Shit Tony Abbott Says #4

Tony Abbott, the gift that keeps on giving has had a pretty good week. This week, the flavour has been the standard idiocy, with a side of mutiny. We (Australia) almost lost our beloved, the honourable, Tony Abbott.

This one is just too easy, but I can’t resist.

“Good Government starts today”

Wow dude… For the international readers, you need to realise that he has been Prime Minister since September 2013….. But never fear, as per Tony’s claim, we have now had almost five business days of ‘good government.’ What a DICKHEAD.

In addition to this weeks instalment, an idea raised by fellow blogger from ‘A Momma’s View‘ this week I am opening the floor to you guys. It is just so hard keeping up with this moron that I am requesting your help.

Depending on how it goes, I would like to introduce ‘Shit Tony Abbott Says‘ as a static page on the blog. If you have some favourites, or would like to contribute on a weekly basis, please head over to the contact page and submit your quotes.

If all goes well and we have some interest, I will post your quote/s weekly with a link back to your blog and/or other. Although, I do ask that you reference where you got the quote if you can. 🙂

Five GOOD things about Tony Abbott

With so much media bagging out our Prime Minister Tony Abbott, i thought i would I set myself a challenge. This was, to come up with a list of five things i actually like about Tony Abbott.

It was a surprisingly difficult task. I challenge you all to come up with five of your own! 🙂

1. He has managed to unite the country
That’s right, for the first time in a long time, Tony has managed to unite the nation. Sure, we all agree the guy is a total dickhead, but aside from that i think that it is quite an achievement for a Prime Minister. It is not often in Australia that +90% of the population agree with something.

2. He has got young people engaged in politics
Prehaps ‘engaged’ is not the right word. Enraged maybe? Either way, the enigma that is Tony Abbott has pre-pubesint teens all the way up to angst filled university students engaged with the national debate. Something Rudd could have only dreamed of, and probably tweeted about numerous times.

3. He made the Today Show mildly entertaining
You know that god aweful tabloid ‘news’ show in the morning? Yeh, that one. What a grand moment it was when old mate Karl Stefanovic roasted Abbott in front of a live, albiet semi-sleeping Australian audience.

4. He made American politics look good
I can’t remember a time when America has made anyone look bad but themselves. But along came Tony preaching his non-sensical climate malarky during Brisbane’s heatwave…. Even mother nature hates this guy! Obama turns around and ‘shirt fronts’ Abbott the day before the G20. Wow, Ameria made Australia look bad.. World first?

5. He owns 1 tie
I could be wrong, but im pretty sure he owns only the one blue tie. In hindsight, vibrant coloured tie sales have sky rocketed in the Australian retail sector. (figures yet to be confirmed)

Letter i wrote to my local MP regarding proposed data retension laws – No response after a month, no surprise

Free to distribute the below letter, send one to your local MP if you like. Just dont expect a response it would seem….

Dear [Insert MP],

I value my digital privacy. When I use the Internet, I want secure and private communication and I do NOT want to be surveilled and spied on when I am not suspected of a crime.

I would like some information on who will be paying the overhead incurred by ISP’s as a result of the laws.
I refer to the following link: http://blog.iinet.net.au/…/Mandatory-Data-Retention… , quoted at $130 per user. If a smaller business would need to pay these costs, I find it hard for them to compete with the larger businesses in the industry, and if the cost is past on to the consumer, I feel that it is also unfair. If the government intends to supplement the payments via tax, this again is unfair, as tax money should be going toward public services we actually require.

I also refer to the following links:
http://www.smh.com.au/…/spies-can-access-my-metadata-so…
and https://twitter.com/bengrubb/status/504169261879681024
If Mr. Grubb looses the case against Telstra on the premise that the meta-data is not considered “personal” then does this not set a precedence for Brandis to release his own meta-data, as it is not then considered of a personal nature, and by right can be released under the freedom of information act?

It has also been found that Metadata may reveal quite a lot more of a persons private and personal lives than thought before:http://www.stanforddaily.com/…/researchers-find…/

Courts around the world are finding data retention mandates unconstitutional because they violate individual privacy rights.

Let’s do the right thing in Australia and stop these proposals before they become the law.

I ask that you take a stand against Data Retention as it is not in the best interest of the public.

Someone make THIS guy our Prime Minister

Senator Scott Ludlam AMA on Reddit. Well worth a look. 🙂

Here

Abbott Government – no photoshop required….. lol

Trojan-Horse Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions in China deal to haunt Australian Parliament for decades

The Greens spokesperson for Trade, Senator Peter Whish-Wilson says that the impending China trade deal will allow Chinese private and state-owned enterprises (SOEs) to sue the Australian government over public interest legislation that affects their investment.

Senator Whish-Wilson said, “This is a new era in Australian governance. The inclusion of Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) provisions has opened a Pandora’s Box that will leave a lasting legacy of doubt over the Australian Parliament’s ability to make laws in the national interest without fear of litigation from a Chinese investor.

“Stunningly, Chinese State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) will also be able to use these provisions to protect their investments in Australia from future changes to laws.

“This means that the Chinese Government can now, via its SOEs, sue the Australian government over changes to laws that impact on its interests.

“The Liberal government says that they have included some safeguards, but ISDS safeguards have failed to limit litigation in several trade deals already in place around the world. The only safeguard is not to have ISDS provisions in the first place.

“Chinese businesses would be able to challenge future legislation changes made here via international arbitration panels that lack transparency, but even Australian companies won’t have this privilege in their own country.

“Chinese investors have already made use of ISDS provisions by suing the Belgium government for $2.2 billion over their role in intervening in the Fortis Bank that was collapsing during the financial crisis.

“Right now, with opposition from France and Germany, the EU is on the verge of excluding ISDS from their landmark trade agreement with the United States.

“The Australian government excluded ISDS from the US FTA a decade ago because it was too risky. The inclusion of ISDS in this China deal is an error of judgement that will haunt us all for decades,” he concluded.

http://peter-whish-wilson.greensmps.org.au/content/media-releases/trojan-horse-isds-provisions-china-deal-haunt-australian-parliament-decades

G20 2014 – Enough Said…..