Saturday, February 12, 2011

An Old List of Rudd's Failures ..

The list of failures, blunders, budget blowouts, lies and back flips grows:
1. 2020 - 1,000 B&B minds, $2+m = 9 useable ideas.
2. Save the whales (using the navy to confront Japanese)
3. Fight Inflation Genie - Oops GFC.
4. Taxes up (Gas, Diesel, Transport, Alcopops) – inflationary
5. Fuelwatch - cost $21 million –stunt -lenses fell out.
6. Grocery Watch, err, Choice – June, 2009 abandoned its $13 million election promise to force grocery prices down.
7. Arresting Iranian leaders - Stunt
8. Bank Guarantee - still over 200,000 bank accounts frozen from September 2008 - blunder locking up $25 billion of savings for possibly 4 years.
9. Education Revolution - still revolving
10. National Broadband Network (from $4b, to $7b to $43 billion) - inexplicable
11. Cash Splash 1 - borrowed
12. Cash Splash 2 – also borrowed = $42 billion
13. Work Choices /Fair work – Will cost jobs
Awards Backflips – special dispensation for Tourism/Food industry.
Horticultural Industry warning new awards will put farmers out of business, eg, casual pickers weekend rates. - No response from Gillard yet. Aug 19, 09.
14. Immigration/Refugees/Asylum Seekers = Open door - +/- 50 SIEV deaths so far
14A. Oceanic Viking – now facilitating SIEV’s and legitimising blackmail/extortion from illegal immigrants
15. Defence - cut expenditure & increase weaponry?
16. Homeland Security Department – “a non-core promise” broken Nov 28, 2007
17. Global Cooling/Warming/Climate Change/Carbon Reduction - Scam
18. Budget Surpluses - Ancient history.
19. Economic conservatism - new words, still not in ALP dictionary.
20. The buck stops with me!
21. Electric cars /Hybrid Cars - $6.2 billion – Toyota for one bemused & grateful.
22. Job creation & security from IR reforms - for Trade Union leaders.
23. Securing water on the Murray/Darling - it’s secured alright – well out of sight.
24. IVF Program – cuts - the caring ALP.
25. Medicare/Private Health – rebate not to be touched - key election promise - outright lie
26. Dental Scheme – gone – the caring ALP
27. Cataract Surgery – costs doubled – the caring ALP
28. Superannuation – the government needs it more than you.
29. Home Savers Grant - a fizzer, not enough people saving
30. First home Owners grant – increased, not aimed to generate building, inflating house prices
31. One Stop Super Childcare Centres – maybe in 2095
32. GP Super Clinics - $275 million borrowed
– 1 open Palmerston NT, ALP stronghold – struggling to provide even most basic service, . 3 approved SA – Noarlunga ALP stronghold, Playford North, ALP stronghold, Modbury , ALP stronghold.
33. No compulsory University Union Fees – an outright lie voted down
34. Coastguard – huh!
35. Maternity Leave - out in the never never
36. Worker Share Options, June 2009 – on, off, on, off, on like a light switch - blunder
37. Carbon emissions reduction - LPG conversion subsidies being phased out l – June 2009
38. Carbon Emissions reduction Part 2 - Household Solar Rebate axed 9/6
30. Schools Stimulus/? Infrastructure Program – absolute chaos. – Subject to AG inquiry.
40. Flood Relief NSW North Coast June 2009 – serves them right for living there. Qld got it so all OK
41. Ruddbank - fizzer.
42. ABCCC – back flip with twist
43. Federal takeover of hospitals by mid 2009 if no improvement. – To dream the impossible dream
44. Indigenous conditions – worse
45. Reduce consultancies by $112 million = increase to $800 million (6354 consultancies)
46. Govt will pay small business invoices on time = takes a lot longer
47. No nuclear Waste Dump NT – election promise – broken June 2008
48. $15 million to rural research & development corporations – election promise – broken May 2008.
49. A – E reporting on childcare standards & universal pre-school for 4 year olds – election promise – broken June 2009
50. Increased Skilled Immigration in economic downturn – leads to lack of work for young people. (GFC forces older workers to work longer plus additional jobs going to immigrants rather than our youth) – blunder, blunder, blunder.
51. ALP Uranium Policy/stance – in tatters. Garrett approves uranium mine.
52. Open and accountable government – no results yet 5 dead SIEV boat. NO Response to 53+ missing presumed dead on SIVE the Government knew about.
53. Diplomacy – Japan – biggest customer – snubbed first jaunt. India – Uranium contract cancelled at first opportunity. USA – conversations (real/imaginary) released to media. China, May 2009 – “difficult to deal with” Australia led Asia Pacific Body – thud.
54. NBN - July 2009, Senate Committee told by finance analysts believe plans for the national broadband network are in shambles. – blundering money wasting. August 0 experts advise costs could be as high as $20,000 per connection making $43 billion a major understatement,
55. Selling scarce arable land to foreign mining interests.
56. Boost funding for aboriginal Legal Aid – lie – actuality = cuts to funding in first budget.
57. Scale back Intervention – ignored review recommendations.
58. Revitalise aboriginal languages – $9 million for 200 languages of which how many have been translated to written language?
59. Homes /renovationsfor indigenous – not one shovel lifted to date – scheme mishandled to the point that one State govt could fall. August 09– NT Govt just scrapes in. Controversy still rife. Still nothing done.
60. Digital TV –Conroy, 2008, slash $22m from costs of changeover , figures make no sense – original estimate $16m now to cost $66m (advertising costs ?)
61. NBN plan – lack of organisation leads to inability to generate meetings with business in Tas. Already appearing to fall over.
62. Cheaper Better Childcare – Govt regulations will see Childcare costs going up by about $1500pa on July 1, 2010
63. NBN – Experts are now saying it will cost in the region of $20,00 PER CONNECTION. $43 Billion could be quite an underestimate on those figures.
64. SORRY!
Feb 8, 08. K Rudd
"We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country."
Aug 22, 09 The Australian
"WELFARE workers have swooped on the opal mining town of Lightning Ridge in northwest NSW, removing more than 40 Aboriginal children from decrepit homes in shanty towns........
Aboriginal women, stunned by the removals, say it amounts to a "modern-day Stolen Generation", but the most recent statistics on child removals show Aboriginal children are being taken from their parents in numbers much greater than the Stolen Generations."
65. During the 2007 federal election Labor promised it would ''encourage sourcing of forests from sustainable forest practices and seek to ban the sale of illegally logged timber imports''. – broken promise Aug 2009.
66. Oops missed one from March 2008. “Labor promised bi-partisan support to pass legislation that would enable the removal of criminal convictions from fishermen caught fishing by accident in Great Barrier Reef ‘green zones’ prior to December 14, 2006.” “Minister Garrett’s statement, that the criminal convictions will stand, shows the true value of their phony pre-election promises of justice for these fishermen,” Senator Boswell said
67. January 2009. CONTROVERSIAL prison operator G4S will have its contract to run Australia's immigration detention centres extended until at least July 31 despite Labor's pre-election promise that the public sector would manage the centres.

