Something Wonky

This week Something Wonky wonders if there is anywhere Australia won’t go when it comes to anti-asylum seeker cruelty. We revisit the exciting new regime for job seekers and pretend to have read Joe Hockey’s Biography. AUSTRALIA VS HUMANITY On the eve of the National Inquiry into children in immigration detention Scott Morrison launches a broadside into the Human Rights Commission president Gilliant Triggs Then the next day the Inquiry hears evidence that the Department told the health service provider to “withdraw” figures regarding the significant health problems. Meanwhile they heard evidence of abuses against the children - including creepy sexual advances of staff towards captive children. Just moments before the High Court would have had to make a decision about the refoulement of the 157 Sri Lankans we were keeping cruelly in the middle of the ocean… suddenly the government decides to process them on Australian soil. Seems humiliating, and dodgy - resentfully copping a backdown in order to avoid the court setting a precedent against your conduct. Fortunately the Oz was able to make it sound much nicer - a “deal” he’s “negotiated” with India. Government blocks Senator Hanson-Young from visiting the Tamil asylum seekers at Curtin “based on the interests of the good management and safety of the centre”. Australia redefining refugees’ birthdays so it can treat them as adults. THE FOCUS GROUP Time for the SomethingWonky Job Applicator 2014 (TM) The stupid, expensive, vicious Work For The Dole lunacy to be forced on everyone relying on NewStart, with recipients to be forced to work 25 hours a week, for under $10 an hour, at a cost to the taxpayer of $5.1bn. Libs aware that the evidence shows that work for the dole doesn’t work and never has but claim the research is all “very old” and their “anecdotes” are much better evidence. The dribbling idiots in the Coalition to force job seekers to apply for 40 jobs a month leading to much mockery as anyone with a brain points out the obvious flaws, even the BCA is worried and employers fear the Abbott government’s new red tape. . So then, somewhat panicked about their latest policy disaster, the Liberals then threaten to “fine” job seekers for “non-genuine” job applications. Good luck proving they’re non-genuine or forcing companies to stop recruiting electronically. Eric Abetz thinks five people can get one job People Being Mean To Joe Young homeless couple found dead in their car near Ballarat. Wendy Harmer points out that this is what we can expect more of under this government’s assaults on the poor, hurting Joe Hockey’s feelings and “offending” him again. Joe’s biography reveals why he got into politics - woman dismissed his query at uni about a movie ticket, EVEN THOUGH HE WAS PAYING HER SALARY “WHICH MEANT SHE WAS IN HIS SERVICE”, so he “thought he should give politics a go”. Australians surprised, after all his “budget crisis” talk, to find Joe telling New Zealanders that “The Australian economy is not in trouble” and “There’s no crisis at all in the Australian economy”. More assaults on the vulnerable The assault on women’s refuges in NSW, with more than 25 feminist women’s refuges losing their funding and their buildings being handed over, mainly to religious charities. Massive loss of expertise in supporting women fleeing domestic violence, as they sack very experienced staff. More stupid decisions by the vandals in power Abbott government considering proposal by the Australian Institute of Company Directors to water down directors’ liabilities Pretence of considering copyright reform on the evidence over, as the Libs prepare to give their donors in the content industry everything they want. The Oz celebrates it as the

Episode 102 Dave discusses issues relating to domestic violence with informed commentators; Jeremy collates a series of absurd stories from the week in politics for the other sort of SomethingWonky treatment WHITE RIBBON NIGHT IN Commentary by Jane Gilmore - silence is acquienscence “Why don’t they leave?” - A victim of domestic violence shares her story. Interviews with Kate Doak - DV issues affecting trans people Kimberley Ramplin - What the stats hide, the “One in Three” lunacy, “Not all men” cranks THE FOCUS GROUP Wacky Politicians Corner Hi-vis vests let idiot politicians hi-light who owns them Everybody goes stupid over Jackie Lambie MH17 gives Abbott an opportunity to look Prime Ministerial while standing up for the controversial position that shooting down airliners is bad. Meanwhile Julie Bishop attacks Labor for fighting for the UNSC seat which has ironically let her and Tony be heard. Elsewhere, rest of world damns Australia for repealing the carbon price Tony’s Mates Hockey’s biographer reveals that Tony gave Rupert a briefing on his PPL scheme before he discussed it with his actual colleagues After making a fuss about Labor ppl in plum jobs, Liberals filling govt appointments with their mates - for example like the Barrie Cassidy one that they cancelled bc it had to be non-partisan No-one less partisan than the IPA’s David Kemp! Handy list of other such shamelessness in last week’s Saturday Paper. UnAustralian News: state governments around the country refuse to grant a public holiday for ANZAC day next year. ACT Greens Minister to put legalising medical marijuana as a private member’s bill Labor wins 18.6% swing in by-election in state seat in Brisbane.. The Oz retorts that Newman has a great story to tell. Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission releases report into treatment of disabled which reveals they are routinely ignored by police and an endemic of abuse in institutions. Hideous examples on the link. When she worked for the HSU Kathy Jackson diddled research scientists at Peter Mac cancer institute out of millions in back pay and used the payout from the hospital on herself Other Commentary from the week Tony achieves unity amongst economists - calling bullshit on his budget claims Tim Dunlop on the myth of the “sensible middle” in politics Peter Hartcher reckons the problem is politicians playing a “parlour game”, but he also thinks Peter Costello “paid off the national debt and crisis-proofed Australia”. New Matilda has a handy exploration of the Nation’s real “leaners”, like corporate tax evaders Crikey explores the lunacy of Greg Hunt relying on unproven, expensive “clean coal” AUSTRALIA VS HUMANITY They’re Still On The Damn Boat Australia arguing its own laws don’t apply to its actions Govt objecting to having to reveal its decision-making process or other facts about the Tamils’ interception August 5 - the day the HC will decide between untrammelled executive power and the rule of law over asylum seekers Good news: Morrison backs down on “national interest test” in case of refugee boy who has now been granted a permanent protection visa. Australian human rights commission team visited Christmas Island last week, reports: The situation on the island had “significantly deteriorated” since a meeting between detainees and immigration staff a week earlier, when many asked to be moved to the mainland for the sake of their children. The commission inspectors verified that 10 women were placed on 24-hour watch for self-harm and suicide and a total of 13 were considered high risk…. Gillian Triggs: “They are plagued by despair and helplessness at the seemingly endless period of detention. While I am encouraged that the department intends to set up a school for children, for the past year, children have h

