Turnbull rolls over "again" to the ultra right

the fixer using his nous?

"Government trying to wreck higher education, says Senate.

In what is unmistakeably a significant condemnation of the Abbott Government, the Senate has labelled the Government’s hiring of consultants to do its bidding for the deregulation of universities as a significant waste of public resources in its attempts to “wreck” public higher education.

At a cost of $150,000, Education Minister Pyne has hired the curiously named Nous Group to “test the broad range of ideas currently being put forward by various stakeholders, including senators and members”. Cutting through the jargon this simply means that consultants have been hired to try and find a way to push through the higher education reforms which have already been rejected twice by the Senate.

The Greens-backed motion was blunt: “This spending is a significant waste of public resources at a time when the government is inflicting huge cuts to public services such as health and education. [The Senate] calls on the Abbott Government to stop wasting public resources in its attempts to wreck public higher education in Australia.”

Campus Review reports Greens higher education spokesperson Senator Lee Rhiannon as saying that if Christopher Pyne could not accept the Senate’s wishes, “he should step aside and let someone else do his job”.

An obvious question which arises from the spending of public funds to enable consultants to engage with industry stakeholders is which stakeholders will be consulted? Neither NTEU, the only organisation representing the interests of staff, nor the National Union of Students, the only organisation representing the collective voice of students, have been or are due to be consulted. It seems that the Nous Group has insufficient nous to figure out that staff and students are significant stakeholders in the higher education sector. "

Updated list of accusations used by the coalition against those who disagreed with them over the past week;

Traitors.
Racists.
Saboteurs.
Vigilantes.
Terrorists.
Communists.
Gutless.

Hey, no fear, the Managing Director and founder of Nous, Tim Orton, is a surfer

...and a Rhodes Scholar.

Hang on, he also began his consulting career in the States with these guys:

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/is-global-consulting-giant-mckinsey-evi...

http://www.bloomberg.com/bw/articles/2013-09-05/book-review-the-firm-by-...

"Thanks to the world the firm helped create, we now routinely put our faith in the idea of fixers, even when nothing seems to get fixed. "

Nothing to see here...

Lets be clear here, we want the jobs that the Adani project is expected to provide. Both Labor and Libs want this and of course us blocks up in Qld. We are hoping for several thousand jobs - in a large project like this its difficult to detail the exact number but suffice to say in the thousands. Lets get this thru and get on with it.

Tonybarber... "We want"?.... I don't want.......
Firstly, it wont be several thousand jobs.... ;
"Adani's own expert, Jerome Fahrer from ACIL Allen. Dr Fahrer conceded 1464 jobs would be created. What's more, Adani has been laying off workers, as Fairfax Media revealed recently, including its project manager Parsons Brinckerhoff and most of the staff in its Brisbane office."
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/adani-mine-a-20...

So with layoffs, we'll go with 1200...... That's a fair way off the 10 000 Abbott and co' have been saying...

Now secondly, it's not like tomatoes.... The coal isn't gonna "go off"..... It'll still be there.....Money in the bank....

Lastly, from the same article; "Queensland government's own Treasury officials raised serious concerns about the project's viability and Adani's corporate transparency, and you have a whole lot of problems that have nothing to do with a skink and a snake."

"Corporate transparency"..... Now there's a topic.....
If it's about "jobs" tony Barber, perhaps the Kirra Marina should go ahead, right? ;)
I mean screw bio diversity in the outback....

SheepD…you don't live in Rocky or Gladstone, so maybe go there to see whats its like. If you can't then trust me blokes want work and this Adani project will help. I suggest the 'thousands of jobs' figure from both Abbott and Palaszczuk includes other associate industries not just Adani. Kirra has got nothing to do with this and I don't believe your that naive to suggest it is.

Barbs, the Libs narrative is "jobs jobs jobs and screw the environment", right? In fact they are going so far as to want to change environmental laws for jobs jobs jobs..... So my hypothetical re' Kirra is apt.... I could pretend to be Abbott and say "look, we have lots of surf breaks (lizards).... Just up the road there are at least 6 or 7 lizards, I mean surf breaks... Burleigh, Currumbin, greenmount, rainbow, dbah.... All great skinks, I mean breaks.... So these surfing Vigilantes, these job Saboteurs. they just dont want jobs and growth..... The Kirra marina will create 10 000 jobs, not to mention all the other secondary jobs which the Gold coast is crying out for....."
So, Barbs..... that's what i meant...... And you know, that outrageous devils advocate argument I have just used for the marina would go down a treat with the tracy grimshaw watching conservative nincumpoop boomers....
.

most important point there is #7

even india are focussing so much on renewables they dont expect to need the coal in five years time.

not to mention the whole profitability thing and royalties clause

tonybarber you really are a sttange little character, but you just keep right on fighting for your mining brothers and comrades, we all have to follow our beliefs and fight the good fight

i don't see how they will finish the infrastructure in five years

Point number 7 is a furphy ..... There are loopholes.... And Adani has a background with loopholes....

http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2013-04-09/news/38404496_1_...

