It is alleged a SYD federal MP "used political influence to expedite the disembarkation of the Ruby Princess because they had some high profile friends on board". The allegation comes from a senior hospital executive. Twitter ... do your work. Who knows more?
In my near two decades as a DFAT diplomat in PNG, Bonn & Washington DC, I cannot remember one single state-appointed Agent-General or Trade Commissioner who made a difference for their state. Not. A. One. They’re a wank, a pay-off, a sinecure. John Barilaro & NSW knows this.
A VERY senior ADF officer tells me the latest asset deployment is way too little, way too late. "The entire government effort has been woeful: 1400 houses destroyed & we did nothing preventative to stop it despite RFS advice re the need for back-burning & capability. Piss poor."
Here’s what’s appropriate: Narooma Golf Club opened its doors for “evacuees” where we’ve been welcomed all day, without power. They’ve cancelled the fireworks, the bands, the NYE dinner so we have somewhere safe. Woolworths has donated foodstuffs. That’s rural community spirit.
We've sadly lost another Cobargo bushfire victim following burns suffered in fires at his property. His dog Bella perished as well. He died in a Sydney hospital following burns treatment. He was a true country boy, a true blue trooper. Out of respect, name withheld.
THREAD...this might be helpful in terms of context around Scott Morrison's & Mike Pezzullo's politicisation of their 'Operation Sovereign Borders' text message to millions of targeted voters on election day. There can be no more blatant breach of caretaker conventions than that.
Australian Federal Police Association says its members are compromised, the org's integrity faces govt influence. Angela Smith says: "It's an embarrassing situation; we look the least independent police force in Australia. Other police are laughing at us.”
So, NZ PM Jacinda Ardern (& all of her ministers) have agreed to a 20 per cent pay cut over the next six months! Given Australia's federal MPs/Senators aren't planning to meet for another five months, it might be an idea they adopt the same approach. Waddya reckon? 1/2
What cave does Caroline Overington inhabit? She says pressure on Gladys over dodgy affair is misplaced. Instead, pressure should be on
@DanielAndrewsMP
. "Should" be on Dan? Her NewsCorpse colleagues have had the pressure on the premier in a most unseemly way for months.
#abc730
So it's fine for
#BruceLehrmann
to receive $130K's accommodation from
@SevenNetwork
for an i/v, but there is an issue if Ms Higgins signs a book publishing contract for something she has not yet even written? Brow-beating beyond the pale.
@ScottMorrisonMP
What an appalling exploitation of a national bush fire crisis. You disgust me. Cutting a political ad for the LIB party on the back of 23 dead bush fire victims, 21 more missing people, 1300 homes/structures destroyed. You grub.
There were just seven ships moored off Pt Botany when
#AlohaScotty
picked a fight with “militant” unions (claiming there were 40+). Now more than 50 Oz ships loaded with our coal moored off PRC. Where is Morrison's crack squad of negotiators turning around our relationship?
@jamesmassola
Of FFS James...what's with the pile-on? The nation's first law officer has every right to tell ANY journo: they're wrong on the basis of their question; he is respecting the HC (by implication, so should we/she); & to stop interrupting. You know...show some respect.
Et tu James?
Here’s Barack & Michelle’s first & last Christmas messages to America. Nice to see a REAL president on
#ChristmasEve
, unlike whatever we have right now.
An oligarch/dictator/sociopath/Scrooge/Grinch/moron.
#MerryChristmas
Great work
@sallymcmanus
on
@abc730
saying it like it is. The infiltration of unions by RWNJs is a serious concern … even if it’s only a passing, online phenomenon. Stand up to them. Their interests are not the workers. That much is abundantly clear.
.
@PaulFletcherMP
: you forgot to ask Ita Buttrose one key question: have you anything more in your growing research files about
@cporterwa
that's yet to be broadcast? Several key journos (not just at one outlet) have some devastating material, still to be published. Tick tock.
Cobargo is starving, Australia. They have NO power; NO phone comms; NO feed for their stock; NO generators; NO food. Where the fu*k is
@AndrewConstance
? Where is the
@DeptDefence
support? Two fatalities, hundreds evacuated, stock dying & all the PM does is try to shake hands.
Is
#BruceLehrmann
*still* planning to proceed with this litigation? Dr Matt Collins KC has just laid out the next step with the 20+ witnesses Ch 10 is bringing to the Federal Court. Why would you even have commence with such litigation knowing the huge mountain to climb?
