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The NEXT coming Oz election thread!

 
 
msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 04:41 am
That doesn't leave many politicians you could vote for, lezzles.
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 05:27 am
Haneef, phase 2:

The day a judge overruled a minister

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2007/08/21/rgn_andrews_wideweb__470x307,0.jpg
Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews leaves his news conference yesterday.
Photo: Brendan Esposito


Cosima Marriner, Tony Wright and Amrit Dhillon
August 22, 2007/THE AGE


A SENIOR judge has accused the Howard Government of bungling its pursuit of former terrorism suspect Dr Mohamed Haneef and criticised Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews for releasing selective evidence while keeping it from the court.

Federal Court judge Jeffrey Spender also warned that governments should not consider themselves above the rule of law in matters involving national security.

In the latest instalment in a saga that has already embarrassed the Government, police and the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions, Justice Spender found that Mr Andrews was wrong to withdraw Dr Haneef's visa on character grounds.

A furious Mr Andrews ordered an appeal against Justice Spender's decision that Dr Haneef's visa should be reinstated. "I acted in the national interest and I acted for the national security of Australians. I make no apology about that whatsoever," he said.

He flatly rejected the judge's finding that he had used the wrong test to cancel Dr Haneef's visa and dismissed calls for his resignation. He was backed last night by Prime Minister John Howard, who said Mr Andrews' decision was correct. ...<cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/judge-overrules-andrews/2007/08/21/1187462266512.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 05:33 am
... & today's AGE editorial:

Bringing Dr Haneef back into the fold of the law
August 22, 2007

Justice Spender's Federal Court judgement deftly puts the minister and the Government in their place.

IT FINALLY took the language of the law to extract the strands of clarity, commonsense and caution from the Gordian knot of the affair of Dr Mohamed Haneef and the Federal Government's cancellation of his visa. Yesterday in Brisbane, Justice Jeffrey Spender of the Federal Court ruled that the decision of Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews to revoke the visa was invalid. In a judgement of more than 50 pages, Justice Spender has managed, cleverly, deftly and even elegantly, not only to put the minister in his place, but also the Government.
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 05:38 am
... & later today ...:

Lawyers release second Haneef interview
August 23, 2007/the AGE

Lawyers acting for Dr Mohamed Haneef have released the transcript of their client's second interview with the Australian Federal Police, saying they want the public to read the material for themselves.

Dr Haneef's Brisbane lawyer Peter Russo said the full 366-page transcript was being made public at Dr Haneef's request.

"He wants all of the matters raised with him by Federal Police and his answers to those questions put into the public arena, because of the continuing attempts being made to slander his name by innuendo and selective release of information by Government and Federal Police spokespeople," Mr Russo said in a statement.

Mr Russo said the transcript showed his client had arranged leave from the Gold Coast Hospital before his arrest at Brisbane airport.

He had also attempted to contact British police so he could explain his position in relation to a SIM card loaned to his cousin Sabeel, who is suspected of having a role in a UK terror plot.
.... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/haneef-interview-released/2007/08/22/1187462331948.html
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 05:41 am
.... which all leaves Mr Andrews & the government looking rather dodgy & silly. But apparently Mr Andrews plans to appeal against Haneef's visa being reinstated, anyway. <sigh>
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 05:50 am
Interesting!:

Brethren meet PM in his office
Michael Bachelard
August 22, 2007/the AGE

JOHN Howard has held a private meeting with the most senior leaders of the Exclusive Brethren, including a man under investigation by police over his massive spending on the Prime Minister's 2004 election campaign.

In his parliamentary office two weeks ago, Mr Howard met Sydney pump salesman Mark Mackenzie, whose former company, Willmac, funnelled $370,000 into pro-Howard advertising at the last election.

Willmac's spending was later investigated by the Australian Electoral Commission's disclosure arm, and then referred to the Australian Federal Police for a criminal investigation, which is continuing.

Also at the August 8 meeting were the secretive sect's world leader, or "Elect Vessel", Bruce D. Hales, his brother Stephen and elder Warwick John.

A Brethren spokesman confirmed to The Age yesterday that the meeting had taken place, but emphatically denied they had asked for Mr Howard's help on the police investigation or offered him support for his campaign against Maxine McKew in Bennelong.

Mr Howard's office said only that he had met members of the Brethren, as he did with a "wide range of groups", and would "continue to do so".

The Brethren spokesman said the elders had "assured the Prime Minister that they were praying for him". ...<cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2007/08/21/1187462266517.html
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 05:57 am
Rudd attacks PM over sect meeting
August 22, 2007 - 6:21PM/the AGE

Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd has branded the Exclusive Brethren Christian sect a cult and criticised Prime Minister John Howard for meeting with the group's world leader.

.................

The Brethren has been accused of running a smear campaign against New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and hiring a private detective to investigate leading members of the New Zealand Labour Party.

Sect members are prohibited from voting, attending university, having TVs, radios, personal computers or mobile phones or contact with family members who leave the church.

Mr Rudd today said he had real concerns about the impact of the Brethren on Australian communities and, unlike Mr Howard, he refused to meet with its members.

"I believe this is an extremist cult and sect," he told reporters.

"I also believe that it breaks up families, I also believe that there are real problems with the provision of modern education to kids under their system where they, for example, are not given full range of access to information technology." ...<cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/rudd-attacks-pm-over-sect-meeting/2007/08/22/1187462345478.html
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 06:02 am
Over to the cartoonists. They're still caught up with Kevin-Oh-7's big night out:

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2007/08/20/rg_cartoon_gallery__470x360,0.jpg
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 06:05 am
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5620527,00.jpg
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 06:09 am
http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5618839,00.jpg
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 06:15 am
http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/08/21/2208_op_alanmoir_gallery__470x275,0.jpg
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 06:31 am
Billions in election war chest
Nassim Khadem, Canberra
August 22, 2007

ANOTHER surge in the federal budget surplus has opened the door to massive spending commitments by the major parties in the lead-up to the election, increasing the risk of inflationary pressures and higher interest rates.

