Gillard descends to personal attacks on Abbott


Before the makeover…

What can she do? Nothing she says makes any difference. The people just won’t listen. Tony Abbott is flying high in the polls and Julia Gillard is sinking into the depths, so she pulls out the lowest trick of all – personal abuse, plain and simple. We should be pleased, as it shows the level of desperation that exists in the Gillard camp. It doesn’t reflect on Abbott though, it reflects on Gillard, so please, keep it up!

FACING her greatest political challenge, Julia Gillard played the man yesterday, accusing Opposition Leader Tony Abbott of behaving like the political love child of Sarah Palin and Donald Trump.

The PM made her personal crack to at the ALP state conference at Monash University yesterday, telling the delegates Mr Abbott was running a hysterical campaign against the carbon tax. [Well, Gillard should know all about hysterical campaigns. She’s run enough of them – Ed]

“Tony Abbott has said of himself that he is John Howard and Bronwyn Bishop’s political love child,” she said. [Yes, if you hadn’t noticed, it’s OK to make jokes about yourself – Ed]

“Heaven knows that’s bad enough, but the truth is he is acting more like the love child of Sarah Palin and Donald Trump.”

Mr Abbott did not respond to the jibe yesterday. [Perfectly proper to rise above such childish petulance – Ed]

An opinion poll yesterday showed Labor’s primary vote had crashed below 30 per cent in Queensland. (source)

Of course, it appealed to the great unwashed of Victorian Labor, but everyone else thought it was embarrassingly immature.

Desperate times call for truly desperate measures.

Green/Left can't handle balanced media


Brown and Sheikh

Apologies for the lack of posts – unexpectedly engaged in other things. But the two most ridiculous stories of the last day or so must be Bob Brown’s meltdown about the Murdoch “hate media“, and GetUp!’s protest about ABC’s “lurch to the right“.

This shows so many things it’s hard to know where to start. Firstly, of course, Bob Brown is so used to being treated with kid gloves that as soon as anyone asks anything like a curly question which he can’t answer, he flies off the handle and attacks his questioner, rather than actually addressing the issue. The Greens have for too long been regarded as above criticism, because their aims, supposedly “saving the planet”, are regarded as being on a higher moral plane than usual grubby politics. The reverse is actually true. The Greens are the grubby, people hating party, happy to sacrifice the well-being of the population on the altar of pointless environmentalism.

Brown has shown himself to be the shallow, inept politician we all knew he was. But now the Greens are in government and wielding power, they seem to expect the same easy ride. Well, sorry Bob, it doesn’t work like that. Your policies, ludicrous as they are, will be subjected to the same scrutiny as those of Labor and the Coalition. So my advice to you is: get the hell used to it. Because it will only get worse – far worse.

As for GetUp!, you really have to laugh, don’t you. This bunch of leftard lemmings is similarly so used to being pandered to by a lefty media, like ABC and Fairfax, that when Chris Uhlmann asks some difficult questions, it’s branded, Pavlov’s dog fashion, as a “lurch to the right”. Ding ding. No it isn’t Simon Sheikh, you halfwit. It’s a tiny, almost imperceptible step back towards something vaguely approaching the centre, which is exactly what is needed at the ABC.

Brown and Sheikh are like toddlers who have had their favourite toy (a compliant and biased media) cruelly taken away from them – and they just can’t cope.

Too funny for words.

Wong pounces on Turnbull's comments


Traitor to the Coalition

Could this guy be any more of a quisling treacherous rat? Inevitably, after his criticisms of the Abbott climate policy (see earlier story), Labor has pounced, damaging Abbott and the Coalition in the process:

Finance Minister Penny Wong said Mr Turnbull was one of the few people in opposition truly committed to tackling global warming.

“What we saw last night is Malcolm really telling the truth about what the Liberal policy is,” she told Sky News.

“It’s very expensive and … it’s a con because those on his side of politics who we know really don’t want to do anything on this issue are able to roll it back and switch it off whenever they want.” (source)

Bravo Malc. Well done. Now, what else can you do to damage your own party? Just pack your bags and go and join Labor. Idiot.

Dump Turnbull now


Time is up for Turnbull

Malcolm Turnbull has done enough to wreck the Coalition’s chances of government. Message to Tony Abbott, sack him now, before it’s too late:

FORMER Liberal leader Malcolm Turnbull has attacked the Coalition’s direct action policy on climate change, declaring it cannot produce deep emissions cuts without putting a strain on the budget.

The opposition communications spokesman, who lost the Liberal Party leadership over his deal with Kevin Rudd to legislate a carbon pollution reduction scheme, told ABC’s Lateline last night the Coalition’s policy on climate change was a short-term one that could be easily stopped.