EVERY male friend to whom I have posited "if you faced the allegations made against
@cporterwa
& knew they contained not a skerrick of truth", wouldn't you welcome an independent inquiry? Wouldn't you want the world to know the truth? They ALL said "yes".
#ResignChristianPorter
Latest from a senior public servant who oversees fraud in a dept: “The C’wlth Fraud Control policy is quite clear that the behaviours of the minister (McKenzie/her staff) would, if demonstrated by a public servant, lead to a formal fraud investigation. 1/2
Elderly couple write: "With us in such poor health to have to pay 40% death tax was dreadful...we watched & read & listened to all the policies of both sides." So why did they believe the bullshit "40% death tax" which didn't exist?
What a total flog Simon Benson ... self-congratulating himself (and
@abcnews
) & the two panellists on
@InsidersABC
as being three current/former Newscorpse journos. Who gives a continental? Juvenile, irrelevant, boring.
As I wait in Narooma to learn what has happened to my community of Mystery Bay as the east coast flames, I wonder what part of SYD’s fireworks symbolism is ok. Does no one in charge not see how inappropriate this display of fire power/waste if $$$ is to those of us in bushfires?
If The Pez is not gone within the next 24hrs, then I'll head over to DHA to personally deliver his marching orders. Labor was warned well before they came to government this man is a danger to democracy, and Nick McKenzie (aka
@Ageinvestigates
) has nailed him to the mast tonight.
.
@Tony_Burke
has just made himself so much more likeable & believable. The guy’s a genuine, rolled gold man of the people. His arts policy is brilliant. Love this guy. On just so many levels he is the real deal.
Angus Llewellyn has been ExecProd Carlton/Fitzsimons 2UE show; AssocProd Andrew Denton Enough Rope; Producer Seven’s Sunday Night; SupvsingProd SBS Dateline; ExecProd SBS Insight; & Producer TheProject: He knows his stuff!
Champion.
Someone is losing their shit.
#BruceLehrmann
.
Keep hearing a certain journalist's name being mentioned as a donor to the 'blind' Christian Porter trust. Surely not, surely. (I told you, don't call me Shirley; my name's Betty.) From little things, big things grow, they say. Watch the Twitter space this week ...
Some of the stories coming from incoming LAB ministerial staffers about what they've uncovered in LIB offices quite shocking: dirt files in a drawer on then-shadow ministers incuding a Gr 9 high school report card; iPads 'destroyed'/dumped into rubbush bins, filthy toilets etc.
.
@SenPaterson
trust me, you are no professional as claimed on
@abc730
. You're a paid IPA dolt. You've never done a day's work in your life. You're now on the public gravy train. Worse, you're a thin-skinned empty vessel of right wing nuttery. (Now ask me what I really feel.)
“No inferences…can be drawn from…my decision to suspend the inquiry.” Yes they can; the inference you’ve had six months and done sweet phuque all is very,very easy to draw. And, that this is very convenient in the context of a federal election.
"Only place Morrison govt would ever end up at end of 2021 is where it's now; knee deep in negligence, chaos, unchecked lies, lurching from one self-created shit pile to the next & panicking as it realises the cost of its eternal clusterfucks is people’s lives." Bravo
@RonniSalt
The backpacker tax arrangements the LIBs introduced, which the High Court has just thrown out, was dreadful policy from the outset. It should never have seen the light of day. Who was the Treasurer to come up with such a dud deal? Oh
#scottytheliar
#scottyhasapamphlet
was.
Oh FFS ... we've got a golfer being interviewed about the Aust/US relationship? Is
@abc730
serious? Disruptive bullshit. Peak gutter. "Pres Trump is trying make America a better place," says Greg Norman. Stick to golf, &
@abc730
do serious journalism, not rah-rah sycophancy.
"For a crucial period Brian Houston (Scott Morrison's mentor) was the sole conduit of communications from the boy who was sexually abused by Frank Houston from the age of 7." Again: "sexually abused from the age of seven."
You can't keep hiding Scott.
Lucky PM: no haze, no fire, no coughing, no acrid smoke ... just a beach, ocean, mountains, the missus (on her device), the life. Remember, he told us: it's not easy getting a flight back to Australia. He's bloody not trying hard enough.
"Are we seriously having the discussion that a tweet from
@GaryLineker
has done more damage to the BBC's impartiality, than your chairman who sorted an £800,000 loan for Boris Johnson?"
