The NEXT coming Oz election thread!

Loved that last bunch of cartoons olga...

Thanks, Cairns!



...... Anyone confident about predicting the outcome of this one?:

Govt to expand AWB inquiry
February 6, 2006 - 7:55PM/the AGE

THE federal government has agreed to expand the terms of reference of the Cole inquiry into Australia's monopoly wheat exporter AWB paying kickbacks to Iraq.

Attorney-General Philip Ruddock said inquiry head Terence Cole will be able to probe resources giant BHP Billiton Limited and Tigris Petroleum Corporation under the expanded terms of reference. .. <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/govt-to-expand-awb-inquiry/2006/02/06/1139074162344.html

(selected text)
AWB may lose grip on wheat

By Philip Hopkins
February 7, 2006

A leading Melbourne funds manager, who asked not to be named, said the aggressive tactics of the US wheat industry were a danger to AWB.

The US wheat lobby is pushing for the US Congress and three powerful commodity exchanges to ban AWB from US markets. AWB is a major player in futures contracts on the Chicago Board of Trade.

"If they really wanted to get nasty, they (the Americans) could ban them from using that," the funds manager said.

"It's a bit unsavoury when the Americans subsidise their wheat. It annoys me when they get on their high horse. The Americans are being motivated by greed." (my emphasis; dapad)

Paul Jensz, an analyst with Austock Brokers, said the forgotten people in the furore so far were Australia's 50,000 wheat growers.

"They are the best wheat growers in the world. We need to help them. We must ensure a sustainable industry so that we can get good prices for our wheat growers," he said.

MORE
http://www.theage.com.au/news/business/awb-may-lose-grip-on-wheat/2006/02/06/1139074166917.html

PM signals he won't support bill
February 8, 2006 - 9:15PM/the AGE

Prime Minister John Howard has signalled he won't support moves to lift an effective ban on abortion drug RU486, sparking angry claims he's trying to influence tomorrow's conscience vote on the issue.

As senators prepare to vote on the bill which will strip Health Minister Tony Abbott of his control over RU486, Mr Howard has given his strongest indication yet that he will oppose the change.

The bill would hand Mr Abbott's powers over the drug to medical experts at the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA). ... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/pm-signals-he-wont-support-bill/2006/02/08/1139379564505.html

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Last Update: Wednesday, February 8, 2006. 6:10pm (AEDT)

Democrats leader tells of abortion

Democrats Senator Lyn Allison has told the Upper House that she is among the one-in-three women in Australia who have had an abortion.

She told the Senate she finds the arguments against the change "galling", saying they are coming mainly from men.

"Women are fully human, we will act on our own set of values and can be trusted to make reproductive health decisions for ourselves or to share that decision with those we trust," she said.

"An estimated one-in-three women have had an abortion and I am one of them."

The Democrats leader is the chief sponsor of the bill. .. <cont>

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200602/s1565432.htm

& more from the Cole enquiry:

Vaile 'met kickback executives'
Jennifer Sexton and Caroline Overington
February 08, 2006/the AUSTRALIAN

DEPUTY Prime Minister Mark Vaile has been implicated in the Iraq wheat scandal, with the Cole inquiry hearing evidence that he met with two executives linked to the illegal kickbacks.

The bombshell was dropped yesterday afternoon in an email tendered to the inquiry, which recorded the meeting between Mr Vaile and executives involved with AWB and BHP.

In a second blow to the Government's credibility, the inquiry also heard that five years ago public servants investigated the sham trucking company that funnelled millions from wheat exporter AWB to Saddam Hussein. .. <cont>

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,18077840%255E601,00.html

Last Update: Thursday, February 9, 2006. 5:02pm (AEDT)

Senators vote in favour of TGA control of abortion drug

Senators have voted in favour of a bill removing control over the abortion drug RU486 from the federal health minister.

Senators were given a rare conscience vote on the bill, with 45 voting in favour of the change and 28 voting against.

The bill now heads to the House of Representatives and if passed will end the Health Minister's power to ban RU486 and allow the Therapeutic Goods Administration to make a decision on the drug.

It is the first conscience vote since 2002.

Prime Minister John Howard has already indicated he will not be supporting the bill.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200602/s1566353.htm

Hooray!
Congratulations to the good women of all political parties who joined forces to win this vote. Bravo & hugs to all of you! Onward to the House of Reps! (A much tougher call!)
Too bad a conscience vote wasn't allowed prior to our government's endorsement of the US Iraq invasion, hey?

(Anyway, victory though this is for women, I have no doubt that JH sees this issue as a very welcome diversion from media scrutiny of his government's knowledge of the AWB's (& other Oz companies) rorting of the UN's oil for food funds.)

Just ask, Mr Bush. Whatever you want. Whenever ...:

PM won't commit to Iraq troop withdrawal
February 12, 2006 - 11:23AM/SMH

Australian troops could remain in Iraq beyond May, when their current role of protecting Japanese engineers is expected to finish.

Australia's 460-member Al Muthanna Task Group is in southern Iraq protecting the Japanese, who are helping to rebuild infrastructure.

Prime Minister John Howard said today the government did not know yet whether the Japanese engineers would leave Iraq in May, but he hinted Australian troops might stay on in other roles. ...

.......

Labor has called for troops to be brought home as soon as possible.