This week’s episode contains some static in Dave’s audio, we’ll try to have the problem fixed before next week. This week everyone gets a massive gets a massive cut to their power bill that you can bank on totally check your next one, Joe’s making threats, Clive’s giving himself tax cuts, Tony’s stamping his feet, the ATO’s losing its ability to chase tax cheats, Thorpey’s under attack, and most importantly the Australian newspaper is fifty years old everybody party THE FOCUS GROUP The Carbon Price is No More! Australia now with no policy to even achieve the minimum 5% greenhouse gas reduction we’ve signed up to in international agreements. Labor’s brief window of power over - first Tony declares that the ALP, not PUP, was behind his difficulties in the Senate last week, and then… Shockingly, unexpectedly, totally contrary to anything anyone expected, the Govt and Clive Palmer figure out their differences on Palmer’s Amendment (which Miranda calls a “250% company tax” bc she doesn’t understand the difference bw taxes and fines). Despite, as Greg Jericho points out, the scheme’s success in reducing emissions without harming the economy. Weirdly, govt making exceptions for businesses not to pass on carbon tax “savings” to consumers: like the refrigerant costs they based part of their anti-carbon price campaign on. Ben Eltham, in the increasingly excellent New Matilda, points out that what we’ve just seen is a mining billionaire vote to increase his own costs - that the amendments about electricity and gas companies passing on savings will save HIS companies hugely, but they don’t require HIS companies to reduce prices. But the Budget! Joe Hockey cracks it with the Senate, threatening to cut other, unidentified, government spending if senators make good their threats to block billions in budget savings - “It’s not retribution if the choices made by other political parties are so flawed,” he told the ABC… “It is something a lot of the senators need to think carefully about.” Other Libs thank Joe for the own goal. Meanwhile, 25 leading Australian economists (ie not Judith Sloan or Henry Ergas) call bullshit on the “budget emergency”, thus ensuring they’ll never be published in The Australian again. The ABC fires up with hacks like Deloitte rent-a-quote Chris Richardson to tell us how devastated the budget will be if the cuts aren’t passed, without asking him where he was when Tony was ramming his revenue cuts through. The Coalition sacking more than 2000 ATO staff to “save money” will cost budget at least as much as it saved, best case, but up to $1bn since these compliance officers bring in between 1 and 6 times their salaries. The only winners will be corporate tax cheats. New Lib senator James McGrath wants a Triple J flogged off and the ABC punished for “bias” But the Economy! Clive makes a deal with the Coalition to help them water down the financial advice regulations while pretending he’s put some protections in place David Murray’s financial system inquiry releases first report pointing out that Labor’s superannuation system is fundamentally broken, with tax concessions for the rich who don’t need it costing vastly more than any pensions would have, and there not being a sensible low-fee option like other countries have achieved. RBA notices that houses are now so expensive that unless they skyrocket even further, commencing home ownership is now a worse investment than paying rent for the rest of your life. Which the Oz uses as an excuse to call for policies to make housing even less affordable Unemployment hits 6% and Greg Jericho wonders if maybe voters actually care more about unemployment than claims about the budget bottom line Other Libs having a bad week. Propaganda mouthpiece of corrupt brutal

