Two brief news items to relate on Australian matters, as well as which we have the latest of Adrian Beaumont’s increasingly regular updates on the constitutional mess that is Brexit.
Sarah Henderson, who held the seat of Corangamite for the Liberals from 2013 until her defeat in May, will return to parliament today after winning preselection to fill Mitch Fifield’s Victorian Senate vacancy. This follows her 234-197 win in a party vote held on Saturday over Greg Mirabella, a Wangaratta farmer and the husband of former Indi MP Sophie Mirabella. After initial expectations that Henderson was all but assured of the spot, Mirabella’s campaign reportedly gathered steam in the lead-up to Saturday’s vote, resulting in a late flurry of public backing for Henderson from Scott Morrison, Josh Frydenberg, Jeff Kennett, Michael Kroger and Michael Sukkar.
Also, The Australian reports Queensland Liberal Senator James McGrath will push for the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, of which he is the chair, to consider abolishing proportional representation in the Senate and replacing it with a system in which each state is broken down into six provinces, each returning a single member at each half-Senate election – very much like the systems that prevailed in the state upper houses of Victoria, Western Australia and South Australia in the bad old days before the advent of proportional representation.
Ostensibly motivated by a desire to better represent the regions, such a system would result in a Senate dominated as much as the House of Representatives by the major parties, at a time of ongoing erosion in public support for them. The Australian’s report further quotes Nationals Senator Perin Davey advocating the equally appalling idea of rural vote weighting for the House. The kindest thing that can be said about both proposals is that they are not going to happen, although the latter would at least give the High Court an opportunity to take a stand for democracy by striking it down.
guytaur @ #1246 Sunday, September 15th, 2019 – 9:21 am
Just like their newstart policy, despite expert evidence.
They are an empty vessel. Rudderless. Directionless. Bereft of principle and surrounded by circling CFMMEU sharks……. with no island in sight.
Good line from Butler quoting Brandis.
Good to see Labor pointing out the racism tendencies in this government
Mark Butler was punchy and forthright and put Fran Kelly’s questions into their correct perspective.
Bushfire Bill @ #1248 Sunday, September 15th, 2019 – 9:23 am
Fran did a professional job of exposing Labors hollowness.
Good positive interview by Butler, in spite of Fran.
Savva saying Van Onselen talking crap 🙂
Woah Niki Savva. Is she more closely connected with the Vic Liberals?
Niki Savva putting PvO in his place and not going along with the Liberal Party line!
Called the Liu interview ‘dodgy’ as opposed to ‘clumsy’.
Insiders missing that Liu was part of a branch level attempt to loosen foreign investment rules that would have favoured Communist China.
PvO less than impressive here.
Move along folks, nothing to see here.
PvO now backing water.
Boerwar
says:
Sunday, September 15, 2019 at 9:31 am
PvO less than impressive here.
Move along folks, nothing to see here.
__________________
he could be right though.
PVO busy backtracking.
@Paul Colgan
Inflows to Sydney’s main dam are 10% of the long run average
Regional towns in perilous danger of running out of water over the coming year without some downpours
Day zero: The dates we will run out of water
Niki Savva, as a close friend of Turnbull, has probably been talking to him about what he knows.
Jeez, how hard does the evidence against Gladys Liu have to be!?! PvO demanding evidence needs to be harder. 🙄
“It’s certainly NOT a Nanny State. Nannies are caring for a start. It’s more like the unfolding state in Communist China: intrusive, controlling, manipulative, cruel and vindictive.”
I see it as the recreation of a sort of virtual Workhouse system to ultimately replace welfare.
Liu has questions to answer no doubt. I’d like to see some evidence of wrongdoing.
ScoMo just living up to his dodgy salesman routine by playing the race card. He’ll eventually bring himself completely undone.
Steve
The word you are looking for is Dickensian. Trash human rights and child labour and other abuses are acceptable.
After all if you give a go you get a go
C@t:
Yes PvO’s just playing it safe IMO.
PvO now swinging the sledgehammer at the Coalition on playing the race card.
In Sydney, one barrier to awareness of how bad things are with the drought is that it rains here when it rains hardly anywhere else. There have been good rains here in the last couple of months – within 30 km of the coast.
Laura Tingle writes another astute piece about what is happening in Parliament.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-14/gladys-liu-scott-morrison-hubris/11511280?pfmredir=sm
Confessions @ #1257 Sunday, September 15th, 2019 – 9:28 am
Her husband is a Liberal party staffer.
Rex Douglassays:
Sunday, September 15, 2019 at 9:34 am
Like Dastyari, who actually broke no laws or rules and declared all the donations.