Also, India has shown no slow down in coal consumption, in fact the opposite, and the only reason imports may reduce will be due to self sufficiency...
http://www.dnaindia.com/money/report-coal-india-may-exceed-production-ta...

I have no problem with coal... This is where I differ from Floyd, BB, and co..... But I do have a problem with riding rough shot over environmental law, and labeling those protecting endangered species through use of the law as "Saboteurs" and "Vigilantes"...

That coal isn't going anywhere.... What's wrong with keeping it in the ground till' all environmental factors are covered? .... Nothing, I'd say......

Correct Sypkan, pay attention to point #7. Years ago I gave up debating or scrutinising the truth of Anthropogenic Global Warming, 'cos the cold hard fact is that, human induced or not, the world is moving away from coal and fossil fuels. Australia, if it is to be a 'clever country' - scary quote marks intentional - has to perceive this change, fully understand it, and then position ourselves in readiness. A part of that is casting our minds into the future to see what will be viable, 'cos exorbitant old world infrastructure sure won't be.

As a political aside: there is an angle there if Tony and The Libs wanted to pursue it. They could have a 'climate change agenda' - i.e cap and trade scheme, or other market-based pricing mechanism - without actually believing in the environmental theory of climate change. All they have to believe is that the rest of the world is moving a certain direction and that it is in our best interest to move in lockstep - which of course it is. It's an easy point to marry with Liberal beliefs, but I suspect the lobby groups mightn't agree.

Back to Adani: the jobs issue is a concern - Australia needs more jobs. But we don't need more coalminers for the same reason we don't need more blacksmiths or fletchers.

Abbott debates himself:

Tony Abbott: I think that the science is far from settled but on the insurance principle you are prepared to take reasonable precautions against significant potential risks, and that’s I think why it makes sense to have an ETS.

Tony Abbott: I think there are all sorts of ways of paying for this that don’t involve a great big new tax that we will live with forever.

Tony Abbott: There is much to be said for an emissions trading scheme. It was, after all, the mechanism for emission reduction ultimately chosen by the Howard government.

Tony Abbott: What we need is environmental direct action. We need action which is actually going to make a difference. What we don’t need is a whopping great new tax masquerading as a green measure.

Tony Abbott: The Howard government proposed an emissions trading scheme because this seemed the best way to obtain the highest emission reduction at the lowest cost… On the other hand, artificially created markets could be especially open to manipulation… For this reason, many now think that a carbon charge scheme directed at the least environmentally efficient producers would be simpler and fairer than an emissions trading scheme.

Tony Abbott: We have a policy to reduce emissions, not just to make them more expensive.

Tony Abbott: In the absence of wind that never stops blowing, sun that never stops shining and tides that never stop turning; in the absence of hydrogen cars; and in the absence of nuclear power stations to supply most base-load electricity, big reductions in emissions are impossible without a big increase in people’s cost of living or a significant change in their lifestyles.

Tony Abbott: The important thing is what will it do to people’s cost of living and if it drives up your cost of living it is a tax. It’s effectively an increase in the rate of GST — that’s what it is.

Tony Abbott: If Australia is greatly to reduce its carbon emissions, the price of carbon intensive products should rise. The Coalition has always been instinctively cautious about new or increased taxes. That’s one of the reasons why the former government opted for an emissions trading scheme over a straight-forward carbon tax. Still, a new tax would be the intelligent skeptic’s way to deal with minimising emissions because it would be much easier than a property right to reduce or to abolish should the justification for it change.

*Taken from Tony Abbott’s biography Battlelines and speeches, media transcripts and articles since mid-2009.

Investment in renewables has dropped by over 80% in the past year in Aust. while growing in most other countries thanks to tricky Tony, that's a lot of jobs down the drain. The world has to wean itself off coal if our grandkids are to have decent life. The almighty dollar has always taken precedence over the environment under Liberal rule. If there's a buck to be made you don't stop until its depleted.
@ nick nick nick I'm not a complete dickhead, I realize there are good hard working people on both sides of politics, I was just taking the piss in good Aussie tradition. Sorry if you found my comments offensive. Cheers.