Alastair Campbell
@campbellclaret
- follow for more
Not sure Mr Whybrowsbeating SC of Ms Higgins is establishing anything other than as a victim, she was under extreme pressure. Parsing whether it was one hour, three hours or half an hour locked away undergoing a panic attack in a bathroom ... why?
#BruceLehrmann
"The Coalition’s ‘man problem’ became unavoidably obvious when Catherine Marriott lodged a confidential sexual harassment complaint against then-NATs leader Barnaby Joyce, only to have her name immediately leaked to the media." Remember? via
@DragOnista
People shouldn't forget that the Treasurer who handed down the Budget (18-19) introducing the Community Sport Infrastructure Grants program ... was Scott Morrison. His Chief of Staff at the time was ... Phil Gaetjens. Yep, the same Phil Gaetjens. Let that sink in. via
@jommy_tee
It is highly, highly unusual an immigration minister intervenes in a simple tourist/eVisa matter to over-ride border security experts. It is even MORE unusual it occurs three times, and ALL related to au pairs. Huge
@andrewprobyn
get:
“For years, Peter Dutton kept yelling at Australians that he was patrolling the borders, flying the planes...(yet) they paid up to $87m for planes that weren’t even flying,”
@JulianHillMP
said.
Treausurer Jim Chalmers' suite toilet/bathroom disgustingly & intentionally soiled so badly DPS staff wouldn't/couldn't clean it, so his staffers donned gloves and set to work scrubbing walls, cistern, sink etc. What is it about the LIB politicial "class"?
This true? Christian Porter on leave 3-31 Mar; Porter's personal defo action lodged 15 Mar; first Industry presser 31 Mar; Porter claims flights, hotel, meals for official duties Coogee SYD 18-25 Apr; Coogee lawyer Karen Espiner confirms relationship 2 June. via
@kangaroo_court
"The entire point of Home Affairs was to unify previously disparate security functions; a tough-as-teak, bespoke super-portfolio dedicated to the task. Hundreds of virus cases & multiple deaths later, all we’ve got is excuses." Brilliant
@BernardKeane
.
.
@Craig_Foster
You have done your life's work. You mobilised the world -- of sport, of politics, of tourism, of humanity. Well done getting
#HakeemAlAraibi
's case exposed as a sham ... brilliant result getting him home!
The
@SBSNews
as stunned as anyone at the news Hakeem Al-Araibi is about to walk free from a Thai jail as early as tonight. More from
@Craig_Foster
at 10.45pm AEDT tonight.
#HakeemAlAraibi
#EdenMonaro
LIB candidate Fiona Kotvojs continues to deflect, avoiding answering the difficult Qs, such as why she & husband Alan Burdon are anti-gay, climate change denialists, & the extent they've benefited from Cwlth contracts listed for almost $800,000 worth of work. 1/3
So much for
#scottydoesnothing
pulling into church/pub as an afterthought. Says rector: ”I had known of his visit for about a fortnight.” I guess COVID travel restrictions don’t apply to
@thepmo
. That’s fair. Not.
If ANYONE in
@ScottMorrisonMP
's office DARE suggests the PM attend ANY Cobargo funerals, you'll be forever consigned to a shittery in hell far worse than anything you've ever experienced in
#CBR
bubble. Don't come near Cobargo ever, Scott Morrison. You're as welcome as an STD.
Remember three months ago when
#ScottyfromMarketing
was warning aged care homes to end strict coronavirus lockdowns or face new rules? How quickly it all changes.
We rarely get this level of analysis reported across our MSM in Australia. Even
@abcnews
allows too much through to the keeper from the LIB sceptics without challenge, analysis or simply calling them out for what they are: liars. Great job
@BBCRosAtkins
More on the
#bushfires
. Australia’s PM Scott Morrison insists his government and party are serious about climate change and reducing emissions. But I’ve been struggling to square that what some of his Liberal Party colleagues say. See what you think.
What contempt for the viewers (not me) who also happen to be on social media, eh. What condescension, and how patronising. You can bet they’re looking for the culprit on the studio floor or in the control room with access to the audio!
THREAD. Snr public servant has observed that in all of this au pair business, no one is focusing on the main issue: the decisions insofar as the emails & relationships go present a clear conflict of interest situation that, were it a public servant would require disclosure. 1/3
Angus Llewellyn is free to go ... I hear drinks are ready to be poured/consumed in the lobby bar at the Park Hyatt (Sydney).
The witness was a stellar participant in today's proceedings.
Hey
@theprojecttv
: give the guy a fat pay rise!
