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Talking Politics
- Thread starter Legends of 2017
- Start date
Don't want to sully the Gough thread by saying how much this sad day makes me think how far Australian politics has gone down the gutter when forgettable weasels like Abbott and Shorten are leading both stinkhole parties.
Libs at it again, or just a really slow news day?
Government's free plug for Tourism Minister Andrew Robb's family restaurant
Date: October 22, 2014 - 7:53PM
James Massola
Political correspondent
A Sydney restaurant owned by Tourism Minister Andrew Robb and his family is being promoted by a government-funded $40 million, 18-month Tourism Australia campaign that targets 17 key global markets to sell the Australian "foodie" experience to the world.
The Robb family restaurant, Boathouse Palm Beach, is showcased on Tourism Australia's "Restaurant Australia" website, which was launched in May, as the "ultimate day trip destination" just an hour from Sydney and the "perfect place for a relaxed family outing".
The $40 million campaign has recently been launched in Britain, Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong, while more than 80 of the world's leading food and wine "influencers" – including actress Gwyneth Paltrow, celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal and English food critic A.A. Gill – will be flown to Australia to sample featured restaurants.
A spokesman for Tourism Australia said any restaurant or cafe could submit their restaurant to feature on the government-funded website and that "the best of these experiences have then been curated by Tourism Australia".
Tourism Australia has featured about 800 restaurants, cafes and wineries – with photos and rave reviews – on the promotional website, with 1700 businesses overall listed.
There were, according to the June 2013 Bureau of Statistics data, 69,885 restaurants, cafes, takeaway shops, pubs and bars in Australia.
Mr Robb, who is widely regarded as one of the Abbott government's best-performed ministers, declares a half ownership of two unnamed cafes and a wedding reception venue in his Register of Members' of Interests entry.
The ownership stake is declared in a section that covers "any other interests where a conflict of interest with a member's public duties could foreseeably arise". Mr Robb has noted in his declaration that the stake could be "relevant to my responsibility as Minister for Tourism".
Another section of the declaration reveals that Mr Robb has a shareholding in Boathouse Palm Beach Collective Pty Ltd, the parent company of the Palm Beach restaurant as well two other restaurants – the Boathouse at Balmoral Beach and Moby Dicks at Whale Beach.
Mr Robb declares that he and his wife Maureen are beneficiaries of Ram Consultancy Pty Ltd, a family trust. Australian Securities and Investments Commission records confirm that Ram Consultancy owns 150 of the 300 shares in the Boathouse Palm Beach Collective, with the other 150 shares held by Goldsmith Investment Corporation.
Andrew Goldsmith and Mr Robb's daughter, Pip Robb, are the director and secretary respectively of the Boathouse Palm Beach Collective and run the three restaurants.
Mr Robb led a 300-person-strong business delegation to India last month that, in part, showcased the Restaurant Australia campaign being run by Tourism Australia.
A spokesman for Mr Robb said the minister had "fully complied with all requirements in disclosing his interests on the members' register".
"This has the look of a dirt-digging exercise," the spokesman said. "Mr Robb had nothing to do with the listing, full-stop, nor is he director of the business, for very good reason. Restaurant Australia is an industry-wide promotion with 1700 businesses registered and around 800 businesses have been selected by Tourism Australia for a feature page."
Sydney Morning Herald restaurant reviewer Terry Durack in 2011 gave the Boathouse 13 out of 20. While he noted "service gets scatty under pressure", he said "this is just the sort of casual yet professional beachside dining for which Australia should be famous".
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/governments-free-plug-for-tourism-minister-andrew-robbs-family-restaurant-20141022-11a0y5.html#ixzz3GtGY6VHt
Government's free plug for Tourism Minister Andrew Robb's family restaurant
Date: October 22, 2014 - 7:53PM
James Massola
Political correspondent
A Sydney restaurant owned by Tourism Minister Andrew Robb and his family is being promoted by a government-funded $40 million, 18-month Tourism Australia campaign that targets 17 key global markets to sell the Australian "foodie" experience to the world.
The Robb family restaurant, Boathouse Palm Beach, is showcased on Tourism Australia's "Restaurant Australia" website, which was launched in May, as the "ultimate day trip destination" just an hour from Sydney and the "perfect place for a relaxed family outing".
