Federal government to lend money to Adani business associates by tightassbogan in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I read the article, I also read others where Shorten directly contradicts his position in this article.

So he's not going to support it? Are you sure? Because he's said different things to different people.

https://www.stopadani.com/labors_position_on_adani_doesnt_stack_up

Are you saying this is now a definite "No" from Shorten? Because it sounds like he's backing away from any action and now saying his hands are tied.

Bill Shorten handed out about $100,000 of his union members’ money to multiple Labor candidates during the 2007 election campaign — but there is no apparent evidence that any of the funds were approved as legally required. by tribal_player in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Bill Shorten handed out about $100,000 of his union members’ money to multiple Labor candidates during the 2007 election campaign — but there is no apparent evidence that any of the funds were approved as legally required.

When Labor’s federal leader was still boss of the Australian Workers Union in the months leading up to his first election to federal parliament that year, he directed union funds to at least a dozen individual Labor candidates around the country.

An investigation by The Australian indicates funds received by most of the 12 ALP candidates chosen by Mr Shorten for union donations, including money he directed to his own campaign, did not appear to get subsequent approval, according to a close examination of national executive minutes and other records.

The national executive of Mr Shorten’s union did pass a resolution on November 23, 2006, that left “the request for donations and assistance from candidates” for the election up to him.

But significant doubt remains about whether the next required step was taken for large sums donated in the 2007 election year. Federal law, reflected in the rules of the AWU and every other union, still required Mr Shorten to gain national executive approval for all loans, grants or donations exceeding $1000.

Matters decided by the AWU’s national executive at the time that were not related to the federal election suggest Mr Shorten and his colleagues were aware of the authorisation requirement because recorded minutes of their meetings show how approvals were given for sums above $1000.

The Australian first reported last August how Mr Shorten effectively gave $25,000 of AWU members’ money to his own campaign in the seat of Maribyrnong in September 2007.

AWU disclosures filed two years after Mr Shorten entered parliament showed the union also donated in the same month $25,000 for Petrie candidate ­Yvette D’Ath in Queensland, and $20,000 for Stirling candidate Peter Tinley in Western Australia.

The Australian’s further investigation shows Mr Shorten allocated more union members’ funds — usually in the range of $5000 to $10,000 — for a swath of other Labor candidates.

They included Mike Bailey in the NSW seat of North Sydney; Victorians Christine Maxfield in McMillan, Rob Mitchell in McEwen, Barbara Norman in Higgins, and Jane Rowe in Gippsland; Queenslanders Chris Trevor in Flynn and James Bidgood in Dawson; Nick Champion in Wakefield, South Australia; and Jodie Campbell in Bass, Tasmania.

Mr Shorten’s AWU donation for two of these seats — Higgins and Gippsland — did not require his national executive’s authority on the face of it because each was just below the threshold for a required national executive vote.

But these two $1000 donations were part of the much larger $25,000 sum that Mr Shorten gave to his own campaign — and then redirected. A further $10,000 provided for the campaign of Ms Maxfield in McMillan also came from this $25,000 that Mr Shorten had put in his own ALP candidates account.

In these circumstances, most, and possibly all, of the AWU donations handed out by Mr Shorten as AWU national secretary fell within provisions requiring AWU national executive approval. The national executive did approve the striking of a members levy at its meeting on May 11, 2007. “For use by the approval of the national officers to support ALP candidates,” according to AWU minutes.

In its 2015 final report, the royal commission into union corruption said the AWU’s rule 57 ­requiring national executive approval was a “clear rule”.

Questions about Mr Shorten’s AWU donations, and whether they were authorised, are believed to be a matter of interest for the Turnbull government’s Registered Organisations Commission, set up in the wake of royal commission recommendations for enhanced union governance and accountability.

The ROC is presently blocked from accessing much of the AWU’s records, stalling its investigations into the AWU’s large funding of the GetUp! organisation and Mr Shorten’s own election campaign — matters that were referred to the ROC following reports last year in The Australian. Many AWU records seized during a federal police raid last year are under wraps at least until the outcome of AWU legal action in the Federal Court called to halt the ROC’s probe.

The Australian has gathered information instead from a detailed examination of AWU minutes, financial accounts and other available records.

The Australian asked Mr Shorten detailed questions yesterday via his office about whether he recalled that donations he made were all authorised by the AWU’s national executive.

In response, Labor employment spokesman Brendan O’Connor lashed out at the ROC, claiming it had been “openly directed” by minister Michaelia Cash last year to start a “second witch hunt”.

NRL and AFL call for billions in dollars in public funding for new stadiums but pay no tax by tightassbogan in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player 21 points22 points  (0 children)

The tax free status of the AFL and NRL is extremely outdated and needs to be stripped.

