tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post392789465429139311..comments2024-03-25T05:30:23.847+11:00Comments on HotWhopper: Will Australia do an about face on carbon pricing?Souhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08818999735123752034noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-8161943825707689952013-09-12T00:39:03.754+10:002013-09-12T00:39:03.754+10:00Thanks Bill and Cliff. That's fantastic news, ...Thanks Bill and Cliff. That's fantastic news, isn't it.<br /><br />I was in the car when I heard it on the news. I believe even Antony Green has called it for Cathy McGowan having previously said he thought Sophie would win the seat. I expect it will still be a few days before we know for sure but it's looking very good and I reckon that will be enough to get her in. <br /><br />I wonder if Cathy wins the seat will Sophie Mirabella concede or will it be up to Cathy to declare victory? (Sophie isn't gracious at the best of times.)<br /><br />I don't imagine Abbott will give her a diplomatic post :DSouhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08818999735123752034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-21931897397253830502013-09-11T16:01:53.519+10:002013-09-11T16:01:53.519+10:00They just found 1003 votes for Cathy McGowan. I lo...They just found 1003 votes for Cathy McGowan. I looked at her website and she approves of action on climate change. <br /><br />Hopefully we'll see the end of that other Mirabella thing. She reminds me of a female version of George Costanza.<br /><br />http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/discovery-of-1000-missing-votes-swings-momentum-away-from-sophie-mirabella-20130911-2tk9g.htmlCliffnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-90842556129665284392013-09-11T16:01:34.178+10:002013-09-11T16:01:34.178+10:001000 misplaced votes just found put McGowan 1700 u...<a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-09-11/misplaced-votes-extend-mcgowans-lead-over-mirabella-in-indi/4951666" rel="nofollow">1000 misplaced votes just found</a> put McGowan 1700 up; fingers crossed that this could be the end of at least on of Abbott's most egregious anti-science cadre...billnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-91453730654401230472013-09-10T10:51:45.969+10:002013-09-10T10:51:45.969+10:00The only way Parliament as a whole could effective...The only way Parliament as a whole could effectively "sack" the Prime Minister would be through a motion of no confidence. Generally if a leader isn't performing (in the eyes of the Party, usually only because public polling shows their lack of popularity, but not always) then the party itself appoints a new leader. Same happens when in opposition, except then they aren't Prime Minister of course. Remember - we don't vote in our Prime Minister so there's no reason for the Party not to change the leader if they see fit.<br /><br />Here is a rundown on no confidence motions in Australia:<br /><br />http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_prime_ministers_defeated_by_votes_of_no_confidence#AustraliaSouhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08818999735123752034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-37602045308011039842013-09-10T10:05:57.638+10:002013-09-10T10:05:57.638+10:00CC I don't know of a single article that cover...CC I don't know of a single article that covers the lot, but here is an excellent collection that should give you an overview:<br /><br />https://theconversation.com/topics/carbon-priceSouhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08818999735123752034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-24039600604601098842013-09-10T08:39:54.618+10:002013-09-10T08:39:54.618+10:00Passing the torch is a different case. I was think...Passing the torch is a different case. I was thinking of a PM being <b>sacked</b> by his/her own party. That it is the party and not the parliament makes it ever stranger. I think I even heard a German pundit wondering whether this could count as a Coup d'État.Victor Venemahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02842816166712285801noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-23597902602148808682013-09-09T13:15:31.929+10:002013-09-09T13:15:31.929+10:00Sou can you recommend a good article(s) that summa...Sou can you recommend a good article(s) that summarize the Australian Carbon Tax from it's inception to enactment and further trials and tribulations - for those of us living on the other side of the world?citizenschallengehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04559990934735912814noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-25271407074611652292013-09-08T22:42:16.166+10:002013-09-08T22:42:16.166+10:00Thanks Mike - I've re-read and corrected the m...Thanks Mike - I've re-read and corrected the main article. That would be dreadful if he did. There's a way to go before next July comes around. I'll be watching.Souhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08818999735123752034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-29588284485635052902013-09-08T21:56:22.211+10:002013-09-08T21:56:22.211+10:00I think I had something about 2014 in the main art...I think I had something about 2014 in the main article above. I was probably correct there and maybe made an error later on, thinking it would be too hard. We'll have to wait and see what happens.