Barnaby Joyce says he’s satisfied that 7 amendments to Howard’s IR changes, regarding public holidays, unfair dismissal laws and regular pay periods for workers will make the SerfChoices package hunky-dory.
Barnaby’s working hard for the people, you know.
See, he’s a populist.
Yep.
-weez
Despite a bipartisan recommendation to drop the sedition provisions from Howard’s terror law proposals, Federal Attorney General Philip Ruddock is wedded to the idea of criminalising criticism of the government.
Tony Abbott has proven through his use of junk science and religion to inform his statements and parliamentary actions on RU486 that he is unfit to hold the Health portfolio. Abbott cannot keep his private religious views from corrupting his actions as Health Minister, which affect all Australian women, who may, or much more often may not, share his Catholic views.
While RU486 is not risk-free, neither is pregnancy. (more…)
Once riding in old Singapore,
Heart-filled, head-filled with glee,
I saw a Singaporean
Keep looking straight at me.Now I was eight and very small,
And he was no whit bigger,
And so I smiled, but he poked out
His tongue, and said, "hang, digger."I saw the whole of Singapore
From May until December;
Of all the things that happened there
That’s all that I remember.
-weez
(apologies to Countee Cullen.)
Pittwater voters threw the Lieberals out of their 3rd safest, blue-ribbon seat in NSW- convincingly- with a massive and unprecedented 26% swing to Independent Alex McTaggart.
Was it JerkChoices? Terror laws? Brogden‘s last revenge? Or just that the NSW Lieberals are a bunch of hopeless fuckwits?
Pay attention, Mr Howard- Pittwater is your future.
-weez
Sushi Das wraps the RU486 issue over at The Age:
The fierce debate over RU486 and Howard’s subsequent decision to allow a conscience vote on the issue, which could result in the ban being lifted, has spectacularly backfired on Abbott, exposing his devious tactics. The devout Catholic minister, who appears to take a devilish glee in doing what he thinks is God’s work, has been left looking rather foolish. And it is impossible to believe him when he argues that he is denying women access to RU486 out of concern for their health.
Repeatedly Abbott has proved incapable of making sound ministerial judgements on issues that relate to women’s fertility because he allows his decisions to be driven by his personal, religious beliefs. Of course, he is entitled to hold anti-abortion views but to allow his personal views to affect his ministerial decisions indicates the man is unfit for the job.
Das nails the Most Reverend Minister Abbott in one.
Nice work, Sushi.
-weez
There has been a series of Australian Government advertisements running on TV for several years which exhort Permanent Residents to adopt Australian citizenship, claiming that there has never been a better time to become an Australian citizen. Here’s reason number 672.
Robert Jovicic was born in France in 1966 to Serbian parents. When he was 2 years old in 1968, Jovicic migrated with his parents to Australia.
Fast forward to 2004.
When interviewed by the ABC’s Monica Attard for Sunday Profile, Queensland Senator Barnaby Joyce stated that he believes victims of rape who become pregnant should carry to term:
Monica Attard:
Do you believe that if a woman is raped, falls pregnant as a result of that rape that she should be forced to continue to term?
Senator Barnaby Joyce:
No I don’t think she should be forced to continue to term, but I don’t think that the child is the, I don’t think the child of that rape has done anything wrong.
The ACT has a Bill of Rights, but it is statutory, not constitutional. The rights granted can be rather easily modified by government. The actual purpose of a Bill of Rights is to rein in an abusive government. Queensland Liberal senator Steven Ciobo is trying to water down community expectations and satisfy civil rights activists by flogging a statutory Bill of Rights.
Terry Lane of ABC Radio National takes Ciobo to task in the 13 November edition of The National Interest (transcript – RealMedia).
What’s the hesitancy on the part of government with the citizens being able to protect themselves from tyranny with some entrenched, boilerplate rights? Why bother enacting a Bill of Rights with no ultimate curb to government powers? John Howard supports a constitutional Bill of Rights for Iraq– why won’t he support the same for Australia?
When we next get a Bill of Rights on the ballot, don’t be fooled. It needs to be written into our constitution to be an ultimate bulwark against government abuse of power.
-weez
Don’t worry- it’s just the usual suspects.
Here’s about 20,000 or so, in and around Belmore Park this morning:
