Kangaroo-land Coup D'etat ! Kangaroo kicking Kangaroo in-fighting! 红毛鬼打鬼! Huat Ah!

[kangaroo.corpse]

https://www.straitstimes.com/asia/a...second-leadership-challenge-from-peter-dutton

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Australian PM Turnbull refuses to cede power, offers possible second leadership vote

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Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters on Wednesday that he had support of his cabinet ministers, rejecting their resignations after some had backed a rival, Peter Dutton, as he said he was attempting to mount a fresh challenge.
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SYDNEY (REUTERS) - Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull stubbornly clung to power on Thursday (Aug 23) as senior ministers deserted him, saying he would hold a second leadership vote on Friday only if he received a letter signed by the majority of the ruling party.
Former home affairs minister Peter Dutton narrowly lost a challenge against Turnbull on Tuesday and has declared he would again contest a Liberal party leadership vote, while Australian media reported the country’s treasurer and foreign minister will also be candidates if a vote is called.
Key Turnbull supporter, Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, said Turnbull no longer had majority party support and that Dutton was now the best person to lead the conservative government to the next election, due by May 2019.
Several ministers have tendered their resignation. The leadership crisis saw the government adjourn Parliament on Thursday until September.
Turnbull said if he received a letter requesting a fresh vote with the signatures of 43 Liberal Party lawmakers, he would call a party meeting for midday Friday (0200 GMT). If a leadership spill motion was then passed, he would not stand in the vote.
Australian media reported on Thursday that Treasurer Scott Morrison and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop will contest for the top job if a meeting is convened. Morrison has been a Turnbull supporter, but has reportedly long held ambitions on the prime ministership.


Bishop, foreign minister for almost five years, has been deputy leader of the Liberal Party since 2007.

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Whoever emerges as Australia’s next prime minister, they will become the country’s sixth prime minister in less than a decade. None of those, which includes two stints for Labor leader Kevin Rudd, have served a full term in office.
“Australians will be rightly appalled by what they are witnessing in their Parliament,” Turnbull told reporters in Canberra. The political revolving door has angered and frustrated voters and the business sector.
The political uncertainty clouded the outlook for investors who punished the Australian dollar, sending it 0.9 per cent lower to 72.83 US cents. The Aussie was the worst-performing major currency on Thursday. Australian shares slipped 0.3 per cent.
“For everybody in the country what is happening in Canberra is disappointing and frustrating. Business likes certainty and confidence in what happens in the future. Anytime we see uncertainty like what is happening in Canberra it is not helpful,” said Qantas CEO Alan Joyce.



https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...rnbull-refuses-to-give-in-to-bullies-10643518

World Defiant Australia PM Turnbull refuses to 'give in to bullies'

Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull gestures during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra on Aug 23, 2018. (Photo: AFP/Mark Graham)

23 Aug 2018 11:36AM (Updated: 23 Aug 2018 12:59PM)
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SYDNEY: Defiant Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull vowed not to "give in to bullies" Thursday (Aug 23) in the face of a new leadership challenge, but said he will quit politics if his party no longer supports him.
Former home affairs minister Peter Dutton, an ex-police officer and right-wing conservative, said he was confident he now had the numbers to unseat Turnbull, considered a moderate.


And with senior ministers defecting, Turnbull's near three-year grip on power is tenuous despite surviving a snap ballot on his leadership on Tuesday, winning the vote 48-35.
He said Dutton had yet to prove he has majority backing from the Liberal Party - a requirement for him to force another meeting to have a second crack at the top job ahead of national elections due by the middle of next year.
If the petition arrives showing this, the meeting will be held at midday on Friday and Turnbull will not stand as a candidate and leave parliament.
Turnbull accused Dutton and his supporters of intimidation with the crisis snowballing quickly since it began unfolding on Monday after months of poor opinion polls and a revolt by fellow Liberal politicians over plans to embed carbon emissions targets in law.


"What began as a minority has by a process of intimidation persuaded people that the only way to stop the insurgency is to give in to it," he said.
"I do not believe in that. I have never done that. I have never given in to bullies, but you can imagine the pressure it's put people under."
He added that what Australia was witnessing was "a very deliberate effort to pull the Liberal Party further to the right".
Dutton earlier told reporters he had advised Turnbull by phone that "it was my judgement that the majority of the party room no longer supported his leadership".
"As such, I asked him to convene a meeting of the Liberal Party at which I would challenge for the leadership of the parliamentary Liberal Party," he added.
In a major blow, Turnbull's influential Finance Minister Mathias Cormann, along with the employment and education ministers, then said he no longer had their backing.
They joined at least 10 other ministers who have either resigned or offered to.
"It is in the best interests of the Liberal Party to help manage an orderly transition to a new leader," said Cormann, who used to be a trusted ally.
"ABSOLUTE CRAP"
In a twist to the plot, ABC and Sky News reported that Treasurer Scott Morrison, Turnbull's right-hand man, may also stand if there was a ballot in a bid to derail Dutton's power grab.
Complicating matters, it has emerged that Dutton has financial interests in childcare centres that get government subsidies - possibly breaching constitutional rules - and Turnbull suggested he may not be eligible to sit in parliament, let alone be prime minister.
"This issue of eligibility is critically important," he said, with the solicitor-general looking into it.
Dutton, described by supporters as a pragmatic legislator who gets things done and by detractors as a racist who demonises refugees, has said he has legal advice that he is in the clear.
He quit his cabinet position after his first failed leadership bid on Tuesday and has said that if he became prime minister, he would focus on cutting immigration to ease population pressures and boosting water investment to help drought-stricken farmers.
Dutton and his camp, including former prime minister Tony Abbott who once described climate change as "absolute crap", have also made clear keeping power prices down was more important than meeting Canberra's commitment to slash carbon emissions by 26 per cent by 2030.
The unrest is the latest chapter in a turbulent decade for Australian politics, with no leader managing to serve out a full term since John Howard lost the 2007 election.
And it has played into the hands of the Labor opposition, which has been making the most of it.
"Another day and another one of chaos from this government - a government that has effectively stopped governing because it's too busy fighting itself," said deputy opposition leader Tanya Plibersek.
Source: AFP/zl