This week, the increasingly decrepit SomethingWonky leaves behind the grim news and depressing revelations to become Australia’s Cheeriest Political Podcast. AUSTRALIA’S CHEERIEST POLITICAL PODCAST Australians turn out to protest for social services High Court provides some sort of a check on the government’s plans to claim enough authority over international waters to kidnap refugees, but not enough to be subject to Australian law. Solar overtakes Coal, even briefly, in Queensland As a government backbencher likens climate change to a science fiction film plot (which it is - the one about people not heeding warnings and then there being an apocalypse), the Canberra Times, pointing out that the carbon price has cut electricity generation pollution by 10% and increased our use of clean energy by 37%, asks why kill a working carbon price? WILL ANYONE LISTEN? Well, yes. Senate says no… temporarily. Penny Wong fires up to inspire the Senate to tell the govt not to take them for granted (AUDIO ON LINK) Then, in news.com.au’s analysis, Clive “bullies” Tony ABC has a totally leftist night of leftism THINGS THAT DON’T DESERVE TO BE TAKING UP TIME IN OUR HUNDREDTH EPISODE Tony spends $4.3m of public money on spin doctors in his “strategic communications branch” Tony Abbott reveals that Australia was unsettled before the British (but it isn’t the first time - last year he said that the “first Australians” were picked by British judges). Malcolm Turnbull sending off $1m in a vulture fund in the Cayman Islands to dodge tax STUCK IN MY CRAW Andrew Tiedt on NSW’s shamefully weak weak Bail weak laws of weakness that let people accused of crimes eat lunch by the beach AUSTRALIA BEING AWFUL Self-harm amongst asylum seekers in detention skyrockets six-fold since offshore resettlement, reports SERCO. Asylum seeker mothers reported trying to commit suicide to help their children. Mr Abbott says he won’t be “held over a moral barrel”, “moral blackmail”. Other asylum seeker mothers asking for Australians to be allowed to adopt their children Australia confirmed to have sent 41 refugees from Sri Lanka back to Sri Lanka, where they were then taken into custody to face court (It’s a crime punishable by 2 years imprisonment to leave Sri Lanka without permission). There are reasons Sri Lanka is a refugee-producing country. Reports of our on-water treatment not promising: Another migrant said they were racially abused and denied medication, while some attempted a hunger strike to protest their treatment. “They kept on saying ‘You fucking Sri Lankan, go back to fucking Sri Lanka’,” said the man, who declined to give his name. He said he was also refused medicine for a rash he had developed during the sea journey in a small fishing trawler. Another unnamed passenger said they were given food past their expiry date, adding: “They treated us worse than dogs.” Richard Ackland points out that handing back asylum seekers is called refoulement and it’s illegal Ray Hadley and Scott Morrison are greatly amused by the presence of a dog, because they’d have left theirs behind. (AUDIO) Scott Morrison’s new ludicrous “national interest” test for refugees Scott Morrison’s new “four question” asylum seeker test. Eric Abetz is offended at Fran Kelly suggesting that just because Australia is now taking people and refusing to say where they are, we might be “disappearing people”. Are not, he tells Insiders. Scott Morrison toddles off to Sri Lanka for mysterious reasons UNHCR slams Australia transferring refugees at sea, which it turns out we did. On the other hand, although we’ve probably contravened refugee conventions, Crikey points out there’s probably nothing they can do about it. Julian Burnside accuses the government of piracy, apparently una

This week, the Federal Government turns its attention to people with a disability, and not in a good way. The Australian Government gets into the disappearing people business. And we dig into the political history vault to create havoc on the ABC board. The Focus Group So much to destroy, so little time Federal Government cuts dementia and severe behaviours supplement, paid to providers of care for people with severe behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia. McClure review suggests Mentally ill people could be targeted as one of the groups to become ineligible for the disability support pension (DSP). Daily Tele responds with bizarre headline “beating the bludgers will help the disabled” with the most confusing opening you can imagine: VERBALLY bashing disability support pensioners as an army of bludgers and shirkers has ­become a national sport with painful consequences for ­deserving recipients. Families with disabled children who rely on the DSP don’t need a “tough love” cure. They need people to stop suggesting their kids are bludgers when they have, in many cases, struggled every day of their lives. Endless ­debate about reducing payments or changing the system has provoked enormous anxiety for these families. It’s a reason why many will applaud welfare ­expert Patrick McClure’s call today for the current system to be ­effectively abolished in favour of a scheme that covers only the permanently and seriously disabled. In a report to be released today, McClure will propose a new system that reserves the DSP for adults with no ­capacity for work. It would involve kicking hundreds of thousands of Australians off the existing DSP system. But they would not be left without support. Instead, they would secure a working-age payment and support for getting back into the workforce when they are ready. Weirdly, employers not leaping to employ disabled people. Fairfax runs story about young, accomplished deaf woman who worked in Hockey’s office but still can’t get a permanent job ABC forced to cut disability news and opinion website Ramp Up. Kevin Andrews tells the blot sponsored hour he’s considering income management for young dole recipients because nanny states are bad. Chris Graham at New Matilda points out that this is only new for white Australians. Kevin then tells job seekers to convince employers to pay them by offering to work for free Lib MPs calling for RET to be cut despite their own evidence that it would increase energy prices. Abbott continues to tell stupid lies like that renewable energy is driving up power prices “very significantly” and fostering Australia’s reputation as “the unaffordable energy capital of the world”. Libs to strip environmental charities of tax-exempt status. Also this week Jeremy discovered donations to the IPA have tax-exempt status. As of Tuesday, Brandis has silenced CLC’s ability to advocate on policy Carbon tax repeal to cost 100 jobs at Hydro Tasmania Eric Abetz, fighting hard to slash the pay of the low-paid cleaners in his office to the award, and faced with the Senate passing an amendment to his bill to do just that, revokes the regulations and pulls victory from defeat. Govt removing references to climate change on every website and publication it controls Dodgy finance changes quietly snuck through by finance minister Mathias Cormann, to make it easier for shonky financial institutions to trick customers into financial products that are not in their interests. The Commonwealth Bank, for example, which gave the Coalition $56,000 before the election, demanded those regulations be removed. Coincidentally, in a week where the Commonwealth Bank was under extreme pressure to compensate clients damaged by its shonky schemes, the government was in its corner opposing calls for a Royal Commission into it. Ben Eltham in New Matilda points out that “It’s A Great Time To Be A Corporate Crook In Austr

