Emmjay posted:

If anyone wants to read an actual book pick-up a copy of Human Rights Overboard. It is an excellent but distressing read. It was published back in 2008 so is a little out of date now but it helped me answer the question 'how the hell did we get in this mess'. ‘The verdict, frankly, is nothing short of horrific. This book reveals something systematically rotten. Not isolated incidents, but a repressive structure …The information gathered is so compelling, so relentless, and derived from so many diverse accounts in different parts of Australia, that accusations of bias must be crushed under its weight.’ Waleed Aly, Australian Literary Review

Redwolf posted:

Welcome back you damned souls that haunt this thread, its been another fun month on the ceaseless thrill ride that is Australian Politics. March saw the passing of the last vaguely human member of the Liberal party with Malcom Frasier dying of shame after reading one too many articles on the current state of the party, the perhaps even more tragic loss of beloved Queensland icon Jeff the Tyrannosaurus, Labor capitulating on the metadata retention laws like the gutless cowards they are, the Palmer United Party inching ever closer to just being Palmer sitting by himself in the cafeteria crying into his caviar, New South Wales conclusively proving itself to be worse than Queensland and...well lets just get this over with shall we



So that happened. Yes, that is the leader of our nation eating a raw, unskinned onion live on camera as though its a normal thing humans do. Truly Tony's weird, awkward, inhuman nature knows no bounds.

For those of you who are just joining us here is a brief overview of Australia's major political parties largely stolen from Quantum Mechanic.

The Liberal Party of Australia



The Liberal Party are a pro-capitalist, right-wing, socially-conservative party currently in power. Led by Tony Abbott they believe in screwing the poor, torturing refugees in tropical prison camps and hanging on to power at all costs.

The Australian Labor Party



The Australian Labor party are a pro-capitalist, right-wing, socially-conservative party currently in opposition. Led by Bill Shorten they believe in screwing the poor, torturing refugees in tropical prison camps and regaining power at all costs.

The National Party of Australia



The Nationals are a pro-capitalist, right-wing, socially-conservative parasitic twin latched onto the Liberals and are thus technically in power. Led by the reanimated corpse of Warren Truss they believe in whatever the Liberal party has told them they believe today.

The Australian Greens



The Australian Greens are a motley band of belligerent anarchist rabble whose supporters are heavily represented in the thread. Led by Christine Milne they believe in Scott Ludlum's dreamy, luxiourus hair, free lattes for all, and probably the same things you do unless you're an absolute shitstain of a human being.

The Australian Democrats



The Australian Democrats are a pro-capitalist, right-wing, socially-conservative party consisting of forums poster ScreamingLlama. Led by forums poster ScreamingLlama they believe in fabricating a list of 550 members to prevent their imminent deregistration as an official political party.




We have an irc channel, #auspol on synirc where we discuss news, politics and which quantum state of employment Anime Dave is currently existing within.

Some things to consider before you join #auspol

• On occasion the channel will become voiced either to cut down on bullshit or more likely because I got bored and wanted to annoy people. We STRONGLY SUGGEST that you register your nick with Nickserv so we can add you to the voiced list. To do so, just /msg nickserv help register and follow the instructions.
  
  
• Since the irc is full of Australians and therefore poo poo and terrible people who don't think or learn without being repeatedly beaten about the head, we have a word filter that will kick you for saying certain words. These are mostly unfunny jokes chosen by and changing at the capricious whims of the mods, but it also watches out for certain gendered slurs and words which are considered unacceptable, and for which the mods will ban you for one day if you use. We don't apologise for this and don't really care how you feel about it. Please also avoid offensive fake user@hosts, you will be banned until you change them if you want to participate.
  
  
• Shut the gently caress up about wrestling. Goddamn it. Goddamn it.
  

