Menzies House

New MP hits out at bossy government

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Of fools then and now

The following article was published 15 years ago and should still offer a jolly good laugh. It helps to remind us what fools we had and still have as leaders. Bob Carr might lead the pack with his spin on dealing with crime in 1998.

Carr managed to fool most of NSW voters with his effective spin, all the while looting the utilities and thus running them into the ground, locking up most of the state, and generally bankrupting “The Premier State” as vehicle license plate so boasts.

November 1998.

As I listened to Premier Carr announcing the ban of certain weapons he could have been addressing the peacekeeping council of the United Nations.

With lordly pride befitting Napoleon fresh from his victory at the Battle of Marengo, Boob Carr added to the list of banned weapons in NSW, rocket launchers, grenade launchers, landmines, and studded gloves.

An Oath To Whom?

Vince Ripepi argues for the importance of parliamentarians swearing allegiance to the Monarch:

After almost a decade in storage the portraits of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh were recently returned to the Strangers Dining Room at New South Wales Parliament House, following their removal by the previous Labor presiding officers.  Following the election of the O’Farrell government in March 2011 the upper house member, Rev. Fred Nile successfully petitioned the new presiding officers to have the portraits rehung – in an effort to correct what he calls “sneaky republicanism.”  The Strangers Dining Room is one of the major places of assembly within the parliamentary complex and is used frequently for gatherings of parliamentarians and business and community organisations.  The portraits, back in their original positions on either side of the State Coat of Arms, serve as a visual tribute to the head of state of New South Wales and her consort.

The much maligned Rev. Nile has now turned his attention to the wording of the official oath that members of parliament take upon entering office and in particular his desire to have MP’s return to the practice of swearing their allegiance to the Queen.  When asked about his position on Rev. Nile’s plan the NSW Premier, Barry O’Farrell, suggested that members be given a choice, that is, the choice between swearing (or affirming) to serve the Queen or the people of New South Wales.

This raises an interesting question. That is, is an allegiance to the Queen of Australia mutually exclusive or in competition with an allegiance to the people of New South Wales (or the people of Australia for that matter?)

First things’ first, Elizabeth Windsor is Queen of Australia separate from any other role or title which she holds.  The throne which she occupies is the oldest institution in Australia and is as much a part of our national culture and tradition as cricket on Boxing Day.  Moreover, the role of Monarch has evolved over time, and the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931 marked not just an important milestone in the development of Australian legislative independence from its former coloniser but it also, for the first time, recognised the existence of the Australian Crown as a separate entity to that in the various other Commonwealth Realms – Realms which are equal in status.

So Much for the Carbon Tax Compensation

NSW commuters could be hit with public transport fare increases of up to $150 a year when the carbon tax kicks in, confidential state government figures show.

The federal government claimed the overall cost-of-living impact on prices from the tax would be only 0.7 per cent of CPI.

However the NSW Treasury estimated that the potential fare rises for all modes of public transport in NSW alone - due to increased electricity costs for trains and fuel costs for buses and ferries - could be expected at an average 3.4 per cent.

Commuters travelling longer distances to the city from places such as Blacktown, Penrith, Campbelltown, Gosford and Heathcote would be worst affected.

NSW Premier Mr O'Farrell said yesterday it was "crazy" that public transport would be hit by the tax when petrol for cars would be exempt: "This will create more pollution and defeat the whole purpose of a carbon tax.

"The federal government is crazy if it thinks this tax is going to reduce carbon emissions when it will lead to higher public transport fares and create an incentive for people to use their cars."

The Treasury document assumed that the full cost of the carbon tax would be borne by commuters rather than by taxpayers.

Results of the Daily Telegraph poll thus far.

Would you stop using public transport if the carbon tax pushed fares up $150 a year?

• Yes 79.09% (3562 votes)
• No 20.91% (942 votes)

Total votes: 4504

Via the Daily Telegraph

 

Andy Semple

Follow him on twitter @Bulmkt

When government gives less, it gives more

A campaign speech and foreword from Clinton Mead:

I’m running in the NSW election for the electorate of Wollondilly as an Outdoor Recreation Party candidate. At a recent debate hosted by Wollondilly Council, I was given time to give a two minute introductory speech. The debate was around an “issues paper”, which basically was a list of projects the local council wanted state funding for. The major party candidates used most of their opening speech to talk about the bacon they were supposedly going to bring home for the electorate.

However, I took a different approach. Compressing this message (or should I say our message) into two minutes was not trivial, but this was my attempt. Whilst the audience of two hundred is a very small percentage of the electorate of forty thousand voters, I do hope that at least two hundred more people have began to think about the proper role of government in our society. This is the speech:

One Bob's Worth

Michael Ilyine on the madness of one Bob Eillis

In The Wharf Revue’s Pennies From Kevin, Bob Ellis was portrayed as Scrooge-like; unleashing a bilious monologue of leftist thoughts, seemingly threaded together only by what popped into his mind next. An amusing parody when put alongside other skits such as Kevin Rudd deciphering the Lower Chamber of Secrets.

However, in a case of life imitating art, the (taxpayer funded - Ed) Drum/Unleashed published a mind-boggling piece on the outcome of the NSW State Election. Even the most sanguine of ALP number crunchers must be surprised when Ellis predicts the return of the Keneally Government, bucking a trend of landslide Newspolls stretching back to 2007. I hope he’s wisely invested in the 10/1 odds being offered for such a result.

Besides an unrealistically optimistic outlook (to which each is entitled) the groundless arguments and extraneous personal attacks which accompany his article are startling. Let me deal with the latter first. According to Ellis:

Barry O’Farrell is ‘wheezy, pudgy, puffy’ and ‘a serial fatty with an Irish name and a Greenstreet shape and a face like boiled bacon’.

Jillian Skinner is ‘like a long-detested nagging landlady with four dead husbands and hairy shoulders’.

‘John Brogden was a suicide’

Whether he has been taking lessons in puerile name calling from fellow Drum contributor Catherine Deveny or regressing into his childhood persona isn’t clear- his inability to provide robust political commentary without insulting people is.

Putting to one side his attacks, the arguments don’t hold water.

Detoxification of Immigrants

The politicisation of ethnic organisations has damaged Australia's international reputation, writes Mark Sharma.

Ever wondered why most immigrants side with left leaning organizations like Labor and the Greens? Why despite numerous attempts for reconciliation, the allegations of Australia being a “racist” country from Indian press never goes away? Why despite Australia largely being a “fair go” country never gets any positive publicity in the international arena?

If you have ever thought about these things and never found the answers then I suggest reading the rest of this piece.

Budget bungling

David Russell writes that the state of the NSW budget is highly concerning.

So adept are they at kicking own goals, it hardly seems fair to draw attention to any further stuff-ups by the Fabian fiasco in The Failed State that goes by the name of the Kenneally Government. Of course, it’s just as unfair to brandish her name since her predecessors (and there have been rather a few, eh?) conspired to tarnish the Labor brand in such a way that the North Korean administration appears a model of sanity and efficiency by comparison.

But enough of damning faint praise.