This week on Something Wonky, carbon pricing is back on the agenda in an unexpected way. We investigate the popularity of our PM and his cabinet, get carried away with social media outrage, and look at the reaction to putting journalists, but not editors into gaol. GROUP THE FOCUS LAST MINUTE CLIEVSPLOSION as, moments before recording, Clive Palmer (with, bafflingly, Al Gore) announces he’ll vote for the abolition of the carbon tax, but only if there’s an ETS instead (like the carbon tax was supposed to transition into now), and PUP will vote against abolishing the RET, Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and the Climate Change Authority. The best laid plans Tony was all ready for the big carbon repeal on July 1st, he’s got the power companies to agree not to charge it… but what’s this? Nick Xenophon reckons two weeks isn’t enough time for the new Senate to consider it properly? And Clive will make a $9m windfall if it’s delayed a short period? Meanwhile his “hand-picked economic modeller” Tony set to evaluate the impact of repealing the Renewable Energy Target (and with strict instructions to ignore any costs of carbon pollution) nevertheless comes back with a report concluding that actually scrapping or reducing the RET will increase energy prices, and the best way to reduce them is to increase the target to 30%. The government then refuses to publicly release the presentation. Certain parts of mining industry thinking maybe we should encourage electric cars after all, as they massively push up the price of Australian-mined graphite Courage The Government remains staggeringly popular, so the Federal Police suddenly have to set up extra, unprecdented protection to keep Ministers in the Abbott govt safe from their adoring public. George Brandis blocks the public airing of submissions to his “free speech” proposals because “free speech”. New Matilda wonders just who he’s protecting, and what they had to say. Julian Assange can forget any help from Australia, as Wikileaks reveals Tony is secretly conducting trade negotiations to fundamentally deregulate our banking and financial services sector PM’s office delays productivity commisison review of Fair Work Act, probably bc of heat from budget. What a funny old fellow is Tony Abbott’s idiotic scheme to delist Tasmanian forest’s heritage status rejected by UN Tony trolls rest of country by telling us he’s “the best friend that workers of Australia have ever had” Tony and some Labor MPs are flying to Sydney to attend a bipartisan event. Labor MPs suggest jet-pooling. Tony says no, piss off, the taxpayers can pay for you to go on a pleb plane. Retiring Liberal senator Sue Boyce suggests that maybe Tony Abbott is a bit sexist, but in a “subtle” way that only millions of Australians can detect. Darn those Greens Greens join Labor and PUP in blocking indexing the fuel excise, because the Libs insist on putting it towards roads, or as the Greens put it a tax on the poor in areas which don’t have access to public transport. (Which prompts the Oz to publish another hilarious editorial aimed at convincing all those wavering Greens voters who trust Australian editorials to abandon the party. Seriously, guys, what’s the point?) Meanwhile Labor joins the Greens in vowing to vote against the chaplaincy program (but only bc they won’t accept any secular workers) Labor asks a Victorian MP who’s fighting the Greens for her seat in Brunswick what they should do about their 2013 election loss - she concludes they should concentrate efforts on attacking the Greens. Social Media ANGRY Opera Australia eventually cancels soprano Tamar Iveri after her support for gay russians being attacked comes to light. Sydney Opera House’s “Festival of Dangerous Ideas” about to host guy arguing “honour killings are morally justified”&

STOP THE GROUP What a funny old fellow is Tony Tony is a HUGE fan of that sporting thing Australians are staying up late for, telling the captain of the Socceroos “Ange, Mike and the Socceroos, in this World Cup you have the opportunity to make the world game our national game,” Abbott said. “Throughout this cup we’ll burn the midnight oil as you take the field in our name”. Which would have gone down better if the captain’s name wasn’t Mile. Tony declares himself a “conservationist” and says “Frankly, we should rest lightly on the planet and I’m determined to ensure that we do our duty by the future here”. The future generations who would have been irrationally terrified of coral reefs, for example. News Ltd papers trumpet “Tony Wins Unlikely Fan” as Kim Beazley says nice things about him! The very Kim Beazley Abbott has just reappointed to the plum job as Australia’s ambassador to the US! What an unlikely supporter! A man dependent on Abbott’s patronage for his job! Tony visits Texas, goes into loving detail about his hopes for coal, is given a Stetson, cries out “yee-ha” (AUDIO ON LINK - followed by awkward HA HA HA) Wait We Still Have An Environment? Talking of coal, Greg Hunt has to eat crow when he announces $500m for solar roofs without the PM’s permission. In what way is his position in any way salvageable now? Head of Tony’s renewable energy review tells wind farmers they were foolish to “build a whole business model on government largesse”, raising fears he will recommend a severe winding back of the renewable energy target. The March To War Tony affirms support for US in whatever it’s going to do in Iraq Julie Bishop suggests we won’t have boots on the ground, but we’ll participate in intelligence gathering. Ben Eltham argues that the case for war is as weak today as it was in 2003 BUT WHY CAN’T WE TRY ALL THE DICTATORS BEFORE WE GIVE UP Do we lefties saying SEE THIS IS WHAT WE SAID WOULD HAPPEN hold “a hollow morality towards Iraq”? An Equitable Country Household Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey reveals rising income inequality, also that living standards are falling for middle-class Australians, and that between 2001 and 2011, the percentage of Australians 18-64 receiving welfare has dropped from 23% to 18.5%. Which is weird, cos Hockey told us welfare spending was out of control because of lazy bludgers everywhere. Oxfam releases figures indicating that the richest 1% in Australia now own as much wealth as the poorest 60%. Somehow we don’t think they pay even 60% of the tax. Point made how once you pass a tipping point, without the public reining them in, the rich can pretty much twist politics even further in their favour. Maybe it’s time to reclaim the word “tax” as something other than an evil? LAW LAW LAW High Court strikes down National Chaplaincy Program - but who will save the children from not being indoctrinated on the public purse now? Aboriginal Legal Service to lose federal funding from July, despite pre-election promise not to cut frontline services in Indigenous affairs. Queensland - Beautiful One Day, Sliding Back Into Nepotism And Corruption The Next. Bleijie appoints judge who’s very publicly supportive of him to highest role in the state, tells MPs what to say to media about what a great bloke he is: Survivors of 2010 Christmas Island asylum seeker disaster sue Federal Government for its failure to have properly resourced rescue services on the island. (Or, if you want to lie about it, Senator Cory Bernardi describes it as “the government is being sued for saving people from drowning”. To be fair, that’s the same Cory who told his email subscribers this week that “In the US, the country’s Pledge of Allegiance is banned”.) It’s BACK - from last week TonyR

