AusPol November: "love your neighbour, unless they're brown"

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > AusPol November: "love your neighbour, unless they're brown"

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Frogfingers: Oct 10, 2012

Jumpingmanjim posted:

Some would say that is too long, and there might be smarter ways of doing this � local generation, micro-grids etc, and by encouraging networks to invest in alternative technologies, such as battery storage, rather than building more poles and wires.

Literally everything I predicted a couple of weeks ago is happening now.

Australia still fukt tho

# ? Nov 21, 2015 09:55

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# ? May 9, 2024 23:25

Pred1ct: Feb 20, 2004; Burninating

hooman posted:

The only direction I can see this going in is less financial oversight, and more loving the poor.

Oh absolutely. There will be lots of talk of 'necessary reform', which has already been flagged with the GST increase.

The question is whether there will be any real alternative offered to the broad neoliberal economic agenda. Economic reform has been built around it since Hawke - Free trade, floating the dollar, cutting taxes, off-shoring profits, increasing incentives for investments etc..

Sadly the NBN could have been a solid driver for Turnbull's fantasized IT lead economy but it's a shambles now.

# ? Nov 21, 2015 10:08

Les Affaires: Nov 15, 2004

Philip Coorey from the AFR. Keep an eye on Insiders tomorrow morning.

quote:

At one level, Tony Abbott's free advice to Malcolm Turnbull this week about boosting the military effort in Syria and Iraq by sending in the special forces came as no surprise to the former prime minister's colleagues.

As Prime Minister, Abbott was fond of wanting to "send in the troops". He sought advice about sending 1000 soldiers to Ukraine to guard those trying to recover remains and debris from the MH17 atrocity. He was advised it was a bad idea, given Ukraine was a sovereign nation and, if the Russians got grumpy, 1000 troops would not be very effective.

He reportedly wanted to send a large contingent to Iraq when Australia re-entered that fray under his leadership. Lesser known is the story about him wanting to use the SAS to rescue more than 200 schoolgirls kidnapped in Nigeria in 2014 by extremist Islamic group Boko Haram.

Again, he was advised it was a bad idea. Nigeria is a sovereign nation, which means you cannot just send troops there without approval by the government. Even if that was granted, which it would not have been, there was every chance the SAS troopers, along with the girls, would have never been seen again.

(A report released on Wednesday by the Institute of Economics and Peace said Islamic State and Boko Haram were responsible for half of all global deaths attributed to terrorism in 2015. Boko Haram killed more people than IS).

Turnbull's week-and-a-bit abroad has been shadowed by terror and Abbott, leaving no doubt that Abbott has not given up on getting his old job back.

Turnbull was in Berlin, asleep, when terrorists hit Paris on Friday night local time and slaughtered 129 innocent souls.

As he had to, he stayed up all night being briefed by his ministers and national security advisers over the extent of the atrocity and whether there was any imminent threat to Australia. He addressed the nation. Embassy staff in Paris strived to determine if any Australians were among the dead and injured.

By the time morning broke in Berlin, Turnbull was on a plane to Turkey for the G20, which was now going to be about nothing else but terror. Abbott was in the newspapers claiming vindication for his recent speech about the dangers posed by the flow of refugees from Syria.

Whether he was wrong or right, Abbott's timing was poor and insensitive. As a former prime minister, his comments have gravity. He is not Barry Backbencher. And on it went throughout the week, needling away through the media about what he reckoned should be done, while Turnbull spent much of his time locked in talks with the important players, including the Americans, the Russians and the French.

Abbott implied Turnbull was a sissy when he told Andrew Bolt that IS was "not going to go away just by wishing it to go away".

"It's only going to be defeated if people take very strong steps against it. And that's what the Australian government under my leadership did at home and abroad."

There were whispering campaigns about Turnbull not convening enough phone hook-ups of the national security committee of cabinet. This ignored that he was in constant contact with his advisers, relevant minsters and security and police chiefs at home, who reassured him there was no "chatter" suggesting anything was about to happen.

