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A small virtue from the fattest man in Australian politics
Despite my Re-blogging of Yale’s Clive Palmer post and my, well, less than complementary assessment of the fat man it seems that of he is true to his word he may just be able to Save the Abbott government from itself by preventing the creation of the expensive and pointless “direct action ” climate policy .
Clive Palmer has declared the Abbott government’s Direct Action policy is “dead”, saying his Palmer United Party will use its numbers in the Senate to block the Coalition’s policy to replace the carbon tax.
Mr Palmer said on Monday the controversial policy, which aims to reduce emissions largely through payments to businesses, was “hopeless” and would be “gone” if his party, Labor and the Greens all vote against it, as they have previously indicated.
“It’s goodbye Direct Action,” Mr Palmer told Fairfax Media.
“It’s gone.”
Mr Palmer had said earlier in the day he would not support Direct Action if the Abbott government made any changes to the pension, in light of
growing speculation that there are plans to raise the pension age to 70 and tighten eligibility requirements.
But on Monday afternoon Mr Palmer went a step further and said there would not be any circumstance in which his party would vote for Direct Action.
The government plans to spend up to $1.55 billion over the next three years on the scheme, but several senior economists have questioned whether Direct Action can meet its emissions reduction target of 5 per cent by 2020 with that budget.
Mr Palmer said the policy did not make economic sense and questioned whether it would have any environmental effect.
“We can’t see any reason to vote for Direct Action,” Mr Palmer said.
“We think it’s hopeless.”
The green religion is worse than the Spanish inquisition #qanda.
— Iain Hall (@theiainhall) April 21, 2014
Its a nice bit of sport for a Monday night Comrades
Bjørn Lomborg on Europe’s ETS
For those poor followers of the Green religion who still think that the carbon tax and or an ETS is a valid way to approach the “problem” of climate change I offer this snippet from Bjørn Lomborg:
Isn’t this a timely reminder why the Abbott government is so right to abolish the monstrosity that is the Labor/Greens “clean energy ” regime?
Cheers Comrades
Related articles
- The ‘Sceptical Environmentalist’ says Direct Action no better than carbon tax (abc.net.au)
- Is Bjorn Lomborg right to say fossil fuels are what poor countries need? | Graham Readfearn (theguardian.com)
- Bjørn Lomborg: ‘Typhoon Haiyan Not About Climate Change’ (nationalreview.com)
- Bjorn Yesterday: NY Times Runs Op-Ed Asserting Poor People Need More Carbon Pollution (thinkprogress.org)
- Abbott introduces carbon repeal bill (skynews.com.au)
The “Maiden” Newspoll: Tony Abbott’s Thumping 56-44 Lead
This is good news indeed and shows how shallow and very hollow are the confected outrage over the non-rorts being cited by the desperate minions of the left. The Abbott government are travelling just as I have expected with little effort expended to be media darlings and it is paying off in respect form the people who clearly prefer prefer quiet competence and a focus on the business of good governance rather than the daily cycle of inane press release politics.
I heard today on the ABC radio that Labor are now more likely to concede the point on the carbon tax repeal, something that I have long predicted. this is of course the only sensible thing that they can do but my guess is that they will continue to act without the “cannyness ” that Bob Carr was chiding them for lacking. for the the sake of the country one can only hope that the Labor party continues on in its current style so they remain unelectable for a very long time.
Cheers Comrade Yale
Related articles
- Abbott’s popularity grows: Newspoll (sbs.com.au)
- Tony Abbott Builds On Election Landslide: Newspoll – 28 October 2013 (lucas2012infos.wordpress.com)
- “Performance was marred by a lack of caution and political cunning.” or “not fit to rule” take two (iainhall.wordpress.com)
- In the internet age, a time when there are effectively no media islands any more (iainhall.wordpress.com)
- Coalition extends lead over Labor (heraldsun.com.au)
- Australia’s new gov’t vows to scrap carbon tax (bigstory.ap.org)
- PM to release carbon tax repeal law (skynews.com.au)
In the internet age, a time when there are effectively no media islands any more
They say that patriotism is the last refuge of scoundrels and I can’t help thinking that political “conventions” about how you talk about your predecessors in overseas media and forums are one of the great hiding places for ineptitude that the labor party and its facilitators are trying their darnedest to invoke in a rather shabby attempt to ignore their own repeated and egregious policy failures both domestically and internationally. Take the criticism of Tony Abbott for his robust characterisations of the previous Labor administrations as “whacko”:
During your campaign you called for a repeal of the carbon tax imposed by the Labor Party. Why are you against this tax?
