Death by Desk

I have no words left. Just let me rest here a while longer?

Abetz and the ABC

Liberal Senator Eric Abetz hates the ABC, and to be fair it seems to be substantially reciprocated.

Coalition and conservative parliamentarians have always been uncomfortable with our national broadcaster, and his week Abetz used a senate estimates committee hearing to interrogate ABC Managing Director Mark Scott over the number of interruptions made by Tony Jones while he was interviewing different politicians on his news program Lateline.

‘Senator Abetz claimed that Jones interrupted Mr Hockey 20 times but did not interrupt Mr Swan at all,’ The Age reported.

‘Jones uttered 42 per cent of the words in Mr Hockey’s interview, he said, compared with 29 per cent when interrogating Mr Swan.’

But this fateful and largely un-winnable battle has been raging since, well, for ever!

Take for instance this Eric-takes-on-the-national-broadcaster-for-being-unfair-upset in 2008, which also came to bear on Tony Jones and that little show we all know and love: Q and A.

In yet another estimates committee Abetz said:

‘”The test surely is that the ABC provide a balanced audience, because the cheering, the support, the commentary out of the audience can potentially be off-putting for some people that are part of the panel.”

A couple of Abetz supporters rallied in this chat room, to support his claim that small-l liberal audience members were over represented at Q and A live screenings, yet none of them seem to have offered to go on the show themselves… Perhaps there is a dearth of people who actually share Abetz’ views on things like climate change and ABC bias, rather than a lack of exposure for them?

Yet another example of coalition opposition to the ABC came this week, the day after Abetz was using hearing time to whinge about the lack of web-space offered to climate change denier Bob Carter by ABC online opinion site The Drum – and this time it was fellow Liberal senator Mathias Cormann waving the why-can’t-everyone-just-be-like-Fox-News-flag.

He was up in arms over the ABC’s use of the Twitter hash-tag #Budgies while tweeting about Tony Abbot during question time during the week.

Communications Minister Steven Conroy was quick to reply to this falsely indignant complaint with the sally:

“Well, it could have been #Lycra. I mean, that would have been appropriate.”

As I dare say it would have, since he sold a pair of those ill-fated Speedos for charity not long ago, and seems to make a vastly disproportionate number of policy announcements in them, too.

Kids, let’s face it. Not only does the coalition whinge about government policy initiatives without offering alternatives, they also whinge about the ABC without delivering a message that anyone would want to hear.

Can’t wait to see what Eric’s next complaint will be… The ABC said my nose is big?

Sure I'll talk to you... If you got clout.

'You'll get what you're given!' my dad used to say to me. I never knew how right he was until our nation's leaders started pulling the same line on me.

I work for the Student Youth Network in Melbourne. Young people broadcasting for young people. This is great, and we all love getting on the blower, chasing a story and looking for sources.

The problem is: politicians don't want to talk to SYN.

What I can't, for the life of me, figure out, is WHY NOT?

I have a lovely phone manner and excellent personal hygiene. I don't bite, and the questions I ask are not to bump-my by-line-up-the-ladder type questions - I ask them because SYN listeners have a right to be addressed directly by those who seek to (and sometimes sort of do) govern, on issues that affect them in their every day life (like budget spending).

'Why does mental health funding account for only six per cent of the health budget this year, SIR?'

'Why does tertiary education spending account for less than two per cent of the federal budget, SIR?'

'Why do people on Youth Allowance receive only half of the old aged pension and live below the OECD poverty line, SIR?

Nient! Nein! Nil! Nothing.

Even a major outlet like Crikey have a hard time getting a nibble on these issues sometimes.

Here's my theory: forgive me for coming on strong here, but put simply - Australian statesmen and women don't give a flying junk about issues that solely affect young people.

'Damn little blighters!' (I can hear them right now). 'Why won't they just vote for us and bugger off?'

Well lad, 70 per cent of us did last time around, but frankly, Lindsay Tanner's chances aren't looking too crash hot this year, and I think it's because people are starting to twig.

The two major parties have had the run of this joint for just about long enough, and when you've got Krudd (phonetically strange choice for a Twitter name?) doing calisthenics on major election promises, and Abbot acknowledging that he sometimes lies in public sort of, and NO ONE from ANY youth media outlet can get a word out of them or their cronies AT ALL, it seems highly unlikely that the young voters will have kind things in store for them on polling day.

