Australia General Discussion 4.0: It ain’t easy under Albanese

[GoTfan]

ALP member.

I failto see why the media is pushing this narrative about how Upper Hunter is a "TOTAL DISASTER FOR LABOR!!!!!" when it's a seat the Nats have held since 1910.

They weren't running the same headlines when the Liberals were defeated comprehensively in Queensland and then throroughly annihilated in WA to the pint where they no longer have official party status.

THis is what Kevin Rudd means when he talks about media bias.

[GoTfan]

The LNP has held Federal power for nineteen of the past twenty five years. The left’s offering of a mix of old time socialism and new time identity politics is voter repellent.

The ALP offers "old time socialism"?? Quite genuine LOL. And this applies still more to the NSW party, which is even by Aussie standards fantastically right wing.

Yeah. Speaking as an ALP member, not even the Left of the party is willing to embrace socialism anymore. I mean, the ALP quit Socialist International a couple of years ago.

[GoTfan]

I've filed a complaint to Sky News under Clause 3.1 of the ASTRA Code of Practice for Subscription Broadcast Television - (d) the need to take into account community concerns about depictions that condone or incite violence regarding comments Peta Credlin made yesterday. She said "There's more than enough baseball bats for both Albo and Andrews to cop a whack."

It might not seem like a lot, but it hardly helps for her to be making these sorts of comments when we have people like Avi Yemeni running around inciting people to break the law.

[GoTfan]

And a mighty good job they're doing of it. The last official poll had Victorian Labor sitting pretty on 58% 2PP.

But what bench do the Victorian Liberals have?

[GoTfan]

This is seriously f**king disturbing.

https://twitter.com/friendlyjordies/status/1404240652381016065

Some background:

friendlyjordies, real name Jordan Shanks, is a YouTube comedian. Very much pro-Labor, and attacks Liberal/National corruption wherever he finds it.

Recently, he's made an ongoing series of videos showcasing the textbook corruption of NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro. His stories of Barilaro's corruption date back to a sort of mini-documentary called 'Secret Dictatorship' about a town called Narrandera that exists in a Nationals electorate. Since then, he's been going after the man, and hard.

Recently, Barilaro escalated it to a lawsuit. Shanks was fully prepared to go to court, and had lawyered up with Mark Davis, a Gold Walkely winner and now law partners with former SA Senator Nick Xenophon.

Things underwent a dramatic escalation as plain clothes officer from the Fixated Persons Unit, a sub-unit of the NSW Police's counterterrorism division, arrested Kristo Langker, Shanks' producer, at his home. Langkor attempted to hand his phone to his mother, and then the officer in charge apparently lost it, bowling over Langker's 51-year old arthritic mother and nearly killing his dog. What prompted this? Langker had earlier in the month attempted to hand the lawsuit papers back to Barilaro for corrections as the man was supposedly exiting a funeral, though I find this unlikely as video evidence suggest they were near Macquarie University. Langker attends classes there regularly.

The FPU was set up in the aftermath of the Lindt Cafe Siege to monitor individuals deemed at risk of committing 'lone wolf' terrorist attacks. Shanks and Langker do not fall into this category. What's more, Langkor has been handed extremely strict and unusual bail conditions, which forbid him from participating in the making of Shanks' videos. It also appears that the police statement given alleging Barilaro's version of events is riddled with outright lies.

This, Avi Yemeni, is what an actual police state looks like. Sending a specialised unit of the counterterrorism division to arrest someone who has been openly critical of Barilaro and exposed his corruption to Australia on false pretense.

I've donated to Shanks' legal fund already.

[GoTfan]

Update on the friendlyjordies situation: Langker has been schedule to appear in court on the 24th. That wuld be the 23rd for anyone living in the States.