 

[JohnTan]

So much political instability in australia. Didn't the white trash once had a PM who organized a BBQ in Singapore for sinkies here, only to get booted out of office by his own party a short while later?

 

[steffychun]

Why fake MG Chan CS don't want to topple fake BG LHL? The infighting would be great! Straits Times would root for you know who!

 

[Tony Tan]

http://mil.news.sina.com.cn/china/2018-08-23/doc-ihhzsnec4366014.shtml

成天惹中国人讨厌的澳国政府崩了 英国人的评价太毒

成天惹中国人讨厌的澳国政府崩了 英国人的评价太毒



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原标题：成天惹中国人讨厌的外国政府自己先崩了，英国人的评价太毒了
曾经，澳大利亚在咱中国人眼里是个阳光淳朴的国家。可自该国现任总理特恩布尔上台以来，澳大利亚政府却天天“莫名其妙”碰瓷咱们，说什么中国要渗透他们国家，掌控他们国家的政治，搞得我们很是恶心和反感。
不过，如今特恩布尔和他领导的澳大利亚政府却把自己给玩儿死了，其中的剧情也十分荒诞。
根据英国BBC的报道，这起魔幻剧的起因，是特恩布尔想让澳大利亚尽快出台一个减少“温室气体”排放的政策，好应对近些年越来越严重的全球“气候变化”问题，同时也为自己在澳大利亚公众那里赢得更多支持。

可是，这位澳大利亚总理手下的多位政府部长都强烈反对他这么干。因为这些来自澳大利亚“自由党”和“农村党”这两个“保守”党派的政客们，受资本利益驱使，一直都拒绝承认全球绝大多数主流科学家认可的“气候变化”问题，反而还宣称“气候变化”是个“骗局”。

结果，这些之前还与特恩布尔“称兄道弟”的“政治盟友”，转眼间就开始在他背后“捅刀子”，想把他赶下台了。甚至他们还找好了特恩布尔的继任者：澳大利亚内政部长皮特⋅达顿。

但特恩布尔也不是吃素的。21日，他“先发制人”让党内对是否继续支持他当总理发起了投票。这招“险棋”也确实奏效了，投票的结果是48人支持35人反对，令特恩布尔以13票的优势保住了总理的宝座。

但这13票的优势其实是非常脆弱的。这不，就在昨天，10名澳大利亚政府的部长就因为特恩布尔未能下台而集体向他提交了辞呈，将澳大利亚现政府内部严重的分裂彻底推到了前台。
而在不少西方媒体看来，这一激烈的“逼宫”行为更意味着特恩布尔之前在党内投票中的“险胜”根本没有什么实际意义，他的下台已经不可避免。
那个被澳大利亚政坛和媒体普遍视为将接替特恩布尔的澳大利亚内政部长达顿，今天也已经公开表示他将再次挑战特恩布尔的总理席位。

然而，这个达顿本身却也“劣迹斑斑”……
英国BBC就专门刊文介绍了这位澳大利亚内政部长一些“光辉”的往事。比如他不仅坚持认为“气候变化”是“虚假”的，还曾嘲笑过那些正因为“气候变化”而面临失去家园风险的太平洋岛国居民。

作为澳大利亚这么一个移民国家的内政部长，他还对移民和难民持明显的排斥立场，比如他曾把大量来澳大利亚寻求避难的外国难民，都送到了澳大利亚在周边太平洋岛国上建立的羁留中心，不让他们进入澳大利亚。
他还被指控为是一个“种族主义者”，因为他曾经反对澳大利亚政府当年向被白人殖民者欺凌的土著居民道歉，还曾把澳大利亚墨尔本市的一个犯罪团伙称为“非洲团伙”，害得不少无辜的非洲裔移民被歧视。
换言之，这个达顿可以说是一个“低配版的特朗普”。而如果让这么一个人来掌管澳大利亚，其后果也可想而知了……