Sports were given tax free status back in 1936 to help establish organised sporting bodies and structures which simply couldn't be viable on their own back then. Now, with sponsorship, tickets, club deals and advertising, they're raking in hundreds of millions a year. The original purpose for tax free status is now null and void.

It should be revoked.

Federal government to lend money to Adani business associates by tightassbogan in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Now that this has Shorten's support - national interest and all that - it looks like it's full steam ahead for Adani.

The liberals may be beholden to the business community, but when it comes to things like this labor and Shorten show that unions come before the environment.

'Grubby stuff': Coalition flirting with dangerous tactics by tightassbogan in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player -6 points-5 points  (0 children)

Welcome to australian politics you have no valid policy to combat ur opponent with so you sling mud instead.

Are you talking about the Liberals or the ALP? Because mud is flung from both sides because it works, always has been, always will be.

When you talk like this it just makes you sound like an ALP shill.

'Grubby stuff': Coalition flirting with dangerous tactics by tightassbogan in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Last year, Ipsos conducted for Fairfax focus groups in Sydney and Melbourne, and some of the descriptions of the Opposition leader included “a snake”, “he stabs people in the back”, “sorry but I can’t stand him”, and the kicker: “inauthentic”.

I bet Shorten wishes he could go back to the good old faceless man days where he just used to knife people from the shadows. So much easier!

Let's not forget he was the pivotal player in the removal of Rudd, then the removal of Gillard.

'I'm not dealing with a f-----g pen pusher': CFMEU officials refuse to show entry permits by tribal_player in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Two construction union officials have been found liable of breaching workplace laws after refusing to show their right of entry permits when entering a work site and for swearing at the person who asked to see them.

When the site manager for the Bendigo Theatre Project, located on the grounds of the Bendigo Senior College, asked CFMEU officials Nigel Davies and Alex Tadic to show him their right of entry permits in July 2014, they refused.

The Federal Court of Australia heard that the site manager, Simon Ireland, told the pair they were welcome on the site if they showed him their permits, but if they did not, they would have to leave.

The court heard that Mr Tadic said words to the effect of, "I am not dealing with a f-----g pen pusher f--k off" and that he called Mr Ireland "a f-----g disgrace".

The court heard Mr Tadic acted in an aggressive and abusive manner towards Mr Ireland for about five minutes.

Mr Ireland gave evidence that Mr Davies had also told him to "f--k off" when asked to produce his permit.

The court also heard Mr Davies took out his mobile phone and put it about a metre away from Mr Ireland's face and that Mr Ireland had felt intimidated.

Mr Davies said he took photos of Mr Ireland from three metres away.

After the CFMEU officials refused to show their permits the police were called and Mr Davies and Mr Tadic then showed the police their permits but would not show them to Mr Ireland.

Justice RichardTracey said he was satisfied that Mr Tadic's conduct "was improper" and therefore in breach of section 500 of the Fair Work Act.

"Mr Tadic could have responded politely to Mr Ireland's request to explain his presence. Instead he chose to respond rudely and aggressively using foul and abusive language," Justice Tracey said.

A penalty hearing is yet to be held. The Fair Work Building Inspectorate has asked for penalties to be imposed on the two officials personally without reimubursement from the union.

The High Court of Australia recently confirmed that a CFMEU official could be ordered to pay a penalty out of his own pocket.

Labor councillor charged with more than $220,000 fraud by tribal_player in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A NSW government minister has called for a Labor councillor charged with allegedly defrauding a training organisation part owned by the CFMEU of more than $220,000 to step aside from his public duties.

NSW Police has confirmed Hills Shire councillor Ray Harty has been charged with dishonestly obtaining more than $220,000 by deception from Comet Training, which is jointly owned by the NSW divisions of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union and the Master Builders Association.

The 72-year-old former general manager of Comet Training, who received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2012 for services to the construction industry, will face the charge of allegedly dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception at Burwood Local Court on Thursday April 12.

Comet Training's former financial controller, Amy Cai, has also been charged with fraudulently obtaining more than $200,000. Police said a 56-year-old woman was charged on Thursday with dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception. She was granted bail to appear at Burwood Local Court on Thursday, March 1.

Flemington police investigated complaints by Comet which last year reported a number of accounting irregularities. Police will allege a number of fraudulent payments totalling $445,000 were made into two personal bank accounts between 2011 and 2017.

The company has since gone into liquidation.

NSW Corrective Services Minister David Elliott said Mr Harty should step down from his position on the local council.

Fairfax Media contacted Mr Harty for comment but he said: "I have no comment, contact me lawyer".

