Meanwhile, a recent mis-Tweet is sensibly deleted …
===
Why would Abbott trust Labor’s Treasury?
Andrew Bolt
Professor Sinclair Davidson suggests Tony Abbott has every reason not to put his fate in the hands of Treasury, as the independents seem to demand:
THE independents have asked for Treasury briefings and advice on ALP and Coalition policy… Unfortunately there are some stumbling blocks that prevent this from being wise.UPDATE
In the first instance, as the Coalition has made clear, Treasury has already leaked Coalition policy costings. This is an act of extraordinary bad faith…
But that is just the tip of the iceberg. Treasury has become partisan. We’ve known this since Ken Henry was highly critical of Coalition policy in a leaked speech before the 2007 election. Matters were made worse during the Kevin Rudd prime ministership when cabinet was bypassed and Treasury seemingly elevated to decision-making status....
Treasury was involved in managing Australia’s response to the global financial crisis ... and decided it would be the first to recommend fiscal intervention in the event of an economic slowdown. Then there was its strong endorsement of pink batts and the “Rudd bank”, and the not-so-small matter of the mining tax.
That last ill-fated proposal was dreamed up in Treasury and foisted on an unsuspecting public. To make matters worse, Treasury made several factual mistakes during the process, arguing, for example, that Australian mining companies paid about 17 per cent in tax and quoting an academic US working paper to that effect when, in fact, the effective rate of tax mining companies pay when you add in all taxes and royalties is about 41 per cent. Not to mention the kerfuffle over the amount of revenue the Resource Super-Profits Tax would raise relative to the minerals resource rent tax. Would the RSPT have raised $12 billion or $24bn? Was the revenue cost of the change to the MRRT $1.5bn or $6bn?
These are large numbers to be throwing around and the differences suggest the government and Treasury were just making it up as they went along…
Senior Treasury officials must know they will be facing some tough scrutiny in the event of a Coalition government.
But we can see once more which side has the Canberra press pack cheering:Tony Jones on Lateline on Wednesday:
TONIGHT the three independents demand access to Treasury costings of government and opposition costings. Tony Abbott made very few missteps during the campaign but in this critical period of negotiations he may just have made a critical blunder. Bob Katter, would you regard this on his part as a terrible blunder?
Katter: Yes, I do.
Flake. Michelle Grattan on ABC Radio National Breakfast:
IT makes the opposition look flaky at best and deceptive at worst.
Absurd. Mark Kenny on Sky News:
I’VE rarely heard a weaker argument put than the one that’s been put. It’s just an absurd situation.
Lenore Taylor in the SMH yesterday:
THE independents’ request for the full costings of policy promises is entirely reasonable.
Frightened. Peter Hartcher in The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday:
LAST night Abbott folded his arms and jammed his fingers in his ears, metaphorically speaking. Is Abbott frightened or cocky? In either case, it is a bad look.UPDATE 2
Abbott backs down, as does Gillard:
TONY Abbott has agreed to submit coalition policies for costing on condition that the information not be made available to the Prime Minister and Treasurer’s offices. The material will, however, be made available to the trio of independents.
The move is a significant backdown for Mr Abbott, who had told the country independents that he was not willing for Coalition policies to be costed by the bureaucracy.
But in a similar backdown, Ms Gillard has agreed to provide to Mr Abbott more detailed briefings and figures on the national broadband network and the minerals resources rent tax.
===
Abbott calls out Labor - and the Three Amigos
Andrew Bolt
Tony Abbott yesterday defied the Three Amigo’s demand that he send his policies to Treasury for costing, accusing the Gillard Government of “criminal behaviour” when it leaked earlier Treasury analysis:
It was a sheer, it was an act of utter political bastardry, that’s what it was Lyndal. It was sheer political bastardry practiced by this government in a desperate attempt to cling to power.He also attacked Julia Gillard for agreeing to waive convention to hand the independents the Treasury briefs prepared for an incoming government:Well if, if, if the most confidential public service advice can be casually released just to help this government to hang onto power, I mean they are trashing the Westminster system in a desperate attempt to hold onto power.