Something Wonky has a second course this week JEREMY GETS HIS RANT ON That thing when defenders of the rich argue that they pay most of the tax, or - in a line imported from the US - that “48 per cent of Australia’s 12.2 million ‘income units’ pay no net tax.” or “more than 60% of net income tax is paid by individuals earning over $80,000 a year” (That IPA figure is amusing, because they then go on to say how it’s not even the rich, which is of course the point - hell, if they lowered it to $50,000, they could have argued that the percentage was even higher, up to almost 100%, and those people are even less rich!) Or in 2011 the top 1% paid slightly more than 17% of tax!. Which neatly ignores the reality of how wealth is distributed in Australia. For example, that top 1% - has as much accumulated wealth as the bottom 50% - 15.7% of all household wealth, according to BRW. It’s difficult getting figures, bc it’s not something the ABS is encouraged to do. They divide the country into quintiles - in 2012 the top 20% had 62% of the total wealth. Pyne reckons university fees will somehow drop when the govt stops limiting what universities will charge. Even if that makes sense to you - in the deregulated US university sector since 1981, tertiary fees have increased by more than 1200%. Why? Because as the gap widens between rich and poor, you can charge the middle class anything you like and they either cop it or their children end up working two jobs to barely subsist. Also - remember we were talking the other week about how even the Fair Work Act is ludicrously slanted to employers? Great Greg Jericho article on the drum showing just how skewed it is, and how disconnected from reality the demands for IR “reform” are. Doesn’t matter how much wages actually remain stable or fall, the rich and their enablers will always demand they drop further. THE FOCUS GROUP Medical scans to require $1,000 upfront and leave a gap of $160, forcing poor people, and encouraging other Australians, not to have recommended scans and probably die from undiagnosed cancers, for example. Jobless rate plummets - giving the Australian and the employer lobby another excuse to suggest that we solve young people’s difficulties by paying them less and making it harder for them to stay alive. Budget cuts to the very agencies that let us know what’s going on and let us deal with it - the ABS, ASIC and the ATO. Which reminds me - here’s a budget suggestion - what if we were to slam down on employers who offer cash in hand? Scare them out of it. Like this jerk paying his workers in pizza and soft drink - or just employers exploiting a desperate labor force with “cash in hand” jobs they can keep off the books to avoid their own taxes. Even at below minimum wage. Concentrate on those running the businesses based on cash-in-hand: the exploitative employers, the tradies. Make them scared to offer it. Tony impresses the Canadians with his “schoolboy French”. Harper charmed by Tony’s revelations about the location of his aunty’s pen and his ability to ask for directions to the information bureau. “Ha Ha Ha” [AUDIO OF TONY’S AWKWARD LAUGH] Tony and his new Canadian mate vs the atmosphere. “Australia can’t make a huge difference to the world climate if we act alone, so the carbon price is flawed, and because it’s flawed, we should discourage other countries from acting, even though that kind of undermines our main criticism of reducing carbon emissions.” Rest of the world pretty surprised that Australia’s suddenly lurched backwards. Meanwhile, the IPA is producing a book with the oxymoronic, probably in breach of the Trade Practices Act, title “Climate Change The Facts 2014”. Obama presses Tony for Australia to play “Asia cop”, which sounds like a pretty racist role in CSI, but act

In which Jeremy gets a running start at this week’s running sheet, while Dave recovers from Lurgi, the most dreadful malady known to mankind. Episode covers - Le franglais de Monsieur Abbott, premier de L’Australia; Pepsi Sydney Pizza Hut High School; the suffering of the rich at having so much money, that taking even a small proportion of it in tax dwarfs the contributions of the very poor.