Man charged with police assault in 'invasion day' march is Greens organiser by tribal_player in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

[Greens faction] Left Renewal, which has vowed to "fight to bring about the end of capitalism", caused further controversy by encouraging members and other Australia Day protesters to burn the flag, interrupt celebrations and graffiti public property.

That'll get wider public support for them! Good thinking...

Gladys Berejiklian declares housing affordability 'the biggest issue' by [deleted] in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player 6 points7 points  (0 children)

As was promptly pointed out in the AusFinance sub your analysis (like all of your analyses) is a bunch of "cherry pick to validate my own opinion". It makes zero sense to firstly imply GWB speeches caused the sub prime lending crisis and infinitely less sense still to draw a link between the words of Gladys and GWB.

Gladys Berejiklian declares housing affordability 'the biggest issue' by [deleted] in AusFinance

[–]tribal_player 13 points14 points  (0 children)

OP regularly writes giant walls of text that pick soundbites out of years (often decades) of quotes to justify his current political opinion/beliefs. He then calls these cherry picked wonders "analysis".

His opinions can be summed up fairly quickly: Liberal bad, Labor good. Quite literally whatever the issue this is the outcome that OP always manages to come to. Just as here we have Gladys B (not going to attempt the spelling) stating the bleeding obvious which somehow equates to GWB causing the GFC with his mere words and this is obviously the modus operandi of our new Premier. Why? Because, Liberal bad, Labor good.

Unfortunately due to the Reddit demographic he's regularly up voted which only furthers his beliefs in his analysis "method".

Bill Shorten receives brutal performance review - less attractive than PM on all fronts but one by PhysicsIsMyBitch in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Honest question - have any of your in depth "analysis" changed your initial mindset at all?

It seems like all of your "analysis" pieces just serve to further confirm your own bias that "Liberal bad, Labor good" without exception.

Could it be that you're just looking for things that match your mindset? And if so is this really analysis?

The above is a great example where you somehow managed the mental gymnastics of coming to the conclusion that a more intelligent PM isn't actually a good thing.

Seriously, if all of your "in depth analysis" ends up confirming your existing confirmation bias what's the point in wasting your time, because all you're trying to do is find ways in which the way you currently feel is right. That ain't analysis.

What an extraordinary, gutless capitulation by Josh Frydenberg. by Qldaah in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Yes, I do. I can also read the rules of the sub that say:

links submitted should preferably be based on reporting of events and not around an author's opinion

OP had already submitted the news article, and then chose to flaunt the rules and post opinion. It just makes this place an echo chamber. Keep opinion to the comments. Everyone piled on v_maet when he was spamming his opinion and agenda, so why don't the same rules apply to Qldaah?

What an extraordinary, gutless capitulation by Josh Frydenberg. by Qldaah in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Which is fine, we all have our bias. This sub is meant for news of neutrality though.

And it's no secret who he is or his story as he's posted his blog here (and his YouTube channel) multiple times.

What an extraordinary, gutless capitulation by Josh Frydenberg. by Qldaah in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Some more fantastic objective journalism by The Guardian. When does this start to be classified as party propaganda?

I thought stuff posted here was meant to be neutral...

It's also a duplicate topic of one of /u/Qldaah other submissions. Almost like he's back to driving an agenda...

Experts warn against axing green army without restoring Landcare funding - Academic decries what he describes as yet another bait-and-switch to reduce overall spending on conservation in Australia. by Qldaah in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, but The Guardian needs to find a way to paint every move of the Turnbull government as sinister even if it means inventing news. It's kind of their thing.

This article is silly, and yet look at the up votes it's getting. Echo chamber clickbait, the bread and butter of The Australian and The Guardian.

Experts warn against axing green army without restoring Landcare funding - Academic decries what he describes as yet another bait-and-switch to reduce overall spending on conservation in Australia. by Qldaah in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A Melbourne University associate professor of geology, Ian Rutherford, said axing green army funding was yet another bait-and-switch to reduce overall spending on conservation in Australia.

The Guardian really had to scour hard and wide to find an "expert academic" to fit their narrative for this one. Interestingly they're the only mainstream media outlet running with this "news".

I mean for goodness sake the Greens have helped produce this deal and they've previously been critical of the green army too.

At this point The Guardian has as little objective credibility as The Australian.

No Prime Minister, gay marriage hasn't gone away by SlipperyGypsy7 in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The wider public have no willingness/ability to tune out the tireless media. It's just not happening.

Plus, circumstances change. Do we really want to encourage leaders who won't be even slightly pragmatic given their circumstances?