Ignore us your own risk you lot on the hill. Sooner or later those chickens will come home to roost.

Press at the Ballot box

With the UK set to head to the polls in about 12 hours, the nation’s newspapers cast their votes long ago.

The ABC’s Emma Alberici – embedded, so to speak – with several contingents over yonder, said that the political alignment of Britain’s major broadsheets had shifted last week.

‘Rupert Murdoch’s Times newspaper, which has backed Labour since Tony Blair’s winning campaign in 1997, has switched its support to the Conservatives.

The Guardian, a long-time ally of Labour, is now publicly supporting the Liberal Democrats,’ she said on ABC News online.

The question is: should our Fourth Estate be hangin’ out at the ballot box?

There are those who say better to disclose inevitable alliances as they have done in the UK.

Alternatively, News Ltd’s The Australian almost single-handedly ran Turnbull out of town in favor of the Mad Monk last year, and has since turned it’s sadly hither-to divided attention to the resource-sector-hating-talks-like-a-computer-uses-a-hairdryer-has-a-nose Kevin Rudd. All the while claiming no allegiance to an ideology much less a political party.

Hmm. Dubious approach at best I’d say. At worst, a stinkin’ way a doin’ business.

But online news site Crikey.com’s (traditionally progressive) editorial policy leaves much to be desired in this light too. The issue is not one of how these outlets align – but that they align at all.

Sarah Ellison, author of The War for the Wall Street Journal had a little somethin’ somethin’ to say about this issue on PM last night. Introducing her, presenter Mark Colvin gave a little back ground on ye olde Rupert Murdoch’s interests there:

‘In 2007, Rupert Murdoch fulfilled a long held ambition by buying the Wall Street Journal. In 2008, despite Mr Murdoch’s assurances of editorial independence, the paper’s editor resigned amid credible reports that he was squeezed out.’

But the guts of the issue is summed up in this comment made by Ellison:

‘The kind of intervention that Murdoch has in his newspapers and that he has currently at the Wall Street Journal, it just manifests itself in daily if not multiple conversations a day with his editor; is that intervention or is that just involvement of a publisher in his newspaper?’

Food for thought me thinks. Especially in a year packed with state elections and one tickler of a federal election too. Will you be voting with your paper or your concience? And who can tell the difference anymore?

New Home, anyone?

Ok kids, here's tricks.

Since last we met, more junk has been said about Ken's poop flinging antics, the Victorian budget has been handed down and Catherine Deveny has got... the... sack!

Thirty six hours is a long time in, er, how does that saying go again?

Leading today's Well Gosh Darn's, a quote:

"What we've got here today from the Government is a tax grab, not a tax reform. It's a tax fiddle, not a tax cut."

Thanks for that Tony Abbot. Now while I try to erase the image of Kevin Rudd struggling with Ken Henry's bra strap we'll give you a rest for a minute I think. Except to say that it is official - the Liberal Party's focus for this years election campaign will actually be offal.

"This Government is a sham. It has no commitment to reform. It is a gutless Government, led by a gutless Prime Minister," Mr Hockey said on Monday.

Now. The Victorian Budget. Handed down by a man suspiciously named Lenders. Treasurer Lenders. You just need a comma in there really.

Le break down: cops, health and a little somethin' somethin' for Melbourne's ye olde public transport system. More specifically: about $4 billion for health, $1 billion for public transport and about $500 million for new operational police.

But the star of the show was an increase in the first home buyers grant if you by a new home and a decrease if you don't, a center piece overshadowed somewhat by the announcement by the Reserve Bank that interest rates will continue to ride higher than Kirsty Alley's panty line on the same day as the budget.

Six times in eight months! Jesus Christ Glen! Give us a break! Yes the economy is as strident now as a first draft pick with meat on his bones and trophies on his mind - but this town is short on couches, let alone actual beds in actual bedrooms, in houses normal people can afford to live in.

Re. increased home buyers incentives: Did Lenders and Brumby miss the HOCKEY STICK STATS everyone else in Australia managed to catch sight of after the introduction of the Federal Governments quick!-give-them-money-for-bricks-and-mortar! effort last year? An inflation in price and an even dirtier glint in the eyes of real estate agents every where.