There were pin pricks from Abbott supporters suggesting somehow this would all be better if Peter Dutton, the Immigration Minister, was put back on the National Security Committee, and, one said, that Turnbull was "weak" like US President Barack Obama.

In the piece he wrote for The Australian, in which he suggested sending in the special forces, Abbott passively-aggressively implied that should there be an attack at home, it would be the fault of Turnbull and others who refused to commit ground forces.

"In the wake of Paris and Sinai, it's becoming clearer that an understandable reluctance to accept military casualties abroad could easily lead to more civilian casualties at home," he said.

"The G20 in Turkey is the obvious place and now is the obvious time to start to put an effective international military coalition together."

Had Abbott still been Prime Minister and representing Australia at the G20, he would have cut a lonely figure. Not a single nation there � not the Americans, the Russians, the Canadians, the British and not even the French � thought sending in troops would do any good.

The massive failure that was the Iraq War still looms large on this side of the world. It was a hamfisted invasion on spurious grounds that did nothing but breed extremism in Iraq, which has started to spread. The invasion of Afghanistan, in response to the September 11, 2001 attacks, might have been warranted but it showed you cannot conquer an ideology by force.

"[President Obama's] position is, as he has stated publicly, you could send 50,000 Marines to Syria and they will be able to retake Raqqa and Mosul, of course, in Iraq, and they could achieve that success but what happens after that?" Turnbull said in a swipe back at Abbott.

"His view, and this is the view of the leaders of all the countries to whom I have spoken, is the presence of foreign armies in that theatre at the present time would be counterproductive, given the lessons of history, including relatively recent history."

There is little choice other than to intensify the current military campaign in Iraq and Syria, while pursuing with vigour the political solution agreed to by the US, Russia and others in Vienna last week. It is the only hope for a long-term resolution to what Abbott rightly calls a "witches' brew". But invade? That's exactly what IS wants.

If Abbott had one strength as leader it was national security and Liberals believe he is using this to try to get his job back.

"It's the comeback strategy," one minister said.

Another said of Abbott and his followers: "They see themselves as the government in exile."

It is no surprise Abbott is bitter and is seeking vengeance, as Kevin Rudd did to Julia Gillard.

But to undermine your own side on national security by eroding the people's trust in the government to protect them in such terrifying times?

That's a whole new level.

# ? Nov 21, 2015 11:26

Birb Katter: Sep 18, 2010; BOATS STOPPED
CARBON TAX AXED
TURNBULL AS PM
LIBERALS WILL BE RE-ELECTED IN A LANDSLIDE

Australian journalism at its finest

# ? Nov 21, 2015 12:03

Orkin Mang: Nov 1, 2007; by FactsAreUseless

Birb Katter posted:

Australian journalism at its finest

kochie

# ? Nov 21, 2015 12:22

Tokamak: Dec 22, 2004

Orkin Mang posted:

kochie

he is a bit of an idiot, but i think he has a bit too much integrity to do that. in australia, breakfast show host is pretty high up the totem pole of respectable journalist positions.

# ? Nov 21, 2015 13:11

Pickled Tink: Apr 28, 2012; Have you heard about First Dog? It's a very good comic I just love.

Also, wear your bike helmets kids. I copped several blows to the head but my helmet left me totally unscathed.

Finally you should check out First Dog as it's a good comic I like it very much.; Fun Shoe

First Dog:

# ? Nov 21, 2015 13:16

The Before Times: Mar 8, 2014; Once upon a time, I would have thrown you halfway to the moon for a crack like that.

Tokamak posted:

he is a bit of an idiot, but i think he has a bit too much integrity to do that. in australia, breakfast show host is pretty high up the totem pole of respectable journalist positions.

