A very curious thing is happening in the parliament today. The Social Services Legislation Amendment Bill is set to be waved through the House with the support of the Labor opposition. From there it will go to the Senate and quickly become law.
Hooray! The system works. Well, sometimes.
In truth the bill is a grab bag of amendments for old age pensioners, armed service veterans and retirees, many of whom will receive a one off payment for their energy bills ($75 for singles, $150 for couples) while some 95,000 self-funded retirees who lost their part pensions at the beginning of the year will have their pension cards returned to them to assist in the payment of medical bills, pharmaceuticals, council rates and transport costs.
The energy assistance payment was negotiated between the government and Senator Nick Xenophon in order to ensure the Xenophon Team’s support for the government’s tax cuts to business.
Full column here.
Slow news day: http://www.tmj4.com/news/local-news/unfinished-sussex-water-tower-paint-job-spells-sex
So Sir Lunchalot will be in tax payer funded accomodation for the next seven years or so.
Amazing. Truly.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/print/the-australian-will-boycott-press-council-decisions-of-political-stack-carla-mcgrath/news-story/e0c0c16e75fae1cec2e52916d2b1ff1b
POTUS Trump continues to do as he said he would before he won the US election, Mr Insider, as we read today: ” President Donald Trump has announced the United States is withdrawing from the 2015 Paris climate agreement, saying the deal is “less about the climate and more about other countries gaining an advantage over the United States”. Go hard Donald!
http://tinyurl.com/ydxbbcc4
Another mishap for Malaysian Airlines. They seem blighted.
I wonder what the fake bomb looked like when it went through security screening X-ray? Not the airline’s responsibility.
The passengers on board must have been terrified.
Holy hell JTI, I know you like me and a truck load of Hawthorn haters want to see them sit in the cellar,for a while, but a club worst 3 points in a half of football? History in the making.
I have no idea how good Port are, why even West Coast beat them at home. It is a fair bet Hawthorn are rooted.
Glorious!
Yay!
‘Hapless Hawthorn” saith The Australian. Long may that be without hap.
A lot of yelling and very loud volume debating going on in Question Time of late Mr insider. My Princess called out “Henry can you chaps in there keep the noise down” but I had to tell her we were watching QT and it was our Taxpayer funded representatives trying to out yell each other! Chaps please by all means debate but you don’t have to do it for the full hour at 300 decibels! See Paul Keating here for how to do it – measured and you still make your point.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAAf9nSd3ig
I see the usual ignorant dolt here still refuses to acknowledge basic facts. Adani is a SCAM outfit pure and simple. Supporting the Carmichael mine an associated Regional Rorts for a couple of QLD seats is pure fantasy and highlights just how wilfully ignorant many are. Did everyone enjoy the Autumn only 1.5 degrees above average in most of the country closer to 2 degrees in the North. Do any of you actually care about your children and grand children??
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/minister-still-mum-on-adani-funding-as-mines-prospects-fade/
Gross debt at $97 Billion up $226 billion in 3.5 years. Labor debt was $212 billion over 6 years after dealing with a revenue crash through the GFC. $75 billion extra debt this year alone a new record for the Nation. People with $500K in investments still receive a $20K pension. The only areas of welfare expenditure growing is the Aged Pension and rightly so the NDIS. People with No savings, do not own their own home and pay rent and cannot shift investments around are shamed for being bludgers. I don’t think those with half a million in the bank need anymore advocates.
Ahh. not sure what happened there Gross debt $497 billion.
Les Miserables
Dismayed needs cheering up. Go to Northern Spain for a holiday – better still, walk the Camino with lots of happy, smiling pilgrims.
You’ll come back smiling – because you’ll see thousands of wind turbines along every ridge!
Maybe you should move there?
Yeah you keep living in your delusional state.
Yvonne, if you can afford to do holidays like that you don’t need your old old age pension. I don’t need cheering up, I am only Dismayed due to the wilful ignorance of people like and the other you old cons on here, you all need to have your lobotomies reversed. then again micro surgery is tricky. The blog was so pleasant without razor and you. Funny that?
Showing your pink slip CoHD…….
Ah diddums – and I thought you’d be excited to learn that their are countries out there that are as enlightened as your South Australians!
You obviously have no idea hat the Camino is – Google it.
I’d say there very few wealthy cons trudging along along hot and dusty, rainy roads for 800kms.
It’s a character-building pilgrimage from St Jean pied-de Port to Santiago de Compostela – where one meets people from all over the world, of all ages – from babies in prams to octogenarians, happily communicating with each other and sharing their stories along the way.
I’ll spend my money however I like buddy. I work hard for it.
Cheer up
Exciting Space news, Mr Insider, from the people who gave us the 6 successful Manned Moon Landings in the late 60’s early 70’s, and of course I refer to NASA. Set to kick off next July, the plan is to plunge the Parker Solar Probe into the Sun’s corona, which I read is the hazy bit you can see around the edges of the Sun during a total solar eclipse, to study this phenomenon. MARS not too far off also but a “little ways” to go yet.
http://tinyurl.com/yd7sg37l
Pah! Tis nothing Henry. Kissinger and Nixon would have sent a busload of blokes around the sun, singing “You Are The Sunshine of My Life”, popping corn and roasting marshmallows before landing them safely half a mile from the recovery ship .
What’s with these namby pamby space explorers these days? Is it an occ health and safety issue? Never mind the corona, plant Old Glory on the bloody sun.
Laugh yet not, Mr Baptiste, this is quite serious stuff and NASA have their fingers in many “pies” Celestial wise as they explore the Heavens and let we simple folk on Earth stand back in awe of their accomplishments. As an aside I am a tad worried about Elon Musk’s Moon landing in the very near future as he has been gallivanting around Australia of late with Amber Heard of Johnny Depp fame on his arm. One shouldn’t take ones eye off the ball imho at this critical moment in time lest someone else beat him e.g. Kimmie of North Korea!. Cheers
Pay attention Henry, Musk does not propose to land anyone on the moon, he plans (or claims he plans to) to fly passengers around the moon and bring them back to Earth. However he cannot and will not unless he can develop some astonishing new technology to shield his passengers from the intense radiation. If he does I hope he will pass on the method to NASA who are now seriously trying to find a pay to pass humans through the Van Allen belts.
Just quietly I think it is a publicity stunt and a come in rich sucker fund raiser.