thanks weez
from the courier-mail today
“He sold the shares last October for a 100 per cent mark-up, but says he handed the $6000 windfall to the not-for-profit Family Council of Queensland.”
I googled family council of queensland, but didn’t get a relevant result, just other disability and family associated councils and organisations, not one by that particular name. Do you know anything about this council?

Deb, I searched G for Family Council of Queensland & got a link to a fairly rinky-dink website:

WHAT IS FCQ ?

The Family Council of Queensland, Inc. (FCQ) is a non-profit, non-party political, ecumenical association of pro-family community organisations and churches which seeks to promote family values and strengthen marriage and the family unit in society.

Its members include the Australian Family Association, the Salvation Army, the Catholic Church, Endeavour Forum, Drug-ARM, the Festival of Light and the Australian Council for Adoption.

The FCQ liaises and co-operates with similar state-based Family Councils in Victoria , South Australia and Western Australia.

The patrons of the FCQ are Emeritus Professor Patricia Noller, former director of the University of Queensland Family Centre, and her husband, Rev. Dr Charles Noller, a family counsellor and retired Uniting Church minister.

The president of the FCQ is Mr Alan Baker and the vice-president is Mrs Patti Smith.

We can be confident FCQ didn’t blow the 6g’s on website design.

My first guess as to who Santy gave the profits to (“Smash the Pinko Fag Un-Australian Greenies at ABC & SBS Association”) wasn’t far wrong, was it? 😀

Santoro’s diggin’ a foxhole. Ol Santo will find the grubs to be good company (or good eats depending on his bushtucker skills).

aaaannnnnd Coach Howard reckons a little inadvertent ministerial ethics violation is just peachy-keen, far out and relatively neato!

Damn. I was kinda looking forward to Howard ripping Santoro’s still beating heart out of his chest up there on Mount Dangerous Precedent.

If anyone ever needed any confirmation that the Campbell “resignation” was a total sham, now you have it!

SBS’s 9.30 news led with a report that FCQ is not a registered charity. It is also anti-choice and anti-feminist.

Suki, I was thinking the same myself after I read the above list of patrons.

Quoth Suki; SBS’s 9.30 news led with a report that FCQ is not a registered charity.

Yep! SBS sez…

And just clarifying the nature of that donation of Senator Santoro’s, we understand it was given to the Family Council of Queensland, which is not a registered charity. The organisation describes itself as a non-profit, pro-family group, affiliated with, among others, the Catholic Church, the Festival of Light and the Australian Council for Adoption

Santo may yet get that cardioectomy type vivisection job.

Owning the stock itself ought to be enough to sack Santoro from his portfolio.

Contributing his ill-gotten gains to his right-wing extremist political mates is just cause for him to resign from Parliament.

When this story first broke, I read that it was all OK because the shares were not related to Santoro’s portfolio, now it turns out that they are (oh, the lies they tell!).

Peter Beattie is linking this to the Qld Libs printgate affair (Santoro is one of the big power brokers in the Qld Liberal party):

“Meanwhile, the Queensland Premier has seized on the controversy.

Speaking in State Parliament, Peter Beattie also tried to link the Senator to an investigation relating to federal printing allowances.

“Now we’ve got Santo Santoro, the Federal Minister for Ageing, he’s owned up to his failure to disclose shares to a company connected with his portfolio,” he said.

“He needs to come clean on a couple of other issues though and first is his role in ‘printgate’.

“He tells anyone who will listen that he’s in charge of fundraising for the Queensland branch of the Liberal Party.”

This article from Graham Young before Beattie won the most recent election:

“…For a number of years now he has been the dominant personality in the party, regularly remoulding party units and removing enemies to further his leadership ambitions. He has had to do this because his parliamentary colleagues have never supported these ambitions. As a result Santoro has diligently worked to ensure that candidates who will are pre-selected in winnable seats.”

Santo is Qld’s version of little johnny jackboots!

Deb, I’m with you- this is the real deal. This is exactly the sort of corruption that rules surrounding ministerial responsibility were designed to quash.

