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. 🙂

Apparently, it’s on – Luke Simpkins to motion a Lib leadership spill on Tuesday

I won’t bother writing about it, here is a link to the good news. I am going to have a beer to celebrate.

Shit Tony Abbott Says #3

Leadership this, leadership that…. Who gives a shit? To me it matters not which Liberal asshole leads us, for more on that, try Google, any newspaper and/or radio station in Australia right now.

This weeks instalment is not exactly a quote as such, but it does come from a joint press release from Tony Abbott and Attorney General George (fuckwit) Brandis.

I mentioned in my rant about the Martin Place Incident that the government would use this as a catalyst for pushing it’s Orwellian Data Retention and so-called Anti-Terrorism laws. Guess what, I told you so. If you have not read that post, please keep in mind, data retention would have achieved nothing, the Police knew the gunman well, and let him walk on several occasions.

Anyway, Here is a list of dot points taken from the press release. A link to the full document here. Pretty scary shit. Remember, anything you’ve ever said, typed or browsed can and will be used against you.

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The legislative measures include:

• Broadening the listing criteria for terrorist organisations to ensure advocacy of terrorist acts is not limited to specific acts and that advocacy captures promotion and encouragement of terrorism;
• Making it easier to arrest terrorists by lowering the threshold for arrest without warrant for terrorism offences;
• Ensuring ASIO can access its questioning and detention powers beyond July 2016 (when they are scheduled to expire under current legislation) and that the AFP can continue to access control orders and preventative detention orders (powers which are scheduled to expire in December 2015);
• Extending AFP stop, search and seizure powers in relation to terrorist acts and offences beyond December 2015;
• Improving the ability of the AFP to seek control orders on returning foreign fighters;
• Making it easier to prosecute foreign fighters, including by making it an offence to travel to a designated area where terrorist organisations are conducting hostile activities unless there is a legitimate purpose;
• Clarifying that it is an offence to participate in any way in terrorist training; and
• Enabling ASIO to request suspension of an Australian passport (or foreign passport for a dual national) in appropriate circumstances.

Thought’s on the world right now

So i have been thinking alot lately about the current political climate in Australia, and where we stand in a global sense. I have reached a few conclusions i thought i’d share with you all. Be aware, this is purely an opinion, you are all welcome to contribute your own.

Tony Abbott, the guy has become a national joke. It has simply become too easy to criticise this guy, and his dim-witted cabinet. I have been guilty of it myself too. However, and lets face it, there must be a brain in his head or he wouldn’t be where he is today. There are also some pretty scary ideas and policies being thrown around in Australia, and the Pacific region at the moment. Namely, the TPP. I will go into that further soon.

I stopped and thought, ok, the media, the left, the right, the youth, the old, the middle aged, the men, the women and whoever else i forgot to mention, has all but jumped on the ‘Abbott is a dickhead’ band wagon. Although this is more than deserved, i got to thinking. Could this be a carefully thought out tactic to draw attention away from the real issues at hand? Could Abbott be a media scapegoat, misdirecting public attention in hopes that we would forget about our freedoms quietly being aroded in the background? Is there a more sinister picture being painted here?

I think the Snowden saga is another good working example of this. Sure, i totally commend the guy for speaking out. However, his message has been somewhat bastardised by mass media and political lobbyists. We now see people up in Snowden’s defence, and rightly so. But if you stop for a second and come back to the initial issues he raised regarding our civil liberties and right to privacy, it remains unresolved. People have almost lost sight of the fact. Everyone now knows what is occuring, and it is STILL occuring. Did Snowden ‘leak’ information to simply get it out into the public forum for a future society to accept the grim truth that they are being watched? Is there, or will there be, an acceptance of this truth? Probably. And it wouldn’t be the first time.

Abbott and his lackey’s are silently signing away Australia’s freedoms in the form of the TPP. A large scale free trade agreement written by bankers and multi-national corporates. Why has so little of the TPP been spoken about with the wider audience? Data retention laws, extended powers to ASIO, additional powers to Scott Morrison are only the beginning.

The next time you have a quiet laugh at Abbott’s expense, remember, there is a serious side to it.

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.

FOI Request for submissions regarding internet piracy

If you are Australian, and are waiting in anticipation for the next season of Game of Thrones to be available for download, or anything you download for that matter, you should read these documents.

And perhaps download Tor while you still can. (and a few different VPN’s just to be sure)

The government is attempting to tighten the laws around internet piracy and copyright laws. The link HERE is a downloadable copy of submissions to CopyrightConsultations@ag.gov.au released under the FOI (Freedom of Information Act).

Scary shit.

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

Our Dickhead Prime Minister has out done himself once again

For those that are not aware, Tony Abbott, the Australian PM is a total dickhead. He is the down-under equivalent to America’s George W…. Here is just one recent reason why..

The ‘Shirtfront’ Incident

I am Australian, and i didn’t know what a ‘Shirtfront’ was. So, i will explain was it is first. We have a game in Australia called AFL, a football like game where men wear short shorts and play grab ass for a few hours with eachother…. Jokes aside, a ‘shirtfront’ is a term given to a move where one player drops his shoulder into the chest of an opponent. In a caveman like attempt to exert his dominance over the other.

Our PM, decided it was a grand idea to threaten Vladimir Putin, yes, you heard that right, Vladimir Putin. He said he was planning to ‘shirtfront’ old mate Vlad when he arrived in Australia for the pending G20 summit. Great idea Tony, threaten the post cold war super power that already covertly hates the west with physical violence.

Internet Hype

My god, the amount of meme’s, youtube clips etc that came after the incident were laughable. There is that much material on My Abbott’s cock-ups that Google intend to create a new datacentre just to store it all.

Below is a link to a clip made by Juice Media. A comedy group in Australia that create a series named Rap News. For those who have not seen or heard of them, check it out. They cover a multitude of social / political issues and have been doing so for years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OS0zS7Tij28

The clip also features possibly the only sane Politician in Canberra. With a hilarious cameo.

Russian / Australian tension

Well, last night i watched something that made the hair on my neck raise. It would seem Vlad has not taken too kindly to the threat made by Abbott.

Right now, there is an armada of Russian warships heading to the Australian east coast. That’s right, warships, from Russia….. Great.

7News has been told four Russian warships are bearing down on Australian waters, led by the guided missile Cruiser, Varyag, the flag ship of Russia’s Pacific fleet.

Also heading south is the destroyer, Marshal Shaposhnikov – it’s not short of firepower either.

They are being supported by the salvage tug Fotiy Krylov and supply tanker Boris Butoma.The task group is in the Coral Sea South of Bougainville and appear on course for waters off Australia’s east coast.

All four could be sitting off Brisbane by Saturday, a prospect that has so stirred the government,Defence has sent a P3 Orion Surveillance Aircraft to shadow the ships and an Anzac class frigate, HMAS Stuart to the Coral Sea.