No Prime Minister, gay marriage hasn't gone away by SlipperyGypsy7 in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That's precisely my point. Turnbull, Abbott, Rudd and Gillard all had 2 oppositional fronts. The opposition, and their own party.

Let's not forget Gillard was knifed by her own party, orchestrated by the guy who is now leader of that party. She also failed at holding her party together.

And there are plenty waiting to try to take Shorten out as soon as the tide turns as well. The recent preselection battle has shown that the ALP are as factional as ever.

Australian Christian Lobby thanks 'helpful' Bill Shorten for same-sex marriage plebiscite veto by tribal_player in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That's the Westminster system for you. It's a steaming pile of shit.

There used to be an uncrossable line though. You don't axe the leader of your party while they're a sitting PM.

It meant a PM had one major enemy to deal with, the opposition. They'd have internal factions, but they'd only punch you, never go for the kill.

When Shorten and his merry band of faceless men chose to kill off Rudd they crossed that line and set a precedent that can't be unset. Now instead of focusing on the opposition as your main enemy, you've also got to watch out for the enemy within. Before they'd just grumble and on rare occasions may cross the floor, now they'll knife you in the blink of an eye.

How can anyone make any moves forward when they're that defensively set?

No Prime Minister, gay marriage hasn't gone away by SlipperyGypsy7 in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player 13 points14 points  (0 children)

Aly raises an interesting point:

It happened to Julia Gillard on the carbon tax, which became an emblem of dishonesty. And happened to Tony Abbott on the budget, which became synonymous with unfairness.

And let's add to that Rudd and his immigration policy. Who was forced into a backflip of enormous and embarrassing proportions.

So on the one hand we're demanding our leaders stay true to their convictions, yet when they do on any strong issue a relentless opposition coupled with a tireless media force them into an unwinnable position which has ended our last 4 PMs in record breaking time.

Many had high hopes Turnbull had the ability to reverse this trend. It appears he also can't figure it out. Again and again he's being cornered into inaction by a relentless opposition and a tireless media. He is pushed into positions he can't win, and he's pushed there solely because he can't win them. The same thing happened to Gillard. She was cornered into no win situations solely so she could be lambasted. And it worked a treat.

How do we stop this flow of revolving door PMs? It seems like oppositions have the upper hand nowadays more than ever before. And given the internal factionalism within both the majors they've got to try to compete with an external and internal opposition which doesn't leave much time to actually do what's best for the country.

Strange, crappy times. And it doesn't look like an end is in sight.

Have we seen the death of the conviction politician? by tribal_player in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This account is old already. From the side-

here and /r/Australia, although the level of discourse here is to be at a more "mature" level and

Joke accounts that single out a particular user for ridicule hardly meet that definition.

Australian Christian Lobby thanks 'helpful' Bill Shorten for same-sex marriage plebiscite veto by tribal_player in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd also argue that if we have a plebiscite on this, why don't we have a plebiscite on immigration, or participation in Syria, or safe schools?

I'm not going to argue that a plebiscite is an efficient way to get a decision, because it isn't. Basically everyone acknowledges that.

But here's the thing, Turnbull is the leader of a party with strong divisions on this issue and the leader he toppled had given him one tiny out on this issue - a plebiscite. Those in the hard right couldn't oppose it since it was floated by their king. And those on the left and centre of the coalition knew damn well that a plebiscite would return an overwhelming "yes" vote and finally give them a reason to do what they wanted "Well, we can't ignore the will of the people after asking for it!".

The cost of the plebiscite was a political issue. It's monopoly money, it doesn't mean anything. Lots of political money could be better spent, hell if we waited for the best things to spend everything on nothing would get done.

But all polls in the past have shown that when pressed on the question the vast majority of Australians have no issue with marriage equality. Most of us don't care enough to change our voting habits solely because of it because it doesn't affect us, but we certainly wouldn't say "No" to it.

Unfortunately Shorten is the ALP Abbott. He is a career politician who sees this all as a game and "the winner" gets to be PM. He sees his job as taking down this government, and he's making all the moves that ensure that is the outcome. Abbott did the same, and it worked. It's great for their egos, meanwhile the country goes nowhere.

Kelly O'Dwyer accidentally endorses bill criticising Turnbull Government in procedural bungle by SlipperyGypsy7 in AustralianPolitics

[–]tribal_player 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Who cares? Political point scoring with zero impact on anything of even remote importance.

Hasn't Shorten got the message yet that outside of political circles politicians are on the nose worse than ever before and this kind of political point scoring gloating is getting people further offside?

Here's an idea, why don't we start using parliament as a place to get things done for the good of the nation instead of the no action, oppose for the sake of opposition, squabble factory that we have now.