It is a measure of this government’s complete lack of respect for our system that they are doing this, this from a Prime Minister, don’t forget, who couldn’t be bothered to turn up to national security committee meetings of cabinet.Many reporters immediately assumed Abbott had blundered and alienated the independents he must woo. Mark Davis has a more interesting analysis:
Abbott’s stance is an abrupt reality check on the nebulous talk from the independents and their fellow travellers about new political paradigms and the supposed emergence of a consensual, centrist, co-operative approach to politics.Or, more simply, Abbott sees that the Three Amigos badly want to back Labor anyway, and he’s already making sure the deal seems as grubby and illegitimate as possible.
At face value, his pugnacious antics are going to do little to improve the Coalition’s chances of securing the support of the independent MPs to form a minority government in the new hung parliament.
But Abbott is no political novice.
If there is any lesson from the last tumultuous six months in federal politics, it is that Abbott’s critics underestimate his political skills at their peril.
His aggressive rhetoric this morning was designed to ensure the Coalition’s narrative of a Gillard crisis of legitimacy (a narrative which has already cost Labor its parliamentary majority) remains to the fore in coming days.
Abbott’s ‘’tough love’’ approach to the independents is also likely to reflect a judgment that, on the latest state of the numbers in the house, his best chance of becoming prime minister lies in either forcing the independents to make a political choice or in creating momentum around the idea that the nation should go back to the ballot box.
Do it and be damned.
UPDATE
If Left-aligned independent Andrew Wilkie, a former Greens candidate, is serious, this effectively means one less vote for Gillard:
Mr Wilkie said he had a ‘’completely blank sheet of paper’’ on which option to follow. He said Labor’s past few months had been neither stable, competent, nor ethical, but he had no confidence the Coalition could do better.If Wilkie really does decide to sit this out, it makes no real difference to the permutations. Gillard can still become Prime Minister with the support of the Greens and two of the three rural independents, with 75 votes to the Coalition’s 74 (assuming one independent sticks with Abbot, after all).
‘’And hence I can say there are three options here,’’ he said. ‘’Whether in fact I’ll support no party and leave it to the other 149 MPs to work it out for themselves, with me off to the side voting for and against pieces of legislation on their merits.’’
UPDATE 2
Katter’s list of demands grows more grandiose by the day.:
THE Queenslander who could dictate who governs the nation has demanded the Nationals be stripped of veto over rural and regional policy if a minority Coalition government is formed.Then there’s his plan for redrawing our map:
UPDATE 3This is becoming a circus:
Steve Fielding is threatening to put a Labor government in gridlock next year and Nick Xenophon is vowing to force a new national crackdown on poker machines. Victorian Senator Fielding, who can hold the Senate to ransom until July 1 next year by voting with the Coalition, has declared the “voters are not happy with Labor”, and he has to decide whether to block everything it does.New elections, anyone?
UPDATE 4
Tony Abbott may be onto something here, spurning the poison of governing with a deeply unstable alliance of independents propping him up. Anne Henderson:
For decades, Australians have tolerated a divided or non-majority Senate as a check on government. At times, minority government has operated successfully in the more parochial setting of state parliaments. But, as history shows, they easily tire of a House of Representatives where uncertainty rules.UPDATE 5
Three examples, 1928-29, 1930-31 and 1940-43, illustrate the point. In each of these periods of the federal parliament, the government’s parliamentary majority collapsed mid-term. In each case, Australians voted strongly for the alternative party at the elections that followed.
The Lowy Institute’s Andrew Shearer checks out the madder foreign affairs policies of the Greens, and warns that the party’s new power could cause trouble for both the main parties.
(Thanks for readers Ant and Adam.)
===
Sacrifices are for others
Andrew Bolt
One of the three independents choosing your prime minister says he wants something done about global warming:
My personal view is the precautionary principle… If the climate scientists are wrong and we do something we’ve wasted a bit of money.Well, not “we” exactly:
CHANGES made to the Federal Parliament’s Register of Members’ Interests reveal the member for New England Tony Windsor has sold his property Cintra to Werris Creek Coal Pty Limited and then leased the property back.(Thanks to reader Grant.)
The federal MP, who has conducted a long-running and highly vocal campaign against coal mining on the Liverpool Plains, sold the family farm for more than $4.6 million – to one of Australia’s largest coal companies.
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Raining on the alarmists’ crusade
Andrew Bolt
Heidi Cullen
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
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YET more showers on Thursday, and the dams filling nicely. Who’d have thought? Certainly not the Bureau of Meteorology, which on May 24 warned of dry.
Its prediction: “The chances of Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and southwest NSW and Western Australia getting more than average rainfall are less than 40 per cent from June to August.”
