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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Aussie Politics:
@Crucial said in Aussie Politics:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Aussie Politics:
@Crucial said in Aussie Politics:
The big joke about all of this nationalistic posturing is that the moment commodity prices go back up and Aussies can just dig another hole in the ground to make money all of these 'cares' get thrown away.
It is said that true personality comes out under pressure and everytime there is economic pressure in Australia the xenophobic tendencies come racing forward.Hmmm, bit of a simplification there Crucial. Concentrating on no. 1 when times are tough is hardly restricted to Australia.
Of course it isn't but we are talking about Australia here. (there are obvious other recent examples)
I think we are lucky in NZ that our smaller population means our web of personal connections through the entire society is stronger and when we turn to nationalism in times of strife it is well tempered.
Don't the Chinese cop plenty for the property prices?. I'd like to agree with you, but I don't think even NZers are above blaming foreigners for their ills in times of genuine strife.
Publishing the names of home buyers in Auckland was a new low, shit like that is embarrassing
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@Rembrandt said in Aussie Politics:
So I'm new to aussie politics, what's the general opinion on this Mark Latham character? I see he has just joined the Liberal democrats so maybe another punt in politics perhaps? He's started his own show on facebook after being fired, it's worth checking out.
https://marklathamsoutsiders.comAn extremely intelligent thinker, but a loose canon personality where his cynicism now reigns supreme. It's hard to gauge whether this is just a stunt or a genuine attempt to get back into it.
I didn't mind watching him on Sky News as he does have some reasonable insight especially about the machinations and factions of the ALP. But the show he was on a while back on channel 9 was atrocious.
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@Rembrandt said in Aussie Politics:
So I'm new to aussie politics, what's the general opinion on this Mark Latham character? I see he has just joined the Liberal democrats so maybe another punt in politics perhaps? He's started his own show on facebook after being fired, it's worth checking out.
https://marklathamsoutsiders.comThis is pretty hilarious. Back in 2004 when he was Labor leader, the right absolutely hated his guts, while the left were having a collective organism over him and his chance of beating the evil Hitler Howard. Now the situation has flipped. That should tell you everything you need to know about how the political spectrum has shifted.
I don't think he has the discipline or stamina to do this, but if he does start taking politics seriously again then he could cause some very serious damage. Even more so than Hanson.
Latham is a perfect example of how political alliances are shifting away from things like economic policy towards freedom of expression and tolerance of diversity (not diversity of culture, but of ideas and political views). People who were previously almost polar opposites on the political spectrum are becoming allies because they are sick to death of the sjw insanity that is taking over.
Like Trump, Latham is what you get when public discourse gets so poisonous that only the madmen who don't give a shit dare to enter the fray.
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@mariner4life said in Aussie Politics:
@Rancid-Schnitzel not sure really it's hard to say. The problem with trying to be populist is keeping up with what makes you popular.
Shorten is spineless though, that's never been in doubt
Going the definition of populist you seem to be using. Every single.politician is a populist.
Increasingly 'populist' is just being used as a pejorative term for the left to use when they lose.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Aussie Politics:
This is pretty hilarious. Back in 2004 when he was Labor leader, the right absolutely hated his guts, while the left were having a collective organism over him and his chance of beating the evil Hitler Howard. Now the situation has flipped. That should tell you everything you need to know about how the political spectrum has shifted.
I don't think it's shifted. Labor was prepared to put up with Latham if he won them an election. Then he melted down and has been attacking Labor ever since and they don't appreciate that.
The fact that there are those on the Right who now use him as a posterboy for free speech says more about them. They certainly weren't barracking for him in 2005. All that tells me is rank opportunism is alive and well.
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@antipodean said in Aussie Politics:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Aussie Politics:
This is pretty hilarious. Back in 2004 when he was Labor leader, the right absolutely hated his guts, while the left were having a collective organism over him and his chance of beating the evil Hitler Howard. Now the situation has flipped. That should tell you everything you need to know about how the political spectrum has shifted.
I don't think it's shifted. Labor was prepared to put up with Latham if he won them an election. Then he melted down and has been attacking Labor ever since and they don't appreciate that.
The fact that there are those on the Right who now use him as a posterboy for free speech says more about them. They certainly weren't barracking for him in 2005. All that tells me is rank opportunism is alive and well.
True, but no way would a guy like Latham get near the leadership now. The party has changed since he was a member, or at least the left faction has become much much stronger. I don't think he's changed. He was a nutter then and is a nutter now.
Yeah, seeing Bolt and co embrace him is pretty sickening. They are also very likely to dispose of him if or when he melts down again. Still, who else is there that he prepared to do the hard yards?
Alexander Downer? Guffaw chuckle guffaw chuckle.
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@Rembrandt said in Aussie Politics:
So I'm new to aussie politics, what's the general opinion on this Mark Latham character? I see he has just joined the Liberal democrats so maybe another punt in politics perhaps? He's started his own show on facebook after being fired, it's worth checking out.
https://marklathamsoutsiders.comHe wrote a book about parliament called " a conga line of suckholes"
Also I f memory serves me correctly he also got into a scrap with a taxi driver and broke the blokes arm and put him out of work for quite a while. He went on to claim that taxi drivers all call him sir now.