<br /><br />Incidentally Tony Abbott promised to "Stop the Boats". He's <a href="http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/asylum-seekers-intercepted-north-of-darwin/story-fnihsfrf-1226714751238" rel="nofollow">already broken that promise</a> and it's only day one. How many more? :-oSouhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08818999735123752034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-27338663822093451912013-09-08T21:21:10.609+10:002013-09-08T21:21:10.609+10:00Unfortunately Sou, what you say is not correct. I ...Unfortunately Sou, what you say is not correct. I think it is likely that the ETS is doomed.<br /><br />"From July 2014, Labor and the Greens will only have 35 seats to the Coalition’s 33, with most of the rest being small right-wing parties. The Coalition will need to win over six of the eight others to pass its legislation."<br />http://theconversation.com/by-the-numbers-winners-and-losers-of-the-election-17854<br /><br />The best of the 8 others is SA Senator Nick Xenophon who is an anti-wind farm campaigner. Xenophon has indicated that he will support "Direct Action" if it can be shown that it will achieve the 5% target. With the others likely to include 2 Palmer United, 1 Family First, 1 Australian Sports Party, 1 Australian Motoring Enthusiasts and 1 Liberal Democrat, I am afraid the die is cast.<br /><br />Turnbull is also unlikely to be a last minute saviour. He has shown with his opportunism around that the NBN that his personal ambition trumps the future of the planet.<br /><br />But I am not into hand wringing. In any event preserving the carbon price alone would not have been enough to prevent dangerous climate change. This election result along with the laws of physics will continue to polarise the community. I suspect that is what is necessary to get the sort of political action that is required. <br />MikeHnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-7202486216986582532013-09-08T20:08:28.051+10:002013-09-08T20:08:28.051+10:00Unfortunately we don't really have that remedy...Unfortunately we don't really have that remedy available here. It's almost unthinkable that a State would attempt to go it alone. I'm not sure if it's even theoretically possible , having not looked at it.Lotharssonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-25014580323329214852013-09-08T20:06:56.480+10:002013-09-08T20:06:56.480+10:00I'm not at all convinced Turnbull would keep t...I'm not at all convinced Turnbull would keep the carbon price. He'd be pissing off a large irrational but vocal proportion of his party's support base, and many of them would use Abbott "logic" to brand him "a liar".<br /><br />The LNP has got itself into the kind of problematic situation the Republicans did in the US, although I'm not convinced they understand it yet. Once you stoke up irrational fears into conventional "wisdom" amongst your supporters via endless media-reinforced repetition, you can't use rational argument to convince them to change their minds. <br /><br />The Republicans in the US are stuck in an ongoing tilt to ever more radical departures from reality - those politicians that resist generally find themselves challenged by someone advocating even crazier positions. So the party as a whole keeps getting loonier and loonier...Lotharssonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-67796152449740712772013-09-08T20:02:28.916+10:002013-09-08T20:02:28.916+10:00"I have never heard of such behaviour in othe...<em>"I have never heard of such behaviour in other countries."</em><br /><br />Margaret Thatcher springs to mind. Australia has a Westminster style democracy just like the UK.Lotharssonnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-45814081267076092332013-09-08T18:36:35.461+10:002013-09-08T18:36:35.461+10:00Found more details. The Liberal Party only had a ...Found more details. The Liberal Party only had a swing in its favour of 1.2% and the National Party only 0.8%. So it was all down to the seats that capitalised on the swing and on the preferences of minor parties. That meant the LNP won a lot of seats in the lower house. Fat lot of good it will do them when it comes to things like the carbon pricing scheme.