The carbon tax is bad for the economy and it doesn’t do any good for the environment. Despite a carbon tax of $37 a ton by 2020, Australia’s domestic emissions were going up, not down. The carbon tax was basically socialism masquerading as environmentalism, and that’s why it’s going to get abolished.
It will be abolished this year?
As soon as possible. If the Labor Party wants to give the people of Australia a Christmas present, they will vote to abolish the carbon tax. It was damaging the economy without helping the environment. It was a stupid tax. A misconceived tax.
You said in your victory speech that Australia is once again open for business. Does that mean you believe that the previous government was unfriendly to businesses?
I said Australia is under new management and is once again open for business. The previous government would often say the right thing but it would invariably do the wrong thing when it came to business. There was an explosion in red tape and green tape. There was a whole thicket of new restrictions in the labor market. There were big new taxes. It was a government which thought that there was no problem that more public servants, higher taxes and further regulation couldn’t fix.
So you’re reversing that?
We will do our damnedest to shrink the public service and have a bonfire of red tape and unnecessary taxes.
{…}
Labor wanted a national broadband network?
It’s a government-owned telecommunications infrastructure monopoly, which was proceeding at a scandalous rate without producing any commensurate outcomes. We are changing the objective from fiber to every premise in the country to fiber to distribution points, and then we will use the existing infrastructure to take the broadband to individual premises.
Is that cheaper and more efficient?
Vastly.
But Labor wanted to extend fiber to every household?
Welcome to the wonderful, wacko world of the former government.
So you believe the former government was doing a lot of things that were bad for the country?
I thought it was the most incompetent and untrustworthy government in modern Australian history.
Be more specific.
They made a whole lot of commitments, which they scandalously failed to honor. They did a lot of things that were scandalously wasteful and the actual conduct of government was a circus. They were untrustworthy in terms of the carbon tax. They were incompetent in terms of the national broadband network. They were a scandal when it came to their own internal disunity. They made a whole lot of grubby deals in order to try and perpetuate themselves in power. It was an embarrassing spectacle, and I think Australians are relieved they are gone.
Of course according to the Age this constitutes a terrible affront to the conventions of international diplomacy and their headline suggests that this interview is a terrible assault on the standing of our country but I can’t help but think that the Luvvies just have no ability to appreciate the importance of frankness and honesty when it comes to the way that our nation will be appreciated on the international stage, further we live in the internet age, a time when there are effectively no media islands any more. No discreet little places where the news and politics of a country can be hidden away from global scrutiny and while I can appreciate the desire not to see our dirty laundry aired in public its not as if we can (or should) hide the simple fact that the previous government was utterly incompetent in most areas of its remit. So there really is no reason or excuse for a lack of frankness when it comes to any international media interviews by the current government ministers or by our Prime minister. The ability for anyone anywhere on the planet to find out just what has been said domestically by our political players means the more important consideration should be that they produce a message that is consistent both domestically and globally. Tony Abbott has done precisely that in this interview. and I for one think that he should be celebrated for his candour rather than being admonished for it by the Luvvies at the Age who are hoping that Labor’s incompetence can be swiftly forgotten. Sadly for them I think that it will be remembered for a very long time and will keep the Labor party where they so deserve to be, in the in the dry and desert like political wilderness, after-all, sinners need to become accustomed to the environment where their souls will reside for (nearly) eternity…
Cheers Comrades
Related articles
- Aussie PM: carbon tax is ‘socialism’ (dailycaller.com)
- Wacko the Diddle O – Mr. Abbott Speaks to Washington (and rants about the previous government) (ausopinion.com)
- Australian gov’t faces carbon tax backlash at poll (bigstory.ap.org)
- New Aussie Prime Minister Calls Carbon Tax “Socialism” (antzinpantz.wordpress.com)
- Australia’s new gov’t vows to scrap carbon tax (bigstory.ap.org)
- Tony Abbott to reveal draft legislation to repeal carbon tax this afternoon (abc.net.au)
- Australian Parliament to Vote on Carbon Tax Bills (abcnews.go.com)
- PM’s direct action on climate draws sceptics (smh.com.au)
- PM calls on Shorten to axe carbon tax (theage.com.au)
Are we there yet on Carbon Trading?
