=== Todays Toon ===
In that world some live in where they don't have God, the need for God is apparent. Gillard reached for help with a faux debate, but the format didn't suit her cloud machine - ed.=== Bible Quote ===
“I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches.”- Psalm 119:14=== Headlines ===
Rubio Blasts Reid for Ripping on Hispanic Republicans
Florida's GOP Senate candidate Marco Rubio is harshly criticizing the Senate majority leader for telling a crowd of supporters that he doesn't know 'how anyone of Hispanic heritage could be a Republican.'Gates Questioned on Cuts in Face of Threats
Defense secretary's call to eliminate a major military command revives concerns from some lawmakers that the administration could leave the country vulnerable
Christian Church Takes on Atheists in Montana
Leaders of religious organization say they are determined to make the best of their new location after an atheist group was successful in getting church's annual fellowship services moved from a county fair
Rangel Parties On Despite Ethics Woes
A who's who of politicians are on the guest list for the embattled Dem congressman's birthday fundraising gala being held at a posh New York City hotel tonight
Israel Finds 2,200-Year-Old Gold Coin, Most Valuable Ever
JERUSALEM -- Archaeologists say they have uncovered the heaviest and most valuable gold coin ever found in Israel. The 2,200-year-old coin weighs an ounce (28 grams) and was found at the Tel Kedesh site near the Lebanon border on June 22, according to Wednesday's statement from the antiquities authority. It said this coin is six times the weight of most others from that era.Butchered Bones Prove Ancient Tool Use
The timeline of early human evolution needs another revision with the discovery that human ancestors used tools 800,000 years earlier than previously realized. The finding in Ethiopia, a pair of mammalian fossil bones marred by tool marks, pushes tool use back into the age of Australopithecus afarensis, an early human ancestor that lived in east Africa 3 million to 4 million years ago. Archaeologists previously believed that early human ancestors, or hominins, started using tools 2.5 million years ago. That's when evidence shows one of the first Homo species, Homo habilis, began butchering meat with sharpened stones. (Our species, Homo sapiens, didn't show up until about 200,000 years ago.) But the new find is approximately 3.39 million years old, older than the famous Australopithecus fossil "Lucy," who lived near the find site 3.2 million years ago.Breaking News
Man dies in vote-related violenceA SOLOMON Islands man is dead and another wounded in election-related violence that required RAMSI police and military backup.
Myer full year sales up slightly
MYER has increased full-year sales by 0.7 per cent and expects earnings to be higher than previous guidance.
Telstra profit down, will fall further
TELSTRA says its annual net profit fell by 4.7 per cent in a challenging year and has forecast lower earnings in the year ahead.
Angry flight attendant wants clothing line
THE ex-wife of JetBlue attendant Steven Slater said that the flight attendant would love his own clothing line.
Remains may be those of missing toddler
POLICE find skeletal remains of a child they believe is a toddler who disappeared from a campground in late July.
Optus profit up on strong growth
SINGTEL says Optus' net profit was up steeply in the June quarter, with the subsidiary recording its strongest growth in five years.
Coca-Cola in record first half profit
COCA-Cola Amatil delivers a "record" half year net profit, and says it aims to increase earnings over the rest of the year.
Teen dies after car hits fallen tree
A 19-year-old man died in Melbourne's wild weather when his car slammed into a tree that had fallen across the road.
Police raid homes in drug operation
A 10-month investigation into drug trafficking culminated in police raids across inner and western suburban Melbourne today.
Qantas profit falls, dividend scrapped
QANTAS Airways has posted a 4.3 per cent fall in annual net profit to $112 million but says conditions are improving.
NSW/ACT
Why was 'head and fingers' set free?FOR some reason authorities keep setting "head and fingers" killer, alleged drug dealer and would be hit man Graham Potter free.
Officer's drunken car crash
THEY found off-duty police officer Jennifer Louise Edgerton sitting in a gutter wearing a dressing gown and a pair of socks ...
Space tension riveting in 3D
TENSE moments as astronauts worked to free a bolt on the Hubble Telescope are a mesmerising part of IMAX Hubble 3D.
I'd prefer judges over juries
THE state's top prosecutor yesterday admitted he would rather face a jury trial if he were guilty of a crime.
Rust disease nurseries qurantine
NATIVE plants like wattle, bottle brush and gum trees are under threat from an outbreak of an exotic fungus on the Central Coast.
Educate teens on steroids
SCHOOLS were advised to broaden their drug education programs as research showed teens were experimenting with steroids.
