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District Court stays claim because of Australian Financial Complaints Authority’s bureaucratic bumbling — Sterling Law QLD
It is well known that many public bodies these days are obsessed with political correctness and identity politics, and spend a lot of their time fussing on topics such as equity, diversity, inclusion, harmony days, ‘unconscious bias’, and the like. Once can only imagine that they hold regular meetings where they talk about topics such as their gender pronouns, paleo pear and banana bread, and what a relief that in a few months time the Morrison federal government will be replaced by a Labor-Greens Coalition, but how the ideal would be a Greens Government with Adam Bandt as Prime Minister and socialism being tried once again.
Supporters and apologists of this frivolity often use the cliché that organisations can “chew and walk gum at the same time”, however a recent District Court decision to stay a proceeding as a result of bureaucratic bumbling undermines such claims.
The facts
The Australian Financial Complaints Authority is an external dispute resolution scheme that is supposed to deal with complaints from consumers and small business about financial products and services.
The following case reveals that the extent to which AFCA deals with complaints is doubtful, however we were elated to find out that what is not in doubt is that it commemorates ‘Transgender Day of Remembrance‘, and on its own admission everyone at AFCA recently wished us a Happy Mardi Gras.
On 25 November 2019, ANZ Banking Group applied to the District Court for recovery of possession of mortgaged properties on the basis that the debt that is secured by those mortgages had not been paid by the respondent debtors. The debtors then made complaint to AFCA, which resulted in the proceedings being adjourned pending AFCA’s determination. In September 2021, AFCA belatedly issued what it called a recommendation, which was not binding on the parties.
Barlow DCJ decided to stay the proceedings because of the delay occasioned by AFCA.
Read more:
Terry Pratchett dies and so does Clive Palmer’s time in the political sun
This is a post about loss, on one had we have the very sad news that Terry Pratchett has died after a very public fight with a form of dementia :
The British fantasy author (left; and with wife Lyn, top right) sold more than 85million books worldwide in 37 languages, but also waged a very public struggle with Alzheimer’s disease in recent years – and was a vocal campaigner of the right to die. The writer is best known for his satirical fantasy novels set in Discworld, a flat planet resting on the back of four elephants, themselves perched on the back of a vast turtle moving through space. Sir Terry’s thousands of fans on Twitter were alerted to the news of his death by a series of messages (bottom right) shortly after 3pm today, finishing with: ‘The End.’ Prime Minister David Cameron said today he was ‘sad to hear’ of the death, adding: ‘His books fired the imagination of millions and he fearlessly campaigned for dementia awareness.’
And then there is the news that , the brick with eyes and senator for my home state of Queensland has pulled the pin on Clive Palmer deciding that he will no longer sit as a PUP member in our upper house. Now I draw theses two seemingly disparate events together because Clive Palmer is just the sort of crazy bizarre political animals that Pratchett was so frond of creating in his disc world novels but sadly for Queensland he is real.
On the upside though I am really enjoying the political emasculation of Clive Palmer far more than I really should be. As a conservative I find this a big improvement for the prospects of government being able to get legislation through the senate.
Thus we can all see that every day can show is both sadness at the passing of one of the best fantasists of our age and joy of something he could have created passing into the political irrelevance it so richly deserves. In some ways the departure of the brick from the PUP may make it harder to pass particular bills but not having Palmer’s expansive ego and endless vendetta against the coalition in play will more than compensate in the humble opinion of this scribe.
Definitely a day of light and shade Comrades
Palmer is dead buried and cremated as a political force you could say that he is like this pillow…
Come back Peter and other current events
On the Radio this morning is the cheerful news that Peter Greste has been released and deported from Egypt I am sure that his family will be very pleased indeed, I am as well even though I don’t share the view that seem prevalent among the usual suspect that some one who is a journalist is automatically some kind of secular saint. Anyway that is an all’s well that ends well situation.
Now to events closer to home and something that has left me feeling profoundly depressed, Yep the state election its a terrible result for Queensland that will see the incompetent Labor party back into government. That said we live in a democracy and that means I have to accept the result with good grace, fucking hell though its hard with that idiot of a woman in charge. The irony is that for all of the rhetoric about the reforms made by the LNP over the last three years, things like the thinning of the bloated public service and other fiscal savings will not be reversed so its, once again going to be a case of the LNP wearing the pain of necessary reforms and the ALP will be able to get the benefits gratis.
I feel nothing but dread for governance of our great state of Queensland over the next three years… On the upside though It will be far easier to attack the government’s inevitable incompetence than it has been to defend the missteps of the previous administration.
Not much to cheer about from my perspective Comrades
Queensland Election, a prediction of sorts
I have been rather underwhelmed by the current state election campaign up here which I put down to my having read too much of the left wing wishful thinking that imagines there being a return to government of the ALP but just this morning while I was listening the radio I got the strongest feeling “in my water” that the Newman government will indeed be returned and that the ALP’s very negative campaigning will not see them in office. On the other hand the LNP has run a positive and far more professional campaign which is far more inspiring than the negativity and fear mongering from the left and the minor parties.