所以，从澳大利亚的民调上来看，这个达顿获得的支持率反而还远远不如特恩布尔……

但这恰恰是澳大利亚政坛如今最“尴尬”的现状，他们的政客水平都很平庸，所以只能“矬子里拔将军”，就连那个天天主动要拉着美国恶心咱们中国的澳大利亚外交部长毕晓普，如今也被视为接替特恩布尔的“潜力股”了……

而英国BBC在评论澳大利亚这场政坛魔幻剧的时候，更是很“损”地指出澳大利亚政坛一直有“在别人背后捅刀子”的传统。
比如今天被“逼宫”的特恩布尔，其实是靠着捅了前总理兼自己的上司阿伯特背后一刀上台的。而阿伯特之前的、澳大利亚工党政府总理吉拉德，也是通过在陆克文背后捅刀子而上位的……也就是说，近四任的澳大利亚总理中，没有一个人是“善始善终”的。
BBC还给澳大利亚封了一个“政变之都”的头衔——只是不知澳大利亚政府对咱中国各种“莫名其妙”的恐慌和害怕，是不是也与他们这种极具“特色”的政治生态环境有关呢……

关键字 : 澳大利亚特恩布尔中国

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The Chinese government hated by the Chinese people, and the British government’s evaluation was too poisonous.
August 23, 2018 08:50 Global Times


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Original title: The foreign government that Chinese people hate in China has collapsed first, and the British evaluation is too poisonous.
Once upon a time, Australia was a sunny country in the eyes of the Chinese. Since the inauguration of the country’s current Prime Minister Turnbull, the Australian government has “inexplicably” touched porcelain every day, saying that China wants to infiltrate their country and control the politics of their country, which makes us very disgusting and resentful.
However, now that Turnbull and the Australian government he led have killed themselves, and the plot is ridiculous.
According to the British BBC report, the cause of this magical drama is that Turnbull wants Australia to introduce a policy to reduce “greenhouse gas” emissions as soon as possible, so as to cope with the increasingly serious global “climate change” problem in recent years. Also win more support for the Australian public.

However, many of the government ministers under the Australian Prime Minister strongly opposed him. Because these politicians from the two "conservative" parties, the "Freedom Party" and the "Rural Party" in Australia, driven by capital interests, have refused to recognize the "climate change" recognized by the majority of mainstream scientists around the world, but also claimed that " Climate change is a "scam."

As a result, these "political allies" who had previously been associated with Turnbull as "brothers and brothers" began to "smash the knife" behind him in an instant, and wanted to oust him. Even they found the successor of Turnbull: Australian Interior Minister Peter Dalton.

But Turnbull is not vegetarian. On the 21st, he "preemptively made people" to let the party vote for whether to continue to support him as the prime minister. This move "Sports Chess" did indeed work. The result of the vote was that 48 people supported 35 people against it, and Turnbull saved the Prime Minister's throne with 13 votes.

But the advantage of 13 votes is actually very fragile. No, just yesterday, the 10 Australian government ministers collectively submitted their resignations to him because of Turnbull's failure to step down, pushing the serious internal division of the current Australian government to the forefront.
In the eyes of many Western media, this fierce "forced palace" behavior means that Turnbull's "risk victory" in the party's previous vote has no practical significance at all, and his step down is inevitable.
The Australian Interior Minister Darden, widely regarded by Australian politics and the media as replacing Termbull, has also publicly stated today that he will once again challenge Turnbull’s prime minister’s seat.

However, this Darden itself is also "inferior"...
The British BBC published a special article about the "Glorious" past of the Australian Interior Minister. For example, he not only insists that “climate change” is “false”, but also ridiculed the residents of Pacific island countries who are facing the risk of losing their homes because of “climate change”.

As the Minister of the Interior of an immigrant country like Australia, he also has a clear rejection of immigrants and refugees. For example, he sent a large number of foreign refugees who came to Australia to seek refuge to the detention center established by Australia in the surrounding Pacific island countries. Let them enter Australia.
He was also accused of being a “racist” because he had objected to the Australian government’s apologizing to the indigenous people who had been bullied by white colonists, and had called a criminal gang in Melbourne, Australia, “an African gang”. Many innocent African-American immigrants are discriminated against.
In other words, this Darden can be said to be a "low-profile version of Trump." And if you let such a person take charge of Australia, the consequences can be imagined...

Therefore, from the perspective of Australian polls, this Darden’s support rate is far worse than Turnbull...

But this is precisely the most embarrassing situation in Australia's political arena. Their politicians are very mediocre, so they can only "pull the generals", even the Australian Foreign Minister Bishop who is eager to take the American disgusting Chinese, It is now also seen as a replacement for Turnbull’s “potential stocks”...

When the British BBC commented on the political magical drama in Australia, it was even more "damaged" to point out that Australian politics has always had the tradition of "smashing a knife behind others."
For example, Turnbull, who was "forced to the palace" today, actually relied on the former prime minister and his own boss, Abbott, to take the lead. Prior to Abbott, the Prime Minister of the Australian Labor Party, Gillard, also took the position by slashing a knife behind Rudd. That is to say, none of the nearly four Australian prime ministers was a "good beginning and a good".
The BBC also gave Australia a title for "the capital of coups" - just not knowing the Australian government's panic and fear of "inexplicable" in China, and whether it is also related to their highly characteristic "political ecological environment". What...