Cattle farmers now growing fruit
FARMERS who earn a living from cattle are now also growing fruit and vegies in a bid to secure the future of prime agricultural land.
Queensland
Boat hits reef, capsizes in stormPOLICE are stunned at the luck of 21 men who were forced to jump from their fishing boat in pitch darkness yesterday morning.
$20k theft from Coast race club
POLICE have been called in to investigate the theft of a $20,000 cash float from the Gold Coast Harness Racing Club at Parklands showground.
Sign review after busway death
A MUM was killed when she drove 2km along a busway into the path of a bus. Brisbane City Council will now review warning signs on the network.
Grandma sorry for gay child abuse tweet
THE candidate whose tweet equated gay marriage with child abuse is sorry she hurt people.
Lungfish can shove off
NATURAL Resources Minister Stephen Robertson has delivered a stern and bizarre warning to lungfish living in Wivenhoe Dam: If you don't love it, leave.
Vital cancer services delayed
PATIENTS are facing delays for potentially life-saving radiotherapy services in Queensland, and many are missing out altogether, the cancer council says.
Councils chase $17m in fines
QUEENSLAND councils are owed more than $17 million from 182,000 overdue fines, mostly parking, with some of the fines dating back more than a decade.
Bligh poisons Gillard campaign
ANNA Bligh's impact on the Labor brand has spread throughout Queensland and could threaten federal seats the Gillard Government is desperate to retain.
Glare stalls solar power project
A STATE Government scheme to power a town with solar power has bit the dust because residents might be affected by light reflecting off the panels.
Fires to spark food price hike
FIRES in Russia and floods in the Canadian prairie will result in Australians paying more for eggs, beer, meat and even coffee and chocolate.
Victoria
Police swoop on major drug ringUPDATE 9.15am: POLICE have swooped on several houses early this morning in a bid to smash a drug ring.
Man dies in horror accident
UPDATE 7.40am: WILD storms have claimed the life of a 19-year-old man after a horror car accident this morning.
SES braced for morning clean-up
UPDATE 7.50am: THE SES is bracing for a flurry of calls in the aftermath of wild weather overnight.
Hall ravaged by 'suspicious' fire
UPDATE 7.20am: AUTHORITIES are investigating a fire the ravaged a former Girl Guides' hall in Melbourne's east this morning.
Police hunt hit-run driver
UPDATE 7.10am: POLICE are hunting a driver who didn't stop after hitting a pedestrian in Melbourne's southeast yesterday.
Ranga turns sweet "n sour
PREGNANT orang-utan Maimunah is having food cravings as she and Melbourne Zoo keepers prepare to welcome her baby.
I'm ready for justice
AN accused sex fiend was last night dramatically preparing to surrender after dodging justice for more than four years.
Battle for our brave heart
PIONEERING heart and lung surgeon Don Esmore has saved countless lives with his brilliant mind and nimble hands.
Sex, booze sour mates' night
WHAT started as a fun end-of-year gathering turned to tears the night St Kilda recruit Andrew Lovett was accused of rape.
Red alert as storms lash state
UPDATE 12:02am: SEVERAL people were plucked from floodwaters near Ballarat as intense weather lashed Victoria, and more was on the way.
Northern Territory
Officer fired Taser eight times at ill manCORONER finds a police officer inappropriately used a Taser on a mentally ill man who later died.
Housing program leaves homes sweltering
POLLIES challenged to live in desert homes after a federal housing program removed residents' air conditioners.
South Australia
Both parties 'failing Murray'BOTH major political parties have neglected key actions required to reform Murray River water use and restore the basin to health, environmentalists say.
Facebook helps to soothe sword fears
A BOY, 15, from Seacombe Gardens, has been charged with two counts of aggravated assault, breach of bail and possessing a prohibited weapon.
Measure of a real man
NEARLY every man on the planet is an inferior version of men that have come before, a visiting author says.
Private health costs public millions
THE public health system is losing up to $31 million a year because patients are refusing to use their private health insurance if admitted to a public hospital.
Women's mental pain game
IT is the pain many women know only too well and wish could simply disappear.
Feed the hunger for family dining
ASK any parent and you will likely hear stories of restless children waiting too long for meals, complaints of boredom and a lack of space to manoeuvre around.
Mem 'abuses' role to sell her books
CHILDREN'S author Mem Fox has been accused of "exploiting" her Labor party connections to sell books for personal gain at a State Government-funded reading event.
Low vacancy rate drives surge in rents
ADELAIDE'S rental vacancy rate is the lowest in three years, pointing to a continued strengthening of the South Australian property market.