68. Skills Program , Sept 2009, The Australian – ” Kevin Rudd's $2bn skills plan in disarray”
69. More affordable Housing – October 2009 – prices forecast to go up 20%
70. Cheaper Books for Australians – backflip to protectionist policies
71. Stern Hu – still incarcerated and the Australian reports “’Inflexible’ Canberra hindered the release of tortured Somalia hostage “ by at least 12 months
72. ETS, Versions 1&2 –FAIL senate.
73. 2007 Rudd promises a new era in cooperation between Federal Government & States. 2009 Rudd loses patience with NSW ALP.
74. Copenhagen conference - MONUMENTALLY EPIC FAIL –
75. “Ian McPhedran July 26, 2009 11:00pm
WHEN it comes to chalking up VIP jet bills, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Governor-General Quentin Bryce leave their predecessors in a $5.8 million wake.
During the six months from June to December last year, the PM Kevin Rudd and Governor-General Quentin Bryce team hit a record of $17.2 million in taxpayer-funded VIP flights – which equals $716,000-a-week.” – Kevin Rudd – Our “Stay at home prime minister”
76. Relaxed restrictions on foreign ownership elevate house prices.
2010 Updates.
77. FOI review/results. – Open and transparent government promised 2007 by 2009 promise = increased FOI requests and increased rejections of same = markedly increased secretive Government.
78. Superannuation cuts for ADF personnel. Combet claims difficulty in straitened times = tough luck.
79. “Obscene” homelessness numbers = War on Homelessness = increased Homeless numbers for 2010.
90. $10 million given by government to provide more mental health workers for homeless.
91. $250 million given to Free to Air TV – no conditions – followed by conditional upon Australian content being maintained (which is already legislated) Compare 90 & 91 – question prioritise?
81. Home insulation Program – 4 dead, 87++ homes burnt, 40,000 homes left afraid to turn a light on. Numerous legitimate businesses sent to the wall. Police called in to investigate fraud. Program cancelled 19/02/2010, throwing around 14,000 people out of work Terms for householders changed – grant reduced and homeowners to pay. To be reimbursed by MEDICARE! Minister and Department heads responsible retain jobs.
82. Foreign affairs approach Indonesian Government. Mention pending execution of 3 Australian Drug Runners as “sensitive in an election year” ALP (Crean ,not Foreign Minister) denies using Government using executions to coerce anything but information. Indonesian Government admits they were approached for information on process and mention was made of “executions sensitive in an election year”
83. Rudd government announces intention to take Japan to Court over Whaling late next year. Japan indicates that concern regarding ascendancy of Unionism could have an impact on trade between the two countries.
84. Election Promise – 260 childcare Centres AXED- now only 38 to be built
85.E election promise – Speedy processing of asylum seekers – AXED -22//4/2010 – 6 Tamils to be held indefinitely as security risk – one of these a woman whose 2 small children will also be indefinitely detained.
86. Real estate bodies express concern re rapidly accelerating sale of arable land to foreign investors, predominantly from China. If not controlled could lead to food shortages in Australia.
87. Health reform – rebadged and additional bureaucratic layers could lead to lessening of serices. 90% of hospitals to be unaffected by “change”
88. Insulation program – AXED
89. Bill of rights – AXED – however a Parliamentary body will be set up to apply International Human Rights standards to legislation (UN Bill or Rights?) – International bodies ARE NOT elected to lead Australia!!!!