It was probably A Current Affair/60 Minutes/Today Tonight, whichever of those are still running

# ? Nov 21, 2015 13:33

Birb Katter: Sep 18, 2010; BOATS STOPPED
CARBON TAX AXED
TURNBULL AS PM
LIBERALS WILL BE RE-ELECTED IN A LANDSLIDE

Talk is that it is probably Sunday on 7 as they interviewed that musician.

# ? Nov 21, 2015 13:39

Negligent: Aug 20, 2013; Its just lovely here this time of year.

"professional" journalism is just a bunch of chopped walrus liver anyway

arse-covering journo: i ran it by producer analrapist, who has x years of experience, he gave me the go ahead

producer analrapist: as a producer of x years, i have learned to trust the judgements of arse-covering journos

news chief buttmunch: as you can see, no one did anything wrong

# ? Nov 21, 2015 14:25

Anidav: Feb 25, 2010; ahhh fuck its the rats again

Thousands of goodwill letters sent by Australians to immigration detainees held on Nauru have been returned unopened.

The letters of comfort and support were organised by the Melbourne barrister Julian Burnside. He did the same in 2001 after asylum seekers on the Tampa were detained for long periods.

Last year, with the support of advocacy and social justice groups, he organised for almost 2,000 letters from Australians to be sent to detainees on Nauru. A similar number were sent to people at the processing centre on Manus Island.

The letters were directed to people whose identity and boat number are known to Burnside. Each letter contained a self-addressed stamped envelope so the detainees could reply to the sender if they wished.

The letters were designed to let the detainees know that Australians were thinking of them, that they were not alone and that not everyone is hostile to refugees.

By the middle of last year it was apparent that the letter writers had not received any replies from Nauru.

Burnside followed up with an email inquiry to Nikki Keirven, then the Department of Immigration and Border Protection�s lead service delivery officer at the Nauru offshore processing centre. On 25 June 2014 she replied:

�Thank you for your email. I appreciate you have an interest in knowing whether the letters you have been sending are arriving in Nauru.

�I can confirm that they are arriving and are being distributed to transferees by the service provider [Transfield Services]. This is a work in progress given that letters continue to arrive.

There are also a number of letters which have arrived for transferees who have departed Nauru. Where forwarding addresses are available, they will be forwarded on.�

However, replies from detainees were still not being received. This was considered unusual, as in the past asylum seekers had been responsive to messages of support.

What followed was months of email correspondence between Burnside and the department. It emerged that the Nauruan postal authorities would only accept the self-addressed envelopes if the Australian stamps had been purchased in Nauru.

Burnside continued to press for information about what had happened to the letters. On 11 August he wrote:

�I am disappointed not to have received a reply. You probably do not need to be reminded that it is a serious offence to interfere with mail. People held on Nauru have written letters in response to letters from members of the Australian public. Those replies are not being sent out. You are aware of the blockage. I have offered to put them in the Australian postal system if the reply letters are returned to me in bulk: they all have Australian postage stamps on them.�

There was no response. Two days later, he inquired again of Kierven: �Where are the letters?�

The correspondence was later referred to Tanya Findlay, director of the department�s Nauru operations coordination section, but by September, a month later, Burnside had not heard from her and replies from detainees had still not been received back in Australia.

By November last year the matter had moved to the department�s acting assistant secretary, Kylie Scholten, who emailed Burnside advising him that if he wanted to follow this up with the relevant postal services, �I recommend you search online.�

She added: �In future if you have any feedback about offshore processing, please contact the department�s global feedback unit� and provided a web address.

She said the service providers had arranged for all unclaimed correspondence to be returned to his office in Melbourne.

On 22 December Burnside received three large boxes from the department. They contained all but nine of the letters posted to asylum seekers. The letters were unopened and marked �Return to sender�.

Burnside wants to know why he was told by the department in June that the letters �are arriving and are being distributed� when this was not the case.

He has now also started receiving letters which had been sent to Manus marked �Return to sender�.

Transfield Services has responsibility for the mail deliveries to and from the regional processing centres and is investigating what happened to the letters.