Santoro’s already cockamamie ‘inadvertent’ excuse loses all credibility when the decision regarding which “charity” right-wing financial support group to which Santoro would decide to donate his filthy lucre was hardly ‘inadvertent.’ FCQ is not a registered charity- it’s a political pressure group which has a very specific right-wing bent.

Howard loses any claim he might have even dreamt of to a moral or ethical high ground if he allows Santoro to remain in Parliament, much less the Liberal Party.

There were no ministerial resignations in the Howard gov’t until it was politically convenient to stage one. If Santoro stays, you know what sort of ministerial behaviour Howard openly condones. Not exactly a vote getter.

As questions still remain to be answered by a interesting senator and a power-broker within the Queensland branch of the Liberal Party, this story continues to develop and hopefully, the federal opposition may gain some ground when the Senate resumes, I think next week.

On searching for information, I sighted this website and I support the comments posted.

The senator is yet to face the voters of Queensland and whilst he has a comfortable position on the Liberal’s ticket, the Prime Minister would not be impressed but there’s no way that he is going to ask for Santoro’s resignation considering his influence within the state branch.

He was okay whilst in the Qld State Parliament but ??????

Don’t miss Flutey’s HILARIOUS rip on Santoro.

And it gets WORSE!

‘Favour’ behind share deal

Annabel Stafford
March 15, 2007

THE parcel of shares that have landed Aged Care Minister Santo Santoro in hot water was offered to him by the president of a conservative family organisation, to which he later donated the profits.

The Age has also learned that Senator Santoro was offered the $6000 parcel of shares after apparently helping the body secure federal funding for a “Family Expo”.

The gift that just keeps on giving!

The circle will be complete when the “lobby group” (or should we say, Liberal Party money cleanser and fund raising coalition, disguised as charity) gives the money back to Santo as a donation to the Libs, in the hope of favourable policy.

The Age today reports that Santo refuses to answer questions about another six parcels of shares that he declared at the same time as CBio.

…and in the Courier Mail, the PM enjoyed a fund raiser lunch in QLD with a violent porn king, who has since been gaoled.

Let the games begin!

Brilliant stuff, Deb.

Do you wonder how pharmacists like Tony Abbott accusing them of being drug dealers? 😆

Is Howard regretting starting this game of silly buggers?

And the rot continues by the federal health minister.
Many other issues are now in the background even though the Access Card is back in the news with the Finance and Public Administration Committee releasing its report into the Access Card.
Yet, the Australian public have been distracted by the going on’s within the government and the Liberal Party.

The ill-considered Access National ID card isn’t going to fly. If there’s a photo or a human-readable number on it, it’s going to become a de-facto ID card.

There’s tons of opposition to the ID card, even within the Liberal Party.

This doesn’t mean that those opposed to the ID card should just sit back, be quiet and watch what happens. Once this bad idea makes it into law, it will be impossible to get rid of.

Go to candidate meet-n-greets and ask your local member what they intend to do to stop this Big Bother nonsense. Impress upon him/her that every reason given by the gubmint for having such an ID card is dubious, ESPECIALLY the notion that it will have any impact on welfare fraud.

Australia has a roughly 0.5% rate of fraudulent welfare claims, among the lowest in all countries which have a welfare system.

Blaming all welfare recipients for a 0.5% fraud rate by a few dishonest people is a bit like lowering the speed limit on all roads to 10km/h because 0.5% of drivers always exceed the limit.

I’ll certainly be writing more about the Access National ID card in coming days (if not later today).

Yes, well. My local member is Gary Hardgrave! I’m still waiting for his reply of a few years ago (before the last election) about my David Hicks and asylum seeker queries.

HOW many unreported stock trades?

60?!

Remember, Johnny wasn’t going to sack Santoro over just one dirty stock deal, even though Santoro lied about funneling the profits to charity.

Too little, too late.

Santoro should resign from Parliament. What a totally corrupt disgrace.

