Political pettiness personified (a three-word alliterative phrase)

With so many portentous and 'diabolical' issues facing Aussies today, here's what one Liberal bright spark thought was worth the breath to cool his porridge during Question Time on the day before the House recessed for 8 weeks until the 25th of August.
It's hard to believe this peevish nitpicking is a dinkum way to earn your wage.

Christopher Pearce (Aston, Liberal Party) Hansard source
Mr Speaker, I draw your attention to the fact that today in question time, and indeed for most of this week, almost without exception when the Prime Minister has been at the dispatch box he has leant on the dispatch box and turned his back on you. Mr Speaker, my question is: do you consider that to be parliamentary and are you happy with the Prime Minister having his back to you most of the time?
Harry Jenkins (Speaker) The Prime Minister refers his remarks through the chair, and that is the main thing that I look for.

Open Australia has some interesting stats on this very average MP.

"Has spoken in 27 debates in the last year — average amongst MPs.
People have made 0 comments on this MP's speeches — well above average amongst MPs.
This MP's speeches are understandable to an average 18–19 year old, going by the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score.
0 people are tracking whenever this MP speaks — email me whenever Christopher Pearce speaks.
Has used three-word alliterative phrases (e.g. "she sells seashells") 56 times in debates — average amongst MPs. (Why is this here?)"

Still, Chris rates a little better than North Coast Nationals MP for Cowper, Luke Hartsuyker.
Although Luke has spoken in many more debates, his speeches are only "understandable to an average 16–17 year old, going by the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level score." and he's "used three-word alliterative phrases (e.g. "she sells seashells") 87 times in debates — above average amongst MPs."

Quote of the Week from the Labor Push

Sometimes even stating the bl**dy obvious can produce a smile, when it involves the main architects of that planned sell-off of NSW power industry assets.

From Andrew Clennell and Andrew West reporting in The Sydney Morning Herald yesterday.

One senior union official, who holds a key position in the ALP, said: "The reason Costa has blown his top is that he knows that if Morris falls over, then he [Costa] is finished. Costa and Iemma are joined at the bloody hip."

Treasurer Michael Costa appears to be going that extra mile in an effort to dynamite any slim chance Labor may have had at the next state election.

He continues to be as juvenile today as this pic from the past at Workers Online.

Costa is fast earning my nomination for Nong of the Year 2008.
Although he runs a close second to Morris Iemma himself for ever listening to this unpredicatable political catherine wheel.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda as the land dried up and drifted away

Below are the fine words signifying nothing which Prime Minister Rudd put our name to yesterday.

However, the Rudd Government is still streets ahead of  the Coalition on climate change, as former Howard Government ministers use the current global crisis to play politics and jockey for power within their own parties.

Their hypocrisy appears to know no bounds as shadow ministers like Malcolm Turnbull spin former Howard Government policy on a full 360 degree axis in an effort to score and pander to populist positions or vested interests with regard to fuel emissions and the Murray-Darling Basin.

 

Text of G8 statement:

 

We, the leaders of Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States met as the world's major economies in Toyako, Hokkaido, Japan, on 9 July, 2008, and declare as follows:

1. Climate change is one of the great global challenges of our time. Conscious of our leadership role in meeting such challenges, we, the leaders of the world's major economies, both developed and developing, commit to combat climate change in accordance with our common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and confront the interlinked challenges of sustainable development, including energy and food security, and human health. We have come together to contribute to efforts under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the global forum for climate negotiations. Our contribution and cooperation are rooted in the objective, provisions, and principles of the Convention.

2. We welcome decisions taken by the international community in Bali, including to launch a comprehensive process to enable the full, effective, and sustained implementation of the Convention through long-term cooperative action, now, up to, and beyond 2012, in order to reach an agreed outcome in December 2009. Recognising the scale and urgency of the challenge, we will continue working together to strengthen implementation of the Convention and to ensure that the agreed outcome maximises the efforts of all nations and contributes to achieving the ultimate objective in Article 2 of the Convention, which should be achieved within a time frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened, and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.

3. The Major Economies Meetings constructively contribute to the Bali process in several ways:

* First, our dialogue at political, policy, and technical levels has built confidence among our nations and deepened mutual understanding of the many challenges confronting the world community as we consider next steps under the Convention and continue to mobilise political will to combat global climate change.

* Second, without prejudging outcomes or the views of other nations, we believe that the common understandings in this Declaration will help advance the work of the international community so it is possible to reach an agreed outcome by the end of 2009.

* Third, recognizing the need for urgent action and the Bali Action Plan's directive for enhanced implementation of the Convention between now and 2012, we commit to taking the actions in paragraph 10 without delay.