The $40 million campaign has recently been launched in Britain, Singapore, South Korea and Hong Kong, while more than 80 of the world's leading food and wine "influencers" – including actress Gwyneth Paltrow, celebrity chef Heston Blumenthal and English food critic A.A. Gill – will be flown to Australia to sample featured restaurants.
A spokesman for Tourism Australia said any restaurant or cafe could submit their restaurant to feature on the government-funded website and that "the best of these experiences have then been curated by Tourism Australia".
Tourism Australia has featured about 800 restaurants, cafes and wineries – with photos and rave reviews – on the promotional website, with 1700 businesses overall listed.
There were, according to the June 2013 Bureau of Statistics data, 69,885 restaurants, cafes, takeaway shops, pubs and bars in Australia.
Mr Robb, who is widely regarded as one of the Abbott government's best-performed ministers, declares a half ownership of two unnamed cafes and a wedding reception venue in his Register of Members' of Interests entry.
The ownership stake is declared in a section that covers "any other interests where a conflict of interest with a member's public duties could foreseeably arise". Mr Robb has noted in his declaration that the stake could be "relevant to my responsibility as Minister for Tourism".
Another section of the declaration reveals that Mr Robb has a shareholding in Boathouse Palm Beach Collective Pty Ltd, the parent company of the Palm Beach restaurant as well two other restaurants – the Boathouse at Balmoral Beach and Moby Dicks at Whale Beach.
Mr Robb declares that he and his wife Maureen are beneficiaries of Ram Consultancy Pty Ltd, a family trust. Australian Securities and Investments Commission records confirm that Ram Consultancy owns 150 of the 300 shares in the Boathouse Palm Beach Collective, with the other 150 shares held by Goldsmith Investment Corporation.
Andrew Goldsmith and Mr Robb's daughter, Pip Robb, are the director and secretary respectively of the Boathouse Palm Beach Collective and run the three restaurants.
Mr Robb led a 300-person-strong business delegation to India last month that, in part, showcased the Restaurant Australia campaign being run by Tourism Australia.
A spokesman for Mr Robb said the minister had "fully complied with all requirements in disclosing his interests on the members' register".
"This has the look of a dirt-digging exercise," the spokesman said. "Mr Robb had nothing to do with the listing, full-stop, nor is he director of the business, for very good reason. Restaurant Australia is an industry-wide promotion with 1700 businesses registered and around 800 businesses have been selected by Tourism Australia for a feature page."
Sydney Morning Herald restaurant reviewer Terry Durack in 2011 gave the Boathouse 13 out of 20. While he noted "service gets scatty under pressure", he said "this is just the sort of casual yet professional beachside dining for which Australia should be famous".
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/governments-free-plug-for-tourism-minister-andrew-robbs-family-restaurant-20141022-11a0y5.html#ixzz3GtGY6VHt
Kill two birds with one stone. Good to see that dodgy Intralot finally depart along with Dan the Dill's reputation and election chances go down the drain.
I've always loved playing Keno, but never liked when Tatts sold it to this Greek company Intralot who for some reason limited the maximum winnings in some Spot games.
Nearly every outlet I played Keno at had technical problems with the system they used and just couldn't work it out. Good to see Tatts take the game back. Well done Napthine.
I've always loved playing Keno, but never liked when Tatts sold it to this Greek company Intralot who for some reason limited the maximum winnings in some Spot games.
Nearly every outlet I played Keno at had technical problems with the system they used and just couldn't work it out. Good to see Tatts take the game back. Well done Napthine.
http://m.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/petrol-prices-to-go-up-as-government-increases-fuel-excise-despite-rise-being-blocked-by-parliament-20141028-11cumj.html
I thought the Coalition was all about small government? :rofl
I thought the Coalition was all about small government? :rofl
rosy23 said:
They will be driving even less in the future too as they won't be able to afford to go to uni. Or the doctors.
Good result, as it will lead to less legislation creation. Nothing worse than politicians with free reign to run amuck.