Contrast that with this Herald Sun report on Thursday: “(senior BoM forecaster Terry) Ryan said a soggy June had been followed by a rain-drenched August ...
“With long-range forecasts predicting a damp spring, Victoria is on target to record its wettest year since 1996.”
We are? Well, that’s a surprise. Because let me remind you of another outfit that assured us the rain was probably gone forever, thanks to wicked global warming.
Here is Melbourne Water from last year, explaining why we couldn’t have a cheap dam on, say the fast-flowing Mitchell River, and had to build a $3.5 billion desalination plant instead, at more than twice the price, but for one-third of the water.
“Why aren’t we building another dam? Our reservoirs need steady rain over days and weeks, to wet the ground and then generate runoff.
“Unfortunately, we cannot rely on this kind of rainfall like we used to.”
Good thing it was wrong. Melbourne’s dams today are 40 per cent full and rising steadily - already a third above what they held last year.
I don’t really blame Melbourne Water for peddling such alarmism. It was obliged to sing along with its Labor masters, who have flogged the warming scare relentlessly and recklessly.
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A gentleman
Andrew Bolt
Whatever you think of his presidency - and I rate it well - George Bush is a good man. I can’t think of many who have conducted themselves with as much grace - and despite such vilification.
(Thanks to reader Joseph.)
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Why are Tasmanian votes worth 25 per cent more?
Andrew Bolt
It’s time to end the Tasmanian gerrymander, so useful to federal Labor.
Here are the enrolments for the five Tasmanian seats, all won again by Labor, except for Denison, which this time went to the Left-aligned Andrew Wilkie:
Bass 68,937Note that not one Tasmanian seat has more than 73,000 voters. The average number of voters in each is just 69,950. Even if Tasmania’s representation was reduced from five seats to four, it would still have electorates averaging just 87,438 voters.
Braddon 70,999
Denison 68,848
Franklin 72,545
Lyons 68,424
Compare that to the average of 91,701 voters for each of the 145 seats in the rest of Australia. Even with one seat less, Tasmania would still have fewer voters per seat than the average. In fact, in the rest of the country, just 17 seats would have fewer voters.
As it is now, only two seats - the two Northern Territory ones - have few voters per seat than do any of the five Tasmanian ones.
Thanks to reader Graham, who wrote:
A stable Liberal federal seat of Murray held by Sharman Stone that has 90,218 enroled voters is to be abolished , and meanwhile the AEC does nothing about Tasmania ... Is the AEC being one eyed?Reader Ian explains:At the time of federation, Tasmania was promised a minimum of five seats in the Federal lower house, as it had a small population.Who would have guessed that more than a century later it might just have saved a Labor Government? Time to revisit this one.
The AEC’s Jenni SNIP said submissions against this action in your seat close late today! The AEC online website will allow me access to the Tally figures, but not to enter a comment on what seems to be a set up Labor plan. I hope you can help
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Learn from China
Andrew Bolt
Can a monster traffic jam spanning dozens of miles and leaving drivers stuck for days really disappear overnight?
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And then came the Revolution
Andrew Bolt
Via Tim Blair: brilliant photographs of old Russia.
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The danger of Faulkner’s sighs
Andrew Bolt
THIS is no way to wage a war, with such tears and sighs even from our Defence Minister.
And not with such ambivalence from President Barack Obama, either - a deadlier sign of weakness.
I mean no disrespect to Senator John Faulkner. No, I admire the Defence Minister’s obvious compassion.
But after watching the press conference called on Wednesday to announce the latest death of a Digger in Afghanistan I must ask: is this wise?
Faulkner appeared with Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the chief of the defence force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, all looking grim.
Houston spoke soberly of the sacrifice Lance Corporal Jared MacKinney had made for his country.
Gillard went further, though, talking of “this dreadful news”: “Of course it’s a shock, it’s a tragedy.”
A tragedy? Most certainly, to the soldier’s family, friends and comrades.
But a shock? A soldier’s death in war?
Surely we must expect that when we send our soldiers to fight, some will die?
Then spoke Faulkner, face contorted in pain and voice halting.
“Coming so soon after the deaths of Private Tomas Dale and Private Grant Kirby late last week this tragic news is another very heavy blow for the defence community and of course a devastating one for the soldier’s family,” he said in a voice from the sepulchre.