4. We support a shared vision for long-term cooperative action, including a long-term global goal for emission reductions, that assures growth, prosperity, and other aspects of sustainable development, including major efforts towards sustainable consumption and production, all aimed at achieving a low carbon society. Taking account of the science, we recognize that deep cuts in global emissions will be necessary to achieve the Convention's ultimate objective, and that adaptation will play a correspondingly vital role. We believe that it would be desirable for the Parties to adopt in the negotiations under the Convention a long-term global goal for reducing global emissions, taking into account the principle of equity. We urge that serious consideration be given in particular to ambitious IPCC scenarios. Significant progress toward a long-term global goal will be made by increasing financing of the broad deployment of existing technologies and best practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build climate resilience. However, our ability ultimately to achieve a long-term global goal will also depend on affordable, new, more advanced, and innovative technologies, infrastructure, and practices that transform the way we live, produce and use energy, and manage land.ate resilience. However, our ability ultimately to achieve a long-term global goal will also depend on affordable, new, more advanced, and innovative technologies, infrastructure, and practices that transform the way we live, produce and use energy, and manage land.ate resilience. However, our ability ultimately to achieve a long-term global goal will also depend on affordable, new, more advanced, and innovative technologies, infrastructure, and practices that transform the way we live, produce and use energy, and manage land.ate resilience. However, our ability ultimately to achieve a long-term global goal will also depend on affordable, new, more advanced, and innovative technologies, infrastructure, and practices that transform the way we live, produce and use energy, and manage land.

5. Taking into account assessments of science, technology, and economics, we recognize the essential importance of enhanced greenhouse gas mitigation that is ambitious, realistic, and achievable. We will do more -- we will continue to improve our policies and our performance while meeting other priority objectives -- in keeping with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Achieving our long-term global goal requires respective mid-term goals, commitments and actions, to be reflected in the agreed outcome of the Bali Action Plan, taking into account differences in social and economic conditions, energy mix, demographics, and infrastructure among other factors, and the above IPCC scenarios. In this regard, the developed major economies will implement, consistent with international obligations, economy-wide mid-term goals and take corresponding actions in order to achieve absolute emission reductions and, where applicable, first stop the growth of emissions as soon as possible, reflecting comparable efforts among them. At the same time, the developing major economies will pursue, in the context of sustainable development, nationally appropriate mitigation actions, supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building, with a view to achieving a deviation from business as usual emissions. on as possible, reflecting comparable efforts among them. At the same time, the developing major economies will pursue, in the context of sustainable development, nationally appropriate mitigation actions, supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building, with a view to achieving a deviation from business as usual emissions. on as possible, reflecting comparable efforts among them. At the same time, the developing major economies will pursue, in the context of sustainable development, nationally appropriate mitigation actions, supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building, with a view to achieving a deviation from business as usual emissions. on as possible, reflecting comparable efforts among them. At the same time, the developing major economies will pursue, in the context of sustainable development, nationally appropriate mitigation actions, supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building, with a view to achieving a deviation from business as usual emissions.We, the leaders of Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States met as the world's major economies in Toyako, Hokkaido, Japan, on 9 July, 2008, and declare as follows:

1. Climate change is one of the great global challenges of our time. Conscious of our leadership role in meeting such challenges, we, the leaders of the world's major economies, both developed and developing, commit to combat climate change in accordance with our common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities and confront the interlinked challenges of sustainable development, including energy and food security, and human health. We have come together to contribute to efforts under the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the global forum for climate negotiations. Our contribution and cooperation are rooted in the objective, provisions, and principles of the Convention.

2. We welcome decisions taken by the international community in Bali, including to launch a comprehensive process to enable the full, effective, and sustained implementation of the Convention through long-term cooperative action, now, up to, and beyond 2012, in order to reach an agreed outcome in December 2009. Recognising the scale and urgency of the challenge, we will continue working together to strengthen implementation of the Convention and to ensure that the agreed outcome maximises the efforts of all nations and contributes to achieving the ultimate objective in Article 2 of the Convention, which should be achieved within a time frame sufficient to allow ecosystems to adapt naturally to climate change, to ensure that food production is not threatened, and to enable economic development to proceed in a sustainable manner.

3. The Major Economies Meetings constructively contribute to the Bali process in several ways:

* First, our dialogue at political, policy, and technical levels has built confidence among our nations and deepened mutual understanding of the many challenges confronting the world community as we consider next steps under the Convention and continue to mobilise political will to combat global climate change.

* Second, without prejudging outcomes or the views of other nations, we believe that the common understandings in this Declaration will help advance the work of the international community so it is possible to reach an agreed outcome by the end of 2009.