Jilted, this woman vowed to kill
A SCORNED woman disguised herself then, armed with a knife, a loaded syringe and cable ties, attacked her former lover in his home, a court has heard.
Welcome spike in trainee, apprentice numbers
THE numbercommencing training at one of the state's largest employers of apprentices and trainees has jumped by almost a quarter, figures show.
Western Australia
Teen, 17, dies in South West crashPOLICE are seeking witnesses to a crash involving four teenagers in the South West which claimed the life of a 17-year-old youth yesterday afternoon.
Perth soaked in overnight downpour
A STRONG cold front has dumped 23mm of rain on the city and widespread heavier falls across much of the South West and parts of the agricultural area.
Police investigate arson attack
POLICE are investigating a suspected arson attack after a man awoke to find a front window of his home smashed and a room on fire.
People smuggler found guilty
FIRST person to be extradited to Australia on people smuggling charges now faces jail in WA.
Fire alert closes part of Albany Highway
A BUSHFIRE alert has forced the closure of part of Albany Highway, east of Jarrahdale.
Broker charged with $1.3m fraud
A ROCKINGHAM finance broker has been charged with defrauding clients of more than $1.3 million.
New legislation to benefit homebuyers
FIRST homeowners are expected to be the big winners of a new approvals legislation that could save people building a home around $17,000.
Confusion hindered flu vaccine response
POOR internal communication and a “confusing” reporting system hindered the Health Department’s response to a flu vaccine crisis that caused a spate of side effects in children.
Mother slams manslaughter sentence
A MOTHER whose son was brutally stabbed to death has hit out at the sentences of his three attackers, saying their time behind bars will never be enough.
Tasmania
North-east Tasmania on flood alertHEAVY rain has forced the closure of roads in north-east Tasmania, with many parts of the state on flood alert
=== Journalists Corner ===
Bieber Ducks "Just-in" Time!The singer sidesteps a bottle thrown by a fan! So, what's it like being in the line of fire? We examine the perils of pop stardom.
Plus, is America's culture war tearing the country apart? Glenn Beck breaks it down with Bill!
===
Are You Paying for the Ground Zero Mosque?
Hallowed ground that could soon house a mosque. As the controversy builds, could your tax dollars actually fund part of the project? Sean investigates the spending concern on 'Hannity'!
===
Will the President Help or Hurt His Party?
As Obama's approval rating continues to drop, will the president's poll numbers pull the Democrats down in November? Greta gets answers from Karl Rove.
===
On Fox News Insider
Florida AG Unveils Legislation to Crack Down on Illegal ImmigrationDoes Ad Opposing Mosque Near Ground Zero Go Too Far?
Marco Rubio on Harry Reid's "Hispanic" Comment
=== Comments ===
Obamacare Begins to Hurt Us in the Wallet BY BILL O'REILLY
A couple days ago, I received my new health care premium. I buy my own insurance, and Oxford Health is charging me $2,100 more than it did last year for the same deal, sending my premium north of $20,000 a year for four people.
When I called the company, it pointed to rising medical costs. But upon investigation, that's not what's really going on.
Almost every health insurer in America is raising premiums to cover the anticipated costs of Obamacare because the rules have changed.
For example, this year health companies will have to cover adult children until age 26. They will have to cover all children regardless of pre-existing conditions, and they can't cancel coverage for any reason other than fraud.
So all that cost is being passed to us. It's like a tax. More money out of our wallets for the exact same coverage because government-run health insurance has been passed into law.
Are we all understanding this? And there's more.
The cost of Obamacare will be borne by the taxpayer as the government gives free health insurance to those who don't have much money. In addition, Obamacare will also cost us more in our insurance premiums, so we get hit two ways.
Now some liberal Americans like this. They want the redistribution of income. They want workers and businesses to pay more for health insurance because they know lower income people won't pay more; they will be supplemented by the feds.
But income shifting will never be enough. Even presidential spokesman Robert Gibbs has now arrived at that conclusion.
IN AN INTERVIEW WITH THE HILL NEWSPAPER, MR. GIBBS SAID: "The [left] will be satisfied when we have Canadian health care and we've eliminated the Pentagon. That's not reality … They wouldn't be satisfied if Dennis Kucinich was president."
And that's true.
But Mr. Gibbs and President Obama continue to swim in liberal waters. On Tuesday, the president told the House he wants another $26 billion to help states keep teachers, cops and others on the job.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PRESIDENT OBAMA: Now, this proposal is fully paid for in part by closing tax loopholes that encourage corporations that ships American jobs overseas, so it will not add to our deficit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
It may not add to our deficit, but it may drive more business out of America, as some companies won't just ship jobs overseas, they'll move overseas entirely.