The Department of Immigration and Border Protection, which has overall responsibility for the conduct of the processing centres, did not respond to an inquiry from Guardian Australia.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 00:02

BBJoey: Oct 31, 2012

gently caress this country

# ? Nov 22, 2015 00:13

gay picnic defence: Oct 5, 2009; I'M CONCERNED ABOUT A NUMBER OF THINGS

Jumpingmanjim posted:

The grid, a topic that is close to the heart of many posters here:

http://reneweconomy.com.au/2015/networks-launch-grid-pr-push-as-battery-storage-looms-49617

Surely the networks are pushing poo poo up a hill here. As long as the costs of alternatives such as solar panels and batteries become cheaper than staying connected people will make the switch. People are already doing it, and while it isn't as convenient as being connected to the grid it can be done, and with innovations from Tesla and the like this is only going to get easier as time goes by. The only way I can see it being slowed is if they introduce barriers such as disconnection fees or restrictions on the use of batteries to make it harder for people to leave the grid.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 00:19

Skellybones: May 31, 2011; Fun Shoe

Maybe it will be tampering with mail that gets our island concentration camps closed down.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 00:29

ewe2: Jul 1, 2009

I wonder how much dirt Nauruans have on our government and outsourcers waiting for that sweet day when it comes in very handy?

# ? Nov 22, 2015 00:32

Recoome: Nov 9, 2013; Matter of fact, I'm salty now.

I am going to the Brisbane counter-protest today, I'll post a trip report about how it goes, etc etc

# ? Nov 22, 2015 00:44

Anidav: Feb 25, 2010; ahhh fuck its the rats again

Wait, there's a counter protest today? In regards to?

# ? Nov 22, 2015 01:09

birdstrike: Oct 30, 2008; i;m gay

Anidav posted:

Wait, there's a counter protest today? In regards to?

Your posts

# ? Nov 22, 2015 01:10

Zenithe: Feb 25, 2013; _{Ask not to whom the Anidavatar belongs; it belongs to thee.}

edit: ^^infinitely better than my correct post.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 01:10

BBJoey: Oct 31, 2012

Birdstrike posted:

Your posts

savage

# ? Nov 22, 2015 01:11

The Before Times: Mar 8, 2014; Once upon a time, I would have thrown you halfway to the moon for a crack like that.

Recoome posted:

I am going to the Brisbane counter-protest today, I'll post a trip report about how it goes, etc etc

My brother's going to be at that as well! Unfortunately I've got other poo poo to do, otherwise I'd be there.

Anidav posted:

Wait, there's a counter protest today? In regards to?

Reclaim Australia.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 01:11

Solemn Sloth: Jul 11, 2015; Baby you can shout at me,
But you can't need my eyes.

Birdstrike posted:

Your posts

# ? Nov 22, 2015 01:12

Skellybones: May 31, 2011; Fun Shoe

Mithranderp posted:

Reclaim Australia.

They can have it back IMO, I don't want it any more.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 01:18

Zenithe: Feb 25, 2013; _{Ask not to whom the Anidavatar belongs; it belongs to thee.}

Skellybones posted:

They can have it back IMO, I don't want it any more.

I wonder if they'll thank the traditional owners like last time and cause the inevitable irony singularity?

# ? Nov 22, 2015 01:25

Wrestlepig: Feb 25, 2011; my mum says im cool; Toilet Rascal

The far right is immune to irony.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 01:29

Anidav: Feb 25, 2010; ahhh fuck its the rats again

Birdstrike posted:

Your posts

But I post good things here!

# ? Nov 22, 2015 01:51

Milkfred E. Moore: Aug 27, 2006; 'It's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism.'

Hi Auspol Goons,

I'm leaving my current residence in January and I'm looking for places around the Melbourne area. If there are any AusPol goons who need a housemate, send me a PM. Might as well avoid throwing away half my paycheque on renting by myself if I can help it.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 02:23

blacksun: Mar 16, 2006; I told Cwapface not to register me with a title that said I am a faggot but he did it anyway because he likes to tell the truth.

