australia politics

I know Australian politics is not huge here, and I would not normally start a thread about it, but the immediate consequence of this is that the Senate, where the Opposition and independents have the balance of power, will now vote down the carbon trading scheme. As a G20 country and 13th...

Online petitions generally suck balls, and are pretty much worth the paper they're printed on... ;) However, Australian Senator Nick Xenophon, has specifically requested a show of global support via...well...e petition: so your clicks will not be wasted. If false imprisonment, coerced...

Did the queen of england fire the socialist Prime Minister of Australia? I don't mean just a while a go. I mean did this once happen? I know what you might be thinking. You might be thinking, of course not! It is a whole different country. She does not have that right. Well, this...

I suppose I should add that we recently inherited this guy from London. http://www.theage.com.au/national/financial-crisis-is-all-gods-work-says-mp-20081204-6rpa.html What particularly annoys me is that politicians can get elected without divulging strongly held beliefs which may influence...

So I've been watching The Chasers (Which is a great show) and they were talking about a case where a company fired an employee, and then got a replacement for the same job with a 25% reduction in pay to save money, and this was scandalous because Work Choices allows this (At least that's what I...

Words fail me to describe this; just read it.

I suspect that a lot of people outside Australia won't be aware of this, but this morning marked the opening of Kevin Rudd's new Labour parliament. I watched this morning when members of the indigenous community performed a Welcome To Country ceremony for new parliament. This has never...

Australia Joins China In Censoring The Internet Okay, any Australians better come here and clear the name of their country if this is just over-hype. But really, I liked Labor in the last election. WTF? To go to the source: Won't someone think of the children? Though I have to laugh that...

Looks like Dubbya's next best pal is now facing the chop. He may even lose his own seat as Kevin Rudd and his cronies take over the Treasury benches. Won't be much missed in this corner of the planet.

I don't expect many people to be able to respond to this thread given the relatively obscure topic of Australian Government/Elections. The US elections are much more high profile and people from alot of other countries can comment quite safely, not true for Australian politics. However I'd...

Sounds reasonable to me.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/school-chaplain-plan-unveiled/2006/10/29/1162056858561.html Australia will be re-created in the image of John Winston Howard.

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2006/08/31/1156817005419.html "According to ABC radio the list also includes September 11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who was captured in Pakistan in 2003, Jemaah Islamiah bomb-maker Azahari bin Husin, who was killed in Java last year, and arrested Bali...

Warning - Australian Politics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gough_Whitlam So what does everyone think of this? I actually heard the now 86 year old Gough talk just 2 days ago, and his recall of history (and not just the events which concerned him personally), and the command he still has over...

Cited from here:http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/muslims-in-row-over-pms-talks/2005/08/18/1123958182093.html?oneclick=true PM defends radicals summit decision - 18:15 AEST Fri Aug 19 2005 Prime Minister John Howard has defended his decision to leave radical Islamic groups out of next week's...

The Australian Defence Force's top lawyer, Paul Willee, has expressed grave concerns about the United States Military Commission process, saying it appeared to be a charade if the latest allegations were true. His comments followed the release of emails from two former US military prosecutors...

Normally, I couldn't think of a more boring topic, but there is now an interesting situation that has developled. Australians have, in their own pervers way, tried to have the best of both worlds. They have voted in the 'left wing' Labor Governments to run all the states, which traditionally...

Americans may not be aware but we Australians are having an election too. This election is happening before yours. No doubt concerned americans will want to become familiar with our candidates and thier platforms. To help out I have found a very good site that clearly lays out the positions of...

Trust our toadying PM to negotiate a free trade agreement with the US, that isn't. http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/07/19/1090089093287.html We lose, the US wins, all because he is a crawling little sycophant who said his greatest day in politics was when he addressed the joint houses...

Satire is dead Can't really comment on this. May take a while to pick up my jaw after marvelling at the sheer audacity of these statements.

In Australian Parliament, the front-benchers have a game they like to call, "back-bencher trap-shooting". That's where they force a back-bencher to smear a prominent politician or public figure, and watch what kind of flack they get shot down with. Best Example of Back-Bencher Trap-Shooting...

This comes from the December 2003 Newsletter of the Arms and Armour Society (London): "It has been reported that The State Government od Victoria, Australia is introducing a new set of laws and a collector of swords will now require a licence similar to that required to collect firearms. That...

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/13/1068674314219.html?from=storyrhs Pretty lucid and conservative assessment of Bush and his problems.

I suspect that his visiting Australia at this time will act as a catalyst for another wave of anti-American sentiment and remind voters of the extent of Howard's arse-licking. I don't see that the inevitable protests will be particularly peaceful ones.

Thou shalt not commit electoral fraud, or Pauline gets 3 years (damned double posts) Hanson jailed for 3 years Backstory for non-Aussies Memorable Pauline quotes

Did anyone else catch the results of a poll on whether or not Australia should send peace-keepers to the Solomon Islands? 62% of respondents were against us doing so. I'm stunned. We have a heck of a lot more business maintaining order in our own region than we do sending troops off to the...

Massive recall of faulty health pills The potential repercussions of this are huge, as the manufacturer involved dominated the market here in addition to supplying products for use in the manufacture of conventional medicines and exporting its products overseas. Mind you, I also think that...

In the interest of balance. Her is an Australian constitutional quiz. Answers will be posted in a seperate thread. 1. When did the Australian Constitution come into force? A. 26 January 1788 B. 1 January 1901 C. 26 January 1901 D. 1 January 1788 2. Which of the following is not mentioned in...

In the interest of balance. Her is an Australian constitutional quiz. Answers will be posted in a seperate thread. 1. When did the Australian Constitution come into force? A. 26 January 1788 B. 1 January 1901 C. 26 January 1901 D. 1 January 1788 2. Which of the following is not...