Showing posts with label Australian Politics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Australian Politics. Show all posts

Moira Deeming must move to One Nation

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I can’t see how Moira Deeming can succeed now the rot has reached the Liberals’ core

From Macau: The Victorian Liberals have done it again, only this time the farce has played out in under 24 hours.

On Sunday, Liberal Party delegates in Melbourne’s west voted to dump sitting Upper House MP Moira Deeming from the top spot on preselection ticket. As Deeming did not run for any other spot, this means she would lose her seat at the state election later in the year.

Moderate-backed businessman Dinesh Gourisetty, a prominent figure in Melbourne’s Indian community, beat Deeming comfortably at 39 votes to 26. It was clinical. The moderates got their man. The conservatives got the message.

And then it all fell apart.

In the Unfiltered newsletter, Alexandra Marshall wrote:

I am going to contradict both my Editor-in-Chief and my Canberra Correspondent tonight. Let’s see how that goes…

The story of the Moira Deeming preselection and the factional wars going on inside the Victorian Liberal Party are, to quote a friend of mine, ‘The craziest shit I’ve seen in 45 years of Liberal Party politics.’

If you missed the story, you can catch up in our Flat White section – and the plot twists keep on coming. Even now, the story is changing.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Moira Deeming must move to One Nation.

What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward

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The rolling fuel apocalypse is nothing to worry about, insisted the Minister for Panic Buying. 

This week turned out to be an Albanese Method™ masterclass. If there’s one superpower our Prime Minister possesses, it’s the god-like ability to set the house on fire, then burst through the smoke wearing a cape, yelling: ‘I’m here to save you!’

Meanwhile, the rest of us cough up billions in taxes to fund his superhero cape and the Uber that dropped him there.

Staff at the taxpayer-funded outrage factory known the AlBo fan Club went on strike. They’re demanding 10 per cent more of other people’s money to write feel-good propaganda for their comrades. ABC staff were spotted in uptown Ultimo wearing union t-shirts.

Dressing down for the drive from Mosman in their EVs must have been emotionally tough during a fuel crisis…

My latest in The Spectator Australia, What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward.

The old parties had their turn, and failed

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Something remarkable is unfolding… One Nation has turned out the Liberals’ lights. 

The numbers from the pre-election polling, now being borne out in the count, are eye-watering. One Nation is on track to receive a substantial taxpayer-funded election windfall under the Malinauskas government’s new public-funding regime.

The formula is straightforward. In One Nation’s case, $6 for every vote up to the first 10 per cent, then $5.50 thereafter, capped only by actual campaign spend. Assuming the turnout and vote share hold, millions in public money might be heading One Nation’s way, replacing the political donations the Malinauskas Labor government just banned.

But the windfall does not stop on election night. Depending on how many One Nation members are elected, the party is also in line for ongoing administrative funding to cover offices, staff, training, and operations. That funding, plus the potential for policy-development support and other streams, gives One Nation the resources to build serious, professional policy machinery.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, The old parties had their turn, and failed.

What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward

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There's no escaping Labor's kinder economy. And you will love it! [Depositphotos.com/@olly18]

The most important issue this week was Labor’s desperate ‘don’t panic!’ messaging.

Government officials claimed the problem was not a low fuel supply, but high demand. Australia has a jerry can apocalypse. There is a surge of ‘farm thieves’ cutting locks and raiding rural properties. Tractors are being drained and parked cars siphoned like it’s season three of The Walking Dead.

The price of fuel is about to hit $3 per litre, interest rates have tagged along, and the cost of living has soared. But don’t worry, Chalmers has a ‘bold Budget’ planned. Who’s excited for tax reform…?!

My weekly wrap-up of Australian politics in The Spectator Australia,What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward.

What does Australia expect to gain by snubbing Trump?

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Ignoring President Trump’s plea dishonours every Digger who fought beside Americans.

The Strait of Hormuz is the artery carrying one-fifth of the world’s oil. President Trump’s call for allied warships to protect it from Iranian threats was a test of resolve. Australia’s response was lazy and irresponsible. Refusing to send even a single vessel was to turn our back on the United States. Not just any ally, but the nation that has bled for us and with us, time and again.