Birb Katter posted:

Zetsubou-san posted:

NEW THREAD
NEW HORIZONS

Redwolf posted:

The Australian Democrats



The Australian Democrats are a pro-capitalist, right-wing, socially-conservative party consisting of forums poster ScreamingLlama. Led by forums poster ScreamingLlama they believe in fabricating a list of 550 members to prevent their imminent deregistration as an official political party.

cpaf posted:

Reminder that the Jackie Lambie Network will soon be a registered Australian political party and the Democrats won't

Murodese posted:

Drawing dicks on the Herald Sun really needs to go to town on that gif

Doctor Spaceman posted:

Looking like the Nats will hang on to Lismore.

Doctor Spaceman posted:

Looking like the Nats will hang on to Lismore.

Endman posted:

I'm waiting for the inevitable holocaust of hurt feelings when people realise the Nationals have thrown their voters totally under the bus over fracking.

Say goodbye to all that farmland and most of the state's fresh water supply.

hooman posted:

Become Lambie's Lackey in the Jacqui Lambie Party today!

Redwolf posted:

The Australian Democrats



The Australian Democrats are a pro-capitalist, right-wing, socially-conservative party consisting of forums poster ScreamingLlama. Led by forums poster ScreamingLlama they believe in fabricating a list of 550 members to prevent their imminent deregistration as an official political party.

ScreamingLlama posted:

I hereby register my strenuous objection to this part of the OP on the grounds that you are going too loving far. We (yes, we, there's still plenty of Dems) are still a party as far as the AEC is concerned, and until remain so until such time as the party is actually deregistered. Also stop being a bunch of shitlords carrying on about something that happened twenty years ago that half of today's party membership had no loving control over (due to, you know, being children at the time).


Gods preserve me.

ScreamingLlama posted:

I hereby register my strenuous objection to this part of the OP on the grounds that you are going too loving far. We (yes, we, there's still plenty of Dems) are still a party as far as the AEC is concerned, and until remain so until such time as the party is actually deregistered. Also stop being a bunch of shitlords carrying on about something that happened twenty years ago that half of today's party membership had no loving control over (due to, you know, being children at the time).


Gods preserve me.

ScreamingLlama posted:

I hereby register my strenuous objection to this part of the OP on the grounds that you are going too loving far. We (yes, we, there's still plenty of Dems) are still a party as far as the AEC is concerned, and until remain so until such time as the party is actually deregistered. Also stop being a bunch of shitlords carrying on about something that happened twenty years ago that half of today's party membership had no loving control over (due to, you know, being children at the time).


Gods preserve me.

Quantum Mechanic posted:

I'm not sure you get how this thread, y'know

works

Endman posted:

If you don't want to be associated with the mistakes a group made in the past, maybe don't claim to be that same group.

quote:

Employment service providers will be offered cash incentives to place jobseekers in short-term positions as well as longer term ones under changes announced by the federal government on Tuesday.

The new “jobactive” system will offer service providers a payment for filling four week-long vacancies, as well vacancies lasting 12 or 26 weeks.

“In the past we have only paid on 12 and 26-week outcomes,” the prime minister, Tony Abbott, told reporters in Geelong.

“We know there are a lot of short-term jobs available, particularly in regional Australia, there are jobs that are seasonal and these are often the start of someone’s renewed connection with the labour market. That is why an important innovation in this new jobactive system is the four-week outcome payment.”

Abbott said short-term work was “the best possible stepping stone into secure long-term jobs”.

“The best preparation for work is work,” the prime minister said.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) said the policy would “encourage service providers to churn vulnerable jobseekers through multiple short term job contracts in order to claim multiple payments”, ACTU secretary Dave Oliver said.

“The ACTU has consistently advocated for the government to introduce a 52 week payment to incentivise service providers to place jobseekers into long-term work. This would be a much better alternative to a four week payment.”

The initiative, which comes off the back of the Howard-era Job Network policy, has been panned by Labor.

“The government’s return to the failed Job Network model, with a new name, will not help unemployed Australians into work,” shadow employment minister Brendan O’Connor told Guardian Australia.

“We are not convinced the introduction of a new four week payment will do anything to support job seekers into decent work. Instead it will lead to increased jobseeker churn and job insecurity.”