<br /><br />The gloating from WUWT and climate deniers is misplaced if they think Australians like Tony Abbott. All the polls show that he's unpopular. It's that they didn't like the Labor Party - and I don't blame them.Souhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08818999735123752034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-27947231773504625232013-09-08T18:18:45.344+10:002013-09-08T18:18:45.344+10:00The Libs only had a swing of 1.6% according to the...The Libs only had a swing of 1.6% according to the latest on the ABC website. Hardly a resounding victory on their own merits. They must have got in on preferences and by gaining marginal seats.<br /><br />It was the independents and minor parties that got the biggest swing in their favour - nearly 6%. Labor had a swing against by 4.1% and greens a swing against of 3.3%.<br /><br />Despite the swing against them, the Greens didn't lose any seats and probably gained a Senate seat.<br /><br />It wouldn't take much to shake the Liberal National coalition. Tony won't be able to keep any of his big promises. He won't be able to axe the "tax"; he won't be able to lift China's economy to revitalise the mining industry; he won't be able to "stop the boats" no matter how many taxpayers dollars he hands over to people smugglers; and he won't be able to get rid of the deficit without sending our weakening economy into a dive.<br /><br />Most of all, he won't be able to stop global warming and will probably exacerbate it.Souhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08818999735123752034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-12385798679691642262013-09-08T16:28:15.250+10:002013-09-08T16:28:15.250+10:00Pardon me if I don't find any comfort in "...Pardon me if I don't find any comfort in "it could have been worse". Anthony Watts' crowing is enough to convince me that the human race is getting the fate that it has earned.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-5464444397955575432013-09-08T14:47:40.628+10:002013-09-08T14:47:40.628+10:00Bernard, don't be fooled by Turnbull. He is ju...Bernard, don't be fooled by Turnbull. He is just like the rest of them. http://uknowispeaksense.wordpress.com/2013/08/12/a-vote-for-the-coalition-is-immoral/ Tony Abbott himself spruiked for a carbon tax in 2009 only to now describe the price on carbon as a "toxic tax". Turnbull too would have to do some monumental flip-flopping to do what you suggest. Do you really want someone who changes their position so readily to please their party running the show? He has been viscious at times in defence of his party's flawed NBN and "direct action" plans. He was also caught out on Thursday night lying about a policy on internet censorship. No, i think the best thing that can come out of this debacle we have voted in for ourselves will be the realisation that those who voted LNP have made a huge mistake. Everyone will see the real Tony giving breaks to billionaires, paying millionaires to have babies while increasing taxes on the poor and ruining the environment and they will kick him and his party of moronic greed driven idealogues to the kerb with such ferocity his party will be forced to undergo some serious bloodletting, particularly amongst the ranks of angry old white homophobic, science denying racist idealogues, that currently call the shots.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-12477321137603440542013-09-08T14:46:17.613+10:002013-09-08T14:46:17.613+10:00Aren't they talking of taking over millions of...Aren't they talking of taking over millions of hectares of prime farmland and conscripting a "green army" to plant trees on it? All at taxpayers expense, not the polluters.<br /><br />Or something like that. <br /><br />It's as if they think Australia will never have another drought or any more bushfires and that their trees will offset all the coal we dig up to get burned.Souhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08818999735123752034noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-6038230517608271342013-09-08T14:09:24.369+10:002013-09-08T14:09:24.369+10:00Not to forget:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHk...Not to forget:<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHkhLt7kvVc<br /><br />http://blogs.abc.net.au/victoria/2009/12/climate-change-is-crap-tony-abbot-said-to-the-pyrenees-advocate.html<br /><br />The next few months will be interesting in terms of seeing exactly where he stands now on climate change.<br /><br /><br />Bernard J.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-13445594218751867482013-09-08T13:45:16.249+10:002013-09-08T13:45:16.249+10:00Malcolm Turnbull as a PM would be the get-out-of-j...Malcolm Turnbull as a PM would be the get-out-of-jail card for Australia, although it doesn't remove the permanent stain that is that a majority of the country was swayed by Coalition and media lies and their own embedded ignorance of the price on carbon, and the necessity for having one.