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Aussie Thread: Democracy Sausage


Paxter

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29 minutes ago, Paxter said:

It’s also going to be a game-changer not having Abbott in parliament. Weirdly enough, there’s a chance that the Liberals will govern more from the centre now than under Turnbull (except in respect of environmental policy). 

Yes, the far right in the Coalition has been somewhat subdued with Abbott out, and Morrison has high personal authority for the next 12-18 months given he can claim credit for the electoral win. He has a lot of leeway given that he didn't promise very much in the lead-up to the election so one hopes he uses it wisely. At the least, he shouldn't have to pander to right-wing special interests. Politically it makes sense, if he can govern as a moderate conservative, that will force Albo further left.

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3 hours ago, karaddin said:

He's also disarmed Dutton (from leadership at least) for the immediate future. He remains the one that scares me the most.

Yeah this success has the fringe benefit of mollifying the Qld Right. Even the Member for Manila shouldn’t cause many problems with the increased margin achieved under Morrison.

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On 5/29/2019 at 7:41 AM, Paxter said:

Thanks wulffie. I just wish the “warm” bit was literally true!

I as in Whitehorse on early spring, it was the hottest place in Canada, 40C.

 

and the coastal areas are also more temperate in climate. Avoid the plains.

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54 minutes ago, sh_wulff said:

I as in Whitehorse on early spring, it was the hottest place in Canada, 40C.

 

and the coastal areas are also more temperate in climate. Avoid the plains.

Ha that’s a problem. I’m going to be in Toronto...

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The Tele has run a few reports since the election hinting that Shorten is already planning a return to the ALP leadership.

Surely there is little or no truth to this? Losing two consecutive elections is a fairly resounding rejection of his leadership!

Shorten has also made a few comments blaming the right-wing media for his loss. I think that’s pretty pathetic, even though the media and the Palmer campaign were no doubt influential. The way Albo has talked about the defeat has been much more humble and thoughtful.

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Labor has in place a new set of rules about leadership changes.  If Shorten is considering another crack, it will be a long, long dawn out hot mess.

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There is absolutely zero chance that Shorten is going to try challenge, the media as a whole have not stopped constantly speculating about Labor leadership since things stabilised in 2013.

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3 hours ago, karaddin said:

There is absolutely zero chance that Shorten is going to try challenge, the media as a whole have not stopped constantly speculating about Labor leadership since things stabilised in 2013.

Do you think it’s surprising though that he is keen for a spot on the front bench? And that Bowen wants to stay on as shadow treasurer? The likes of Wayne Swan did the right thing in 2013 by stepping down.

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On 5/30/2019 at 3:46 AM, Paxter said:

Ha that’s a problem. I’m going to be in Toronto...

Cool. I live just north of Toronto. Just a hint for keeping cool. Georgian Bay. 

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On 5/31/2019 at 6:10 PM, Paxter said:

Do you think it’s surprising though that he is keen for a spot on the front bench? And that Bowen wants to stay on as shadow treasurer? The likes of Wayne Swan did the right thing in 2013 by stepping down.

I'm in two minds about Shorten on the frontbench. It's obvious from this election that he has lots of policy ideas, so on the one hand he could be useful. Bowen also, if the media speculation is true that he was the brains behind the tax reform. However, they had a go and lost. At what point do you just turn the page?

Although it wouldn't have made too much material difference, perhaps Shorten should have said publicly that he'll go to the backbench. If Albo wanted him on the team then Albo could persuade him back and Shorten could later "reluctantly" go ahead with it and then everyone knows that it was Albo who made the call. Whereas from the reports it seems like Shorten has publicly lobbied to stay on the frontbench, hence the subsequent leadership speculation.

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2 hours ago, Paxter said:

Now!

Hah! Fair enough.

It will be interesting to see what sort of stuff Albo comes up with. He will likely be defined early by how he responds to anything Morrison does. It could end up being a giant game of chicken with both leaders not doing much. One hopes Morrison actually tries to govern.

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I see reports of Israel Folau potentially being courted by NRL clubs. Perhaps League fandom and sponsors are more well disposed towards homophobic attitudes so clubs won't lose anything among those who matter (their sources of revenue), albeit I thin the first openly gay oval ball player in Aussie came from League, so hard to know really.

I would hope that any contract or code of conduct will be very explicit about public statements concerning currently or historically oppressed minorities. It would be a calculated social risk, but there's not much doubt that on the field Folau would be very handy. NRL clubs also represent much smaller population bases, so perhaps at a club based in a conservative population his version of Christian values would be welcomed with open arms.

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AFP searching ABC News offices in relation to the Afghanistan village slaughter several years ago. Seems a bit of a worry. What's the Aussie law regarding classified information / documents? Is it illegal to be in possession of classified documents unless you have the clearance? There should surely be a way for the govt to demand to know what classified documents a news company has without having to execute a 9 hour raid of their offices.

The Afghanistan villager slaughter issue is of interest to us because NZ special forces are also implicated in the alleged massacre.

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I don't know the precise law on this.  I did see a headline earlier where Peter Greste said there is no law protecting a journalist's sources here.

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I'd be interested to know the law on this as well. I seem to recall in the USA there was a journalist who was jailed for declining to name their source (the Scooter Libby business I think). But that would presume that there was some sort of a case or subpoena of some sort ordering the journalist to release the name.

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I'm less interested in the protecting sources thing, right now though it is an important subject, and more about the legalities around private individuals or businesses being in possession of classified documents if you don't hold the appropriate security clearance. And of course publishing information contained in those documents. Can the ABC be prosecuted for being in possession of classified material, or is the only criminal act the release of those documents to non-cleared persons by someone with security clearance?

If the ABC can't be prosecuted and it's not a crime for them to have the documents then was the AFP raid lawful?

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On 6/8/2019 at 8:41 AM, Jeor said:

I'd be interested to know the law on this as well. I seem to recall in the USA there was a journalist who was jailed for declining to name their source (the Scooter Libby business I think). But that would presume that there was some sort of a case or subpoena of some sort ordering the journalist to release the name.

There have been lots of cases in the US going back to Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon papers. 

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