I have been arguing for years that carbon trading schemes are virtually Ponzi schemes that are bound to collapse and the European scheme certainly seems to be following the script that I imagined. The fringe benefit of this is clearly watching the Australian Labor Party making even greater fools of themselves every time their “fixed price” Carbon tax rises as it is scheduled to do in June. If our “Carbon price” is already many times the price of European traded value imagine the pain felt by Labor when the carbon tax rises and the European price falls yet again as I think it will.
So I ask again does anyone seriously think that, after the election, any Labor MP or senator will inflict further pain upon the greatly depleted party by opposing the repeal of this ludicrous carbon tax and all of its accompanying administrative apparatus?
The party is a laughing stock now so just imagine how silly it will look standing up for the tax that has utterly destroyed its credibility.
Cheers Comrades
Of mandates, promises and the inevitability of the Carbon tax being repealed
I have repeatedly suggested that when it comes to repealing the carbon tax that the ALP will not be at all obstructive in the upper house because they will have to concede that Tony Abbott will have a mandate to do this. Now I find in today’s Oz the same suggestion from Tony Abbott himself:
My friends from the left have been fooling themselves if they think that the incoming government will not be true to their word, after all being untruthful to the electorate is what will be buying Labor’s very long lease on their wilderness accommodation…
Cheers Comrades
Related articles
- Dead department walking (iainhall.wordpress.com)
- Gillard ‘demonising foreigners’: Abbott (news.theage.com.au)
- Abbott preferred in western Sydney: poll (bigpondnews.com)
A new nation wide “plant a Green” campaign
No matter which side of politics you barrack for you have to be delighted to see the continued decline of Greens. They have done thing with amazing clarity during the reign of the Gillard government and that is to prove just how ill suited their brand of hand wringing holier than thou politicking is to any role in the government process thanks to them and their fellow travellers in the Labor party we have an absolutely dysfunctional border/immigration policy. A carbon tax that is almost universally loathed, we have the ludicrous situation of a mining tax that co0llects no revenue, We have been assailed with a long running and always futile campaign for Gay marriage. Yep the Greens have been such a hit with the voting public that their support has, well plummeted…
Perhaps we need a new nation wide “plant a Green” campaign to finally rid the nation of the scourge to good governance, after all they do advocate for euthanasia don’t they ?
With tongue very firmly in my cheek Comrades…

When planting a Green it is most important that you ensure that they will not rise again; staking with a bio-degradable wooden stake is recommended
Related articles
- Gillard’s stocks continue to rise (theage.com.au)
- Labor in the toilet still (iainhall.wordpress.com)
- ALP future bleak: Tanner (theage.com.au)
- Essential: fired-up Gillard gets a poll bounce – from men (crikey.com.au)
Aspiration Rather Than Desperation: Liberal vs Labor
On another thread, resident leftie Brian reckoned:
The industrial sector in this country is just about dead in the water, manufacturing is not far behind.
Could the carbon tax have contributed to this? Labor is also killing the fishing industry and the cattle export market. Is there any industry, other than the imaginary ‘pie in the sky’ green industry, that Labor has helped rather than exacerbating?
Labor destroys initiative, Labor breaks down aspiration and replaces it with desperation.
Wyatt Roy, Australia’s youngest member of parliament recognises this and takes a great swerve at the socialist and destructive Labor party that is currently losing control of our economy and governance.
Enjoy the eloquence of a future leader.