Negligent posted:

I don't think preferencing Christian Syrian refugees would be a poll positive in the general populace. It might even lose them votes since a majority of people aren't Christian.

It is a policy for the Liberal Party Right. And the Liberal party has never concealed espousing Christian beliefs. They do so openly, and sometimes to great mirth of their detractors.

Tasmantor posted:

Sadly, as you pointed out, the law where written by people who got their gun knowledge from Arnie films and didn't really consult with people who knew what they were on about.

what the gently caress posted:

The video that accompanied that article was really hard to watch.

http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/pm-embarrassed-by-bureaucrats-sack-the-aussie-workers-advice-admission/story-fnkgde2y-1227517258644



Also, in semi-related news... Remember the Alexander Spirit (tanker in tasmania with crew being sold out to foreign labour?)


Yeah well that ship has just returned to the Australian coast, crewed with foreign labour.

gently caress this government into the ground.

open24hours posted:

From what I understand, which isn't much, the gun in question isn't anything special, it's just that for some reason you can buy this one with a less restricted class of gun license than you need to buy similar ones.

Can anyone who knows more about this kind of thing explain which loophole is being exploited?

[edit:


What a terribly written law.]

GoldStandardConure posted:

Noice. I've got a Class A firearms licence, gonna go buy me a few Adler shotguns.

For um, home defense.

Not a "genuine reason" I'm afraid (to be fair to the law it really isn't) but if you need it for say "animal welfare" the go right ahead!

open24hours posted:

That's the most bizarre thing, he had a lever action shotgun on every Terminator 2 poster.

Solemn Sloth posted:

Leyonhjelm has said he “blackmailed” the government into allowing imports of the weapon, which is capable of firing seven shots in succession, but is not technically considered a semi-automatic, and therefore banned, gun.

In exchange, the libertarian senator voted against a Labor amendment requiring an adult or guardian be present when blood, saliva or fingerprints are taken from children by the Australia’s Border Force.

QUACKTASTIC posted:

Quoting this again because what the gently caress.

ewe2 posted:

It's kind of brazen to claim this kind of victory when all that means is that no one can take your word on anything ever after. And that's how I feel about Muir's vote on Heydon: whether or not you think it was a vote that had any teeth, it was still a statement (and a rare one) of principle in an area largely governed by convention and if you want to change that convention you actually need votes like this to at least hold the executive to account in the public record. The next time they try it, there'll be less pressure to fight it. It's not often that these kinds of votes get tried twice. So Muir's "principles" are a load of bullshit when it suits him.

QUACKTASTIC posted:

Quoting this again because what the gently caress.

tithin posted:

what the gently caress posted:

The video that accompanied that article was really hard to watch.

http://www.news.com.au/finance/business/pm-embarrassed-by-bureaucrats-sack-the-aussie-workers-advice-admission/story-fnkgde2y-1227517258644

Cartoon posted:

Actually can you tease this out for me. I would have thought that Muir may have been acting from the principle of separation of powers and not allowing a judicial officer to be interfered with by the parliament of the day. The executive ultimately could dismiss him and if the executive are prepared to accept a perception of bias tainting whole the proceedings then so be it. This is I believe the law council's opinion/advice.

sick trigger posted:

fact check infographic on australia's refugee intake

tithin posted:

tithin posted:

Cartoon posted:

Actually can you tease this out for me. I would have thought that Muir may have been acting from the principle of separation of powers and not allowing a judicial officer to be interfered with by the parliament of the day. The executive ultimately could dismiss him and if the executive are prepared to accept a perception of bias tainting whole the proceedings then so be it. This is I believe the law council's opinion/advice.

open24hours posted:

From what I understand, which isn't much, the gun in question isn't anything special, it's just that for some reason you can buy this one with a less restricted class of gun license than you need to buy similar ones.

Can anyone who knows more about this kind of thing explain which loophole is being exploited?

[edit:


What a terribly written law.]

tithin posted:

tithin posted:

what the gently caress posted:

The video that accompanied that article was really hard to watch.

Jonah Galtberg posted:

I thought it was going to be horribly awkward clips from the hearing or something, not... that

Jonah Galtberg posted:

I thought it was going to be horribly awkward clips from the hearing or something, not... that

WhiskeyWhiskers posted:

It has very little to do with getting christian votes, but everything to do with appeasing racists. Australians hate muslims more than they'll point and laugh at Abbott or Bernardi's christianity.

Jonah Galtberg posted:

I thought it was going to be horribly awkward clips from the hearing or something, not... that

PaletteSwappedNinja posted:

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Cory Bernardi is probably a huge racist.