President Obama does not seem to understand the unintended consequences of higher costs on business and productive workers. Yes, medical costs have been crazy for years, but under Obamacare it looks like things will get worse before they get better.
"Talking Points" believes we are headed to a bad place if the Democrats continue this big government spending craziness and the taxpayer-supported entitlements.
I can afford the $2,000 bucks more I have to pay for my health insurance. Many Americans can't.
===
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Tim Blair
Recently returned from Afghanistan, Chris Masters asks: “Why is the soldier’s view of the intervention so different to the view at home?” Good question:
In the past months I interviewed hundreds of Australian service personnel with experience of Afghanistan. Not one thought they were fighting on the wrong side.Read on.
All saw they were making a difference. None wanted to be brought home.
===
Bond rescued
Andrew Bolt
Fellow fan Joel brings news to give us a quantum of solace:JAMES Bond will return.
Or at least that is the hope if The Wall Street Journal is right and a deal to run MGM, the debt-ridden and beleaguered movie studio that finances his missions, is nearly done.
The newspaper reports that Spyglass Entertainment, the studio responsible for hits such as The Sixth Sense and Memoirs of a Geisha, has beaten rivals Warner Bros to run MGM, whose financial woes have threatened to derail the new Bond movie and Peter Jackson’s screen adaptation of The Hobbit, the prequel to the Lord of the Rings.
===
Smoke signals announce arrival of broadband
Andrew Bolt
Reader Peter gives progress reports on a comic way for Julia Gillard to demonstrate the advantages of a $43 billion broadband scheme that’s just been unrolled in Tasmania:
9:19: Sky could not get a live cross working at the launch of the National Broadband Scheme by Julia Gillard in Tasmania....what does that say about the priorities and current state of telecommunications in Australia ??Reader Professor A notes that Conroy cannot answer how much the Tasmanian rollout has cost.
9:24: Now (Communications Minister Steve) Conroy talking without pictures. Could things have gone any worse for this $43 billion launch technology launch?
9:29: Sky putting pictures of wires and fiber optic cables up while they have Conroy sounding like he is speaking through someone’s mobile phone...comedy gold
9:51: Now Julia speaking at the launch via someones mobile phone, still no Sky news footage....more file footage of fibre optic cable on Sky...the most cutting edge telecommunication technology launch is going to be launched to the nation via audio only, much like John Curtain and Bob Menzies launched major nation projects. How far our nations communications have come
===
What other history is the Education Department inventing?
Andrew Bolt
You’ll recall the disaster last Monday when the Victrorian Government tried out its new Ultranet:
VICTORIA’S new hi-tech online education portal crashed this morning after half a million students were given the day off so teachers could train on the network.Well, that’s how hundreds of thousands of people may have remembered that day, but the Education Department’s Shine magazine officially records a day that worked brilliantly and without a hitch:
Teachers were unable to log on to the $81 million Ultranet system today as the Education Department scrambled to fix the problem.
“The Ultranet network is experiencing technical difficulties and is currently unavailable,” said a memo to schools.
Some teachers have reportedly been sent home, with training impossible without access to the system.
Reader Tim writes:Unfortunately , Shine was in schools on Friday, August 6, three days before the training day, which we now know saw the system crash and was an absolute fiasco and waste of time, which has been estimated at wasting $8m.UPDATE
This now begs the question of how much propaganda we are reading in State based resources when we are reading articles outlining outstanding successes to events that have not taken place. Is this brain washing and publication of lies the best way to spend our taxpayer dollars?
Reader Alan RM Jones says the style is familiar:
Taking their cues from communist China no doubt:Good one Alan - ed.China fakes reports from spaceAt least the Chinese made it to orbit.
China’s state news agency published a despatch from the country’s three latest astronauts describing their first night in space before they had even left Earth.
The Xinhua agency, which has sometimes been accused of carrying state propaganda, took down the story and blamed it on a “technical error”.
The article described the Shenzhou VII space craft orbiting the Earth and outlined a conversation between the astronauts.
“First-level measurment arrangement,” said one taikonaut - the Chinese word for astronaut.
The article later described the reaction to a successful outcome of the mission. “Ten minutes later, the ship disappears below the horizon. Warm clapping and excited cheering breaks the night sky, echoing across the silent Pacific Ocean.”
===
You mean they’ll adapt as they have for millennia?
Andrew Bolt
First the scare, and now the reassurance:
PLANTS can adapt to climate change much better than previously thought, according to a new study.