<br /><br />Still, if Turnbull was to somehow replace Abbott in the near term, the price on carbon would very likely remain and Malcolm would likely recant his last-century stance on corroding copper and progress with a fibre-to-the-house national broadband network. They would be two enormously impressive gifts to bequest to the future - it's such a shame that the self-indulgent Australian populace saw fit to ditch them for their own short-term interests.<br /><br /><br />Bernard J.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-595018364998769222013-09-08T12:40:04.055+10:002013-09-08T12:40:04.055+10:00Further on the actual views of the new PM.<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7b1qb9sU8g" rel="nofollow">Further on the actual views</a> of the new PM.billnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-26424977203327003402013-09-08T12:33:46.785+10:002013-09-08T12:33:46.785+10:00...pure Trotskyite, in fact! But relax - they have......pure Trotskyite, in fact! But relax - they haven't bothered to fund it...<br /><br />What was the Garnaut quote when he was asked why he'd proposed such a clear market-based solution? 'I was unaware I was living in a Stalinist state'? Something to that effect, but I can't currently find it!...<br /><br />billnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-30873581527474909352013-09-08T11:26:59.000+10:002013-09-08T11:26:59.000+10:00I am a lurker here, Sou, and appreciate your repor...I am a lurker here, Sou, and appreciate your reporting on Anthony and Co so I don't have to go near denier sites.<br /><br />A description for your international audience of the irrationality of Australia's climate debate might be in order.<br /><br />I am constantly amazed that the media do not talk about the irony that the ostensible left (ALP and Greens) support a market based emissions reduction mechanism (ETS) while the ostensible right (the Coalition) support a big government (dare I say socialist) solution ("Direct Action").Stevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05866277956979344622noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-37671114921311017962013-09-08T11:21:02.310+10:002013-09-08T11:21:02.310+10:00Many years a go I used to work in a building that ...Many years a go I used to work in a building that we shared with one Christopher Pearson, who had recently acquired a community paper called the 'Adelaide Review'.<br /><br />Leaving aside the issue of every second page of said publication being, literally, sponsored by some Govt. Department or Arts funding body while the new proprietor went on to espouse the Freest™ of Free Market™ triumphalism, one of the notable things he did was to hand a comment page over to one Tony Abbott. <br /><br />And as a result of repeated exposure to said commentary I don't get the 'Tony isn't really a real Reactionary' thing, because, well, yes he is. He's a power-hungry and canny pragmatist sufficient to keep his gut on a leash, but there's a reason this guy is so loved by Cory Bernardi, and all his instincts are pure Sophie Mirabella. To what extent he will get the opportunity to act on them remains to be seen...<br /><br />Um, and to clarify, Tony can't get control of the Senate until the next Federal election (whenever it's called) and it's associated half-Senate election (or full if a double-dissolution)- next year is only when the Senate roster actually changes over to the new electees. I'd argue he really didn't do well enough in the Senate to risk a double-dissolution, and he must be very aware how fickle the electorate is.<br /><br />I was very pleased to see the Green's Sarah Hanson-Young apparently (all the following is provisional on final counts) re-elected fairly comfortably here in SA, given that this also sticks it to the Australian, which was pre-emptively gloating over her assumed downfall.<br /><br />It's notable that SA has 3 independents/minor party electees out of its allotted 6.<br /><br />Plus congratulations to Adam Bandt!<br /><br />(And much traumatised I am by the loss of Don Farrell. Not. Thank whatever God you do or don't fancy he wasn't able to keep himself number one on the ticket above Penny Wong.)billnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2313427464944392482.post-53518681845671601762013-09-08T08:23:16.696+10:002013-09-08T08:23:16.696+10:00Here in the UK, Major (who?) replaced Thatcher and...Here in the UK, Major (who?) replaced Thatcher and won the following election. Brown replaced Blair and let's never speak of it again. There are many examples in British history, with mixed results. Sometimes it's a passing-on of the torch (e.g. Balfour, with the eponymous uncle Bob) and other times it's a poisoned chalice (Brown/Blair). And sometimes it's jumping the shark (Rudd/Gillard).<br /><br />My condolences to righteous Aussies. The long slow trainwreck just started for you. We've had three years of it here, and the Scots are on the point of walking out already.Cugelnoreply@blogger.com