In France, on the islands of the Pacific, in Korea, Vietnam, and Afghanistan – even in Darwin – American blood has soaked the same battlefields as ours. Anzus rests on that shared sacrifice. Aukus, our most significant defence enabler in history, is the generational result of it.

Ignoring President Trump’s plea dishonours every Digger who fought beside Americans and signals to the world that Australia cannot be counted on when it matters. We’ve never been here before.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, What does Australia expect to gain by snubbing Trump?

Is Labor deliberately ruining us?

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A crisis of Labor’s own making. Teach children self-reliance instead of entitlement.

From Myeongdong, Seoul: Across the road from me is the original Bank of Korea building, the nation’s central bank. It is now the Bank of Korea Money Museum. It has a computer that demonstrates the impact of economic events. If government spending increases, inflation increases. If employment increases, then inflation increases, and so on.

Surely Jim Chalmers knows all of this. If the government spends more on government jobs and puts the rest of the country on welfare, then you don’t need one of these computers anymore. Capitalism is gone and you are living in a socialist economy. You know, that repulsive economic system that never works?

Like many Australians, the RBA’s interest rate increase this week has me worried. We have the most socialist of Labor governments in charge, and an ineffectual opposition. The leadership changes in the Coalition haven’t eased the pain.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Is Labor deliberately ruining us?

What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward

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Labor's scam racket is unravelling. Their type of kindness is weakness and it is ruining our economy.

Jim Chalmers’ kinder economy has turned a corner and crashed straight into a tree. Inflation expectations are spiking to 5.2 per cent in March. The highest in nearly three years. As it turns out, Chalmers not only did his thesis on Paul Keating, but he is Paul Keating.

The problem for Chalmers isn’t that he hit a tree … it’s that it was actually Chris Bowen’s woody nose, elongated by all the little climate fibs and Net Zero platitudes that got a bit creative with the truth. Who knew the Minister for Energy [Crises] was actually Pinocchio’s Aussie cousin? Bowen has left Chalmers T-boned and contemplating dragging our wrecked economy through a 30-point turn to get out.

My weekly column in The Spectator Australia, What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward.

What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward

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Then Chalmers went poof! He ninja-ed his way into a panic room as the economy started knocking.

The week began with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese surprising everyone, not least of all the Labor Party, by officially supporting our major ally’s strike against Iran.

Someone said this support only happened because Labor is in political hot water over Bondi – and if it weren’t for that act of domestic terror, Australia’s response would be sitting somewhere between Starmer’s incompetence and Spain’s hostility.

They’re probably right… as soon as Albo completed his statesmanlike address, his trusty left brain cell kicked in.

This is the first of my weekly columns in The Spectator Australia, What did I miss? Australia’s political week in fast-forward.

Uniparty is out of touch with the realities of growing old

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We’ve lost something of late, but I think AI might just bring it back.

Last month at the National Press Club, Council of the Ageing (COTA) Chair Christopher Pyne laid out the findings of the State of the Older Nation report. Ageism is rife, older Australians feel dismissed, and policy remains stuck in outdated stereotypes. My question to Mr Pyne cut to the heart of it: Why does ageing policy so often feel designed for older people by an elite, progressive bubble rather than with them?

The answer, unfortunately, is that both major parties have lost touch with the lived experience of ageing in modern Australia. They see the grey tsunami coming – the number of Australians aged 65 and over projected to double within decades, the 70-plus cohort up 68 per cent in just 20 years – yet treat it as a budgetary headache or a voting bloc to be placated with press releases, not a profound demographic shift demanding honest, flexible policy.

My latest in The Spectatir Australia, Uniparty is out of touch with the realities of growing old.

Leaked immigration policy debacle a boon for Angus Taylor

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Every now and then, a complete balls-up can work in one’s favour.

The leaked document was prepared with signature blocks for Shadow Minister for Home Affairs, Senator Jonathon Duniam, and Shadow Immigration Minister, Senator Paul Scarr.

The tragedy that manifested at Bondi was, in my opinion, due to a two-pronged assault on our country. First, through a sustained domestic attack on Australian values and culture by our own political and cultural institutions, backed by Woke ideology. Second, by the federal and state governments and police by being actively weak on policing antisemitism and radical Islamist activism (which is still going on largely unchecked).

Sometimes in politics it is expedient to leak important documents.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Leaked immigration policy debacle a boon for Angus Taylor.

The secret to Farrer...