The study suggests the risk of mass extinction because of global warming has been overstated.
Flowers can inherit the ability to cope with changes in temperature and rainfall, with entire species adapting to the new conditions within two decades.
The findings by Jodrell Laboratory, part of the Royal Botanic Gardens in London, indicate that many plants could survive rapid changes in climate that meteorologists predict will result from the failure to cut emissions.
===
CSIRO and the green march through our institutions
Andrew Bolt
How unbiased and apolitical is the CSIRO? Reader X gives a clue:
You might like this example of CSIRO’s commitment to objectivity in its climate science from the Hobart site newsletter of the Division of Marine and Atmospheric Research:MEANWHILE, ABC Melbourne talkback host Jon Faine asks listeners in the Liberal-held seat of McEwan to come join a public forum with the candidates. A show of hands of about 60 listeners this morning reveals:Date: Wed, 11 Aug 2010 09:39:31 +1000
From:
Subject: Walk against warming this Sunday at noon
This Sunday at noon everyone is invited to “Walk against Warming”, calling on candidates for the election to walk with the people. Speakers at the event include:
Christine Milne -Greens Senate candidate and climate change spokesperson
James Risby- Climatologist
Peter Boyer Climate Change commentator
Mel Barnes Socialist Alliance candidate
along with music and stalls. The walk is organised locally by Environment Tasmania, Climate Action Hobart and supported by the Florentine Protection Society and the Wilderness Society.
- a single Liberal voterUPDATE
- no Family First voters
- half a dozen Labor voters
- around 30 Greens voters.
Another Greens candidate who fails to drive as she talks:
(ACT) Senate candidate Lin Hatfield Dodds says she’s not environmentally irresponsible for owning a V8 Toyota Landcruiser.(Thanks to reader Stephen.)
===
Oh dear, two more of those you-beaut green schemes
Andrew Bolt
Yet another government-backed solar plant, this one in Queensland, flares out:
Cloncurry in the state’s northwest was meant to be the centrepiece of a radical $30 million plan to use solar energy to heat water and generate electricity, cutting carbon emissions and reliance on diesel – and eventually taking the town off the grid.(Thanks to reader OWA.)
But The Courier-Mail can reveal that three years after its launch, instead of a forest of 8000 mirrors the project consists only of four test panels and a fake tower behind a locked gate.
It was forecast that by now, a “groundbreaking” 10-megawatt solar thermal power plant would be using steam from water heated in a graphite block to drive a turbine to generate electricity. It should have been supplying power to the homes of 4828 residents.
The Government, which faces criticism over a series of expensive infrastructure blunders, is blaming the project’s failure on concerns about light pollution.
Boffins are now looking into concerns that residents could be exposed to blinding light from the plant.
UPDATE
Then there’s another green seeming-not-doing cockup, yet again involving the green-preaching CSIRO - and big bills for consumers. This time it’s the three star ratings for the energy efficiency of houses that the Rudd Government has endorsed:
The three software tools—the first one was developed by Australia’s peak scientific body, the CSIRO—calculate a star rating based on the proposed fabric of the home (the bricks, timber, concrete, tin, insulation and other materials planned for the walls, floors and roofs)…
“So far I have found no correlation between star rating and energy consumption in the home,” says (Monica) Oliphant, immediate past president of the worldwide International Solar Energy Society (and adjunct associate professor at the University of South Australia)…
One of the enduring frustrations of scientists in this area is the ongoing rollout of new policies dedicated to energy efficiency before the accumulation of evidence to justify the policy in the first place. It is a significant shortcoming that was highlighted by the Productivity Commission five years ago after a public inquiry into energy efficiency.
Oliphant points to the federal government’s National Strategy on Energy Efficiency last year as an example of policy that has leaped ahead of evidence… The ... Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency is calling for the existing energy efficiency policy for all new homes (which scientists and Australia’s peak building groups say is fundamentally flawed) to be applied to all existing homes when they come up for sale or lease; and at some point in the future, a comprehensive study will determine whether any of it actually works.
According to Oliphant, ... the study, and the evidence, should come before the policy, not after it…
Another respected scientist in this field, the University of Adelaide’s associate professor Terry Williamson, puts it more bluntly: “Can we please just have some evidence-based policy? The only data in Australia in this area relates to a study of 40 houses and it shows absolutely no correlation between the energy star ratings and the actual energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The policies and the department are just all over the place. It is a tale of mismanagement."…
(P)eak bodies including the Housing Industry Association and Master Builders have disclosed their studies showing serious problems with the accuracy of the software tools that calculate the star ratings.