O’Connor said that the Coalition must not take resources away from jobs training.

“Labor is deeply concerned that the new employment services model will in fact leave job seekers without the support they need,” he said.

Under the jobactive scheme, money for training will be provided only if jobseekers need it to secure a position that has already been advertised. Job agencies will have to risk their own money to provide individuals with training they think will be needed to gain employment more broadly.

David Thompson from the peak organisation representing non-profit employment services, Jobs Australia, welcomed the jobactive scheme, but warned that the training element “might be too restrictive”.

He said many long-term unemployed people needed training to reorient themselves to workplaces before applying for specific jobs, and that training could help jobseekers whose industries were suffering job losses.

“The labour market of today and the labour market of tomorrow are very different,” Thompson said.

The employment minister, Eric Abetz, said unemployed people who took on short-term contracts or undertook work for dole programs were healthier.

“All the data tells us that if you are gainfully employed, your mental, physical health, yourself esteem and social interaction are all enhanced and not only for you as an individual but everybody else in your household.

“That is why, for the long term unemployed, to be engaged in work for the dole, for example, is not only an important mechanism to say thank you to your community, but it is also of untold social good to the individual,” he said.

A total of 66 job agencies have been offered contracts to deliver on the jobactive scheme, from the 184 that put in tenders. Their contracts will last for five years rather than three, a move the government said will provide certainty for service providers.

The new scheme begins on July 1 and also includes targeted programs for Indigenous jobseekers based on the work undertaken by mining magnate Andrew Twiggy Forrest, who has conducted a review into Indigenous jobs and training.

“He has been a real apostle of getting away from this training for training’s sake notion and ensuring that people are being prepared, not for training but for work,” Abbott said of Forrest.

The government will implement job targets for Indigenous jobseekers for the first time under the new initiative. The targets will vary from region to region.

“The targets will ensure that employment service providers are finding jobs for Indigenous jobseekers at the same rate as for other job seekers in a region,” a spokesman for the Indigenous affairs minister, Nigel Scullion, told Guardian Australia.

“Providers will also be held accountable for their performance in meeting these targets through the star ratings system. A poor performance will affect an organisation’s star ratings and this will have an impact on whether they are given any future business from the government.”

ScreamingLlama posted:

I'm not willing to accept the idea that one fuckup means that group should be gone forever. After all, the ALP put Kim Beazley in charge for a long while.

Bill Posters posted:

Hi Auspol,

Take this avatar as a token of my esteem.

ScreamingLlama posted:

I hereby register my strenuous objection to this part of the OP on the grounds that you are going too loving far. We (yes, we, there's still plenty of Dems) are still a party as far as the AEC is concerned, and until remain so until such time as the party is actually deregistered. Also stop being a bunch of shitlords carrying on about something that happened twenty years ago that half of today's party membership had no loving control over (due to, you know, being children at the time).


Gods preserve me.

ScreamingLlama posted:

Drunken, bitter, angry yobbos mocking everything remotely political while impotently stewing in the futility of their own acts? Smells like auspol.


I'm just saying myself and my beloved party seem to be receiving a disproportionate amount of mockery and abuse.


I'm not willing to accept the idea that one fuckup means that group should be gone forever. After all, the ALP put Kim Beazley in charge for a long while.

ScreamingLlama posted:

I hereby register my strenuous objection to this part of the OP on the grounds that you are going too loving far. We (yes, we, there's still plenty of Dems) are still a party as far as the AEC is concerned, and until remain so until such time as the party is actually deregistered. Also stop being a bunch of shitlords carrying on about something that happened twenty years ago that half of today's party membership had no loving control over (due to, you know, being children at the time).


Gods preserve me.

ScreamingLlama posted:

Drunken, bitter, angry yobbos mocking everything remotely political while impotently stewing in the futility of their own acts?

ScreamingLlama posted:

I'm not willing to accept the idea that one fuckup means that group should be gone forever. After all, the ALP put Kim Beazley in charge for a long while.