Keywords: Australia Turnbull China
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[Hypocrite-The]

Treasurer Scott Morrison to become Australia's next prime minister
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
Australia's new Prime Minister Scott Morrison. (File photo: Reuters/Marcos Brindicci)
24 Aug 2018 11:02AM
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SYDNEY: Australia Treasurer Scott Morrison will be Australia's new prime minister after winning a three-way battle for the leadership of the Liberal party on Friday (Aug 24), with incumbent Malcolm Turnbull not contesting the party ballot.
There were three contenders in the leadership vote: former home affairs minister Peter Dutton, who narrowly lost a leadership vote against Turnbull on Tuesday, Morrison and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.

The Liberal party is the senior partner in the ruling conservative coalition that will face an election by May 2019.
The Liberal-National government has consistently trailed the opposition Labor party in opinion polls.
If Turnbull resigns from parliament, he would leave the new government facing a by-election for his Sydney seat that could see it lose its one-seat majority.
Turnbull said on Thursday he believed that former prime ministers are best out of the parliament.

Turnbull had faced two challenges to his leadership in the past week.
Source: Agencies/zl
Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...son-to-become-australia-s-next-prime-10647458

 

[Hypocrite-The]

cott Morrison: From 'stopping the boats' to Prime Minister, 'ScoMo's' often controversial rise to the top job
By Andrew Greene
Posted 8 minutes ago

PHOTO: Treasurer Scott Morrison emerged as a leadership contender as Malcolm Turnbull's support eroded on Thursday. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
RELATED STORY: Cormann switches sides, tells Turnbull it's time to quit; Morrison to run against Dutton
RELATED STORY: Petition for Liberal party meeting does the rounds as third minister resigns
RELATED STORY: Australia isn't alone: Hyper-partisanship is killing two great democracies
When a bikini-clad model called Lara Bingle spruiked Australia by asking, "So where the bloody hell are you?", it was Scott Morrison who had approved the controversial $180 million tourism campaign.

In 2006 he was Tourism Australia's inaugural managing director, but it wasn't Scott Morrison's first experience at crafting catchy, cut-through slogans — a skill he would later use to great effect during his rapid rise in federal politics.

Years earlier, he'd been involved in the highly acclaimed "100% Pure New Zealand" campaign after being recruited to set up that country's Office of Tourism and Sport.

PHOTO: Then shadow immigration minister, Mr Morrison talks to then opposition leader Tony Abbott in 2011. (AAP: Alan Porritt)


With a year remaining on his contract he returned to Sydney in early 2000 to take up the job of state director of the NSW Liberal Party.

Having overseen the Liberal Party's campaign in the 2001 federal and 2003 state campaigns, the ambitious political operative made his first tilt for Parliament at the 2007 federal election.

His sights were set on the safe Liberal seat of Cook in southern Sydney, but he suffered a crushing defeat in the first preselection vote to young Lebanese Catholic, Michael Towke.

PHOTO: Scott Morrison (R) stood by Malcom Turnbull on Wednesday. (ABC: Matt Roberts)


He eventually clinched the seat, and in September 2008 the new opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull appointed Scott Morrison to his frontbench as shadow minister for housing and local government.

A year later, Tony Abbott successfully challenged Malcolm Turnbull as opposition leader and invited Scott Morrison into his shadow cabinet as immigration and citizenship spokesman.

As shadow immigration minister he masterfully exploited the issue of asylum seeker arrivals during the Rudd and Gillard governments, and he devised another effective slogan; "stop the boats".

Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek.










VIDEO: Three crucial cabinet ministers have withdrawn their support for Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Picture: Matt Roberts (ABC News)


When the Abbott government was elected in 2013 Scott Morrison launched Operation Sovereign Borders, the tough, military-led strategy to stop unauthorised boats departing for Australia, a policy which ultimately proved successful.

In a December 2014 cabinet reshuffle Scott Morrison moved to the social services ministry and began remaking his public image to broaden his appeal.

After Tony Abbott was removed as prime minister, Malcolm Turnbull rewarded Scott Morrison's support with a promotion to the prized position of treasurer, where he handed down his first federal budget in 2016.

During last year's heated debate over same-sex marriage, the devout Christian strongly supported the "no" case and claimed he had also endured bigotry from those who opposed his views.

As treasurer, Scott Morrison delivered three budgets, but the leadership ambitions of the number one ticket holder for the Cronulla Sharks were always obvious to his colleagues.

Now after more than a decade in Parliament he's finally clinched the top job in politics, Prime Minister.

 

[Leongsam]

This should make all Singapore appreciate the PAP even more.

Imagine how quickly Singapore would go downhill if the same sort of shenanigans were going on. Investors would leave in droves, the SGD would plunge, property values would plummet and Singapore would soon end up being a fishing village again.