===
Julia gets a sudden impulse to spend a few billion
Andrew Bolt
The Daily Telegraph exposes the astonishingly cavalier way that Julia Gillard made her biggest spending promise of the election:
The announcement of the Epping to Parramatta rail link is nothing to do with what Sydney or NSW needs, although a massive improvement in our rail services would be a good start. It is entirely to do with Labor’s hopes for re-election federally and in NSW.
Incredibly, the $2.6 billion new rail link - which has been present in various Labor promises for more than a decade - was only decided upon last Friday night, in response to opinion polls.
This is no way to run a country or a state. In fact, this is no way to run a cake stall or a car wash. No business would survive the knee-jerk short-termism that is clearly evident in this latest link decision. It’s a rail link of desperation.
===
A bad night for Maxine
Andrew Bolt
Queen Maxine McKew, that great pretender, had a tumble on Lateline last night. An example:
LEIGH SALES: Maxine McKew, you were quoted in The Telegraph recently as saying that you wanted a ministry if Labor were re-elected, saying you’re as ambitious as anyone. Why do you think you deserve a ministry?Malcom Turnbull picked her on on another fudge:
MAXINE MCKEW: I didn’t say I wanted a ministry; I said I’m as ambitious as anyone - as just about anyone else.
LEIGH SALES: Well there was a quote in another story: “I would like to be a minister, and had Kevin remained, I would like to have been promoted.”
MALCOLM TURNBULL: But, Maxine, Maxine, what you’ve said is completely untrue.And host Leigh Sales has to put down repeated attempts by the former occupant of her chair to usurp her role:
MAXINE MCKEW: Malcolm, come on. No, hang on, hang on, just (inaudible) finish this ...
MALCOLM TURNBULL: 20 years of paralysis? That’s completely untrue. The telcos are investing 6, $7 billion a year.
MAXINE MCKEW: We had the Telstra giant - what I’m talking about, Malcolm, is the Telstra giant that has been both the retailer, the regulator, the wholesaler.
MALCOLM TURNBULL: So you’re saying there’s been no progress in telecommunications in 20 years, is that right?
MAXINE MCKEW: Well, I would look at what ...
MALCOLM TURNBULL: No, you said paralysis. No progress for 20 years - is that what you’re saying?
MAXINE MCKEW: Malcolm, what I’m saying is ...
MALCOLM TURNBULL: No, you answer my question, Max, ‘cause you asked me - you’ve said there was 20 years of paralysis ...
MAXINE MCKEW: 20 years of paralysis.
MALCOLM TURNBULL: ... and nothing’s happened in telecommunications in 20 years.
MAXINE MCKEW: In telecommunications policy, Malcolm.
MALCOLM TURNBULL: But that’s not true.
MAXINE MCKEW: Well, OK.
MAXINE MCKEW: Now, I am hoping Malcolm that overnight you can persuade your colleagues to get on board… Will you back this link?(Thanks to readers MareeS and MI.)
LEIGH SALES: Alright, well let me ask Malcolm Turnbull: what do you think of federal Labor getting involved in this Chatswood-Parramatta rail link?
===
Here come the green police
Andrew Bolt
Australian business bosses - and their customers - have been given a preview of their own future:
Thousands of British businesses will be liable for significant fines and charges under a new government “green tax” scheme. From April 2011, firms will need to buy permits for each tonne of carbon dioxide emitted Photo: PA Companies that fail to register their energy use by next month will be hit with fines that could reach £45,000 under the little-known rules.
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No, Gillard did not save 200,000 jobs by blowing our billions
Andrew Bolt
A Reserve Bank governor denounces the lie the Gillard Government uses to justify its monumental waste:
RESERVE Bank director Warwick McKibbin has directly contradicted Labor’s claim that its rescue packages saved 200,000 jobs.Michael Stuchbury:
More evidence has emerged that delays to stimulus spending risked increased demand in the economy at a time when it was not needed… (A)n Australian National Audit Office report reveals just 19 per cent of Building the Education Revolution projects started on time, and in June the program was more than $1 billion behind schedule. A separate ANAO report on the government’s $550 million “strategic projects” community infrastructure program, released late last month, reveals that in June councils had spent just $142m, or a quarter of the money due to have been paid to them for construction “milestones” under their funding contracts…
Professor McKibbin, an economist from the Australian National University, said the continuing rollout of stimulus spending was fuelling demand in the economy at a time when it was unnecessary… Professor McKibbin, the third-longest serving RBA current director having joined in 2001, said there were many forces supporting the economy as financial crisis hit in 2008-09, including the fall in interest rates, the fall in the value of the dollar and the resilience of Australia’s banks.
