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Axe Grinders win Australian election

AxeGrindersWin2

With the the votes for the lower house still being counted, it seems a hung parliament (or one with a razor thin majority) seems likely. So into this precarious situation the axe grinders have gained significant power. A bloc of anti establishment senators have emerged along with a lower house maverick Bob Katter. Any lower house government that does form will be beholden to king-maker blocs in the lower and upper houses.  So it really doesn’t matter if the parliament is notionally Labour or Liberal, the political agenda is now set by the axe grinders. As many as a third of voters have voted for a third party in this election, which really shows disenfranchisement, fortunately there have been many third party options to scoop up this voter demographic. We sow, we reap….

lambieVsAbbott

Australian Carbon Tax gone

After significant argy-bargy in the senate the Australian carbon tax and associated legislation has been repealed.

Why?

Because there is no global warming anyway.

https://occupymelbourne.net/?s=global+warming

 

Significant in the legislation is the amendments by Clive Palmer’s PUP enforcing saving be passed on to consumers of electricity and gas.

Palmer United Party cages the beast

The garden variety lefties don’t want to admit it, but the biggest threat to Tony Abbott and his insane posse of neoconservatives is the wealthy mining magnate Clive Palmer.

Having clearly shown that political office can be effectively bought by throwing sufficient money at carefully chosen electoral and senatorial seats, he has now chosen to do something unexpected, caring about anybody else apparently. It’s fair to say Palmer is doing something slightly more honest that the typical billionaire, in that he is in office himself rather than buying a hollow man (politician). But in this sense you really see the agenda for what it is, rather then filtered and massaged through through a puppet. Hearing Palmer say ‘bullshit’ on a TV interview is refreshing and demonstrates that with enough money you can really say what you like.

So what did Palmer get for his investment?

One house of representatives seat. Palmer admits he often doesn’t attend parliament unless there is a division, declaring his one vote is often useless.

Three Senate seats, this is significant political capital in a very divided senate. This voting block give PUP  effectively a kingmaker position. Palmer has used this to strike down the carbon tax repeal until electric price reductions have been added to protect the pocket of the lowly voter.

Can you hear it? The roars of ‘man of the people’?

Nope, the political left typically are deadly silent when a  ‘rich bastard capitalist’ does something good for everybody. That’s the typical dishonest and blinkered thinking you can expect from the left.

So now Abbott and his mad ideology have been put in the cage by someone a bit more real.  Perhaps Palmer now has another dinosaur to add to his theme park, an Abbottosarus, extinct since people starting calling bullshit.

there might be a Christmas this year now that Palmer has caged the beast of Abbottosaurus

there might be a Christmas this year now that Palmer has caged the beast of Abbottosaurus

We stole this picture from The Age, its grouse mate, nice work.

Clive Palmer in the Senate of Doom

Surprisingly (or perhaps not surprising given the size of the chequebook), Clive Palmer’s Palmer United Party (PUP) has gained senate seats forming part of the wedge in the current senate.

 

Rumor has it he will vote against any bill until there is electoral reform.

 

What radical electoral reforms is he seeking?

 

Use of pens not pencils on ballot papers so votes cannot be altered after being cast.

 

Hardly radical, in this day and age.

 

ID required for voting, so that there can be certainty that people are not casting extra votes, or using other peoples votes.

Again hardly radical, in fact both recommendations seem quite sensible.

 

With the update senate vote count there are now just 8 senators in the wedge and the Liberal coalition will need all 6 to get a bill passed, being that the two PUP senators will vote no until electoral reform is implemented.

 

http://www.news.com.au/national-news/federal-election/clive-palmer-says-he-can8217t-win-a-lower-house-seat-while-sophie-mirabella-remains-in-doubt/story-fnho52ip-1226715494455

 

I guess we all suspected Clive would use his political clout to make himself more wealthy, He may still do that, but perhaps he’s too rich to care about money.

Tony Abbott and the senate of doom

1378607826568 redux

Basically neither the liberal coalition or the Labour/Greens bloc have the number to push anything through the senate, or push it back out. The latest numbers indicate the each of the major voting blocs will need 7 of 10  non aligned senators ( the wedge)  to support any senate action. Remember at the last election there was weeks of negotiation with just 3 independent members of the lower house, this is much worse…

If the Senate rejects 2 bills for the lower house its double dissolution, beaning both the senate and lower house must be reelected.

Yes it truly is the senate of doom.

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