Mr Turnbull told the program that if a government was looking for a long-term solution to making deep cuts to carbon emissions, “a direct action policy where industry is able to freely pollute and the government is just spending more and more taxpayers’ money to offset it, that would become a very expensive charge on the budget.” (source)

I guess Turnbull wants to see an ETS so he can cash in on the billions to be made trading carbon (allegedly). Enough is enough.

Labor and Greens in disarray on carbon price


More spin

Hands up who didn’t see this coming. As every political commentator in Australia is correctly stating, Labor is wedged between alienating their core vote by setting a carbon price too high, and the Greens by setting a carbon price too low.

Too high, and Labor will lose in a landslide at the next election. Too low, and the Greens will abandon their cosy little deal with Labor and force an election sooner – which they will lose anyway. I think that popcorn moment is approaching:

DEEP divisions have emerged between the government and the Greens over the starting price of Julia Gillard’s carbon tax as negotiations enter their final weeks.

After a meeting of the Prime Minister’s multi-party climate change committee, Greens leader Bob Brown seized on a report to be released today suggesting a carbon price of $40 a tonne may be needed to force electricity generators to switch from coal to gas.

But Climate Change Minister Greg Combet declared after the meeting that “from the government’s standpoint, it’s going to be well south of $40 a tonne and no matter what the starting price, there will be generous household assistance”.

With the committee expected to finalise its position on the carbon pricing mechanism ahead of an announcement late next month or in early July, Mr Combet conceded the government and the Greens continued to have “policy differences”, but they were “in good faith endeavouring to negotiate on those issues”.

Hilarious. More spin than a launderette. At least Tony Abbott can see through the fog:

As the MPCCC met in Canberra, Tony Abbott toured the Geelong Ford plant, saying a carbon tax of $30 a tonne would increase the cost of a car by $412. He dismissed Mr Combet’s assurances that the starting price for the carbon tax would be less than $40, saying the tax would rise every year.

“The point of this tax is that whatever level it starts at, it’s going to go up and up and up, and I say to the Australian people: you trust this Prime Minister at your peril,” the Opposition Leader said.

“Never forget the Prime Minister said six days before the election there ‘will be no carbon tax under the government I lead’, (and) within a couple of months ‘yes there will be a carbon tax’. So this is a government which is both incompetent and untrustworthy.” (source)

True. So true.

UK: Huhne "the Hoon" on the ropes


Double demerits?

Looks like the UK’s dangerous and downright unhinged Energy and Climate Secretary’s days are quite possibly numbered, as he “does an Einfeld” by allegedly getting his estranged wife to take the rap for a speeding offence:

Chris Huhne’s career was hanging by a thread last night after his estranged wife agreed to testify that he asked her to take speeding points for him.

A close friend said Vicky Pryce would swear in court that she was busy all day in central London when the offence was committed 40 miles away in Essex.

As political support ebbed away from the Energy Secretary at Westminster, Essex Police appointed a senior detective to look into the allegations that Mr Huhne broke the law.

Sources said that if Miss Pryce co-operates and provides corroborating evidence, it is almost certain to lead to a full criminal inquiry. This could mean Mr Huhne facing charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice. [maximum penalty: life imprisonment – Ed]

A friend of Miss Pryce told the Mail: ‘She was working in London during the day and evening of the date the offence took place in Essex. And she’s quite prepared to stand up in court and say so if necessary.’ (source)

Maybe there is a glimmer of hope that the UK climate madness could be reversed if Hoon Huhne was a guest of Her Majesty for a while. A few years, say.

Pachauri slaps down Aussie Greens


Pachi cloud

I don’t often agree with Rajendra Pachauri, but in this case I’m prepared to make a limited exception:

SPECIFIC natural disasters such as Cyclone Yasi and the Brisbane floods could not be directly linked to man-made climate change, the world’s leading climate change authority said yesterday.

Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change chairman Rajendra Pachauri said the general observation that climate change was bringing about an increase in extreme weather events was valid [what increase? – Ed] but scientists needed to provide much finer detail.

“Frankly, it is difficult to take a season or two and come up with any conclusions on those on a scientific basis,” Dr Pachauri said.

“What we can say very clearly is the aggregate impact of climate change on all these events, which are taking place at much higher frequency and intensity all over the world. [Really? – Ed]

“On that there is very little doubt; the scientific evidence is very, very strong. But what happens in Queensland or what happens in Russia or for that matter the floods in the Mississippi River right now, whether there is a link between those and climate change is very difficult to establish. So I don’t think anyone can make a categorical statement on that.”

Dr Pachauri’s comments contradict assertions by Greens leader Bob Brown in the wake of the floods that the coal industry was to blame because the sector’s contribution to global warming was responsible for the extreme weather conditions. (source)

But on the other hand, the Greens might end up as our saviours. They may vote against the carbon tax because it isn’t tough enough. Gillard, on the other hand, wants to make sure the carbon tax has as little impact as possible in order for it to sneak through, unnoticed.