 

[Hypocrite-The]

This should make all Singapore appreciate the PAP even more.

Imagine how quickly Singapore would go downhill if the same sort of shenanigans were going on. Investors would leave in droves, the SGD would plunge, property values would plummet and Singapore would soon end up being a fishing village again.

That is the problem with parliamentary democracy,,,the leaders are never chosen by the people and such shenanigans are caused by the political parties. All in all, its starting to make me appreciate a presidential system even more. And the worse thing is its highly unlikely the Liberals will win the next erection,,,and yet they are fighting over a poisoned chalice? they should have just band together and do their best and fight the next erection as a united party,,but now their chances of winning is bugger all,,and this new pm will only be there for 1 year max,,,but i think they will have to call the erection soon,,,,might as well fall on their own sword now,,,

 

[Hypocrite-The]

Good time to buy aust dollar now that the PM matter is resolved,,,


Australian dollar finally feels pain from Dutton's Turnbull leadership spill
By business reporter Michael Janda
Updated 54 minutes ago

PHOTO: The Australian dollar started falling once it became clear that Malcolm Turnbull would be ousted. (ABC News: Alistair Kroie)
RELATED STORY: The Liberals gave us the messiest leadership challenge in our history
RELATED STORY: Liberal leadership chaos could jeopardise landmark Australia-Indonesia free trade deal
RELATED STORY: Live: Scott Morrison to be next PM; Peter Dutton beaten by five votes
After days of resistance, the Australian dollar has finally capitulated to the growing leadership uncertainty clouding the Federal Government.

The currency had bounced from recent lows, and was trading as high as 73.8 US cents two days ago, even as the Liberal leadership crisis deepened.

The peak in the currency came in overseas trade, early Wednesday morning Australian eastern time, which followed Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's surprise spill motion on Tuesday, which he won 48 to 35.

Perhaps naive overseas traders, unfamiliar with the Australian political environment, did not realise that this narrow win all but ensured further leadership instability?

However, the Thursday morning resignation of key ministers Mathias Cormann, Michaelia Cash and Mitch Fifield was a clear indication that Mr Turnbull's status as Liberal leader was all but terminally doomed.

That was when the Australian dollar started its dive — from 73.5 US cents to 72.8 in a matter of hours.

Since then it has fallen further in overseas overnight trade, touching a low of 72.4 US cents this morning.

Greg McKenna, the chief market strategist at AxiTrader, said traders are not usually concerned with Australian political ructions, due to the nation's stable public institutions, but this leadership contest has been unusual and comes amid a global context of political instability.

"In a world of Trump, Brexit, Putin, Erdogan, Duterte and many other populist leaders, the type of instability and lurch in policy Dutton has already articulated, combined with the reality that the whole world knows this will be Rudd-Gillard-Rudd-Abbott-Turnbull-Dutton/Morrison/Bishop has simply given the bears the whip hand on a day the US dollar was doing better anyway," he wrote in a note.

"So, the path of least resistance for the Aussie [dollar] was lower."​

Chris Weston, the head of research at Pepperstone, noted traders are very hesitant to buy the Australian dollar until the political uncertainty is resolved.

"The news flow coming from Canberra is keeping traders away from the Australian dollar, and when the bid dries up, and sellers are prevalent, we can often see punchy and exaggerated moves," he wrote.

Mr McKenna said the next moves in the currency will be highly dependent on the outcome of the Liberal leadership ballot.

"A clear win for Morrison or Bishop is good for the Australian dollar because we get back to where we were and either of those can probably acquit themselves well in the next general election," he argued.

"A clear victory for Dutton is probably also positive, but less so than the other two because some folks worry he'll get trounced in the next election anyway and there are the concerns some have from a Labor government.

"A tight win for any of the candidates is probably a little bit of poison and any bounce is likely to prove short-lived."

 

[winnipegjets]

So much political instability in australia. Didn't the white trash once had a PM who organized a BBQ in Singapore for sinkies here, only to get booted out of office by his own party a short while later?

Which PAP ministar should we second to Australia to help them out? But I don't think the Aussies will be willing to pay him $1.6 million a year. Will the ministar accept $250k?

 

[Hypocrite-The]

With Malcolm Turnbull’s demise, the Liberal Party’s true fear is coming to pass
By Annabel Crabb
Updated 6 minutes ago

PHOTO: Conservatives have shifted their focus to the defence of religious freedom. (ABC News: Marco Catalano)
RELATED STORY: A brief history of seven killings, or how climate policy keeps sinking PMs
RELATED STORY: Turnbull strapped a bomb to himself and dared them to come get him
RELATED STORY: Crabb: Is Australian democracy on the skids?
It's taken 14 years for the Liberal Party to work Malcolm Turnbull, like a splinter, out of its flesh.

And today, in a final bout of demented junkie-scratching, they've finally done it.

Scott Morrison has beaten Peter Dutton in Liberal spill. Follow the blog for updates.


Analysis: Turnbull under seige

This is classic, back-to-the-wall Malcolm Turnbull. Looking for legal loopholes, looking for delaying tactics, and never giving in, writes Annabel Crabb.