Strikes me as an A grade wankbiscuit .
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I like him....
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@Baron-Silas-Greenback that was pretty awesome.
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He's been interesting to watch.
On a good day, actually a decent kind of politician with strong opinions, and a willingness to stand up for what he believes, and debate as per the clip above.
But the bad days are the ones that would prevent him getting into leadership again I think. The assault. The ravings. Something you might point to as mental illness or instability.
Then the moments of clarity come back and you wonder who he is.
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@NTA said in Aussie Politics:
He's been interesting to watch.
On a good day, actually a decent kind of politician with strong opinions, and a willingness to stand up for what he believes, and debate as per the clip above.
But the bad days are the ones that would prevent him getting into leadership again I think. The assault. The ravings. Something you might point to as mental illness or instability.
Then the moments of clarity come back and you wonder who he is.
Pretty much this, a real shame.
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That was everything a discussion from a politician should be. Excellent, and well done that guy.
Shame the journalists spent more time trying to demonise him than ask the crucial, unasked question - those being being the suspected reasons for violence, what can we do to reduce it further?
That would be a discussion worth the air time.
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Peripheral to core Politics:
ATO official Michael Cranston 'unwittingly' caught up in alleged fraud
Australian Taxation Office deputy commissioner Michael Cranston has been “unwittingly” caught up in a major tax evasion scheme allegedly involving his son and daughter.
Cranston, 58, has been issued with a court attendance notice for allegedly publicly abusing his position as a senior official of the commonwealth, Australian federal police said on Thursday. He is due to face Sydney central court next month.
Four ATO officers are also being investigated, according to the AFP.
Cranston’s 30-year-old son, Adam, and 24-year-old daughter and seven other people have been arrested as part of a $165m tax fraud investigation.
The arrests were made after an eight-month investigation, codenamed Operation Elbrus, with assistance from ATO, the AFP said on Thursday.
“The scale of this alleged fraud is unprecedented for the AFP,” said a deputy commissioner for operations, Leanne Close.
The acting commissioner of taxation, Andrew Mills, said: “We do take it extraordinarily seriously and … it is of concern that a longstanding officer has been alleged to have been involved in this.”
The ATO was conducting an internal investigation into four officials, examining whether they had looked at material they were not authorised to access.
“If you are an officer within the ATO, you have access to those matters only to which you actually are required for the purposes of your job,” he said. “If you seek to obtain information which is outside that scope, you actually are in breach of the code of conduct.”
Close said the AFP would allege that Cranston’s son had asked him to access some information. “We don’t believe that at this point that he had any knowledge of the actual conspiracy and the defrauding,” she said.
Assets seized in the past two days by the AFP include 25 cars – luxury, vintage and racing vehicles – 18 residential properties, 12 motorbikes, in excess of 100 bank accounts and share trading accounts, two aircraft, firearms and jewellery, artworks, vintage wines and at least $1m located in a safety deposit box.
Adam Cranston, 30, is due to face Sydney’s central local court on Thursday morning charged with conspiracy to defraud the commonwealth, while his sister is due to face a Sydney court on 13 June.
Adam was arrested in Bondi while his sister was arrested in Picton during 27 raids on homes and businesses across the greater Sydney area on Wednesday.
A further six search warrants were to be executed on Thursday, the AFP said.
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@Kirwan said in Aussie Politics:
That was everything a discussion from a politician should be. Excellent, and well done that guy.
Shame the journalists spent more time trying to demonise him than ask the crucial, unasked question - those being being the suspected reasons for violence, what can we do to reduce it further?
That would be a discussion worth the air time.
It was. It was also very refreshing and pretty much sums up the general sentiment here on the fern.
Facts and mature approaches to issues versus ridiculous and petty outrage fishing - that clip had examples of both.
I refuse to watch traditional tv, (except for live sport) and as a consequence my brain is substantially more free of fuckwit nonsense, 'cause terrestial tv basically caters for dullards (all about advertising and consumption innit?)
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I see they're looking to change the words to Advance Australia Fair.
I don't see a problem including a verse recognising the Aboriginies, but they can fuck off removing "we are young and free".
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@Rancid-Schnitzel what is the argument against that phrase?
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@No-Quarter said in Aussie Politics:
@Rancid-Schnitzel what is the argument against that phrase?
The argument is that "young" excludes aboriginals because they have been in Australia for thousands of years. The fact that this line refers to the indisputably young nation state of Australia is apparently irrelevant.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in Aussie Politics:
@No-Quarter said in Aussie Politics:
@Rancid-Schnitzel what is the argument against that phrase?
The argument is that "young" excludes aboriginals because they have been in Australia for thousands of years. The fact that this line refers to the indisputably young nation state of Australia is apparently irrelevant.
That's absolutely superb. I was racking my brain trying to find something offensive about that - the way they can take offense to just about anything is quite a skill.
Aussie Politics