One factor that always needs to be remembered about Queensland elections is that we have optional preferential voting up here and that requires a conscious decision to locate a second preference to avoid a vote being quickly made irrelevant when you are voting for a minor player, this innovation was introduced by the too clever by half Peter Beattie because he thought that it would give him an advantage against the then separate Liberal and National parties. Now that its the Left that is more fractured the irony that this piece of political gamesmanship is coming back to bite them should amuse my fellow conservatives a fair bit come election night.
Cheers Comrades
I even feel that despite the odds being against him that Campbell Newman will retain his seat of Ashgrove
The implosion that we just had to have or will the rise of Lambie be worth the fall of Palmer
I don’t know if readers have noticed but I have not been feeling the blogging muse much lately. Its probably a combination of my health issues, a couple of domestic issues and just feeling rather uninspired by current events. That said though the news reports suggesting that Clive Palmer’s eponymous party is getting close to imploding has brightened me up no end. You really know that its over when Palmer starts sprouting conspiracy theories
Palmer told ABC radio Lambie was sent to “infiltrate” the PUP, a claim Lambie has shrugged off.
“When you start a new party like our party, the established parties and others try to wreck it,” Palmer said. “She’s been sent in there by someone to cause trouble and I think that’s the reality of it.
“You’ve only got to look at what happened to all the other parties, the tactics that were used to discredit them … and there’s no reason to think that wouldn’t happen to our party,” he said.
Palmer went on to reiterate his concerns on Channel Seven on Monday morning, accusing the senator of being “controlled by lobbyists” and seeking to “blackmail the government”.
But it gets better (well in soap opera terms it does) with the scuttle butt being pushed by the Guardian now claiming that Lambieis not only about to leave Palmer but will be forming her own party as well:
Just back to Jacqui Lambie briefly to outline the events of the weekend, just in case you were having a life. Lambie was in Tassie consulting with her voters, supporters and mentors, including an unnamed large poppy grower on what to do about her predicament.
Clive Palmer was getting more and more frustrated that he could not control Lambie. By last night, as Lambie was flying in, Palmer put out a statement raising allegations that Lambie had accepted disability payments at the same time she was on a fulltime salary for Palmer United.
Furthermore, Palmer alleges that in January 2014, before she started in the senate but while she was a paid member of PUP, Lambie supported the establishment of an Australian Defence Veterans Party (Lambie Party). He accused Lambie of acting dishonestly, lying about him and using veterans to increase her public standing without acting on their behalf.
Having a person of questionable honesty who had previously been charged and convicted by the Australian Army has been a disappointment for the Palmer United Party. Senator Lambie never declared her convictions prior to her endorsement for the Palmer United Party.
Lambie’s chief of staff Rob Messenger said Camp Jacqui will be putting out an “in-depth” statement later today.
Schadenfreude does not quite do it as a descriptor but further to that I can’t I can’t help but thinking that this whole kit and caboodle is a wake up call to our polity that should be reminding us that the way that our Senate is elected needs reform.
Stay tuned because the road is getting bumpy and the seat-belts have been removed…
The only question that we have to consider is will the rise of Lambie be worth the fall of Palmer
Cheers Comrade
Chariots of the Dogs
Rooting Rover and making truly vile selfies
He said the drug trafficking involved Driscoll allegedly dealing cannabis to a group of friends.
Sgt Pearson said text messages revealed that on one occasion, Driscoll arranged for 4oz (113g) of cannabis to be sold for $1150.
He said on another, she sold 3oz (85g) for $900.
Police investigating the trafficking offence allegedly came across three videos on the woman’s phone that showed her having sex with a dog.
Magistrate John Costello granted bail and ordered Driscoll to appear in court again in December.
This is a terribly sad story not so much because this not entirely unattractive young woman was sad and stupid enough to root Rover but because she was also dumb enough to record her shameful perversions on her mobile phone and then keep the recordings! How dumb is that? Heck I think even Socky would be uninterested in this skanky excuse for a woman now….
Jenna Louise Driscoll emerges from the Brisbane watchhouse after being charged with bestiality and drug trafficking. Pic: Annette Dew click for source
Proof that the Government hates Aussies
by SockPuppet ~ an Australian
What will Gen Y & Aussie Bogans do now?
This is a bloody national disgrace.
Next year is the 100th anniversary of Anzac Day, that day in April 1915 when thousands of underage Aussies (and Kiwis but who counts them?) were sacrificed by the Brits on some godforsaken Middle eastern outpost peninsula of bloody Turkey known as Gallipoli – nowknown as Anzac Cove and a tourist destination and camping resort for Gen Y.
But as Anzac Day falls on a Saturday next year guess what?
There will be no public holiday for Anzac Day!