In the end, the party's break with him was not — whatever anyone says — about policy. It was, and always has been, the inability of the party to accept collectively that Malcolm Bligh Turnbull is one of them.

It's the greatest rejection of his life. And this is a man whose mother walked out on him.

It's also the most expensive, because in Mr Turnbull's pursuit of acceptance within his party in this second period as its leader, he's given up — to please them — so much of what he brought with him into politics.

It's not just the millions he's poured into the party's coffers, or his preparedness to shut up about the republic, or same-sex marriage, or his belief in a market solution to carbon pricing or indeed his belief in non-interventionist government; all tributes he has shovelled in to the ravening maw of his party in an attempt to appease its fire gods.

(Also sacrificed: some other erstwhile pleasures of the Turnbull flesh, like yelling at people he thinks are stupid, and quoting Neville Wran.)

It's that, in the end, it amounted to nothing.

PHOTO: In the end, Mr Turnbull led a party where it was possible for a right wing minister, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells, to quit on the grounds that that front bench didn't have enough right wingers. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)


Why did Turnbull get the sack? Good question
In the end, he led a party where it was possible for a right-wing minister (Concetta Fierravanti-Wells) to quit Mr Turnbull's front bench this week on the grounds that the front bench didn't have enough right-wingers, adding moreover that the Government's handling of the same sex marriage debate was part of her disenchantment with the PM.

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Even though in that precise instance Mr Turnbull followed so exactly the proposal nominated by Tony Abbott (with a postal plebiscite SUGGESTED BY PETER DUTTON) that he spent several months being kicked around like a footy in his own electorate, the gayest in the country.

Such cranially painful non sequiturs are not even remarkable any more, in this environment.

And if the National Energy Guarantee — which became the issue around which the anti-Turnbull mob gathered, in the end, to light their petrol-soaked rags — was the work of careful consultation between the right-winger Josh Frydenberg and the energy industry, whose leaders came to the party room on their knees begging to be given this certainty, and if it had public support and potentially broad support across the Parliament, then none of that matters now, because it's gone, whooshed away up that same mad pipe where the last few genuine attempts to arrive at some sort of part-way sensible national position on this particular policy issue went.

Why did Malcolm Turnbull get the sack from his party?

Especially at a point at which his Coalition government presided over jobs growth, an improving economy, and impregnable border protection — ordinarily the triple guarantors of a sound night's sleep for Coalition governments?

When you ask his colleagues, you get a bit of awkward shuffling and some references to the Longman by-election and typically an insistence that this is about policy not personalities, which turns out to amount essentially to Mr Turnbull's honouring of the Paris emissions targets to which Mr Abbott committed the nation in 2015.

Turnbull's crimes a vibe thing
Malcolm Turnbull will go down in history as the Prime Minister most disproportionately and gorily executed by his colleagues on the most nebulous of grounds.

Essentially, his crimes against the Liberal Party were a vibe thing.

Even when he was doing what his conservative colleagues wanted him to do, he failed to convince them because deep down, they felt he didn't really mean it.

Their fear always was that Malcolm Turnbull — despite everything he said — was secretly, in his heart, running a Labor government.

And isn't that funny.

Because that's exactly what they'll now get.

 

[steffychun]

Chan Chun Sing got balls to usurp LHL?

 

[Leongsam]

Chan Chun Sing got balls to usurp LHL?

No but he certainly would like to slurp LHL.

 

[bobby]

Chan Chun Sing got balls to usurp LHL?

If this ever happens in Singapore...all opposing party members will be arrested by Pinky for subversion and tyranny.

 

[steffychun]

If this ever happens in Singapore...all opposing party members will be arrested by Pinky for subversion and tyranny.

LHL would faint before he does so

 

[Hypocrite-The]

BusinessBusiness as usual for Australian economy under new PM
image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
Australia's new prime minister Scott Morrison. (File photo: AFP/Saeed Khan)
25 Aug 2018 11:23AM (Updated: 25 Aug 2018 12:22PM)
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SYDNEY: Scott Morrison is respected by investors and his elevation to Australian prime minister is a good outcome, analysts say, with the latest bout of political instability unlikely to hurt the economy.
The 50-year-old outgoing treasurer took the top job after a Liberal Party revolt instigated by hardline conservatives, led by Peter Dutton, to unseat moderate Malcolm Turnbull.

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Morrison was an ally of Turnbull's and presided over the economy as the government sought to return the budget to surplus and simultaneously cut personal income and small-business taxes.
Analysts see him continuing along the same economic path now that he has climbed into the prime minister's chair.
"He did not bring on the challenge so can't be blamed for the instability," said AMP Capital chief economist Shane Oliver.
"More importantly he is seen as a reasonably sensible policy maker, is respected by investment markets in his role as treasurer and is seen as a centrist giving the Liberals perhaps a better chance of victory in the coming federal election."