I don't know! Maybe we should all just move to Canada. At least they have bears there.

Last on today's agenda - Deveny bites it.

Did any one see it coming? Is anyone glad? Is anyone sad?

With a wealth of poor man's humor on offer via twitter at the Logies, I can't say I was surprised to see her having a crack - but by jingoes she over-stepped the line with her 'taken out of context' crack at Belinda Emmet. Who is no longer living.

Here’s what she had to say to John Fayne this morning.

Unconvincing. Pretty, pretty unconvincing.

So there’s the goshing and darning for today. Abbot on guts and bra straps, Lenders hands down a budget in Victoria and Deveny is cast out. Hopefully we’ll never have to put up with her on Q & A again either.

Flingin' a Poop

By all accounts we weren't to expect as much as Wayne Swan hoped we would expect from the Ken Henry Tax Review which was (finally) released today, round about 2:30pm. You know, ish.

And we didn't get what we were expected to expect (but didn't really expect) either.

Ms Katherine Murphy of SMH fame has framed the outcome for the mining sector quite beautifully today, so I think you should read it.

Or to paraphrase:

They've had a poop flung on them.

A great-big-new-forty-per-cent-tax-on-everything-in-the-mining-sector-poop.

Effective as of July 1 2012.

BHP is disappointed in the government for being such gigantic doodi heads. A snippet from CEO Marius Kloppers:

"The stability and competitiveness of the tax system have been central to the investment in resources in Australia. If implemented, these proposals seriously threaten Australia's competitiveness, jeopardise future investments and will adversely impact the future wealth and standard of living of all Australians."

Bummer. And potentially partially true. A little wordy though, nes cest pa?

The funny thing about this morbidly drawn out process is that the government is not going to introduce or try to implement about 136.25 of the 140 recommendations handed down by Henry, if Alan Kholer got his sums right (which I suspect he might have).

Suggestion: Give old people less money to live on. They eat too much and we spend all our loose change keeping them alive for longer than they should be anyway.

Denied: Hello! Election year! Grey haired Australians living on trusty Chum would never make it to the ol' voting booth you know.

Suggestion: Ditch not-for-profit fringe benefits! An obvious way to make a great saving!

Denied: Mostly because Rudd's been looking like a real bastard in the news lately and he was trying to reinvigorate the gimme-a-hug-I'm-really-neat-and-totally-nonthreatening angle he was working so well in the lead up to the 2007 election. Plus the non profit sector is densely populated with the sort of nasal, vocal, amped-up-on-soy-latte gimme, gimme, gimmes you just don't want to mess with man.

Suggestion: Market based rent for community housing.

Denied: On a whim, really. It's not like welfare recipients already live below the poverty line. And it's not like one per cent overall availability on rental properties in most major cities has jammed rental prices up the arseholes of most middle income happy people anyway. What a joker! That Kevin!

Suggestion: Raise the tax-free threshold to $25 000 pa, and have a base rate of 35 per cent tax on income for 97 per cent of the rest of the population.

Denied: Darn be daft! That would leave me with way too much spare change. I pride myself on sacrificing a portion of my $12 000 pa income in tax. Imagine the luxuries otherwise! Not in keeping with the collective mentality of a country that has just side stepped a recession at all. Home Brand will do fine for me! I don't need any of that fancy SPC baked bean nonsense!

Meanwhile, K-Rudd has pu' on 'is 'appy 'at, in celebration. Malcolm's hanging about! Which means Kevin won't begin to appear to be quite so distastefully rich after all. I mean, Malcolm might have had a devastating childhood with no mum an' all, but he's bloody spanking it now. Plus Lucy is a heavy weight, which gives Therese someone to talk to at all those sandwich munching affairs they seem to have been having on the hill lately.

Here's what he said:

"I think it's terrific that Malcolm's going to be back in the thick of it, because if and when he returns to the Liberal leadership, there's a prospect then of returning to some bipartisan consensus on key elements of emissions trading," he said.

Sensitively veiled in climate change talk. Some people are just class acts is all I'm saying.

So there you have it. The review is out. Not much to begin with, and only half of that at the end of the day. Lucky Malcolm's re-contesting next year. We'll have something to talk about for the next three years at least.