JEREMY GETS STUFF OFF HIS CHEST after listening to other people’s podcasts “They’re all liars” (and here’s a handy list of Tony Abbott’s) - Well, (a) there’s a meaningful difference bw “lying” and “breaking promises”, which is whether the person intended to live up to that promise when they made it. And (b) no, they’re not “all” liars, we’re just putting a low political cost on lying by keeping voting for the ones who lie, instead of those who don’t. AND THERE ARE THOSE PEOPLE. If we want not to be lied to, increase the cost to the liars of lying. Saying “they all lie” lowers it. “They all break promises” so why do we need election campaigns? Because while we don’t need the stage-managed bullshit led by the politicians, we DO need voters and the media to pin politicians down before the election so we’re clear about what they’ve promised and can punish them if they lie to us (see 1). Seems to me the real solution is we need more of what Pyne calls the “magic of competition” in parliament. We need the barriers to entry to be lower, and the things that lock in the big parties to be reduced. We need to stop enforcing a two-party system “for stability” and look at a system that encourages multiple people to stand - if you’re a conservative, have several conservative options, so you can vote for the ones who haven’t lied to you. THE FOCUS GROUP Divided Australia - this week, Victoria, where the knife-edge parliament now teeters on an early election, if anyone can get the courage to force one, while everyone plays “ooh! don’t let Geoff Shaw’s vote touch us!” like he has cooties. Tony commemorates WW2 veterans with a message all about them and their experience (AUDIO on link) Then delete it and try to pretend it didn’t happen. What inspiring messages might he have in store for the ANZAC Day centenary next year? Bad Comedy Choices - Joe Hockey makes swipe at Clive Palmer, “Obviously Clive would have more than one meal a night”. Really, Joe? Fat jokes about fellow MPs? Somebody needs to explain to the Joe Hockeys of the world why fat jokes are nasty and unfunny, since they apparently can’t put themselves in the victims’ shoes. Adult government means never having to model your proposals - health secretary tells Senate estimates they’ve still done none on the copayment Kick The Poor Why work for the dole hurts both the unemployed AND the working poor. Who Cares What It Costs, As Long As It Hurts Them - another in the series of nasty policies that actually cost taxpayers more, but as long as they’re hurting “dole bludgers” or “queue jumpers” Daily Telegraph readers feel viciously good about them. Australia considering drug testing unemployed, even though in NZ the hit rate was something like 20 in 8000 and, like in Florida, it cost much more than it saved. Like the medicare copayment, it’s not based on any study indicating higher drug use by the unemployed than the general population. And if it had worked - how exactly does starving drug addicts not increase costs for the community in terms of increased, desperate crime? Still, loony Nationals MP George Christensen goes on the record supporting the idea. And the real reason for the pain Keeps Leaking Out. “Senior government figures” tell Fairfax “the Prime Minister and Treasurer knew ”full well” that their 2014-15 budget would be electorally disastrous among middle and low-income voters, but had taken tougher action now deliberately to free up capacity for pre-election tax cuts.” Saving Kids For Jesus Worth Every Cent - Access Ministries, the beneficiaries of a large part of that $250m of School Chaplain money, use some of it to sue critics who’ve published online leaked details of

THE FOCUS GROUP CAN SOMEONE PLEASE START TALKING ABOUT REVENUE? Costello tax cuts still costing us $40bn a year. Let’s call bullshit on the debt lie Storming down the US path more likely to create a recession than avoid one. It’s just an issue with the selling of it Have voters figured out the budget is profoundly inequitable? News Corp and other supporters of the budget, start running the line that the problem is just how it’s being sold The Finance Minister hints that the Libs will commence a publicly-funded advertising campaign to support the budget; Tony promises they won’t; Australian voters relax because they know they can take Tony at his word. Education Hey, 1.5 million Australians? Surprise! Now that HECS debt is suddenly an interest-accumulating loan! Note: CPI is NOT interest - this isn’t “raising” interest, SMH and other journos, it’s charging interest where students were promised before incurring the debt that none would be charged. Abbott tells parliament at least students will be going in “with their eyes open”. (Unlike former students who are having the deal changed afterwards.) Students in debt for the rest of their lives: A student with a $50k HECS debt (if they were lucky!) would need to earn $80k for 43 years to pay off their debt before retirement. CORRECTION - THIS FIGURE TURNS OUT TO BE AN ERROR. Should be 22 years to repay a $100,000 HECS debt. Pyne suggests collecting HECS debts from dead students. (A kind of “death tax” that’s okay because the rich will have paid back their HECS debts already.) Young Joe on video in the 1980s objecting to uni fees. Now says “yeah, that was different, they were upfront”. And $250, not a bloody mortgage. Annabel Crabb tsks at students for protesting like “Stalinists” of old rather than waiting for the media to engage them in debate, because that was totally about to happen any day now, and objecting to bullying poor people from going to university is just like sending someone to a gulag. John Birmingham: If someone richer than you accuses you of threatening civilisation, you’re probably only threatening their free ride and you should just keep right on doing it. Meanwhile that $60,000 scholarship for Tony Abbott’s daughter? Came with some political demands from Whitehouse, which conveniently were subsequently met! Meanwhile, nobody can quite figure out what exactly Tony Abbott’s daughter’s “job” is at the institute that was lobbying him for favours. (Tony belatedly adds some other things to the pecuniary interests register, but not his daughter’s secret scholarship.) Or Starve Actually we might cut people off for even more than six months WorkChoices in deed, if not in name Oh, and we’ll be taking your house if you strike. Greens put up an explanation of how to “bust the budget” without “blocking supply” Bill Heffernan suddenly realises that budget cuts are putting his personal safety at risk, so smuggles fake bomb into parliament. Oh South Australia Former state Liberal leader defects to the ALP to become Minister; threatens to spill dirt if the “personal attacks” continue. Oh Victoria Federal Libs find an extra billion to help out their state colleagues before the election. Napthine’s government concealing ambulance response times Clown Counsel Finally something that brings Jews and Arabs together: opposing George Brandis loony changes to 18C. So is George finally backing down? IPA still not happy if he is. Or maybe we should reform Defamation law instead George redirects money from child abuse inquiry to home insulation inquiry. Grilled by Senator Ludlum (AUDIO ON LINK), Brandis admits that he’s meeting regularly with the “rights” industry, but refuses to identify anyone on the other side of the argument he’s talked to. Department admits it’s looking int

Dave and guest Jeremy, Keri Sear, take a quick look at Tony Abbott’s unusual week.