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READ: Australia's latest prime minister – Scott 'Stop the boats' Morrison
Oliver said he expected the government to continue with its existing budgetary strategy with Morrison at the helm, including abandoning a policy to cut the tax rate for large companies.
This, along with the budget coming in better-than-expected, would provide scope for earlier and bigger tax cuts for low- to middle-income earners which could help economic growth, he added.
The Australian dollar rallied on news of the change, as did the stock market, which was rattled by the political uncertainty during the week.

Under Morrison's tutelage, Australia's economy - which is transitioning from an unprecedented investment boom in mining - recorded a strong start to 2018 as exports and business inventories rose, although consumer spending and wage growth remain weak.
The 1.0 percent growth in the first three months of 2018 - the third quarter of Australia's current financial year - took annual economic growth to 3.1 percent.

image: data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==
Australia's economy made a strong start to the year, though consumer spending and wage growth remain weak AFP/William WEST

"KNOWN QUANTITY"
Morrison was by far the best outcome of the political crisis, said National Australia Bank's chief markets economist Ivan Colhoun, with business and markets breathing a sigh of relief.
"He is more of a known quantity and will be perceived as less likely to make radical shifts in policy than if Peter Dutton had been elected," he said.
"Importantly, the Australian economy continues to perform well, in spite of what is now a decade of intermittent political instability, highlighting the strength of the broad institutional framework that exists in Australia."
Colhoun suggested Josh Frydenberg, who was picked as the new deputy Liberal leader on Friday, could assume Morrison's job at the treasury due to his "good economic and financial credentials".
READ: Australia's political dysfunction a sign of the times
One uncertainty is whether Morrison will have to introduce policies to please the right of the party, which had pinned its hopes on the more conservative Dutton.
Dutton had called for cutting immigration and removing taxes on soaring energy prices, which analysts warned could slow the economy and blow out the federal budget.
Colhoun added that a key question that could spook markets was whether the government can survive in the short-term.
Turnbull has signalled he will resign from parliament, which would trigger a by-election, threatening the government's slim one-seat parliamentary majority with the prospect of early elections, which must be held by the middle of next year.
ANZ Research said in a note that political volatility had been a constant theme in Australia for the past decade and it expected little economic impact from the change in leader.
"What's more, we think after a decade of political volatility businesses have very low expectations about goings on in Canberra," it added.
"So we don't think it inevitable that this week's events will have a measurable impact on the economy, but we will certainly be watching for evidence to the contrary."

Read more at https://www.channelnewsasia.com/new...r-scott-morrison-business-investment-10651290

 

[Hypocrite-The]

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Australian politicians' coup culture holds serious dangers for our democracy
OPINION THE CONVERSATION BY MICHELLE GRATTAN
UPDATED ABOUT 2 HOURS AGO
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scott morrison and josh Frydenberg
PHOTO This hit-and-run attitude is contemptuous of the public.
REUTERS: DAVID GRAY
Australia's "coup culture" has become so entrenched it now holds serious dangers for our democracy. Not that the politicians seem to give a damn. For all the talk of "listening" and being "on your side" the voters have once again been treated as little more than a gullible audience for a low-grade reality show.

A decade or two ago, many commentators advocated four-year federal terms, to encourage better policy-making. Now we can't even count on a prime minister lasting through the three-year parliamentary term after the election they win.

In less than a decade, we've had four prime ministerial coups: from Rudd to Gillard (2010); from Gillard to Rudd (2013); from Abbott to Turnbull (2015); and, last week, from Turnbull to Morrison.

A couple of these seemed politically savvy. I admit to thinking them so.

In 2013, Kevin Rudd was reinstated to "save the furniture", and he did. In 2015, Tony Abbott's government appeared headed for certain oblivion. Malcolm Turnbull was installed as a better prospect; in the event, he won in 2016 only by the skin of his teeth.

The Gillard coup, driven by a panic attack and colleagues' frustration with Rudd's style, was ill-conceived. The botched assault by Peter Dutton that elevated Scott Morrison was fuelled by a cocktail of revenge against Mr Turnbull and a policy push to the right. We'll see how it ends, but likely it won't be well.

Being 'coup capital' of the world is no joke
While a particular coup may have its justifications, when you look at a clutch of them, they're bad for the country and for the political system.

Messiest leadership teaser
Some will point to history for precedent — Paul Keating overthrew Bob Hawke in 1991. But we didn't in those days have a "coup culture".

We may chuckle on hearing Australia referred to abroad as the "coup capital" of the world. But it's not a joke. Although this country will continue to be seen as a safe place to invest, a rolling prime ministership must eventually test the faith of outsiders.

The coup culture works against the sort of decision-making that requires serious policy bravery. Timeframes shorten — ironically, just when governments fancifully cast programs as stretching over 10 years.

Thinking for the future is difficult enough with continuous polling and the shrill media cycle. But if a prime minister can't rely on their troops guaranteeing their leadership through tough patches, or standing up against guerrilla insurgencies, public policy is reduced to the lowest common denominator or falls victim to the worst of internal power struggles.