#BruceLehrmann
Am hearing one of the au pairs on whose behalf
@PeterDutton_MP
intervened, over ruling departmental officer, to grant a visa, was headed to work for a former QLD copper mate & his family. Not sure whether serving or former copper, but Senate inquiry will surely establish.
How's Fiona Kotvojs, LIB candidate Eden-Monaro, with $750,000 worth of Cwlth Gov contracts in Indonesia, Timor Leste, Samoa, PNG 2014-2020, gonna represent her constituents if she's overseas so much? Just wonderin' ...
The more I think about
#RubyPrincess
debacle, the angrier (& sorrier for the victims) I get. It defies logic that
@AusBorderForce
didn't assert its authority. It has on so many other occasions. They had ONE job ... one boat (well, ship) .. and WTF happened? Asleep at the tiller.
@nick_coatsworth
You're a sell-out Nick ... to any bidder it seems. Tell me again the name of that rent-seeking lobby group you're fronting ... it has as much cred as a Putin humanitarian relief package.
Too little, too late Scotty with aerial asset upgrade. It'll take a week for these extra water bombers to land, have them cleared to fly, have their crews accredited, be ready to tackle this national bush fire disaster. Yep, keep that $500m wasted on the Australian War Memorial.
At what point does the Australian electorate call out this waste, this sleaze, this corrupt snouts-in-the-trough mentality of so many of our politicians (& often their staffers too)? It must absolutely rile those casualised workers screwed by the system.
@jamesmassola
No James, it's not as simple as that when it's a matter of the law, in this case the High Court. Ask/posit all the Qs about govt's preparedness, or otherwise (for a HC loss), but FFS, get the basis of the Q right. It 's lazy "gotcha" journalism which fills the Gallery these days.
"In reality, Trump doesn’t run the US. He doesn’t manage anything. His White House is in perpetual chaos. His advisers aren’t truth-tellers; they’re toadies, lackeys, sycophants & relatives."
@RBReich
destroys Orange Man.
Morrison suddenly (a) arranges a leak about a "Sri Lankan-originating boat"; (b) arranges a question to be asked by friendly journo on election day; (c) decides to comment on an on-water matter; & (d) arranges/funds a LIB political text message campaign to targeted voters ...
The Morrison Govt's Ministers were sworn in today and our new leaders couldn't collectively organise a bus between them; so instead they use all these comcars. A good picture to recall when they announce cuts to services on efficiency, as they will.
#auspol
#ausbiz
#AusVotes2019
THIS.
It explains SO much about the US -- not just the election, but its continuing & growing dysfunction. Give this three minutes of your time. Please.
Remarkable insight, genuine passion.
Within days of the LIBs coming to power in Sept 2013, he made it abundantly clear I was to STFU. Fine; it was his call as minister; as govt of the day wanted to run the public messaging, that was its right. I respected that. I don't regret my decision to leave.
But facts matter.
Coward PM doesn’t stand & deliver; he writes a note, drops it by the IN tray, then cowardly runs to hide in the broom closet. He apologises for wrongly claiming in
#QT
Kevin Rudd had left and re-entered Australia during Covid. What a smear merchant.
And what you have is a complete bastardisation of the separation of powers between an independent, professional public service & a political machine hell-bent on its agenda come hell or high (on)water (matters). Morrison was a an absolute pillock to me in Opposition.
What does
@PeterDutton_MP
's office & his staff know about the day the French au pair arrived in 2015, flagged for interview by IMMI staff b/c she had a prior history of working in breach of her tourist (e-) visa? The parliamentary colleague who'd originally hired her is worried.
Even without seeing
#4corners
to the end, have you ever seen anyone as unprepared, ill-equipped & manifestly out of their depths as BOTH Michelle Guthrie & Justin Milne? Cannot believe how appallingly amateur they both are. Thank goodness they are both gone.
“Cormann & Dutton told me not to trust Julie & George. Julie, George & Christopher Pyne told me not to trust Cormann & Dutton. Barnaby told me not to trust any of them, & everybody told me not to trust Morrison.’’| Turnbull Why would you trust ANY LIBs?
There is absolutely no way the entire community sports grants program wasn't (repeat, wasn't) compromised by the LIBs, right up to the PMO, to be used as a re-election tool in May 2019. To pretend it was only the incompetent
@senbmckenzie
committing this scam is disingenuous.
Why is the taxpayer paying? If the defamation was lodged in Porter's personal/private capacity -- his words -- why are we paying for "official duties Coogee"? If defo action legal matters weren't the "official duties" in Coogee, what were? Is this guy accountable for anything?