Gents … we are about jobs and there are many us workers that would like a bit of a guarantee. Seems many of you are comfortable and in no need for a consistent income to pay for the kids and mortgages and I must say a few dollars for trip to the islands. But in this case, Rocky and Glady blokes don't have much at all. The Adani project is support by both Labor and Libs. The Indians are the main people behind it. You are argue abut then number of jobs but heh we need some here and quickly.

very true there floyd and stunet regarding infrastructure its amazing seeing Indonesia bypass the capital intensive process of rolling out phone stuff and jumping straight to mobiles. now they are doing the same with internet stuff. in the backward backwater I'm in at the moment the family is enjoying TV on demand through the internet. I'm not up on these things but it seems Australia pretty much only got that last year with a big hooo haaa and fanfare launch of Stan etc. And using their wifi, it works better than the internet I get in the Oz suburds (except for the drop outs but that seems to be related to storms and power).

these countries are all going to bypass big centralised capital intensive infrastructure and have way lower overheads in the process. its been said a hundred times before but tony abbotts head really is stuck in the fifties, and this is not just regarding social issues. micro solar will give power to poor indians at least as much as coal. adani are probably just using us up as a short term coal supply while they get on with developing the real technologies for a prosperous future.

that coal mine looks like it could become the biggest white elephant in Australia's history

http://m.theage.com.au/environment/indias-adani-in-talks-with-softbank-f...

stunet…It maybe worthwhile to find out what sort of jobs are associated with a mine - its not just coalminers. Whole towns can be employed. BTW, there is RET which is set to about the middle level of what the rest of the world is doing - thats about right for our little Aus. Certainly there is a move away from coal but thats not whats the issue here - its about jobs and the fact that coal is needed world wide and we have it.

tb I'm not 'comfortable' as you woulsd define it. I lead a very simple life because of my beliefs, which in turn makes me comfortable. it's wonderful having a clear conscious by not being chained to 'the man'. you should try it sometime, though I suspect you actually are 'the man'.

I'm a little ignorant about that part of the world but haven't rocky and gladstone just enjoyed the spoils of a mining boom? I'm sure I saw a report on rockhampton having difficulties sourcing teachers and the like because the place and associated rents were booming. the nature of a boom is there will be a bust sometime, this basic reality is something Australians seem to be having real trouble coming to terms with. sorry but I have little sympathy for people who reaped the rewards of a once in a lifetime boom and weren't smart enough to plan for the downtimes, unfortunately this is what our governments have done and that is what has fucked with people's lives. I can almost guarantee you my shitty neighborhood has higher unemployment than rocky and gladstone. we didnt reap the benefits , all we enjoyed was increased prices for everything, so sorry there is very little sympathy around here. governments and councils should have been smarter!! look at fucking WA screaming poor and wanting an increase in GST, are you fucking serious???

besides old dog is correct we are missing out other jobs, smarter jobs, not braindead grunt jobs who are overpaid to drive around in their tonka trucks.

tonybarber wrote:

stunet…It maybe worthwhile to find out what sort of jobs are associated with a mine - its not just coalminers. Whole towns can be employed. BTW, there is RET which is set to about the middle level of what the rest of the world is doing - thats about right for our little Aus. Certainly there is a move away from coal but thats not whats the issue here - its about jobs and the fact that coal is needed world wide and we have it.

Qld is dotted with towns that grew around a mine, grew for relatively short periods and are now languishing as the mines close, there everywhere, coals done you don't need to read between the lines its done, finished, over. What is the point of pretending there is anything beyond a small number of short terms jobs in a dead, unsustainable industry, where is the future in that?

http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/the-aussie-towns-destroyed-by-ch...

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/surat-basin-towns-are-dyin...

http://indaily.com.au/news/2015/06/11/mining-town-devastated-as-old-ener...

http://m.dailymercury.com.au/news/latest-cq-mine-closure-means-1000-jobs...

That's qld, the hunter and other mining regions are the same, sustainable jobs? Sustainable industry? Is this what we want?

It doesn't add up Tony, there is no credibility to the claim that this is about jobs, the present libs just don't have the track record

http://www.smh.com.au/national/prime-minister-tony-abbott-cuts-14000-gov...

sypkan and maybe others …you blokes need to accept that both flavours of government want these jobs with the Adani project. Maybe read up on whats happening in central Qld … I hope your not living in a cocoon down south because they are doing it tough. There are plenty of blokes looking for jobs. Not sure what you mean by 'missing out other jobs'. Certainly are missing out if the Adani project does not run.

tonybarber wrote:

sypkan and maybe others …you blokes need to accept that both flavours of government want these jobs with the Adani project.