Ditching opposition leaders is different from tossing out prime ministers. It has its own problems, but doesn't undermine the system the way assassinating a PM does. Voters feel (and are entitled to feel) they elect the prime minister; it's not technically true but it is effectively so, as campaigns are so leader-focused.

Media player: "Space" to play, "M" to mute, "left" and "right" to seek.

VIDEO 1:02 Scott Morrison was named as Australia's 30th Prime Minister following a spill of the party's leadership.
ABC NEWS
Revolving door politics erodes our trust
Fundamental in this revolving door is the cost to trust. As in other democracies, Australians' trust in their system and its players has been eroding over decades.

Research from the University of Canberra's Institute for Governance and Policy Analysis found fewer than 41 per cent of Australians are currently satisfied with the way our democracy works. This compared with 78 per cent in 1996.

Generation X is least satisfied (31 per cent); the baby boomers most satisfied (50 per cent). Women are generally less satisfied with democracy and more distrustful of politicians and political institutions.

According to this data — which preceded the leadership crisis — politicians are trusted by only 21 per cent, and journalists by 28 per cent.

The yet-to-be-released research concluded, "Politicians, government ministers and political parties are deeply distrusted and media of all kinds and how they report Canberra politics is viewed as a key part of the problem".

It also found strong public support for reforms to ensure greater political accountability of MPs and to stimulate more public participation.

Question Time 'shocking' to the uninitiated
The coup culture further alienates an already disillusioned public, unable to comprehend the appalling behaviour they often witness from their politicians.

Too few women? Cue eye rolls
Too few women? Cue eye rolls
The Liberals have a gender problem. But when women bring it up, there's a "collective eye roll".
Recently I spoke to members of a community leadership program who'd come to Canberra for a couple of days of briefings from politicians and others. They'd been to Question Time a few hours before I met them.

To journalists, it was a pretty standard QT. For these people, what they witnessed was shocking. They had trouble getting their heads around how the goings on — the shouting, the insults — could be so dreadful. They'd looked over at the schoolchildren in another part of the public gallery and wondered what those youngsters were thinking.

They asked: why do our politicians act like this and what can be done? All 72 decided to write to their MPs to say this wasn't the type of conduct they wanted to see from them.

My hunch is that this group of ordinary, well-educated, interested citizens would probably be even more put off by subsequent events.

MPs expect the public to move right on
One thing I suspect would have particularly disturbed them is the way the players in last week's coup expect the public to just move right on. Everyone was back to work, they said.

Ms Gillard in 2010 tried to explain and justify her deposing of Mr Rudd by saying: "I believed that a good government was losing its way." It didn't wash.

We know for ourselves the reasons for the latest coup — hatred of Mr Turnbull and a desire to force a sharp turn to the right. But have the main coup-makers and their allies (as distinct from their noisy backers in the media), and the windfall beneficiaries felt the need to properly account for their actions?

This hit-and-run attitude is contemptuous of the public.

The coup culture, especially in this instance, is also accompanied by an "anything goes" view of tactics.

Again, it is a matter of degree — the extent to which the hardball, which we always see at such times, crosses a line.

Go explain to schoolkids why you bully
For some of the Liberal women, it undoubtedly did last week.

The Liberals have a 'man problem'
The Liberals have a 'man problem'
The Liberal Party needs a gender quota and to rid itself of its right-wing thugs, writes Chris Wallace.
Julia Banks, announcing on Wednesday she'll resign her Melbourne seat of Chisholm at the next election, has cited bullying. Western Australian senator Linda Reynolds went to the lengths of telling the Senate: "I just hope that … the behaviours we have seen and the bullying and intimidation, which I do not recognise as Liberal in any way, shape or form, are brought to account."

But Victorian Liberal president Michael Kroger saw it as par for the course, saying, in response to Ms Banks: "This is politics. People do speak strongly to each other. You just need to look at Question Time. If you think Question Time is not full of bullying and intimidation then you've got another thing coming."

Well, anyone who bullied or was fine with such conduct should do this: go to your local high school and explain to the kids why bullying shouldn't be in their tool kit but is needed in yours.

Some Liberals flirt with the idea of rules to curb the coup culture, a path Labor has gone down.

It depends on the model: as with so much in politics, what looks good at first sight may hold dangers. Giving a party's rank and file a say in electing the leader, as the ALP does, might eventually advantage those harder to sell to voters, because party memberships are small and unrepresentative.

A higher-than-50-per-cent threshold for a spill, which Labor has also embraced and Ms Reynolds suggests, holds some merit. But when Anthony Albanese was stalking Bill Shorten before Super Saturday, Mr Albanese's supporters insisted the rule could be circumvented.

What's really critical is the culture — in a party and in the political system generally. And once that's been corroded, it's a devil of a job to scrape the rust off.

There are no easy ways to rid ourselves of the coup culture, or to force tin-eared politicians to lift their game. But it wouldn't hurt for more people to follow the example of those in the community leadership program and remind their MPs of their KPIs.

Michelle Grattan is a professorial fellow at the University of Canberra and chief political correspondent at The Conversation, where this article first appeared.

POSTED ABOUT 3 HOURS AGO
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