As the fallout continues over the decision of the former minister for Ageing to resign; I wonder if the voters of Queensland will support him re a 6 year term in the Senate.
Don’t forget, he hasn’t been voted in as a senator and; what’s the next play within the Queensland branch of the Liberal Party?
Are we going to see further unrest which will further annoy John Howard and has Santoro got his sights on some members?
We’re yet to hear the outcome of the federal police investigation into other sitting members.

As the fallout continues over the decision of Santoro, it is interesting to see various members of the Liberal Party now commenting publicly.
The federal health minister is more determined to attack the personality of Kevin Rudd and some interesting comments from Steve Ciobo who holds the Gold Coast-based seat of Moncrieff.

“All of these things are distraction,” he said.
Then he states the record of the Howard government and how it has benefited Queenslanders.
Record unemployment, home-buyers finding it more easier to meet their repayments.
Children now finding it easier to obtain work and record funding by the Commonwealth to meet our water needs.
Mr Ciobo is making his position well known and yet he expressed concerns about the Access Card and the possible massive wastage of taxpayer’s monies.
By the member expressing his total support for the government;I wonder if he is a supporter of Peter Costello or John Howard. Secondly, he is within Santo’s faction within the Qld branch?

Hey Deb.

On reading through the various postings above, I note your reference to Gary Hargraves etc.
Don’t hold your breath for a response.
Party rules prevent members from commenting or expressing their views which falls outside party-rules.
For several years now, I’ve made my thoughts known to many many members of parliament especially down there in Canberra and so far this year, I’ve added 10 to my list of responses.
Even my local member in the House of Reps, knows my thoughts across a number of issues and yet, government members will only act as a GO BETWEEN with ministers.
I can’t wait for the Australian Parliament to resume next week and perhaps some heated minutes ahead for the party-room of the government.

Hi Atomic, but don’t the Libs pride themselves on the acceptance of dissent within the ranks (crossing the floor etc), unlike Labor members, who they say have to toe the party line?

I did at least expect Gary Hardgrave to reply and waffle on with the party spin, but not even that.
Not sure but I think Hardgrave holds a marginal seat doesn’t he? Even more reason to reply rather than just ignore.

I do however get great satisfaction in applying to the local Liberal Party (Hardgrave’s office) at election time for my postal vote (shift worker). They rush it out to me by return post, probably assuming I’m a voter, but i’ve never voted Liberal or National in my life! I then entrust my secret vote into their care for safekeeping and counting!

Hardgrave is still in the news over Printgate though.

Lib feud likely to claim more scalps (The Australian):

“On top of the rorts investigation, Mr Hardgrave, who was dumped from the ministry in January, faces allegations he employed his long-time partner as an adviser in a possible violation of the ministerial code of conduct.

But Mr Hardgrave says the arrangements were “above board”.

Mr Hardgrave last week refused to deny that two former staff members — who Liberal insiders allege were sacked to make way for his partner — had taken legal action and reached a taxpayer-funded, out-of-court settlement.”

Now we have another news story re the senator’s share dealings being reported in the Herald Sun to which he hasn’t disclosed last week.
How can the people of Queensland support him at the next Senate election?

Asked by a reporter from The Australian whether He had taken his former private secretary with him on a junket to Taiwan, Hardgrave warned that anyone who criticised his trip should “bugger off“.

How can someone vote for this member when the Liberal government/party is clearly in turmoil.

The Age covers Hardgrave’s ‘bugger off’ comment as well…. Aussie pols are SOOO polite… compared to say, Dick ‘Go Fuck Yourself’ Cheney.

The fallout over the Santoro resignation as Minister for Ageing continues to get more interesting.

With the Australian resuming its sittings tomorrow, let’s see what happens in the Senate.

The Parliamentary Leader of the Liberal Party here in Queensland has made his position known and it also remains to be seen if the party’s executive will take any action.

Now we have the news where John Howard has asked his new Minister for Ageing to check various contracts.

More to digest.

oh man, what a title…

“Santoro is no pariah, says Abbott”

that could be…

“Piers Akerman is no annoying twonk, says Andrew Bolt”

😆