Is that a play on words given the pig post above, or did you mean 'run amok'?Giardiasis said:
Good article/ letter from a new Senator
Dear Bill Shorten: you're the opposition leader, not me. It's time to drop your soft bipartisanship
I can’t oppose the government alone. Shorten needs to realise that legislator’s remorse doesn’t make up for Labor’s weak opposition to national security creep
David Leyonhjelm
theguardian.com, Thursday 6 November 2014 13.12 AEST
‘Labor once had a fine tradition of defending civil liberties. What happened to that?’ Photograph: Mike Bowers
Dear Bill Shorten, I’d like a word.
Leading the opposition, in case you haven’t noticed, is your job. So could you do it, please? I’m not the opposition leader, despite the fact that the media keep pretending I am.
Don’t get me wrong, I admired the way you faced down the Australian Christian Lobby on marriage equality, but in your position, once is not enough. If you don’t stand up for civil liberties, we will soon have no liberties left to defend.
At the moment I’m the only consistent defender of civil liberties in the current parliament. On 35P and journalists going to jail, 18C and people choosing to be offended, or super-secret search warrants that cannot be mentioned, I am the only one to have raised objections each time.
Of course, there are people in all parties who agree with me, but they’re either unwilling to speak up, or are selective about their concerns. I’ve also had minimal support from the Coalition media commentariat, who don’t seem to understand that their “team” will not always be in power. I’m left to do it, and I’m sick of it.
Your desire to avoid being seen as “soft” on terror has led to a situation where you’re competing with Tony Abbott to see who has the hairiest chest, and since we’ve all seen Tony in his budgie smugglers, this is a competition you are destined to lose.
It’s time to drop the bipartisanship, particularly on the data retention proposals. These have nothing to do with national security and everything to do with allowing every busy-body who works for the government to snoop on ordinary citizens.
I’d like you to tell the Australian people that until the European court of justice struck down the EU’s 2006 data retention directive earlier this year, the equivalent legislation in the UK to Australia’s data retention bill was used to chase people for things like minor welfare fraud, littering, and dog fouling. Yes, I know that standing in dog *smile* isn’t fun, but spying on perpetrators isn’t going to help defeat Islamists either.
Data retention will not bother the technically competent and those who hide in the recesses of the “DarkNet”. It will catch the journalist who finds the odd leak and the parliamentarian who wanders into a brothel with his iPhone switched on. Thanks to the wonders of GPS, the Chinese will know every Australian politician’s geographic foibles for the previous two years.
And I’m sure the ATO and the ACCC will love data retention as much as their counterparts did in the UK. In fact, I’m fairly sure it will be used to spy on petrol stations in the ongoing “bowser wars”.
Your bipartisanship on national security is also galling because it is stopping the Senate from functioning as Australia’s house of review. During my first week as a senator, in early July, you may recall inviting me to meet with you and Penny Wong, where you stressed the importance of allowing the Senate to do its job and not curtailing debate.
This bipartisanship meant that last Wednesday, a number of useful amendments to the risible, illiberal foreign fighters bill were voted down without a single word of debate. This happened because on Tuesday, Labor agreed to the government’s guillotine motion.
Only now, after passage of that bill into law, have you written to Abbott, asking him to “please reconsider” both tranches of the national security legislation. Only in the hurly-burly of the chamber in the midst of a sitting week did you let your shadow attorney general produce some decent quality amendments.
I doubt that any amount of legislator’s remorse will be of much help to the people who discover they have been criminalised.
I urge you to lead the alternative government, the government-in-waiting. Labor once had a fine tradition of defending civil liberties. What happened to that? Just because the Coalition is struggling in the polls at the moment doesn’t mean victory in the next election will drop into your lap like a ripe plum off a branch.
I know the scene at the end of Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus – where lots of people stand up and claim to be Spartacus – is one of the great cinematic moments, but that’s not how Australian politics works. You are the leader of the opposition. You need to stand up and be counted.
http://gu.com/p/434bp
Dear Bill Shorten: you're the opposition leader, not me. It's time to drop your soft bipartisanship
I can’t oppose the government alone. Shorten needs to realise that legislator’s remorse doesn’t make up for Labor’s weak opposition to national security creep
David Leyonhjelm
theguardian.com, Thursday 6 November 2014 13.12 AEST
‘Labor once had a fine tradition of defending civil liberties. What happened to that?’ Photograph: Mike Bowers
Dear Bill Shorten, I’d like a word.
Leading the opposition, in case you haven’t noticed, is your job. So could you do it, please? I’m not the opposition leader, despite the fact that the media keep pretending I am.