Could care less about bipartisanship, my thoughts on the matter aren't influenced by either party.

no cocoon tony just a community that's learnt to live within it's means. the overpaid grunts will adjust. they might even like having time on their hands after the initial shock. like manbat pointed out this is nothing new, down south has been through it too. we have ghost mine towns people move on. some would call it progress.

like stunet I don't care about labour supporting it, labor are alnost as neocon as the neocons, hence my disdain for them. coal is over tony and tony, you guys need to accept it. a small section of Qlanders might want it but I'd bet the rest of oz doesn't .

the jobs we're missing out on are the ones your mate howard pushed overseas by not supporting solar. and now your new mate abbott is doing the same undermining RET and the like, he's a fuckhead

jesus wept...I feel some more Big Lebowski comin' on

and what about floyd's list of jobs? way more than 1500 jobs there, again supported by both sides...disgusting! you tonys don't have anything to say about that. because we all know what that's about it's work choices by stealth, an attempt to undermine wages and conditions

Had real problems logging in today..... Now I'm sorta glad... ;p

tonybarber wrote:

Gents … we are about jobs and there are many us workers that would like a bit of a guarantee. Seems many of you are comfortable and in no need for a consistent income to pay for the kids and mortgages and I must say a few dollars for trip to the islands. But in this case, Rocky and Glady blokes don't have much at all. The Adani project is support by both Labor and Libs. The Indians are the main people behind it. You are argue abut then number of jobs but heh we need some here and quickly.

Pointless jobs into the future. Not unlike the timber industry. So what TB, we keep cutting down trees for the sake of jobs? Keep digging up coal for the sake of jobs? Instead of investing in the realistic future of change? Economy before the environment will see the demise of humankind. Yep, it simplistic but the reality of the situation will take over. I, along with many others have had to re-invent job status several times due to circumstances. The alternative is not an option for the sake of future generations....

Sypkan…sounds like your off the track. Im talking about getting jobs for the blokes in Qld. Adani is a fair project and offers more to the community and the surrounding towns. If this is about coal then again understand India needs it and wants it. This project has a lifetime of 60 years so maybe jobs for about two generations. There will be infrastructure built for other industries to use, so who knows where this may lead. If the comments here are about stopping digging coal then thats a different debate. If you think that way then maybe talk to the boys in Newcastle about your thoughts. To move this discussion to something other than jobs for Qld then thats arguably selfish and not in the interests of many in Qld.

Newcastle and coal have a lifetime, to invest in new projects now is just ridiculous

selfish?
ask the people in sinking islands if they think australua is selfish

ask the majority of people around the world with a carbon footprint around 3 tonnes if Australia's carbon footprint of 20 tonnes is selfish?

currently you could ask just about any country in the world if we are selfish?

and the answer would be yes thanks to abbott

that's not just about climate change, I've given up in that debate, it's about consumption tony and australia is the most selfish country in the world for pushing 1900s technology so a bunch of barely educated tonka truck drivers can maintain unsustainable lifestyles. that my friend is selfish

no one is saying stop digging coal now (well not many) but to invest in new peojects with arguably short lifespans and questionable profits is ludicrous the iinfrastructure it will supply is questionable and a problem in itself

from a wise rabbit
Not unlike the timber industry. So what TB, we keep cutting down trees for the sake of jobs? Keep digging up coal for the sake of jobs?

457 visa jobs tony?

shouldn't we sort those out first, there's a hell of a lot of jobs there

'This project has a lifetime of 60 years so maybe jobs for about two generations.' Hahahahahaha, you think in 2075 coal will be mined???????

That's great, missed the news on the great coal divestment have you?

Qld don't deserve to be shit on by more foreign companies pillaging the place and leaving behind their social and environmental mess, should ask the lads in Newcastle about it, been through the bhp industry shutdown and now its going through coal shutdowns, completely fucked the place, years of intergenerational unemployment.

Infrastructure? You mean rail lines that go from the middle of nowhere to a coal port near...nowhere? if you spoke to any Queenslander about what infrastructure they thought important for the state no one would say a rail line and a few roads up around the Galilee basin. How about working on long term sustainable industries, don't Queenslanders deserve this Tony?

@ sypkan, plenty of people are saying stop digging coal now, no, not just fringe environmentalists. Someone in each of those companies that I listed as closing mine operations has said, 'we are stopping mining coal,' now!!! Mining companies no less, saying now is the time to stop mining coal, it is unviable for us demand has fallen away and the use of the resource has no life into the future.