THE FOCUS GROUP “Dissolving faster than an Aspirin” - but is it quick enough? Abbott govt plunges in the polls - even Newspoll. Labor regains winning lead. “Block supply” - should they? Can they? Will Labor and the Greens commit to undoing Hockey’s budget wholesale, or is the best we can hope for that the biggest whacks get toned down, and Australia still descends into a nastier place to live? AFR: “Don’t dismiss the double dissolution theatrics” Abbott suggests that if his cuts are blocked we’ll lose our AAA rating. This is promptly contradicted by the rating agency in question. ALRIGHT THEN WOULD YOU BELIEVE… Hockey then declares that if Labor blocks any of his measures they’ll cause the raising of interest rates. Which, remembering in 2012 he thought low interest rates indicated a “weak economy”, seems to suggest he thinks Labor blocking the budget will strengthen the economy. Even Campbell Newman thinks they might have gone too far. Health $100 to see a medical specialist. Good luck if you’re a poor person who needs to see a psychiatrist each week. Co-payment to drastically hit indigenous population and the National Aboriginal Health Community Controlled Health Organisation is still waiting to hear what will happen to its 150 medical centres. Co-payment to seriously undermine vaccination in Australia and put those who cannot vaccinate for medical reasons at serious risk when those diseases return. Hockey tells Q&A he “thought very carefully” about the copayment but because “Australians visit doctors, on average, 11 times a year. 11 times a year” it was necessary. As we discussed in a recent SW, the correct figure is under 6, so the question is does Hockey know he’s lying, or does someone need to tell him and he’ll rethink the copayment? (AUDIO at about 13 minutes in) Also, if he thought so hard about it, why didn’t he even consider the costs to the system from people delaying treatment? Then Hockey suggested (AUDIO at 22:40) that his plan to fund Medicare is pretty much dependent on finding cures for dementia and “Alzheimer”. (” If we do not find the cures, if we cannot help to find the cures for dementia and Alzheimer’s and mental health and cancer, then the system is going to blow out in costs over time.”) Cutting the hospital funding agreement. Sunday: Abbott claims “”We’re not talking about next week or next month or even next year; we are talking about changes in three years’ time”. Today: Abbott admits that $1.8bn in hospital cuts begin 1 July. Health Minister Dutton’s plan inspired by trip to the doctor. Maiden writes: “A personal epiphany accompanied a visit to a GP last Christmas. He needed an injection of cortisone to soothe severe pain in his shoulder… “I thought for someone on an income like mine I could have been charged $10 or $20” he said.” So naturally he imposed a fixed fee that applied to everyone regardless of income. Also the mad ideological basis: “You can’t afford to give everything away for free”. It’s fundamentally about making sick people pay for being sick. $20bn “medical research fund” slammed by researchers who note it comes with $80m cut from co-operative research centres, $111 from the CSIRO and $75m from the Australian Research Council. Prof Ian Frazer, whose team developed a vaccine for cervical cancer, advised Abbott it needs to be more broadly focused or it won’t work. That Amgen company Tony advertises for won’t be getting any of that public money, will it? Education “Training” exemption to the “we’ll kick you off to starve” scheme actually a cruel Catch-22 - they’ve upped the fees, and you don’t qualify for subsidy unless you’re already on the NewStart you can’t get on until you e