Excellent answers, explanations & prosecution of the workers' case by
@unionsaustralia
president Michele O'Neil today with
@David_Speers
#insiders
. We need more straight-talking leaders like her! No bullshit, no bluster, no buffoonery. Onya Michele.
You wanna what ELSE is done broke in the USA? Democracy. When you force people to line up in all weather for hours, to vote, you've clearly designed a system to suppress the people's voice, not facilitate it. Voter suppression writ large.
.
@Anne_Ruston
knows full well her daily travel allowance (almost $300) equips MPs with enough $$ to buy second/third homes, including in Canberra. The taxpayers fund all of this largesse.
@abc730
made Sen Ruston look so vacuous. She had no answers.
@Senator_Patrick
@MarekRivers
@ScottMorrisonMP
You're an irrelevancy to Australia now. After voting -- essentially the deciding vote -- to dissolve the Family Court on the flimsiest of reasons, you have no standing when it comes to sexual violence. As if you give a continental whether it's Gaetjens or Santa investigating.
@amandavanstone
Amanda, seriously? I know someone who got about $400K annually for three years (incl two storey house with elevator, salary, superannuation, rep allowance, staff allowance, chef, driver, car) & a Rome stint. I hear it still pays a tidy sum in superannuation, too!
Gawd, this
@InsidersABC
is painful, woefully slow, boringly drab & it ain't either the subject matter or
@sclark_melbs
' doing: why is Simon Benson there? He's as close to a LIB cannula you can find. Never rated him in all my years dealing with him & his DailyTele daily beat-ups.
"The bugging of Timor-Leste & the persecution of K & Collaery are the biggest political scandal of recent decades in Australia. That the press gallery seems to have been mostly uninterested in it ... doesn’t change that." (No paywall) via
@BernardKeane
Remind me again ... which WA LIB MP was it whose wife reportedly threw his clothes out onto their front lawn, then ran the mower over them? Was it his first or second wife? Is it true? Was he a state or federal polly at the time?
This is so, so dodgy. The case notes are bog standard for visa cancellation. The "tourist" is well aware she will be breaching her visa upon return. It's why she calls her au pair work "volunteer". I', gobsmacked Dutton wants us to believe it was "humane". What unfiltered B.S.
French🇫🇷
#aupair
🧹:
📜In Australia since 2012 on different visas
⚠️Previously warned not to work while on non-work visas
♻️Arrives again, admits she intends to work on a tourist visa
If you were Immigration Minister would you over-rule Border Force & let her in❓
#auspol
@CroweDM
No it's not David, & I'm amazed you would be so naive. Seasonal workers are associated with immigration, short-term visas, & compliance with Cwlth (Fair Work) legislation. These are ALL issues the feds control, not the VIC state government. What makes you think it's Andrews' job?
Let’s just name the alleged rapist.
@4corners
@Milliganreports
& much of parly/press gallery knows his name. I suspect his identity was very close to being revealed in NOV’s 4Cs’ report. Let him explain his actions as an 18-year-old. Though the dead can’t talk, there is a diary.
Passing strange a
@4corners
journalist/producer (
@PeterCronau
) is appealing for further follow-up from fellow journos to tonight's report. It suggests to me the Press Gallery is sitting on facts it knows; there may even be Gallery journos compromised themselves by the story.
Dear other journalists,
We need your follow-up, your ongoing scrutiny to this story. We need you to keep digging, for there is much more there. We need your support in holding power to account. ABC leadership withstood "extreme & unrelenting" political pressure. Ucan2.
#4Corners
Hugh is 100% on this ... have arranged access to the WH in the past for Aussie media, including i/v requests many times. The Paul Murray "fan show" was an appalling abuse of the relationship, & of respected journalists' craft. What a joke. That's not journalism.
To get an interview with the US President (I know, I’ve tried) the White House media team clears you with the Australian ambassador in DC, who in turn clears it with the Prime Minister’s office. This is what the PMO put forward. It is not journalism. Simply reward.
.
@SharriMarkson
is so full of wind. There isn't any bullshit she won't step into the gutter to retrieve & promote. What's she gonna do when Newscorpse goes under? Maybe a pet shampoo or mowing franchise?
@MikeCarlton01
is one great journo, Sharri; something you'll never be!
Got info on
@PeterDutton_MP
's use of ministerial intervention powers regarding au pairs (as many as three on last count, it is alleged)? Whistleblow by 31 August. Let's nail this guy & show no mercy.