[GoTfan]

Financial Review reports that Joyce is planning another challenge against McCormack, allegedly set to go off on Monday. The trigger is ScoMo's perceived endorsement of Net Zero emissions by 2050 at the G7, a policy Nationals cannot abide. McCormack's standard weak performance as Acting PM didn't help him either, as he melted under the pressure from the opposition as he always does. This would be yet another coup right in the killing season, the last week of sitting in June before the long winter recess. This very week was when both Rudd and Gillard were toppled.

www.afr.com/politics/federal/joyce-prepares-to-move-on-mccormack-20210619-p582f5

Why are the Nationals so against any form of climate legislation? The rural communities are already getting hit hard by extreme heatwaves and teprestures that go above 50.

[GoTfan]

The media are now all reporting Barnaby has won back the leadership per sources, with the official announcement expected imminently.

Edit: Damian Drum makes it official. And this means Barnaby will be Acting PM for Question Time.

Come on Albo, don't let them off the hook . . .

[GoTfan]

Oh well now, ain't this interesting . . .

https://twitter.com/abc730/status/1414153429585260548

Taken from the ABC's key points on this artcle:

• Australia contracted Pfizer for 40 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to be delivered by the end of the year
• In late June, senior business figures sought to make contact with Pfizer to find out if it was possible to bring forward vaccine deliveries to Australia
• Senior Pfizer executives told one senior Australian businessman that former prime minister Kevin Rudd could have some influence in Scott Morrison's absence

[GoTfan]

Personally, I think the only reason ScoMo's pursuing this is pure electoral politics. His government is scandal-ridden, with an alleged rapist serving on the frontbench and still refusing to act on anything actually important, so I'd betmy house on him purusing this purely so he can beat the China war drums in the election next year.

Speaking as someone on the ground in SA too, a lot of people are pretty uneasy at the prospect of anything nuclear being built in Australia, and particularly here, since Adelaide and many of its suburbs are on a fault line.

[GoTfan]

This is perhaps one of the dumbest memes I've seen on this site.

[GoTfan]

So now alledged "progressives" are tweeting "Thin Blue Line" and "Thank You Vic Pol" style nonsense.

This is good as it means I feel comfortable knowing who would tell the Nazis about Anne Frank.

Don't f(inks)ing compare victims of a genocide to a bunch of selfish, entitled whingers who decided to rush a police line because "COVID ISN'T REAL WAKE UP SHEEPLE!!!!!"

[GoTfan]

This is perhaps one of the dumbest memes I've seen on this site.

"This arrangement would witness a further dramatic loss of Australian sovereignty, as material dependency on the United States robbed Australia of any freedom or choice in any engagement Australia may deem appropriate," Keating said.

However, former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd, who is also president of the Asia Society, cautioned the Morrison government against direct criticism of China.

"It is too overt in the way in which it uses its language on these questions," Mr Rudd told 730.

So AUKUS is a dramatic loss of Australian sovereignty, while being afraid to directly criticize China isn’t? Or is the U.S. the only country Australia isn’t allowed to cooperate with?

Grow a brain and realise what the actual reason for it is.

Morrison is leading a government ridden by scandal after scandal despite Murdoch covering his back 24/7 and knows he can't win the next election. The only way he can win is by yelling the words "Labor" and "China" in the same sentence as many times as he can.

That's literally it.

[GoTfan]

This is perhaps one of the dumbest memes I've seen on this site.

"This arrangement would witness a further dramatic loss of Australian sovereignty, as material dependency on the United States robbed Australia of any freedom or choice in any engagement Australia may deem appropriate," Keating said.

However, former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd, who is also president of the Asia Society, cautioned the Morrison government against direct criticism of China.

"It is too overt in the way in which it uses its language on these questions," Mr Rudd told 730.

So AUKUS is a dramatic loss of Australian sovereignty, while being afraid to directly criticize China isn’t? Or is the U.S. the only country Australia isn’t allowed to cooperate with?

Grow a brain and realise what the actual reason for it is.

Morrison is leading a government ridden by scandal after scandal despite Murdoch covering his back 24/7 and knows he can't win the next election. The only way he can win is by yelling the words "Labor" and "China" in the same sentence as many times as he can.

That's literally it.