THE FOCUS GROUP Oh God Manus Island OH MY GOD could Labor finally stop supporting offshore processing?! Former Manus Island Guards make comic tshirts commemorating that time asylum seekers under their care were assaulted. PNG immigration Minister contradicts Canberra - says PNG will decide which refugees it will resettle, not Australia. Morrison yet to advise what will happen to the other refugees. Injured Manus Island detainees being spirited away Amnesty tells the Senate Inquiry that that thing we’re doing leaving refugees who’ve witnessed violence in our custody in that same custody - “failing to meet our human rights commitments. (Isn’t it sweet that that phrase now wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow in modern Australia?) Budgets Past Remember 1996? (Tony does; remembers that “Tough But Fair” Daily Tele headline; “I’d be thrilled if we would have the same treatment again.” Laura Tingle compares Joe Hockey’s first budget to John Howard’s first. Chris Bowen compares it to Howard’s 79 mini-budget. Will you remember next time you’re thinking of electing a Liberal government? Remember Queensland’s Campbell Newman & Commisison of Audit destruction from a few years back? Well, now they’re paying themselves a huge pay rise. September 2013: Abbott tells SBS there will be “no cuts to the ABC or SBS”. January 2014: Julie Bishop calls GP co-payment proposal “scaremongering on Labor’s part”. Budgets Present Aware that NewStart was already locking people into poverty? Imagine what will happen now that Hockey, Abbott and the Liberals ARE HALVING IT Tony A really is going to damage the health system with his co-payment, based on Tony S’s gut feeling that maybe some doctor’s visits are unnecessary. Both Tonies apparently unrecognised medical experts. Here’s Abbott: Mr Abbott was incredulous that almost 400,000 had mental health problems or bad backs that prevented them from ever doing work. “Half have mental health or muscular skeletal issues. They are not permanent conditions or lasting conditions so are not complete obstacles to work.” But then people will go to hospital emergency rooms, you say. Not when Joe and Tony break the emergency room system with a $7.50 “co-payment” for the emergency room. Seriously. (“I’m bleeding to death!” “I heard you, where’s your credit card!”) Administering co-payment to cost Health budget $3.5bn over four years. Freedom of Information and Privacy framework torn down. office of Australian Information Commissioner broken up - “would shut door on open government”. ASIC funding cut in favour of “self-regulation”. Warren Truss lays down some ‘real talk’ for aged pensioners No money for a Disability Discrimination Commissioner after July 1st, perhaps the Freedom Commissioner can take up the slack? University degrees to cost three times as much according to the architect of the HECS scheme; Pyne actually tells Sky News “The prices might go up or they might go down through competition”. LIKE THAT HAS HAPPENED ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD. $7bn cut in foreign aid over five years, boasts Julie Bishop. Tanya Plibersek calls the “cut to the world’s poorest… a sick thing to boast about” Albanese points out fuel excise rise hurts outer suburban commuters Hockey robs from the poor - but not the rich (Keane); Budget pain? Not for millionnaires who pay no tax (Peter Martin) Quarter of a billion dollars for school chaplains - and the Liberals change rules so they can’t be secular social workers instead. (In a week where a Catholic Priest at a Queensland school told children at a mother’s day breakfast to “thank mum you weren’t aborted”. Grade 2 children. And for what? Alan Kohler points out: I count 89 specific cuts to health and welfare

THE FOCUS GROUP Stop offending Joe Hockey Where’s 18C When It’s Really Important? learns that Joe Hockey is “offended” by wind turbines. (In response, some farmer with wind turbines on his land challenges him (bizarrely) to a bull fight. Fairfax reports that $22,000 a year to the LNP gets you “VIP” meetings with the treasurer, Joe Hockey; Hockey’s office announces it’s “offensive” and in the hands of his lawyers… Oh, hell, The Guardian has a list: indigenous self-governance, not enough centralised governance in Afghanistan, Bob Ellis, speaking in generalities about the pressures of parenting, helping Greece and the IMF, “class warfare” by ALP, sexist LNP menu, union remarks about Peta Credlin, saying we’d reopen Manus Island without talking with PNG first. Some Budget Emergency Jeremy Has Things To Say That Are Probably Obvious: if you’re the wealthy class & you want to cut services for the poor, what do you do? You exaggerate how well things are going & give your mates tax cuts (Costello). Then, you exaggerate how badly things are going, say that we all have to bear the pain and cut from the poor. Then when the books look good - another lot of tax cuts for the rich. Rinse, repeat. How is this not transparent? PM Abbott tells Sydney Institute that the cuts will enable personal income tax cuts in 4-5 years (audio on Insiders) The Australian reports that Abbott has “cemented” a $4bn company tax cut in the budget as a “flagship pledge”, because THAT’S WHAT THE LIBERALS ACTUALLY STAND FOR. ABC fact-check of Bowen’s claim that Hockey’s “doubled the deficit”, which confirms that yes he has. Peter “remember the other week when my mates and I gave ourselves $8m out of the Future Fund” Costello tells Daily Telegraph readers (and the ABC gives it lead story placement) that the “deficit levy will die” because it “has no economic benefit” and was not recommended by the CoA (neglecting to mention that’s bc the CoA’s terms of reference quite deliberately did not include raising revenue) Got the impression from the News Corp papers that ordinary Australians hate the idea of raising revenue with a tax? Actually many support it - as long as they’re not from the business lobby. BCA says it’s “too harsh”, meaning it can’t be all bad. How insane we look from overseas - Bloomberg reports “Australia Considers Cuts to Rein in Second-Smallest Debt”, quoting an NZ analyist sufficiently out of the Oz media bubble to point this out: “The Commission is being used by the new Australian government as a vehicle to allow for the slaughtering of a few sacred cows, and to give the Treasurer the cover he needs to put through some difficult and unpopular decisions,” Sean Keane, an Auckland-based analyst at Triple T Consulting and the former head of Asia-Pacific rates trading at Credit Suisse Group AG, wrote in a note yesterday. “The fiscal impact of government activity on the Australian economy is likely to be more contractionary than expected for the next couple of years, further reducing the need for the RBA to move interest rates higher.” More commentary: Greg Jericho describes “The Commission of Audit in a nutshell: ideology over evidence”. Andrew Elder calls it The Commission of Magical Thinking. Even the Courier Mail publishes an opinion piece noting that “Joe Hockey is using to sell the need for austerity is built on falsehood” The Guardian suddenly realises what the Liberals mean when they say their regime is “open for business” And Paul Sheehan tries very hard to ignore the Costello tax cuts and Hockey’s spending and Rupert’s ripoff, and blame the “deficit” all on stimulus spending Time to pay, ordinary Australians NewStart to be blocked fr