Poos Corp posted:

Syria crisis: Australia will potentially welcome more than 10,000 refugees

AUSTRALIA will welcome a separate intake of potentially more than 10,000 stricken Syrian refugees because the Abbott government overwhelmingly believes it is the Australian way.

As the mounting humanitarian crisis gripped the world last night, cabinet’s national security committee met to map out a Syrian action plan to be put to full cabinet today before going to a special party room meeting.

Seventeen government MPs, with the backing of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, passionately spoke of wanting to do more to assist the crisis during a party room meeting yesterday.

The intake could eclipse the 10,000 proposed by Labor.

quote:

AUSTRALIA will welcome a separate intake of potentially more than 10,000 stricken Syrian refugees because the Abbott government overwhelmingly believes it is the Australian way.

quote:

The chair of the Abbott government's climate change advice agency, Bernie Fraser, has resigned without explanation.
It comes less than a month after Mr Fraser issued a strong rebuke to the Abbott government over its justifications of its post-2020 greenhouse emissions targets.
A statement issued by the Climate Change Authority late on Tuesday said Mr Fraser, a respected former Reserve Bank governor, had quit as chair.

No further explanation was provided. It is understood Mr Fraser had a difficult relationship with Environment Minister Greg Hunt.
Speaking to Fairfax Media on Wednesday, Mr Fraser would not comment on whether issues with the government contributed to his decision to resign, saying "I don't want to make matters worse than they might be otherwise".
"There have been a few problems but … I've gone now and that's the end of the story for me," he said.
"I've resigned and that's it ... its time to move on."

Mr Fraser said he was comforted by the fact the authority would continue its work, under a "first class" management team.
"It's got a lot of important work still to do. They will continue to do good work [and] the community will benefit from in one way or another," he said.
In a statement on Tuesday, the authority paid tribute to Mr Fraser.

"[We] thank Mr Fraser for his enormously valuable contribution to the authority's work in providing independent expert advice to the Australian government and Parliament on climate change," it said.
"Arrangements have been made to ensure the authority's work will continue uninterrupted."

Fairfax Media understands Mr Fraser announced his decision on Tuesday after an all-day meeting of the authority.
Many of his colleagues are believed to be deeply saddened by his departure. He is not believed to have quit due to personal problems such as a health issue.
The government sought to abolish the authority last year but was blocked in the Senate. The agency was set up by the former Labor government to provide independent climate change advice.

Mr Fraser's departure means five of the nine board positions are vacant. The authority's management will be led in the interim by Professor David Karoly, a climate expert at Melbourne University.
In a statement, Mr Hunt thanked Mr Fraser for his work.
"He has had an outstanding career in public service, which I deeply respect and acknowledge," he said.
"In particular, I thank Mr Fraser for his assistance with the crossbench in the passage of the Emissions Reduction Fund."

He said the vacant positions "will be filled in the near future".
The authority had urged the government to impose extra scrutiny on polluters to ensure that, under the Emissions Reduction Fund, billions of taxpayer dollars are not spent on emissions cuts that would have occurred anyway. The government rejected the call.
Mr Fraser was an outspoken advocate of climate change action. In a strongly worded statement last month he directly contradicted government claims about emissions targets it would take to global climate talks in Paris later this year.

In the statement, Mr Fraser said Prime Minister Tony Abbott's assertion that its emissions cuts were akin to the United States were incorrect, and in fact Australia's targets put the nation "at or near the bottom" of comparable countries.
He said on the basis of the government's current targets, Australia "would slip further behind the efforts being made by comparable countries and likely face large catch-up adjustments down the track".
Mr Fraser said Labor's proposed emissions trading scheme does not equate to a new carbon tax, contrary to the government's characterisation.
The government intends to reduce the amount of greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere by 26-28 per cent by 2030, based on 2005 levels.

On Wednesday Mr Fraser would not comment on whether he faced pressure from the government after his statements on the targets.
"They were relevant and I had responsibility for making those sort of comments. But I am no longer there, so it's old news from today," he said.
In September last year Mr Fraser said morale at his agency had been hit hard by the government's attempt to cull it.
"It's understandably having a pretty devastating effect," he said.

He said even with some staff departures, the authority retained a "core capacity" to help the government develop a policy to restore bipartisan support for renewable energy.
But Mr Fraser said despite this "we have not been invited" to assist the government on the issue.
In April this year the authority was critical of the government for "skipping over" the significance of climate change for future generations in its recent Intergenerational Report, which sets out government budget challenges over the next 40 years.

Birb Katter posted:

AUSTRALIA will welcome a separate intake of potentially more than 10,000 stricken Syrian refugees because the Abbott government overwhelmingly believes it is the Australian way.



The intake could eclipse the 10,000 proposed by Labor.