Gents…you may have missed my point. This is not about climate change and whatever you believe the future models provide. Its about jobs for Qld and if India wants the coal and there is no real reason why not to provide it. I trust you realise that the China Free Trade Agreement is not relevant in this one. And if you have been to Newcastle then I suggest look around - its a bloody great place with also some good surf spots. Heh, we should be helping Aus out.
Anyway all this chatter makes no difference. I would suggest Adani will go ahead. Labor in Qld will make sure of that.

tony you missed my point, it's not just about climate change, it's about having a vision, blindness and tonys go hand in hand

tony you are a selfish froot loop who left his kettle on for too long

@ Tony, no one has argued climate change or the chines fta has anything to do with this, having said that do you personally believe that political views on climate change isn't having an effect on the coal industry?

India doesn't want the coal, their own energy minister has said as much and there are plenty of reasons to leave it in the ground. You don't seem like the ABC kinda guy tony but inform yourself, there is some footage of the Indian energy minister and other policies talking about the future of energy in India...

http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2015/06/15/4253096.htm
Your comments about Newcastle are just as ignorant, I live there mate, the city is a big regional centre and is diverse enough to survive these industries walking away but they take its toll, walk down the main street mate and count the number of closed shops. The real damage is done in the smaller communities like it has done in qld and the rest of Australia, go up into the valley next time youre in the hunter enjoying our waves.tell me what a happy thriving town bulga is or Singleton or musswellbrook or kurri or abermain. These are broken communities.

Why do you think it OK to provide a small number of jobs at the expense of the environment and at the expense of the long term social health of regional communities to send the major portion of the profits from the resource overseas?

This isnt about jobs, that's been clearly illustrated. It's about t/a sloganeering because it appeals to people too lazy to think through for themselves, its proven effective time and time again for him. It's about further undermining environmental protection laws, a clear policy direction of this government. It's about making a few sly dollars for him and his mates.

those billions would have saved a lot more than 1500 manufacturing jobs.

in the age they say he's talking about tax cuts for high income earners, WTF? how can you talk about tax cuts when we have budget deficits predicted for the next twenty years?

I think they've given up on the next election, now they want to handball the mess to labor

Link please, Floyd..

Now Abbott's NBN that was gonna save us heaps of money has blown out and may cost nearly double the $29.5 billion forecast by Turnbull before the election. All that money and still running on old copper wire buried in the ground decades ago.
Think of that next time your internet speed is running slow like what happened to thermalben last week causing delays to posting his surf reports on this website.
Imagine all those businesses across the country being held back in the future by this governments crappy inferior system?
http://gu.com/p/4bmyy?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

The aim here is that Hockey is proposing to reduce income tax for low to middle income earners. Note that he is proposing only because as we know there is talk about many tax issues and the real argument (by the CPA) is that there needs to be general tax reform, including GST, online purchases, etc. The so called Adani rail line is again only an idea working with the Qld Labor Treasurer. The rail line would have to be made available for other industries and companies. Again, both governments are trying to generate more jobs - simple.

$80 million for the union witch hunt, 25 million to advertise the China free trade deal, tax cuts for the well off, etc etc. what about the so called budget emergency? The Libs are spending more and taxing more than Labor at the height of the GFC. Pity we haven't got an opposition leader who can capitalize on all of Abbotts hypocrisy.

"The former Queensland LNP government had promised hundreds of millions of dollars toward Adani's rail line if it was re-elected, provided Adani made its railway available for use by other companies that developed in the basin.

The new Labor state government took a promise to the January election that it would not contribute any finance for the rail link for the multi-billion dollar project." (Reuters)

Obscene..."As the government indicates it may support this $2.2 billion rail line, it is still declining to fund the rail link to the second Sydney airport at Badgerys Creek, estimated by the NSW government to cost $2.5 billion."

Hey old-dog Shorten seems to struggle to get any exposure. Whether it's entirely his fault is debatable though. Even the supposedly left wing ABC don't give him much air time.

I was watching ABC News 24 a few weeks back and they crossed to Bill giving a press conference. I was interested to hear what he had to say.
After less than 30 seconds the host announced that they were breaking away from that to a live feed from Japan where for the next 3 minutes there was silence as a bell was struck periodically to a static overview of a ceremony commemorating Hiroshima? I thought WTF?

They never crossed back to Shorten.

Here's a few links from Labor on proposals to crack down on corporate tax evasion and for a fairer superannuation policy.
http://www.theirfairshare.org.au/ourpolicy?utm_campaign=240815_tax&utm_m...
http://www.alp.org.au/fairer_super_plan