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Talking Politics
- Thread starter Legends of 2017
- Start date
did anyone else hear Martin Ferguson on the wireless this morning? Always thought this bloke was Labors answer to Mal Turnbull (in that, he picked the wrong team), but this morning he made me want to fair dinkum 
Hes a gun for hire for the petroleum industry these days. Santos Board reckon a farmer should have a right of veto of CSG mining on their joints. Marty reckons its the tin end of the wedge, next they'lle be letting black fellas say no to mining (slight paraphrase)
A carefully scripted good cop/bad cop routine or is Marty Ferguson entirely amoral? :don't know
Hes a gun for hire for the petroleum industry these days. Santos Board reckon a farmer should have a right of veto of CSG mining on their joints. Marty reckons its the tin end of the wedge, next they'lle be letting black fellas say no to mining (slight paraphrase)
A carefully scripted good cop/bad cop routine or is Marty Ferguson entirely amoral? :don't know
tigergollywog said:did anyone else hear Martin Ferguson on the wireless this morning? Always thought this bloke was Labors answer to Mal Turnbull (in that, he picked the wrong team), but this morning he made me want to fair dinkum
Hes a gun for hire for the petroleum industry these days. Santos Board reckon a farmer should have a right of veto of CSG mining on their joints. Marty reckons its the tin end of the wedge, next they'lle be letting black fellas say no to mining (slight paraphrase)
A carefully scripted good cop/bad cop routine or is Marty Ferguson entirely amoral? :don't know
The second one
tigergollywog said:did anyone else hear Martin Ferguson on the wireless this morning? Always thought this bloke was Labors answer to Mal Turnbull (in that, he picked the wrong team), but this morning he made me want to fair dinkum
Hes a gun for hire for the petroleum industry these days. Santos Board reckon a farmer should have a right of veto of CSG mining on their joints. Marty reckons its the tin end of the wedge, next they'lle be letting black fellas say no to mining (slight paraphrase)
A carefully scripted good cop/bad cop routine or is Marty Ferguson entirely amoral? :don't know
I actually did a doubletake wondering if it was the same Martin Ferguson. Unbelievable.
How funny was the japanese bloke pointing to the footy socks down the front of Tony Abbotts bike pants and going "oooooooooooooooooooooo"
:rofl
surely must win him a spike in the polls
:rofl
surely must win him a spike in the polls
K3 said:
I have heard the conspiracy theory . The new premier just happens to be a member of tony Abboat's surf club and close buddy.
Who knows ?
Paul Howse is unemployed now so maybe the Libs are using him as a political consultant !
Baloo said:
Yeah, maybe mate but a friend of mine, who knows some heavy hitters in NSW Labor, said to me, before O'Farrell quit, something like "he is gone and get ready for Baird to be 'voted' in to take the NSW Libs marching alongside Federal Libs a lot more than O'Farrell would ever have allowed...
tigergollywog said:did anyone else hear Martin Ferguson on the wireless this morning? Always thought this bloke was Labors answer to Mal Turnbull (in that, he picked the wrong team), but this morning he made me want to fair dinkum
Hes a gun for hire for the petroleum industry these days. Santos Board reckon a farmer should have a right of veto of CSG mining on their joints. Marty reckons its the tin end of the wedge, next they'lle be letting black fellas say no to mining (slight paraphrase)
A carefully scripted good cop/bad cop routine or is Marty Ferguson entirely amoral? :don't know
Here's a nice summary of Ferguson's anti climate change stance from Crikey's 'Dirty Dozen' articles.
The former Australian Council of Trade Unions president now says Prime Minister Tony Abbott is not going far enough in cracking down on unions. But if “the working class can kiss my arse”, he retains his old workerist loathing of environmentalism. As minister for resources and energy in the Rudd and Gillard governments he was dirty industry’s best friend in cabinet, fighting tooth and nail to protect the interests of “his” industries and carving out massive subsidies for the big polluters. And after lobbying from coal companies, Ferguson was responsible for intensifying police and ASIO spying on environmental groups.
In 2009, blogger Andrew Bolt urged Ferguson to come out of the climate sceptic “closet”. Post-parliament he is out and proud. He chairs an advisory board for APPEA, representing gas and oil companies, in which role he almost qualifies as a member of the greenhouse mafia. But as an anti-climate policy lobbyist perhaps Ferguson’s new role as executive in charge of natural resources at Kerry Stokes’ Seven Group Holdings matters more. Stokes now makes much more money from mining than from TV, principally through ownership of Caterpillar dealerships in Australia and China, supplying mining trucks to Rio Tinto, BHP and pretty much every other mining company in Australia and northern China. Seven Group Holdings’ CEO is Don Voelte, who was head-hunted last year from Woodside Petroleum, from which position he was a member of the previous Dirty Dozen.
Baloo said:
article in the paper today suggesting he appointed the bloke who gave him the wine to a board position a few weeks later.
Just made me think we had the Bush family running the country.