It doesn’t take a brain to consider that both possibilities are accurate: it is both a brilliant strategic move and a Coalition electoral ploy.

At the same time, the positions of the two former Labor PM’s and the Greens seem dodgy. I’m certain opposing the Americans and supporting the Chinese will be the electoral magic needed to finally dislodge the Coalition (long overdue) oh wait no it seems like the opposite of that

Okay, well again, Morrison would not have made this decision if he was behind in the polls. It's pretty blatant this was a purely political decision and nothing else.

Get out of your stupid "MURICA NUMBER ONE!!!" mindset for five seconds and realise that maybe not everyone sees you as saints.

[GoTfan]

Pacifism is a suicide squad. The conchies got exactly what they deserved during WWI

Nuclear war leads to suicide as well.

That prospect seems to be lost on a lot of people here.

[GoTfan]

My great grandfather who fought on the Western Front would regard your defeatism with rightful contempt…

This is another thing that ticks me off. Criticising people for being overly hawkish or pursuing arguably stupid measures in an attempt to win an election is not defeatism.

We do not live in the wolrd of WW1 anymore. We live in a world where the push of a button can literally destroy humanity, so maybe we need to stop approaching this as a zero-sum game?

[GoTfan]

This is perhaps one of the dumbest memes I've seen on this site.

"This arrangement would witness a further dramatic loss of Australian sovereignty, as material dependency on the United States robbed Australia of any freedom or choice in any engagement Australia may deem appropriate," Keating said.

However, former Labor prime minister Kevin Rudd, who is also president of the Asia Society, cautioned the Morrison government against direct criticism of China.

"It is too overt in the way in which it uses its language on these questions," Mr Rudd told 730.

So AUKUS is a dramatic loss of Australian sovereignty, while being afraid to directly criticize China isn’t? Or is the U.S. the only country Australia isn’t allowed to cooperate with?

Grow a brain and realise what the actual reason for it is.

Morrison is leading a government ridden by scandal after scandal despite Murdoch covering his back 24/7 and knows he can't win the next election. The only way he can win is by yelling the words "Labor" and "China" in the same sentence as many times as he can.

That's literally it.

It doesn’t take a brain to consider that both possibilities are accurate: it is both a brilliant strategic move and a Coalition electoral ploy.

At the same time, the positions of the two former Labor PM’s and the Greens seem dodgy. I’m certain opposing the Americans and supporting the Chinese will be the electoral magic needed to finally dislodge the Coalition (long overdue) oh wait no it seems like the opposite of that

Okay, well again, Morrison would not have made this decision if he was behind in the polls. It's pretty blatant this was a purely political decision and nothing else.

Get out of your stupid "MURICA NUMBER ONE!!!" mindset for five seconds and realise that maybe not everyone sees you as saints.

So the highly aggressive foreign policy China has undertaken under Xi plays no role in it? Because that’s been mentioned in the news stories about this.

Hmm an insult and a false dichotomy all in one. How about you get out of your mindset that the US is wrong in everything and that China isn’t? On every objective standard except whatever the hell the far left and far right come up with the US aren’t  saints but we’re much, much, better than China. Ask a Tibetan or an Uighur about that.

Again, because Morrison can't win an election on anything else. It's an objective fact that the media in this country is steadfastly loyal to the Coalition, and have pretty much been running as much interference as posdible, including screaming "CHINA!!" every time someone brings up a concern.

I find it incredibly disturbing that both the US and China seem eager to start a nuclear war, but I have less faith in the US to avoid it because their foreign policy shifts every 4-8 years.

[GoTfan]

Tuesday Protests against mandated vaccination of construction workers.

Melbourne West Gate Bridge

https://youtu.be/NfviRZCBCW4

Monday Protests against the same thing outside the headquarters of the CFMEU.

CFMEU left wing nutcase interviewed by right wing nutcase Avi Yemini with 1.5M (?) subscribers.

Right Wing Journo Interviews Left Wing Man Babies

https://youtu.be/Z90GasxpcXg?t=420

Then the Police shot rubber  unless at both sets of Union members.