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The by-election to replace Sussan Ley is One Nation’s big chance.

According to recent vox pops, voters in Farrer are ‘disillusioned’ with some referring to their elected representative as ‘Lazy Sussan’.

Ley won in a three-cornered contest in 2001 but the Coalition arrangement since then has left it to the Liberals. If the Coalition had any sense, the Liberals would sit out of this one and let the Nationals have a go. But after 25 years, I doubt the Nationals have the support infrastructure they require. Whether Ley’s supporters can suddenly change gear is another story. Which brings me back to One Nation.

On the TV news, a young Indigenous man said he would vote for One Nation. Such a thought would make blue-haired progressives go feral and get a guernsey on ‘Lefties Losing It’.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, The secret to Farrer...

Barnaby Joyce passes the pub test

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How much money should the government make off your beer down the pub?

I arrived at Mr Joyce’s office just as the bells were ringing for a division. I was happy about this because I was running a minute late. Gunner time remains an important value. If you get it wrong, well. They don’t call we gunners ‘dropshorts’ for nothing.

Mr Joyce arrived and I backgrounded him on how I’d heard his speech from the gallery. I wanted to hear his views on the alcohol excise and the role he’d played in bringing about the freeze on the excise for the next two years.

‘Were you instrumental?’ I asked.

‘No, I played my part’, he replied.

Mr Joyce explained that One Nation has a policy to abolish the excise on alcohol served at venues. This would not be extended to bottleshops. The idea is about keeping pubs at the centre of community. Mr Joyce reinforced that this is particularly important in one-pub towns in regional and rural Australia.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Barnaby Joyce passes the pub test.

Liberals’ wheels fell off with the hate speech laws

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Sussan Ley called for a special sitting of Parliament, then went in with no idea of what to stand for.

Conservative policies are key to the Liberal Party turning itself around.

But is it too late? With One Nation on the rise, and some two years to go before the next election, this brings me to the straw that broke the camel’s back: the Hate Speech Laws.

The tipping point was Sussan Ley calling for a special sitting of Parliament, then going in with no idea of what to stand for. Only a handful of conservative politicians were brave enough to stand up for conservative principles and oppose these laws.

It is worth remembering that the Liberals brought their problems upon themselves. And it all started with the Hate Speech Laws.

Essentially, Sussan Ley has punished the Nationals for voting the same way as conservative members wanted them to.

If anything, the Liberals should be looking to the Nationals for guidance on standing up for conservative principles.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Liberals’ wheels fell off with the hate speech laws.

RBA interest rate hike: Our plight under Opposition light

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The Prime Minister deflected the question on rampant government spending with Medicare praise.

From the Press Gallery: Below my seat in the press gallery, the Liberal Party sits in Parliament as a shadow government and a shadow of its former self. Sussan Ley’s first question was:

When will the government’s reckless spending end?

Albo rose to his feet to answer as the Opposition called a point of order. Government MPs were shouting ‘time’ in direct conflict with the Speaker’s rules which cut-off Opposition speakers. Instead of spending, Albo spoke about cheaper medicine.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, RBA interest rate hike: Our plight under Opposition light.

Liberals' last hurrah?

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When Sir Robert Menzies retired, he left Australia in a better place than which he found it.

It is sixty years since Sir Robert Menzies retired. He left Australia in a better place than which he found it. And while the political party he founded has since lost its way at times, it has never been in such a perilous position as it is now.

If you were to ask me who the base of the Liberal Party is today, I can tell you it isn’t me. It’s not business people. It’s not conservatives. Indeed, it would take considerable research to find those who are satisfied with the Liberal Party outside the party machine itself.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Liberals' last hurrah?

Flag-burning justifies audits of funding for activist groups

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If activists don't want the Australian state, then we need to ensure they are not benefiting from it.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Flag-burning justifies audits of funding for activist groups.


Silvertail Liberals are up against sons and daughters of Anzacs

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The Liberal Party thinks that changing their leader is going to fix the party’s problems.

Anthony Albanese is having a field day. The worst Prime Minister in Australian history is getting away with incompetence because his complete rock-show of a circus has been overtaken by the Liberals’ own clown show. It’s been happening for years, and the faceless machine-men and their turkeys are all coming home to roost. Even the ABC’s former chief leftologist has gleefully come out of retirement to tell us that, historically, One Nation’s surge hurts the Coalition most.