“The role of fiscal policy was relatively small; that doesn’t mean it wasn’t important, but it could not have been responsible for creating 200,000 jobs,” he said.
“It was never going to be spent very effectively and the nature of the spending was not such that it could be rolled out quickly. Nor could it be changed if the forecasts were wrong, which they were.”
WE’LL say it again. Labor’s capital works stimulus spending could not have “saved” Australia from recession, as Julia Gillard claims. This is because the crisis had passed by the time the hard hats got on to the school building sites.Professor Niall Ferguson is scathing of Gillard’s claim - and of the billions wasted on Labor’s “stimulus”::
There’s no denying the magnitude of the Australian handouts. If you rank developed countries’ fiscal packages for the period 2008-2010, Australia’s ranks third as a percentage of GDP, behind only the US and South Korea. So why did Australia’s stimulus work so much better than America’s? Spare us the fable that it was better designed. After the home insulation fiasco and the now-proven waste on new school halls, that can’t withstand serious scrutiny.
Which brings me to problem two with the argument Labor saved Oz. (It overlooks) the other, more plausible explanations for Australia’s relative outperformance. Step forward five candidates with a better claim to the credit: 1. Lady Luck 2. The Howard government 3. The RBA 4. China 5. The mining industry.
===
Abbott’s triumph: the reviews of a show few saw
Andrew Bolt
It was billed as a showdown:
TONY Abbott casually took to the floor at the people’s forum at the Rooty Hill RSL Club last night and won over some undecided folk of Sydney’s west.I thought Abbott’s win was decisive, as did the host of the meeting, Sky News’ David Speers. Ditto Malcolm Farr:
In a spirited and confident performance at a venue where he once boxed, the Opposition Leader marked himself as a man at ease in the suburbs and a leader who would not only listen, but would solve their problems: from health to congestion, drug abuse to the rising cost of living.
Ninety minutes earlier, Julia Gillard had come to western Sydney’s iconic club, armed with a $2.1 billion promise for a rail link between Parramatta and Epping. But she found herself haunted again by the ghost of Kevin Rudd and cynicism over years of the NSW Labor government’s broken promises.
Gillard gave an assured, warm and confident performance, but the audience, while being respectful, was not daunted or intimidated by the prime ministerial presence.
TONY Abbott last night made contact with a group of voters in a way Julia Gillard didn’t and won a morale-boosting victory. The Liberal leader was more relaxed, more at home among 200 voters who had said they had not yet committed to one party or the other.A poll of the audience afterwards confirmed the obvious:
… a post-forum secret ballot of the 200 swinging voters gave Mr Abbott a narrow victory by 35.5 per cent to 30 per cent… But the margin among the 39,000 readers who watched the forum on The Daily Telegraph’s website was overwhelmingly in Mr Abbott’s favour, with 74 per cent of respondents giving him the victory.But the Sydney Morning Herald’s Phillip Coorey does not praise Abbott’s far better performance, preferring to blame the audience:
In an ominous sign for Labor, Mr Abbott received a warmer welcome and much easier questions.But The Age’s Tony Wright was more generous:
If it is possible to judge a broader mood on the Rooty Hill forum, Julia Gillard has a way to go to hone her act if she is to win an audience like this… Mr Abbott didn’t have it all his own way either, but if he was a crooner, his manager would be rushing out to sign him up for more shows in front of audiences like this.But the pity for Abbott is that his triumph - projecting intelligence, warmth, frankness and humility - would have been seen by relatively few voters. Sky News was the only live broadcaster of the night, and the news report of Channel 10 somehow managed to imply that Abbott, if anything, was the loser:
And, of course, the Liberal campaign has failed to get the meeting up on YouTube.
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The Rooty Hill meeting: an Abbott triumph
Andrew Bolt
Julia Gillard fell flat tonight. She wasn’t half as comfortable with a Western Sydney crowd at the Rooty Hill RSL as she was on Monday with an ABC Q&A crowd.She started with a lecturing tone, asking for hands to be raised as if she were a teacher, and often reverted to it sounding like someone descended from a New Labor soiree come to patronise the unfortunate and hard of understanding. Her answers were also too long.
The working-class crowd, picked as undecideds, was largely cynical, and certainly more cynical than the largely middle-class ABC audience, hitting Gillard with questions about her assassination of Rudd, her broken promises, her ads verballing Peter Costello, her promise to fund an already-much-promised railline in Sydney - in four years’ time. The crowd seemed very keen that Mark Arbib and Bill Shorten not be rewarded for bringing down Kevin Rudd, and Gillard struggled to both suggest they would not without ruling out that they would.