The citizens of NSW (and every other State except one!) will be short one public holiday next year: Anzac Day.
Both Anzac Day and Boxing Day fall on a Saturday but only one will be marked by an additional day off.
Unlike other holidays, no additional day is granted for the national day of remembrance in NSW under the Public Holidays Act.
Other states will face a similar issue: only West Australians will get a public holiday on Monday, April 27.
What is going on here?
If we cant get a holiday for the 100th anniversary of Anzac Day what else will be taken away?
Whats next, move the Melbourne Cup to a Saturday and take away that national day of celebrating horses too?
No holiday for Australia Day if that falls on the weekend too? What will the abos have to protest about?
Why not go the whole hog and have no public holiday for Christmas Day if that falls on a Saturday or Sunday too? Who needs one? Go to work!
And Easter: Yeah lets cancel Good Friday & Easter Monday because no one goes to bloody church and besides the Muslims have already taken over (just ask GD).
This is the slippery slope – the taking away of our days off .. but it doesnt end there!
Collingwood & Essendon will have to play there heroic Anzac Day battle on a Saturday and compete with all the other games on that day too. They will lose $millions.
And what will Gen Y do? They cant go to Turkey on the weekend because that is ‘hooking up’ time wasted.
Of course we could all move to Perth, the only State that recognises Anzac Day and gives us a day off.
But where the f*ck is Perth?
And what is there to do there?
Dont think this is a oneoff either folks – in 2016 Anzac Day falls on a Sunday so same deal, no public holiday!
I blame Tony Abbott.
We need an election.
This great battle will become a thing of the past
The notion and likelihood of Coalition one-term governments
by Ray Dixon (disclosure – I’m not exactly a lover of the Libs)
Iain wouldn’t dare post this but I bet he has read it and is still (((shakin’ his head))) at the prospect of Campbell Newman’s LNP government in Queensland becoming a one-term government despite being swept to power just two years ago with a massive 78 to 7 seats majority:
Queensland poll foreshadows heavy losses for Newman Government at next state election
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman and more than half his MPs face losing their seats at next year’s election, a poll suggests.
A ReachTEL poll of voters commissioned by The Sunday Mail and the Seven Network indicated that up to 40 of the Liberal National Party’s (LNP) 73 sitting members could be voted out, reports based on the poll said.
Of almost 1900 Queenslanders asked which of the two main parties would get their vote, 51 per cent chose the LNP and 49 per cent said Labor.
The result suggested an 11.8 per cent swing against the government at the next poll, meaning Labor would win 40 LNP seats, and possibly office.
On primary votes, 38.7 per cent of those polled said they would vote for the LNP, compared with 34.4 per cent for Labor.
The poll showed Clive Palmer’s popularity continuing to rise after 15.4 per cent indicated they would vote for the Palmer United Party.
The Premier’s popularity had slipped further, with 53.1 per cent rating his performance poor or very poor.
The LNP catapulted into power in 2012 after winning 78 seats to Labor’s seven in a landslide victory.
Support for the party has since eroded amid public service job cuts, controversial law reforms and plans to sell assets.
Comment:
Okay, it might be a long way to go and the likelihood that the ALP could regain office in QLD after just one term in Opposition – and from the seemingly hopeless position of having just 7 sitting MPs in a house of 85 – is the stuff of comeback fairy tales, but I reckon there’s no doubt that they’ll make up heaps of ground.
This has wider ramifications than just Queensland though. I think it says a lot about the electorate and their views of how the various Coalition governments around the country have performed/behaved themselves in recent years since regaining office.
Here in Victoria it’s almost certain that the Coalition will be bundled out later this year after just one term in office. After being accidentally elected in 2010 by just one seat. After Baillieu bailed from the job he never wanted and handed the poisoned chalice of Liberal leadership to Denis ‘the racing man’s friend’ Napthine, a relic of the past who surprised us all by still actually being in Parliament. We all thought he’d left long ago but no, there he was, still lurking on the backbenches and still living in the past. The bumbling yesterday man Denis Napthine is gone already and there is no way known his do-nothing-except-favours-for-developers Coalition will be given another term.
Then there is the Federal sphere with Tony Abbott who has managed to erode a great deal of popular support after little more than half a year in the job. His first budget and subsequent meaner-than-Scrooge announcements and proposals to hurt the young, the old, the poor, the disabled, the sick, families and anyone else who has less than a few million bucks or so in assets, will stay with him right through to the next election and ensure (at the very least) that he’ll face a tough job getting term number two.
It’s feasible that we could see 3 Coalition one-term governments going in consecutive years:
Napthine in Victoria in 2014 – a certainty to be voted out.
Newman in Queensland in 2015 – could be very embarrassing, and
Abbott in Canberra in 2016 – probably more likely than Newman losing.
My money’s on the Coalition losing at least two out of three.
Well done guys. Well done Australia – you got the governments you deserved, now go and get the ones you need.
Iain Hall's SANDPIT 