Outstanding questions:

- Government Expenditure (Cash Splashes etc) are double or more than proposed infrastructure spending.
- Business plan & costing for NBN – Aug, 2009 – Business & Legal Bodies represented but no IT/technical people on NBN Implementation Board? Why not?
- Business plan & costing to pay back deficits
- Full story Ashmore Reef SIEV – 5 deaths (Occurred April 20, 2009)
- Full story – number of boats coming in, conditions and costing for Christmas Island.
- Why the rapid increase, first in SIEV’s, now the increase in numbers aboard since the new ALP rules?
- Asia Pacific Body
- Australia's controversial Internet filter, now in testing, would block all material that has been "refused classification" by the government. This to includeM15+ games.
- No pattern bargaining, Unions
- Heiner affair.
- Results Auditor General Report on School Infrastructure program - waste.
- How do Pink Batts and School Halls contribute to GDP?
- Hospitals situation following June back down, waiting, waiting, waiting
- War on Homelessness – delayed while the Generals and Officers bicker. Waiting, waiting, waiting.
- The case of the disappearing SIEV with over 70 people aboard – conflicting reports – more questions than answers. What role do Refugee Advocates play with People Traffickers?
- We can sell it, we can store the waste but we can’t use nuclear power.
- With a percentage of 6.15% of arable land Australia comes in at #145/218 countries. Why is the Government selling our scarce resource of arable land for mining?
- Proposed new health scheme: When? Where will $16 billion be coming from? 2 days max to see a GP – where will the extra GP’s come from? New elective Surgery Clinics/Hospitals – where will al the Specialists and additional Nursing Staff come from? Signs of panic here re costs.
- No recent news about SIEVs – has the trafficking stopped?
- GP Super Clinics - 1 operating to date – Palmerston NT, struggling to provide even basic services.
- $150,000,000 aid to Pacific Islands – in estimates of part of loan?
- $200,000,000 grant to Holden – why was this secret?
- “Success fees” – to ex ALP ministers.
- Aboriginal housing – nothing done, has reached point where this issue looks set to topple NT Government.
- China – relations.
- India – relations.
- Validity of purported AGW/AGCG. – new job destroying policy.
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We would like to update the list for Julia Gillard.

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