“We’ve lost a fine and dedicated soldier, but he was also, and more importantly, a much loved young man whose death is going to leave a terrible, terrible gap in the lives of those around him.
“Much too often I’ve had to stand here and announce bad news and offer condolences to grieving defence families.”
Every word heartfelt. Every sympathy honourable. I’d hope every Australian also reflected on the sense of duty that drove this soldier to serve, and on the price now paid by not only him, but his wife, daughter and unborn son.
But I repeat my question, as we now see TV footage from the Sydney funeral of SAS Trooper Jason Brown, attended by the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.
Was this intensity of public grieving - broadcast on every big-city television station - wise?
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How dare they condemn us to three years of this?
Andrew Bolt
THE Three Amigos - the rural independent MPs who’ll pick our new prime minister - get more dangerous by the day.
Now they’ve blackmailed Labor and the Liberals into promising not to call an election for another three years.
Rob Oakeshott, Bob Katter and Tony Windsor have by a fluke been left holding the three votes in a Parliament of 150 that will tip the scales to Labor or the Coalition.
They have told Labor’s Julia Gillard and the Coalition’s Tony Abbott that the price of their support includes a promise not to call another election until 2013. Both Abbott and Gillard promptly caved in.
But how on earth will this play out?
How can Gillard promise to stay a full term, when she couldn’t guarantee three years even to Kevin Rudd, who was at least elected, not selected?
But, more fundamentally, how dare these people trade away our right to an early election? How dare they bind us to three years of a government likely to be the most impotent and divided since World War II?
If Abbott becomes prime minister, it’s almost certain now to be with a majority of just two.
To get anything through the House of Representatives against Labor’s will, he’d need the vote of every Liberal and National MP, plus that of the lone West Australian National and three of the four independents.
What are the odds?
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Then hear if from a feminist: the burqa is a weapon against women
Andrew Bolt
Sushi Das of The Age may be excused her sane opinion, being a woman, an immigrant, a Leftist and a (conflicted) critic of assimilationism:
The burqa, a formidable head-to-toe billowing garment to hide the contours of a woman’s body as well as her eyes, has been designed by men for the gross subjugation of women…We should feel free to declare, full-throated, that the burqa is an abomination.
It is embarrassing to hear people oppose the ban on the burqa out of slavish commitment to multiculturalism. Western apologists who furnish arguments of cultural protectionism in an attempt to atone for past colonial ugliness seem unaware they have jumped into bed with the murderous regimes that enforce the cloaking of women by pain of violence …
An outright ban in Australia would probably be counterproductive partly because it would feed victimhood status. But given evidence from around the world of more Muslim women turning to traditional dress, we should discuss whether it is appropriate to have guidelines governing face covering for people such as teachers, doctors and magistrates…
UPDATE
Tim Blair says Das is creating a consensus with other Australian feminists of the Left.
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None may leave: Queensland Labor now the Flying Dutchman of politics
Andrew Bolt
The Queensland Government is now so spooked by the huge anti-Labor swing in the federal election that it’s trying to ban its members from causing by-elections:
DEPUTY Premier Paul Lucas has contradicted senior Labor MP Judy Spence over her own retirement plans, insisting she was not considering quitting.(Thanks to reader CA.)
As the Bligh Government‘s troubles shifted from bitter to bizarre, Mr Lucas yesterday claimed the veteran MP was not considering a mid-term retirement.
The confusion just added to the unrest that has descended on the Bligh Government’s ranks since Labor’s dire result in Queensland at the federal election.Premier Anna Bligh has been forced to deflect questions about her leadership, potential successors have had to rule out challenging and MPs have spoke out against asset sales.
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Double-o eighty
Andrew Bolt
How could we have forgotten to wish the great man a happy 80th birthday?
You know time has sure passed when you see the terry-towel suit that once passed for fashion.
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Ruddism claims another leader
Andrew Bolt
Megan McArdle:What Did Barack Obama Do Wrong?
Glenn Reynolds: I can think of a shorter way to ask this question. . . .
McArdle’s analysis sounds awfully like one we’ve made about his now-dumped Australian counterpart:
I think it’s possible that the Democrats would now be in a better position if they had underpromised.UPDATE
Maybe this sort of thing, on Obama’s sixth holiday as President, doesn’t help much, either:
As the president walked around the restaurant, some cordoned-off reporters shouted out to him questions, including one about the war in Iraq…
”We’re buying shrimp, guys,” he said, smiling. “Come on.”
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