But Mr Howard today ruled out setting any exit date. ... <cont>

http://smh.com.au/news/world/pm-troops-to-stay-in-iraq/2006/02/12/1139679465809.html

Good god, are we stuck with him forever?! :

Howard has no plans to retire
February 12, 2006 - 11:28AM/SMH

Prime Minister John Howard has hinted he has no immediate plans of retiring... <cont>

http://smh.com.au/news/national/howard-has-no-plans-to-retire/2006/02/12/1139679464246.html

& Wheatergate continues:

Good article by the AGE's Shaun Carney. In case you were wondering why such serious allegations can be so easily brushed off by the government.:

The end of responsibility
By Shaun Carney
February 11, 2006/the AGE



Illustration: Spooner

............... The new political era is defined, in part, by a large-scale lack of interest among voters on questions of responsibility. Indeed, it's not just responsibility but competence that appears to no longer register as an active variable in the political equation. The Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Alexander Downer pooh-pooh the very idea that they should have known more about what the AWB was up to.

Downer has offered a spirited rhetorical defence of his department in the face of evidence before the Cole commission that some departmental officers may have had regular exposure to AWB's arrangements. Essentially, he is saying he had no knowledge of what was going on and neither did anyone from his department. Implicit in this assertion is the acceptance of the notion that there was no obligation on the part of either the minister or any of his bureaucrats to find out.

That is the guiding principle of ministerial responsibility in 2006. .......

<complete article>
http://www.theage.com.au/news/shaun-carney/the-end-of-responsibility/2006/02/10/1139542398201.html

... & another AGE article, this one from good old Kenneth Davison.:

Hanging AWB out to dry
By Kenneth Davidson
February 9, 2006/the AGE



The Howard Government has developed the process of quarantining ministers from unwelcome news by surrounding them with political advisers able to block written or oral briefings from reaching the minister.

One of the iron laws of politics is for governments never to initiate an inquiry unless the outcome is known and the person conducting the inquiry is seen as reliable. The main purpose of the Cole inquiry into the AWB's marketing of wheat in Iraq, as far as the Government is concerned, is to find that there is no proof that the Government knew that the AWB was offering kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime to sustain its 60 per cent share of the lucrative Iraqi wheat market in the face of UN-sponsored sanctions. ..... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/kenneth-davidson/hanging-awb-out-to-dry/2006/02/08/1139379569023.html

The Mad Monk & the aftermath of the senate RU486 vote. Maybe he really did think it was just about him? :

A bitter pill for Abbott
Michelle Grattan
February 12, 2006/the AGE



Digital image: Judy Green

.............."Is Tony Abbott taking this too personally?" my taxi driver asks, after Abbott complains he's being targeted because he's Catholic. "Does he really believe it, or is it a sales pitch?" Yes and yes to the latter questions.

"Anyone who read the opening salvoes from (Democrat) Lyn Allison and even some on my own side late last year would conclude the big problem was that I'd bring Catholic moral philosophy rather than objective judgement" to considering an application to import RU486, Abbott says. "All this stuff about 'Tony's a great bloke, but he's a Catholic'. Judge me by my actions, not your prejudices." In effect, he's confronting critics with the charge of sectarianism. ................

<complete article>
http://www.theage.com.au/news/michelle-grattan/a-bitter-pill-for-abbott/2006/02/11/1139542442848.html

Wow - I though it was a caricature of Kerry Packer - got very confused.

Interesting angle you've got there, Danna! :

Last Update: Monday, February 13, 2006. 6:45pm (AEDT)

MP raises Islamisation fear in RU486 debate



Danna Vale: we are aborting ourselves almost out of existence. (ABC)

Federal Liberal MP Danna Vale says she is supporting a Coalition-backed amendment to a bill on the abortion drug RU486 because she is concerned Australia will become dominated by Muslims.

The amendment proposed by five female Coalition backbenchers would still see the Health Minister decide on applications for RU486, after the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) had first ruled on its safety.

Parliament would have the final say.

"I've actually read in the Daily Telegraph where a certain imam from the Lakemba mosque actually said that Australia is going to be a Muslim nation in 50 years' time," she said.

"I didn't believe him at the time but when you actually look at the birthrates and you look at the fact that we are aborting ourselves almost out of existence by a 100,000 abortions every year.

"You multiply that by 50 years, that's 5 million potential Australians we won't have here."

Mrs Vale says apart from the morals of the issue, she is concerned about what she says are the implications for Australia's future.

"The ramifications it actually has for the community and the nation we'll become in the future is not for the decision of the TGA," she said.

Mrs Vale's concerns are not shared by the other sponsors of the amendment, including Jackie Kelly.

"I think Danna's on her own on that one," she said.

The bill will be debated in the House of Representatives this week.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200602/s1568904.htm

Olgs can you find a good story on the unprecedented gagging of public servants to senate commttees?

Or the government's direction of CSIRO scientist not to speculate on the greenhouse effect? (a very Bush/US strategy)

How many lies before the electorate wakes up? We've had ten years of this now - I was quite fond of my country back then. Now it sickens me.

Hi hinge!


Oh I know, exactly what you mean! Every day it gets more sickening! How long before we hit the bottom? How much more can the Australian public take before complacency is shaken off, for god's sake?!


Agggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!



- Your partner in distress,
msolga

OK! I went looking for any stories under the general "lies, deceptions & cover-up" categories, hinge. There were many! Here's the first one I laid my beady eyes on!:

Spy chief gagged on AWB
February 14, 2006 - 10:47AM/the AGE

Government Senate leader Nick Minchin yesterday said no public servants would answer questions about the alleged $300 million kickbacks wheat export scandal in Iraq because it was the subject of an on-going commission of inquiry.

Justice Minister Chris Ellison today told a Senate estimates hearing the ruling also would apply to today's hearing into the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) and attorney-general's department.

"I will not seek to add to any explanation given by (Senator Minchin) or the prime minister," Senator Ellison said. ... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/spy-chief-gagged-on-awb/2006/02/14/1139679565112.html