Don’t get me wrong, I admired the way you faced down the Australian Christian Lobby on marriage equality, but in your position, once is not enough. If you don’t stand up for civil liberties, we will soon have no liberties left to defend.
At the moment I’m the only consistent defender of civil liberties in the current parliament. On 35P and journalists going to jail, 18C and people choosing to be offended, or super-secret search warrants that cannot be mentioned, I am the only one to have raised objections each time.
Of course, there are people in all parties who agree with me, but they’re either unwilling to speak up, or are selective about their concerns. I’ve also had minimal support from the Coalition media commentariat, who don’t seem to understand that their “team” will not always be in power. I’m left to do it, and I’m sick of it.
Your desire to avoid being seen as “soft” on terror has led to a situation where you’re competing with Tony Abbott to see who has the hairiest chest, and since we’ve all seen Tony in his budgie smugglers, this is a competition you are destined to lose.
It’s time to drop the bipartisanship, particularly on the data retention proposals. These have nothing to do with national security and everything to do with allowing every busy-body who works for the government to snoop on ordinary citizens.
I’d like you to tell the Australian people that until the European court of justice struck down the EU’s 2006 data retention directive earlier this year, the equivalent legislation in the UK to Australia’s data retention bill was used to chase people for things like minor welfare fraud, littering, and dog fouling. Yes, I know that standing in dog *smile* isn’t fun, but spying on perpetrators isn’t going to help defeat Islamists either.
Data retention will not bother the technically competent and those who hide in the recesses of the “DarkNet”. It will catch the journalist who finds the odd leak and the parliamentarian who wanders into a brothel with his iPhone switched on. Thanks to the wonders of GPS, the Chinese will know every Australian politician’s geographic foibles for the previous two years.
And I’m sure the ATO and the ACCC will love data retention as much as their counterparts did in the UK. In fact, I’m fairly sure it will be used to spy on petrol stations in the ongoing “bowser wars”.
Your bipartisanship on national security is also galling because it is stopping the Senate from functioning as Australia’s house of review. During my first week as a senator, in early July, you may recall inviting me to meet with you and Penny Wong, where you stressed the importance of allowing the Senate to do its job and not curtailing debate.
This bipartisanship meant that last Wednesday, a number of useful amendments to the risible, illiberal foreign fighters bill were voted down without a single word of debate. This happened because on Tuesday, Labor agreed to the government’s guillotine motion.
Only now, after passage of that bill into law, have you written to Abbott, asking him to “please reconsider” both tranches of the national security legislation. Only in the hurly-burly of the chamber in the midst of a sitting week did you let your shadow attorney general produce some decent quality amendments.
I doubt that any amount of legislator’s remorse will be of much help to the people who discover they have been criminalised.
I urge you to lead the alternative government, the government-in-waiting. Labor once had a fine tradition of defending civil liberties. What happened to that? Just because the Coalition is struggling in the polls at the moment doesn’t mean victory in the next election will drop into your lap like a ripe plum off a branch.
I know the scene at the end of Stanley Kubrick’s Spartacus – where lots of people stand up and claim to be Spartacus – is one of the great cinematic moments, but that’s not how Australian politics works. You are the leader of the opposition. You need to stand up and be counted.
http://gu.com/p/434bp
Had cause to have a quick look at the Biography of Nova Peris on the official ALP website over the last few weeks.
http://www.alp.org.au/nova_peris
She has certainly had an interesting and full life.
One thing that struck me though is the last paragraph where it is claimed she is the first indigenous Australian elected to federal parliament. This seems a bit respectful to Neville Bonner, Ken Wyatt and Aden Ridgeway who were all elected before her (and in the case of Bonner some 40 years before in 1972). Not sure why political parties make fundamental errors of this type to claim history that is incorrect.
http://www.alp.org.au/nova_peris
She has certainly had an interesting and full life.
One thing that struck me though is the last paragraph where it is claimed she is the first indigenous Australian elected to federal parliament. This seems a bit respectful to Neville Bonner, Ken Wyatt and Aden Ridgeway who were all elected before her (and in the case of Bonner some 40 years before in 1972). Not sure why political parties make fundamental errors of this type to claim history that is incorrect.