Gospel truth: Catholics come to power
Date April 20, 2014
Jonathan Swan and Lisa Visentin
The federal Coalition's cabinet is the most powerful collection of Catholics ever assembled in Australia, with almost half its 19 minister being members of that faith, nearly double the proportion of Catholics in the general population.
The Prime Minister, Treasurer and finance, trade, communications, education, agriculture and social services ministers are Catholics, and at least four others belong to other Christian denominations.
Asked by Fairfax Media about their Easter plans, half the Abbott cabinet confirmed they would be attending church. And while almost a quarter of the population ticked "no religion" in the 2011 census, nobody in the Coalition cabinet would admit to being an atheist.
Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, a Catholic who plans to attend four church services over the weekend, said: "I'm no saint but I try to go to all the services that are part of the Easter ritual."
The Catholicism of the Coalition has evolved over the past several decades, said John Warhurst, an expert in religion and politics at the Australian National University.
Asked whether this government was the most powerful coalition of Catholics ever assembled in Australia, Professor Warhurst said: "I don't think there's any doubt about it. Many of the same [Catholic ministers] were in the Howard cabinet . . . but they didn't enjoy the level of influence they have now."
MPs tend to be more religious than the general population, Professor Warhurst said, adding that while it was "probably a controversial point to make", he believed public service was often more highly valued by those with a religious upbringing.
He said the migration of Catholics from the Labor Party to the Democratic Labor Party and then to the Liberals happened for social and economic reasons. Catholics have become wealthier, he said, and Labor has become more secular, making it a less appealing proposition for socially conservative voters.
Another expert, author Roy Williams, said that at one stage in Robert Menzies' prime ministership there was only one Catholic Liberal member in the House of Representatives. The most striking example of the trend was during the 2009 Liberal leadership contest when all three contenders – Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Joe Hockey – consulted with Jesuit priests.
But it is difficult to trace the public policy impact of having so many Catholic ministers.
"On some issues, it's probably made the Liberal Party more conservative," Professor Warhurst said, citing issues such as same-sex marriage and opposition to euthanasia.
"It'd be an interesting sociological study," said Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews, who advocates socially conservative policies that align with his Catholicism. "For me, it's always a matter of trying to balance the economic prosperity of the nation and the market economy . . . with ensuring that we also provide that safety net for the most vulnerable in the community."
With Matt Wade and Gemma Khaicy
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/gospel-truth-catholics-come-to-power-20140419-36y46.html#ixzz2zNxaQ7P1
Gospel truth: Catholics come to power
Date April 20, 2014
Jonathan Swan and Lisa Visentin
The federal Coalition's cabinet is the most powerful collection of Catholics ever assembled in Australia, with almost half its 19 minister being members of that faith, nearly double the proportion of Catholics in the general population.
The Prime Minister, Treasurer and finance, trade, communications, education, agriculture and social services ministers are Catholics, and at least four others belong to other Christian denominations.
Asked by Fairfax Media about their Easter plans, half the Abbott cabinet confirmed they would be attending church. And while almost a quarter of the population ticked "no religion" in the 2011 census, nobody in the Coalition cabinet would admit to being an atheist.
Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce, a Catholic who plans to attend four church services over the weekend, said: "I'm no saint but I try to go to all the services that are part of the Easter ritual."
The Catholicism of the Coalition has evolved over the past several decades, said John Warhurst, an expert in religion and politics at the Australian National University.
Asked whether this government was the most powerful coalition of Catholics ever assembled in Australia, Professor Warhurst said: "I don't think there's any doubt about it. Many of the same [Catholic ministers] were in the Howard cabinet . . . but they didn't enjoy the level of influence they have now."
MPs tend to be more religious than the general population, Professor Warhurst said, adding that while it was "probably a controversial point to make", he believed public service was often more highly valued by those with a religious upbringing.
He said the migration of Catholics from the Labor Party to the Democratic Labor Party and then to the Liberals happened for social and economic reasons. Catholics have become wealthier, he said, and Labor has become more secular, making it a less appealing proposition for socially conservative voters.
Another expert, author Roy Williams, said that at one stage in Robert Menzies' prime ministership there was only one Catholic Liberal member in the House of Representatives. The most striking example of the trend was during the 2009 Liberal leadership contest when all three contenders – Tony Abbott, Malcolm Turnbull and Joe Hockey – consulted with Jesuit priests.
But it is difficult to trace the public policy impact of having so many Catholic ministers.
"On some issues, it's probably made the Liberal Party more conservative," Professor Warhurst said, citing issues such as same-sex marriage and opposition to euthanasia.
"It'd be an interesting sociological study," said Social Services Minister Kevin Andrews, who advocates socially conservative policies that align with his Catholicism. "For me, it's always a matter of trying to balance the economic prosperity of the nation and the market economy . . . with ensuring that we also provide that safety net for the most vulnerable in the community."
With Matt Wade and Gemma Khaicy
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/gospel-truth-catholics-come-to-power-20140419-36y46.html#ixzz2zNxaQ7P1
does anyone know if any bookies are giving odds on how many election promises the Libs and Abbott will break in their 1st budget?