Gillard made no real mistakes or embarrassing slips, and kept her cool and her manners, even if a couple of times she clearly choked back a reprimand of more impertinent - or, rather, persistent - questioners.
But there was no warmth here at all. It was the old “unreal” Julia back again, regally patronising, and presenting some lines so clearly spin that she was heckled for them.
ABBOTT’S TURN
Abbott starts with a brilliant masterstroke, instantly counterpointing Gillard’s aloofness. He gets down from the very high chair on the stage to stand on the floor with the crowd. They cheer. I think he’s got this won in just 60 seconds.I’ll report back when I’ve finished listening.
UPDATE
A triumph for Abbott. His best performance of the campaign. Best I’ve ever seen from him, full stop.
Viewers are already complaining that the audience, chosen by Galaxy as undecided, was actually stacked. One questioner was apparently the son of the Liberal MP. Certainly the questions were more friendly, although Abbott faced questions on WorkChoices and being allegedly mean to boat people..
But that’s not to take away from the fact that Abbott was affable, frank, direct and every-man, peppering his (shorter) replies with anecdotes and concrete examples. He just seemed engaging - of the commuity rather than a student of it, as Gillard seemed.
One answer might be seized upon by the gotcha-crowd: that in explaining how terrible he felt at being over-ruled by his Cabinet colleagues after the 2004 election on his “rolled gold” promise on the Medicare safety net (his worse moment in politics) he said that would not happen to him as Prime Minister since he would not then be overruled. Later he backtracked, saying a Prime Minister did best to follow the consensus position of Cabinet. But anyone watching with a neutral eye would have seen nothing in that heartfelt exchange to alarm. But he also seemed disconnected from the potential of broadband, seeming to limit it to faster Facebook.
But he struck home on waste, promises, the toppling of Rudd and the limited funds he was left with to satisfy all demands.
All in all, Abbott came across as a man in touch, and Gillard as detached and almost imperious.
Sky News, alarmed by the viewer complaints of a pro-Liberal audience, has its commentators now trying to overcompensate. David Speers tries for a minute or two to award the prize to both leaders, then explains that NSW is on the nose, and says Abbott had an easier job before finally awarding it to the Opposition Leader. Whew. I thought we’d have to call for the forceps.
UPDATE 2
Reader Sir of Adelaide reports:
Joel Scalzi (of Big Brother fame), is the son of a Liberal MP in SA; a Young Liberal; and also a Liberal Party member himself, was one of the “questioners” of Abbott.UPDATE 3
The Liberals will be frustrated that the TV coverage of this exchange was limited to Sky News and the ABC’s 24-hour news channel. The political effect of this will be muted. But Abbott especially will take a lot of confidence from this, and may even think it worth issuing his own challenge now for a debate, if the polls show victory slipping his grasp.
UPDATE 4
Don’t you love the Left’s screams that the audience was biased? I can’t think of a Q&A or Insight audience that hasn’t tilted to the Left, or a worm-steering audience at a debate that hasn’t either. For just once a debate audience likes the Liberal and it’s an outrage.
UPDATE 5
Further reflections…
- The vast majority of the audience indicated at the end that the exchange had helped them to decide their votes. Bad news for Gillard if many people get to see it.
- Abbott had very few slogans and was light on knocking his opponent; Gillard was the opposite.
- Gillard’s raise-your-hand routine at the start was a disaster. So pointless and patronising.
- Is the “real Julia” actually the fake one?
- Abbott came across exactly as I know him - essentially an honest, intelligent, humble and compassionate man trying to do his imperfect best. I’m not surprised many like what they saw.
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Who leaked the Treasury costings?
Andrew Bolt
Yes, the Coalition would like to avoid the scrutiny, just as did Labor before the last election. But this leak is nevertheless scandalous, and seems to involve a despicable misuse of power:
Coalition finance spokesman Andrew Robb says his party will withhold 20 of its policies from budget costings until the source of a leaked confidential Treasury analysis is investigated.
Speaking in Melbourne, Mr Robb said the costing process has been ‘’seriously compromised’’ by the leak, which appeared on the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald this week.
The leaked document revealed an $840 million hole in the coalition’s budget costings.
‘’If the leak has come from Treasury then it is in all likelihood a criminal offence,’’ Mr Robb said.
Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey has already said the federal police should investigate how the document was leaked to the media.
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