* Third, recognizing the need for urgent action and the Bali Action Plan's directive for enhanced implementation of the Convention between now and 2012, we commit to taking the actions in paragraph 10 without delay.

4. We support a shared vision for long-term cooperative action, including a long-term global goal for emission reductions, that assures growth, prosperity, and other aspects of sustainable development, including major efforts towards sustainable consumption and production, all aimed at achieving a low carbon society. Taking account of the science, we recognize that deep cuts in global emissions will be necessary to achieve the Convention's ultimate objective, and that adaptation will play a correspondingly vital role. We believe that it would be desirable for the Parties to adopt in the negotiations under the Convention a long-term global goal for reducing global emissions, taking into account the principle of equity. We urge that serious consideration be given in particular to ambitious IPCC scenarios. Significant progress toward a long-term global goal will be made by increasing financing of the broad deployment of existing technologies and best practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and build climate resilience. However, our ability ultimately to achieve a long-term global goal will also depend on affordable, new, more advanced, and innovative technologies, infrastructure, and practices that transform the way we live, produce and use energy, and manage land.ate resilience. However, our ability ultimately to achieve a long-term global goal will also depend on affordable, new, more advanced, and innovative technologies, infrastructure, and practices that transform the way we live, produce and use energy, and manage land.ate resilience. However, our ability ultimately to achieve a long-term global goal will also depend on affordable, new, more advanced, and innovative technologies, infrastructure, and practices that transform the way we live, produce and use energy, and manage land.ate resilience. However, our ability ultimately to achieve a long-term global goal will also depend on affordable, new, more advanced, and innovative technologies, infrastructure, and practices that transform the way we live, produce and use energy, and manage land.

5. Taking into account assessments of science, technology, and economics, we recognize the essential importance of enhanced greenhouse gas mitigation that is ambitious, realistic, and achievable. We will do more -- we will continue to improve our policies and our performance while meeting other priority objectives -- in keeping with the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities. Achieving our long-term global goal requires respective mid-term goals, commitments and actions, to be reflected in the agreed outcome of the Bali Action Plan, taking into account differences in social and economic conditions, energy mix, demographics, and infrastructure among other factors, and the above IPCC scenarios. In this regard, the developed major economies will implement, consistent with international obligations, economy-wide mid-term goals and take corresponding actions in order to achieve absolute emission reductions and, where applicable, first stop the growth of emissions as soon as possible, reflecting comparable efforts among them. At the same time, the developing major economies will pursue, in the context of sustainable development, nationally appropriate mitigation actions, supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building, with a view to achieving a deviation from business as usual emissions. on as possible, reflecting comparable efforts among them. At the same time, the developing major economies will pursue, in the context of sustainable development, nationally appropriate mitigation actions, supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building, with a view to achieving a deviation from business as usual emissions. on as possible, reflecting comparable efforts among them. At the same time, the developing major economies will pursue, in the context of sustainable development, nationally appropriate mitigation actions, supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building, with a view to achieving a deviation from business as usual emissions. on as possible, reflecting comparable efforts among them. At the same time, the developing major economies will pursue, in the context of sustainable development, nationally appropriate mitigation actions, supported and enabled by technology, financing and capacity-building, with a view to achieving a deviation from business as usual emissions.

Come all ye faithfull and Sieg Heil George Pell

Stone the crows! Cardinal Pell's wet dream has finally come true.

This month, in connivance with the NSW Iemma Government, he has managed to roll back political and social history as far as the Middle Ages, when church and state were so closely intertwined that they were virtually one.

Annoying or inconveniencing participants in the Catholic Church's taxpayer-funded indulgence, World Youth Day, is now an arrestable offence in this state.

And no, George, I won't believe any hot air about these draconian measures not being sought by the Church. This sort of thing is exactly your style. As is beating up on victims of sexual abuse.

With over 10,000 votes recorded by The Sydney Morning Herald online poll and 90% of those votes going against the Labor far-right mafia's new regulations, it seems that many are unhappy with this turn of events.

Annoying pilgrims at Youth Day : What do you think of the new laws?
For them - 10%
Against them - 90%
Total Votes: 10983
Poll date: 01/07/08

In the interests of thumbing a nose at both Iemma and Pell - here's a little something from Rottentoons.

Update:

Today's Herald Sun article revealing legal attempts (by the Church in New South Wales led by Cardinal Pell) to avoid any legal responsibility to compensate victims of abuse.

This is not a matter of historic record. This is the Catholic Church in 2008 using legal devices to avoid responsibility in court for parishioners raped, sodomised or otherwise abused in its "care".