The problem with this idea is its premise. Once the Coalition finds its feet, it can turn back the tide … but that is nonsense.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Silvertail Liberals are up against sons and daughters of Anzacs.

Albo delivers ‘dog’s breakfast’, claims antisemitism wasn’t Labor’s fault

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Albanese’s dog’s breakfast of a Bill will NOT protect Australians from home-grown terrorist attacks.

From the Parliamentary Press Gallery: Following yesterday’s shemozzle, and after a good night’s sleep, I rode my new scrambler into Parliament House just in time to get the very last motorcycle parking space. All eyes were on the Albanese government as the failed omnibus bill was split into two distinct bills, one for hate speech and one for gun laws.

You can’t make up the stuff that happens in Parliament. I often think those among us who are cynical about politics have every right to be. But don’t take my word for it, ask One Nation.

Senator Pauline Hanson won’t be in the debate that will run late tonight because she is banned from the Senate for warning about Islamist extremism. That’s right, protesting the ideology that inspired the murder of 15 Australians is the reason Senator Hanson is not allowed to vote on the laws designed to stop Islamic terrorism in Australia.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter. Terry Barnes wrote:

The Albanese hate speech and hate groups bill has passed in federal parliament, as has the now-separate gun control and buyback bill. All done in just one day. The Nationals supported neither bill, making Sussan Ley look an isolated and feeble an Opposition and Coalition leader – which she is. She effectively gave Anthony Albanese a get out of gaol free card, while angering half her MPS and getting two fingers from the Nats. If the knives aren’t being sharpened for Ley now, they soon will be. The only performance more shambolic than hers this week was Albanese’s. Michael de Percy was ringside to the whole sorry show yesterday, and wrote this wrap.

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Albo delivers ‘dog’s breakfast’, claims antisemitism wasn’t Labor’s fault.

Condolences today, (in)action tomorrow

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Bridget McKenzie says PM failed to rise to the test of leadership.

From Parliament House: The House of Representatives was dominated today by the necessary and important reading of the names of the victims of the recent Islamist-inspired massacre at Bondi. Many of the families and friends of victims attended the ‘Victims of the Bondi antisemitic terror attack – Condolence motion’. Our Parliament is an important place for such symbolism.

Originally, both Houses were recalled for a special sitting for the condolence motion but also to pass laws designed to prevent such horrific terrorist acts from occurring again. The condolence motion saw normal business suspended until each member had had their say, and then the House would adjourn until Tuesday to debate the new laws.

In the Morning Double Shot newsletter, Terry Barnes wrote:

It looks like a compromise version of the controversial hate speech bill will pass tomorrow, as the Coalition – rather, Liberals – and the Albanese government negotiated yesterday to give it some sort of mutual support. What the detail of the deal is we’re yet to see, but there will have been a lot of coffee and pizza in the Attorney-General’s department last night as the bureaucrats drafted legislative mumbo-jumbo through the night. In terms of the politics, Anthony Albanese may have failed his national leadership test after Bondi, but he’s still managed to shift political responsibility for the compromise to hapless Sussan Ley. As for the day itself, our press gallery correspondent Michael de Percy was there after having previewed it, and it’s fair to say he was not impressed by the tone of heavy-handed legislative intervention in the air, on gun laws as well as hate speech.

My latest in The Spectator Australia,  Condolences today, (in)action tomorrow.

Labor’s Islamic terrorism deflection is desperate

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Instead of dealing with Islamic terrorism, the Albanese government is focused on gun laws.

Since neither the Coalition nor the Greens have agreed with Labor’s response to the Islamist-inspired murder of 15 Australians, the Prime Minister has pivoted to a familiar line of attack. He is now claiming the Coalition opposition has made clear what they don’t stand for, but offered nothing on what they do stand for.

This is rich coming from a leader whose own omnibus legislation was a massive failure.

What began as a rushed response to genuine community outrage over antisemitism and Islamic extremism initially morphed into a sprawling, politically expedient package that bundled hate speech reforms with gun control in a way that alienated potential allies across the spectrum.

Now, instead of dealing with the real problem – Islamic terrorism – the Albanese government is focused on gun laws. 

My latest in The Spectator Australia, Labor’s Islamic terrorism deflection is desperate.

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