Australian politicians are fond of looking down the barrel of a camera and saying “Australia is meeting – and beating! – its international emissions targets”. They’re lying. OK, technically they can look their kids in the eye and claim they’re not lying – just – because if you employ a couple of loopholes built into those targets back in the […]
This is the third (and final) instalment in a series on Australia’s current debate over making same-sex marriage legal. The first instalment looked at the backstory to the issue. The second instalment looked briefly at the Yes and No campaigns, as well as my view on the issue. In this final instalment, I’d like to look at a few of
On Australia’s Vote for Same Sex Marriage – Resolving the Issues Read Post »
This is the second in a 3-part series on the question of same-sex marriage, which is currently being ‘debated’ in Australia ahead of a non-compulsory public vote that is not binding on the government (and if you’re wondering “if it’s non-compulsory and non-binding, why have it?” – please join the massive queue forming on the left). Part 1 of this
Australia and Same Sex Marriage – The Campaign, and My View Read Post »
My home country is fighting with itself right now. The issue? Same-sex marriage. Rather than do what they were elected to do (legislate), the Australian federal government, which has the sole legal jurisdiction over the definition of marriage, decided to outsource its job to the people. They’re holding a nationwide, non-compulsory vote on whether or not the definition of marriage
On Australia’s Vote for Same-Sex Marriage – Backstory Read Post »
I wouldn’t normally reproduce a friend’s Facebook status on here, but this has been with me all day. Thanks Nige, for letting me reproduce this post from yesterday: We were just driving over the Tasman Bridge and I saw a young lady climbing over the rail. I said to Rachael look she is going to jump. Took eyes off her,
Hey Australia! For the last couple of years we’ve had a budget emergency. We’ve been living amongst a debt and deficit disaster – we know this because Tony and Joe told us – and if you didn’t agree with Sweaty Joe’s plans to fix it, then you were stealing from your children. You heartless bastards! But hey, that was 2014.
Politically speaking, our Prime Minister is now regarded as a dead man walking. There was a motion to spill the top leadership positions in the Liberals’ party room on Monday. It was moved by a couple of disaffected backbenchers sick to the mayhem at the top levels of the government. 40% of Tony Abbott’s party voted against his leadership –
Today, the Australian parliament repealed the country’s carbon reduction legislation. It has effectively left our country with no pollution reduction policy and we are the first country in the world to go from having a price on carbon pollution, to having no price on carbon pollution. Our government campaigned hard on this for some time. They successfully prosecuted the false
Bleeding Heart Lefty: Australia and Climate Change Read Post »
This is too good not to share. It’s our Prime Minister, Tony Abbott, as profiled by John Oliver’s team at Last Week Tonight (HBO). It’s part of their ongoing “Other Presidents of the United States” series. — The Prime Ministership of Tony Abbott is kind of like Australia’s ‘Dubya’ moment. We’ve elected him once and already we can see the
I missed commenting on The Budget ™ because my computer had crapped its pants but I couldn’t resist this. The background….. Last week our nation’s Treasurer, Joe Hockey, delivered his government’s first budget. Like most first-term government inaugural budgets, it blows a whole bunch of political capital on ideological flights of fancy that the government hopes it can make up
Bleeding Heart Lefty – Smokin Joe Hockey’s Fight For Free Education Read Post »
It’s been very hard to concentrate on cars the last week, so it’s time to blow out a few of the week’s cobwebs…. —— From 2007 to 2013, Australia was governed by a leftist government – the Labor Party. The leader for much of this time, Kevin Rudd, was very popular with the electorate but his leadership style was loathed