Milky Moor posted:

Hi Auspol Goons,

I'm leaving my current residence in January and I'm looking for places around the Melbourne area. If there are any AusPol goons who need a housemate, send me a PM. Might as well avoid throwing away half my paycheque on renting by myself if I can help it.

On a scale of 1 - neckbeard, how would you describe yourself?

# ? Nov 22, 2015 02:35

Recoome: Nov 9, 2013; Matter of fact, I'm salty now.

The counter protest is currently larger than the Reclaim Australia nerds. Apparently the counter protest occupied the intended rally area. Also we broke through the police cordon and are now again the fence overlooking the Teclaimers.

Their rally is supposed to begin in an hour

# ? Nov 22, 2015 02:59

Synthbuttrange: May 6, 2007

Anyone accidentally joined up the anti-reclaimers yet? :v

# ? Nov 22, 2015 03:08

Recoome: Nov 9, 2013; Matter of fact, I'm salty now.

Racist granny spotted

# ? Nov 22, 2015 03:09

BlitzkriegOfColour: Aug 22, 2010

Milky Moor posted:

Hi Auspol Goons,

I'm leaving my current residence in January and I'm looking for places around the Melbourne area. If there are any AusPol goons who need a housemate, send me a PM. Might as well avoid throwing away half my paycheque on renting by myself if I can help it.

Just rent a commercial space. You have to pay monthly, but it's heaps cheaper than the residential market since bricks and mortar is deeeeaaad.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 03:09

Recoome: Nov 9, 2013; Matter of fact, I'm salty now.

The racist guys are taking our photos this is weird

# ? Nov 22, 2015 03:19

gay picnic defence: Oct 5, 2009; I'M CONCERNED ABOUT A NUMBER OF THINGS

Recoome posted:

The racist guys are taking our photos this is weird

Isn't that a fairly common intimidation tactic? Like a way of saying 'we know who you are'.

Slightly off topic, why is that rallies always seem to have people dressed in lovely clothes and carrying on like fuckwits? Do they not realise that you are trying to make a good impression on people watching on? Burning a flag while wearing an edgily hand printed tshirt with 'gently caress abbutt' on it isn't going to endear yourself to your average Joe watching from the couch.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 03:52

Cartoon: Jun 20, 2008; poop

The faux respectability of the business suit is part of what needs to be smashed in the phrase 'Smash the System'.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 04:07

Recoome: Nov 9, 2013; Matter of fact, I'm salty now.

I have sighted the nazis, a guy is wearing a black flag with the nazi "wolfsangel" rune.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 04:32

Zenithe: Feb 25, 2013; _{Ask not to whom the Anidavatar belongs; it belongs to thee.}

Recoome posted:

I have sighted the nazis, a guy is wearing a black flag with the nazi "wolfsangel" rune.

If you can, get a picture and send it to one of the antifa groups.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 04:34

Bald Stalin: Jul 11, 2004; Our posts

Recoome posted:

I have sighted the nazis, a guy is wearing a black flag with the nazi "wolfsangel" rune.

Hey now let's not jump to any conclusions. Maybe his family is from an area in lower saxony upon which the wolfsangel makes up part of their coat of arms. It predates Nazi Germany by many hundreds of years.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 04:39

Anidav: Feb 25, 2010; ahhh fuck its the rats again

Yo. Don't let them take your photos. Remember what they did to Anti-Bogan with the pedophile claims.

# ? Nov 22, 2015 04:49

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# ? May 9, 2024 23:25

Recoome: Nov 9, 2013; Matter of fact, I'm salty now.

Yeah I'm being careful. I have some photos of the rally I'll do a full write up a bit later

# ? Nov 22, 2015 04:55

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Debate & Discussion > AusPol November: "love your neighbour, unless they're brown"

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