The Government has found another $3.7 billion in just over three months, taking the 2006-07 budget surplus to $17.3 billion ...<cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/billions-in-election-war-chest/2007/08/21/1187462266506.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2007/08/22/wbTOONtandberg2308_gallery__470x321.jpg
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 06:36 am
This one's for you, bungie. .... :wink: :

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/08/20/2108_cartoonmoir_gallery__470x282.jpg
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bungie
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 01:02 pm
msolga wrote:
This one's for you, bungie. .... :wink: :

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2007/08/20/2108_cartoonmoir_gallery__470x282.jpg


No amount of rose water will take away the stench from this one msolga.
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hingehead
 
  1  
Reply Wed 22 Aug, 2007 11:39 pm
Hello chaps

Re the Kevin .07 strip thing.

Why aren't more people wondering who the leak came from. Clearly it was from the host, a US editor for a News Ltd paper. Why has it come now? Because News Ltd (read Rupert Murdoch) wants Howard to stick around (the last of the Bush/Blair/Howard triumvirate publically blessed by Rupert prior to the Iraq invasion).

When the owner of 80% of the nation's print media wants someone to be prime minister you can betyourass I'm voting the opposite way.
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vikorr
 
  1  
Reply Thu 23 Aug, 2007 02:08 am
Oh yes,

Don't recall exactly where I was reading it, but apparently there is talk in the US of relaxing media ownership laws because of the influence of the Internet.

Of course...you can bet which of the two (between Howard and Rudd) would be more likely to be amenable to such suggestions.
0 Replies
 
dlowan
 
  1  
Reply Thu 23 Aug, 2007 02:46 am
hingehead wrote:
Hello chaps

Re the Kevin .07 strip thing.

Why aren't more people wondering who the leak came from. Clearly it was from the host, a US editor for a News Ltd paper. Why has it come now? Because News Ltd (read Rupert Murdoch) wants Howard to stick around (the last of the Bush/Blair/Howard triumvirate publically blessed by Rupert prior to the Iraq invasion).

When the owner of 80% of the nation's print media wants someone to be prime minister you can betyourass I'm voting the opposite way.



Oh yes.
0 Replies
 
msolga
 
  1  
Reply Thu 23 Aug, 2007 02:46 am
hingehead wrote:
Hello chaps

Re the Kevin .07 strip thing.

Why aren't more people wondering who the leak came from. Clearly it was from the host, a US editor for a News Ltd paper. Why has it come now? Because News Ltd (read Rupert Murdoch) wants Howard to stick around (the last of the Bush/Blair/Howard triumvirate publically blessed by Rupert prior to the Iraq invasion).

When the owner of 80% of the nation's print media wants someone to be prime minister you can betyourass I'm voting the opposite way.


Hello yourself, stranger!

I dunno about your Murdoch theory. I mean, everyone knows this NY Post editor was one of Rupert's boys. It's been mentioned a number of times in press reports. I'm not so sure that the leaking of "Kevin's shame" is a Rupert plot, exactly. The real question (to me, anyway) is why has it taken till now for the story to emerge? I assume many folk (including the Oz foreign affairs minister who often travels to NYC for UN duties :wink: ) would have known of it for years. Why couldn't his enemies reveal it well before now, given that Kevin-Oh-7 has been receiving such splendid poll results for months? And in the damage stakes, is this the worst they could manage? Pretty lame, really & not nearly damaging enough to ruin KR's chances.
My hunch is that it's payback for the "Costello hates JH" story, which made the Treasurer look pretty damn silly & rather pathetic. And did a bit more damage to the PM - does anyone want him around any more? But why did those three journalists (including the ABC's Michael Brissendon, usually a very principled & respected journalist) wait all this time to publish that one? And implicate themselves in a "breach of privacy" issue. It makes no sense. I suspect that there's more going on than we're being told. And I wish I knew what it was!
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Thu 23 Aug, 2007 03:05 am
... but one thing's for certain. The gloves are definitely off now. Anything goes, it seems.
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msolga
 
  1  
Reply Thu 23 Aug, 2007 03:13 am
Crikey's comment on JH's private meeting with Exclusive Brethren heavies & Costello's defence of the meeting.:

Dear Squatters,

Peter Costello: "There's nothing wrong with meeting the Exclusive Brethren, they're Australian citizens just like anybody else."

From the authorised website of the Exclusive Brethren:

The Exclusive Brethren practice separation from evil, recognising this as God's principle of unity. They shun the conduits of evil communications: television, the radio, and the Internet. Their charter is 2 Timothy 2:19 "The Lord knows those that are his; and, Let every one who names the name of the Lord withdraw from iniquity."

Exclusive Brethren believe in Government and are subject to it as outlined by Paul in Romans 13:1. They do not live in countries that do not have a Christian Government. Their approach is non-political. They do not vote, but hold Government in the highest respect as God's ministers, used by Him to restrain evil and provide conditions for the promotion of the glad tidings. Exclusive Brethren hold formal prayer meetings every week and include prayers for the support and guidance of right Government which is clearly of God, and also for divine resistance to the devil's efforts to influence it. Contact with members of parliament or congress is encouraged to express a moral viewpoint of legislation in relation to the rights of God and this ongoing communication is found to be acceptable and productive.

Yep. Just like anybody else.
~
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