A CARBON price of $40 a tonne is needed to force a switch from coal to new, gas-fired electricity generation and reduce Australia’s emissions, the federal government has been advised as it prepares for a meeting to run all weekend with the independents and Greens to begin crunching a final climate deal.

The carbon price has been widely expected to start at between $20 and $30 a tonne, but confidential research by Deloittes for the Resources Minister, Martin Ferguson, says that with east coast gas prices rising, black coal will remain the cheapest way to generate power unless the price on emissions rises relatively quickly to $40 a tonne. (source)

There’s no way you can sneak $40 a tonne past the electorate, Julia. Doesn’t get any easier, does it?

Labor ship hits iceberg – sinking fast


Goodship Gillard

She’s holed below the waterline, Cap’n. Six compartments are flooded and it is a mathematical certainty that she’ll be heading to the bottom of the ocean in no time at all. But not to worry, the carbon tax lifeboat will save the government, just you wait and see…

SUPPORT for Julia Gillard has plunged after voters gave their lowest rating to Labor’s fourth budget, the overall worst reaction in almost 20 years, leaving the Prime Minister’s personal standing below that of Kevin Rudd when he was removed as leader.

Voter approval of Ms Gillard is the lowest it has been since she became Prime Minister last June. Tony Abbott is as close to her as preferred prime minister as he has ever been and closer than he ever was to Mr Rudd.

According to the latest Newspoll survey, conducted exclusively for The Australian at the weekend, the Coalition’s primary vote rose to a six-year high of 46 per cent to Labor’s unchanged 33 per cent, giving a two-party preferred calculation of 54 to 46 per cent.

Satisfaction with Ms Gillard as prime minister dropped to a record low for her of 34 per cent compared with 38 per cent before the budget, and dissatisfaction rose six points to 55 per cent, her highest level of dissatisfaction. (source)

Radio Operator – send out an SOS.

Madness: UK commits climate suicide


Looney (image thanks to Guido Fawkes)

Chris Huhne will be remembered as The Man that Screwed Britain. In twenty years’ time, when wind farms are standing idle, with conventional power stations all past their sell-by date, and Britain is a third world country, the long-suffering population, sitting in the cold and the dark, will look back at the climate madness inflicted on the country by Huhne and cry “Bring back hanging.”

And there isn’t a hint of caution, just ploughing on, full steam ahead into the abyss, with legally mandated emissions cuts of 60% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 on 1990 levels (1990 levels!!!), whilst at the same time, China and India just continue with business as usual (virtually), offsetting many times over anything that Britain does:

Chris Huhne will announce a long-term programme that will put Britain at the forefront of the battle against climate change.

Cabinet ministers have agreed a far-reaching, legally binding “green deal” that will commit the UK to two decades of drastic cuts in carbon emissions. The package will require sweeping changes to domestic life, transport and business [translation: reducing the UK to a third world nation – Ed] and will place Britain at the forefront of the global battle against climate change.

The deal was hammered out after tense arguments between ministers who had disagreed over whether the ambitious plans to switch to more green energy were affordable. The row had pitted the energy secretary,Chris Huhne, who strongly backed the plans, against the chancellor, George Osborne, and the business secretary, Vince Cable, who were concerned about the cost and potential impact on the economy. [But we don’t want to worry about minor details like that. We’re SAVING THE PLANET!!!! – Ed]

However, after the intervention of David Cameron, Huhne is now expected to tell parliament that agreement has been struck to back the plans in full up to 2027. He will tell MPs that the government will accept the recommendations of the independent committee on climate change for a new carbon budget. The deal puts the UK ahead of any other state in terms of the legal commitments it is making in the battle to curb greenhouse gases. (breathlessly reported by The Guardian, of course – source)

It has been said before but I’ll say it again: goodnight Britain. It’s been nice knowing you, but I’m very glad I emigrated to Australia. Because you guys are well and truly screwed.

(h/t PC)

Avoid like the plague: ABC's "The Science Show"


The Anti-Science Show

Don’t go there. Really. You will not believe how Robyn Williams, John Cook and a couple of other hysterics lay into “deniers”. If you don’t sign up to the religion, you’re a fruitcake. Still attacking the Petition Project (that’s the best target they can come up with), if you had cancer, would you trust the quack, deniers questioning links between smoking and cancer, and you’re mentally deranged and suffering a delusion. And, the best bit of all, we’re LIARS! Yes, we’re LYING. It’s almost too funny for words.

I made it through about nine minutes before I shouted “F*** off” at my computer. See if you can do better.

Of course, there followed a detailed rebuttal by Bob Carter… ha, only joking! Not a chance. The ABC and Williams only want one side – the warmist side.

Their ABC – paid for by your taxes.

Link here (I did warn you).