ABC News summed it up well:

"Victoria's construction industry has been forced to shut for the next two weeks.

With some estimates putting the cost above $2 billion, it's a supremely expensive example of adults being told to do something, not doing it, and then – in shocked disbelief at the injustice of it all – being sent to the naughty corner."


https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-09-21/victorian-construction-ban-avoidable-and-costly/100479272

By now it's apparent that a lot of these people are right-wing extremists.

[GoTfan]

Australia is already unable to freely have a Beijing policy of its choosing.
Canberra is reliant on China for its livelihood and must tread carefully.

The current tariffs they've imposed on us are costing us $20 billion AUD, and are particularly hitting farmers and the wine industry hard, and in SA, we rely on the wine industry heavily for tourism from the rest of the world.

[GoTfan]

Australia is already unable to freely have a Beijing policy of its choosing.
Canberra is reliant on China for its livelihood and must tread carefully.

The current tariffs they've imposed on us are costing us $20 billion AUD, and are particularly hitting farmers and the wine industry hard, and in SA, we rely on the wine industry heavily for tourism from the rest of the world.

Seems unwise to escalate things even further.

The China thing started with the release of the Brereton Report, which detailed war crimes committed by Australian forces in Afghanistan. A spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry shared a quite horribly offensive image on Twitter, then doubled down on it. That was the first part. Morriosn tried to get his own back by talking about the origins of COVID-19 and the bat market in China. China then decided to respond by instituting tariffs on a whole heap of goods we ship to them, which has played poorly with farmers who rely in the Chinese market.

However, there is a sizable chunk of the Australian electorate that is extremely xenophobic and specifically, Sinophobic. Morrison, with his scandal-ridden government and the coming of age of a generation that has been heavily engaged in climate activism for the last three years in time for the next election, is leaning into this sinophobia as much as he can.

I've said it before and I'll say it again: he would not have pursued this deal with the US if he did not have a way to gain something politically out of it.

For the record, Morrison's own record on China is as follows:

• Sold the Port of Darwin
• Sold the Port of Newcastle
• Sold our largest baby formula producer
• Sold off Alinta Energy, a company worth AU$4 billion
• Sold our defence secrets
• Sold our largest dairy and beef businesses, accounting for 1.3% of our land

This guy has been systematically selling off as much stuff as he can to China, so don't kid yourself. He ain't some anti-China hawk. He's their biggest useful idiot in the world.

[GoTfan]

Poor 'ol Gladys. Love that woman.

Left exposed by dubious love interests, a perfect example of a dedicated woman caught up in the sleazy world of NSW politics.

"Federal frontbencher Marise Payne once described Ms Berejiklian as “having a brain the size of a planet”.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-10-01/nsw-premier-gladys-berejiklian-political-obituay/100507130

First paragraph is wrong in that article. Gladys wasn't the first female Premier.

Notice ICAC never once went after a Labor Premier. Keneally had the "Eddie Affair" and that was 10 times worse.

We've lost a champion public servant.

She will make a fortune in the private sector.

And nothing of value was lost!

[GoTfan]

Bruz has resigned as Deputy NSW Premier and Leader of the NSW Nationals, among the cited reasons being the ongoing defamation suit against Jordan Shanks.

The irony of course is that Shanks is now two for two if Bruz's resignation is also connected to ICAC.

[GoTfan]

Is Shanks that pipsqueak from friendly jordies?  He's got to be one of the most boneheaded, numbskulled tools on YouTube.

And yet, Bruz decided to blame the lawsuit he filed against Shanks for resigning.

He's two from two now.

[GoTfan]

Again, don't kid yourselves about Morrison's intent. This is another sop to Murdoch and Costello, designed to increase the domination of the right over Australian media. Morrison doesn't exactly like the fact that people on social media can criticise his government freely, so is looking to use any means necessary to shut them down.

[GoTfan]

Just in case anyone thought the current government is made up of anti-China hawks:

https://twitter.com/MichaelWestBiz/status/1448014470953848834