Barney in Tanjung Bunga
says:
Like Dastyari, who actually broke no laws or rules and declared all the donations.
___________________________________________
Dastyari resigned after media pressure made Shorten disown him.
Barney in Tanjung Bunga @ #1274 Sunday, September 15th, 2019 – 9:40 am
Shanghai Sam had lobbyists paying his personal bills and you reckon he did nothing wrong ..?? 😆
nathsays:
Sunday, September 15, 2019 at 9:42 am
Did he?
From what I remember Sam also told a target of ASIO surveillance that his phone was tapped.
Barney in Tanjung Bunga
says:
Dastyari resigned after media pressure made Shorten disown him.
Did he?
___________________________
Yep. It appears that Morrison is not as eager to throw people overboard, at least not yet. We will see if the story develops.
Insiders clarifies that there are three strands to the Liu saga:
1. Was the money gathering licit?
2. Has Liu compromised national security in any particular respect?
3. Morrison’s behaviour – lying, playing the race card, harvesting Chinese Australian votes.
Rex Douglassays:
Sunday, September 15, 2019 at 9:43 am
It’s not me saying it.
Where are the criminal charges against him?
Barney in Tanjung Bunga
says:
It’s not me saying it.
Where are the criminal charges against him?
______________________________
there was none. Like I said, he resigned because of media pressure and his colleagues were walking away from him.
Boerwar @ #1280 Sunday, September 15th, 2019 – 9:46 am
4. How much more to come?
Butler is in a hopeless position.
I think he’d have an excellent climate policy ready tomorrow if the coal union donors weren’t pulling the power plays.
Boerwar @ #1280 Sunday, September 15th, 2019 – 7:46 am
4. Morrison nailing his colours to her mast means if she goes down so potentially does he. Or at the very least is mortally wounded.
Fran is a poor panel leader. Spends far too much time pontificating and far too little time getting the best out the panel.
Shanghai Sam had lobbyists paying his personal bills and you reckon he did nothing wrong ..??
Disclosure of donations is designed to make such matters public and accountable. Dastyari disclosed. Can’t see a problem with that.
And she keeps interrupting all the time.
Bushfire Bill
says:
Sunday, September 15, 2019 at 9:50 am
Shanghai Sam had lobbyists paying his personal bills and you reckon he did nothing wrong ..??
Disclosure of donations is designed to make such matters public and accountable. Dastyari disclosed. Can’t see a problem with that.
____________________________
Then why did he resign. Why did Shorten disown him?
Barney in Tanjung Bunga @ #1281 Sunday, September 15th, 2019 – 9:47 am
Politicians are rightly held to ethical standards. Sadly, many still however get away with highly unethical behaviour. Shanghai Sam was one politician who didn’t get away with his unethical behaviour.
This Insiders discussion about Labor shows the media bias in spades.
Coorey The Greens did not help Labor. Just after talking about the centre.
Accepting and understanding the science is the centre. It’s extreme to reject that.
Then they spend ages discussing how bad politics is on climate change.
The bias is that somehow being Green and highlighting science is extreme left.
This is what killed Dastyari’s political career.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-29/sam-dastyari-secret-south-china-sea-recordings/9198044
From what I can recall it wasn’t the donations that finished off Dastyari. But rather his advocacy of Chinese policy in the South China Sea and his pleas to Plibersek not to meet with pro-democracy activists.
The main difference between Sam and Liu is the one sat in the Senate and can be replaced without a by-election
guytaur @ #1246 Sunday, September 15th, 2019 – 9:21 am
So Labor’s policy is to one day have a policy?
And some people here still wonder they lost the last election 🙁
Were the people here who are defending Shanghai Sam also defending Barnaby and others for accepting paid expenses from Gina ..?
WTF? Savva gives a plug for a Tony Abbott tribute dinner!
There are three differences between Dastyari and Liu
1. Finagling money to pay a personal bill.
2. Dastyari was a Shadow Minister Liu is a backbencher.
3. Dastyari publicly argued against a bi partisan policy in relation to China.
The Coalition flim flam line about Liu is that, because she was not involved in a specific item of influence peddling, she is clean. She was a member of at least two foreign agitprop organisations whose main purpose is influence peddling on behalf of China. Plus she lied about being a member of those organisations.
I find it incomprehensible: Dastyari was completely open about his ‘China connection’ and retired in disgrace. Liu has prevaricated, told lies and deceived the voters in an election but because the Libs need her vote and she is a money tree, she is pure and innocent and anyone who says differently is racist.
Thanks everyone for watching Insiders so I didn’t have to.
Watching Fran Kelly is a good way to ruin an otherwise fine Sunday morning.